Top 7 Ways To Improve Your Workout

Everybody wants to spend their time effectively. Spending a lot of time in a gym could not be so effectively as you want to. Here are small tips which will improve your gym workouts:

1. Limit your workouts to 40 minutes. Though the tendency of some people who really want to get a lot out of their workouts is to spend a lot of time at the gym, the truth is that after 30 or 40 minutes, the benefit isn’t as great. It’s better to work out at a higher intensity for a shorter amount of time. If you still think that you need a lot of workouts split them. Go to the gym 5 days a week.
   
2. Water. Be sure to drink a lot of water throughout the day. It takes a couple of hours for your body to absorb it, so you can’t just drink right before exercise. Make it a habit to drink water regularly throughout the day.
3. Slow lifting. Many people contract their muscles slowly and then release more quickly. But if you lift slowly in both directions, you are maximizing each move. Lift and lower to a 5-second count in each direction. Making exercises slow really give much more effect.
   
4. Heavier weight. When you’re starting out, it’s best to start with lower weights so you can focus on good form. But once you’ve gotten your form down, it’s best to lift the heaviest weights you can lift while still keeping good form. Don’t sacrifice form for heavy weights — that is ineffective. But heavy weights, with good form, can give you better results in a shorter amount of time. Heavy weights are not just for those who want to bulk up — that’s a common misconception. So your set could looks like a stairs.
   
5. Pick a cardio exercise you enjoy. It’s no fun to exercise if you hate it. And you won’t keep it up for very long. Pick something that’s fun — running, walking, swimming, biking, hiking, rowing, stairmaster, etc. After the initial phase when you’re getting used to exercise, you’ll start to have a blast and look forward to it.
6. Mix it up. Don’t stick to the same workout routine for too long, or your body will adjust to the stress level and you won’t be getting an effective workout. For strength training, change your routine every few weeks. Or even change routines every week. For cardio, it’s best to cross train rather than, say, to run every time.
7. Shake before and after workout. It’s best to take a protein/carb shake just before your workout and then just after. Taking it before your workout increases the flow of amino acids to your muscles during training, giving them the building blocks they need. After the workout, the shake stimulates muscle growth. Also take a small protein/carb meal 60-90 minutes after a workout — a meal replacement bar would work fine.

7 Ways to Build the Exercise Habit

You’ve probably tried it several times. You’re fed up with your skinny look or overweight body. You decide to finally do something about it. So you take a gym membership. Some friends decide to join you. After a few weeks however, your friends don’t show up anymore. Then you end up alone. And eventually you quit.

Yeah I know, this happens all the time. I’ve seen it over and over again. I know what you’re thinking. How come some people can stick with it and others not? What is their secret?

I’ll first tell you what it is not: it’s not discipline, it’s not willpower. Discipline and willpower only work in the short-term.

What works in the long-term is making exercise a habit. That’s their secret. And that’s what this post is about — 7 ways to build the exercise habit.

1. Set your Goal.
   
   What do you want to achieve?
   Bigger muscles?
   Less fat?
   More strength?
   More speed?
   
   Exercising can be used for several means. Before you take a gym membership, start by setting a definite goal. What is it that you want?
   
   Don’t try to achieve more than 1 thing at a time. Start with one goal. Once you have attained it, you can work towards a second goal.
   
   
2. Set a Deadline.
   
   Set a date by which you will reach your goal. Write your goal and deadline on a piece of paper and put it somewhere you can see it multiple times a day.A good place would be on your nightstand. Look at it on waking up and before going to bed. This will act as a constant reminder of your goal.
   
   
3. Make a Plan.
   
   Once you have set your goal, you must back it up with a plan.
   Which exercises will you perform?
   How many sets and reps will you do?
   How many times a week will you go the gym?
   Your time is precious. Any minute in the gym must bring you closer towards the achievement of your goal. So choose a solid training program. If you’re a total beginner to strength training, read Starting Strength. It’s the best place to start.
   
   
4. Exercise First Thing in the Morning.
   
   When you’ve just had a tough day at work, it can be hard to train for another hour at the gym. A solution is to exercise first thing in the morning:
   Wake up early
   Eat breakfast
   Prepare the stuff you need for work
   Go to the gym
   One hour later, you’re another step closer towards the achievement of your goal. And you have your whole day to do whatever you need to do.
   
