Building Muscles as a Woman and Flirting - Does it Make Sense?

Both men and women can experience the advantages and the satisfaction of building muscles. It's an activity that helps you get fit, feel good and perform better. Yet as a woman, there is a biological difference that is worth mentioning, whatever your decision about making body-building a serious activity. It's a difference that may be relevant to you according to how you see things and how you want to define your attractiveness.

Way back in time and following the mysteries of evolution, men and women followed different biological paths. In particular, men found women attractive according to things like the curve in their back (dead straight backs do not rate so well with men) as well as other physical attributes. On the other hand, women whilst still appreciating a man's good looks attached less importance to physical aspects and more to the degree of confidence that the man displayed. You can find information on the subject in the book "Why Men Don't Listen And Women Can't Read Maps" by Allan and Barbara Pease. It's great fun to read and after the tongue-in-cheek title, you may well find yourself nodding in agreement with many of the points they discuss.

In the context of body building, a man's bulging muscles therefore may mean less to a woman than the self-confidence that he has acquired via his body building. On the other hand, a man may start to lose interest in a woman when he sees soft curves disappearing and harder, more defined muscle groups making their appearance. This is not to say that this is always the case or that one way of appreciating the opposite sex is better than the other. Not to mention those who are attracted by the same sex and may see things differently yet again.

Whatever the case, if you are a woman and you would like to continue to exercise your attractiveness in terms of "natural" curves, you can at least now plan your bodybuilding and muscle gain in such a way as to have the best of all worlds.

The author : Jo Braweski works on body building and muscle gain topics, bringing new developments to your attention, as well as simplifying and clarifying existing areas. Visit Jo's site for information on how to improve your own muscle gain and get detailed information for free at http://www.muscle-gain-review.com

Now, At Last A New Startling Fact Is Revealed About Building The Immune System

Adverts are made through various types of media about yogurt's and drinks that contain live bacteria. It is big business. The amazing point is that all the big companies who make the money never tell you the secret of when to take it! All the adverts show a sunny morning and happy people either eating or drinking live yogurt which suggests it is a good way to start the day. In truth the best time to consume live yogurt is last thing before bed so that while you sleep the friendly bacteria has time to bed down in your gut and create more friendly bacteria.

To enjoy good health and vitality friendly bacteria needs to out number the bad bacteria. The purpose of friendly bacteria is to break up and digest food for absorption. Within this process natural antibiotics are released enhancing our defense system to fight off various diseases. Friendly bacteria also kill off harmful bacteria and break down toxins, allowing them to be excreted from our body. If we have more harmful bacteria than friendly ones putrefaction occurs resulting in toxins being produced. When this happens it can weaken the immune system and we are then susceptible to many diseases. So it is of great importance to take live yogurt at bedtime to keep friendly bacteria topped up.

Without friendly bacteria keeping harmful bacteria under control, the harmful bacteria will multiply, vitamins, minerals and enzymes will not be absorbed because food will not break down and as the undigested food rots it will release toxins into the blood stream which can cause many diseases including: Constipation, colon cancer, Irritable bowel syndrome, chronic gall bladder, arthritis, heart disease and many more. If friendly bacteria are not regularly topped up they can come under threat by the following:

Taking antibiotics
Sometimes it is vital to take a course of antibiotics. Unfortunately as well as killing off the intended virus, antibiotics also kill off the friendly bacteria. Whenever antibiotics are taken you need to have live yogurt. When? Last thing before bed. Why? To top up friendly bacteria which is vital for good health.

Stress
is a killer. It can cause heart attacks, activate dormant cancer cells and cause stomach ulcers to name just a few. Stress is much more common than you may realize. So many people are under immense levels of pressure, and don't know how to deal with it. To ease stress therapists from around the world recommend that meditation is such a natural and safe way to treat and heal your self.

Poor eating habits
Junk and processed food has so much to answer for. Ready meals maybe convenient but they are dreadful for your body. If a few simple habits are changed and fresh wholesome food replaces junk food, life can become so much healthier and happier.

