16 Ways to Lose Weight Fast

From Zumba to yoga to ditching junk food, these simple lifestyle changes will help you lose 10, 30, even 50 pounds!

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Tweak your lifestyle

by Jessica Girdwain
From Health magazine
It's a familiar story: You pledge to honor a daily elliptical routine and count every last calorie. But soon, you're eating cupcakes at the office and grabbing happy hour mojitos, thinking, Oops, diet over.

There is a better way: Swap the all-or-nothing approach for one or two healthy switch-ups in your daily routine. "Doing this can lead to

Shape Up in 7 Minutes Pinterest Badge

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Snappy strengthening moves

From Health magazine
Get more bang for your workout burst with these one-minute power moves from Equinox NYC instructor Omar Sandoval's hot new Titan Method class.

Choose a move for the arms and shoulders, a move for the abs and back, and a move for the legs and butt and do all three exercises at a fast clip (hello, cardio!) before taking a 30-second rest; then whip through them again.

For the full Titan class effect, do any

24 Fat-Burning Ab Exercises (No Crunches!)

Abdominal exercises to burn fat, flatten your belly, and strengthen your core.

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Bye-bye muffin top

When most people think "abs," they think the muffin top that blooms over the top of too-tight pants. But abdominals, a set collectively known as the core, includes the many interconnected muscles that run up the back and stretch down to the butt and the front and inner thighs, says Michele Olson, PhD, professor of physical education and

It’s a debate that’s raged since the first weight was lifted: Is it better or worse to work out on an empty stomach? Wars have been waged and nations have fallen (okay, that’s a slight exaggeration) during the eternal battle of fed versus fasted exercise, but it’s time for this madness to end. We have the final answer.

“ It's time to dismantle some old myths about eating and exercise. ”

Well, not the final answer. Different people work out best under different circumstances, and deciding whether someone should eat before training can be like telling them what time of day to work out or which diet they should follow—it largely depends on what works best for the individual. But it is time to dismantle some old myths.
Contrary to popular belief, research suggests that eating many small meals throughout the day won’t speed up the metabolism, skipping a meal won’t make you fat, and exercising on an empty stomach will not nullify a workout. In fact, skipping a meal or two, also known as “intermittent fasting” (IF), can be downright beneficial.

Optimizing Hormones (Fast)

If the fact that Huge Jacked-man practiced intermittent fasting to gain muscle for his latest Wolverine movie isn’t convincing enough, consider this: An empty stomach triggers a cascade of hormonal changes throughout the body that are surprisingly conducive to

This App Makes Ordering Healthy Takeout a No-Brainer

The Greatist Team

HealthyOut

Here’s an all-too-common series of events: We get home from work, feeling both hungry and tired after owning our to-do list and crushing it in the gym. We open the fridge and contemplate a meal made up of half an avocado, Greek yogurt, and a variety of condiments. It seems like a fun challenge for a minute, but only for a minute—we have to get delivery.
But how do we know the food on the takeout menu is actually healthy? Sure, it says "salad," but we've seen enough morning show segments to know not all salads are created equal (and some are basically like eating a seven-layer cheese dip atop a bed—or more like yoga mat—of lettuce).
These very real concerns were erased the

Ways To Make Your Brain Work Better

The brain is the human supercomputer with infinite possibilities. It’s the brain that differentiates humans from all other animals. Despite the common belief that intelligence is a genetic phenomenon, studies have shown that this isn’t true. The brain is a continuously evolving organ, and it is always a work in progress – it keeps revising or remodeling, improving or declining, depending on how we use it. Just like with a muscle, if the brain is properly exercised, anyone can boost their intelligence level significantly, at any age. But if you let your brain remain idle, it is bound to lose its sharpness. Here are a few ways to make your brain work better:

Exercise Regularly

As we age, the birth of new brain cells becomes slower, and our brain tissue shrinks in size. However, regular exercises can reverse this age-related decline. Studies show that regular exercise – especially cardiovascular exercise – boosts the blood flow to your brain, which helps deliver much-needed oxygen to brain cells (the brain consumes nearly 20% of the oxygen in our body). Studies have shown that people see a significant increase in brain volume if they exercise regularly.

Meditate

With today’s hectic lifestyle – which often involves juggling time between office, work, home and kids – there is very little time left for mind relaxation. Your mind is always crowded with various thoughts and worries, which definitely affects your thinking ability and other brain functions. Meditation is one of the oldest ways to rejuvenate your mind and enhance your cognitive functions. The practice of meditation involves quiet, focused breathing exercises where your mind is free from other activities and thoughts. With regular practice, meditation allows your mind to reach a deeply calm state, which in turn improves other brain functions, such as attention span, memory and focus. Not surprisingly, some of the leading corporate organizations now offer meditation classes for their employees.

Eat Fish

If you don’t eat fish regularly, it may be a good idea to include some in your regular diet – at least twice a week. If you do not like eating fish, or if you are a vegan, then you can opt for a fish oil supplement instead. A study on teenagers in Sweden indicated that eating fish increased the verbal and visuospatial intelligence of the subjects by more than 10%. While the exact mechanism of how eating fish improves brain health is unknown, some believe that, like exercise, it helps increase blood flow to the brain.

Fight Inflammation

Inflammation could be the result of your