Simple Tips to Motivate Yourself to Exercise

You know you need to work out, but you’re having trouble getting up the enthusiasm. How do you find motivation to exercise when you just don’t feel like getting off your butt? I ask myself this question every now and then, and I have the feeling I’m not the only one.

There are a million ways to motivate yourself to exercise, actually, but these are a few that have worked for me.

* Have fun. If you hate running, don’t go to the track for exercise. Find something you like. The list of different kinds of exercises are nearly endless. The only really important thing is to get your body moving and your heart rate up.
* How you feel after a workout. I always feel great after a good workout. It’s a high. And I let that motivate me the next time.
* Calories burned. If you count calories (and it’s really one of the most effective ways to lose weight), you know that the more you exercise, the more calories you burn — and the bigger your calorie deficit.
* How you’re going to look. Imagine a slimmer, fitter you. Now let that visualization drive you.
* Change it up. Even if you have a routine you enjoy, mix it up from time to time. Try entirely different exercises. You can check out a tape at the library and try yoga or kick boxing for an afternoon. This will not only keep you interested, it will break your muscles out of their routine and help produce better results.
* Get a buddy. Exercising with a friend introduces a positive kind of peer pressure. You will be more likely to go to the gym if you know someone is waiting there for you. Talking and laughing while exercising will also keep you from being bored.
* An exercise log/graph. For some reason, writing it down is extremely important. Really. Do it for a week and you’ll see what I mean.
* Get appropriate clothing. If you don’t have the appropriate clothes for the excercise, it can be irritating, uncomfortable, frustrating, or even unsafe. If you exercise outside after dusk, be sure you have reflective clothing to prevent traffic accidents. Also be sure the clothing looks nice; if you don’t like the way your clothing looks, you may feel uncomfortable, and less likely to exercise.
* Pack Ahead of Time: An iPod, athletic shoes, a towel… whatever. Walking around the house trying to find stuff is a good time to lose your resolve. Put everything together in your gym bag. When you finish working out, take out things that need to be laundered and replace them immediately.
* Have a Goal. What do you want to achieve? Make it specific, make it meaningful, make it obtainable. Be sure to have short-term benchmarks along the way. It’s OK to change your goals if the original plan doesn’t work, but have a goal. Regularly evaluate how you are doing on your goals.
* Success stories. I find the success stories of others incredibly inspirational. If a fitness website has success stories, I’ll almost always read them.
* Reward Yourself. Have a healthy reward when you reach a goal. Buy yourself that cute pair of bike shorts. Go for a weekend hiking tri. Soak in the sauna for your “workout” that day. Buy a new yoga video. Whatever works for you to celebrate in line with your healthy lifestyle!


80 percent of success is showing up

Tips for a Flat Stomach

Developing a lean, flat stomach takes time and patience, especially when it comes to those last few kilograms in those hard to lose places. There is only one way to lose fat in the so-called ’stubborn areas,’ and that is with the correct combination strength training (with a extra focus on mid-section), cardiovascular exercise (short, hard workouts), and stable blood sugar (keeps you from adding additional fat and makes it easier for the body to use body fat for fuel).

Spot Reduction is a Myth - The first thing you need to realize is that it is impossible to ’spot reduce’ fat from one specific part of the body. Fat loss occurs systemically, meaning that you can’t control where the fat comes from. When you burn fat for energy, you will draw it from all areas of the body, and the first place you tend to put it on will be the last place it comes off.

Cardio, cardio, cardio - Doing all the abs exercises in the world will do nothing if you have a layer of fat covering it. Doing strength training, or lifting weights, would help, but not as much as aerobic exercise. If you want to add some ab exercises in after the cardio, that’s great, but be sure to work your whole torso, not just the upper abs — that includes the lower abs, lower back and the muscles that wrap around your sides.

For example, Walking, jogging, bicycling, elliptical exercise and stair climbing are all great fat burners. Most give up early in the workout. During the first 10 minutes of aerobic activity, glycogen (stored carbohydrates) is the primary fuel source. Because you don’t burn significant amounts of fat until glycogen stores are depleted, the key to maximum fat loss is to work out aerobically for 30-60 minutes continuously per session.

Diet - Its best to stay away from fried food and too many sugary desserts. Abdominal fat loss is a 50% exercise, 50% nutrition combination. Regardless of how much you workout, if the number of calories you take in is greater than the amount you burn, you’ll still put on abdominal fat.

Eat Small Meals Regularly - You should try and spread your calories out into five small meals a day instead of 2 or 3 big ones so that you don’t overeat in one feeding.

Give it Time - If you want to have a flat stomach in 3 weeks, forget it. Losing fat takes time, and it’s unhealthy to lose too much weight too fast. Gradual weight loss is healthier, and more likely to be sustained over time. Go for a lifestyle change, something you can live with for the rest of your life, or you will just yo-yo. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

How To Use A Second Flash

Have your lighting skills progressed so that now a single on-camera flash feels more limiting than liberating? You've got an inexpensive option: a second flash. Adding another light can open up creative floodgates, giving you professional effects at little cost. (The $136 flash, stand, and adapter rig described in the September 2006 Lighting column would be perfect. Just choose and use your flash carefully.

WHICH FLASH?

In terms of exposure, almost any hot-shoe flash will work as a second light. You're probably shooting digital and can check exposure on your camera's LCD, so you don't really need TTL exposure control. If the second, non-TTL flash is too bright, manually dial down its power or add some distance between it and your subject.

The problem is actually triggering the second flash. Many SLRs and DSLRs use a preflash to determine exposure, which can cause a conventional opticaltriggering device (often called a "peanut slave") to fire the off-camera flash prematurely. The solution? A new-generation, digital-savvy, optical slave that recognizes (and ignores) preflashes. One popular unit: the Wein PN Digital Peanut Slave ($35, street). It works with any accessory flash that has a PC-cord connection.
Putting It To Use

You'll find uses for your second flash at events and in product photos, but most of all in portraiture.

MAIN LIGHT: With your new off-camera flash as your main light, use your oncamera flash as fill by dialing down flash exposure compensation. Correctly positioned, the second flash creates shadows below the cheekbones, nose, and chin to shape your subject's face, something an on-camera flash alone rarely can do.

BACKGROUND LIGHT: Move the second flash behind your subject to separate the subject and background (see photos). Aim it at your subject's back, for example, to create a white highlight (rim light) around the hair and torso; this works best against a dark background. Or aim it at the ceiling to create a hair light. You could also turn it around to illuminate the background: Against a plain, dark wall, position it to create a small circle of light behind the head (a "halo"), or use it on the background to capture the environment.

EVENTS: At, say, an indoor wedding reception or cocktail party, place your second (or third) light discretely in a corner, aimed at the ceiling. It can open up backgrounds, fill any shadows cast by your main, on-camera light, and/or overpower or dilute ambient light of a contaminating color temperature (usually fluorescents, which produce green casts). Be careful: Aiming your camera directly at perimeter lights can introduce flare.

PRODUCTS: Shooting small items? Aim your second light at the ceiling at high power. In a small, white-walled space, this turns the entire room into a light tent. Dial down the power on your on-camera flash, and use it to fill in any shadows.

BACKUP: You're shooting your sister's wedding, and it's going great...until midway through the "I do's," your on-camera flash says, "I won't." It pops and sizzles, and the tube turns a scary brown. Good thing you've got that second flash!

Tips Being a Beautiful Bride

Everybody wants to be a glowing beautiful bride on that special day. Taking care of your skin will make it appear more flawless when the makeup artist will apply the foundation