It is often said that because a Hot Tub Jacuzzi style Spa has a smaller heater it must therefore be a better spa than one which has a bigger and thereby more expensive heater.

The claim that is usually made to justify a smaller heater is that the Jacuzzi with the cheaper Hot Tub heater is better insulated   but the plain simple truth is that a  smaller heater is much less efficient as it takes longer and longer to heat up. This is, in some way, very similar to  a smaller engined car on the highway it can of course get up to a good cruising speed  but a bigger engine will take it all in its stride with plenty of spare capacity in reserve. It is a fact that a bigger engined and well designed and engineered car is often more economical at a higher cruising speed than  a smaller engined one which is over revving and straining its self.  In the same way a bigger heater is able to heat up the water quicker and then only needs to gently top up the heat now and again. The only person who benefits from a smaller heater is the manufacturer who clearly saves lots of money on his manufacturing cost as a smaller heater costs considerably less.

At the same time one often finds that Hot Tubs with small heaters use the fully foamed approach some times known as the “fully foamed” or “foam filling” system this is very much an out of date production method but is still in use by many makers as it is one of the cheapest forms of construction.

In this cheaper system, the shell or Tub of the unit is made from thinner sheets of acrylic or ABS plastic the Tub is then plumbed and piped with all the required pipes etc.

 Then the cabinet that surrounds the Shell is   pumped full of expanding foam to give the shell its support.

This is a much cheaper method of construction as it means that the manufacturer is able to use cheap foam, (instead of fiberglass), to support the shell, rather than building a shell with sufficient strength in the first place!

There are various disadvantages of this system of construction:-

1)      Polyurethane foam which is sprayed in degrades over time, with the effect that there is a real decrease in the insulating value.

 

2)      The settling and heat related expansion and contraction of the foam can actually create leaks in the plumbing.

 

3)      Lastly and very importantly you cannot access any of the internal workings or parts of the spa in the case that service is required. In real terms then the most serious downside to this cheaper method of construction is that there is an almost total inability of serviceability during the life of the Hot Tub. Not only is the plumbing buried and covered by he expanded foam but so of course are the jet fittings. Therefore leak detection is more or less impossible with out removing very substantial amounts of foam… If a fully foamed spa should leak (and of course they do) from the rear of a jet fitting or a plumbing connection then the  seepage of water will not become apparent until the foam has become extremely wet and sodden. The latest and the most modern productions methods, in my view, would be to use some foam to support the pipe work but not to indiscriminately jet blast, the spa cabinet full of polyurethane foam as there is no proven benefit to this practice and it actually does cause dealers and customers a severe service and access headache. 

One can identify the better manufacturers as they will utilize Spa controllers made by the leading Western manufacturers in the world so as to create custom spa packs and topside controls that complement their spa models. These will have built in features that make it so much easier dealing with a spa.

These user-friendly intuitive controls take the guesswork out of spa ownership and are designed for a lifetime of use in harsh climates.

Avoid spas with air controls or spas that do not display the hot tub temperature as a digital read out.

Many spas are produced cheaply by using an inferior quality spa electronic pack.

Unknown brand names or bulk imported packs may not stand the test of time and may be very hard to replace if they break down.

The best advice remains that one should buy a proven product from a well established manufacturer and not a cheap import then you have proven expertise which will have been tested over many years combined with the back up of a Major Western Corporation.
 

Jacuzzi John
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/hot-tubs-heater-sizes-728432.html

I know that the title of the article is raising your eye brows right now. Well the truth of the matter is being skinny is not a condition like cancer which can not be undone. Skinny people have been left out of the equation in the fitness training industry for a long time. The major concern of the fitness industry has been on how to lose weight fast ignoring the needs of the skinny people in the process.

Each one of us would like to have a good looking body physique. By this I mean a pair of guns for your biceps, 6 Pack Abs, strong and well defined legs like a stallion, well who wouldn’t like to own such. We are living in the real world so it’s good to be realistic, if you can not own such a body your chances of scoring with the ladies is quite minimal.

Do not console yourself by thinking that, just because you are good on the inside she will go for you, lets be real have you ever seen a woman enter a bar and you notice how beautiful her soul is…ha! ha! The first thing you will pay attention to is her figure, the same case applies to you.