   
5. Stick to your Plan.
   
   This is something I experienced on numerous occasions. The days you don’t feel like exercising, are often your best days. Maybe it’s the mind-body connection: the body says no, but the mind says go. Thus the body eventually says go too. I don’t know.
   Whatever it is, when it’s the day to train, it’s the day to train. Make no excuses, go the gym. If you don’t feel 100% healthy, still go the gym, but train at a lower intensity. The fact that you’ve been there, is more important than the quality of your training. And as I wrote above, sometimes it can turn out into one of your most productive workouts.
   
   The more you exercise, the more you build the habit. Stick to your plan.
   
   
6. Train With Someone Who Has The Exercise Habit.
   
   If you’re training partner quits, you’ll probably end up quitting too. But if your training partner hangs on, you’ll take it as a challenge.
   
   Next time you go the gym, look around you. Look at the people who exercise. Find someone who is serious with his training. Take the initiative: ask him if you can train with him. If you choose the right person, he’ll accept your request. Most people know that getting into exercising is not easy, they know because they’ve been there.
   
   A good training partner will motivate you & help you achieve your goal. If not, keep on looking.
   
   
7. Be confident.
   You can achieve whatever you want, if you believe that you can do it. Having a clear goal and a plan will already arm you with self-confidence.
   
   Know that it will take 30 days to build the exercise habit. During the first 30 days you’ll need to push yourself to the gym. After 30 days it will become easier: the habits starts to take over, pushing you the gym.
   

Write this next to your goal and deadline: “If they can do it, I can do it”

10 Great Tips To Feel More Energized

A lot of people complain that they feel tired right after the day begins. Thats could happen because of different things but there are small tips follow which everybody could feels much more energized:

1. Have breakfast... even if you don't feel hungry. You'll be a lot perkier: Studies show that people who eat breakfast feel better both mentally and physically than those who skip their morning meal. British researchers at Cardiff University even found that spooning up a bowl of breakfast cereal every morning is associated with lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
2. Stay hydrated. Water makes up the majority of your blood and other body fluids, and even mild dehydration can cause blood to thicken, forcing the heart to pump harder to carry blood to your cells and organs and resulting in fatigue. Also, ample fluids keep energy-fueling nutrients flowing throughout the body, says Nancy Clark, R.D., author of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook. To gauge your hydration, Clark recommends monitoring how often you urinate. You should be going every two to four hours, and your urine should be clear or pale yellow in color. Tip: Besides drinking more, you can also consume foods that naturally contain water, such as yogurt, broccoli, carrots, and juicy fruits, like watermelons, oranges, and grapefruits.
3. Watch caffeine intake after noon. Typically, consuming a moderate amount of caffeine — 200 to 300 mg, the amount found in two to three cups of coffee — can make you more energetic and alert in the hours following, says Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D., a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. But when caffeine is consumed in large quantities — or anytime in the afternoon or evening — the quality of your sleep that night can take a nosedive, leaving you with heavy eyelids the next day. One caution for those who are highly sensitive to caffeine: Although switching to a decaf latte in the afternoon sounds like the answer, researchers at the University of Florida found that out of 22 decaffeinated coffee beverages tested, all but one contained some caffeine.
4. Splash some water on your face or take a shower when you're feeling burned-out. Some 55 percent of study participants reported using these types of "water therapy" to successfully increase their energy, according to findings in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Apparently, a little H ₂ O refresher can instantly help take the edge off when you're feeling overwhelmed
5. Take belly breaths. When we're under stress, we're prone to take "chest breaths" — short, shallow ones, says Domar. Chest breathing brings less air into the lungs and reduces the supply of energizing oxygen to the body and brain, leaving you physically and mentally drained. The goal is deep, diaphragmatic breathing — like that of a sleeping infant: When you breathe in, your belly should round and fill like a balloon; on an exhale, your belly should slowly deflate. Of course, remembering to practice deep breathing isn't the first thing on your mind when you're under the gun, so as a visual reminder, try posting a tranquil picture (such as a pool of water or your kids smiling) with the word "breathe" next to your computer, or anywhere you tend to feel on edge.
6. Cut back on TV and computer time after 8 p.m. If you're already a night owl (you go to bed late and sleep in on weekends), the bright light emitted from television and computer screens can make falling asleep at a decent hour even harder. The reason: Light suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone secreted at sunset that tells the brain that it's nighttime, explains John Herman, Ph.D., director of the training program in sleep medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas. And when melatonin levels are low, your brain is fooled into thinking that it's still daytime — and remains raring to go. Whenever possible, wait until the next morning to tune in and/or log on. If you must use light-emitting technology at night, try to turn it off an hour or two before hitting the sack.
7. Give your pet his own separate sleeping space. At night, pets snore, jiggle their tags, move around a lot, and even hog the covers and bed space. It's no wonder that 53 percent of pet owners who sleep with their pets in the bedroom have some type of disrupted sleep every night, according to a study from the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorders Center in Rochester, MN. Consider relocating your furry friend's sleeping quarters to another area, even if it's just his own bed in your bedroom.
8. Lower the thermostat. For a good night's sleep, make sure your room is comfortably cool — enough so that you need a light blanket. This ensures that your environment is in sync with your body's internal temperature, which naturally drops during the night, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Studies suggest the ideal sleeping temperature is between 54 and 75 degrees; anything cooler or warmer may cause you to wake up.
9. Skip the nightcap. Alcohol depresses the nervous system — the system of cells, tissues, nerves, and organs that controls the body's responses to internal and external stimuli. So while sipping a glass of wine before bed may help you nod off, the sedative effects wear off as your body metabolizes the alcohol, which may cause you to wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble falling back to sleep. Alcohol has also been shown to interfere with the body's natural 24-hour biorhythms, causing blood pressure to rise and heart rate to race at night when it's normally calm and relaxed. You don't have to give up that evening cocktail entirely to achieve sound sleep — just try to avoid alcohol within two to three hours of bedtime.
10. Write down your worries. During the day, jot down any stressors that are weighing on you, says Carden. Then, do some mental problem-solving before your head hits the pillow — or, if you're falling short on solutions, tuck your list away and resolve to brainstorm ideas during your morning shower or commute to work. Just knowing you've established a plan for tackling your to-do's will make you feel like you've made some progress, allowing you to relax, drift off — and wake up the next morning ready to take on the day.

