Health & Fitness Is Not A 12 Week Program

March 10th, 2010 by fatcaliper

Not long ago, one of the members of my health club poked her head in my office for some advice. Linda was a 46 year old mother of two, and she had been a member for over a year. She had been working out sporadically, with (not surprisingly) sporadic results. On that particular day, she seemed to have enthusiasm and a twinkle in her eye that I hadn’t seen before.

“I want to enter a before and after fitness contest called the “12 week body transformation challenge.” I could win money and prizes and even get my picture in a magazine.”

“I want to lose THIS”, she continued, as she grabbed the body fat on her stomach. “Do you think it’s a good idea?”

Linda was not “obese,” she just had the typical “moderate roll” of abdominal fat and a little bit of thigh/hip fat that many forty-something females struggle with.

“I think it’s a great idea” I reassured her. “Competitions are great for motivation. When you have a deadline and you dangle a “carrot” like that prize money in front of you, it can keep you focused and more motivated than ever.”

Linda was eager and rarin’ to go. “Will you help me? I have this enrollment kit and I need my body fat measured.”

“No problem,” I said as I pulled out my Skyndex fat caliper, which is used to measure body fat percentage with a “pinch an inch” test.

When I finished, I read the results from the caliper display: “Twenty-seven percent. Room for improvement, but not bad; it’s about average for your age group.”

She wasn’t overjoyed at being ‘average’. “Yeah, but it’s not good either. Look at THIS,” she complained as again she grabbed a handful of stomach fat. “I want to get my body fat down to 19%, I heard that was a good level.”

I agreed that 19% was a great goal, but it would take a lot of work because average fat loss is usually about a half a percent a week, or six percent in twelve weeks. Her goal, to lose eight percent in twelve weeks was ambitious.

She smiled and insisted, “I’m a hard worker. I can do it”

Well, indeed she was and indeed she did. She was a machine! Not only did she never miss a day in the gym, she trained HARD. Whenever I left my office and took a stroll through the gym, she was up there pumping away with everything she had. She told me her diet was the strictest it had ever been in her life and she didn’t cheat at all. I believed her. And it started to show, quickly.

Each week she popped into my office to have her body fat measured again, and each week it went down, down, down. Consistently she lost three quarters of a percent per week – well above the average rate of fat loss – and on two separate occasions, I recall her losing a full one percent body fat in just seven days.

Someone conservative might have said she was overtraining, but when we weighed her and calculated her lean body mass, we saw that she hadn’t lost ANY muscle – only fat. Her results were simply exceptional!

She was ecstatic, and needless to say, her success bred more success and she kept after it like a hungry tiger for the full twelve weeks.

On week twelve, day seven, she showed up in my office for her final weigh-in and body fat measurement. She was wearing a pair of formerly tight blue jeans and they were FALLING OFF HER! “Look, look, look,” she repeated giddily as she tugged at her waistband, which was now several inches too large.

As I took her body fat, I have to say, I was impressed. She hadn’t just lost a little fat, she was “RIPPED!”

During week twelve she dropped from 18% to 17% body fat, for a grand total of 10% body fat lost. She surpassed her goal of 19% by two percent. I was now even more impressed, because I had only seen a handful of people lose that much body fat in three months.

You should have seen her! She started hopping up and down for joy like she was on a pogo stick! She was beaming… grinning from ear to ear! She practically knocked me over as she jumped up and gave me a hug – “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Don’t thank me,” I said, “You did it, I just measured your body fat.”

She thanked me again anyway and then said she had to go have her “after” pictures taken. Then something very, very strange happened. She stopped coming to the gym. Her “disappearance” was so abrupt, I was worried and I called her. She never picked up, so I just left messages.

No return phone call.

It was about four months later when I finally saw Linda again. The giddy smile was gone, replaced with a sullen face, a droopy posture and a big sigh when I said hello and asked where she’d been.

“I stopped working out after the contest… and I didn’t even win.”

“You looked like a winner to me, no matter what place you came in” I insisted, “but why did you stop, you were doing so well!”

