There is no question that having a massage makes you feel great. Even having a deep-tissue, sports massage makes you feel wonderful afterwards. Massage can relieve stress, help you recover from hard physical activity or injury and even reduce anxiety, but can it help you to achieve your weight loss goals?

Research shows that massage can have a positive effect on your muscle-building capabilities and fitness levels, which in turn increases your capacity to control or loose weight.

Healthy strong muscles burn calories and give you the freedom to participate in all sorts of sports and activities that can help you burn excess calories and improve your overall fitness and wellbeing.

Massage has the following benefits that can directly influence your ability to control or loose weight:

1. Massage has been shown to improve circulation and the supply of nutrition to the muscles. Massage increases the interchange of vital substances between the blood and tissue cells, which increases tissue metabolism. After muscles are exercised, vital nutrients must be supplied to them so that they can recover and rebuild themselves. Massage maximizes the supply of these nutrients and oxygen though increased blood flow, which helps the muscles to grow and burn more calories as a result.

2. Massage improves your muscles’ range of motion and their flexibility. This allows them to maintain maximum power and performance while active, and burn the maximum number of calories in the process.

Improved range of motion and flexibility also reduces muscle soreness during periods of recovery and muscle repair.

Having a wide range of motion and maximum muscle flexibility also reduces the danger of experiencing injuries during exercise which can severely limit activity, exercise and weight loss progress.

3. Massage helps to shorten the recovery time needed between your workouts. Waste products such as lactic and carbonic acid build up in muscles during and after exercise. Increased circulation to these muscles helps to eliminate toxic debris buildup caused by these waste products and in doing so shorten recovery time.

Shortened recovery time means you can safely have more workouts over a given period of time, which in turn means that you have the opportunity to burn more total calories in your effort to achieve your individual weight loss goals.

4. Massage can also help reduce the chance of you over-training. Massage has a relaxing effect on the muscles and a sedative effect on the nervous system. By helping you to rest, which is a very important element of any exercise program, massage can reduce the likelihood of you experiencing over-training syndrome, which is known to limit your ability to build strong healthy muscles and therefore loose weight with maximum efficiency.

5. In addition to all of the above, massage may directly aid in fat loss. According to some research studies, massage is thought to be able to burst the fat capsule in subcutaneous tissue so that the fat exudes and becomes absorbed. In this way, combined with proper nutrition and exercise, massage may actually help in weight loss.

6. As we have already touched upon, massage helps prevent and heal injuries. By stretching connective tissue, massage improves circulation to help prevent or break down adhesions and scar tissue that result from muscle tears and other common muscle injuries. Massage also influences the excretion of certain fluids (nitrogen, phosphorous, sulfur) that aid in tissue repair. Fast and effective recovery from injuries means that you can begin exercising sooner after suffering an injury and getting your weight loss progress back on track.

So there you have it. Massage has a lot of benefits that can indirectly and possibly even directly aid you in achieving your weight loss goals.

Regular massage is just as important a component as regular workouts and correct nutrition in any comprehensive fitness and weight loss program, which is great news for those of us who thought that exercising and losing weight was all hard work! Remember, weight loss is all about leading a balanced lifestyle and massage is an essential part of any balanced lifestyle.

If you haven’t had a massage lately, what are you waiting for? Get on the phone and make yourself a booking. If you haven’t had a massage before, just remember to have your massage done by a qualified massage therapist.

If you are unsure about a massage practitioners qualifications and experience, ask for referrals, professional training information, and make sure they are certified by reputable agency or institution.

And remember, have fun!

The weight loss industry keeps a lot of secrets. That’s because if you know the truth their billion dollar cash cow will quickly dry up. You see, thanks to all the fad diets, diet pills and other weight loss gadgets, the weight loss industry is booming like never before. Unfortunately, most of the stuff out there doesn’t work. Very few people who purchase these products actually end up losing weight.

Below I will share with you 4 of industry secrets that are being used to dupe you out of your hard earned money.

