Your Time Is Growing Shorter By Jon Benson

Do you like to watch thriller movies?

In the movie "The Silence of The Lambs" there's a line from Anthony Hopkin's immortal character stuck with me. It's so simple, yet it was so scary at the time:

"Tick-tock, tick-tock..."

He was reminding Clarice Starling, the young FBI agent, that time was growing shorter. The sands were falling through the hourglass. Move fast, or there will be dire consequences.

Okay I admit it folks, I'm pulling a bit of a pre-Halloween scare on you. This is one of the few times when "time running down" is a really good thing.

The time I am referring to is exercise time. The time it takes you to get fit.

It seems that Washington cannot make up its mind these days doesn't it? Exercise time requirements are no exception to the rule. But this time, they got it right.

A few weeks ago, the Department of Health and Human Services decided to put a final "this is really, really, it" stamp on the all-important question:

"How long must you work out each week in order to be fit and healthy?"

The results from a very diverse panel of experts reviewing a mountain of data was not surprising to me at all.

But it shocked millions.

"About two hours of exercise... a week."

That's right folks. I've been saying it for years. I wrote a book about it too... Super-Short Workout Plan <--- go here for details.

I suppose the message is getting out to the masses at long last. You only need 2 hours of exercise a day to be healthy and fit. For most of you long workouts would be counter-productive. Some can do it and really be healthy. Most cannot.

I cannot. I can tolerate only about four hours of hard exercise a week, and that is when I'm training for peak shape. That does not include my daily walks, which are more relaxing than "exercise" to me.

More about the study...

I'd like to think my latest book had a bit of an impact on these new findings. Several of the studies in my book were used in the report. Cool, eh? In the end the panel reversed the flawed findings of less than a few months prior that suggested 4-5 hours of exercise per week as "just about right."

Oh, it gets better...

They found that two hours of exercise could even be shortened (gasp!) if the "exercise was of an intense nature."

You know... like my 7 Minute Workout?

Yeah, like that.

Then they found the usual: This much exercise is sufficient to lower one's blood pressure, risk of heart disease, reverse or help prevent Type 2 Diabetes, battle depression, increase bone strength, and even help prevent colon cancer.

Geepers. From two hours a week of exercise? Who would have thunk it? Oh...right. I thunk it. (grin, snicker...)

And get this about cardio: "Do it for 10 minutes at a time to be effective." In short, you can do several shorter bouts rather than one long bout and still get all of the benefits. Just like my 9-minute cardio protocol in my book? Yes, that's right. ( I am sounding like a broken record here, eh? : )

"The kind of exercise matters a lot," said Dr. William Kraus, a Duke University cardiologist who co-authored the scientific report. Runners like Kraus can achieve the same health benefit in a fraction of the time of a walker."

The walking reference was to casual walking and that being the only form of exercise one was doing. I would never recommend that. Anyway, Dr. Kraus goes on...

"If you do it more intense, you can do less time," explained Kraus, who praised the guidelines for offering that flexibility. "This brings it back down to earth for a lot of people." No joke. I took some flack from a few experts on my book due to the title and the super-short nature of the workouts. Turns to find out I may be on to something. Read my book for yourself. Better yet, do what it says. You'll find the workouts very effective and a major stress reliever. During this time of challenge we need all the stress relief we can get.

Oh, as a side-note: Sleep was paramount to good health in this study and every other study on health. My workout plan helps you sleep like a baby due to the way we trigger some key hormones.... right around bedtime.

You can learn more about my Super-Short Workout Plan here!
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Jon Benson is a nutrition and fitness counselor and best-selling author. His latest book "7 Minute Muscle" documents the latest research on brevity training and how you can get more results in far less time in the gym. Read more at http://myworkout.notlong.com

-What are your thoughts? Is there anything you'd like to share which might be be helpful to your fellow health and fitness enthusiasts?

*brought to you by FitnessandHealthAdvice.com

10 Steps To Help You Get A Great Night's Sleep By Christopher Guerriero

How did you sleep last night?

I had a great night sleep, but when I woke up I thought what a powerful effect a great night's sleep has on your metabolism, and I wanted to share with you some idea's about how to get a better night's sleep.