Marilyn Barker-Smith is the co-founder of Project Meditation. The site was created to allow everyone to experience the life changing benefits that meditation has to offer.

The Project-Meditation course was originally developed for four CD's but has now been re-developed into a free meditation course, available for instant download.

How to Gain Weight and Build More Muscle!

For many thin guys around the world, gaining weight without using illegal steroids has been a challenge. For thousands of lean young men, the dream is to gain weight, but no matter how much they eat they remain thin. Some people are naturally thin; that means their genetic makeup is in such a way that the body burns more calories than others. The very basic method of weight gain is to eat more calories than your body burns off. By providing the body with more calories, this balance can be altered and body mass can be increased. Weight training is of great importance in this context, which enables the body to absorb more nutrients from the food by increasing the level of certain hormones and increasing the muscle mass.

There are many incorrect beliefs and theories bout building muscle. The type of food to be eaten is an important factor which decides the type of weight gained, whether it is muscle mass or mere accumulation of fat. Some types of calories are not equal to others for gaining muscle; because most processed junk food contains empty, totally nutritionless calories. These foods promote accelerated fat Storage, and do not provide the body with the correct nutrients essential for gaining muscle. High quality protein, which the body breaks down into amino acids, should be the centerpiece of all your meals. Intense exercise increases demand for amino acids, which support muscle repair and growth.

Another factor is the selection of the right type of weight training. Resistance exercises will help with muscle growth. Whereas aerobic exercises can result in the reduction of weight. For maximum muscle gain, the focus of your workouts should consist of free weight exercises, rather than machines or bodyweight exercises. To get a very effective workout, you must stimulate as many muscle fibers as possible, and machines do not do this. The main reason for this is a lack of stabilizer and synergist muscle development. Stabilizer and synergist muscles are supporting muscles that assist the main muscle in performing a complex lift.

The results of weight training can vary from person to person, and will usually depend on your consistency and commitment to your program. You should have the patience and motivation for building a powerful body with a consistent diet and exercise schedule.

Exercise Guidelines for building muscle:

Weight training involves the use of equipment that enables variable resistance. This resistance can come in the form of free weights like barbells and dumbbells, machines that use cables or pulleys to help you lift the weight, and bodyweight exercises like pull-ups or dips. The more stabilizers and synergists you work, the more muscle fibers stimulated. The exercises that work the large muscle groups are called compound (or multi-joint) movements that involve the simultaneous stimulation of many muscle groups. These compound exercises should be the Foundation of any weight training program because they stimulate the most amount of muscle in the least amount of time. Multi-jointed free weight exercises like the bench press require many stabilizer and synergistic muscle assistance to complete the lift.

Free weight exercises like the dumbbell press or squat put a very large amount of stress on supporting muscle groups. You will get fatigued faster and not be able to lift as much weight as you did on the machine. But you will gain more muscle, become stronger very quickly and have a true gauge of your strength.

If you use machines in your program, they should be used to work isolated areas and only after all multi-jointed exercises have been completed. Beginners should begin with a limited combination of machine exercises, bodyweight exercises and multi-jointed free weight exercises. Before increasing the weight levels, they should work on becoming familiar with the proper form and execution of each.

The following are some proven basic exercises to encourage muscle and strength gain unlike any other exercises.

Bench Presses - works the chest, shoulders, triceps

Overhead Presses - shoulders, triceps

Pull-ups/Barbell Rows - back, bicep

Squats - legs, lower back

Dead lifts - legs, back, shoulders

Bar Dips -shoulders, chest, arms

To build mass, you must weight train with heavy weights. To consider a weight heavy, you should only be able to do a maximum of 4-8 reps before your muscles temporarily fail. A weight is considered 'light' if you can do more than 15 reps before muscle fatigue sets in. Heavy weights stimulate more muscle fibers than lighter weights which result in more muscle growth. Heavy weight training puts a huge strain on your body, so adequate rest and recuperation after your workouts is essential.

