Using An Elliptical Trainer For Weight Loss And Fitness

My second favorite form of cardio exercise is using an elliptical trainer (First is mountain biking). Elliptical trainers make your weight loss cardio program quiet, low impact, and challenging.

Elliptical trainers are kind of a combination of rowing, cross country skiing, and bicycling. You move all major muscle groups in a very fluid, low impact way. A high quality elliptical trainer is very solid, (No jerky motions) quiet, and usually comes with a display that will let you know the amount of time you have been riding, calories burned, mileage, etc.

I prefer using an elliptical trainer because of the full body workout plus the fact I can watch TV, listen to music, or even read while I am riding. The sound of a high quality elliptical trainer will not disturb others in your home. The fact that your whole body is involved makes it less likely that you will get bored or experience discomfort while on your elliptical machine. It is easy to track progress and easy to fit into your schedule. Even the busiest people I know watch at least a half hour of TV per day, now you can combine your exercise, weight loss routine with your TV time!

When it comes to elliptical trainers Quality Counts! Do not get a loose, squeaky, cheap variety; it will end up being a clothes hanger in your family room! Cheap elliptical trainers do not provide a fluid motion and can sometimes feel jerky. A high quality elliptical machine will have a natural feel while you are riding. High quality elliptical trainers can be found at reputable web sites and some exercise equipment stores, but I have yet to find one I liked at a department store. Look for trial periods, satisfaction guarantees, and warranties.

How can you incorporate riding an elliptical machine into your weight loss program? Let me give you a few suggestions but remember to check with your doctor and realize your limits. First off theoretically speaking, 3500 calories represents one pound of fat. If you eat 3500 more calories than your body needs it will be stored as a pound of fat, if you consume 3500 less calories than your body needs it will burn 1 pound of stored energy resulting in fat loss. Perhaps you are saying: Wait a minute! Why are you talking about consuming fewer calories? I thought this was an article about elliptical machines and weight loss! The key here is; consuming fewer calories than your body needs. Rather than focusing on how to consume fewer calories we are going to think of our elliptical workouts as a way to cause our bodies to need more calories.

Lets say you are someone who is relatively stable in your consumes/needs bank; You are consuming a few more calories than you are burning and perhaps have been slowly gaining weight over the years. Set a goal to eat as you normally do and ride the elliptical trainer for 3500 calories over a weeks time. Do this consistently week after week and you will achieve weight loss.

Lets say you are someone who is not so stable in your consumes/needs bank. You are consuming many more calories than you are burning. If this is the case you will obviously need to make some better food decisions. Read some of our other articles for ideas on how to cut some calories from your diet. Start with a goal to ride the elliptical machine for 3500 calories per week and soon you will be on the positive side of the consumes/needs bank and you will start to drop those pounds.

Ride your elliptical trainer consistently and do your best to make it a ritual that you enjoy. Listen to music, watch TV, readmake it something you look forward to every day. The rewards will be a healthier body, less fat, and a better feeling you.

I wish for you the best of health!

Bill Herren

Bill Herren is the webmaster for weightloss-articles.com Everything weight loss related! Weight loss success stories, product reviews, exercise articles, weight loss recipes, and diet articles. All Free and all designed to help you lose weight!

http://www.weightloss-articles.com

Plus Size Yoga Online

Useful Tips for Avoiding Flood Damage

What do you think will be the lasting memory of summer 2007 for most people?

Gordon Brown becoming the new Prime Minister of Great Britain? The memorial concert for Princess Diana at Wembley Stadium? Perhaps the image of a burning car being driven into Glasgow Airport?

Each of these events has their own merits but for many people summer 2007 will be remembered for the weather and the flooding that has hit many parts of the UK. This article looks at recent weather patterns and gives some tips on how businesses can try to avoid flooding in the future.

Rising temperatures, warmer winters and even hotter summers have been the talk from experts when it comes to climate change but recent years has seen worldwide misery and destruction when it comes to the weather.

The 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami in the Indian Ocean brought with it devastation and loss beyond belief with according to United Nations figures 229,866 people lost, including 186,983 dead and 42,883 missing.

