Almost eight Kettlebell Exercises For Fat Loss

Learn why everyone from professional athletes to your favorite Hollywood celebrities are using these kettlebell exercises in their workouts. They’re a phenomenal way to tone your body, build muscle and increase cardio all in the same workout.

Did you know workouts using kettlebells are the best for burning high amounts of calories? In this study undertaken by the American Council on Exercise it was shown that when kettlebells were used in high-intensity interval training participants burned 20.2 calories per minute. That’s the same amount of calories burned as running at a 6-minute mile pace or cross-country skiing up hill!

Kettlebell exercises are super sculptors – the weight of a kettlebell isn’t evenly distributed which forces your stabilizer muscles to go into overdrive. These exercises are targeted at working your arms, shoulders, back, butt and core. Melt fat, increase muscle and improve your endurance – your whole body is about to become more slim and toned!

1- Comfortable Grip Kettlebells For Total Body Workouts

First you’ll need to grab yourself a set of kettlebells. Kettlebells are always a great option for total body workouts. They take up minimal amounts of space and are just so effective and easy to use.

2- Around-the-Body Rotation

Start by holding the kettlebell in front of your torso with both hands. Keep a slight bend in your knees and have your feet at hip-width apart. Pass the kettlebell into your right hand and move it behind your body from your right hand into your left hand. Bring the kettlebell around your body back to the front completing a full circle – that’s one rep.

Do 12 of these reps then swap directions and do another 12 reps without stopping. Repeat for a total of 3 sets in each direction.


Tip: Try to keep the kettlebell at exactly the same height while performing this exercise.

3- Bent over row

Start by holding the kettlebell in your right hand and bend forward at the hips so that your torso is almost parallel to the ground. Let the kettlebell hang at arm’s length and grip the handle firmly. Keeping your arm tucked close to your side lift the kettlebell upwards with your elbow pointing towards the ceiling while keeping your torso in the same position. Lower the kettlebell back to arm’s length and you’ve completed one rep.

Do 12 reps on each side and repeat for a total of 3 sets on each side.

Tip: Try squeezing your upper back and pinching your shoulder blades together while doing this exercise.

3- Dead lift

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and the kettlebell placed between your legs. Keep your knees slightly bent with your butt downward but not in a deep squat position. Keep your head in-line with your spine and with a firm grip on the handles lift the kettlebell up, then lower it back to its starting position. While doing the movement activate your glutes and hamstrings and push down on your heels as you stand up.

Do 12 reps and use a reasonably heavy kettlebell.

Tip: Try flexing your laterals during the lift to maintain good core stability.

5- Figure 8’s

 

Start holding the kettlebell in your right hand and standing with your feet just over shoulder-width apart with your knees bent into a quarter squat position. Remember to keep your chest up and spine straight. Swing the kettlebell between your legs and behind your left leg while grabbing it with your left hand. Grab the kettlebell with your left hand and swing it back around between your legs and behind your right leg, while grabbing it with your right hand and back to the initial position completing a rep. You’ll want to do this for 12 reps.

Tip: Do the movement slowly and controlled while keeping your core braced.

6- Half get-up

Start lying flat on your back with your legs straight and the kettlebell by your right side. Grip the kettlebell in your right hand and press it up while keeping your arm straight so that it is above your shoulder. Bend your left and place your foot on the floor while placing your left hand behind you on the ground for stabilization. Reverse the steps back down to the starting position and that is one rep. Complete 6 reps using your left hand then repeat 6 reps using your right hand.

7- Swing

Start by gripping the kettlebell in both hands between your legs at a stance just over shoulder width apart. Keeping your core braced, drop your hips into a squat position while letting the kettlebell hang just behind your heels. Driving through your hips, stand straight up and swing the kettlebell upwards to shoulder height. As it comes back down, bend your legs and return to the squat position – that’s a complete rep and you’ll want to do 20 of them.

Tip: Look forward while keeping your arms straight and squeezing your glutes when performing the swing.

8- Front squat

Start by standing with your feet at shoulder width apart. Hold the kettlebell close to your chest with your elbows bent and it closed to your body. Bend at the knees and push your hip back until your knees are parallel to the ground. Remember to keep your chest up and back straight. Return to the standing position by pushing off from your heals and you’ve completed one rep. Do 20 front squats.

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7 Best Healthy Snacks Packed With Protein

Trying to cut back on calories but finding yourself craving not-so-healthy foods? Try these 7 best healthy snacks that are packed with protein that’ll keep you on your diet and losing weight.

