Here come the holidays!! The holidays are a scary time for dieters, but you can stick to your diet though Christmas. Here’s how to regain control after common seasonal slip-ups — so you might even lose weight this year.
Holiday Party Strategies
You drank too much eggnog at the office party.
Undo the damage. You can blame your wicked hangover and pounding headache on dehydration and the toxins your body had to release to metabolize all that booze. “Alcohol also increases the secretion of acid in the stomach and irritates the stomach lining,” says Robert Swift, MD, PhD, associate director of the Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies in Providence. Relieve your misery by eating a piece of toast with honey. Greasy foods, like fried eggs and sausages, will only overtax your irritated digestive system and make it pump out more acid, Dr. Swift says. Honey is an excellent source of fructose, a sugar that research shows may help your body get rid of alcohol’s toxins more quickly. Rehydrate with plenty of water and pop an ibuprofen, which was found to relieve aches faster and better than acetaminophen in a study in the journal Headache.
Stay the course. To outsmart calories (eggnog packs more than 200 a cup) and hangovers at future fetes, order a mixed drink, such as vodka and club soda; it is low in calories (about 100), easy to dilute (just add soda), and less likely to cause a humongous hangover. “The darker the booze, the worse you’ll feel the next day,” Dr. Swift says. That’s because dark liquor contains more congeners, chemicals produced during the fermentation process that are to blame for many hangover symptoms. Also avoid screwdrivers, vodka and cranberry juice, and other drinks made with fruit, says Heather Bauer, RD, coauthor of The Wall Street Diet. The sugar in these cocktails will leave you craving more of the sweet stuff, making pecan pie, peppermint bark, Christmas cookies, you name it, irresistible.
You went overboard at last night’s holiday dinner.
Undo the damage. Even if you ate enough to feed Santa, Mrs. Claus, and all the reindeer, don’t starve yourself to make up for it. “Deprivation will set you up to overeat again,” says Patricia Bannan, RD, a nutritionist in Los Angeles and author of Eat Right When Time Is Tight. Eat a high-fiber breakfast (try a bowl of bran cereal with a handful of raisins), drink plenty of water, and work out to get things, um, moving. Munch on foods that are high in H2O (cucumbers, celery, and melon) and potassium (bananas, apricots, and pumpkin) to flush excess water out of your cells and reduce bloating, Bannan suggests. Steer clear of supersalty foods, such as pickles, olives, cured meats, and most frozen meals, as well as carbonated drinks.
Stay the course. When you’re dining at a friend’s or a relative’s, bring a healthy dish that you can dig into guilt-free. Then choose sweet potatoes over mashed with gravy, and broccoli over green bean casserole. Skip the rolls even if they’re whole wheat; chances are you already have plenty of carbs. Help yourself to a double serving of salad to fill up without filling out, and just say no when Aunt Edna insists that you have another spoonful of her stuffing (’tis the season for food pushers!). A little humor will take the edge off, so say, “Your stuffing is so good, but if I eat another bite I’ll be more stuffed than that bird!” When you play hostess, fix lighter fare (make your green bean casserole with fresh beans and sauteed onions rather than cream of mushroom soup and fried onions). And since Turkey Day leftovers are even more delectable and easier to overindulge in, send guests home with doggie bags.
You can still have fun eating and drinking during the holidays but remember these helpful tips.
I’d just finished shaking the last drops of coffee from an upside-down mug into my mouth when I felt an overwhelming urge to cry. It was 7 a.m. on a busy Tuesday, and I’d already blown through my entire energy strategy for the day. How was I going to survive the next 15 hours of deadlines, meetings, and three go-go-go kids?
Turns out I’m not the only woman who feels exhausted before her day starts. Jennifer Boisture, MD, a psychiatrist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, has built a private practice catering to highly successful women, who, like most of us, are trying to juggle it all. “The primary complaint I hear is that they’re tired all the time,” Boisture says. “They’re fit, health-conscious women, but they still need more energy. What they’re doing isn’t working.”
Part of the problem, experts say, is that we have set the energy bar so high. “We have an increasing expectation that we can keep squeezing more and more out of our lives if we can just find the right formula,” says Mark Liponis, MD, medical director of Canyon Ranch Health Resorts. “That kind of pressure is unrealistic and overwhelming and can actually have the reverse effect, of draining your energy.” Another zapper: technology. According to a study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology that compared single- and multitaskers, focusing on one chore at a time is more energy efficient. So reading your iPad on the treadmill or sending texts on your cell while banging out work e-mails on your laptop will drain your brain faster than doing each task by itself.
And yet…you have an 8 a.m. meeting and a 7 p.m. dinner reservation, and you have to pick your daughter up at soccer practice at five — which leaves 6 a.m. as the hour to squeeze in a sweat session. So what’s an energy-starved gal to do? Whether you’re training for a marathon or your day simply feels like one, these totally fresh lifestyle tweaks will do more for your mojo than a 7 a.m. cup of joe ever could.
Step 1: Boost Your Brain — Turn Off the Tube
If your typical fix for end-of-day exhaustion is to plop down on the couch for a dose of Seinfeld reruns, you’re not alone. Most people think that watching TV is a restful activity, but it may not be, says Marc Berman, PhD, a neuroscientist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In fact, television itself can be tiring, and the older you get, the fewer and fewer stress-reducing benefits you get from a session with the boob tube, a University of California, San Diego study says.
Instead of numbing your mind as a way to rejuvenate, stimulate it. Take a walk along a scenic trail; spending time in nature helps restore people’s energy and focus, a 2008 study in Psychological Science found. What to skip when you’re low on energy? The mall. You’ll get more mental stimulation than you bargained for, which will leave you exhausted.
Step 2: Avoid the Quick Fix
It’s no surprise that the food on your plate can be the deciding factor between a sluggish and a supercharged day. But more often than not, you don’t need a total diet overhaul; small adjustments can go a long way toward optimizing your energy intake, says Ashley Koff, RD, a nutritionist in Los Angeles and FITNESS advisory board member. For starters, don’t ditch caffeine. “A small cappuccino, tea with honey, and dark chocolate, all of which contain caffeine and sugar, are perfectly legitimate ‘energy Band-Aids’ when you need a lift in a hurry,” Koff says. “The trouble comes when people rely on them daily. Spiking and plunging blood-glucose levels create an unhealthy cycle of energy highs and lows.” What’s more, the fluctuating glucose leads to murky decision making, according to a recent study from the University of South Dakota: When participants were asked whether they’d rather receive a small amount of money immediately or get a much larger amount later, those with lower glucose levels were more likely to seize the smaller sum. Clear thinking, scientists conclude, is helped by a constant glucose supply.
Another mistake: too much of a good thing. “Women think they’re making a smart choice by having a healthy turkey, lettuce, and tomato on whole wheat sandwich and a piece of fruit for lunch,” Koff says. “But three hours later they’re at their desks in an energy slump, and they can’t figure out why.” You have to spread the health wealth, Koff says, because your body can use only so many nutrients for energy at one time, meaning a portion of that healthy lunch was used to fuel your body; the rest of the protein and carbs went to energy wasteland. Instead, “have your fruit with some nuts midmorning, then eat half your sandwich at noon and the other half at 3 p.m., when you start to feel sluggish.” You’ll keep a steady stream of nutrients flowing into your blood, holding the snack attack at bay.
And finally, when it comes to boosting energy, a carb is not a carb is not a carb. When people with type 2 diabetes ate white bread for breakfast in a University of Toronto study, they fared worse on verbal-memory and other cognitive tests than those who consumed low-glycemic foods, like pasta. To give your morning a lift, try toasting a whole-grain muffin and spreading a tablespoon of filling peanut butter on it or eat it with a scrambled egg.
Step 3: Stick to Your Workout Routine
Get this: Expending energy on exercise actually creates more for you to use. “Research shows that physically active people feel more energetic overall than sedentary people,” says Patrick O’Connor, PhD, director of the University of Georgia exercise psychology laboratory in Athens. In one Australian study of 40,000 women, the more weekly physical activity they did, the more they reported feeling revved up. “It’s likely that exercise stimulates neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, and this creates feelings of greater energy,” O’Connor says. Aim for 20 to 40 minutes of cardio four or five times a week.
On the other hand, not all workouts need to be heavy-breathing sessions: Yoga is also restorative. A University of New Mexico study found that people who followed an eight-week yoga and meditation program had a significant increase in daily energy. And women who regularly practiced Hatha yoga had 41 percent less cytokine interleukin-6, a compound related to stress, in their blood than those who did not, researchers at Ohio State University found. “Because of the type of deep breathing that’s incorporated into yoga, when you do even a single pose you bring freshly oxygenated blood to your organs,” says Mary-Ann Mastreani, a yoga instructor in Irvington, New York.
For an instant pick-me-up, try performing this Easy Energy Twist at the office or in your living room:
Sit on the edge of a chair, back straight, feet flat on the ground. Inhale as you raise your arms over your head (a); exhale and bring your left hand to your right knee and your right hand slightly behind you on the chair (b). Twist to the right. Sitting tall, inhale and exhale while gently increasing the twist. Relax; switch sides. “Twisting increases blood flow and stimulates digestion, temporarily speeding up your metabolism and increasing energy,” Mastreani says.
Step 4: Listen Up
“Music makes you feel good mentally and physically,” says celebrity trainer Jim Karas, author of The 7 Day Energy Surge. “Research shows it can reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure, and decrease stress hormones, and that it may increase feel-good hormones and improve your fitness performance.” College students zipped through a series of cognitive tasks when listening to upbeat music in a recent study from the University of Dayton. And after people worked out to music, their mental performance improved, compared with exercising song-less, researchers at Ohio State University found.
“Music gives you that extra motivation,” Karas says. “If it’s dark outside when I have to get out of bed, I crank up the music to make myself more alert.” In the morning, choose something peppy — think Beyonce or the Black Eyed Peas — because your mind needs a positive nudge, not an angry blast of heavy metal. In the evening, give Mozart a try. People with sleep problems who listened to classical music for 45 minutes before bed snoozed more soundly than those who didn’t, according to researchers in Budapest. What’s sleep got to do with energy? Plenty. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego discovered that skipping a night of sleep significantly impaired cognitive abilities in people in their 20s and 30s. “When clients tell me they need only six hours, I tell them that they’ve trained themselves to live on that,” Karas says. “But if they got more, they’d see a huge improvement in their energy.”
Step 5: Quit Freaking Out
It’s ironic that one of the biggest energy consumers of our day has nothing to do with packed schedules or sweaty workouts. Little everyday stressors, like sitting in traffic, can cause a total energy meltdown. “Not at first,” explains Kimberly Kingsley, author of The Energy Cure, “because your initial reaction to stress is that your body starts pumping the hormone cortisol into your bloodstream, giving you an adrenaline rush.” Your heart rate rises, your muscles tense, and your mind goes on high alert. But the rush is unsustainable, and before long your energy starts to crash, leaving you feeling foggy and unfocused.
In fact, 76 percent of people in the United States feel the physical symptoms of stress, including fatigue, according to a recent survey by the American Psychological Association. “The minute anxiety causes your heart to start racing and your breathing to become shallow, begin taking deep, deliberate inhales and exhales,” Kingsley says. “Focus on breathing in and out until your heart rate goes back to normal.”
Step 6: Tap Happy Vibes
When you’re feeling down, your energy tanks along with your spirits, leaving you sluggish. On the flip side, “Happy people have higher energy,” says Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD, author of The How of Happiness. When researchers at the University of California, Riverside asked people to keep a journal of their feelings, those who reported the greatest number of positive emotions also reported having the most energy day to day. “When we’re happy, we take charge, initiate conversations with people, and carry out plans, instead of being passive responders to life events,” Lyubomirsky says. “Taking action energizes us.” Pump up your own positive thinking by jotting down five things you are grateful for, she suggests. Reread your list when you need a smile. For a double dose of happiness, practice random acts of kindness throughout your week. Open the door for the person behind you at the grocery store or compliment a colleague on his or her work. Generosity toward others makes you feel happier inside today and revved up to take on the world tomorrow.
Think you know the drill on shaping up and slimming down? Think again. Find out how the latest science is rewriting the rule book on everything, including maximizing your fat burning and acing your running form, so you can finally reach your goal.
Should You Eat Before a Workout?
Old school: Exercising on an empty stomach will burn more fat.
New rule: Have a 150-calorie jump-start meal an hour or two before your workout.
Ever force yourself through a workout, even though you were starving, simply because you thought you would tap into those fat stores faster? Next time, eat up. The latest research in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism found that exercisers who ate breakfast before treadmilling for 36 minutes had a significantly higher fat-burning rate for as long as 24 hours compared with those who ate post-workout, even though both groups consumed the same number of calories during the day. Plus, a recent report in the Strength and Conditioning Journal concluded that when you start off with a grumbly tummy, there’s no fat-burn advantage: You won’t be able to go as intensely or burn as many calories, and you’ll also lose more muscle. Pre-workout, nosh on these easy eats from Nancy Clark, RD, the author of Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook: a banana and a half cup of plain low-fat yogurt, or a whole wheat English muffin with a half tablespoon of peanut butter.
The Best Running Sneakers
Old school: Get a sneaker that offers the most stability.
New rule: Less is more.
The shift toward minimalist footwear in the past few years has biomechanical experts rethinking what makes a good athletic shoe. “Like everyone else, I used to believe that the more motion control and cushioning a shoe had, the better,” says Irene Davis, PhD, the director of the Spaulding National Running Center at the Harvard Medical School. But such training wheels, she says, can encourage runners to strike with their heel first before pushing off the forefoot — a motion that creates a lot more impact on the joints, according to research conducted by Davis. In contrast, less built-up, minimalist sneakers and their “barefoot” counterparts, like Vibram FiveFingers, encourage a natural mid-to-forefoot strike, which creates a softer landing. A recent Penn State study suggested that minimalist footwear can help reduce injury rates among runners. Today you’ll see minimalist styles by just about every sneaker brand. That said, you shouldn’t become a convert to them overnight. A study from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse found that among runners who switched to a barefootlike shoe design, those who continued to strike with their heels (as if they were in a traditionally cushioned running shoe) significantly increased the loading forces on their lower legs. So work on your forefoot strike before swapping in minimalist shoes.