Eating guidelines for building muscle:

A high protein diet is an inevitable part of any weight training programme, importantly, protein derived from animal sources. Proteins you need to be concerned with are those found in whey, casein (cottage cheese), eggs, beef, poultry, and fish. Soy protein, tofu and bean curd are some alternatives. Eating the right amount of foods consistently will force your body to grow beyond what you may think possible. The diet also should contain an adequate amount of carbohydrates (potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, oatmeal, cream of wheat, cream of rice, rice, beans, bread, pasta, all cereals) and fat. Green leafy vegetables and fruits also should be included.

When you train with weights, you should eat a minimum of 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. You also must have protein at every meal. To enable your body to actually assimilate and use the all the calories you will ingest, you have to reduce your meal size and increase your meal frequency. Splitting your calories into smaller, more frequent portions will enable food absorption and utilization of nutrients.

During the past 20 years there have been great developments in the scientific understanding of the role of nutrition in health and physical performance. Studies shown that adequate dietary carbohydrate should be ingested (55-60% of total energy intake) so that training intensity can be maintained. Excess dietary saturated fat can exacerbate coronary artery disease; however, low-fat diets result in a reduction in circulating testosterone. So the balance between protein, carbohydrate and fat should be maintained.

So the focus on weight gain programmes must be on two components, lifting heavy weights, which will stimulate the largest amount of muscle fibers. Your body responds to this stimulus by increasing your muscle mass and secondly eat more calories than your body is used to. When you overload your system with plenty of protein and fats, your body has no other choice but to gain weight.

A Mass Gaining program is incomplete without the timely measurements to monitor your progress. Without it, you won't know how exactly your body is responding to your diet and training routine. Just looking in the mirror and guessing is not acceptable. If you want to start getting great results, you must develop the habit of accurately tracking your progress. This also provides the motivation to continue with the weight gain schedule and for the further progression. So even though you have a very thin body type, and havent been able to gain weight no matter what you try, you will definitely succeed with a well planned weight gain programme.

References:

1) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part1eating.htm

2) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part2weights.htm

3) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part3muscle.htm

4) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part4suppl.htm

5) http://www.fastmusclegain.com/part5monitor.htm

6) http://www.skinnyguy.net/tips.html

7) Lambert CP, Frank LL, Evans WJ. Macronutrient considerations for the sport of bodybuilding. Sports Med. 2004;34(5):317-27

Former "skinny guy" Anthony Ellis is the author of Gaining Mass. The most widely used weight gain program in the world. This unique program designed to help people gain weight and build muscle, is currently being used in over 90 countries. For more information on how to gain weight and build muscle, check out his website at http://www.fastmusclegain.com

Blessed in the Middle of Life's Mess

Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a bad situation where most of what was happening was not your fault?

You and I know that most of what happens to us is of our own design. We cannot make a car payment because we spent too much on vacation. We have a disobedient child because we refuse to follow any proper parenting guidelines. We have trouble with our boss at work because we refuse to walk in grace and submission. We have a fight with our spouse (or children) and make a conscious decision to stand on some crazy principle that just makes things worse. I am not talking about those kinds of situations.

I am thinking more about the situation where you are promised a specific thing 5B4from someone for 7-years of service and then when your time is up they trick you into taking something else. Yet, you still want that other item because it is beautiful and you love it. So the owner of that item agrees to give it to you if you work another 7-years.

It would be like being a business partner who is promised a huge bonus and a share in the company after 7-years. When the seven years are over you are tricked and offered a manager's position with an option to work another 7-years for what was already promised after the first 7-years.

We would sue them. We would be furious. We would leave the company. There is no way we could be blessed in this type of situation.

Sheer trickery!

It is the story of Jacob. It is the Jacob who loved Rachel but was tricked, after 7-years, into marrying her sister Leah. It is the Jacob who then agreed to work another 7-years for his father-in-law Laban so that he could marry Rachel (read Genesis 29-30).

And it never says that Jacob was angry. Jacob did not leave the country to go back home and he was abundantly blessed in a bad situation not of his making.