The other advantage of developing that perfect physique is that it can do wonders to your self confidence. And we all know that confidence is the key ingredient needed to succeed in this life.

Enough with the chit chat, below are simple steps which will act as guidelines for you to get rid of that skinny body.

1. High intensity training

You should follow the saying ‘no pain, no gain’ strictly by the book. You should not go to the gym for the sake of appearance, but rather you should train intensely using heavy amount of weights. For better results it is advisable to use heavier weights with less repetition than using lighter weights with many repetitions. In the beginning you will feel a lot of pain but as you progress the pain will start to die slowly.

2. Take a high protein diet

By protein I mean natural proteins and not artificial proteins or in other terms steroids. Proteins are the fundamental building blocks of muscles fibers in the body. They go to repair the broken down muscle tissues which arise as a result of intense training. Therefore for the muscles to become bigger and stronger it is essential that a body builder goes on a high protein diet. Very good sources of protein include; legumes, fish, red meat, chicken and eggs.

It is important to note at this point that you should not be tempted to use steroids so as to gain muscles faster. Although steroids speed up the muscle building process, try and first to a little bit of research about their side effects before using them.

3. Rest

Rest is very necessary for your muscles to be able to grow. Failure to provide your muscles with enough rest will make you lose already acquired muscles.

Dane Fletcher
http://www.articlesbase.com/bodybuilding-articles/anyone-can-undo-being-skinny-736412.html

The best way to prevent obesity and overweight is to know the factors responsible for weight gain. This will help to avoid the conditions that can contribute to obesity. For most people, obesity and overweight are caused by not having energy balance.

You get energy or calories from food and drinks. This energy is called energy IN. Your body needs a certain amount of energy for activities like breathing, digesting, and being physically active. This energy is called energy OUT. When energy IN is more than energy OUT, you gain weight. In the similar way when the energy OUT is more that energy IN, you lose weight. If you want to maintain the same weight, your energy IN and OUT should be equal.
Obesity definitely runs in families. Furthermore, identical twins usually maintain weight levels within two pounds of each other throughout life if they live under similar conditions or within five pounds of each other if their conditions of life differ markedly.

This might result partly from eating habits engendered during childhood, but it is generally believed that this close similarly between twins is genetically controlled.

The genes can direct the degree of feeding in several different ways including a genetic abnormality of the feeding center to set the level of nutrient storage high or low, abnormal hereditary psychic factors that either whet the appetite or cause the person to eat as a ‘release’ mechanism.

Childhood over-nutrition is also important factor responsible for obesity. The rate of formation of new fat cells is especially rapid in the first few years of life, and the greater the rate of fat storage the greater also becomes the number of fat cells. In obese children the number of fat cells is often as much as three times that that in normal children. However, after adolescence the number of fat cells remains almost identically the same throughout the remainder of life. Therefore, it has been suggested that overfeeding the children, especially in infancy and to a lesser extend during the older years of childhood, can lead to a lifetime of obesity. The person who has excess fat cells is though to have a higher setting of fat storage by the hypothalamic feedback auto regulatory mechanism for adipose tissues. In less obese persons, especially those who become obese in middle or old age, most of the obesity results from hyperbiophy (enlargement) of already existing fat cells. This type of obesity is far more susceptible to treatment than is the life long type. An interesting peculiarity of this type of obesity is that these persons have excess secretion of insulin, similar to the excess insulin secretion that occurs in animals with lesions in the ventromedial nuclei of the hypothalamus.

Looking for Fat Loss Supplements to lose weight? Check out the most popular fat burning program - Fat Loss 4 Idiots Review. Also know How to Get Ripped 6 Pack Abs Fast with scientifically designed weight loss system.

Nick Mutt
http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/how-to-prevent-obesity-and-overweight-702193.html

Many women actually think that dating military men is a hard task. To the contrary, do not let the hard exterior fool you. Military men are some of the most loyal, gentle and exciting men there are. They are trained to show respect not just to their commanders, but humanity and more so women. For this reason and more, there is a great fascination by women to date military men. There has been word that you are not going to regret your decision. The following are some of the guides that you will need when dating military men. First, you have to know where to find them. You can easily walk to a military base but, this will just make you feel ridiculous. The best place to get hooked up to military men is through dating sites. There are military sites that are just tailored for women and men who want to meet spouses and find love with military men. Many women really love the work military men do and bringing order and solving problems is quite a turn on. Another thing that is definitely a turn on is their uniform.

