How to Build Muscle and Lose Fat

This is a guest post by Mehdi, author of StrongLifts.com. Every Friday is Health Tip Day at Zen Habits.

After my previous post 7 Ways to Build the Exercise Habit, Leo asked me to write an 8-week program to build muscle and lose fat.

However, I believe that to have long-term success, the plan must become your lifestyle. It must become a habit.

Therefore this article is not an 8-week program. It’s a list of simple ways to build muscle and lose fat. Tips that worked for me and my readers. And guess what: you will be able to build muscle and lose fat in 8 weeks using these tips.

How to Use Mini-Meditations to Relax and Find Focus

Photo by elle_rigby

This is a guest post from Brian Tanaka of DevYou. Every Friday is Health Tip Day at Zen Habits.

It’s often hard to be as focused as we’d like to be. Many things in our hectic lives interrupt our concentration and erode focus. Think: cell phones, instant messaging, email, and co-workers vying for our time and energy.

Fortunately, there are ways to counteract these forces and bring better, more relaxed focus to our activities. One way is to use “mini-meditations.”

Mini-meditations boost focus and calm your mind throughout the day. They require no fancy preparation or techniques, and you can do them anywhere in less than a minute — so they’re ideal mindfulness exercises whether you’re at home in a quiet room or in the midst of a busy day at work.

10 Tasty, Easy and Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Photo by ms.Tea

Every Friday is Health Tip Day at Zen Habits.

You get up in the morning, you rush to get ready for work, you rush out the door without a breakfast. Perhaps you grab a bagel and cream cheese, perhaps a muffin, perhaps an Egg McMuffin. If you’re lucky, you get a pastry, a hearty breakfast of pancakes and sausage and eggs, or an English fry-up.

Unfortunately, when it comes to being healthy, none of these options is a great way to start your day.

Several readers asked about healthy breakfast ideas, and in truth, it’s a dilemma that many of us face each day. Either we don’t have time for breakfast, or we don’t have many healthy options.

Simple Things You Can Do to Lose Weight

Photo by Gunna

Every Friday is Health Tip Day at Zen Habits.

If you’re like most people, you might have trouble controlling your weight. Or maybe it’s under control, but it won’t go down to where you’d like it to be.

Weight loss, however, doesn’t have to be stressful or complicated. A few simple habit changes could make a big difference — over the long term.

Will these changes take you from being 100 pounds overweight to slim and sexy in four weeks? Not at all. These are simple things that are designed to make gradual and sustainable changes.

Create some simple habits, and the weight will come off. Eventually.

6 Steps to Lose the Buddha (Belly)

Photo by tagp

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Sara Ost of www.healthbolt.net. Every Friday is Health Tip Day at Zen Habits.

The belly: it’s the first spot to get paunchy and the last place to look sleek. A tight core is the one thing we all want (possibly even more than another new online community).

Unfortunately, biology couldn’t care less about our six-pack fantasies, for the human body is built to treasure precious calories, and our midsections are especially talented at storing the excess ones. Couple our genetic predisposition to adiposity with the modern lifestyle of excessive calories and stress, and it’s no wonder a trim midsection eludes many of us!

No problem: my six steps will have you rockin’ a toned torso in no time. They worked for me. The best part? No sit-ups required!

How to Become a Vegetarian, the Easy Way

Every Friday is Health Tip Day at Zen Habits.

While being a vegetarian isn’t for everyone (and neither is Pamela Anderson), I talk to lots of people every day who tell me they’d like to become vegetarian, but it seems like it would be too hard, and they don’t have the willpower.

But becoming a vegetarian, for me and for many others, is the easiest thing in the world.

If you’re not interested in becoming vegetarian or vegan, please skip this post (and don’t flame me in the comments). But I’ve had numerous people, just in the last week or so, ask me to post about becoming a vegetarian, as I seem to have become a poster boy for vegetarianism (move over, Pamela Anderson!).

Ask the readers: What health topics should I write about?

 Every Friday is Health Tip Day at Zen Habits.

I have a couple of good health posts that I plan on writing soon, but today I felt like getting some input on my future health tip posts from all of you.

So, if you have a sec, leave a comment and let me know what I should write about on Health Tip Day.

I always love to hear from you guys, and I especially like know that I’m writing about something that interests all of you.