In the middle of these circumstances, however, Jacob was extremely blessed. Jacob was the father of 12-sons and a daughter. He was greatly successful in his business endeavors. In fact, so successful that he became wealthier than Laban for whom he worked.

In the middle of a bad situation God 5B4continues to bless us. It is simply who He is. The painful situation that Jacob was in developed in him strength of character that he did not have before.

Do you remember that Jacob tricked his father Isaac into giving him the family blessing instead of his older brother Esau? Back at home Jacob had a brother who hated him. Esau vowed to revenge Jacob's deceitful act but during Jacob's time in the desert God softened the heart of Esau so that when they were reunited there was peace instead of war.

God does not need the palace to prosper us. God does not need us to be in a good situation to bless us. God is not dependent upon the perfect set of circumstances to work His will in our lives.

Joseph was blessed and rose to the top of the empire while still an Egyptian captive never to be free again. Daniel was in the same situationa foreigner who depended upon God and found great favor in the eyes of his captors which led to incredible access to kings and personal success.

Jesus, the Savior of our souls, was born into a people ruled by Romans and into an area occupied by an enemy army. Even in the midst of uncontrollable circumstances God can use us, bless us, and give us a life of peace.

You can bet on it.

Mark Twain

Fantastic Life

Our good buddy, lazy Yogi Ponchie, had just read a great blog on meditation, where the author had revealed the secrets of how to live a happy, meaningful and good life. This blog highly inspired Yogi Ponchie and he immediately went about implementing the recommendations, in his own special way of course.

The article, he read, explained that the secret to a happy and fulfilling life was to live life one day at a time. Not only that, the author had provided his thoughts on what 5 activities one should include in one's life on a daily basis in order to accomplish this. Here was how Ponchie spent his day, which he felt met the requirements laid out in the post.

5:00 am: Ponchie checked the time and smiled 5:00am Woo Hoo! The recommendation was to wake up early, but since waking up early was impossible for our lazy yoga friend, he had decided instead to stay up all night. Thus, he would be awake during the early morning hours and be able to take advantage of this most spiritual time of day.

6:00 am: Ponchie headed to the Gym to get his daily recommended sweat. He spent the next hour in the sauna.

7:00 am: Ponchie listened to a meditation tape in his car on the way back home from the gym, thus meeting the most important criteria for doing his daily meditation practice.

8:00 am: Ponchie watched Sunrise Earth on Discovery by sitting very close to the television... spending time with nature... done.

9:00 am: Ponchie called his dad and asked him to pay his credit card bills and help fix the leaky faucet in the kitchen. He told his dad that this had to be done today itself, since he was eager to meet the requirement of "completing your daily affairs" as had been suggested, that was easy.

Let's summarize this article that has so profoundly inspired Mr. Ponchie.

Essentially, the secret to a Happy, Meaningful and Good Life, the article said, was to live one day a time. This did not mean not to plan, it meant not to obsess with the outcome. Put money away in the retirement fund, enroll in an MBA program, start a daily fitness routine, launch a new blog, sure do all these things, but don't focus on the results. Instead, just go about the business of life by living each day as well as you can. In addition, the article continued, try to incorporate the following 5 activities into each day, as they would go a long way in expanding your spiritual and personal growth and ensuring that you really maximize your human potential. Here are the 5 daily suggestions that were made.

1. Wake up Early: This gets the day off to a great start. The early morning hours are full of spiritual energy and prana (life force) and are an ideal time for your daily sadhana (meditation, yoga or other spiritual practice).

2. Sweat Everyday: If possible try to break a sweat everyday, and a sauna does not count. This means to get some form of exercise and keep the body in tip top shape. The body is not you, but is the vehicle through which you live and worship, so treat it like a temple and take care of it.

3. Daily Meditation: This is the most important criteria. If you have come to the Mastery of Meditation website, something is stirring within. This invitation by the Divine should not be taken lightly. Not all receive the invite, or at least not all are aware of the beckoning, so if you are being roused from the dream by the gentle hand of your Divine Nature do everything you can Wake Up!