Their perfect abs will really lift you into places that you cannot describe. Therefore, there is no doubt that dating military men is pretty popular and the men in uniform are always on demand. After identifying a good site to meet potential military mates, you need to ensure that you are on your best behavior. A military man will want above all things a woman who is able to appreciate the role of discipline in life. You need to have strong qualities that will really make them admire you. You do not have to pretend to be someone you are not. The truth is, man people will play a role that is fake just to have the act fall on their faces. You know better than to lie to a military man. Be yourself and let them appreciate you for who you are. Just like any other chat, make your communication with them pretty open and crispy. Military men also have fun in life and, you will be surprised at what you find. One thing that you can be sure of is that there is no dull moment with them.

Dating military men will mean making use of every moment you have together. Many times, those who are in love with military men do not have time to be petty. Theirs is a demanding job which will need total planning for time. Because of this, more and more people will use their time wisely to build relationships with military men. You will learn that there is nothing complicated about love. It is straight forward and it will require your input and their input. In the long run, you will realize that you cherish it and learn to grow in love while dating military men. There are very many success stories that have been told by people dating men in the military. You can also become one who will tell a story of success in this regard.

Francis Githinji
http://www.articlesbase.com/dating-articles/how-to-go-about-dating-military-men-750649.html

Eating healthy is important in order to keep you and your family live healthier and longer. This article will emphasize on certain rules and guidelines for healthy eating.

Include green leafy vegetables in your diet. They are a rich source of fiber. Various studies and researches have shown that vegetarian have lower rates of cancer and heart disease. Many major diseases begin with inflammation. Fruits and vegetables contain salicylic acid and inflammation-fighting compounds found in aspirin. In one study the blood of vegetarians contained 12 times more salicylic acid than the blood of meat eaters. This can very well explain the lower incidence of cancers, heart disease in vegetarians.

Many people want to know what is the best way to add fiber to their diets? Very simple. One must always add fibers slowly in 5 gram increments for five weeks. If the person is tolerating it well, he can continue until he reaches a level of 25 to 35 grams.

A common doubt among women is what cooking method is the least damaging? In a study using broccoli, microwaving zapped away 97% of the flavinoids and antioxidants. Conventional boiling killed 66%, high pressure boiling killed 47%. Nutrient loss was only 10% when the broccoli was steamed. So the present advice is ‘buy a steamer and start steaming the veggies’. This is the least damaging of all the cooking methods.

Another common doubts needing clarification is regarding the healthiest rice of the 1200 varieties of rice including Jasmine and Basmati. Brown rice has the nutrient profile because the Bran Jacket remains intact. The fiber, calcium, phosphorous, B1 and niacin have not been stripped away in processing as they have been with white rice.

Post menopausal women can benefit from having 5-6 meals (small ones) per day, which helps balance blood sugar. After menopause slight diet modifications are essential. A woman must include more fresh fruits, vegetables, wholegrain. Regular exercise will also be beneficial to digestion.

Grape juice, papaya and pomegranate juices are very high in antioxidant power. Medical experts recommend this as the best source for antioxidants.

Recent research says regular black tea is healthy. Black tea contains quarcetin, a compound that helps prevent blood clots, the triggers of heart attacks. When one plans a diet such points should be kept in mind. The diet must be balanced, nutritious, safe and must offer benefits as mentioned above. This becomes a complete diet.

To lower the risk of breast cancer, researchers suggest eating grapefruit regularly. Grapefruit contains the antioxidant compounds Naringin and Limonid. Naringin is found only in grapefruit. In lab studies, Naringin stopped the growth of breast cancer cells.

Eat healthy to live healthier and longer! It’s a natural and easy way to better living.

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to provide health advice and is for general information only. Always seek the insights of a qualified health professional before embarking on any health program.

Copyright © Nick Mutt, All Rights Reserved. If you want to use this article on your website or in your ezine, make all the urls (links) active.

Looking for Fat Loss Supplements to lose weight? Check out the most popular fat burning program - Fat Loss 4 Idiots Review. Also know How to Get Ripped 6 Pack Abs Fast with scientifically designed weight loss system.

