KATY HEARN - Personal Trainer & Fitness Model: Total Body Workout to Build Muscle

Top Personal Trainer & Fitness Model, shares some insightful tips on how to gain muscle and burn fat in the process. - Well worth a watch!

Belly Fat in Women

• Eight Tips for a Slimmer and Healthier Belly

• If you’re like most women, there’s just one thing coming between you and that new bathing suit. (OK, two things if you count the price tag.) It’s belly fat. Almost every woman over 30 deals with it, especially after 40 when perimenopause often begins. 
  
  Here at MyLifeStages, we hear from many women who exercise regularly, eat well and still can’t seem to lose the belly fat. The bad news is that it’s not easy and requires a focused effort. The good news is that it’s possible. 
  
  Belly fat, more than any other kind, responds effectively to diet and exercise. Steady, long-term discipline pays off, and the dangerous visceral fat (that deep fat around your organs) is the first to go. But that can still be a tough sell to those who’ve been trying to lose belly fat to no avail.
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• “This is not a quick fix, it’s a lifelong process,” says Quenby Rubin-Sprague, a registered dietitian. “As you age, you need to exercise more and eat less. That’s completely it.” 
  
  With that in mind, we’ve asked Rubin-Sprague and our weight management experts to give us their top belly-fat-busting tips to help you succeed:
  
  #1 - Monitor Your Calories
  
  Ideally, women should be consuming about 1,400-1,600 calories, broken up into three, smaller meals and healthy snacks in between, so the body doesn’t have a chance to get depleted. However, most women are surprised to learn that they eat more than they realize or are consuming the wrong kinds of calories. (See our weight management expert’s tips for calculating healthy caloric intake.) Then, download this simple food log to chart what you eat for at least a week.
  
  #2 - Eat Regularly
  
  Whatever you do, don’t skip breakfast. Plan your snacks around complex carbohydrates and lean protein, perhaps a whole grain bagel with almond butter or a piece of fruit with some reduced fat cheese. And how about that before-bed snack? See these suggestions for healthy night-time snacks or try a small bowl of whole grain cereal with milk. “Just stick to the serving size on the box,” says Rubin-Sprague. “One serving does not mean the whole bowl.”
  
  #3 - Drink Plenty of Water
  
  Sometimes the stomach sends the message “hungry” when it really means “thirsty.” Water can satisfy those cravings and keep our bodies functioning at top speed.
  
  #4 - Move Throughout Your Day
  
  Studies show that desk jobs and long commutes are not only contributing to weight gain but can even shorten our lives. When you are sitting, calorie burning slows to 1 calorie per minute. The best way to boost your metabolism and avoid the dangers of sitting is to get up and move at regular intervals throughout your day, preferably once every hour. (Some members of our MyLifeStages team even used our short Lazy Girl Workout as a quick boost mid-day at the office.)
  
  #5 - Exercise Regularly and With Intensity
  
  Shoot for at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week. If you can have a conversation while you’re exercising, you need to increase the pace. Women should also incorporate twice weekly strength training.
  
  “The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn,” says Rubin-Sprague. “That’s why we love them!”
  
  #6 - Don’t Rely on Spot Reduction
  
  And how about stomach crunches or other forms of exercise, like Pilates or yoga, known to isolate the stomach muscles? Sure, those can help strengthen and stretch muscles, but don’t expect them to impact the size of your belly. “You cannot spot reduce. That’s a common misconception,” says Rubin-Sprague. “It’s aerobic activity, combined with fewer calories, that will help your belly fat go away.” 
  
  #7 - Sleep
  
  Sleep may be your biggest weapon yet. Restorative sleep can help to minimize the production of the stress hormone cortisol, which is linked to increased belly fat. When you sleep well, you also have more energy to exercise, and more mind control to prevent bad eating habits. In fact, researchers at University of ColoradoOpens new window have found that people gain weight within a week of poor sleep, largely due to the extra calories and poor choices they make when sleep deprived. The study found that the less people slept, the more they reached for carb-rich foods.
  
  #8 - Put Yourself First
  
  Of course, the one non-negotiable in this program is that it takes commitment. And, it takes commitment at the very time that mid-life women are most committed to other things, from their marriage and family to career, volunteer activities and, possibly, caring for aging parents. Who has the time or money to exercise or create healthy meals? You may not have a choice, say the experts.
  
  “The reality is, we will spend time and money on our health either way,” says Rubin-Sprague. “Your choice is whether you are proactive about that, with exercise, massage, good eating; or reactive, spending time and money in emergency room, taking pills or visiting the cardiologist.”
  
  Given those choices, chicken stir fry and a brisk walk begin to sound doable, even pleasant. And that new swimsuit seems a bit less expensive – compared to liposuction or heart surgery. So go ahead, get moving now, and let the swimsuit season arrive in style this year.

Source: https://www.mylifestages.org/health/weight/belly_fat_women.page

Women have to work HARDER than men to lose weight and get fit.