4. Spend Time is Nature: The spiritual path can be described in 1 word -- CONNECT. That one word describes all the Vedas, Gita, Upanishads, Bible, Koran, Tantras, etc. One of the best ways to connect is to be with Nature intimately. Hopefully the author will write an article on this topic of Connection as well as is it a very interesting and powerful concept :-).

5. Complete Your Daily Affairs: Don't procrastinate, don't delay, don't put off what needs to done. The old proverbs are very wise. "A stitch in time saves nine" and "Don't put off till tomorrow what can be done today". Life, the moment, provides challenges to you and when you meet them, life opens up. If they linger, they are like blockages, they prevent your life from moving forward. Your inner voice will constantly remind you what needs to be completed. Heed this suggestion and you will be surprised at the rewards.

Anmol Mehta is a Yoga Teacher & Zen Expert. His extensive site, Free Guided Chakra Meditation & Kundalini Yoga Poses, offers Free Kundalini Yoga Pranayamas & Sets. Also find lively spiritual discussions on the Free Guided Chakra Meditation Practice, Kundalini Yoga Pranayamas & Zen Meditation Blog.

This article is available for reprint on your website and/or newsletter, provided it is not changed and you include the author's signature.

Wayne Dyer Meditation

Reach The Success You Truly Desire

Ever have those days where no matter what you try life seems to be a series of one step forward and two steps back?

Well today is the very best day to take charge of your life and develop strategies to achieve personal success. You will need to work hard and make a commitment to your personal success plan, but once you break the inertia you will find that small achievements will help you gain momentum, and each step forward will attract more success.

1. Take a look at the one and only person responsible for your success- YOU. To be successful you must take complete responsibility for your actions. You can't pin your success or your shortcomings on anyone else.

2. Develop and nurture a successful self- Start by smiling more, look to the positive side in everything. Don't list all the reasons why something is hard and you can't do it, find the reasons even if it is only one to start with of why you can do something. You must develop a successful persona to become a successful person.

3. Make the decision today- Decide today that you will be successful. Praise yourself for past accomplishments, take stock of your strong qualities and work to nurture and improve those that are underdeveloped. You have a purpose and a mission you must sweep aside the negative clutter and defi5B4ne this purpose and begin today to fulfill yourself.

4. Always begin with the positive- every morning you wake up, every time you speak with other people. Always stick with the positive. Associate with positive people. People who have also made the commitment to success. Avoid negative people at all costs. They will not only drag you down. Their negative actions and thoughts, their pessimism, whining, and complaining is a toxin and you need to steer clear of it.

5. Visualize and write down how you desire to live successfully- think of the things that are meaningful to you. Things that give you pleasure, comfort, and fulfillment. Then being as specific as possible write down how you want to live. Don't listen to any of the negative, just concentrate. Write down every detail, where you live, what your house is like down to the decor. What you and your friends are passionate about, what kinds of community projects do you donate your time and money to. After writing everything down copy the most vivid and important things into a new journal. One you have chosen just for this. Make the journal come to life with drawings, photographs, magazine clippings, articles, and poetry. Images and words that will help your vision of a successful life crystallize in your mind. Look through this journal several times a week. Every day visualizing living that life. Make all of your actions in accordance with that successful life.

6. Defin4Fe what success means to you- Concentrate on what you are best at and what bring588s you satisfaction and fulfillment. Using your vision of how you want to live, write down and then read out loud what success means to you. Otherwise you won t know when you have achieved it.

7. Study and make the commitment- Read books and magazines about people who are successful in your eyes, and ways to become more successful. Develop a daily methodical systematic approach to reaching your goals and take one step towards your success.

Keep your mind in the moment don't let it wonder to negative discourse. Focus your attention on your vision of success. With a resolute attitude you are well on your way.