So cut back the calories, get slim and stay satisfied by choosing from these healthy and high protein snacks!

Satisfy With A High Protein Hit

Snacks high in protein can help you lose weight and stick to a diet. Protein
releases energy slowly and will leave you feeling fuller for longer. As a super slow energy releaser, protein will help you stay satisfied, can fight off food cravings and keeps your blood sugar levels stable. Protein is also essential for healthy muscles and hair.

So with all the positives that protein provides, which snacks will you pack to keep satisfied? See our handy list of high protein foods to keep off the calories and prevent you from reaching for unhealthy snacks, such as crisps or chocolate.

1Go Nuts

Nuts are a great way to get some protein on the go. Whether it’s a peanut butter snack pack containing around 190 calories and 8 grams of protein (per 1.15 ounces), or a handful of your favorite nuts, which can be combined with dried fruit for extra flavor and fiber, nuts definitely pack in protein. Almonds are an awesome way to get extra protein into your diet and with 4 grams of protein for 14 almonds, at only 100 calories per serving, why not go nuts?

2Eat Some Meat

Meat contains high levels of protein, and by cutting up small cubes of chicken or steak you can create a handy protein snack. However, if you don’t want the fuss of cooking, jerky can provide an alternative option with 7 to 11 grams of protein per one ounce serving and only 70 to 90 calories.

3Take Some Tuna Or Turkey

Pouches of tuna contain 16 grams of protein and are an excellent way to get omega 3 into your diet, which is essential for your body to function. Turkey rolls can provide around 18 grams of protein and can be filled them with flavor and turned into a wrap by adding tomato and mustard. Alternatively, make your own version by adding your favorite veg. Cover your turkey wraps in film or take them in a tub so that they are ready to eat on the go, and at 75 calories per wrap, you can’t complain.

4Get Some Wholegrain

Whole grain bars are the latest trend and whether you take a bar with you or eat it for breakfast, they contain between 10 to 15 grams of protein. However, be careful to read the label first because some can come with a high sugar and fat content. Oatmeal can provide a healthier alternative and has around 4 grams of protein per packet. For those on the go, you can grab a pot of oatmeal from your local supermarket and take it for breakfast or lunch. Mix your oatmeal with milk, sprinkle on some almonds and you have a simple and tasty snack packed full of proteins.

5Squeeze In Some Cheese

Cottage cheese is low in fat and high in protein, with 20 grams and 110 calories per 5 ounce serving. This tasty cheese is great paired with tuna and spring onions or put on a celery stick for a snack with extra crunch. Mini cheeses are also a handy way to get some protein; they can easily be added into your bag, are available in different varieties and contain around 6 to 8 grams of protein.

6Do It With Dairy

Greek yogurt, kefir (a drinkable creamy yogurt) and low-fat chocolate milk are all packed full of proteins and will provide calcium to keep your teeth and bones healthy. Yes you heard correctly, low fat chocolate milk, which will not only provide you with enough protein to help you lose weight, but will also satisfy your taste buds, should you get a craving for chocolate. Low fat chocolate milk provides 9 grams of satisfying protein, whilst Greek yogurt can give you 12 to 30 grams a container. Kefir, which provides a great lactose free alternative, has 11 grams of protein per cup with three times as many probiotics than yogurt, so is also good for your gut.

7How About Hummus?

Chickpeas come with 7 grams of protein per a quarter cup serving and can be made into hummus by blending with oil and tahini. Other beans, lentils and peas will provide protein and can be mixed with vegetables and spices for a super tasty snack. However, if hummus isn’t for you why not cook some rice? As rice also contains protein, providing approximately 6 grams per 4.4 ounce cup.

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Listeria in Your Freezer: How Long the Bacteria Survive

Listeria in Your Freezer: How Long the Bacteria Survive 

The latest Listeria-related food recall includes more than 350 frozen fruit and vegetable products, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The recall covers frozen foods produced as far back as May 2014, with "use by" dates through as far as April 2018, the CDC reported. Listeria bacteria represent one of the top causes of food-borne illness in the U.S., according to the CDC.

The seemingly long shelf life for the Listeria in these products results, in part, from how the foods are stored: in the freezer. 

Listeria can live for a really long time in the freezer, said Benjamin Chapman, a food-safety specialist and an associate professor at North Carolina State University.

In fact, freezing is how scientists preserve bacteria when they want to study the organisms in the lab, Chapman told Live Science.