What happens when you stay awake for 11 days straight

What would happen if you stay awake, say, oh for 11 days straight? Would you suffer brain damage or even die? Here’s the story of a high school stunt that turned into a real scientific research into sleep deprivation from Alex Boese’s Elephants on Acid and Other Bizarre Experiments.

On the first day, Randy Gardner woke at six A.M. feeling alert and ready to go. By day
two he had begun to drag, experiencing a fuzzy-headed lack of focus. When handed series of objects, he struggled to recognize them by touch alone. The third day he became uncharacteristically moody, snapping at his friends. He had trouble repeating common tongue twisters such as Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. By the fourth day, the sand-clawed demons of sleep were scraping at the back of his eyeballs. He suddenly and inexplicably hallucinated that he was Paul Lowe, a large black football player for the San Diego Chargers. Gardner, in reality, was white, seventeen years old, and 130 pounds soaking wet.

Gardner, a San Diego high school student, was the subject of a self-imposed sleep-deprivation experiment. He had resolved to find out what would happen to his mind and body if he stayed awake from December 28, 1963 to January 8, 1964, a total of 264 hours - eleven days. Assisting him were two classmates, Bruce McAllister and Joe Marciano Jr. They kept him awake and tracked his condition by administering a series of tests. They planned to enter the results in the Greater San Diego High School Science Fair. But transforming the ordeal from a science fair stunt into one of the most widely cited sleep-deprivation experiments ever conducted was the arrival of Stanford researcher William C. Dement, who flew down from Palo Alto to be with Randy as soon as he heard what was going on.

Animal Study Ends in DEATH!


No one knew what Randy might experience, as more days passed, or whether he might cause himself permanent brain damage, because only a handful of sleep-deprivation trials had ever been conducted. One of the earliest studies in this field had come to an inauspicious conclusion. In 1984 1894 Russian physician Marie de Manaceine kept four puppies awake almost five days, at which point the puppies died. She reported that the research was "excessively painful," not only for the puppies but for herself as well. Apparently monitoring sleepy puppies 24/7 is hard work.