About The Author

BZ Riger-Hull. www.in-spiros.com For valuable free articles, assessments, & practical success tools mailto:A1@smartautoresponder.com Certified as a Success Coach, Four Agreements Facilitator, & Tele-Course leader We help you communicate powerfully, reduce stress, Strategically Attract success, & increase your financial well-being.

bz@in-spiros.com

Jerry And Esther Hicks

12 Thoughts for a Happy New Year

Live each day so that you will neither be afraid of tomorrow nor ashamed of yesterday. - Author Unknown

H-ope
A-spiration
P-rosper
P-recious
Y-earn

N-etwork
E-ager
W-isdom

Y-esterday
E-loquent
A-dvertise
R-eward

1. To face the coming years problems use HOPE, faith, and your trust in God and His wisdom to guide you to the future thats right for you. You can create your own future by focusing your thoughts on what you wish to accomplish. Know that you are responsible for everything that happens in your life both good and bad.

2. Make it your ASPIRATION to achieve something worthwhile. Learn a new skill, or seek greater knowledge in areas you dont now have. Seek and master new ways to do something thats already been done -and- do it better! U10E9se the power of purpose by giving whatever it is you desire the highest amount of your attention. This determines how successful you will become.

3. Make a concentrated effort to improve, grow, and PROSPER. Increase your financial security. Dare to be happy. Exercise and stay in good health. Keep a positive attitude. Do whatever it takes to improve your personal and business image. And know that your relationship with giving is the spiritual source of your true prosperity.

4. Treat your life, family, friends, and others you meet as a PRECIOUS gift to be enjoyed, and of great value. Regard them with a love that is special and - it will all come back to you. Send forth good and it multiples. Honor every one you come in contact with today, tomorrow, and make it an ongoing behavior. This too, is paid back to you by the Universe.

5. To YEARN is to express compassion. In this coming new year, experience it and show compassion for those less fortunate then you are. Offer ways to help others whenever and wherever you can. Give only good. The more you give of yourself, the more comes back to you. It may help make this a better world.

6. Learn to NETWORK and link to other like-minded individuals; whether its in an educational, business, or social setting the benefits can add to your growth and success. Celebrate and share your abilities so that you can attract more of the same.

7. Be EAGER to learn new things. Opportunities are all around you. Having an intense passion or desire to find new opportunities is the sign of an enthusiastic person. This desire comes from God. In order for you to find new opportunities, always move toward your goal with a spiritual awareness.

8. WISDOM - the ability to make well thought out decisions comes from maturity and understanding. In any given situation, it is wise not to judge until all facts are understood. Be open to understanding anothers point of view. Do you look at the world with a positive or a negative vision?

9. YESTERDAY is a day that has just passed. Now you are free to live in the present. Use each new day wisely and full of gratitude for every hour, every minute, and every second. Set goals for each day and take specific actions that will help you accomplish them.

10. ELOQUENT. Are you confident, persuasive and effective in the way you communicate? When speaking with others how would you rate yourself? Are you always voicing negative opinions? Or, are you positive in expressing your thoughts?

11. ADVERTISE. For those in business, always make the positive features and benefits of your product or service known. Appeal to the emotions of your prospective client. Give quality service and products so that your self-esteem is strengthened and your reputation is valued.

12. - In the coming new year, heres hoping that you will REWARD yourself for any successful personal and business achievements. Improve your skills where and when needed. Change any negative habits, and always follow His guidance in all things you attempt to do.

May this New Year bring you many blessings of good health, dreams to come true, prayers to be answered, and gratitude for all. Remember: Life is a series of new beginnings and in every ordinary moment there are a thousand miracles to behold. -Flavia Weedn

www.distinctivebusinesswomen.com

Copyright 2006

About the Author

Gerri D Smith publishes and hosts an inspirational newsletter for women business owners, individuals eager to improve, and entrepreneurs willing to learn more . And its Free! Subscribers to her newsletter receive many of her well-written articles, special reports, books, offers, and resources that are filled with motivational support, business and personal image improvement, and supportive ideas to help you reach your goals. To sign up, go now to: http://www.distinctivebusinesswomen.com

Transformation