When Should You Do Ab Exercises?
Old school: Save toning your abs for last.
New rule: Engage your core throughout your workout.
Cranking out crunches after a workout is so last millennium. “The core’s biggest job is to provide a solid foundation for your extremities to work off of, so about 70 percent of your core training should be geared to strengthening the abdominals and lower back as stabilizers,” says trainer Joe Dowdell, owner of Peak Performance gym in New York City. That means doing more exercises that require you to stiffen your core as you work against resistance — such as doing planks or trying to keep your body from rotating as you pull a resistance band. “Exercises that strengthen the abdominal walls not only improve performance but also help reduce injuries,” notes Stuart McGill, PhD, a professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo. To fill that remaining 30 percent of ab time, Dowdell recommends alternating in a few moves, like cable wood chops or medicine ball rotational throws, that work your core in a more integrated manner rather than just isolating its muscles with various crunches.
Do You Need a Workout Buddy?
Old school: Buddy up for the best results.
New rule: Sometimes it’s better to go solo.
There’s a long-held understanding that having an exercise partner will improve your fitness level because you’re more likely to show up when there’s someone waiting for you. But research from Santa Clara University found that, depending on your partner, you may actually exercise harder when you sweat it out alone. The key may be finding the right partner. While having a more fit pal can help push you, sticking with someone whose focus doesn’t mesh with yours can ultimately compromise your workout, warns trainer Jonathan Ross, the author of Abs Revealed. “Your workout partner has to be similar enough in style for the situation to be a win-win,” Ross says. “Chatty friends can be a distraction.” Consider partnering with your BFF on easy workout days instead.
How Many Rest Days Do You Need?
Old school: Wait 48 hours to recover after a strength workout.
New rule: If you’ve gone hard, you may need an extra day.
You’ve heard it plenty of times: Take at least a full day off between strength workouts to allow your muscles to rebuild and get stronger. But if you’ve taken a sculpting class that’s left you shaking, press “Pause” a little longer. One study from Brazil determined that beginners who did four sets of 10 reps of biceps curls needed more than 72 hours of rest to recover. “If you start working those same muscles too soon, you could be compromising your results and even risking injury,” explains exercise scientist Wayne Westcott, PhD, at Quincy College. That’s because after your workout, your muscles have to work hard to rebuild those torn-down tissues, which is what will ultimately make you stronger and more sculpted. “Intensity is definitely more important than frequency,” Westcott says. On those off-days, let cardio — for instance, power walking, running, swimming, and cycling — serve as an active recovery, so you can burn fat while allowing your muscles to rebuild.
How Active Should You Be?
Old school: Working out is king when it comes to staying trim.
New rule: Your whole day comes into play.
We’re not going to argue against the benefits of regular exercise and watching what you eat, but more and more experts say that you need to consider what you’re doing for the rest of the 16 waking hours a day when you’re not at the gym. “We realize now that it’s your total daily energy expenditure, not just how many calories you burn during exercise, that will ultimately make a difference in your bottom line,” says Fabio Comana, an exercise physiologist for the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Research from the National Cancer Institute found that even among those who like to work up a sweat on a regular basis, the longer they sit around, the higher their risk for dying sooner. And remember: The more you move, the more you burn. Scientists at the Mayo Clinic found that among adults of a similar size, individuals’ daily energy expenditure can differ by as many as 2,000 calories — mostly because of bursts of activity, like going to the restroom on a different floor, talking a walk at lunchtime, or standing up while on the phone.
Classic Exercises Get a Modern Makeover
Squat
Old school: Don’t bend your knees past 90 degrees.
New rule: It’s OK to go over.
If you’ve sampled the barre workout craze, you know that your booty brushes the floor during endless squat variations. Why is it suddenly cool to get way down? There has been a debate among experts, but the consensus seems to be that it is a natural human movement. “Research found that if you do a squat and force yourself to keep your knees behind your toes, as in a 90-degree bend, you increase the stress on your hips by more than 1,000 percent,” explains Michele Olson, PhD, a FITNESS advisory board member. “But if you allow your knees to come forward, you have only a bit more stress on your knees — just 20 percent or so — and significantly less pressure on the hip joint.”
How to Do a Push-Up
Old school: Do a modified, on-your-knees push-up if you can’t manage the full one.
New rule: Modify the angle, not the pose.
Always stuck doing “girl” push-ups? You’ll get better results if you take them off the floor, says McGill. “Doing a full push-up, even one that’s on an angle that makes the movement easier, is a lot more effective than trying to power through a set on your knees.” That’s because the point of a push-up, McGill adds, is to work through a full range of motion with power and speed. “You just can’t do that on your knees.” As an alternative, place your hands on a low bench or countertop and focus on keeping your body straight. Gradually work your way toward an angle that’s lower to the floor.
How to Do a Sit-Up
Old school: Don’t bother with a full sit-up.
New rule: Full-range moves hit ab muscles that your crunches may be missing.
Trainers nixed full sit-ups for crunches long ago, thinking that once you get past a certain height, you’re working your hip flexors more than your abs. But lately pros say to aim higher. In a Pilates move like the roll-up (lying faceup on the floor, peel your torso off slowly until you’re sitting upright, then reach for your toes), “you’re moving with control while rolling up through the spine as if it’s a large wheel, so the axis point keeps changing,” Olson explains. The key difference is that because your knees are kept straight and your spine is curving, the hip flexors don’t help nearly as much, allowing a greater percentage of ab muscle fibers to be recruited.
How to Do a Lunge
Old school: Keep your front knee over your toes with each lunge.
New rule: Focus instead on staying tall.
You’ve probably also heard the same “Don’t let your knee move past your toes” warning for lunges, but some experts say there’s really no magic point at which your knee reaches perfect form. “The theory is that the more forward you go, the greater the sheer force on the knee, but there’s often a trade-off, because you might be putting more stress on the hip and spine if you stop the movement short, especially if you have long legs,” says trainer Brad Schoenfeld, the author of Sculpting Her Body Perfect. Instead, Schoenfeld says, focus on maintaining an upright position — ears, shoulders, and hips in alignment — and try to sit back into the lunge rather than worrying about where your knees go.
Talk about an efficient lunch break—The Biggest Loser trainer, Bob Harper, designed a walk-it-off routine, blasting 350 calories in 45 minutes.
Pick up the pace
Do a warm-up walk for a couple of minutes; strike with your heel first, then roll into the forefoot, keeping shoulders relaxed and letting arms swing naturally. Then up the pace—you should feel winded but still be able to speak in short bursts—and begin your first four-minute walking segment. The quicker (not longer) your steps, the better the burn.
Add a power minute
After each walking segment, complete a power minute. You have three options: jumping jacks, sprinting, and walking lunges. You can pick just one to repeat—but for the best results, do all three. “When you vary your moves, you avoid that dreaded shape-up plateau,” explains Harper.
Sprinting
Pounding the pavement can help lower your level of cortisol, the body’s stress hormone that’s linked with weight gain. While running, you really want to get your heart rate up there—you should be breathless when you ease back into your walk. Remember to keep your chin up, allowing your gaze to fall naturally a few feet in front of you. Relax your shoulders, and keep your head in line with them so your center of gravity stays at your core. Continue sprinting for 1 minute.
Jumping jacks
Crank up your cardio with this school-yard staple. Stand with feet together and arms down by your sides. Quickly bring arms out to sides and up overhead, while jumping your feet wide apart. Return to starting position andrepeat for 1 minute.
Walking lunge
This move targets your entire leg, from the butt to the calf. Step your right leg forward two feet and lower until both knees are at 90 degrees; don’t let the front knee go past your toes. Push into your right heel, lifting your left leg up while stepping it forward; repeat the lunge. Continue to alternate legs for 1 minute.
Keep ‘em coming
Power through at least five workouts a week: Walk briskly for four minutes, do a power minute, and repeat nine times. Make sure to keep your core engaged to limit stress on your knees and joints, says Harper.
These 10 superfoods are proven, expert-beloved disease fighters and energy boosters. Add them to your meals and get on the fast track to a super-healthy body.
Lemons
Why They’re Healthy:
– Just one lemon has more than 100 percent of your daily intake of vitamin C, which may help increase “good” HDL cholesterol levels and strengthen bones.
– Citrus flavonoids found in lemons may help inhibit the growth of cancer cells and act as an anti-inflammatory.
Quick Tip: Add a slice of lemon to your green tea. One study found that citrus increases your body’s ability to absorb the antioxidants in the tea by about 80 percent.
Broccoli
Why It’s Healthy:
– One medium stalk of broccoli contains more than 100 percent of your daily vitamin K requirement and almost 200 percent of your recommended daily dose of vitamin C — two essential bone-building nutrients.
– The same serving also helps stave off numerous cancers.
Quick Tip: Zap it! Preserve up to 90 percent of broccoli’s vitamin C by microwaving. (Steaming or boiling holds on to just 66 percent of the nutrient.)
Dark Chocolate
Why It’s Healthy:
– Just one-fourth of an ounce daily can reduce blood pressure in otherwise healthy individuals.
– Cocoa powder is rich in flavonoids, antioxidants shown to reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol and increase “good” HDL levels.
Quick Tip: A dark chocolate bar contains about 53.5 milligrams of flavonoids; a milk chocolate bar has fewer than 14.
Potatoes
Why They’re Healthy:
– One red potato contains 66 micrograms of cell-building folate — about the same amount found in one cup of spinach or broccoli.
– One sweet potato has almost eight times the amount of cancer-fighting and immune-boosting vitamin A you need daily.
Quick Tip: Let your potato cool before eating. Research shows that doing so can help you burn close to 25 percent more fat after a meal, thanks to a fat-resistant starch.
Salmon
Why It’s Healthy:
– A great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked to a reduced risk of depression, heart disease, and cancer.
– A 3-ounce serving contains almost 50 percent of your daily dose of niacin, which may protect against Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss.
Quick Tip: Opt for wild over farm-raised, which contains 16 times as much toxic polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) as wild salmon.
Walnuts
Why They’re Healthy:
– Contain the most omega-3 fatty acids, which may help reduce cholesterol, of all nuts.
– Omega-3s have been shown to improve mood and fight cancer; they may protect against sun damage, too (but don’t skip the SPF!).
Quick Tip: Eat a few for dessert: The antioxidant melatonin, found in walnuts, helps to regulate sleep.
Avocados
Why They’re Healthy:
– Rich in healthy, satisfying fats proven in one study to lower cholesterol by about 22 percent.
– One has more than half the fiber and 40 percent of the folate you need daily, which may reduce your risk of heart disease.
Quick Tip: Adding it to your salad can increase the absorption of key nutrients like beta-carotene by three to five times compared with salads without this superfood.
Garlic
Why It’s Healthy:
– Garlic is a powerful disease fighter that can inhibit the growth of bacteria, including E. coli.
– Allicin, a compound found in garlic, works as a potent anti-inflammatory and has been shown to help lower cholesterol and blood-pressure levels.
Quick Tip: Crushed fresh garlic releases the most allicin. Just don’t overcook; garlic exposed to high heat for more than 10 minutes loses important nutrients.
Spinach
Why It’s Healthy:
– Spinach contains lutein and zeaxanthin, two immune-boosting antioxidants important for eye health.
– Recent research found that among cancer-fighting fruits and veggies, spinach is one of the most effective.
Quick Tip: Spinach is a healthy — and flavorless — addition to any smoothie. You won’t taste it, we promise! Try blending 1 cup spinach, 1 cup grated carrots, 1 banana, 1 cup apple juice, and ice.
Beans
Why They’re Healthy:
– Eating a serving of legumes (beans, peas, and lentils) four times a week can lower your risk of heart disease by 22 percent.
– That same habit may also reduce your risk of breast cancer.
Quick Tip: The darker the bean, the more antioxidants it contains. One study found that black bean hulls contain 40 times the amount of antioxidants found in white bean hulls.
Have you been getting your daily dose of negative ions? You have to!! They make you look and feel better. Help you in your weight control and loss programs. Help you get more out of exercise.
We need exposure to negative ions to be more positive in our life. I know, it sounds a little backward at first, doesn’t it? Negative ions are invisible molecules that clean the air around us by attaching themselves to positive ions (from dust, smoke, electronics, car exhausts, our breathing, etc.), so they’re not just floating around for us to breathe into our system. Generally the more populated a city is, the fewer negative ions and the more positive ions. This is why I love golf so much or any form of outdoor activity that gets me to grass, water or the mountains. These are negative ion hotbeds.
Negative ions help relieve stress, increase vitality, strengthen the immune system and so much more.That’s why we all feel so incredibly good after being at a waterfall, in the mountains or at the beach. The human body is meant to be absorbing negative ions on a regular basis, so it’s no wonder why there are so many health problems related to fatigue, depression and immune disorders. It’s no wonder why so many people find it incredibly hard to let their true nature shine. Most people aren’t exposed to nearly enough negative ions. All the technology around us has virtually eliminated the positive ions in the air — unless you live at a beach with no cars or electronics or out in the wilderness or mountains, etc.).
Often people think they can escape pollution by staying indoors. It’s quite common for indoor environments to be just as, if not more than, polluted as outside. When you look around most bedrooms or offices, there are at least a couple of electronic devices. Think about it … laptops, mobile phones, televisions, lights, heaters, electric blankets and so many of the countless electronic gadgets available these days. They all release positive ions galore! Even man-made fibers in carpets, clothes and furniture all reduce the level of negative ions and increase the positive ones in the environment. The house you live in or the place you work at could very well be more polluted than outside! Combine this with other pollutants (if you live in a populated area) and you can almost guarantee that you’re getting exposed to way too many positive ions. This over-exposure to positive ions contributes to the body being in toxic overload, unless small steps are made to make your environment richer in negative ions.
Here are some tips to help bring more negative ions into your life:
-Use Himalayan rock salt lamps or an ion generator or purifier in your house and in your office, if possible. These lamps and purifiers mop up positive ions and help bring back natural harmony to your environment.