Industry Secret #1 – They Flat Out Lie

I guess that’s really not a secret. A huge percentage of weight loss products you hear about on the radio or TV don’t do what they claim they do. But consumers are so desperate to lose weight that they fall for any and every thing. They are lured by things such as “eat whatever you want and still lose weight” or “no exercise required”. Always remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Industry Secret #2 – They Say Its Scientifically Proven

While most weight loss companies will say their products are scientifically proven, the problem is that they never tell you about the studies. They never tell you who did the studies or who participated in the studies. They just say its scientifically proven cause they know people will fall for it.

Here’s the real deal. Most health professional have a financial interest in the product that is being promoted. Many of them don’t care if its scientifically proven or not. If saying so will make them money, they will do it. So do your own research on products and find out the truth. Just because something is scientifically proven doesn’t mean it works.

Industry Secret #3 – They Say Its Government Approved

Many people believe that if a product isn’t safe the Government won’t let it be on the market. This is completely false. The Government usually doesn’t step in until people start complaining about a product. That’s why there are so many weight loss products on the market.

They are extremely easy to create and market. Just because the Government approves a product doesn’t mean its safe or it will help you lose weight. Also keep in mind that the Government doesn’t always have to pre approve a product before it hits the market.

Industry Secret #4 – They Say The Product Is All Natural

Just because a company says their product is all natural doesn’t mean it is. Remember, the Government doesn’t usually step in unless they start hearing a lot of complaints about a particular product. And if you read the find print on most of these weight loss products you will see that they haven’t been tested or approved by the FDA.

Again, that’s because the FDA won’t step in unless they find out something is harmful. So don’t believe everything you hear. Most weight loss companies will lie to get your money.

In this article, we will talk about a few tips to lose weight in a healthy way.

Unfortunately, there is no miracle diet to get thin. A lot of people spend a lot of money searching for a definite system, and the only result is health and money loss.

To lose weight and not your health, you need to eat healthy and balanced, paying close attention to what you eat if you are following a weight loss diet. To set up a diet, it is advisable to go to a dietician or a well-known nutritionist, even though there are programs and tips that will help you, and below I will mention a few.

- Make sure of not having at home any type of food that will make you break your diet when tempted. Give away all your sweets, ice cream, pizza, frozen foods and any other snack that you might have lying around. Don’t wait until you’ve eaten it to start eating right and don’t leave lying around because it can be very tempting.

- If you still don’t know how to cook, learn. It is important that you prepare your own food. It is important to make sure your meals are cooked adequately for your diet.

- Learn to grocery shop. It can seem easy, but when you follow a diet, you must use a shopping list that includes a lot of fruit, vegetables, white meat, some red meat and a lot of fish. And don’t be tempted into buying something that is not in your diet.

- Against what other people may think, being on a diet doesn’t involve eating less times per day, but eating better. Sometimes it even involves eating more times than when you weren’t on a diet. I advise you to eat 5 meals a day, which will allow your body to feel less hungry and slightly accelerate your metabolism.

- Measure the oil you use when cooking specially when it’s raw. 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in your food and dinner are enough for cooking and it’s key to losing weight constantly.

- Don’t reduce the amount of food you eat but instead the calorie intake.

- Water is a key element for any changes in your organism. You must drink at least two liters of water every day.

- It is important to watch your diet during the weekends. A lot of people do well during the week, but when the weekend comes and they go out to eat lunch or dinner, they skip their diet. You must always keep in mind the foods and restaurants that might be prejudicial to your diet. It is possible to keep a diet for losing weight and still dine out. Think that in restaurants, they use a lot of oil to cook your meals so avoid stews or fried foods and choose griddled, steams or oven-roasted foods, avoiding sauces. Finally, save on desserts while you are following a diet regimen.

I hope you can follow these healthy habits and incorporate them in your life style. Little changes kept in time are key to achieving your objectives.