Your Health Matters

They say that variety is the spice of life. Well, here are a few spices that can help you lose weight and liven up your dinner plate in the process. (via Spice Up Your Weight Loss With These 8 Natural Flavor Blasts! - The Alternative Daily)

Sprint Triathlon: Ironman Light If you’ve got the guts for a triathlon – but not enough hours to train – try a shorter version. A sprint triathlon is a half-mile swim, 12-mile bike ride, and 3-mile run. In a triathlon relay, team members work together to complete a regular triathlon. A checkup is a must before any new workout if you’re 45 or older or you have health issues. (via 20 Workout & Fitness Crazes Slideshow)

Flatten your belly in under a week! The Flat Belly Diet 4-day Jumpstart is a great way to reduce belly bloat and start flattening your stomach instantly. (via 10 Smart Food Swaps To Beat Bloat - Prevention.com)

You don’t need a fancy gym filled with expensive equipment to get a fantastic strength training workout. In fact, all you need is a chair! These three strength-training moves from Prevention’s fitness expert, Chris Freytag, simply leverage your own weight to tighten and tone your entire body. What are you waiting for? Get your butt off the seat and learn how to turn your chair into an excellent exercise tool. (via Body Weight Exercises to Firm Up - Prevention.com)

Believing popular misconceptions can keep you from taking the right course of action to reach your goals, says Julia Valentour, MS, program coordinator and media spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise. Blaming a plateau (or a gain) on any of these half-truths will keep you stuck in your rut and derail your motivation. Here, 10 of the most pervasive diet-related rumors and the real scoop on how to hit your goal weight (via 10 Diet And Fitness Rumors That Slow Weight Loss - Prevention.com)

Intrigued by research spotlighting eccentric training as one of the most effective ways to get firm, we asked fitness expert Chris Freytag to create a superfast shape-up exercise routine using this unique technique. When we put a group of readers on the plan, the results were eye-popping: Testers had an average weight loss of 6 pounds and 10 inches in 14 days, with the most successful volunteers losing up to 12 pounds and more than 22 inches all over. (via Weight Loss Exercise Routine To Help You Lose Weight - Prevention.com)

While a great deal of research on childhood obesity has spotlighted the long-term health problems that emerge in adulthood, a new UCLA study focuses on the condition’s immediate consequences and shows that obese youngsters are at far greater risk than had been supposed. (via Childhood obesity linked to more immediate health problems than previously thought / UCLA Newsroom)

The Off-Balance Workout Looking for a toned stomach or a better tennis game? These are two good reasons to turn your workout into a balancing act. A controlled wobble activates deep core muscles to help tighten the midsection and prepare athletes for that quick turn or lunge. Fabio Comana, MA, MS, of the American Council on Exercise, shares a few, fun core moves for better fitness. (via Core Training Workout Slideshow: Flat Abs, Strength, and Balance)

Does Your Workout Really Work? Done right, these seven exercises give you results that you can see and feel. You can you do them at a gym or at home. Watch the form shown by the trainer in the pictures. Good technique is a must. If you’re not active now, it’s a good idea to check in with your doctor first. (via Most Effective Exercises Pictures Slideshow: Squats, Lunges, and More)