-Place potted plants (real ones) throughout your house and office. It’s very common for modern houses to be more polluted than outside, so enjoy bringing the beauty of nature into your home.
-Connect with nature. Get barefoot and walk on raw earth. The earth is charged with negative ions! Our feet are conductors to absorb negative ions, so go outside and experience a lovely barefoot walk. Simply walking on the earth is so healing.
-Spend time at the beach or a waterfall. There’s a reason why we feel so good after being at the beach or at a waterfall. Because of the crashing pure water, these precious parts of the planet are especially charged with negative ions.
-Use natural, preferably organic deodorants, body washes and creams. You can even use Himalayan rock salt soaps, which are quite mainstream now.
-Use organic sheets, towels, clothes and dishwasher and laundry detergents, if you really want to go the extra distance in your efforts to increase negative ions and decrease positive ones in your life.
-Use negative ion products such as bracelets, necklaces, yoga towels, yoga mats, basically any product that includes negative ions in their composition. It will help energize you and allow you to perform exercise and daily activities in a more focused and energized way.
Make the incorporation of including negative ions in your daily life as if you are taking vitamins or eating the right food. You will exercise longer and harder, feel more rested and generally more in tune with life. It’s your mini way of visiting the mountains or the beach.
So, if you’re not feeling as good as you know you could feel, it may be as simple as looking at the environment you’re in and making some small changes here and there. To me, it’s all about getting back to our true nature, which is full of joy and vitality. We’re meant to connect with nature, not pollutants, so in gratitude for the body we have been blessed with and in gratitude for the amazing planet we live on, do yourself a favor and bring some negative ions into your life. You will look and feel better.
You know that eating breakfast jump-starts your metabolism. But did you realize that certain a.m. choices can crank up your fat-burning even more?The key: eating a breakfast that’s high in Resistant Starch (RS). Found in foods like bananas and oats, RS actually signals your body to use fat for energy.
Blueberry Oat Pancakes with Maple Yogurt Resistant Starch: 4.6g Ingredients: Old-fashioned rolled oats, low-fat cottage cheese, eggs, vanilla extract, blueberries, cooking spray, Greek-style low-fat yogurt, maple syrup Calories: 410
Breakfast Barley with Banana and Sunflower Seeds Resistant Starch: 7.6g Ingredients: Water, pearl barley, banana, sunflower seeds, honey Calories: 410
In a Rush?
Reach for a Resistant Starch-packed banana and one of these on-the-go options—you’ll still get the healthy carbs and calories you need to start your day in slim-down mode! Order to go!
• Panera Bread Strawberry and Granola Parfait: 310 calories
• Dunkin’ Donuts Ham, Egg White, and Cheese Sandwich on a Wheat English Muffin: 300 calories
• Jamba Juice Coldbuster Smoothie (16 ounces): 250 calories Keep a stash in your kitchen:
• Aunt Millie’s Whole-Grain Blueberry Muffins: 170 calories
• Kashi TLC Pumpkin Spice Flax Crunchy Granola Bar: 170 calories
• Amy’s Kitchen Breakfast Burrito: 270 calories
Insider secret
Choose a banana that’s tinged with a little green for even more Resistant Starch. Once the fruit ripens, the starches in it turn to sugar, and the amount of Resistant Starch it contains drops.
An underripe banana has 12.5 grams of RS (enough to take care of the minimum 10 grams of RS daily that’s recommended in The CarbLovers Diet); a ripe one has 4.7 grams.
We get it: You want to lose the jiggle but don’t want to blacklist your favorite eats, count every single calorie, or overdose on gym hours. The great news is, you can drop weight without dieting: Experts say making small change-ups to your day is one of the best ways to lose. We grilled health and fitness pros for the tweaks that will help your shape the most. Road test a few, and you could shed 5 (this week!), 10, or even 20-plus pounds without a whole lot of effort.
Power up PB
“Buy natural varieties of peanut butter and pour off the oil sitting on top. Each serving will have 20 fewer calories and 2 to 3 fewer grams of fat. It’s a small difference that’ll add up to a couple of pounds per year.” —Amelia Winslow, personal chef in Los Angeles and founder of the healthy food blog Eating Made Easy
Pop to it
“Skimping on fiber will make you gain weight. Forget the pretzels and go for a bag of low-fat popcorn. It has five times the fiber and only 90 calories for six cups, so it’s filling and satisfying. A recent study found that when women doubled their daily fiber intake from 12 to 24 grams, their bodies absorbed 90 calories less per day. You could lose almost 10 pounds in a year!” —Tanya Zuckerbrot, RD, author of The F-Factor Diet: Discover the Secret to Permanent Weight Loss
Dance your butt off
“Kick up your heels and go dancing with your girlfriends—or have a solo dance session at home. Fast-tempo dances are not only a blast to do, but in an hour you’ll torch 400 to 500 calories. That’s equivalent to light jogging on the treadmill, but it’s way more fun!” —Christine Avanti, author of Skinny Chicks Eat Real Food: Lose the Fake Food and Kickstart Your Weight Loss
Switch things up
“At the gym, lift one set of heavier weights than you’re used to. And on your walk or run, add backward walking and sideways shuffling in one-minute bursts. You’ll challenge your muscles in new ways, work them at a variety of angles, and improve your balance. These things will tone you up and burn extra calories.” —Gunnar Peterson, celebrity trainer to A-listers (including our December cover star Sofia Vergara!) in Beverly Hills, California
Nix nighttime eating
“Cutting out after-dinner snacking is a quick way to help you shed 5 pounds in a week. At night, we’re usually scarfing down junky foods in front of the TV—and it’s easy to consume a meal’s worth of calories, plus belly-bloating sodium. If you’re typically hungry before bed, it might mean you’re eating dinner too early, so push it back. Snack on fruit at 3 p.m. Then at 5 p.m., have a snack bar. At 7:30, you’ll be ready for dinner, and you’ll be eating late enough to stay full for the rest of the evening.” —Heather Bauer, RD, author of Bread Is the Devil: Win the Weight Loss Battle by Taking Control of Your Diet Demons
Be a crunch monster
“Fill your plate with crunchy, chewy foods like carrots, apples, and whole grains. They take more time to chew, and their fiber makes your body work harder to digest them—so you’ll burn more calories during your meal. Eating this way can increase your total calorie burn by 5% throughout the day!” —Leslie Bonci, RD, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Center for Sports Medicine
Keep it simple
“Just focus on cooking wholesome food; you’ll eat well and could even lose 5 pounds in a week. For breakfast, have yogurt and some fruit; for lunch, eat a soup and a winter salad with tuna and walnuts; at dinner, fill your plate with 3 to 4 ounces of fish or chicken, a couple of veggies, and a piece of fruit. And feel free to use a bit of butter or olive oil—you don’t have to deprive yourself.” —Mireille Guiliano, author of The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook
Beat booze bloat
“Downsize your wine glass to cut calories. Wine glasses today are giant goblets, so it’s easy to pour 6 ounces, or one-and-a-half servings, without noticing. That means those two glasses a night might actually be closer to three (almost half a bottle!), adding up to 300 calories. Instead of drinking this way every day, have a regular-size 4-ounce glass a couple of times a week. You could drop more than 20 pounds this year.” —Tim Church, MD, director of preventive medicine research at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Play hard
“Slip exercise into everyday life, and make it fun. Head outside and go ice skating with friends or shape a snowman with your kids. You can even stage a pillow fight in your living room. That burns 82 calories in 20 minutes, plus you’ll laugh the entire time!” —Missy Chase Lapine, author of The Speedy Sneaky Chef
Try upside-down
“Season and butter the bottom of foods. For example, butter the bottom of toast, and salt the bottom of potato rounds. This sounds weird, but it really helps with weight loss. When you eat foods this way, the flavor hits your tongue right away, and you actually taste more of it. Ultimately, that means you can cut out at least half the belly-bloating salt or butter.” —Devin Alexander, chef and host of FitTV’s Healthy Decadence and author of The Biggest Loser Quick & Easy Cookbook
Dine in slow-mo
“Make sure you’re the last one to start eating and also the last person to finish. I do this, and it helps me slow down and chew my food properly instead of inhaling what’s on my plate—and more. Eat this way and you’ll take in fewer calories at your meals.” —JJ Virgin, PhD, author of Six Weeks to Sleeveless and Sexy: The 5-Step Plan to Sleek, Strong, and Sculpted Arms
Dress the part
“Make a few changes to your party outfit, and you’ll beat the temptation to overindulge. At a cocktail party, carry a clutch instead of a purse. With a cocktail in one hand and your handbag in the other, you won’t be able to reach for too many hors d’oeuvres. And wear a form-fitting dress—it’ll be your biggest reminder to not revisit the food table for seconds.” —Keri Gans, RD, author ofThe Small Change Diet: 10 Steps to a Thinner, Healthier You
Go by the numbers
“Stop eating when you’re at a 5 or 6 on a scale of 1 to 10 (where 1 is famished and 10 is Thanksgiving full). When you stop at 5 or 6, chances are 20 minutes later, you’ll feel like a 7 or 8. This tactic is great for parties and vacations—and could save you lots of calories per meal.” —Ellie Krieger, RD, host of Cooking Channel’s Healthy Appetite and author of Comfort Food Fix
Everywhere you look, folks are bellying up to the barre. And no wonder: Ballet-inspired workouts blast fat, focusing on lower-half results such as ab-, bum-, and leg-shaping. Get slim and trim with this 30-minute routine. Here’s the secret: Most exercises involve “micro-movements,” in which you move just an inch or two. “They take out the momentum, forcing you to stay in the contraction, which tires muscles faster, giving you faster results,” says former dancer Carrie Rezabek Dorr, the woman behind the superhot Pure Barre class and this 30 minute workout.
Hundreds
Warm up first with 2 minutes of standing knee lifts. Next, lie on your back, draw knees up, lift head and shoulders, and bring chin to chest, coming into a tight ball. Keeping your upper body lifted, extend legs toward ceiling, or, for more of a challenge, at a diagonal; extend arms (as shown). Pump arms up and down 4 times, then hold arms still and curl torso a tiny bit up and down twice. Repeat series 10 times.
Push ups
Get on hands and knees, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width. Bring feet toward your seat and tuck tailbone under. Bend elbows out to sides, lowering chest toward floor, then push back up; repeat 15 times. Next, lower halfway down and hold; do 15 little pulses (pushing up and lowering down an inch) before coming all the way back up.
Tricep dips
Sit with knees bent and feet hip-width on floor, hands behind you on either side of hips, fingers forward. Lift hips off floor and shift weight back. Bend and straighten elbows 20 times, leaving feet flat, then come onto heels and repeat. Staying on heels, walk feet forward (keep weight shifted back) and do 20 more dips.
Extension parallel
Stand with back at fist’s distance away from barre, feet hip-distance apart, knees slightly bent; reach back with wide arms and grab barre. Extend left leg (knee toward ceiling) and flex foot (as shown). Do the following moves for 30 seconds each: Lift and lower leg a couple of inches; make small circles as if tracing a dime in the air with heel. Repeat circles in other direction, and point toes and do small leg lifts. Repeat series on opposite side.
Plie & releve
Stand with one hand on barre, the other on hip. Bring feet wider than hip-distance; turn toes out slightly and bend knees (keep knees behind toes), pushing hips back to sink seat to knee level. Do the following moves for 30 seconds each: Bend knees a bit more, lowering then raising an inch; lower again and hold, slightly pressing knees back then releasing (as if pulsing). Rise on toes, then lower and raise an inch; lower an inch and hold, pressing knees back, then releasing them.
Standing straight leg
Stand with right hand forward on barre, knees slightly bent, heels together, toes apart. Wrap left arm around waist and grab barre. Extend left leg diagonally back with toes pointed; tuck tailbone. Do the following moves for 30 seconds each: Lift and lower left leg a couple inches; hold left foot a few inches off floor and make dime-size circles with leg. Circle leg in opposite direction; flex foot, then lift and lower a couple inches. Make dime-size circles; reverse direction.
Semi-fold over
Face barre, feet hip-width, knees slightly bent; stack bent forearms on barre. Walk feet back until body is folded 90 degrees at waist; rest head on arms. Keeping hips level, extend right leg straight back with foot flexed (as shown). Do the following moves for 30 seconds each: Raise and lower leg a couple inches; make dime-size circles with leg. Reverse circle direction; point toes, then lift and lower a couple of inches. Make tiny circles with leg; reverse circle direction. Repeat series on opposite side.
Tap & curl
Sit with knees bent, feet hip-width on the floor. Grab beneath thighs with elbows wide, then round back, bringing lower back toward mat; tuck tailbone. Do the following moves for 30 seconds each: Extend arms straight by hips, tap fists twice against mat, then lift fists. With arms still, lower and raise upper body an inch; with upper body still, tap fists twice against thighs, then open arms out. Lower and raise upper body an inch; extend arms up and tap fists toward each other twice, then open. Hold arms still and lower and lift body an inch.
coconut milk for your milk alternative and to add to your protein shake.
Coconut milk is extracted by grating mature coconuts and squeezing them by using cheesecloth or both bare hands. This milky white liquid is called santam in Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, and gata in Philippines. It is used in several food recipes like sauces, delicious curries and desserts. Apart from making foods tastier and creamier, coconut milk is also a healthy addition to various food preparations.
Nutritional Values of Coconut Milk:
Following are the nutritional values present in 100 grams of fresh coconut milk:
Calories – 230
Proteins – 2.3g
Fat – 23.8g
Carbohydrates – 5.5g
Dietary fiber – 2.3g
Sugar – 3.35g
Vitamin C – 2.8 mg
Vitamin E – 0.15 mg
Vitamin B1 – 0.026 mg
Vitamin B6 – 0.033 mg
Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid) – 0.183 mg
Folate – 16 mcg
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) – 0.76 mg
Iron – 1.64 mg
Selenium – 6.2 mcg
Sodium – 15 mg
Calcium – 16 mg
Magnesium – 37 mg
Phosphorus – 100 mg
Potassium – 260 mg
Benefits of Coconut Milk:
Following are some of the health benefits of coconut milk:
Helps to maintain blood sugar places:
Glucose intolerance may cause manganese deficiency in your body. Coconut milk is a rich source of manganese. Whole grains, legumes and nuts are some other excellent sources of manganese.