“I don’t know, I blew my diet and then just completely lost my motivation. Now look at me, my weight is right back where I started and I don’t even want to know my body fat.”

“Well, I’m glad to see you back in here again. Write down some new goals for yourself and remember to think long term too. Fitness isn’t a just 12 week program you know, it’s a lifestyle – you have to do it every day – like… forever.”

She nodded her head and finished her workout, still with that defeated look on her face. Unfortunately, she never again come anywhere near the condition she achieved for that competition, and for the rest of the time she was a member at our club, she slipped right back into the sporadic workout pattern.

Linda was not an isolated case. I’ve seen the same thing happen with countless men and women of all ages and fitness levels from beginners to competitive bodybuilders. In fact, it happens to millions of people who “go on” diets, lose a lot of weight, then “go off” the diet and gain the weight right back.

What causes people to burn so brightly with enthusiasm and motivation and then burn out just as quickly? Why do so many people succeed brilliantly in the short term but fail 95 out of 100 times in the long term? Why do so many people reach their fitness goals but struggle to maintain them?

The answer is simple: Health and fitness is for life, not for “12 weeks.”

You can avoid the on and off, yo-yo cycle of fitness ups and downs. You can get in great shape and stay in great shape. You can even get in shape and keep getting in better and better shape year after year, but it’s going to take a very different philosophy than most people subscribe to. The seven tips below will guide you.

These guidelines are quite contrary to the quick fix philosophies prevailing in the weight loss and fitness world today. Applying them will take patience, discipline and dedication. But remember, the only thing worse than getting no results is getting great results and losing them.

1) Don’t “go on” diets.

When you “go on” a diet, the underlying assumption is that at some point you have to “go off” it. This isn’t just semantics, it’s the primary reason most diets fail. By definition, a “diet” is a temporary and often drastic change in your eating behaviors and/or a severe restriction of calories or food, which is ultimately, not maintainable. If you reach your goal, the diet is officially “over” and then you “go off” (returning to the way you used to eat). Health and fitness is not temporary; it’s not a “diet.” It’s something you do every day of your life. Unless you approach nutrition from a “habits” and “lifestyle” perspective, you’re doomed from the start.

2) Eat the same foods all year round.

Permanent fat loss is best achieved by eating mostly the same types of foods all year round. Naturally, you should include a wide variety of healthy foods so you get the full spectrum of nutrients you need, but there should be consistency, month in, month out. When you want to lose fat, there’s no dramatic change necessary – you don’t need to eat totally different foods – it’s a simple matter of eating less of those same healthy foods and exercising more.

3) Have a plan for easing into maintenance.

Let’s face it – sometimes a nutrition program needs to be more strict than usual. For example, peaking for a bodybuilding or fitness contest requires an extremely strict regimen that’s different than the rest of the year. As a rule, the stricter your nutrition program, the more time you must allow for a slow, disciplined transition into maintenance. Failure to plan for a gradual transition will almost always result in bingeing and a very rapid, hard fall “off the wagon.”

4) Focus on changing daily behaviors and habits one or two at a time.

Rather than making huge, multiple changes all at once, focus on changing one or two habits/behaviors at a time. Most psychologists agree that it takes about 21 days of consistent effort to replace an old bad habit with a new positive one. As you master each habit, and it becomes as ingrained into your daily life as brushing your teeth, then you simply move on to the next one. That would be at least 17 new habits per year. Can you imagine the impact that would have on your health and your life? This approach requires a lot of patience, but the results are a lot more permanent than if you try to change everything in one fell swoop. This is also the least intimidating way for a beginner to start making some health-improving lifestyle changes.

5) Make goal setting a lifelong habit.

Goal setting is not a one-time event, it’s a process that never ends. For example, if you have a 12 week goal to lose 6% bodyfat, what are you going to do after you achieve it? Lose even more fat? Gain muscle? Maintain? What’s next? On week 13, day 1, if you have no direction and nothing to keep you going, you’ll have nothing to keep you from slipping back into old patterns. Every time you achieve a goal, you must set another one. Having daily and weekly short term goals means that you are literally setting goals continuously and never stopping.