Although freezing temperatures will prevent Listeria bacteria from growing, they don't kill the bacteria, Chapman said. The microbes survive in the freezer, he said.

In addition, Listeria are among the few bacteria that can actually multiply at refrigerator temperatures, according to the CDC. For most other bacteria, these temperatures halt the bacteria's growth, sending them into a state of suspended animation.

Who's at risk?

Healthy people are unlikely to get sick from eating foods contaminated with Listeria. Rather, adults older than 65, people with weakened immune systems and pregnant women are at higher risk for illness, according to the CDC.

People who have been getting sick in this outbreak have ranged in age from 56 to 86, the CDC reported.

While Listeria is not ubiquitous, it is very common in raw foods, Chapman said. Most people ingest some Listeria daily, but not in high amounts, and those individuals are fine, he said. It takes, on average, thousands of Listeria cells to make a person sick, he said.

But when Listeria does make someone sick, "it's one of the most fatal pathogens we have," Chapman said.

Several CDC reports of Listeria outbreaks found that the infection's mortality rate was between 15 and 20 percent among people who became sick enough that they had to be hospitalized.

Staying safe

To protect yourself against Listeria, frozen vegetables should be cooked before they are eaten, Chapman said. Heating the foods kills Listeria, he said. 

In fact, frozen vegetables are not considered "ready to eat" products, meaning that the foods should not be eaten raw, Chapman said. Though eating raw, frozen vegetables may sound unusual, frozen kale, for example, is increasingly being used in smoothies, he said. And it's not uncommon for pediatricians to recommend letting young children chew and suck on frozen veggies while teething, he added.

Chapman noted that microwaving these foods is not the best way to prepare them. That's because microwaves provide very uneven heat distribution, Chapman said. The food will get very hot in some places and not hot in other places, he said. In other words, the bacteria might not be killed throughout the food. 

He also recommended avoiding thawing frozen vegetables in the refrigerator. This can be risky, especially if a person leaves the food in the refrigerator for multiple days, he said. 

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When healthy eating takes over your life

Macros; points; percentages; 80/20; 90/10; the list goes on. In recent times, we have assigned food a value other than sustenance. The "clean eating" movement has taken over the way we view food and eating. The diet industry has flooded the market with hundreds of ways to eliminate food groups and with tips on how to adopt a lifestyle of restrictive eating that has nothing to do with calories and losing weight.

No sugar, no gluten, no bread, no processed foods, no meat other than organic; there are entire books being written around the word "no" as it relates to food. We are proud of our dietary sacrifices and critical of those whose plates represent something other than pure health. Entire conversations are taking place about what we put into our body and value is being attached to people who choose to live a life other than "clean."

There's now a name for people dangerously addicted to all things healthy -- a sufferer of orthorexia nervosa; a term coined in 1997 by Dr Steven Bratman that describes a fixation with healthy eating, to the point where it becomes a crippling compulsion, described as "a disease disguised as a virtue".

Orthorexia differs from other eating disorders in that it is not necessarily about the individual controlling the food; rather, the food controls the individual. It is considered an "unhealthy obsession" with otherwise healthy eating. A person struggling with orthorexia obsesses about purity, not weight.

All you have to do it spend ten minutes on social media, and you are bombarded with clean eating and countless articles and posts on this latest movement. While a diet focused on natural foods can be a great thing, it is when this becomes so obsessive that it can be damaging to your health and well being that it becomes a problem.

It is almost like a badge of honour to be part of the #cleaneating brigade; to live your life by the book of health and clean eating and sacrifice happiness for the sake of a pure diet. The line between being careful about what you eat and being obsessive is difficult to distinguish. One of the problems with orthorexia is that in some ways it is more socially acceptable than other disorders.

Orthorexia takes over a person's life; in many cases, they have lost the pleasure of eating and instead it has been replaced with rigidity and the idea that only "clean" and "healthy" foods should pass their lips. People with this mindset are preoccupied with the make-up of these pure foods and will avoid at all costs those foods that they have identified as unhealthy.

While a healthy lifestyle consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein and complex carbohydrates is ideal, those struggling with orthorexia will cross over into the category of obsession and may find that their life begins revolving around the nutritional make-up and constant scrutiny of each of these food groups.

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TIPS FOR A HEALTHY HEART - it's deserve

Let’s honor it by becoming more aware of the risk factors and prevention of heart disease, because you deserve to live long!