Keeps skin and blood vessels flexible and elastic:
Copper is a very important mineral for most of the bodily functions. Copper and vitamin C help to maintain the flexibility and elasticity of the skin and blood vessels.
Aids in building strong bones:
Coconut milk is not rich in calcium, but it is rich in phosphorus. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient that the body needs for strengthening bones. It is must to take phosphorus with calcium particularly to prevent bone loss because it supplies phosphate to the body.
Helps to prevent anemia:
Lack of iron is the most common nutrient deficiency among the people throughout the world. Iron deficiency in body does not allow the body to develop enough hemoglobin for keeping sufficient oxygen levels in red blood cells, resulting in anemia. Each cup of coconut milk supplies the body with nearly a quarter of daily value of iron.
Relaxes muscles and nerves:
Whenever you feel muscle cramps or muscle soreness, have some food along with coconut milk. It is rich in magnesium and can help you in relieving the problem. One of the functions of magnesium is it acts as a gate block in many nerve cells. If magnesium is not present in body, nerve cells become very active because of calcium that activates nerves. Excess contraction of muscles is caused by over-active nerve cells.
Helps in Controlling Weight:
This can be good news for people who are trying to reduce weight. Coconut milk makes you feel full very quickly because of high concentrations of dietary fiber.
Decreases the risk of joint inflammation:
Selenium is an important antioxidant. It controls the free radicals and thereby helps in relieving the symptoms of arthritis. It is observed that people with low levels of selenium may suffer from rheumatoid arthritis.
Helps in lowering high blood pressure:
People who are concerned about their blood pressure will not face any problem consuming foods containing potassium. Potassium helps in lowering blood pressure levels in the body.
Helps in maintaining healthy immune system:
Coconut milk helps in warding off colds and coughs by keeping the immune system healthy. It supplies vitamin C to the body which boosts the immune system.
Promotes the health of prostate gland:
Zinc plays a vital role in promoting the health of prostate gland. A preliminary study showed that it slows down the activities of cancer cells.
I hope the above mentioned information helps you in understanding the relation between health and coconut milk. It can also be consumed by people with cow’s milk allergy. It is free from gluten and soy. Hence people who are allergic to these substances can also use coconut milk.
Yoga has become such a popular exercise program and lifestyle. I have included a great article from Web MD about all the benefits of yoga. There are so many. For someone in a weight loss program, it helps your focus and offers super exercise. I always recommend cardio exercise as well as yoga. This can be just getting out and walking.
Yoga is so much more than physical that the article discusses. The mental side of yoga is so important to a healthy life. It always you the chance to escape the stresses of our normal lives.
Finally, I included a few Yoga videos that will introduce you to the practice. Try them. Go at your own pace and make yoga part of your weekly ritual. You will love it.
The Health Benefits of Yoga
Yoga has been practiced for more than 5,000 years, and currently, close to 11 million Americans are enjoying its health benefits. Yoga can hardly be called a trend.
Most Westernized yoga classes focus on learning physical poses, which are called asanas. They also usually include some form of breathing technique and possibly a meditation technique as well. Some yoga classes are designed purely for relaxation. But there are styles of yoga that teach you how to move your body in new ways. Choosing one of these styles offers the greatest health benefits by enabling you to develop your flexibility, strength, and balance.
Even though for most healthy people yoga is a safe non-aerobic form of exercise, it is not without its risks. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the yoga injuries most commonly treated in emergency rooms involve overstretching and strain from repetition to the neck, shoulders, spine, legs, knees.
Also, certain poses can increase your risk of injury if you have conditions such as:
severe osteoporosis
high or low blood pressure
ear problems
problems with your spine
pregnant (including risks to your unborn child)
Here are some tips to help you reduce your risk of injury from yoga:
If you are pregnant or have a pre-existing health condition: Consult your health care provider before starting a yoga program. Your health care provider can help you know how to judge what type and level of yoga exercise is safe for you.
Don’t try learning yoga on your own. Work with an experienced and credentialed instructor to learn the proper way to perform the exercises and avoid injury.
Yoga is not a substitute for medical care. Yoga offers many health benefits and may even be included as part of some treatment plans. But it’s still important to work closely with your regular health care providers and get proper treatment when you need it.
Know your limits and stay within them. Before beginning any new type of yoga, ask about its physical demands. Find out how strenuous it is. Talk with the instructor and others who do that type of yoga to be sure it’s suitable for you.
Go slow. You’re not in competition with anyone else in the class. Learn the basics, such as proper breathing and how to maintain balance, before you attempt the more ambitious stretches.
Warm up properly before every session. Cold muscles increase your chance of injury.
Wear proper clothing. Wear clothes that allow you to move freely.
Ask questions. If you don’t understand an exercise, ask to see it again before you attempt it yourself,
Stay hydrated. That’s especially important if you are practicing what’s called “hot” yoga, which is done in a very warm and humid room.
Pay attention to what your body is telling you. Yoga isn’t supposed to hurt. If you feel pain, stop. If the pain persists, see your health care provider. Stop immediately if you have chest pain, feel faint or overheated, or become dizzy. Get immediate medical help if the sensation continues after you stop.
Yoga and Flexibility
When some people think of yoga, they imagine having to stretch like a gymnast. That makes them worry that they’re too old, unfit, or “tight” to do yoga. The truth is you’re never too old to improve flexibility.
The series of yoga poses called asanas work by safely stretching your muscles. This releases the lactic acid that builds up with muscle use and causes stiffness, tension, pain, and fatigue. In addition, yoga increases the range of motion in joints. It may also increase lubrication in the joints. The outcome is a sense of ease and fluidity throughout your body.
Yoga stretches not only your muscles but all of the soft tissues of your body. That includes ligaments, tendons, and the fascia sheath that surrounds your muscles. And no matter your level of yoga, you most likely will see benefits in a very short period of time. In one study, participants had up to 35% improvement in flexibility after only eight weeks of yoga. The greatest gains were in shoulder and trunk flexibility.
Yoga and Strength
Some styles of yoga, such as ashtanga and power yoga, are more vigorous than others. Practicing one of these styles will help you improve muscle tone.
But even less vigorous styles of yoga, such as Iyengar or hatha, which focuses on less movement and more precise alignment in poses, can provide strength and endurance benefits.
Many of the poses, such as downward dog, upward dog, and the plank pose, build upper-body strength. This becomes crucial as people age. The standing poses, especially if you hold them for several long breaths, build strength in your hamstrings, quadriceps, and abdominal muscles. Poses that strengthen the lower back include upward dog and the chair pose. When practiced correctly, nearly all poses build core strength in the deep abdominal muscles.
Yoga Can Help Posture
With increased flexibility and strength comes better posture. Most standing and sitting poses develop core strength. That’s because you’re counting on your deep abdominals to support and maintain each pose. With a stronger core, you’re more likely to sit and stand “tall.” Another benefit of yoga is the increased body awareness. This heightened awareness tells you more quickly when you’re slouching or slumping so you can adjust your posture.
Yoga Benefits Breathing
Because of the deep, mindful breathing that yoga involves, lung capacity often improves. This in turn can improve sports performance and endurance. But yoga typically isn’t focused on aerobic fitness the way running or cycling are. Taking an intense power yoga class that gets you breathing hard in a heated room, however, can provide an aerobic benefit.
Most forms of yoga emphasize deepening and lengthening your breath. This stimulates the relaxation response — the opposite of the fight-or-flight adrenaline boost of the stress response.
Yoga Means Less Stress, More Calm
Even beginners tend to feel less stressed and more relaxed after their first class. Some yoga styles use specific meditation techniques to quiet the constant “mind chatter” that often underlies stress. Other yoga styles depend on deep breathing techniques to focus the mind on the breath. When this happens, the mind calms.
Among yoga’s anti-stress benefits are a host of biochemical responses. For example, there is a decrease in catecholamines, the hormones produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress. Lowering levels of hormone neurotransmitters — dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine — creates a feeling of calm. Some research points to a boost in the hormone oxytocin. This is the so-called “trust” and “bonding” hormone that’s associated with feeling relaxed and connected to others.
Yoga, Concentration, and Mood
Harder to pin down and research scientifically, concentration and the ability to focus mentally are common benefits you’ll hear yoga students talk about. The same is true with mood. Nearly every yoga student will tell you they feel happier and more contented after class. Recently, researchers have begun exploring the effects of yoga on depression, a benefit that may result from yoga’s boosting oxygen levels to the brain. Yoga is even being studied as an adjunct therapy to relieve symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Yoga’s Benefits the Heart
Perhaps one of the most studied areas of the health benefits of yoga is its effect on heart disease. Yoga has long been known to lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate. A slower heart rate can benefit people with high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Yoga was a key component to the heart disease program designed by Dean Ornish, MD. This was the first program to partly reverse heart disease through lifestyle and diet rather than surgery. On a biochemical level, studies point to a possible anti-oxidant effect of yoga. And yoga has been associated with decreased cholesterol and triglyceride levels as well as a boost in immune system function.
Yoga’s Effects on Other Medical Conditions
As yoga has become more popular in the West, medical researchers have begun studying the benefits of therapeutic yoga. This is also called integrative yoga therapy or IYT. It’s used as an adjunct treatment for specific medical conditions, from clinical depression to heart disease. Yoga benefits other chronic medical conditions, relieving symptoms of asthma, back pain, and arthritis. Most worldwide clinical studies are happening outside of the U.S. But even the NIH has funded clinical trials on yoga and its health benefits for insomnia and multiple sclerosis.
Other Benefits of Yoga
Some studies have suggested that yoga may have a positive effect on learning and memory. Other researchers have been studying whether yoga can slow the aging process, increase a person’s sense of self-acceptance, or improve energy levels.
Some potential benefits of yoga may be hard to study scientifically. For instance, yoga has been said to increase spiritual awareness. Nevertheless, there is an abundance of anecdotal claims for what yoga can do. Go to any yoga studio and listen to students after class. Some will even tell you that yoga can help improve marriages and relationships at work.
The only way to be certain of all that yoga can do for you is to try it for yourself and see.
http://www.BeBalancedEnergy.com Make a BeBalanced Energy bracelet or Energy watch part of your yoga attire. They help increase energy, flexibility and balance. Just like Yoga.
Any weight loss program just has to include exercises to increase your metabolism and work your muscles. You want to keep what muscles you have. These are some very good short videos which take you through a way to lose inches off your middle with and without exercise and a total workout to prepare you for Valentine’s Day.
Use these videos to get you going in the the right direction. I love short exercises and I like to start slowly and build as I go. Diet Health offers great workout videos. Stay here as we will be including lots of great exercise tips. These aren’t for the master fitness buffs. They’re for those of us who want exercise to be part of our day but not all of it.
More power to those of you who are devoted to your fitness. Perhaps some of you will evolve to that but here’s where to start.
Weight loss videos that could be helpful. Some great media help. I am a Dr. Nancy Snyderman fan who is on the Today show regularly. Listen to what she has to say. Nancy makes her points very easy to understand.
As we know, weight loss is a varied subject. So many ideas and concepts. The best thing to do is listen to as many people as you can and choose what you think will work. Nobody knows you like you do. You have to feel comfortable with any program.
You’re doomed to failure if you don’t think you can stay with a program. These videos are logical but who does logical things all the time.
Just about every culture has some custom that can help people lose weight. For example, if you dine out in Europe, a waiter generally sets a bottle of mineral water on your table. But at restaurants here in Canada, you often have to request water and, as a result, you may end up having pop or other drinks high in calories instead. Or you might have one more glass of wine or beer than you would if you were alternating sips with water. Here’s our collection of clever tips from 17 countries—call it an international healthy eating plan that can help us all.
Thailand: Eat spicy food
Thai food is among the spiciest in the world. Hot peppers raise your metabolism, but the real benefit of food with a little zing is that spicy food slows your eating. When you eat too fast, as many North Americans do, by the time your body signals it’s full, you’ve overeaten. Eating more slowly is a good weight-loss strategy, and making food spicier is an easy way to do it.
Poland: Eat at home more often
Karen Seeley
Poles typically spend only five percent of their family budget on eating out. On the other hand, the average Canadian family
now spends almost 30 percent of total food dollars at restaurants and fast-food joints, according to Statistics Canada. To save money and pounds, start tracking how often you eat out and how much you spend on those meals each month, then gradually cut back.
“People who eat out a lot tend to eat less-healthy food and to be heavier,” says Melodie Yong, dietitian for the Heart and Lung Institute of St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. In fact, the decline of cooking at home, linked in part to the increasing number of women in the workforce, tracks very closely with the rise in obesity over the past 30 years, she notes.
Brazil: Have rice and beans
All that shaking at Carnaval isn’t the only body-friendly habit in Rio; Brazilians stay slim by enjoying this traditional dish with just about every meal. A study in the journal Obesity Research found that a diet consisting primarily of rice and beans lowers the risk
of becoming overweight by about 14 percent when compared with the typical Western fare. That’s because it’s lower in fat and higher in fibre, which is thought to stabilize blood sugar levels. It may be counterintuitive, but a diet full of beans equals a beach-ready body.
Netherlands: Ride your bike
Bikes outnumber people (at 18 million versus 16.5 million) in the Netherlands. While just 1.2 percent of work trips in Canada are made by bicycle, 40 percent of the Dutch use their bikes for commuting. Traffic lights in some parts of Amsterdam are even synchronized to bike speed. While most Canadians have to deal with winter conditions, riding bikes in good weather for errands, work or pleasure can help fend off weight gain.
“Casual riding for errands and commuting can burn around 500 calories an hour, but if you up the exertion or add in hill-climbing, you can burn up to 1,000 calories an hour,” says Stephen Cheung, an exercise physiologist at Brock University, who commutes by bike—a 34-kilometre round trip—nine months of the year.
Germany: Eat breakfast
An impressive 75 percent of Germans eat breakfast daily, sitting down to whole-grain cereals, breads and fruit. Nutritionists have been advising people against skipping breakfast for years, but recent studies give a better picture of its importance.