6) Allow a reasonable time frame to reach your goal.

It’s important to set deadlines for your fitness and weight loss goals. It’s also important to set ambitious goals, but you must allow a reasonable time frame for achieving them. Time pressure is often the motivating force that helps people get in the best shape of their lives. But when the deadline is unrealistic for a particular goal (like 30 pounds in 30 days), then crash dieting or other extreme measures are often taken to get there before the bell. The more rapidly you lose weight, the more likely you are to lose muscle and the faster the weight will come right back on afterwards. Start sooner. Don’t wait until mid-May to think about looking good for summer.

7) Extend your time perspective.

Successful people in every field always share one common character trait: Long term time perspective. Some of the most successful Japanese technology and manufacturing companies have 100 year and even 250-year business plans. If you want to be successful in maintaining high levels of fitness, you must set long term goals: One year, Ten years, Even fifty years! You also must consider the long term consequences of using any “radical” diet, training method or ergogenic aid. The people who had it but lost it are usually the ones who failed to think long term or acknowledge future consequences. It’s easy for a 21 year old to live only for today, and it may even seem ridiculous to set 25 year goals, but consider this: I’ve never met a 40 or 50 year old who didn’t care about his or her health and appearance, but I have met 40 or 50 year olds who regretted not caring 25 years ago.

Copyright 2005 Tom Venuto

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How Does Obesity Affect Your Fertility?

March 9th, 2010 by fatcaliper

What effect does a woman’s weight have on her ability to conceive? Although, weight by itself is not a primary cause for a woman’s infertility, it is a factor in probably 5 to 10% of all cases where a woman has trouble becoming pregnant.

One factor that doctors look at in determining if you are overweight is your body mass index or BMI. BMI is a widely used measure of obesity calculated by determining a body’s weight relative to it’s height. It is calculated by dividing your weight in pounds by your height in inches squared and multiplying it by a conversion factor. In mathematical terms, it can be described as (weight / (height * height) x 703) – where 703 is the conversion factor. BMI is also used to determine if you are underweight.

Although not a definitive means of determining body fat, it offers a quick and easy and relatively accurate method to screen for people who are overweight. If necessary, your health care specialist or fertility specialist may require more accurate methods of determining percentages of body fat such as using calipers to measure your skin foldings or using hydrostatic weighing, where you are placed in a tank and your fat content measured by the amount of water you displaced.

Many health professionals believe that a BMI of 30 or over, qualifies you as being obese. And studies have shown that women with a BMI of 30 or over have greater difficulty becoming pregnant than those that are in the normal weight range. The reason is that women who are overweight are more likely to also be insulin resistant.

Insulin resistance occurs when the body is unable to use insulin properly. In response, your body tries to compensate by producing more insulin. Eventually, a tipping point is reached where the excess insulin that the body is producing begins to cause problems.

Insulin resistance is related to abnormal ovulation functioning. Specifically, if you are overweight, you are at a greater risk for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS than women of normal weight. PCOS can cause many fertility problems. It can cause abnormal periods such as anovulatory where the woman stops ovulating. PCOS can also cause hormonal imbalances such as high levels of androgens in the ovaries, leading to conception problems. In addition, it can also cause the ovaries to produce an excess of estrogen and lead to abnormal thickening of the uterus lining.

In addition to insulin resistance impeding the ability of a fertilized egg to attach to the uterus, it also increases the probability of a miscarriage – by a factor of 4 times greater than women of normal weight.

Some symptoms of insulin resistance is acne, excess hair body growth, weight gain, and hypertension.

It is possible to reverse PCOS by losing weight and changing the diet. There are also prescription drugs that can be used to lower the insulin levels which will lower the androgen levels in the woman’s system.

If you believe that you may be overweight, finding your BMI is a simple matter. Simply ask your doctor or fertility care person for a BMI chart and for insight as to how it’s results affect your chances of becoming pregnant.