Did you know that heart disease is the biggest killer? It is also a fact that most people neglect their heart health. Do you take care of your heart as you should?

Believe it or not – a healthy heart is one of the keys to happiness in your life. That’s right, if your heart is in a good shape, you’re not only likely to live long, but also love more and appreciate all the good things in life.

hat’s right, if your heart is in a good shape, you’re not only likely to live long, but also love more and appreciate all the good things in life.

Many people are ignorant and they do not know how their actions affect their heart.

They indulge in substance abuse like smoking and heavy drinking. They live a sedentary lifestyle that mostly involves sitting or lack of physical exercise and movement.

That is why sometimes sitting is considered equivalent to smoking.

Did you know that your heart does the maximum physical work of any muscle during a lifetime, beginning from just after a month of conception?

Your heart also beats about 100,000 times in one day and pumps around 1 million barrels of blood during an average lifetime.

Don’t you think this hard working organ of your body needs more attention and care?

Trust me; you would not want to suffer from a cardiovascular disease at this age! I know I wouldn’t

Sad to say, but about one American dies every 40 seconds from cardiovascular disease. This is not only alarming, but also shocking.

If you already knew this fact and aren’t still doing anything to improve your heart health, then it is surely devastating.

So, before it’s too late, let’s identify the risks and learn how to have a healthy heart.

Major Risk Factors For Getting Heart Disease

Image Source – Heart.Org

These are risk factors along with the preventive options:

1. High blood cholesterol – Eat right by having a balanced and healthy diet. Your fasting blood glucose should preferably be less than 100 mg/dL.
2. High blood pressure – Manage blood pressure through exercise and medications. Keep the numbers below 120/80 mm Hg.
3. Physical inactivity – Get moving and stand more. Spend 150 minutes of moderate intensive activity per week, like brisk walking. And opt for 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity.
4. Obesity and overweight – Lose weight to find your healthy weight. Target a Body Mass Index (BMI) of less than 25.
5. Smoking – Stop smoking altogether, quit it. Your alcohol intake should be within limits too.
6. Diabetes – Reduce blood sugar by being conscious and careful of your food and beverages intake.

You will be surprised to know that lowering the risk of heart disease also reduces the chances of getting cancer!

One good thing that comes out of this infographic is that about 27% people live a heart-healthy lifestyle.

All this information would help only if you take some positive steps towards taking care of your heart.

TIPS FOR HEALTHY HEART 

• Food
• Eat whole grains instead of white grain.
• Eat seafood in place of some red meat and poultry.
• To replace solid fats use olive oil in cooking.
• Use fat free dairy products.
• Lessen sodium intake, People age 50 and older with High Blood Pressure should continue their intake to 2,000 milligram per day.
• Monitor the quantity of food intake. Avoid unhealthy food habits and reduce the intake of processed foods and foods high in sugar. It is a misconception that healthy eating means giving up ‘all the good things’ and eating an oil-free diet. You should include oil in your diet, but make sure it’s in limited quantity. Fruits and vegetables should form the major part of your diet. If you are non-vegetarian, reduce your intake of red meat (once in 2-3 weeks), but lean chicken and fish are safe to consume regularly.

Super Foods

Your body needs a maximum of 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 tsp of oil everyday, which can come in the form of oil or even pure ghee. Colorful fruits and vegetables, whole grains, sprouts, walnuts (or other nuts or dry fruits not more than 15 to 20 gm a day), avocado, oil seeds such as flax seed are good for one’s heart. Those who have milk with their grains such as oats should skip buffalo milk which is fatty and consume cow’s milk or skimmed milk instead.

Exercise

• Walk for 30 minutes at least for a five days a week.
• Start out slowly. If you’re not used to excising, began with 10 minutes and gradually work your way up to 30 minutes sessions.
• Try breaking your workout regime into shorter sessions.
• Strengthen major muscle groups in your arms, legs, back, chest, abdomen, hips and shoulders by lifting to moderate weights.
• Practice yoga and meditation.

Some More Useful Tips

Routine checks are a must. Every adult should know their numbers, and regularly check them; this can be done by a simple blood test and a blood pressure check.

If you consume tobacco, you need to quit. Ask your doctor about new smoking-cessation programmes and medications. Ban smoking at home and work, too. Standing for an hour in a smoking zone has the same effect as smoking two or three cigarettes.

Ensure that you enjoy an undisturbed sleep for minimum eight hours. Avoid caffeine and excessive use of electronic devices just before bedtime.

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