In one, British researchers discovered that
if you haven’t eaten breakfast, your brain’s reward centre will light up more vividly when you see a high-calorie food—making you likelier to indulge.
“If you could make just one change to impact the obesity epidemic, it would be to get everyone to eat breakfast,” says Dr. Arya Sharma, scientific director of the Canadian Obesity Network.
Switzerland: Try a bowl of muesli
The ingredients in this porridge—oats, fruit and nuts—have all been linked to better health and weight control. Muesli was developed by a Swiss physician more than 100 years ago to nourish hospital patients, but today the Swiss eat it for breakfast or as a light evening snack. “Eating a lot of soluble ’fibre can reduce bad cholesterol levels by
up to 10 percent,” says dietitian Melodie Yong. Muesli’s fibre makes it slow to digest, keeping you full
longer. But read the label carefully, though: Sugar content can vary from two to 14 grams per serving.
United Kingdom: Eat smaller portions
In restaurants and at home, the Brits prefer smaller portions—perhaps a lingering vestige of the frugality instilled by World War II rationing. Nutritionists say supersizing a meal supersizes you.
France: Don’t rush your meals
The French excel at leisurely family meals. On average, 92 percent of French families dine together nightly. These meals typically last 33 minutes during the week and 43 minutes on weekends. In contrast, a 2007 Statistics Canada report noted two trends in Canada over the past 20 years: a steep decline in the number of families eating together, and shorter mealtimes. Although it sounds illogical, lengthy meals actually encourage less eating. “It generally takes 20 minutes from the time you’re full for your brain to realize you’re full, so taking longer to eat means you’ll end up eating less,” says dietitian Melodie Yong.
India: Do more yoga
Most Canadians respect yoga’s stress-busting and flexibility-enhancing power, but not many of us realize it facilitates weight loss. In fact, a recent study found that yoga devotees have a lower body mass index (BMI) than other exercisers do. Some reasons why: Yoga is best done on an empty stomach and can build muscle (depending on your preferred poses), which boosts metabolism. And it encourages mindfulness, which includes paying attention to whether you feel full.
Russia: Grow your own food
Country houses, or dachas, where 51 percent of city dwellers spend vacations and summer weekends, almost always feature
a garden. Russians, who live in a similar climate to Canada’s, grow their own vegetables and fruit, which automatically makes their diet more nutritious. Plus, they preserve what they grow.
Finland: Try Nordic walking
This is one of the Finns’ favourite outdoor activities. All that’s required is a pair of inexpensive, lightweight walking poles. Holding these in your hands aids balance, which is great if you’re older or if you’re on slippery terrain. Even better: Because they make you use muscles in your shoulders, arms and torso, the poles transform walking into a total-body workout that burns 20 percent more calories. A number of recent studies show that Nordic walking increases the number of calories you burn by up to 65 percent, without the feeling of working harder. No matter what the time of year, it’s a simple way to derive more fat-reducing benefit from your regular walk.
Mexico: Eat a big lunch
Instead of ingesting the bulk of the day’s calories in the evening, Mexicans traditionally eat their biggest meal between 2 and
4 p.m. If you eat less at night, you’ll wake up hungrier and eat a bigger breakfast, which facilitates weight control. As a general fat-fighting rule, try to get the bulk of your daily calories at breakfast and lunch.
Malaysia: Cook with tumeric
This spice, a key ingredient in curries, grows wild in Malaysian jungles. One of its chief components is a substance called curcumin, which may turn out to be a potent fat fighter. A recent study from Tufts University in Boston found that mice fed a high-fat diet with small amounts of curcumin gained less weight and body fat than other mice given meals that were similar but curcumin-free. Researchers think the ingredient suppresses the growth of fat tissue. Try some turmeric in your next curry or stir-fry.
Hungary: Eat more pickles
Hungarians like things pickled—not just cucumbers but bell peppers, cabbage and tomatoes. All of these brined beauties can help keep you thin, probably because of the vinegar that pickles them. Growing evidence suggests that acetic acid, the main component of vinegar, helps reduce blood pressure, blood sugar levels and fat formation. If you’re watching your sodium intake, though, check the product label—pickled foods can be high in salt.
Norway: Spend time outdoors
It’s a deeply rooted Norwegian habit: On Sunday, everyone—from toddlers to grandparents—heads out to hike (in summer) or cross-country ski (in winter). By comparison, in 2007, Statistics Canada found that in the past 20 years, Canadian families have been spending less time on such activities. So start this weekend tradition and get everyone out for a walk in the neighbourhood or a hike up the nearest hill.
Japan: Take a nap
In this on-the-go country, many people take a daily 20- to 30-minute nap, says James Maas, a sleep researcher at Cornell University and the author of Power Sleep. There is increasing evidence that chronic sleep deprivation raises the risk of weight gain. Maas cites two hormones: leptin, which helps the brain sense when you’re full, and ghrelin, which triggers hunger. The less sleep you get, the lower your leptin levels—and the higher your ghrelin. “Many people think they’re hungry when they’re actually sleepy,” Maas says. “Instead of a snack, they need shut-eye.”
South Africa: Drink rooibos tea
Enjoyed throughout the country, rooibos tea is more robust than green tea, and it’s naturally sweet. Swapping your specialty coffee for rooibos tea or any hot drink without cream or sugar could save you thousands
of calories a month. “Liquid calories sneak up on us,” says Toronto dietitian Sue Mah. “Even a cup of fruit juice has over 100 calories. Cut out 100 calories a day from food or drinks and you could lose 10 pounds in one year.”
It’s the time of year where we all over eat and over drink or most of us do. That’s OK. Try to minimize the damage.
Here’s some super videos that deal with this time of year and how you can help yourself survive. The girls have some great suggestions and view these as soon as possible. Might save you some dieting grief later.
Remember have a great holiday but you can do both. You can eat and be merry but you don’t have to go crazy. My advice as well is to not discuss the over eating and over drinking. Don’t waste words telling everybody how you have to watch what you eat. Keep it to yourself and you might not think of eating and drinking quite so much.
See you can enjoy yourselves at a party and still have fun.
These are a few videos from Sarah of Sarah’s Fab Channel. They are helpful videos if you are trying to lose weight and get fit. One video Sarah presents some of the food she likes to buy and eat. The second video describes and shows her progress in her fitness and fat loss program.
Thought you would find these interesting and motivating. They could be helpful in searching for those small tips that can make the difference.
with diet-friendly foods and beverages. Post this list on your fridge next to the photo of you in your “skinny jeans” and make a copy to bring with you the next time you shop for groceries. Just remember: Calories count, portion control rules and there’s no substitute for a well-balanced diet and regular exercise. So get moving!
1. Water!
A new study seems to indicate that drinking water actually speeds up weight loss and boost metabolism. Researchers in Germany found that subjects of the study increased their metabolic rates (the rate at which calories are burned) by 30 percent after drinking approximately 17 ounces of water. Water is also a natural appetite suppressant that banishes bloat as it flushes out sodium and toxins. Drinking enough water will also help keep you from mistaking thirst for hunger. So drink up! Make sure that you are starting your day with a big big glass of water and drink throughout the day not just all at one time.
2. Green Tea!
Studies show that green tea extracts boost metabolism and may aid in weight loss. This mood-enhancing tea has also been reported to contain anti-cancer properties and help prevent heart disease. It’s also a trendy drink among weight-conscious celebrities. You may Have already seen my green tea articles but this may be one really fantastic herb and it tastes nice too!
3. Soup!
Eat less and burn fat faster by having a bowl of soup as an appetizer or a snack. According to a Penn State University study, soup is a super appetite suppressant because it’s made up of a hunger-satisfying combination of liquids and solids. In the study, women chose one of three 270-calorie snacks before lunch. Women who had chicken and rice soup as a snack consumed a n average of 100 fewer calories than those in the study who opted for a chicken and rice casserole or the casserole and a glass of water. I used to joke that soup is not a meal but it really dies fill you for very few calories and remember that when you eat a food with a lot of taste it really will satisfy.
4. Grapefruit!
The grapefruit diet is not a myth. Researchers at Scripps Clinic found that participants who ate half a grapefruit with each meal in a 12-week period lost an average of 3.6 pounds. The study indicates that the unique chemical properties in this vitamin C-packed citrus fruit reduce insulin levels, which promotes weight loss and boost metabolism. NOTE: If you are taking medication, check with your doctor about any potentially adverse interactions with grapefruit. Grapefruit, because of the soft peel is a nice alternative to an apple of orange and study after study of the last 30 years has shown that it can really help burn fat.
5. Apples and Pears!
Overweight women who ate the equivalent of three small apples or pears a day lost more weight on a low-calorie diet than women who didn’t add fruit to their diet, according to re searchers from the State University of Rio de Janeiro. Fruit eaters also ate fewer calories overall. So next time you need to satisfy a sugar craving, reach for this low-calorie, high-fiber snack. You’ll feel full longer and eat less.
6. Broccoli!
Study after study links calcium and weight loss. Broccoli is not only high in calcium, but also loaded with vitamin C, which boosts calcium absorption. This member of the nutritious cabbage family also has plenty of vitamin A, folate and fiber. And, at just 20-calories per cup, this weight-loss superfood not only fights fat but also contains powerful phytochemicals that boost your immunity and protect against disease.
7. Low-Fat Yogurt!
Dairy products can boost weight loss efforts, according to a study in the April issue of Obesity Research. People on a reduced-calorie diet who included three to four servings of dairy foods lost significantly more weight than those who ate a low-dairy diet containing the same number of calories. Low-fat yogurt is a rich source of weight-loss-friendly calcium, providing about 450 mg (about half the recommended daily allowance for women ages 19-50) per 8-ounce serving, as well as 12 grams of protein. As far as superfood go Yogurt is right there. It includes calcium, protein and a ton of other nutrients as well as good bacteria and probiotics for you digestive tract.
8. Lean Turkey!
Rev up your fat-burning engine with this bodybuilder favorite. Countless studies have shown that protein can help boost metabolism, lose fat and build lean muscle tissue so you burn more calories. A 3-ounce serving of boneless, skinless lean turkey breast weighs in at 120 calories and provides 26 grams of appetite-curbing protein, 1 gram of fat and 0 grams of saturated fat. With the price of chicken going up and up these days Turkey has become a great alternative. Remember that Turkey is a little tougher than chicken and the taste is a little different but it is not just for Thanksgiving and Christmas anymore.
9. Oatmeal!
This heart-healthy favorite ranks high on the good carb list, because it’s a good source of cholesterol-fighting, fat-soluble fiber (7 grams per 3/4-cup serving) that keeps you full and provides you with the energy you need to make the most of your workouts. Just be sure to choose steel cut or rolled oats, not instant oatmeal, to get your full dose of vitamins, minerals and fiber. For many years now Pro Bodybuilders have relied on Oatmeal as a staple of their breakfast, it is amazingly high in nutrients.
10. Hot Peppers!
Eating hot peppers can speed up and boost metabolism and cool your cravings, researchers at Laval University in Canada found. Here’s why: Capsaicin (a chemical found in jalapeno and cayenne peppers) temporarily stimulates your body to release more stress hormones, which speeds up your metabolism and causes you to burn more calories. Some people just can’t eat them though. Oh, well!!
There’s no doubt that the hardest part of losing weight is staying motivated. This is an issue for all of us. Weight loss isn’t something that happens overnight – you need to stay with it if you want to see results. Most people know how to lose weight so the main reason everyone isn’t slim and healthy is that it’s difficult to keep up a weight loss program for a long period of time. Here are some tips for staying motivated whilst losing weight.
Karen Seeley
The first thing you need to do is figure out is why do you want to lose weight in the first place. Is it because you want to be generally healthier? Are you worried about the way you look? Is it because there’s an important wedding coming up? Everyone is different and you need to decide why losing weight is important to you personally.
The next tip is to work out some long, medium and short term goals. Your long term goal should be the final amount of weight you want to lose. This can be as much as you want as long as you understand it’ll take time to get there. The medium and short term goals should provide you with targets to aim towards in an attempt to reach your final target. Setting smaller targets is a great way of increasing your motivation because it allows you to measure your progress.
To stay motivated have a weight loss partner. If you know someone who wants to lose weight then you can keep each other company while exercising, keep track of what the other is eating and provide support for each other. If you know you have to answer to someone other than yourself it can make a big difference.
Entering a sporting event such as a fun run or bike race will keep you on track when exercising and provide something to work towards. It can be hard to keep exercising on a daily basis if there is no end goal. Just be careful not to aim too high to begin with.
Many people find that keeping a journal of weight loss efforts can help them to stay motivated. The useful thing about a diary is that if you’re having a bad day you can look back and see how much progress you’ve made. Sometimes it can be difficult to gauge progress through memory alone and a diary solves this problem. You don’t have to write in it every day unless you want to. If you would like to make the most out of a diary then you could even attach photos every few weeks to see the changes in your body shape. There’s nothing more motivational than knowing you’re going to have to see yourself naked on a regular basis!
Also, most people find it easier to get motivated to exercise in the morning. After a long days work nothing seems more appealing than lying down on the sofa watching TV for a few hours. If you never want to exercise after work then try to get up a bit earlier to do a 20 minute cardiovascular workout.
Try to do something different everyday. Even if it’s only a few push-ups or sit-ups you should keep your momentum going by exercising each and every day.
Ultimately, success and failure when it comes to weight loss depends on your motivation. If you can find a way to keep motivated over a long period of time then you’re well on your way to losing as much weight as you want.
You don’t have to go on a diet to lose those extra pounds. Just eat smart—and use a foolproof checklists Stay with it.
RISE BEFORE THE SUN, jog before breakfast, and eat three home-cooked meals interspersed with protein-and fiber-rich snacks. Hit the gym every day and renounce beer, Chinese takeout, and any food that’s breaded, battered, fried, or sweetened.
That’s it: Your blueprint for superlative health. If that sounds doable, you can stop reading now.