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Monitoring Fat Loss Accurately

March 9th, 2010 by fatcaliper

Most people only know how to monitor their weight with a scale. The problem with this method is that the scale does not differentiate between how much of the “weight” is fat and how much is muscle. Losing “weight” is easy…the difficult part is losing fat and keeping it off. So, how can you accurately monitor your fat levels?

I like using an economical and practical method that I can still do in the privacy of my home, the skin fold test (also known as the “pinch an inch” method). This test is based on the fact that most of the fat is stored directly under the skin. This test has been found to be as accurate and reliable as other elaborate methods for testing body fat without the time, expense and equipment. The skin fold test is performed with a device called a skin fold caliper.

So how do you use a skin fold caliper to measure fat? Most body fat formulas require you to measure fat at 3 different locations then adding up the sum for your total. You can get these measurements from either the suprailliac (the spot about 1 inch above the point of your hip bone), abdominal, chest, bicep or tricep areas. Follow these steps to measure your fat levels:

(1) Pinch the skin in 3 of the areas defined above between your index finger and thumb and gently pull the skin.

(2) Place the jaws of the caliper over the pinched skin fold about 1/4 inch from your index finger and thumb and clamp down until you have a firm hold of your skin. The caliper jaws measure the thickness of the skin fold and fat in millimeters. Most devices have a slide member that automatically moves across the measurement arm as you clamp down on the device and stops at the appropriate reading/measurement.

(3) Make sure you take a vertical fold and not a horizontal fold.

(4) Look up the sum of the skin folds (from the 3 areas measured) on the percent fat estimate chart that comes with the calipers. These charts are derived from mathematical regression equations and allow for quick and easy interpretation of the skin fold measurements.

Simply follow the above steps on a regular basis to accurately track your fat loss process. Remember to keep a journal and document your progress. If the numbers are not what you expect or want, simple adjust your diet as needed and kick up your cardio training to the next level.

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Functional Performance Instead of Underwater Weighing, Electronic Impedance, Or Skin Calipers

March 8th, 2010 by fatcaliper

The car is fully packed and the family is ready for vacation. And when I say fully packed, I mean that 800 pounds of luggage is stuffed into the trunk, as well as in and around the kids in the back seat. You can hardly see out of the rear view mirror because you’ve packed so much into this poor car.

You drive down the highway for the first 100 miles and notice that your car’s normal pick up seems to be lacking, and the fuel gauge is dropping faster than usual, so you pull off the road and decide to try something drastic. One by one you take each piece of luggage out of the trunk, and the back seat of the car, and place them all carefully alongside the road. I mean you eliminate everything but the wife and kids. Then you proceed to put the car in gear and drive on down the road.

Suddenly you notice that your car’s pick up and the gas gauge are both back to normal. In other words the physical performance of your car has suddenly improved now that you’ve eliminated all the excess weight. In engineering terms this phenomena is commonly known as improving your car’s “Power to Weight Ratio.”

Cars, Planes, and Human Bodies

The power to weight principle applies whether you’re throwing excess weight out of your car or out of an airplane. Maintain the horsepower, eliminate non-functional, excess weight, and performance automatically improves. Interestingly enough, it applies just as well to the human body. Hang on to your horsepower (your muscle power), eliminating the excess weight (fat) and magic, your physical performance will automatically increase (and vice versa).

A Direct Relationship

But what I want to focus on here is the direct relationship between physical efficiency and your functional performance. This means that if your physical efficiency (% of body fat) increases, your functional performance (ie running, jumping, climbing) is automatically increased. When your physicalefficiency (your % of body fat) deteriorates, your performance automatically deteriorates.

Let’s Get Practical About Measuring Body Composition

That being the case, I’d like to pose the following question. If physical efficiency (body composition) is automatically reflected in functional performance, why does anyone need to measure anyone’s percentage of body fat with under water weighing, electronic impedance, or with skin calipers? Furthermore, if physical efficiency is automatically reflected in functional performance, why would anyone ever bother measuring anyone’s BMI?

It seems to me that the aim of improving anyone’s percentage of body fat, their body composition, or their physical efficiency (these are all the same thing) is to improve their functional performance. And if you improve their functional performance, you’re automatically improving their physical efficiency as well as their percentage of body fat, and their body composition.