Now my idea of a great night's sleep is one in which you sleep soundly and wake fully refreshed and full of energy. During a great night's sleep you rarely, if ever, think about your troubles, your never think about the news, and your usually fall asleep within 10 minutes of your head hitting the pillow (with positive thoughts in your mind).

Also, a key factor in determining if you had a great night's sleep is if you dream 'positive' or 'fun' dreams. Because if your night is full of 'bad' or 'stressful' dreams then you're most certainly tossing and turning throughout the night and NOT getting a "restful" sleep.

Why is it so important to get quality sleep each and every night:

Your body and your mind break down and get worn out from stress during the day.

The only time that your body and your mind repair itself and rejuvenate are when you're sleeping. But it's important to note here that "restful" sleep is the key. Tossing and turning all night or waking up every few hours is not considered restful sleep.

I recently read an article that made it to my research center that stated the facts about how snoring effects your sleep and your health. People who snore, tend to disrupt their sleep, on average, 300 times each night - now that's not a restful night's sleep!

Now think about it this way for a moment - if you've been under stress lately, or if you're mattress sucks, or if you just plain haven't been able to sleep well for the past few weeks (or months), then you haven't given your brain or your body the time it needs to repair itself.

So you actually start each and every day a little bit less focused and less metabolically healthy than the previous day.

Don't try to catch up on your sleep:

People tell me all the time that they know that they don't get enough sleep during the week - but they "catch up" on the weekends.

Let me put an end to that myth right now...That does not work!!! Your body and your mind need a regular sleeping pattern to repair and rejuvenate - without it you're actually deteriorating yourself rather than re-energizing yourself.

So what's considered enough sleep?

Generally speaking everyone should strive to get 8 hours of restful sleep.

Now if you eat a very healthy diet and exercise properly, and give yourself a few mental breaks during the day, and if you sleep like a baby and awaken fully refreshed every day, then you might be the type of person who can get away with less sleep - maybe 6 hours each night.

On the other hand, if you experience extraordinary amounts of stress each day (mental or physical), then you'll need more than 8 hours.

A marathon runner for example, tends to put his/her body through a lot of stress each day - that person needs more than just 8 hours because their body needs more repair time than normal. The same holds true for the person going through massive mental stress as well.

So what can you do to help facilitate a better night sleep for yourself and those around you...

10 Steps To Help You Get A Great Night's Sleep:

1. Make a list of what you need to do the next day, write it all down and keep that paper and pen near your bedside in case you think of anything else you need to do. When you write things down your giving your brain the signal that it no longer needs to think about those tasks.

2. Don't watch television or listen to the radio (especially the news) before retiring for the night - and certainly do not fall asleep with the TV or radio on.

3. Read some inspirational or self-growth material for at least 30 minutes prior to bed. Your goal is to fill your mind with inspirational thoughts before falling asleep so that the last thoughts you have before drifting off are uplifting thoughts - as opposed to the stressful thoughts that most people fall asleep thinking about.

4. Make sure the room that you're sleeping in is as dark as possible - the body is made to sleep when it's dark out - the darker the room the more potential for a deep sleep.

5. Make the room as silent as possible - turn off all electric devices and ask others in the house to be as quite as they can be.

6. Don't eat for at least 3 hours before going to bed. When there's undigested food in the stomach your body is forced to focus on digesting that food rather than being focused on repairing your body and mind - which is what sleep is all about! The body was designed to digest food best while moving - not while laying down.

7. Try to go to bed at approximately 10:00 pm and awake at approximately 6:00 am. In Ayurvedic medicine it's believed that there are cycles that are the most conducive for certain activities. Going to bed at 10:00 pm and arising at 6:00 am appears to allow the body to rest the deepest, rejuvenate the most, and gives the person the most energy throughout the day.

8. Don't take drugs or vitamins/herbs that are supposed to help you sleep (unless required by your physician). Most of these artificial sleeping aids do nothing more than deaden your senses - the goal of 'sleep' is to give your body the time and means to repair itself and prepare for the coming day. When you drug yourself to sleep, every system in your body is slowed down, including all those systems that are responsible for repairing you.