However, the few studies conducted on humans offered more hope. In 1896 doctors J. Allen Gilbert and George Patrick kept an assistant professor and two instructors awake in their lab at the University of Iowa for ninety hours. After the second night, the assistant professor hallucinated that "the floor was covered with a greasy-looking, molecular layer of rapidly moving or oscillating particles." But no long-term side effects were observed. Then, in 1959, two disc jockeys separately staged wake-a-thons to raise money for medical research. Peter Tripp of New York stayed awake for 201 hours while broadcasting from a glass booth in Times Square. Tom Rounds of Honolulu upped the ante by remaining awake 260 hours. Both Tripp and Rounds suffered hallucinations and episodes of paranoia, but after a few good nights’ sleep they seemed fully recovered. It was Rounds’s record Gardner hoped to beat, which is why he set his goal a 264 hours.

The Experiment

Meanwhile, Gardner valiantly pressed onward, struggling to stay awake. Nights were the hardest. If he lay down for a second, he was out like a light. So his high school friends and Dr. Dement kept him active by cruising in the car, taking trips down to the donut shop, blasting music, and playing marathon games of basketball and pinball. Whenever Gardner went to the bathroom, they made him talk through the door to confirm he wasn’t dozing off. The one thing they didn’t do was give him any drugs. Not even caffeine.

As more days passed, Gardner’s speech began to slur, he had trouble focusing his eyes, he frequently grew dizzy, he had trouble remembering what he said from one minute to the next, and he was plagued by more hallucinations. One time he saw a wall dissolve in front of him and become a vision of a forest path.

To make sure he wasn’t causing himself brain damage or otherwise injuring his health, his parents insisted he get regular checkups at the naval hospital in Balboa Park - the family’s health-care provider since his father served in the military. The doctors at the hospital found nothing physically wrong with him, though he did sporadically appear confused
and disoriented.

A New World Record!

Finally, at two A.M. on January 8, Gardner broke Rounds’s record. A small crowd of doctors, parents, and classmates gathered to celebrate the event. They cheered wildly, and Gardner, busy taking calls from newsmen, responded with a V-for-victory sign. Four hours later, he was whisked away to the naval hospital where, after receiving a brief neurological checkup, he fell into deep sleep. He woke fourteen hours and forty minutes later, feeling alert and refreshed.

Gardner’s world record didn’t last long. A mere two weeks later, papers reported that Jim Thomas, a student at Fresno State College, managed to stay awake 266.5 hours. The Guinness Book of World Records subsequently recorded that in April 1977 Maureen Weston, of Petersborough, Cambridgeshire, went 449 hours without sleep while participating in a rocking chair marathon. However, Gardner’s feat remained the most well-remembered sleep-deprivation trial. To this day, no on knows the maximum amount of time a human can stay awake.

As of 2007, Gardner remains alive and well, having suffered no long-term ill effects from his experience. Despite sleep deprivation being the source of his fifteen minutes of fame, he insists he’s really not the type to pull an all-nighter and says he’s maintained a sensible sleep schedule since his youthful stunt. He does admit to lying awake some nights, but attributes this to age, not a desire to beat his old record.

Ross J. (1965) "Neurological Findings After Prolonged Sleep Deprivation." Archives of Neurology 12:399-403.

Crazy Bench Press of 715 lbs Without Eqipment

Scot Mendelson holds a world record in raw bench press, with a lift of 715 lbs (324.3 kg). He also was the first guy who lifted above 1000 pound but now this record holds Ryan Kennelly. He is 39 years old. Nowadays he own a fitness studio and going to lift 1100 some time in future. Here is a video of making his world record:

Also, checkout Ryan Kennellie's 1050 bench press.

1050lbs To Become Bench Press King

Ukranian guy, Ryan Kennelly, become a bench press world records men by lifting 1050 lbs (476.3 kg) of total weight. He beats his own world record of 1036 lbs and the previous records men was Gene Rychlak Jr Benching with 1010. Ryan weighs in at about 290 pounds. Here is the video from the tournament where he make hist new record:

Also, check out Bench press world record Without Equipment

10 Things You Never Knew About Sex

1. The typical lovemaking session lasts around 15 minutes: roughly 10 to 12 minutes of foreplay and around 3 to 5 minutes of intercourse.
2. Humans aren't the only horny members of the animal kingdom doing it just for fun. Dolphins and a type of chimpanzee called the bonobo have also been observed engaging in sexual activity when they are not in their natural reproductive cycles.
3. While Viagra has made erectile dysfunction (affecting 10 to 12 percent of men) a household phrase, the opposite problem -- premature ejaculation -- is more common (affecting 24 to 27 percent of men). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing a drug called dapoxetine as a cure for this problem.
4. Crank up that thermostat... orgasms may be more intense in warmer conditions. The degree of vasocongestion, reddening or darkeing of the skin known as the "sex flush," is both more common in warmer temperatures and an indication of how intense an orgasm may be.
5. If a woman experiences orgasm during sex, she is more likely to become pregnant, since orgasmic spasms in pelvic muscles help move sperm up the vaginal canal to the uterus.
6. Homosexuality is not unique to humans. Many species have been observed engaging in homosexual activity, and in fact male bats have the highest rate of homosexuality of all mammals.
7. On any given day 400,000,000 people around the world -- 1 in 17 of us -- will have sexual intercourse. Broken down further, 4,000 people are having sex at any given time.
8. Sex cures headaches. Endorphins released into our bloodstream when we have sex not only give us pleasure but also act as painkillers. Useful information to whip out the next time your partner uses a headache as a reason to say no.
9. Many elderly can and do have frequent sex. At age 70, 73% of males are still potent, and 30% of women 80 or older have still have sex.
10. 70% of women would rather eat choclate than have sex.

4 Monumental Princeples Of Weight Loss

Nowadays, everyone and everything promoting miraculous weight-loss formulas. Sometimes they turn to the mythic properties of fruit, like with the “Lemon Diet” or with the “Papaya Diet.” Other times they just create special nutritional plans, say the “Low-Carb Diet.” There are also the magic workouts and exercises that are supposed to reduce your belly circumference by 10 centimeters in three days – while toning your muscles….

The reality is that there are no shortcuts or easy ways to get in good shape. Sorry, but someone needed to tell you this.

Now, don’t get me wrong, you won’t not need to starve for days or perform some Spartan training activities. As long as you get conscious about what you are doing, you will see the results. Below you will find the four principles that you need to keep in mind in your weight-loss journey.

1. Forget About Diets

People that go from diet to diet never reach a stable weight, let alone a good shape. The reason is quite simple: diets are, by their very nature, temporary. You can’t expect to eat properly for two or three weeks and fix your weight problems for the rest of the year.

I know it is encouraging to read that you could lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks if you were to eat this and that. It is encouraging but not true. They might even work in the short term, but after a couple of months you will recover what you have lost.

Many of these diets are not even targeted at fat loss. They promise that you will lose weight, but the caloric cut is so drastic that you end up losing many pounds of water and muscle mass along the way, and that is not what you should be aiming for.

If diets are not the solution, what is then? Proper nutrition, and we’ll cover this on the next principle.

2. Proper Nutrition

If you want to keep your weight and fat percentage under control, you will need to learn the basics of nutrition. Once you learn them, you will be able to eat healthy throughout the year.

Buy a nutrition book on some library and read it. At the very minimum you want to know how your body works, what sources of energy it uses, what are the roles of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins.

You will need to shift your paradigm about food. Many people, especially those with weight problems, tend to see food as a source of pleasure. They eat what they like, when they want to, and in whatever proportions it might take to satiate them.

This is not the correct approach. You should see food first and foremost as something functional. You will eat because food is the fuel for your body. If you adopt this mentality, you will start eating what you need, when you need, and in the correct amount.

It might sound extreme, but even with this approach you will be able to have pleasure while eating. It is just a matter of getting used to it. Once you detox yourself from the junk food you will see that an apple can be just as tasty as a sugar-jammed apple pie.

Needless to say that if you are trying to lose weight you will need to have a caloric deficit in place. That is, you will need to eat less calories than what your body needs to keep his weight. Ideally you want to jot down some numbers and calculate how much you should be eating. There are plenty of resources online that can help you here.

3. Physical Exercise

Eating healthy and having a caloric deficit will only take you half the way. The other key factor is physical exercise.

Low intensity cardio is the corner stone of any weight loss program. That is because the higher the intensity of the exercise, the lower the amount of free fat acids in your bloodstream (free fat acids come from your stored fat through the lipolysis process, and they are burned for energy).

So far so good, but what is considered low intensity cardio? The easiest way to determine is to find your max heart rate (220 – age = max heart rate) and calculate 40% and 60% of it. That is the range you should aim for when doing low intensity cardio. Suppose you are 20 years old. This means that your max heart rate is around 200, so your range for low intensity cardio is from 80 heart beats per minute to 120 heart beats per minute.