Nick Mutt
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/how-to-eat-healthy-rules-and-guidelines-715436.html

Trying to loose weight on your own is not easy. I know that. You know that. We’ve all been there. It doesn’t help when the very people we think are doing their best to help use loose the fat are in fact doing the opposite. The big guys of the diet industry, and yes it is an industry, are only in it to make money from us. They develop special products that they promise us will have the fat dropping off. Unfortunately these products only make us lose dollars and not lbs. In this article I will tell you about the top 3 fat loss scams so you can avoid them.

The Number One scam - diet pills. We’ve all read the tempting ads. How taking a couple of little pills twice a day will melt away the fat and reveal a slim you. All with no effort. Deep down we know that these pills are too good to be true. Yet the ads are so slick, and we so want to believe that they could work we hand over our hard earned money again. Just think for a minute. If these pills really did work, if it was that simple, we’d all be walking around with 5% body fat. The truth is the only pills that may help you lose weight must be prescribed by your physician due to the potential side effects they could cause.

The Number Two scam - the low carb industry. I’ve tried the famous low carb diet. Yes I did lose fat, but at a price. The first problem was how awful it made me feel. It may sound good to be able to dine on burgers, steaks and cheese. But I felt so bloated and ill I had to stop. As soon as I did the weight snapped back on. The second problem with the low carb diet are all the special foods the companies make. Because a low carb diet can be boring they have produced low carb bars, low carb puddings, low carb pasta. In fact there seems to be a low carb alternative to any food you could think of. All these foods come at a high price which just makes more money for these companies.  

The Number Three scam - the specialist ab equipment. We’ve all seen those ads for these pieces of equipment. How 10 minutes a day on machine “X” will give you a flat stomach with rippling abs. The models are smiling and not even breaking a sweat. This is fantasy land. This is the myth of spot fat reduction. We can not lose fat only in one place on our bodies. Medical fact. To reveal a flat stomach we have to lose fat from all over. So please don’t pay for increasingly odd looking machines that will not give you a six pack.

We all know that healthy eating and sensible exercise is the way to get rid of that weight. Please do not fall for the top 3 fat loss scams.

Ted White
http://www.articlesbase.com/weight-loss-articles/the-top-3-fat-loss-scams-700083.html

Some people think strength training workouts are not important. They just want to concentrate on getting big muscles or getting ripped abs or losing belly fat. Thats all well and dandy but how are you supposed to get all that? And more importantly don’t you want to be stronger? Here are a few points to keep in mind.

1. When you train for strength you release more growth hormone and testosterone. You need this stuff to naturally get bigger and this is why steroids are so popular with the freak crowd because its basically a synthetic form of the stuff. Bad thing about that however is it stops your body’s own natural testosterone, not very good. Lifting heavier weights however will naturally increase the amount that courses through your body.

2. The maximum amount of muscle fibers are also being taxed. More muscle fibers mean more muscle tear down, more muscle tear down means more growth, more growth means you get bigger muscles AND stronger muscles.

3. If you can lift heavier amounts you’ll begin to build a nice foundation. After you’ve built that base you’ll eventually be able to perform more reps and more sets. That foundation will allow you to makeimpressive increases in size and strength.

Remember, when I say heavy, I don’t mean so heavy that you lose your form or injure yourself. You want to lift as much as you can while maintaining proper form.

Keep these points in mind the next time you think about adding strength training workouts to your program.

 

Benjamin Jamani
http://www.articlesbase.com/bodybuilding-articles/strength-training-workouts-3-reasons-why-they-are-importanteven-for-the-skinny-737683.html

Beware! There are more unproductive methods to losing abdominal fat than there are beneficial methods. A most common question these days is: How can I successfully lose fat off my stomach? Many advertisements these days focus on one thing and one thing only: Making money.

Because of this and the knowledge that many people have the same concerns about their weight and appearance, these people have become nothing less than bait for these wealth-driven sharks. Avoid these get-thin-quick schemes by all costs!

Many people have come to believe that by doing an innumerable amount of belly-targeted exercises as often as possible is the best means for losing unwanted, excessive abdominal fat. This is the furthest from the truth!

First, the proper methods to losing those flabby abs is not to just exercise the mid-section, but to complete a full-bodied exercise routine, as this allows for a more effective increase of your metabolism. This increase guarantees a more rapid decrease of belly fat because belly fat is, to say the least, stored energy.