Still with us? Good. You’re human. And you’re busy. Chances are you’ve occasionally ordered greasy takeout while crunching a deadline, or scarfed down a candy bar as you rushed to a meeting. Real life interferes with diets—and maybe that’s why a UCLA analysis of eight studies found that about 40 percent of dieters regain lost weight or even exceed their prediet weight after 4 or more years. It’s tough to stick to a diet that doesn’t adapt to your life.
Another problem with diets: They’re usually built on self-denial, and people (most people, at least) aren’t masochists. “Anytime you withhold something enjoyable from somebody, whether it’s television or affection or pizza, they’ll resist it for only so long,” says Brian Wansink, Ph.D., the author of Mindless Eating. “Those are deprivation diets. Effective in the short run, but not sustainable.”
So we came up with an antidiet. Our plan is flexible enough to fit your schedule and realistic enough to keep you from feeling deprived. We’ve started you off with a day of nutrient-dense eating. From there, use the checklists to guide your choices. Turns out you don’t have to be superhuman to shrink your belly.
BREAKFAST
The Checklist
Can at least half the foods in this meal be described as protein sources?
Does this meal make up about a quarter of my day’s calories? That’s 550 for a 2,200-calorie diet, a reasonable goal for an average-height, 30-year-old man who’s moderately active and looking to lose weight.
If there’s bread, a muffin, or cereal, is it made from whole grains?
Too busy for breakfast? That’s dangerous thinking. A University of Massachusetts medical school study found that people who regularly skipped breakfast had a risk of obesity that was 4 1/2 times greater than those who routinely ate a morning meal. And when University of Minnesota researchers followed a group of high school students for 5 years, they found that the body mass indexes (BMIs) of students who always skipped breakfast were about 30 percent higher than those of students who ate every morning.
But don’t eat just anything. In a study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, people who ate egg-based breakfasts consumed about 20 percent fewer calories during the day than those whose breakfasts were based on bread alone. The protein in those eggs may increase satiety and delay hunger pangs.
So how in the name of Jimmy Dean should you eat those eggs? Pair them with whole-grain bread and a lean protein like ham for a smart sandwich that will fuel your race to the office.
At Home
Thomas’ Light Multi-Grain English Muffin
Protein is crucial for satiety—but so is fiber. This Thomas’ English muffin contains more fiber than a half cup of garbanzo beans.
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Hormel Natural Choice Smoked Deli Ham (2 slices)
This line of deli meats has no preservatives or added nitrites or nitrates.
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Eggs (2 large)
Scramble them in a small skillet.
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Avocado (1/2)
Avocado offers all the creaminess of cheese but has fewer than half the calories per gram.
Pair with: Milk (1 cup, 1%)
MEAL TOTAL
575 calories, 32 g protein, 49 g carbohydrates (14.5 g fiber), 31 g fat, 731 mg sodium
Restaurant
Panera Bread
Breakfast Power Sandwich
Panera’s egg sandwich boasts a fiber count that’s rare among fast-food breakfast sandwiches. But the benefit doesn’t end there: It has about as much protein as a 4-ounce pork tenderloin.
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Apple
The apple doubles the fiber load of the meal and delivers plenty of quercetin and catechins, antioxidants that may help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, asthma, and diabetes.
Pair with: Cappuccino (8.5 oz)
Why not brewed coffee? Because a cappuccino gives you a dose of dairy along with your caffeine fix.
MEAL TOTAL
540 calories, 31 g protein, 63 g carbohydrates (8 g fiber). 18.5 g fat, 915 mg sodium
MIDMORNING SNACK
Smucker’s Natural Chunky Peanut Butter (2 Tbsp)
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Wheat Thins Fiber Selects 5-Grain Crackers (5)
Smucker’s Natural has no added oils, sweeteners, or fillers, and it boasts plenty of fiber and healthy fats.
MEAL TOTAL
246 calories 8 g protein 14.5 g carbohydrates (4 g fiber) 17.5 g fat 175 mg sodium
LUNCH
The Checklist
Am I eating this meal within 2 hours of my last snack?
Is there at least one source of protein and one source of fiber?
Can I identify the produce in this meal?
Lunch is a meal you’re likely to buy rather than make, and the countless unhealthy options outside the home means it’s easy to pack in too many calories. But if you eat too few calories—or the wrong kind—you risk battling hunger pangs before dinner, priming you for overindulgence.
To hit target calorie counts and sustain your energy all afternoon, you want a meal with a healthy dose of complex carbs, not refined ones. That’s because complex carbs digest more slowly, helping you power past your 3 p.m. slump. Second, to ward off afternoon hunger pangs, make sure you include plenty of protein, which has been shown to increase satiety. Finally, pack in extra nutrients by picking a lunch that includes at least a serving or two of produce. One easy, tasty solution: chili. It delivers complex carbs (beans and vegetables), produce (tomatoes, onions, and peppers), and a hefty shot of protein—all in a single bowl.
At Home
Amy’s Organic Black Bean Chili (1 cup)
This canned chili is more than just organic—it’s also relatively low in sodium, high in protein, and totally jacked with fiber.
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Sargento Mild Cheddar Cheese Cubes (30 g, about 7 pieces
Shredded cheese is messy and hard to measure. Cubes are simple; just count them up and drop them into your bowl.
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Fage Total 2% Plain Greek Yogurt
(7 oz) Greek yogurt is as luscious as sour cream but has more protein and fewer calories. Add a dollop to the chili and enjoy the rest with your orange.
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Orange (1)
MEAL TOTAL
532 calories, 41 g protein, 55.5 g carbohydrates (16 g fiber), 17 g fat, 935 mg sodium
Restaurant
Wendy’s
Chili (small)
Burger King and McDonald’s both make decent burgers, but only Wendy’s offers this hearty alternative to fries.
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Double Stack
Pairing your chili with a burger adds another helping of protein. This burger’s smaller bun helps lower the calorie count, while double the beef patties packs in the protein.
MEAL TOTAL
580 calories, 41 g protein, 48 g carbohydrates (7 g fiber), 25 g fat, 1,630 mg sodium
WORD TO THE WISE
Concerned about high sodium levels? They’re hard to avoid in restaurant food, so if you’re trying to control your intake, stick to the “At Home” options.
MIDAFTERNOON SNACK
Larabar Pecan Pie (1 bar)
The typical snack bar is bloated with furtive sweeteners and heavily processed soy products, but this bar is honest food, simple and nutritious. Its sugar comes from natural dates, and outside that, you’ll find only two ingredients: pecans and almonds.
220 calories, 3 g protein, 24 g carbohydrates (4 g fiber), 14 g fat, 0 mg sodium
DINNER
The Checklist
Am I eating this meal at least 2 hours before I go to sleep?
Can I identify at least one source of protein and one source of fiber?
Can I point to the produce in this meal?
Is this the smallest of my three main meals of the day?
The average man eats about 900 calories at dinner. The problem? Dinner ought to be his smallest meal of the day. Loading up on energy before you head off on your day’s errands makes sense, but doing that before you fall asleep in front of The Colbert Report doesn’t. The goal is to keep your belly full during waking hours only; there’s no need to load up your body with lots of calories when it’s about to go to sleep.
So stop thinking of dinner as an end-of-day binge and start thinking of it as an opportunity to nab the last few nutrients you need for an optimal day of eating. Ideally, your dinner should be about half of what you’re probably eating now—no more than about 450 calories. That’s roughly 20 percent fewer calories than you took in at breakfast or lunch, and that’s plenty if you’ve stuck to the plan so far. After two big meals and two hearty snacks, your appetite should be moderate and your cravings under control. Besides, you still have dessert to top it all off!
At Home
Kashi Stone-Fired Thin Crust Margherita Pizza (1/3 pizza)
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Baby Spinach (3 cups)
Spinach boasts ample vitamin K and vitamin A, plus folic acid; a recent Swedish study found that a compound in spinach could also boost the efficiency of the cells’ mitochondria, in turn helping oxygen consumption during exercise.
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Chopped Walnuts (2 Tbsp)
With the addition of walnuts, you transform a drab bed of dressed leaves into a legitimate salad. Plus, gram for gram, walnuts pack in even more omega-3 fats than salmon does.
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Newman’s Own Lighten Up Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (2 Tbsp)
MEAL TOTAL
422 calories, 18.5 g protein, 36.5 g carbohydrates (7 g fiber), 23 g fat, 1,091 mg sodium
Restaurant
Domino’s Pizza
Thin Crust Ham, Mushroom, Green Pepper, and Onion Pizza (1/4 large pie)
A combo of lean meat, three kinds of vegetables, and a thin crust keeps the calorie count low but your satisfaction high.
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Garden Fresh Salad (1/2 salad)
This side salad provides a couple of extra grams of fiber (the better to fill your belly), plus more than a third of your day’s recommended intake of vitamin C and 120 percent of your vitamin A.
MEAL TOTAL
490 calories, 20 g protein, 43 g carbohydrates (4 g fiber), 22.5 g fat, 980 mg sodium
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Stock your kitchen with these super foods to ensure your diet is packed with antioxidants, fibre and other healthy properties.
1. Blueberries
Blueberries have more antioxidants—those magical molecules that can help prevent a host of maladies—than 40 other common fruits and vegetables tested.
The antioxidant plant pigments that make blueberries blue guard against heart disease, cancer and age-related blindness and memory loss. They’re also tops when it comes to preventing urinary tract infections, thanks to antioxidant epicatechins, which keep bacteria from sticking to bladder walls. How much? 1/2 cup (125 mL) of blueberries equals one fruit and vegetable serving per day. Tip: Sprinkle blueberries on your pancakes at the last minute—cooking the berries destroys valuable vitamin C.
2. Garlic
Garlic has antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties. Most of its disease-fighting potential comes from its sulfur compounds, which act as antioxidants, providing many of its cardiovascular benefits. Just six or more cloves of garlic a week can slash your risk of colorectal, stomach and prostate cancer in half compared to eating one clove a week or less. How much? Incorporate at least one garlic clove into your diet every day. Tip: Chop or crush your garlic, then let it stand for 10 minutes to fully release its healing potential.
3. Olive Oil
Pres an olive and you get one of the healthiest fats in the world. The main benefit of olive oil is that it lowers “bad” LDL cholesterol and raises “good” HDL cholesterol, thanks to its monosaturated fats. Olive oil is also packed with antioxidants called phenols, which may protect artery walls from cholesterol buildup. How much? Include up to 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of olive oil in your diet every day. Tip: Look for “virgin,” “extra virgin” or “cold-pressed” oils, which are extracted by pressing alone. Solvents and heat used to produce “light or “extra-light” oils destroy antioxidants.
4. Broccoli
Consider broccoli your number one cancer fighter, thants to its sulfur compounds, such as sulforaphane, which you can smell as broccoli cooks. These compounds signal our genes to boost production of enzymes that detoxify potentially cancer-causing compounds. Eat more broccoli and you could slash your risk of everything from breast and lung cancer to stomach and colon cancer. How much? 125 mL (1/2 cup) of cooked broccoli is one fruit and vegetable serving. Tip: Steam broccoli for 3 to 4 minutes until it’s crisp-tender to free up more of its sulforaphane.
5. Yogurt
Yogurt is a great source of bone-building calcium, but its real strength lies in live beneficial bacteria, know as probiotics, that keep down the growth of harmful bacteria in your gut. Eating more yogurt could help with inflammatory bowel disease, ulcers, urinary tract infections and vaginal yeast infections. How much? ¾ of a cup (175 mL) of low-fat or fat-free yogurt with live cultures is one serving of milk/dairy products. Tip: When coating chicken, pork or fish with bread crumbs, replace the eggs used to moisten the meat with plain yogurt.
6. Oats
Oats’ cholesterol- and blood pressure-lowering powers come from beta-glucan, a type of soluble fibre. One cup (250 mL) a day of cooked oat bran, 1 ½ cups (375 mL) of cooked oatmeal or thee packets of instant oatmeal provide enough beta-glucan to lower blood cholesterol by about five percent and heart attack risk by about 10 percent. How much? Aim for 10 grams of soluble fibre each day. Cooked oats contain 2 to 3 grams per serving. Tip: Buy the type of oatmeal you’ll eat. It doesn’t matter if it’s steel-cut or instant.
7. Flaxseeds
A tablespoon of ground flaxseed sprinkled over cereal or yogurt provides an easy 2.3 grams of fiber, often more than what’s in the cereal itself. But flaxseed is most revered for its lingans. These act like estrogen in the body, blocking estrogen receptors on cells and contributing to reduced rates of certain hormone-related cancers, such as breast cancer. Their anti-inflammatory power may also help keep conditions from acne to asthma at bay. How much? Sneak 1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 25 mL) of ground flaxseed into your diet daily. Tip: Make sure your flax is ground; otherwise, the seeds will come out the same way they went in (whole), and you won’t reap the health benefits.
8. Cinnamon
Cinnamon is one of the most powerful healing spices. It’s become most famous for its ability to improve blood sugar control in people with diabetes. The apple pie spice can help prevent blood clots and has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It has been shown to conquer E. coli, among other types of bacteria. How much? As little as ¼ to ½ teaspoon of (1 to 2 mL) a day could cut triglycerides and total cholesterol by 12 to 30 percent. Tip: Sprinkle some cinnamon on your daily coffee to reap the benefits of this super-spice.
9. Tea
Tea is one of the most potent sources of antioxidants in nature (more potent than any fruit or vegetable).
Tea’s antioxidants offer protection from heart disease, stroke and cancer. They appear to protect against heart disease by slowing the breakdown of “bad” LDL cholesterol, preventing blood clots and improving blood vessel function. People who drink a cup or two of tea a day have a 46 percent lower risk of developing narrowed arteries. How much? Brew up two to five cups daily. Tip: Drink most of your tea between meals since the tannins interfere with the absorption of iron from food.
10. Beans
Beans are in fact good for your heart, thanks in large part to their soluble fibre, which soaks up cholesterol so the body can dispose of if before it can stick to artery walls. Studies find that diets high in soluble fibre can cut total cholesterol by 10 to 15 percent. A recent study also ranked beans among the top antioxidant foods. How much? ¾ cup (175 mL) of beans equals one serving of meat and alternatives. Tip: Beans contain more protein than any other plant food, but the protein is incomplete. Eat a grain such as rice at any time of the day to “complete” the protein.