Pragmatically speaking, what activities can you do as low intensity cardio? There are many of them, from walking to swimming and riding a bicycle; just find something that you like to do.

Start with two weekly sessions, and build your way up. The same theory goes for the duration, find what you are capable of doing in the beginning (without feeling too tired), and build your way up. It might be 10, 20 or 30 minutes, it doesn’t matter as long as you make progress along the way.

4. Discipline and Perseverance

You can start eating healthy and exercising properly, but unless you stick doing it regularly, the results won’t appear (if they do, they won’t last).

Discipline and perseverance are key here.

You could find a friend to exercise together, a mentor to guide you throughout the way, or even write down your progress day after day, like this person has done on his fat man weight loss blog. Do whatever it takes to stay on track.

That is pretty much all you need.

It won’t be easy, but very few worth things in life are easy to achieve, right?

Good luck!

Weight Loss Of 186 Kilograms Is A World Record

Power of will could make a 286 kilos guy in 2003 to become 100 kilos guy! Here are photos of what he went through during the world's great weight loss:

7 Easy Tips for Better Eating Habits

One of the most important things that needs your attention is what you eat and how you do it. Good eating habits are so necessary to be at your best and today we’ll look at 7 really simple techniques that you can use to improve your eating habits. Continuous practice of these habits will lead to a more energetic, fulfilling and healthy life.

1. Avoid eating junk. Look at your food and assess whether you are taking care of your body or ruining it.
2. Have watery food, like fresh salads. Drink more water. It is known to flush toxins from your body.
3. Don’t eat too much or too less. Stick to moderate proportions.
4. Eat slowly. Chew your food. Eating works like the way pills do: The more you feel it’s going to work, the more it is going to work. Always take your time and feel every bit of food that you eat. Follow it to your stomach. This would take just a few minutes of your time. Don’t tell me you’re that busy! ;)
5. Stick to your eating schedule. At times when I’m upto something that’s really important, I skip my meals thinking that missing it once or twice will not be a problem. But trust me, it is going to disturb your biological cycle and my advice is: never do this!
6. Avoid distractions while eating. I had this annoying habit of watching TV or gaping at my computer screen while eating. I thought I was being practical: I didn’t want to waste time. But soon I realized how bad it is for my body and I dumped my distractions completely. Now I feel calm and uncluttered while eating.
7. Avoid smoking and alcohol intake before or after food. Many smokers feel the need to smoke after meals at home, work or a restaurant. Nicotine stops hunger pains and makes your blood sugar level go up. And about alcohol, studies indicate that some of the ingested alcohol is trapped by food in the stomach causing a delay in absorption. My advice: Smoke and drink at a later time and see your appetite grow. It is much healthier that way.

Make a list of your eating habits and review them honestly. It’s good to know how well your eating is. If you come up with some more tips for better eating habits, which I’m sure you will, please share them with us in the comments section.

The REAL Death Treats To Americans

Sources (1) CNN

(2) FBI

(3) National Center for Statistics and Analysis

(4) Institue of Medicine

(5) CDC

(6) American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

(7) American Cancer Society

(8) National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicin

(9) Center for Disease Control (CDC), NCHS Leading Causes of Death

(10) National Cancer Institute

(11) CDC, Smoking Attributable Deaths

(12) CDC, Cigarette Smoking-Related Mortality

Top 10 Most Ridiculous Diets

People will do almost anything to lose weight. While the most logical, sustainable means of doing so hasn’t really changed—eat less and exercise—every day it seems there are a host of new and outlandish methods to lose those love handles. Most of these ill-fated regimes will help you lose pounds, at least in the short term, but sometimes it’s at the expense of an organ or your sanity. While these diets are ridiculous, unsustainable, and often times dangerous, if your main goal is to lose weight, you just might find them useful. After all, extreme caloric restriction, per the Three Day or Russian Air Force diet, seems to be a tried and true method of dropping pounds. And they’ll stay off—at least until you come to your senses.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Dr. Siegal’s® Cookie Diet™
Make no mistake, you’re not going to be eating Pepperidge Farm Milanos, or Oreos, or Mrs. Fields’ White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies on this diet. No, you’re going to be eating the concoctions of Dr. Siegal, a physician who specializes in hypothyroidism and obesity, and who also likes to sell weight loss books and snacks. However, his proprietary hunger-controlling cookies are a diet-deceiving indulgence; they look like bricks of fiber-coated oats sweetened with prunes. Although they may make you less hungry, the doctor also advises combining them with a restricted calorie diet, which, as we all know, is the main way you’re going to lose weight. I also like how he has trademarked the term “Let’s face it: hunger wrecks diets™.” Uh, so do cookies.