Cardiovascular exercises, to be frank, should be your primary exercise routine. What’s the point of having a seemingly healthy exterior when your interior stays the same. By strengthening your cardiovascular system only guarantees that you’ll live long enough to succeed with your overall goal.

The most productive and effective methods to a healthier cardiovascular system is resistance training. This way, you’ll be safeguarded against any harmful exercises. Resistance training allows for a complete workout at a pace you’re comfortable with.

Diet is a major contribution toward a healthier, eye-catching physique. Exercise is great, of course, but there’s no good in strengthening your muscles when you’re doing nothing to lessen the fat that covers the muscles. Many times, when a person strengthens and tightens their muscles, especially their abdominal area, the persons belly appears to be more bloated than before!

As the muscles bulk in size, the muscles push outward which, in turn, pushes the fat outward as well. To reverse this process, implement a new diet. Eating certain foods lessens body fat and increases your metabolism which, in turn, decreases fat cells. This, with the right exercise regiment, guarantees expected results.

Don’t be taken in by these magical get-thin-quick schemes! As it’s said, if something appears to be too good to be true, then it probably is. You’re not the only person wondering: How can I lose fat off my stomach? Even people that are, supposedly, thin ask themselves the same question!

Nevertheless, many people fall into the same trap, searching for the fastest and easiest way to lose their tubby-tummy. You must learn that there are no miracle cures when it comes to weight and size lost, regardless of the target area. With simple perseverance and dedication to self, you’re sure to achieve your ultimate goal.

Alvin Hopkinson
http://www.articlesbase.com/weight-loss-articles/can-i-lose-fat-off-my-stomach-without-losing-my-mind-681912.html

As a fitness personal trainer and weight loss consultant, I am often asked this question,”Can I lose weight and build muscle size at the same time?”

Now let me ask you a question. If you are building muscle mass, then you are building body tissues and since muscles are dense body tissues, they are heavy. That being the case, when building muscles, you must be gaining and not losing weight right?

What these folks actually meant was that whether they can lose body fat and build muscle mass at the same time. Yes, it is possible to lose fat and build muscles at the same time. However, the process can be rather complicated and it takes alot of discpline and knowledge to do that. Furthermore, results may be even slower than the conventional 2 steps bulking up and cutting down phase method.

You see, losing fat and gaining muscles are at odds with each other. This is because to lose body fat weight, you have to eat less calories than the energy your body used up in your daily activities. On the other hand, to gain muscles you have to eat more calories than your body used as its energy source. So they are contradictoins.So how to achieve the desired result simultaneously?

Well, as I said, it can be done but is quite complicated. This is the reason why most professional bodybuilders train in 2 phases. The bulking up phase and the cutting down phase.

The bulking up phase is when the bodybuilders train to put on muscle mass and don’t even think of losing fat. In this process, they will actually be putting on alot of weight. They will put on muscle weight as as well as some weight from body fat because they have to eat alot to put on huge muscle mass.

When these bodybuilders put on enough muscles, they will then begin the cutting phase. It will also be alot easier to lose fat now because all the muscles they put on will help them to burn calories fast. Yes, muscles burn more calories because they need calories to sustain them.So these body builders become natural fat burner with their high metabolism at this stage.

The cutting phase is when the bodybuilders cut fat from all over their body to get that ripped definition. For ordinary people in this phase, they will get to see their body toned up nicely, their six pack abs will also begin to show. So if you want to have a well sculpted toned body, then take this 2 step approach to build muscles first and then cut the body fat when you achieve the muscle size you wanted.

Chris Chew
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/how-can-i-build-muscle-mass-and-lose-weight-at-the-same-time-76607.html

Since 2002, I have been able to help hundreds of people improve their health, burn fat, build muscle and get into the best shape of their lives. Now, make no mistake about it, a big part of this is our properly designed rapid fat loss interval training program and nutritional guidance. I have done the research for you and trust me when I say, our system flat out works. But, today I am going to share something more powerful; something that must be set in place before you can even start to think about following a fitness program.