9. Make sure that there's a fresh air supply in the room. The air indoors is said to be some of the most toxic air around. When you sleep, you're only able to breath in the air that surrounds you in your enclosed bedroom. Try opening a window (if it's cold outside then just open the window a crack). The fresh air that comes in while you sleep will help your body repair itself because you'll have access to cleaner, more oxygenated air.

10. During the day, do 60 minutes of mild exercise. If you don't have time to do 60 minutes in a row, then break it up into 2 - 30 minute sessions, or 3 - 20 minute session, or 6 - 10 minute sessions --- just get a full 60 minutes in. The best exercise when talking about general health and preparing your body for a great night's sleep is "walking".

You can get loads of other great tips on how to live a healthy lifestyle and sleep better from this day forward on my 4 hour Living Health Audio Program.

I wish you the best night's sleep tonight and every night from this day on.

Here's to your Health,
Christopher Guerriero
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Christopher Guerriero is Founder and CEO of The National Metabolic and Longevity Research Center, where he has devoted more than 15 years to studying people who have successfully mastered their metabolism. Christopher is the author of several books, including the world wide best-seller "Maximize Your Metabolism". Take a moment to learn about Christopher's Healthy Living Weight Loss Audio program.

*brought to you by FitnessAndHealthAdvice.com

What Exactly Is My Metabolism And How Can I Control It? By Christopher Guerriero

Many of my clients were initially overweight, not all, but most were. In fact, more than 60% of my clients came to me to help them lose weight. The other 40% is a mixture of people who want to live longer, who want to look sexier, who want to add muscle to their physique, or who just want to live a healthy energy rich life.

Today, I'm going to focus on helping those people who want to lose weight, not because I think that the topic of weight loss is more important than other topics I could cover, but because I think I need to clear up a few false idea's that are circulating in the industry.

First and foremost, if you're overweight, there's a very good chance that you have a low metabolism! I know that might not be shocking to you. You may have already thought that you had a slow metabolism, but here's why I'm re-stating it...

Having a slow metabolism means that you can eat 'only a little food' and still gain more weight than your neighbor who eats far more than you every day of his or her life.

Your metabolism is basically a bunch of organs and glands that are responsible for regulating how your body burns food for fuel and how it converts that food into energy. These include the thyroid, pancreas, stomach, small and large intestines, and the colon.

When you have a slow metabolism there's a good chance that one of more of these systems is out of balance or just plain not working properly (and that's almost always due to improper living, disease, drugs, or a severe accident).

But there's more causes for being overweight other than having a low metabolism. You see, overweight people tend to eat when they're not hungry, they tend to have a larger appetite, they tend to eat "diet foods" more often (which are rarely conducive to weight loss as the label suggests), they tend to eat before they go to bed, and worst of all they tend to see themselves as being overweight.

Now you can clean up almost all of this mess by living a healthy lifestyle, and if you've read any of my books or listened to any of the audio program my company has out, then you already know all the basics associated with living a lean, healthy lifestyle.

But the underlying problem that can never be cleared up simply with your actions, is the way you see yourself when you close your eyes.

My studies at the National Metabolic and Longevity Research Center have taught me that overweight people constantly think about their weight in a negative way, thus creating the undesired effect. It's true that you become what you think about, and if you constantly see yourself as being fat, you'll never be thin!

Here's a tip...for the next 30 days (it takes 28 - 30 days to change how you subconsciously think of yourself) take a few minutes in the morning and picture a great looking, tight, sexy body from head to toe - then put your face on that body. Do this exercise again in the mid afternoon, and then again right before you fall asleep at night.

Do this for 30 days and I guarantee that you'll experience a dramatic change in the way your body looks.

Until next time...
Christopher Guerriero
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Christopher Guerriero is Founder and CEO of The National Metabolic and Longevity Research Center, where he has devoted more than 15 years to studying people who have successfully mastered their metabolism. Christopher is the author of several books, including the world wide best-seller "Maximize Your Metabolism". Take a moment to learn about Christopher's Healthy Living Weight Loss Audio program.

*brought to you by FitnessAndHealthAdvice.com