The Subway Diet
Ever since I worked in a building where the women’s restroom abutted a Subway sandwich shop, I have had an almost Pavlovian reaction to thought of eating one of their subs. It reminds me of the toilet, and makes me want to gag. So although I know many people like Subway, eating them twice a day for a year, like Jared Fogel, the guy on the Subway commercials who lost 245 pounds, seems inconceivable. And it seems like I could save a whole lot of money by just making my own sandwiches, and maybe going for a jog now and again.

Cabbage Soup Diet
Mmmm … cabbage. Good on St. Patrick’s day, not so good every day. Unless you’re trying to lose up to ten pounds in a single week, then maybe cabbage doesn’t sound so bad anymore. But being light headed, weak, and suffering from decreased concentration, as some diet participants have reported, does. Not to mention the inordinate amount of flatulence you are bound to have on a cabbage laden diet. Slim, but stinky.

Slim Fast
First a Subway sandwich, then cereal, now a Slim Fast shake or food item. The basic premise is the same: replace two meals with any of the above, you lose weight, and the maker of said item makes a lot of money. That is, until you grow so bored and tired of eating the exact same thing for two meals a day you quit, and realize that—wow—there are a lot of other foods out there that cost a lot less. Say, fruits and vegetables.

The Three-Day Diet/Hot Dog Diet
These diets are similar, because both recommend eating franks for dinner. You also get to eat one cup of vanilla ice cream and one tablespoon of peanut butter in the course of this diet, as well as other strictly measured amounts of food. The result of losing ten pounds over the course of three days is due to severe calorie restriction, even if your calories are coming from precisely measured hotdogs. And after the three days? Regain.

The Apple Cider Vinegar Diet
Yummy—nothing like throwing back a few teaspoons of vinegar to get your gut prepared for a meal. Talk about an appetite suppressant. This diet relies on the premise that apple cider vinegar, taken fifteen minutes before a meal, will decrease hunger and curb the urge to nibble. There’s no real evidence that apple cider vinegar can help you lose weight, but reducing portions and exercising, like most of the proponents of this fad also tell you to do, will.

The Writing Diet
I can’t seem to figure out why we writers aren’t all size twos. Because according to Julia Cameron’s new book The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Sized, we should be. The premise for this too-good-to-be-true diet is that people overeat not out of hunger, but because of emotion. By writing daily, we tap into our emotions, and put them on the page instead of in our mouths. While I can concede that having your hands on a keyboard will prevent them from grabbing a bag of Doritos, I can’t figure out how sitting on your butt is supposed to make it smaller.

And the number one most ridiculous diet …

The Atkins Diet
Don’t get me wrong: the Atkins diet can help you lose weight. I’ve tried it, and I lost weight. But man, I felt like crap. And after a week, all I could think about was eating an orange. An orange! Of all the harmless food items out there. Of course, cutting out refined sugars and nutrition-less carbs is a good thing, but not all carbs are bad for you, and the good ones fuel muscles, fill you up, and are pretty damn tasty. Not to mention that the Atkins diet isn’t a healthful lifestyle change; it’s a limiting diet that requires you to eat a lot of not so healthy foods. And chances are you won’t be able to avoid eating carbohydrates for your entire life, nor would many people want to

Blood Type Diet
According to this diet, different blood types should eat different foods. If you’re group O, you’re a hunter, and should eat meat. If you’re A, you’re a cultivator, and are best as a vegetarian. B? A nomad, eat dairy. The rare AB blood type should eat—you guessed it—a combination of the foods recommended for groups A and B. If this sounds more like the plot of a bad high school play than a diet, that’s because there’s really no evidence that your blood type has any influence on your weight or overall health. Look past the A’s, B’s and O’s, and you’ll see this a fad diet that doesn’t make much sense.