• Women have to do about 20% more exercise to get the same benefits  and while exercise alone might be enough for men to lose weight, women also have to look at their diet to get the same results
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• Experts say body composition such as muscle mass and hormones to blame

By ANNA HODGEKISS

PUBLISHED: 17:23, 24 January 2013 | UPDATED: 17:43, 24 January 2013

Women have to do a lot more exercise to get the same health benefits as men, in terms of both diet and fitness

It's bad news for women who work out with their partners. Scientists have discovered that when it comes to the benefits of exercise, the odds appear to be firmly stacked against the fairer sex. New research suggests that women have to do a lot more exercise to get the same health benefits as men, in terms of both diet and fitness.

Scientists at the University of Missouri who put obese men and women on the same fitness programme found men reaped significantly more benefits. And experts are now warning that while exercise alone might be enough for men to lose weight, women must also address their diet to get the same results. 
During the study, Professor Jill Kanaley and her colleagues looked at the heart rate and blood pressure of nearly 75 obese men and women with Type 2 diabetes. 

They all followed a programme of aerobic (i.e. cardiovascular) exercise for 16 weeks. They all worked at an effort of 65 per cent, which was worked out based on each individual's ability. 

Despite everyone exercising at relatively the same speed, the researchers found that men got far more benefit from the exercise than women. Over the 16 weeks, women's recovery time did not improve, whereas men's did, indicating their fitness had improved. They also lost more weight. 

Commenting on the study, Dr Chris Easton, a lecturer in clinical exercise psychology at the University of West Scotland, told MailOnline: 'This adds to a growing body of evidence that men and women respond to exercise in different ways. 

'One main reason for this is body composition - men have a higher proportion of of muscle of women - and muscle has a higher metabolic rate than
'This is crucially important as it means that even when they are resting, men burn more calories than women. This indicates that women really have to look at their diet as well as exercise, whereas men may be able to get by on exercise alone.'He said that go get the same effect as a man working at 65 per cent effort, a woman would effectively need to work at around 85 per cent effort - or work out for longer.

Experts are now warning that while exercise alone might be enough for men to lose weight, women also have to look at their diet to get the same results

He added that men naturally have an advantage when it comes to fitness as they have larger hearts and lungs and a higher proportion of haemoglobin - that part of the blood that carries oxygen around the body, which is vital during exercise.

Study leader Professor Kanaley said: 'This research highlights that the advantages we think exercise is going to give individuals may not be the same across genders, particularly for those who have Type 2 diabetes. This is a concern because there are high mortality rates with Type 2 diabetes, especially for women.'

'We keep assuming that exercise will do the trick—we think when we tell people to "go train," regardless of gender, everyone will get the same results. Our research indicates certain exercises may not be enough for women. These findings could help health providers and researchers develop targeted exercise interventions for obese women.The study was published in the journal Metabolism.

The latest figures from Health Survey for England show that 62.8 per cent of  adults in the UK are overweight or obese.

SO WHAT IS THE BEST WAY FOR WOMEN TO LOSE WEIGHT? 

Personal trainer Dan Roberts says 'by far the best way' for women to lose weight is to lift weights. This temporarily raises levels of testosterone and growth hormones, which burns more fat. 

He told MailOnline: 'It's all to do with hormones. Men have more muscle because they have more testosterone. Women have more oestrogen which naturally makes them store more body fat. 

'Women also have to work harder to lose weight because they store fat around the thighs, bottom and stomach to protect the womb and for childbearing reasons.

'Older women in particular have the lowest testosterone levels. It is they, not 20-year-old boys, who should be doing weight-training.'

He also recommends women ditch the tiny dumbbells, too. 'Women should be doing what's known as compound weight training, that is, using muscles such as the glutes and quads.  'The bigger muscle groups you use, the more calories you will burn.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2267714/Its-harder-WOMEN-lose-weight-men.html#ixzz3kO6kuFUn
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So can yoga really give you an orgasm?

As women report reaching 'yogasm' during yoga classes, Maxine Frith discovers how to achieve the higher state of bliss

A woman practices some yoga moves while enjoying the fine weather near Tower Bridge in London  Photo: FameFlynet.uk.com

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By Maxine Frith

3:00PM BST 19 Jun 2015

49 Comments

This article was first published on 24th April, 2015 and has been republished ahead of International Yoga Day.

Until I won a series of yoga classes in my local pub Christmas raffle, I had never seen the attraction. All that stretching and sweating in a church hall surrounded by moaning strangers? I could think of more entertaining ways to spend an evening. The oven’s not going to clean itself, is it?

However, since I grudgingly hit the yoga mat (shame to waste a freebie...), I have become something of a devotee. My flexibility has improved, I feel stronger and I’ve banished my life-long slouch. And then this week yoga was revealed to bestow a hidden perk, something that takes a little practice and requires perfect technique, but that could attract a new legion of yogis: the “yogasm”.

It has long been known that strengthening one’s deep pelvic floor musclescan improve a woman’s sex life. But it is possible to experience orgasm on the yoga mat.

Yogis say that a combination of the Lotus position, the cross-legged sitting asana that is the bedrock of meditation, and Paranayma – a regulated, deep-breathing technique that includes rapid, pumping breaths – can bring about orgasmic effect. Demi Moore and daughter Rumer Willis are reported to be Kundalini devotees.