Choose One Functional Activity and Master It

So why not just choose one functional activity (i.e. pull ups, dips, or rope jumping), get a base line, train to improve that one activity, day after day, week after week, month after month, and recognize that the participant’s physical efficiency, their percentage of body fat, and their body composition are all improving automatically, simultaneously?

Why even waste anyone’s time with underwater weighing, electronic impedance, skin fold measurements, or BMI, when all of these are directly and automatically reflected in functional performance changes? To eliminate obesity simply choose one functional activity (pull ups, dips, or rope climbing), practice it week after week, month after month, master it, and maintain the mastery. When mastery is maintained, obesity (physical inefficiency) becomes impossible.

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How You Can Get Rid of Belly Fat – Weight Loss Tips Revealed

March 8th, 2010 by fatcaliper

If there isn’t any secret formula to it, how can I eliminate the fats in my belly? Don’t give up, once you have understood better about it, you will know how to look into this matter and solve it.

What should you do to get rid of belly fats? To tell the truth, there is no special medication or workout that specifically targets at belly fats. However, the good thing about losing belly fats is that whenever you try to lose weight, belly fats are the first parts of fats around your body to be lost.

Belly fats are lost is the middle part of the body 99% of the occurrences when people try to lose weight throughout their body.

There are 3 contributors leading to belly fats. Before we start, let’s dig in depth into the different factors.

1. Visceral fat

What is visceral fat? Visceral fat is equivalent to organic fat, and you can find them in the peritoneal cavity, packed in the space between organs.

If you have an excess of this type of fats, you are said to possess what we call a “pot belly” or “beer belly”. This type of body shape signifies the abdomen being excessively jutted out over the waistline of an individual – also known as the apple-shaped belly.

2. Subcutaneous Fat

Where does this fat lie in? It can be found just right underneath the skin, opposite from the visceral fat found in the peritoneal cavity.

Using the body fat calipers, we can estimate the amount of total adiposity, hence finding out the amounts of subcutaneous fat present in your body. By acting as insulation from heat, fat helps in the process of regulating your body temperature in homeostasis. It prevents heat loss in a long term basis.

3. Obesity

We would have to understand obesity before embarking on our weight loss journey. Obesity means that body fats are present in your body in excess amounts such that to a certain point, heath may be threatened.

Obesity is also known as a body mass index (BMI = square of weight divided by the height) of equivalent or more than 30, whereas overweight will indicate the BMI of 25 to 29.9.

You have to understand your own situation and know how to correct it to receive full results for dieting. Having done so, slowly replace your daily habits with those in your plan and adapt to it. Your plan may to cover the scope of exercising and a diet plan.

It is essential to know the knowledge of belly fats, as well as exercising and eating healthily daily. Want to know more? Visit our website.

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How To Get Rid Of Belly Fat + 7 Secrets To The Ab Best Workout Plan

March 7th, 2010 by fatcaliper

How to get rid of belly fat and how to keep stomach fat off are both important questions. There are several secrets to getting the best ab workout. Diets that can actually speed up stomach fat loss are available.

4 Effective Ways On How To Get Rid Of Belly Fat

1. Accept the fact that to achieve the perfect muscled look might take a little time. Building muscles, loosing fat, reshaping your body, and learning how you respond to diets and supplements takes time.

2. Bodybuilding fitness and the ab best workout plan means going to the gym and to have good exercise routines. This idea really works on how to get rid of belly fat.

3. Changing your diet in another key to get rid of stomach fat and keeping the fat off. To get the best results out of your bodybuilding fitness plan, you would have to eat three meals a day. Eat small but frequently.

4. To ensure success in your bodybuilding fitness plan, to an ab best workout plan and to get rid of stomach fat, make a commitment to yourself and make the effort to change your habits.

The 7 Secrets To The Best Ab Workout And Tips For Metabolism On How To Get Rid Of Belly Fat

1. Bodybuilding with a full body workout and diets are a part of every bodybuilder’s regimen. Being a pro or an amateur doesn’t even matter as a bodybuilding diet with the ab best workout is so important to exercise and is how to get rid of love handles.

