16th Century Food Tudor Sources of 16th century food tudor information from the Web

Psst. I would like to let you in on a secret. As it is I understand that most of us tend to put on weight particularly in the mid section, right. It is the tummy that seems to have a mind of its own. Well I will tell you a sure shot method to reduce the flab around the waist line. Mind you this doesn't hold true for post pregnancy tummies. This is what you have to do.

Breathe in air as strongly as you can and as you do so, tuck in your tummy as much as you can. Hold it like this for a few seconds and then slowly release your breath taking care not to let out your tummy. Try to keep breathing like this at least fifty or sixty times in a day.

In fact breathe like this whenever you can remember to do so. After the first day, you should feel the muscles of your stomach tightening each time you do this. Then you know that you are on the right track. If you practice this without fail for 20 days, at the end of the twentieth day, you will have lost at least an inch.

Go easy on salt, as too much salt is one of the causes of obesity. Make it a point to really cut down on salt. Try to bring down your salt intake to half of what it was last year.

Life today has become so easy that we have every thing at our fingertips. All we have to do is push a button here and push a button there. The only things that get any exercise at all are our fingers. Years ago Charles Darwin put forward a theory of use and disuse. According to this theory, a certain part of the body that is put to constant use develops a lot and a certain part of the body that has no use at all becomes smaller and smaller and gradually ceases to exist.

Certain examples that he quoted were the long neck of the giraffe, which appeared to become longer and longer when the giraffe stretched higher and higher to reach the leaves at the treetops. He quoted the example of the absence of a tail in human beings to illustrate the example of the theory of disuse.

Now if Darwin's theory were to prove true, as the years go by man is likely to end up with just a huge head, a few fingers and maybe some other parts of the body that are also put to use.

Try to stick to black tea/coffee. Black tea or coffee can actually be good for you. But personally I would like to recommend tea rather than coffee. The caffeine in the coffee is not really good for you because it is an alkaloid and can affect other functions of your body like the metabolism.

Smoking is bad for weight loss. Smoking as such may not contribute to weight loss but smoking leads to other conditions like erratic eating habits and excessive dependence on things like coffee.

Select an exercise pattern to suit your life style. All f us have different life styles and professions so there is no sense in trying to follow the book strictly. Try and follow an exercise routine that is suitable for you. You have to understand that even more important than the exercise itself is sticking to it. So unless you choose something that can suit your life style, you are not going to stick on to it.

Choose white meat rather than red. White meat, which includes fish and fowl, is miles better than red meat, which includes beef and pork for those trying to lose weight.

Try breathing exercises. You might be surprised to know that breathing exercises too can lead to weight loss. If you are doing the breathing exercises properly, you will find that you can exert a lot of pressure on the muscles around the mid section. You can feel a tightening of these muscles each time you breathe in or breathe out. So go ahead and breathe properly, it is good for you.