Beverley Drumm, a 50-year-old former business analyst in north London, has experienced the yogasm – during the first yoga class she ever attended. “It was so intense that I cried,” says Beverley. “I went up to the teacher afterwards and said I wanted to learn more.” That was six years ago. She now teaches the technique in her own yoga classes.

According to practitioners, yogasm requires not a specific position but a state of mind – it may take weeks, months or years of physical workouts to achieve it. But it is most often achieved during Kundalini, a form of deep meditative yoga designed to lead to spiritual awakening. “The Kundalini orgasm is not just a physical orgasm, but far beyond it,” explains Drumm, “like a huge release of energy. I get involuntary spasms and a ripple of energy through me, and experience the most intense ecstasy.”

But how exactly does it work? Barbara Carrellas, a 60-year-old former Broadway producer and author, has been achieving – and teaching others to achieve – yogasms for three decades. The New Yorker will share her wisdom with Londoners in June at a weekend workshop.

^{Well, it's one way to get a rush of blood...}

The trick, she says, is to focus your attention not on your Lotus asana, but on your breath. “It’s about working the pelvic floor,” she explains. “What we don’t understand so well in the Western world is that orgasm is an energetic event and not just a physical one. It’s holistic and has to do with your breath changing. If you take away the genital stimulation, all the other stimuli remain, which are much more a part of orgasm than we realise.”

A yogasm does not always feel the same as a physical orgasm, she says; rather, it is experienced all over the body. “Some people do have a genital orgasm at the same time, though, and spontaneous orgasms can definitely happen, too,” she adds. “I was able to do them after a lot of practice of the other breath and energy techniques.”

Anyone can achieve yogasm, she insists – even men.

“If you believe it’s possible, it is. I teach people just to breath a bit more fully and deeply than they usually do. I ask them to use their imagination and move this energy through their body. It’s a bit like mindfulness, a bit like meditation.”

A male Australian friend who has attended Kundalini classes reports having enjoyed the experience a little too much.

“It was so relaxing, I fell asleep,” he says. “All the women were having a very different experience. I closed my eyes because I didn’t know where to look, with all the moaning and groaning.”

According to Carrellas, the body is naturally primed to climax, and only social conditioning and self-control stops it happening spontaneously more often. “The reason more people don’t orgasm on a beautiful day in London is they don’t permit themselves to,” she says. “It’s important to remember that orgasm is the body’s natural way of releasing tension, so it will seek out ways to go there if we let it.”

• Can whispering cause a 'brain orgasm'?

• The women who find sexual pleasure in exercise

• How to fake a male orgasm (and why you never should)

My own yoga teacher, Susan Yates, has yet to witness anyone in her class having an yogasm – but says that yoga is beneficial in the bedroom.

“The main thing about yoga is that it gets people to have a better relationship with themselves. It’s about bringing people back to to understanding their own bodies in the best way that they can. People will sometimes text me saying that they felt euphoric after a class or that they have had better sex because of it.

“The other thing is that it helps them to feel better physically and emotionally, so they feel more alive in their relationships, and from that they might have a better sex life.”

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/11557997/So-can-yoga-really-give-you-an-orgasm.html

Left it too late to slim down for your holiday? Melt away fat in TWO WEEKS with new diet

Worried you've left it too late to get in shape for the beach? No fear, a new diet promises to start melting away fat in just 14 days… and shows you how to keep it off

How many times have we promised ourselves that before we hit the beach for our summer holiday we’ll shed half a stone? 

It's that holy grail of weight loss that we’re certain will make us feel more fab than fat in our bikini. But in reality, life, wine and chocolate get in the way and before we know it it’s almost time to pack the suitcase. 

According to recent research two thirds of women go on a diet before a holiday, with the majority trying for an 8lb weight loss. Failure to lose those pounds can leave you feeling self-conscious on your summer break.

Fit for the beach: Get toned for your holidays with Fiona Kirk's, 2 Weeks In The Fast Lane - a 14-day diet based her own nutritional expertise

But does it have to be this way? A brand new diet by top nutritionist Fiona Kirk claims not. After extensive research Kirk believes that two weeks is all it takes to shift as much as eight to 12 pounds, look leaner and fitter in a bikini and kick start continued fat loss.

‘Spare us another crash diet!’ I hear you all say. But, take heart, dear readers. For the author, as a nutritionist, doesn’t advocate crash dieting, denial or deprivation. Her plan, 2 Weeks In The Fast Lane, is a 14-day diet based on solid research and her own nutritional expertise.

‘We can change some of our eating habits in just a few weeks if we really want to and see some great results that can motivate us into changing a few more,’ explains Kirk.

She devised the plan after research showed that between 85 and 95 per cent of dieters regain the weight they’ve lost within five years – Kirk decided to study the five to 15 per cent who reached their goal and maintained it. 

‘I wanted to know what it is successful dieters do to and how they keep the flab off,’ she adds. ‘I interviewed hundreds of people and discovered that 63 per cent of successful dieters had found a so-called quick fix diet that actually worked.

Source:Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2018480/Holiday-diets-Left-late-slim-Melt-away-fat-2-WEEKS.html#ixzz3T3JrTPnL