2. The ultimate goal is to learn how to get rid of belly fat and the best ab workout is simply one way to do it. Here we show you the best way to correct the mistakes some people make and hence, maximize the potential for success in your bodybuilding diet.

3. Every bodybuilding dieter has a flaw but the worst is definitely impatience when it comes to the ab best workout to get rid of belly fat. It takes time for a bodybuilding diet program to work and a lot of bodybuilding dieters make the mistake of jumping from one diet to another simply because they are too impatient to stay with one program for longer than a week.

4. Not tracking your calorie-intake is a mistake when asking how toget rid of belly fat. Because a lot of bodybuilding dieters don’t keep records of what they eat, the amount of carbohydrates and proteins they take, or the overall fat and calorie intake they make, many of them don’t lose fat at the expected rate. Any miscalculation in your calorie-intake is a risk not worth taking. So keep tabs of your food consumption. This is what every bodybuilding dieter should always keep in mind to ensure success in their bodybuilding diet endeavor.

5. Irregular eating habits is another major mistake when asking how to get rid of belly fat. Haphazard and sporadic eating is something every bodybuilding dieter should avoid. Whether you are adapting a three-meals-a-day diet plan or doing it five times a day, staying consistent is the answer to losing fat leaning up your body mass.

6. Remember that bodybuilding and weight loss is primarily a visual sport. So even if the scale or body fat calipers don’t give you the gauge you’re expecting, your stomach fat loss and bodybuilding diet with the ab best workout plan is still probably working, especially if your photos or an unbiased observer tells you that you look leaner and fuller.

7. Supplements work like magic. In proper bodybuilding diet, this is called wishful thinking. No supplements, no matter how good their products reviews are, can make you shed belly fats in say, a day.

When you ask how to get rid of belly fat you should remember that supplements can only do so much. The rest is attributed to the person’s commitment to the program, getting rid of belly fat and nutritional common sense is key.

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Obesity Chart to Charter Your Health

March 7th, 2010 by fatcaliper

There are certain measures that health providers use in order to determine a person’s condition for obesity. Aside from the BMI obesity calculator, the waist circumference measure is also another obesity chart determinant used to compute one’s chances of being obese and also assessing the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and the other health problems related with obesity.

The exact percentage of body fat that a person has is difficult to achieve, but approximations can be made through the combination of a number of obesity chart measurements. First, using a caliper, a tweezer-like tool used to measure the thickness of skin folds on different parts of the body and then compared with standardized measurements. Small devices that send a harmless electrical current through the body and measures body fat percentage are also sometimes used.

The most commonly used obesity chart though is the Body Mass Index (BMI) determinant. A person with a BMI over 30 is considered to be obese, and a BMI over 50 is considered to be morbidly obese. Nonetheless, the BMI could be misleading as its criterion may not always be applicable or accurate for pregnant or lactating women, muscular individuals, and Asians, Hispanics, Latino, or Africans (their adjusted their BMI results define overweight if it is above 23 and obese if above 27). Because BMI does not show the difference between fat and muscle, it does not always accurately predict when weight could lead to health problems associated with obesity. For example, a body-builder may have a BMI over 30, but he may still be healthy and have little risk of developing diabetes or having a heart attack. BMI also may not accurately reflect fatness in people who are too short (less than 5 feet) and also in older people, who only normally tend to lose muscle mass as they age. Very muscular people would fall into the ‘overweight’ category when they are actually healthy and fit. The elderly would also be in the ‘healthy/normal weight’ category in their BMI when they actually have reduced nutritional reserves.

Still, as the BMI provides useful excess weight estimates, the waist circumference obesity chart locates a person’s body fat distribution which also determines the risks in his health. Basically, if a person carries fats mainly around the waist, then he is more likely to develop health problems, than if his fats lie mainly in the hips and thighs. This chart also standardize that women with waist measurements more than 35-inches, or men with waist measurements more than 40-inches may have higher disease risks than people with smaller waist measurements. This is true even if the BMI falls within the normal range.

