INPUT ARTICLE: Article: The best way to lose weight quickly is a calorie controlled diet and exercise. You will need to participate in a fairly intense exercise regimen to burn a significant amount of calories to help you lose 20 pounds quickly. Vigorous exercise is any activity that significantly raises your heart rate and breathing pace. You shouldn't be able to say more than one or two words at a time without taking a breath. On the perceived exertion scale you should be around a seven or eight out of ten. Level one is sitting and ten is the most intense exercise you could perform. Set aside about an hour every day. Plan to be active for an hour most days, even if some activities are less strenuous than others. Moderate intensity activity will also burn calories and support weight loss. However, vigorous intensity activity burns more calories and may help you reach your weight loss goal quicker. Prior to starting any exercise routine, it's important to meet with your doctor to make sure exercise is safe and appropriate for you. You should aim for a minimum of 150 minutes of cardio weekly. However, it's recommended to get up to 300 minutes or five hours weekly for increased weight loss. Common cardiovascular exercises include running or jogging, swimming laps, dancing, cycling, and certain martial arts. These activities burn differing numbers of calories per hour, but all of them are effective. Strength training is a healthy and highly effective type of exercise for weight loss. It will help increase lean muscle mass, which over time, can increase your body's natural ability to burn calories. Weight training is invaluable for any weight loss program, because stronger muscles require more energy to operate, which means that they burn more calories. Include about two days of strength training for at least 20 minutes a session. Exercises include: weight lifting, weight lifting classes, body weight exercises and pilates. Taking a break from exercising is a crucial part of a workout schedule. Continually working out, especially at vigorous intensities, is a lot of work and stress on your joints, muscles and body. Rest days help your body recover and can help prevent injury. Stick to rest days just as religiously as you stick to your workouts. Rest days should still be active. That means staying off the couch and participating in light, low-impact, low-intensity activities. These can include: restorative yoga, light walking, or a leisurely bike ride.

SUMMARY: Exercise vigorously. Include regular aerobic activity. Include weight training. Plan one to two rest days.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Start by washing your hair as per usual, and then use a deep conditioner to help soften your strands. Leave the conditioner on your hair for the amount of time recommended on the bottle, then rinse it out with cool water. To minimize dryness and frizz, use a gentle, sulfate-free shampoo. When you've rinsed your conditioner out, use a wide-tooth comb to brush out all the tangles, starting from the ends and working towards the roots. For even gentler detangling, use your fingers to tease out any knots and tangles. Use your hairdryer on "low" to blow out your curls, so that they are almost completely dry. Brush out your hair once more to make sure there are no knots, and then you're ready to start your braids. Blow-drying your hair will help stretch and relax the curls, reducing frizz and making the hair easier to manage during the braiding process. Box braids use 'braid hair' synthetic hair strands that are very long to fill in the space on your scalp and give you plenty of fullness in your braids. Take each chunk of hair out of the packages individually, and hold them in the center, cutting off the elastic bands holding it together. With a grip on the center and the 2 tail ends of the hair hanging down, begin pulling the strands on 1 side of the hair. This will give the ends of your hair a more natural look, otherwise the packaged hair is blunt-cut straight across and your braids will look a bit unnatural when you're finished. Choose your braid hair in a color similar to your own, and get at least 2 large packages. The longer and thicker you want your braids to be, the more packages of braid hair you will need. If you want shorter braids, use fewer packages and cut the braid hair into halves or thirds. When you're pulling the hair, gently tug at small strands rather than big portions of hair. Run your fingers through the hair when you're finished evening out the ends to remove any knots that might have shown up. Section off your first piece of braiding hair into a strand that is about 23 inches (5.17.6cm) wide. Then, separate off of this section. You should be holding 2 sections with 1 that is twice as thick as the other. Wrap the smaller strand around the larger one, so that the tail ends are facing opposite directions (like '><'). Take the smaller strand and grab it at the center where it is intertwined with the first strand. Carefully twist the strand over and under, so that the 2 tail ends form a single piece that sticks out between the original tail strands. You should be left with 3 strands of approximately equal size, which you can hold in 1 hand. Use a rat-tooth comb to carefully section a small piece of hair on your scalp, approximately 1-inch by 1-inch (2.5 cm by 2.5 cm). It will probably be easiest to start on 1 side of your head near your hairline and work your way back, but you can start wherever you are comfortable. Use a bit of hair gel or edge control product to prepare this section, making it easier to manipulate. If you want to do basic box braids, you can section the hair into square "boxes." You can also get creative and make sections in other shapes, such as diamonds or triangles. Hold your braiding hair in your hand so that 1 strand is between your thumb and index finger, a second strand is between your index and middle finger, and the third strand is hanging behind the first 2. Grab the section of hair closest to your scalp with your thumb and index finger, as close to the roots as possible. To start the braid: Reach your empty hand around your head and grab the third strand of braiding hair hanging behind the ones gripped in your hand. Simultaneously pull the 3rd strand of hair under and incorporate the hair from your scalp into the section between your thumb and index finger, and twist it over in the opposite direction. Pull the third loose section of hair into the middle, between the other 2 sections. You should now have 3 separate strands of hair that are held tight to your scalp, with your natural hair incorporated into 1 of the sections. . With your braiding hair as close to your scalp as possible, begin braiding tightly in the traditional pattern. Alternate placing the left-most strand over the middle section, and then the right-most strand over the middle section. When you reach the end of your braid, the strands should taper out into a smaller and smaller braid. You don't need to use an elastic band to hold it in place, as it should hold on its own. Repeat the same steps as aforementioned to braid the rest of your head: Section a 1-inch by 1-inch (2.5 cm by 2.5 cm) piece of hair from your scalp, and apply gel or edge control. Prepare your braiding hair and part it into 3 strands. Use the twisting method to combine your natural hair into your braiding hair. Complete the braid using a regular 3-strand method until you reach the ends. As you braid, it is important to take the time to make sure they are all smooth, flexible, and even. If you notice any bulging strands or lumps in your braid, you'll need to take it out and start over from the beginning. If your natural hair is sticking out from the strands of your braiding hair, you'll need to remove your braiding hair and add gel or edge control to moisturize it and reduce frizz. You may have to re-braid the same strand multiple times in order to get it just right. If your braid is uneven, you may have started with sections of differing thickness. You'll have to take out your braiding hair and re-split it into 3 even sections.

SUMMARY:
Wash and condition your hair. Detangle your hair. Blow-dry your hair to relax and defrizz your curls. Prepare your packages of braiding hair. Get a strand of braiding-hair ready for braiding. Section off your hair on your scalp for braiding. Start your first braid. Braid your section of hair Braid additional sections of hair. Perfect each braid.