1/18/2012

how many calories does swimming burn

According to the Health Fitness Instructor Handbook, one of the reference manuals for the American College of Sports Medicine, the amount of calories burned during swimming depends "on the velocity of movement and the stroke being used, but it is also influenced by the skill of the swimmer. A skilled swimmer requires less energy to move through the water, so that person has to swim a greater distance than an unskilled person to achieve the same caloric expenditure."
The handbook says that for poor swimmers "the energy cost of simply treading water can be as high as 7.5 calories per kilogram of body weight per minute. Elite swimmers use this same number of calories per minute to swim at 36 miles per minute whereas an unskilled swimmer might require twice that energy expenditure to maintain the same velocity."
On the surface, it would seem to be more advantageous to have mediocre swimming skills to burn more calories but it backfires on you because you tire faster than you can rack up calories. In other words, you burn more calories when you are a novice swimmer but you cannot swim very long or very fast. The more skilled you become, the less calories you burn but you still burn more calories in the long run because you can swim longer and faster before you become fatigued.
If you are wondering why women burn less than men, the Fitness Leader's Handbook, another reference manual, says that because of women's "greater buoyancy associated with higher body fatness, women expend fewer calories per mile than men, independent of skill level". People with more fat have an easier time staying afloat. That in turn means fewer calories are burned. This is good news if you are a competitive swimmer so you can reserve your calories to fuel your speed and distance.
To find more information about calories visit:How many calories do I need a day

1/04/2012

How to lose weight naturally on a low-carb diet

You might be one of those people who have tried losing weight on something like a low-fat diet. You’re sick of being hungry, and you don’t believe that being healthy should be so hard.
It just doesn’t make sense that we should have to weigh everything and use calculators to lose weight, plus the hunger that comes with calorie restriction is terrible. In this article I am going to outline some tips on how to lose weight naturally.
The fact is, many fitness and health gurus will tell you that losing weight is all about calories in and calories out. That is, if you eat more than you burn, you will gain weight. If you eat less than you burn, you will lose weight. Right?
Well, this is true to a certain extent. But people often forget that the human body is very complex, and the brain does its best to control our body fat levels.
How many calories do I need a day

Stop eating sugar, grains and industrial seed oils

Doing a low-carb diet obviously requires that you cut out the main sources of carbohydrate in your diet. These are usually sugar and grains.
Yes, even whole grains contain a lot of carbs and can be detrimental to weight loss even though some of them can be fine to eat for people who aren’t overweight.
Sugar.. we probably don’t need to discuss that one very much since you’ve heard it all before. What I might add is that other things disguised as sugar such as high fructose corn syrup are to be avoided too. I’d also recommend against fruit juices, since they contain a lot of sugar.
The seed oils (soybean oil, cottonseed oil, etc.) don’t really have anything to do with carbs, but they are extremely bad for you and should be avoided. Also avoid trans fats.

Eat more protein and fat instead

Obviously, if you eat less carbohydrates then you need to have something instead. Here is where protein and fat step in.
Your main protein sources should be meat, fish and eggs.
For fat, I recommend eating full-fat meat, and using butter or coconut oil to cook your food. Extra virgin olive oil is great to sprinkle on salads.
Grass-fed meat is better than grain-fed, but don’t go out of your way to buy grass-fed meat if it is too expensive for you.
A great oil to supplement your diet with is fish oil, a tablespoon a day should give you plenty of Omega-3 fats to support your overall health.
Saturated fats are better for cooking because they have a higher smoke point than unsaturated fats.

Get carbs from vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds

Vegetables and fruits are healthy, tasty and should be your primary carb sources on a low-carb diet. However, it might be best to avoid starchy vegetables like potatoes and to limit your fruit intake to about 2-3 per day so as to not go over your carb limit.
Nuts and seeds do contain some carbs, but they also have plenty of healthy fats and nutrients.

Conclusions:

  1. Cut out all grains, sugar and industrial seed oils.
  2. Replace them with full-fat meat, fish and eggs.
  3. Eat vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds.
  4. Supplement your diet with healthy oils such as fish oil and olive oil.
  5. Use saturated fats such as butter or coconut oil to cook your food.
  6. Aim for less than 150g of carbohydrates per day.
  7. Do not count calories and don’t starve yourself.
  8. Try to keep your food as natural as possible, processed food is bad.