Therefore further evaluation of a patient should be performed to determine his weight/fats status and associated health risks. Although BMI is a reliable way for most people to tell if their weight is putting their health at risk, using a number of obesity chart determiners would undoubtedly allow for closer comparisons and hopefully better estimations.

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Overweight or "Big Boned"? Three Simple Tests to Help You Decide

March 6th, 2010 by fatcaliper

If you are overweight, you probably know it already and your doctor has probably warned you about its dangers.

However, muscle weighs more than fat, and some people have larger, heavier bones than others. You can be heavy and perfectly healthy if a large percentage of your weight is in bone and muscle. However, if a high percentage of your weight is fat, you are at increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, strokes, some types of cancer and other health problems.

If you’re not sure where you stand, use these three simple measures to see whether you should be concerned about excess weight.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Waist-Hip ratio – to determine whether you’re an “apple” or a “pear”

My “Inch of Pinch” test

The BMI (Body Mass Index) is a standard calculation used by doctors and nutritionists to see if your weight is appropriate for your height. You can find charts and the easy formula to calculate your BMI using a Google search. If your BMI is 30 or more, your statistical risk of death from any cause is increased by 50 to 150 percent. But you need to know more about your body composition. Read on.

Your WAIST/HIP RATIO is calculated by dividing your waist size by your hip size. Use a measuring tape to measure your hips at the widest part of your buttocks. Then measure your waist where it is smallest, usually just above the belly button. Then divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement. Record your result on your “Before and After” Chart. Women should have a ratio of 0.8 or less; men should be no higher than 1.0. If your ratio is higher than these ideals, you are an “apple” with excess fat in stored your abdomen.

Finally, here’s my “INCH OF PINCH” Test. Ordinary scales tell you your total weight and can help you keep track of weight changes, but they tell you nothing about the composition of your body. If you are exercising and building muscle, you may gain weight in a healthy way. You can buy special scales that estimate your body fat percentage, but they are expensive and not completely reliable. Your doctor may use fat calipers, or send you for an accurate body composition test where you are immersed in water, but you can make a simple calculation yourself using my “Inch of Pinch” test.

Using your thumb and forefinger, grasp the skin 3″ to the right or left of your navel. Pinch firmly but not so hard that it hurts. Then slide your hand away without changing the distance between your thumb and forefinger, and see how far apart they are. Ideally you will have pinched about 1/2″ inch of flesh. An inch or more in your “pinch” means that your excess body weight is more fat than muscle.

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Acid Reflux Weight Loss Part 1 – Need Acid Reflux Help? You May Want to Look to Weight Loss

March 6th, 2010 by fatcaliper

If you’re seeking acid reflux help, one of the first things to realize is that being overweight or obese, even by few pounds, can increase your risk of acid reflux; increase the number of attacks you experience, increase the number and severity of symptoms, add to your risk of developing a hiatus hernia, and can make acid reflux generally a more debilitating condition. But how do you know if you are overweight or obese? How do you know how much weight you need to lose to receive meaningful acid reflux relief?

The first thing you should understand is the difference between being overweight and being obese and what each of these terms really means. Overweight is a term used by doctors and health professionals in order to identify if a person has excessive body weight including fat, muscle, water, and bone. On the other hand, obesity is a condition that refers specifically to an excess amount of fat in the body. It is therefore possible to be overweight without being obese, such as in the case of bodybuilders and some muscular athletes.

In terms of getting acid reflux help for your symptoms, obesity is what needs to be avoided, as it is the excess of fat in your body that has shown to cause the heightened risks and acid reflux symptoms. Obesity is measured by determining the amount of fat in your body. Keep in mind that body fat is a natural part of our makeup, and is required to survive. Fat is vital for many functions such as storing energy, absorbing shock, and insulating for temperature regulation. Women, as a rule, have a larger percentage of body fat than men. Generally speaking, the majority of health professionals consider a man with more than 25 percent body fat, or a woman with over 30 percent body fat to be obese.

