Tight tummies and your core

I always have to laugh when people think tha they can take a pill to loose weight on just one part of their body. Take for example relacore, I even took that pill for about a week, it is nothing more than super caffeine and will make you hyper, hyper and more hyper. Phosphacore is much along those same lines. In fact it is just another pill with "core" as part of its name to claim that it targets tummy fat. In fact if you do a search for phosphacore reviews you will come up with more hard sells than real facts. If you do any search on a diet pill just add the words "side effects" to the search and the results would be enough to make you stop taking pills altogether.

You have got to have fun in order to loose weight

I have discovered one of the most enjoyable weight loss programs - and I invented just for me. I have a treadmill that I think is the most boring way to exercise but since I already have it in the house I might as well use it. How I made it enjoyable was to get a small MP3 player and put 40 minutes of music on it that got me almost dancing on the machine. All of the songs I picked for their tempo and put them on the MP3 player in order to warm-up, exercise and cool down.

Now I enjoy my workouts. I told a friend and he confessed to me that he has several play lists on his iPod that he uses for workouts. He has one play list for jogging, another for weights and one for his elliptical.

Music does make exercising more fun.

Wrinkles in the neck

Older women often wonder why they have loose skin in the neck area. It should be no surprise to the since it was often the remnants of being overweight when they were in their 40's and 50's. Cosmetic companies have made a killing selling skin tightening creams and often spend millions of dollars in advertising that they have the best wrinkle cream on the market.

Of course women don't realize that wrinkles and loose flabby skin are two different things. Men on the other hand seem not worry about the double chin effect. Many leading men on TV have double shins but if a women has one she had better been made to look that way for the part.

Exercise machine - the elliptical

We have a treadmill at home and even though I use it, it is not best fat burning exercise because I don't run on it. The elliptical on the other hand will burn off calories at a rate of up to 300 every 5 minutes. When I use the elliptical at the gym I can only stay on if for no more than 10 minutes at a time since it wipes me out. If you don't stand on it correctly then your back will hurt so you need to find your center of gravity when using it. Try leaning different ways on it while using it to see which is the best position for you. The wrong position will not only hurt but will deter you from going back on it.

Discrimination because of being overweight

It is a sad fact that during tight employment times like now, subtle employment screening takes place. Unfortunately visual screening is the very first process that companies do to weed out potential employees. About 10 years ago I got a job over the phone because there was a shortage of what I did. Now with the high unemployment rate I have to go in to be seen for the interview. That means I not only have to dress up but look fit. Companies tend to not want people that will drive up their health insurance costs and being overweight is one of them.

Of course it would be hard to prove that anybody has been discriminated due to weight but with the rise in the amount of women going in for nip tuck procedures then you know that weight will play a part.

I would like to hear of any of your stories regarding looking for a job and your weight...leave a comment.

Take care of your health

Weight loss to become a healthier you will lengthen your life, lower your medical insurance costs and keep you off of social security disability. Excess weight contributes to bone loss, diabetes and believe it or not increased pain from lack of movement. Did you know that shortness of breath is a sign of heart disease? When your heart becomes weak because of excess weight and lack of exercise then it cannot pump blood to your lungs to get your blood oxygen. That causes shortness of breath.

Outdoor fitness

The one thing about springtime is the fact we finally have some great days to go outside and get some fresh air at the same time getting some much needed exercise. Maybe you can finally put to good use those workout clothes you bought last Cyber Monday (but it was too cold to wear back then).

Don't forget to still wear layered clothing so as you get warmer you can adjust to the ever changing spring weather. At the end of your workout don't forget to cool down slowly so your muscles don't get chilled and cause you to hav cramps later.

Do you have expensive exercise equipment?

Treadmills, ellipticals, swim spas and those other very expensive workout equipment - do you own one? What do you do when it breaks down? Or has it? I know when we bought our fully loaded treadmill for under $150 (it was a clearance sale) I was offered mechanical breakdown insurance but I turned it down. The price for the plan was almost as much as the treadmill. That was about 6 years ago and we have yet to have a problem with it.

I say go with your gut feeling when buying fix-it plans for your stuff. Sometimes it costs more in the long run to buy the plan than to buy a new machine.