So, here it is:

What do you think is the real secret behind my clients and their success stories? Well, if your answer was my aforementioned boot camp training and nutrition systems, then your answer is wrong. Indeed, it is one of the most time efficient and effective programs you’ll ever see, but unfortunately it’s useless if someone is unwilling to start it AND stick to it, right? So, it appears that the most important component of changing your body is finding the motivation to achieve your goals, and that’s the main focus of this article today. I want to explain the exact process wew go through when it comes to identifying who is going to succeed as a training client. It’s a “consultation” and three step goal setting process that each one of my clients undergoes before they start working with us.

Before I outline this process, let me just come clean with something. There are a lot of people who think defining real goals with a real plan is a little far fetched, almost useless. They just want the “magic bullet”. Right here, right now, no real plan, no hard work.

Unfortunately, these people just don’t get it and frankly if you are one of those people, please do us both a favor and stop reading this article and go buy another useless weight loss diet pill or some fitness magazine down at the book store, because I simply cannot do anything for you.

Take no offense, but I can only help people who want to learn and are committed to changing their life. I simply cannot help people who already think they know it all and think they are too good to take some time to figure out what the heck it is that they actually want to accomplish.

The bottom line is that the most successful people out there, and I mean not just weight loss success, I am talking business, lifestyle, etc., are shamelessly goal driven. They know exactly why they want to do something and harness that super motivation to figure out what and by when they want to go about accomplishing that. In addition, they plan and prepare for every possible roadblock they will encounter in their path to success. This is what I want to teach you how to do today, so let’s get to it!

Step One- The Why: Why do you want to do this?

This is where it’s time to get real. In almost every initial client consult, when I ask why they have contacted me today, here is the typical blanket response that I first hear:

“Well, I guess I want to get healthy and lose some weight.”

That is good start, but if you think that’s all, you’d be mistaken. There has got to be more to this. Sure, I know they want to lose weight and be healthy, I mean who doesn’t, but really WHY do they want to do this? I mean, what is it that’s going to get them up at 5 am to get their morning workouts in or take a couple of hours on Sunday to plan and prepare their meals for the upcoming week? It sure isn’t “being healthy” because for some reason this just isn’t a very powerful motivator for most people (though it should be).

Let’s face it: everybody wants to look better naked. Stop giggling, you know it’s true and frankly that’s okay. Because whether you admit it or not, the desire to improve one’s appearance is the most powerful motivator on the planet. You want to feel strong, empowered, sexy AND attractive, if not for a significant other, then for ourselves…but probably a combination of both.

So, after a little more digging, I find out the real reason why they want to do this; I want to pinpoint their past or pain and then establish their current and future ambitions. Some people want to be able to mow the lawn in the summer with their shirt off and not feel self-conscious. Others want to get back into their favorite pair of pants that they haven’t been able to get one leg into for the last five years. Others want tighten up their skin, and “see” muscle definition. Then there are those who want to look and feel more attractive to ignite some passion back into their relationships or improve their physical image for work or career. And of course, my personal favorite is preparing for big events that have built in deadlines. Maybe you want to get as lean and tight as possible for you new bathing suit, sitting on the beach during your big Hawaiian vacation. Maybe you or a family member is getting married and you want to “wow” everyone with your new body. Whatever it is, there IS a motivation behind putting in all the sweat equity that comes with our boot camp training. This is the stuff that gets people hyped up and ready to commit to making some real changes.

So, the first thing you have to figure out is your personal WHY. To make this even simpler for you, just answer this question: what are your physical dreams? Once you establish this, everything else is easy.

Step Two- The What and When: What do you want to achieve and when do you want to achieve it by?

So we already figured out the obvious: you want to look better, be desirable and feel healthy! So, now we need to establish what objective goal(s) need to be accomplished in order to realize this personal dream.

Well, from a logistics standpoint and keeping things as cost effective as possible, there are three popular ways to track your “look better” progress, in order of importance from least to most important:

1.) Scale Weight: This is by far the least important goal, but it gives a number that’s worth tracking. Though body fat percentage would be a much better method of tracking progress, it is simply too inaccurate on a small scale and too costly on a large scale. The key is to taking your initial weight before you start and then not weighing more than every 2 weeks. I have found most people to do better with tracking their weight every month. There are simply too many variables for controlling your body weight and the natural fluctuations based on diet (and for women, their menstrual cycle), means the less frequently you do this the better. If the scale is just too de-motivating for you in general, then just skip this one altogether. The 3 little numbers on the scale are not that critical…the following two markers are far more important.