If you steer clear of the sometimes intimidating weight room at your gym and instead head for the spin, yoga, and cardio areas? Even if you exercise regularly, you’re missing out if you’re among the estimated 85 percent of women who don’t life weights, says John Pagano, a personal trainer in New York City and author of Strength Training For Women.
A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Reseach showed that pumping iron two times a week can decrease back pain by 18 percent after 16 weeks and by 42 percent if you’re strength training four times a week. More research has found that just 30 minutes of strength training two to three times a week can improve cholesteral and blood pressure numbers, increase bone density and speed fat loss. In fact, the average adult can lose about 4 pounds of fat and add about 3 pounds of muscle lifting weights over a 10 week period!
Here are 5 reasons to start lifting:
1. If you only do yoga, you’re not challenging your muscles as much as you should. – To build strength, muscles need to be challenged to the max. And while yoga can be strenuous, it has its limits. “Although using only your body weight can be challenging when you first start doing yoga, your muscles quickly adapt, so the benefits diminish over time” Pagano says. But when you lift weights you can keep taxing your muscles and get stronger gradually increasing the amount of weight you lift.
2. Strength training revs your metabolism. – Your metabolism is the rate at which your body burns energy, or calories to function. Whether you’re sleeping, eating or exercising, your body is torching calories – and if your metabolism is reving like a high performance sports car rather than a 20 year old hooptie, you’ll burn more calories without even trying. The secret to a robust metabolism is building lean muscle!
3. Weight training makes you more flexible. – Yes, you read that right: Yoga and stretching aren’t the only keys to increasing your flexibility. In fact reseach shows that strength training using your full range of motion may be even better than static stretching when it comes to building overall flexibility.
4. Weightlifting can help maintain bone mass – maybe even more than calcium. – “When muscles contract, they shorten and pull on your bones, which stimulates bone growth,” Pagano says. Since women can lose up to 20 percent of their bone density in the five to seven years after menopause, boosting bone strength is crucial. And weight training is one of the most effective ways to do it.
5. You’ll build strength that will help prevent common aches and pains. – Sitting at your computer all day, lifting heavy grocery bags and other everyday activities can through your body out of whack. Yet the stronger you are, the less chance you have of injuring yourself while performing these daily tasks.
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Or check out the same sight and buy a sports watch which is so light weight with a quartz face. Many colours. Buy several and wear a different colour with each outfit.
Yes, you’re busy, but you can still squeeze in a workout or a healthy meal between stops, phone calls and meetings. Whether it’s a two-minute breathing break between meetings or a long training run with your dog, make daily fitness a priority. Keep this tip sheet handy as a reminder to think about your health every day.
Sunday–the laziest day of the week:
It’s easy to be lazy on the weekend, but use today for a functional training session. Play your favorite sport at the park or get in that long workout that is difficult during the hectic week. Also, take a few minutes to plan for the upcoming week. Choose which days might be best for your workouts, then schedule some exercise time and commit to it.
Monday–success day
Get a jump on your week. Set your alarm a few minutes earlier today so you can enjoy a cardio workout. This will start your day with a sense of healthy accomplishment and will get that heart pumping.
Tuesday tip
Use exercise to relieve some of that stress. A short walk outside or training session at your favorite studio can make you feel like a million dollars in just an hour.
Wednesday–health day
Hump day for most can mean health day for you. Use Wednesday as the day to eat at least 2 additional servings of fruits and vegetables. Maybe enjoy a glass of red wine with friends and family while you relax.
Thursday–I can see the finish line
You can see Friday on the horizon like the finish line of your last race. Use a good strength training session to rocket boost you into Friday. Think of a full body workout as your rocket fuel.
TGIF-riday
The weekend is the easiest time to sabotage all of the hard work you did throughout the week. Use today to prepare for the weekend by taking some extra time to stretch. Gentle breathing and some relaxing stretches will make a difference as you move into the weekend.
Saturday–play day
Remember Saturday as a kid? Well, use this day to refuel your inner child. Play some games, go for a hike or try a Zumba class. Your favorite activity is what Saturday is all about.
% off all items. Enter Promo Code: BLING at checkout. Look at the Gelicee Fashion watches and a special on the Gelicee Sports watches $ 24.95 to $ 19.95 plus get the 25% off . Great deal. Did you watch the British Open? iRenew balance bracelets sold for $ 19.95 for two plus $ 15 for shipping and handling. We sell genuine iRenew balance bracelets for $ 19.95 per unit less 25% and it includes shipping and handling. Their price per bracelet is $ 17.50 and ours is $ 15. Don’t miss out. Specials on all week.
Two great videos that will give you some motivation in your weight loss journey whether it’s as uphill as Chantel’s or a minor climb. Most of this journey is mind driven. Keep your motivation and Chantel explains why some of us gain weight and some don’t. She relates to her own upbringing. She had an epiphany that led to her turnaround.
I think you will enjoy these videos and I don’t have anything to do with her book. Looks like a great read though. Watch and listen, it might help.
Here’s the new video from http://www.InStyleBling.com. Interesting video filmed in a beautiful place, Muskoka, Canada overlooking the water. Muskoka is so gorgeous. Of course, so are the products from InStyleBling. I know we’re inundating you with InStyleBling and it’s products but the site was just introduced and we believe in their products. Back to normal next post. Wear their sports watches and Power Balance products
****** Enter Promo Code: BLING and receive 25% off all products for the month of July.
They show their Gelicee Ice watches which come in 8 different transparent colours with straps and watch faces that are completely interchangeable to allow you to create your own fashion watch to match your outfit of the day. Light and water resistant. Buy several watches and wear different colours or mix and match.
Also shown are their Gelicee Gummy watches which are made of silicon with interchangeable faces and in several colours. Buy several and wear a colour that matches your outfit of the day. Whether playing tennis, running, working out, swimming, playing golf, you’ll forget you’re wearing the watch. So light and sports fashionable.
InStyleBling.com includes the Power Balance line of holograph bracelets and pendants. This is the latest performance medical technology where these bracelets interact with your bodies natural energy to improve your flexibility, balance and energy level. Lots of great colours and most people buy several to match the bracelet with their outfits. Completely waterproof and fashionable. Look around at how many people wear these bracelets. It’s incredible. Notice how many of the top athletes are wearing them. Look in magazines and check out the wrists of the people in the magazines.
Also part of the InStyle line of products are the Gelicee Slap watches, jelly watches and iRenew natural power bracelets which will be added within days.
Check out this video and visit http://ww.InStyleBling.com
Enter the promo code: BLING and receive 25% off all products.
While you’re working out as part of your new fitness regime, you should wear one of their Power Balance bracelets and sports watch. You won’t even know you’re wearing them.
InStyleBling offers very special fashion watches, sports watches and bracelets. Many of the products incorporate the new ion power balance technology. Look around at how many of your friends are wearing these very special products.
This site sells Power Balance bracelets and necklaces. This is a new technology that they say, improves balance, flexibility and energy. I completely agree as I wear the products and feel better. Vist the site. These bracelets are the rage and so many people wear them. Look around your golf club and sports clubs. InStyleBling offers them at a very low introductory price and includes all shipping and taxes for the first month. InStyleBling offers all their products at the lowest price on the Internet and completely support them.
Also, on this great site are silicon sports watches that are so flexible and small. These watches are completely waterproof and can be worn while you play any sport. I wear mine all the time. You hardly even know it’s on your wrist. You can purchase with or without the new ion power balance technology. Available in so many colours and people buy several of them at the same time as you can move the different color watch faces from one watch to the other. Wear a watch or power band to match the clothes you are wearing that day. Guys and Gals.
The Power Balance bracelets are available in many colours so mix and match.
Also, on the site are InStyleBling’s Gelicee Ice Watches . These are very light fashion watches for all ages and sexes. I wear a black watch and mix the straps and face with a clear watch. So many colours available. The gals can wear a different colour or colour combinations depending on their outfits. People tend to purchase 5 or 6 watches to mix and match. You have to check them out.
specials, additional products and promotions. Non of their products are over $ 30 whether in U.S. dollars or Canadian dollars. In fact the price is the same in either currency. Go to the site and order some watches and Power bands. Buy several to mix and match and coordinate. Buy them as gifts.
So stop by
http://www.InStyleBling.com today and order some of their special and unique products. Satisfaction is always guaranteed.
If you’re someone who is constantly looking for a healthy snack option for your before or after workout or even throughout your busy day, grab a handful of Goji berries (A Superfood) and you won’t ever look back!
Goji (GO-jee)
a common name for the small, red berry of the Lycium barbarum plant, also known as wolfberry.
Ancient Berry of Vitality
Goji berries have been appreciated in Asian herbal medicine for several millenniums, but only recently have western cultures “discovered” the power of this remarkable food. A small and red berry, goji’s grow on a thorny perennial bush, and are indigenous to the difficult terrains of the Himalayan mountain range. Often coined as “red diamonds” on the Asian market, the goji berry has long been regarded as one of the most nutrient-rich superfoods on the planet, with ancient Chinese monks crediting this berry to greater health, vitality, longevity, energy, and stamina. Western science agrees that indeed this special berry has a remarkable nutritional profile, and it is now among the most highly sought-after superfoods around.
The Power of Goji
Arguably among the most potent superfoods known, the goji berry offers an exceptional balance of daily macronutrients: containing carbohydrates, high-quality protein, healthy fat, and soluble fiber. The goji’s solid plant-based protein is packed with 18 amino acids — including all 8 essential amino acids – which is 10% of the fruits composition. Also full of free-radical-devouring antioxidants, goji berries have been historically used to support the immune system and longevity. Rich in vitamin A and a good source of vitamin C, these berries additionally possess over 20 trace minerals and vitamins including zinc, iron, phosphorus, riboflavin (B2), vitamin E, and carotenoids which include beta-carotene. And to put things in perspective on just how powerful the little goji berry is, ounce per ounce it contains more vitamin C than oranges, more beta carotene than carrots, and more iron than soybeans or spinach. Goji berries are a truly remarkable food.
Superberry Snack
With a chewy texture and a pleasant taste somewhere in between a dried cherry and a cranberry, Navitas Naturals whole goji berries make a nutritious replacement for raisins or dried fruit. Delicious by the handful. the dried berries are great in recipes like oatmeal, cookies, cereal, and trail mix — and Navitas Naturals goji powder is perfect for smoothies and dessert batters. The delicate sweetness of the goji berry also pairs particularly well with chocolate.
Check the back of the bottle of many popular diet pills and you’ll see “green tea” or “green tea extract” listed as one of the ingredients.Diet pills are often dangerous and packed with other unhealthy ingredients, but there’s a reason they use green tea. Green tea helps you lose weight. Of course it won’t be “20 pounds in one week” or other nonsense that marketing companies like to claim, but green tea has been scientifically proven to burn calories and block fat absorption.
Green Tea Burns Fat
Food (including sugar and fat) is synthesized into a substance called “triglyceride” in the liver and small intestine. It is then carried into the bloodstream to other tissues in the body. Triglyceride is used as source of energy for life support and physical activities, and is very necessary. The problem comes about when there are excess amounts of triglyceride, because then it’s turned into fat which subsequently causes obesity. That’s where green tea comes in. It contains high amounts of polyphenols which activate the enzyme that is responsible for dissolving excess triglyceride. In the long run, this means that green tea effectively aids in burning fat.
Green Tea Stimulates the Metabolism & Accelerates Weight Loss
Green tea contains powerful antioxidants called catechin polyphenols that are responsible for many of the health benefits of green tea. One of them in particular, epigallocatechin gallate (or EGCG for short), has been found to stimulate the metabolism and accelerate weight loss. EGCG, along with the caffeine in green tea, stimulates the central nervous system and causes fat to be released into the blood stream for the body to use as fuel. This process of fat being used for energy is called “thermogenesis”. It provides extra energy, sheds excess water, and also helps to burn body fat. Although caffeine alone can stimulate the metabolism this way, it’s important to note that researchers found that the combined ingredients of green tea were much more effective at this process than just caffeine by itself.
Green Tea Helps You Exercise Longer
Everyone knows how important exercise is to losing weight. It burns calories, increases your energy, and builds muscle which in turn boosts your metabolism even higher. The catechin polyphenols in green tea appear to stimulate the use of fatty acids by liver and muscle cells. This subsequently reduces the rate that carbohydrates are used and allows for more endurance and longer exercise times. In fact, a study using green tea extract on lab rats increased the amount of time the animals could swim before becoming exhausted by as much as 24%. More endurance means more exercise, which means more calories burned, and it all adds up to more pounds lost for you.
Some great videos to help you with your abs, love handles and your butt. Basically, it’s your core area so keep it tuned as it’s the most important part of your body to keep tuned and strong.
This is just such a tremendous program for all of us that I devoted a post to this one product. It is so natural and easy. Read about the whole program by following the links. I’ve just touched on it but I hope I’ve touched on it enough to make you want to know more. It is so natural which makes it such a different program. Cleansing is so important to our health as most of us know by now. Read all about this program and decide whether you want to give it a try. Not much to lose but weight, improve your health and overall feel better.
“The Simplest and Most Powerful NATURAL Detox Diet Proven to Boost Weight Loss, Dramatically Increase All-Day Energy, Help You Look 10 Years Younger, and Cleanse Your Body from Harmful Toxins!”
If you feel sluggish, overweight, tired, and lacking in energy, then your body has probably been overwhelmed by environmental toxins, household chemicals, food preservatives, and processed ingredients.
But with our new All-NATURALdetox diet solution,, used by over 19,379 men and women around the world, you too can rapidly cleanse your body of these harmful pollutants and toxic chemicals – all without using expensive supplements or gimmicky detox formulas!
f you feel tired more often than you’d like. If you’ve been carrying around 10-30 lbs of extra weight that you can no longer bear to look at. If you no longer want to rely on a broken health care system to take care of you, then this may be the most important letter you will ever read.
Here is why:
For millions of years, the human species has been healthy, fit, and vital. If it were any different, we probably wouldn’t be here today. It’s simply “survival of the fittest”.