It isn’t easy to measure the precise amount of fat in a person’s body. The most accurate ways to determine this is by weighing you underwater and measuring water displacement, or by using a special form of X-ray test called a Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA). Clearly, these are not techniques that you will be able to apply at home whenever you want to check your body fat level.

Some doctors measure the thickness of the fat layer beneath the skin in specific body parts often using specially designed calipers. Others use a harmless electrical current that runs through your body to judge the amount of body fat. Some gyms and health clubs, as well as some weight loss programs also offer these forms of measuring fat body. However, should they be performed by an inexperienced or poorly trained individual, the results can vary widely and be quite inaccurate. Furthermore, if you are severely obese, these tests are less likely to be accurate.

Therefore, it is useful to have a tool of your own for judging your level of body fat. This measure is referred to as the body mass index (BMI) and is based on weight-for-height tables that provide an acceptable range for an adult of a given size. Though this is not as accurate as some of the other tests previously mentioned they are much more practical to the average person. Keep in mind that these tables don’t distinguish between increased levels of fat and muscle, so a very muscular person could easily appear obese according to BMI tables.

That being said, the BMI is the current standard used to measure the amount of fat in the body of an adult. The higher the BMI, the greater your risk of obesity and the higher your risk of increased problems with acid reflux. The BMI formula can be calculated as follows:

- Your current weight (lbs) multiplied by 703 = X

- X divided by your height (inches) = Y

- Y divided by your height (inches) again = Your BMI

If your BMI is below 18.5, you are typically considered to be underweight. If your BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9, you’re within your healthy weight range. If your BMI is between 25 and 29.9, you may be overweight. If your BMI is greater than 30, you are at risk of being obese.

If you are overweight or obese, some of the best acid reflux help you can get is to start an acid reflux diet and exercise program to lose weight and reduce your symptoms and risks of greater GERD problems.

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Finding a Used Classic Car Part May Be Easier Than it Seems

March 5th, 2010 by fatcaliper

Thanks to computers and the internet, it is easier than ever to find a used part for the restoration of your classic car. Searchers can use sites like ebay, craigslist, and timelessrides.com to search vast online databases. Many times you will find the part you need on these sites, but you will need to calculate the shipping costs if it is being delivered, and whether it is worth the extra price or not. The harder a piece is to find, the more it is worth paying the extra costs.

Online forums are also a great way to meet other people interested in the same cars as you, and someone online can probably give you the information you need, or guide you were to find it. This includes parts hunting. You wouldn’t believe how many parts some collectors have, that are never used. Many times they only get sold when requested. Many can relate to this “Well I was planning on using it someday” routine. Time and money are two valuable things you need to have when restoring a car.

Local car clubs that specialize in the interested car can also be a valuable resource for finding parts. even if you don’t locate the part, you may find some offerings of help installing the piece once you find it. Remember, many of these car club members very likely were in the same position as you restoring their cars. Most auto enthusiasts will help out another fan. Trade magazines are another way to find the parts, whether it’s an advertisement for re-manufactured parts, or a classified ads magazine with restorers selling their unused inventory.

One must not forget about the local salvage yard. This could be one of the best tools you could use for your search. Most salvage yards use a computer based inventory system, and the databases are shared with thousands of other yards across the nation on a computer network. The two main networks are supplied by Hollander and Pinnacle, and you will want to contact a salvage yard that is on each. Each network boasts over 2,000 businesses of inventory, and generally a yard is on one or the other. By contacting a yard on each network platform, you can essentially search 4,000+ salvage yards for the part you need. If found, the yard will coordinate with the other yard on shipping information to the requested yard for your pickup. These systems will also display parts that may be available that interchange. Many manufacturers use parts that work in a list of models, not just one.

Safety needs to be a concern when it comes to used parts. Used parts may be perfect for cosmetic, interior, or body parts but may not suit areas like the steering wheel, column, and brake parts. New safety features and material have been introduced since these classic cars were first produced, and sometimes it’s beeter to modify the car to use new brake calipers or other upgraded safety parts. Only you will be able to judge how you decide to buy a used or new part.

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