Russian Air Force Diet
This diet does not require you to stand in the bread line, but it does require you to survive on near starvation levels of food. Originally developed in the former Soviet Union to keep soldiers fit, you are allowed to put herbs, salt, pepper, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and ketchup on all your meals. But about those meals … breakfast is coffee only. Lunch: two eggs, a tomato. And dinner allows you to feast on a sliver of meat and a salad. Yes, you will lose weight. Yes, you will feel like you’ve enlisted. And yes, you will feel like you are back in the USSR.

The Cereal Diet
This is similar to the Subway diet in that you’re supposed to supplant two meals a day with the same thing—in this case cereal. From Special K to Raisin Bran, many cereal boxes now claim you can “lose six in two”— that is lose six pounds in two weeks. Of course, the premise is the same: when people have to measure the amount they are eating, they end up eating fewer calories, so they lose weight. And it’s not like these cereals are health food or anything. The third ingredient in Special K is sugar; it’s the second ingredient in All-Bran. And the last thing you want to be eating too much of is All-Bran—it’s not weight you’d lose, but the contents of your bowels.

Worlds Shortest Man

Please welcome the world's shortest man. His name is Lin Yih-Chih (in Yü-chih). He lives in Taipei and world's shortest man is according Guinness World Records book. He is 27 inches and not so long time ago was challenged by He Pingping from Inner Mongolia. But he still holds world's shortest man title cuz He Pingping is 28.8 inches.

Top 7 Foods That Will Dig You A Grave

1. Chicken Wings. Outside of the internet and pornography, beer and chicken wings are without question the greatest combination in the history of the universe. Often referred to as mortal man’s kryptonite, the lure of the chicken wing lies in its beautiful simplicity. Cut off chicken’s appendage, cover with breading, throw in a deep fryer, bathe in your favorite spicy flavoring, dip in ranch or dill sauce, stuff into mouth, inhale and repeat. With martinis, the common refrain is “one is not enough, and three is too many”, but with the chicken wing, I would suggest, “one is not enough, 25, eeeh, still probably not enough." The appeal may also be rooted in the primitive nature of tearing an animal’s flesh off the bone, or perhaps just being served by large-busted women clad in tight orange, ham-wallet exposing shorts. Either way, in all their deep-fried goodness, chicken wings provide an exceptional heart-stopping friend to your beer and your cardiologist.
2. Potatoes. Potatoes contain glycoalkaloids (solanine and chaconine), toxic compounds which are more prevalent in the wild potato varieties. Cooking at high temperatures mostly removes the toxin, although headaches, diarrhea, and cramps—and in severe cases, coma and death—can occur in rare cases. Ever wonder why we’re told to keep potatoes away from light? It’s to prevent higher concentrations of solanine. So don’t eat potatoes after they have turned green.
3. Blowfish (Fugu). This fish is deadly on its own, and highly regarded as a Japanese and Hong Kong delicacy. It’s poison, tetrodotoxin, is 1,200 times more potent than cyanide. Around one hundred diners die each year from it. Preparation is the key; make sure a licensed chef prepares your Fugu. Becoming a licensed Fugu chef is a long and intensive process, culminating in the chef preparing a Fugu meal and eating it himself. The most deadly parts of Fugu include the liver, muscles, ovaries, and skin.
4. Stuffed Crust Double-Cheeseburger Pizza. Otherwise known as the “fat-bastard special," this coronary in a cardboard box should probably come with a parental warning. “Letting your child order this pizza will probably lead to him being air-lifted out of bed on a future episode of Jerry Springer." Pizza the Hutt himself would have had a hard time choking down one of these hot and greasy pies but I guess North America had to develop something for fat people who can’t make decisions. Even bulimics won’t touch this offering because the weight gain is so rapid they don’t have time to heave it back up.
   
5. Mushrooms. Most people know that certain types of mushrooms can be deadly. The more common poisonings come from the Death Cap (often confused for the Paddy Straw mushroom), Destroying Angels, and Deadly Webcap. Death Caps alone contain over seven toxins and one bite can lead to a nasty death. Watch out for the Gyomitra, which is often confused for Morrel.
6. Chocolate. Chocolate contains the alkaloid theobromine, which in unusually high doses can be toxic to humans. However, it would take an unholy amount of chocolate to achieve this. But other species react much worse: dogs, parrots, horses, and cats can be killed by ingesting chocolate.
7. Tomato. Although the fruit itself is safe (more technically a berry), tomato plants contain glycoalkaloids, which are indeed toxic.