2005 saw Hurricane Katrina rip through many parts of the United States with at least 1,836 people losing their lives in the Hurricane and subsequent floods. The storm is estimated to have been responsible for $81.2 billion (2005 U.S Dollars) in damage, making it the costliest natural disaster in US history.

And in the United Kingdom in June and July 2007 yet more misery in the form of torrential rainfall that has seen homes, businesses and lives destroyed throughout many parts of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. And whilst the storms in the UK havent been on the scale of those witnessed in the Far East and United States, lives have been lost and the clean up operation is just underway.

So with further rainfall forecast in the UK the UKs Business Insurance Broker, Northern Counties Insurance, have produced these useful tips which businesses can follow to help them both pre and post loss should they be hit by flooding.

Pre Loss tips include:

1. Ensuring that where possible all electrical equipment and stock is stored at least four feet above ground

2. Turning off electrical equipment (excluding burglar alarms)

3. Turning off the supply to central heating units if these are at ground level

4. Whenever and wherever possible moving vehicles to high ground

5. Sand bagging the premises if there is a high exposure to potential flooding

6. Consider constructing gullies to funnel water to drains

7. Clearing all drains and gutters on and around the premises of leaves and any other obstructions to allow an unrestricted flow of water

8. Moving high value items away from unmanned premises

This is by no means a comprehensive list of actions you could take prior to a flood but by following them your chances of a loss occurring could be significantly reduced.

So what action can you take in the event of a loss occurring?

Post Loss tips include:

1. Removing debris where possible. However if the debris is in any way contaminated, you may need to contact the emergency services first.

2. Saving items of value for inspection

3. If stranded, contact the emergency services immediately

4. If possible allowing ventilation to the premises

5. Consider up to 500 of emergency repairs to mitigate future losses

6. Take all appropriate and reasonable measures to protect the premises from future flooding

7. Contact your insurance broker or insurance company immediately so they can help make sure your claim is dealt with as quickly and as favourably as possible

Hopefully the weather like we have seen in the summer of 2007 will be a freak occurrence that doesnt hit us again but should storms and flooding continue hopefully these Useful Tips for Avoiding Flood Damage will go some way to help you out.

Useful Tips for Avoiding Flood Damage was brought to you by Mark Burdett, Marketing Manager of Northern Counties Insurance Brokers The UKs Business Insurance Broker.

This article was written by Mark Burdett, Marketing Manager of Northern Counties Insurance Brokers. Mark has over 17 years Marketing experience in the Financial Services industry and has worked on campaigns for companies including Norwich Union, Kia and Zurich.

Now based in Newcastle upon Tyne Mark is Marketing Manager for one of the UK's Leading Insurance Brokers - Northern Counties Insurance Brokers.

Northern Counties have been providing Business Insurance to businesses since 1928 and can be contacted on 0191 482 1219 for all your Commercial Insurance and Business Insurance needs.

Business Insurance - http://www.northerncounties.com

Yoga Teacher Training And Arizona

Experience The Real Florida

Every year around 40 million visitors come to Florida for the sun, sea and attractions. Most visit the world famous theme parks or enjoy the fabulous palm-fringed sandy beaches.

However, while Walt Disneys Mickey Mouse is known the world ever, Florida is host to another mouse that is just as special and the key to exploring the real Florida.

The tiny Florida mouse - only found within the State - is one of the hundreds of species of animals, birds and other creatures that live in Floridas magnificent state parks.

The chain of 159 state parks is one of Floridas best kept secrets yet they offer a great day out for all the family and for a tiny fraction of the cost of spending a day at one of the theme parks. Just a few miles from Walt Disney World, Sea World and Universal Studios is Wekiwa Springs State Park, an 8,000 acre natural oasis surrounded by urban build up.

If you stand on the deck outside the parks nature center and look out at the spring and the lush tropical vegetation beyond, you can enjoy a landscape that is much the same as when the first Spanish explorers ventured inland almost 500 years ago and even when the first Indians arrived almost 12,000 years ago.