2.) Dress/Pant Size: This is probably the most simple and effective unused method of tracking whether or not you look better. I think it’s safe to say that if you are dropping dress and/or pant sizes that you will be looking better, right? Your best bet is to also select one dress or one pair of pants that you really want to get into since that is the true end goal in mind. I tell my clients to assess how they are fitting in their preferred dress/pant size tracker on a weekly or bi-weekly basis as clients follow our training program. Be sure to stick with this piece of clothing, so you are not confused by different manufacturers and their size variations. There’s nothing more empowering than to feel yourself fit better and better into your favorite clothing.

3.) Digital Pictures: Pictures don’t lie, that’s the bottom line. If you want the truth, what better way than pictures? This is of overriding importance. Taking a before picture is essentially you telling the whole world that you are ready to change and that you are ready to do whatever it takes to make those changes. The key is take pictures wearing exactly what you want to look your best in. Maybe the jeans you’re trying to fit into, maybe it’s a sleeveless shirt and tank top that you want to wear during the summer. And if you want to see your abs, then you best believe that you need to take pictures of your midsection to track how much more definition you get. Take a front, side, and rear view picture and be sure to note the exact conditions in which the picture was taken (lighting, distance from camera, time of day/week, etc.) to be as accurate as possible in your assessment. These “before” pictures will become your trophy shots of your past life and are an absolute must if you really are serious about getting results that count. We tell our clients to take new pictures either bi-weekly or monthly until they reach their goal(s).

Step Three- Plan and prepare for roadblocks: What are the big obstacles that will prevent you from having the success you desire? What has contributed most to past failures?

Now that we know what you want to accomplish, it’s time to plan and prepare for any obstacles that might get in your way of getting the job done based on your own personal schedule.

In general, the number one thing I hear is that people are too busy and tired and don’t have enough time to get their workouts in or make healthy, nutrition friendly meals.

Well, I don’t care how busy you think you are, there is always hidden time throughout the day and week that can be freed up if your re-prioritize. Again, think back to why you wanted to do this in the first place and then examine what’s most important to you. Make your workouts and your meal times just like work appointments, non-negotiable deadlines. Either you make the appointment or you don’t. And if you want to keep your job (or get your dream body) then you better make that appointment. One more thing for you on being busy. You don’t need any special whiz-bang fitness gimmicks. You’ve got everything you need built right in…your bodyweight. There are amazingly effective bodyweight workouts that could take only a few minutes a day to complete. Problem solved.

Another big obstacle is alcohol. People like to drink and unfortunately alcohol is about as detrimental to burning fat as it gets. Again, what’s more important to you, looking sexy or getting hammered? The choice is yours. Remember, once you achieve your goal(s), alcohol can be added back in with moderation. But understand something, low to zero alcohol consumption is needed if you want to look your best year round and that’s a fact. Don’t give me that garbage about having just one-drink-a-day. Quit sabotaging yourself and grab your water bottle.

Lastly, many people deal with boredom eating or emotional eating. Boredom eating means just that, eating to fill up dead time when you have nothing better to do. The best way to deal with this is, you guessed it, to do something! Find an active hobby to keep your mind off of eating when boredom takes over and you can easily beat this trend. Emotional eating describes the use of food to cope with stress or to reward for accomplishment. Food is not unlike drugs or alcohol in this regard, it can be very addictive. There is no quick fix for emotional eating other than avoiding trigger situations (bars, parties, etc.) and trigger foods (starches, sugars, fast food, etc.) in the short term to break bad habits.

At the end of the day, whether your roadblocks are very unique to you or fall within the realms of what I see everyday with my training clients, the key is to be honest about them and to plan and prepare for them. And that’s where social support and accountability come into play. The clients who have had the most success with us have undergone their transformation with the support of other friends or family members. This is so critical, especially since most of the poor food and drinking choices that sabotage one’s progress occur on the weekend, when most people hang out with their loved ones. If they are committed with you and your goal to get fit and look better, you can put yourself in a much better position to realize the success you desire and deserve.

Curtis Hoekstra
http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/top-scottsdale-fitness-trainer-shows-how-to-turn-new-year-resolutions-into-reality-714433.html