Wekiwa is a Creek Indian word meaning spring of water and today, the crystal clear spring discharges a staggering 43 million gallons of water every day into a lagoon that has a year round temperature of about 72 degrees.

Wekiwa Springs State Park is one of three parks in the area that make up the Wekiva River Basin State Parks, an area covering over 40,000 acres. Wekiva is the Creek Indian word for running water so the spring is Wekiwa and the river is Wekiva just to confuse you!

Admission to the park is just $5 for a car and all passengers so you can spend all day sunbathing, swimming in the lagoon, walking the trails, exploring the wildlife or renting a canoe and paddling up the quiet, winding river.

Visit the nature center at the start of your visit which will give you some idea of the wealth of wildlife to be seen within the parks boundaries. You can also learn about the parks rich history.

When dinosaurs roamed the rest of North America, Florida was still submerged several hundred feet below the sea. Instead of massive land animals, the warm waters above what was to become Florida were home to giant sharks more than 55 feet long. You can still find shark teeth and other fossils in the park although you shouldnt take them.

Around 10,000 years ago mammoth, mastodon, saber tooth tiger, camel, rhinoceros, giant ground sloth and glyptodonts a 1,000lb ancestor of the armadillo roamed the Florida countryside, having been driven south by advancing Ice Age glaciers.

Timucuan Indians were the first to settle the area and they established settlements throughout Florida. The Spanish arrived in the 1500s introducing horses and oranges as well as European diseases that killed most of the Indians. In the 18th century settlers began colonizing Central Florida and at the end of the Civil War a hotel was built at the springs and the first tourists arrived.

Today, the tourists continue to come and many of them are visitors from outside the U.S. in search of the other Florida. There are picnic areas with grills for barbecuing, family and RV camp sites with hooks up for power and water and primitive camp sites if you want to trek into the backwoods. There are mountain bike trails, hiking trails and horse raiding trails as well as nature walks.

Maps are provided free and all trails are clearly signposted so you can move from one trail to another depending on how far you want to walk or how keen you are to get back to the spring and jump in the water.

If you are out on the trails, you may see black bear, white tailed deer, raccoon, bobcat, gopher, armadillo and fox squirrel, the largest member of the squirrel family. Many people mistake fox squirrels for monkeys because of their size and the way they sit in the trees. However, there are monkeys in the state park descendants of extras in a Tarzan movie that escaped during filming many years ago.

The parks most famous critter is the alligator which can grow up to 14 feet and there are hundreds in the Wekiva Basin. You can usually spot them while out canoeing.

Gators are fascinating creatures. Their teeth grew continuously throughout their lifetime and they exert 2-3,000 lbs of pressure per square inch when biting down compared to humans who exert only 5 lbs of pressure when biting down with all their force.

Gators can also outswim you in the water and outrun you on land, achieving speeds of 35mph over short distances. Large gators can also jump vertically four to five feet out of the water a good reason not to mess with them!

There are many other interesting any interesting and unusual animals, birds, reptiles and insects to see in the park.

So, the next time you are planning a visit to Central Florida, say hi to Mickey and then enjoy a great and affordable family day out with Floridas other mouse and experience the delights of the real Florida.

Wekiwa State Springs Park is off Wekiwa Springs Road in Apopka, about 10 miles from all the main attractions. Visit their website at www.floridastateparks.org/wekiwasprings

Don Philpott spent 20 years as a senior correspondent with Reuters/Press Association wire service traveling the world on assignments. He has had more than 5,000 articles and 56 books published on travel, security, wine, food, and diet and health.

He recently completed a five year project writing a series of 22 travel guidebooks on Florida and the Caribbean. His latest book The Trailside Cookbook, was co-authoried with his wife Pam and was published by Firefly in March 05. He is host of http://www.wineinfo101.com, a wine and food appreciation website and senior editor of Florida Features which specializes in articles on Florida and the Caribbean. He is a member of the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association and the North American Travel Journalists Association.

C 578340 Yoga Zone