But within the last 100 years or so, we have put ourselves on a dangerous path!
The world is very different now. We live in a society where we were are bombarded by information overload. When we turn on the TV, we have hundreds of cable and satellite channels to choose from. And every time we blink we get a new email!
Life can be rather overwhelming. We have more things to do than we can handle. We have more choices to make than we have time to think. And while we try to juggle work, health and our relationships, we are constantly interrupted by hundreds of other things life throws in our way. Click Here! All This Leads to Stress!!
No wonder the most common complaint doctors get from patients, other than being overweight and unhealthy, is ‘tiredness’ and ‘low energy! We get very stressed out by the constant change and fast pace of life and… this drains our energy levels.
The result is we are tired, sleepy, exhausted, overweight, and worn-out. In the morning we want to hide under our bed sheets. In the afternoon we wish to crawl into a corner and take a nap. And in the evening we just want to eat a quick-fix dinner and fall asleep to the TV.
However, there is good news. Stress does rob us of our energy but there is another reason for being tired you probably never heard before. And once you know this reason, you will no longer have to be tired, overweight, or unhealthy ever again.
Instead, you will be able to have loads of energy all throughout the day and enjoy your life in a healthy, slim body! Click Here!
Listen Closely…
Your body is 70% water and a vast majority of this water makes up your blood (as blood plasma). Did you know that your blood is known as your “river of life”?
Yes indeed. If it weren’t for your blood, none of your cells would receive the oxygen or nutrients they require for life.
But your blood can only do its job if it’s healthy.
Whether you know it or not, there are a number of acids floating in your bloodstream. If there are too many acids, your body becomes acidic. The opposite of acidic is called alkaline.
Scientists measure acidity and alkalinity on the pH Scale, which ranges from 1 to 14. Anything below 7 is acidic and, the lower the number the more acidic it is. Anything above 7 is alkaline and, the higher the number the more alkaline it is.
And in order for you to be healthy and energized, the pH of your blood NEEDS to be between 7.35-7.45, which is slightly alkaline. Click Here!
But there is a problem:
95% Of All Food Sold In The Supermarket Is Acid Forming!
It’s true. Meats, eggs, bread, cheese, coffee, chocolate, sugar, rice, milk, cereal, cookies, crackers and many other foods create acids in our body. More so, the foods we eat are so acid forming that most people have “acid overload”. This makes it very difficult for our body to remain in the alkaline state it requires.
What Does This Mean?
Well, acid overload causes your blood cells to clump together. This makes it hard for them to travel to all the tiny capillaries in your body and deliver oxygen and nutrients to your cells. And that’s a BIG problem because your cells need oxygen and nutrients for energy.
And simply put, by not getting enough oxygen and essential nutrients you have less energy! Without these vital nutrients your cells have to work a lot harder, which makes you tired and drains your energy.
This is the most unknown yet… the major reason you are so tired and have little energy! It’s also the reason most people are overweight and unhealthy. You’ll see why in just a moment. Click Here!
An Acidic Diet Clogs Your Colon, Pollutes Your Body and Causes Deseases!!
Not only does an acid-forming (ie. western) diet degrade your blood, it also pollutes your body with hundreds of pounds of toxins each and every year. The result is a greater burden on your digestive system, liver, and colon. As your body continues to become polluted with “man-made” processed foods your digestive tract can no longer function properly.
Your digestion slows. You become constipated. And your liver becomes overworked.
The result…
Fatigue, lethargy, weight gain, poor health, and so much more!
In short, the toxic foods you eat and the stress in your life all add to the acid and toxic buildup in your body. This drains you of your energy.
Is there a way to stop this acid and toxic overload? You bet. It’s really simple and… your energy levels will triple and you’ll lose weight faster than you thought possible! But first, there is one more thing you ought to know.
Acid Overload Damages Your Health!
You see, acid overload drains so much of your energy that your body doesn’t have enough energy to fight off viruses and disease. In other words, your immune system is weakened. Well, here’s something that will help….
A Cleansing Diet That Gives You Long-Lasting Weight Loss, Energy, and Improved Health Without Dangerous Detox Pills or “Magic” Supplements!
The Total Wellness Cleanse is really about shedding away layers of excuses and negative emotions, poor eating habits, unwanted fat, lethargy and fatigue, and allowing your true inner you to shine through! And along the way, we will provide you with more support than you can possibly imagine – nowhere else will you be supported, motivated, and inspired to stay on track as you will with our Total Wellness Cleanse. Click Here!
So have a look at this super program and see what you think. Again, I thought enough of it to highlight it on our blog. It works!!!!
Holly is the Fit Yummy mommy and she has some super videos that will help you in your weight loss and healthy living quest. She makes it seem simple. Check out more of her videos as there will be more to follow. Thanks, Holly for your advice. You look great as well. Guess it works.
Here are some videos that discuss different ideas concerning weight loss and fitness. Watch them all and you will pick up helpful weight loss hints from each. Lose weight in a controlled manner. Then it probably will stay off.
This is a review of The LA Weight Loss Program. It’s so popular and successful and so many people swear by it. This is a link to the actual web site that you might find very interesting. Have a look:
http://bit.ly/e111dL LA Weight Loss
LA Weight Loss is a weight loss program associated with the reduced calorie intake along with nutrition supplements, personal counseling and behavior modification. LA Weight Loss Plan is designed according to demand of the dieters who are very much fascinated by glamour and flashy commercials. This Weight loss plan offers personalized plans and also giving counseling.
Karen Seeley
The diet including in LA Weight Loss consists of market foods and also the exclusive brand of nutritional supplements, juices, snacks, bars etc from the company. It comprises the activities such as diet tips, menu plans, recipes, newsletters, support meetings, counseling etc. It focused on life long weight management and there is no place for the counting of calories. It is a sensible way of weight management. Before undergoing the plan clients must fill out a detailed questionnaire about the eating habits and how much the client attached with food items. Then a counselor conducts an interview with the client and prescribes a diet plan that is not mingled with the calorie values.
LA Weight Loss Plan has a non-diet approach also. Different people have different food habits. So we can’t take away them from it and can’t stop them to consume it. We can take the decision by learning how can you enjoy the food items that are very much suitable for the body and how much of the food is received by the body from our feed. LA provides guidance for this.
LA Weight Loss Program also recommend some mild exercises that yield results. The counselor, who is very much specific for the clients’ needs, limitations and also experienced, fixes the plan of exercise.
Dieters are advised to use healthy foods in a controlled manner. Sodium is restricted to 2,100 mg per day and sugars and sweets are avoided until the phase of maintenance and can be added later to this plan. Caffeine is allowable but alcoholic beverages are restricted to three times a week.
The LA Weight Loss Centers plan is in agree with national recommendations, which is roughly about 50%-55% carbohydrates, 25%-30% protein, and 20%-25% fat. Here the importance is on moderation and portion control. Here is an example of meal plan for a 1,500-calorie diet in this LA Weight Loss Plan.
Breakfast
3/4 cup corn flakes, 8 ounces skim milk, and 3/4 cup blueberries
Lunch
4 ounces tuna in water, 1 tablespoon light mayonnaise, 1 slice rye bread, 1 1/4 cup watermelon
Snack
Lemon LA Lite (company product), 1 small banana and 8 ounces light yogurt
Dinner
4 ounces shrimp, 1 cup green beans and 1 tablespoon reduced-fat margarine
Snack
Chocolate caramel LA Lite (company product) and 1/2 cup cottage cheese
The LA Weight loss plan is very flexible. Here no foods are restricted. The menu plans are based on the calorie level. The flexible plan allows the clients manage social events, prepare their own food etc. The Counselors persuade clients to buy the company’s brand-name products and very much appropriate to stave off hunger. In the branded products vitamins, minerals and herbs are also available.
Victory of LA Weight Loss Plan
Balance
The LA Weight Loss plant offers a balanced plan of diet comprising proteins, carbohydrates, fats, snacks, vegetables, fruits etc. This keeps the body from losing muscele and develops new healthy habits of eating.
Personalization
LA Weight Loss is provided with a group of programs, which are associated with personal preference, life style, medical factors,weight loss etc. The company has expert dietitians who prescribe a well balanced diet plan.
Accountability
LA Weight Loss provides a supportive counseling program which functions through out the weight loss program. The counsellors change the plans based on the clients’ progress.
Flexibility and Variety
The LA Weight Loss program allows regular eating foods which can be collected from nearby restaurants, grocery store etc. The counselors are always ready to help to make right selections.
Easy to follow
This program is very much easy to follow. There is no requirement of calorie counting. It offers a healthy manageable diet plan. The counselors’ plans are very much easy to follow.
Maintenance
LA Weight Loss is a full maintenance program that includes weekly visits and counseling and no worry about the coming back of weight. The LA Weight Loss program help the individuals to retains healthy weight during the lifetime.
LA Weight Loss Program offers the diet plans ranges from 1,200 calories to 2,400 calories and which is divided into three phases. The first one is associated with weight loss. In this phase, the counselor collects data about food habits and gives guidance, education, coaching, support etc. and monitors the weight. This phase is the mind setting phase also. In the second phase six-week stabilization is allowed. During this period, the calorie values slowly increase and the counselor note the progress of the clients. The last phase is the phase of maintenance. During this phase the weight loss is clearly functioning. Mild exercises are also allowed in this weight loss plan.
Main Features of LA Weight Loss Program
(1) It does not prompt you to eat the prepared food
(2) Recommendations for dining out
(3) Long-established brand and reputation
(4) No food restrictions
(5) No counting
(6) Personalized counseling
In summary, LA Weight Loss is a well balanced plan that really works and can change your eating habits that you will actually find very easy to stay with. Here’s a link to the program.
It’s easy to forget yourself on Super Bowl Day. It’s OK to do that in moderation as long as it doesn’t change your direction. Choose your meals, drinks and snacks well on that day.
The spread at Super Bowl Sunday may be daunting, but make a point to have a game plan of your own when it comes to controlling calories. Try to pick three healthier items and enjoy those whole passing on wings or nachos. Consider making a preferable dish such as chili with lean ground beef or baked tortilla chips and guac so you’re guaranteed a healthier choice.
Stock your fridge right if you are hosting the game. Instead of beer, choose light beer, seltzer, diet soda, and flavored waters. Enjoy light beer but alternate each serving with water to cut calories.
Instead of serving the snacks in front of the television, have them in the kitchen and allow guests to make their plates in the kitchen instead. Chances are you will all get so caught up in the game you’ll forget about all those extra servings you’d normally help yourself to if the food were in easy reach.
Here’s two videos to inspire you. Some before and after pictures in a video of some amazing transformations. Inspire yourself.. You might need to lose as much or you do but get started.
The Diet Solution, What a great program! Click Here! So many great ideas about losing weight, burning fat and fitness. I love this program. Lots of great links to some awesome ideas. Two super videos from Isabel that you will love about burning fat and impact some products have.
Click Here! The Diet Solution and Fat Burning Furnace Link.
The majority of exercisers today still rely on long duration moderate paced aerobic exercise as their primary routine to burn fat fast. But recent studies have shown that this is a big, I mean big mistake. In fact, you could say that the whole aerobics explosion of a few decades past was one of the biggest mistakes in the health and fitness industry. Why?
There are several reasons, but I’ll focus on the two main issues here. When you exercise at a moderate pace for extended periods of time (as in the typically recommended percent of your target heart rate), your body is burning fat during the exercise. While this may sound good, it’s actually bad news.
This sends a signal to your body to keep a certain amount of stored fat available for your next workout. You’re essentially telling it that it needs fat available to burn, ‘because you’ll be doing this exercise again. So while we may be burning some calories during this exercise, after the exercise is over, our body begins storing up some fat for the next workout. Obviously not what we’re looking for in terms of maximum ability to burn fat fast.
The other big concern with moderately paced aerobic exercise performed several times per week is that it trains your body (heart, lungs, muscles, etc.) to become efficient. Again, this may sound good, but what is actually happening is bad for long term health. You are working only within your existing aerobic limits, without improving your aerobic capacity.
This is important because your aerobic capacity is what determines how your body responds in times of physical, emotional, and mental stress. If you reduce your capacity for work, as you do in this type of exercise, you’re reducing your long term health, no to mention a poor chance of burning fat.
The good news is, you can reverse these effects by instead focusing your workouts on high intensity resistance training, with workouts that last 15-20 minutes on average, and can only be performed 2-3 times per week.
These workouts will burn carbohydrates instead of fat during the workout, and will cause your body to use its fat stores to replenish the burned carbs over the next 24 hours, after the workout is done! This type of work will also increase your reserve capacity and thus your ability to handle all types of stress, leading to lasting health and fitness…and 24/7 fat burning. Nice!
But the exercise must be performed correctly to be effective, and that means using sufficient intensity, and keeping your rest periods between exercises and sets down to 60 seconds or less.
The students of my Fat Burning Furnace method know this, and are reaping the benefits. When you think about how little time you have to spend compared to the typically recommended methods to get these fat burning and health creating results, it’s almost magical.
To learn more about Rob’s Fat Burning Furnace Click on The Diet SOLUTION link here. Click Here!
Much of the frustration in trying to lose weight is that most of what we have been taught or have come to believe as being fact, just isn’t true. Below I will outline the top 10 weightloss and exercise myths. Hopefully this will clear up some of the confusion and help you get on the right track for success. This an article I found at http://www.weightlossweapons.com which I found interesting and felt I would like to pass it on.
3 Meals a day is all you should be eating.
Fact: Eating 5-6 small meals throughout the day or 3 meals plus snacks is ideal for weight loss.
Karen Seeley
Allowing yourself to get hungry in between meals usually leads to overeating during those meals. That’s where snacking comes in. Healthy snacks that have some protein in them not only help you to eat less at breakfast, lunch and dinner, they will also keep your metabolisim ramped up all day long.
Don’t Weigh yourself
Fact: Weighing yourself at least once a week will help keep you on track.
It’s true that your weight is just a number and doesn’t give an accurate picture of your overall health. However the scale is an important tool when losing weight. Weighing yourself at least once a week will help you notice changes (Good or Bad), from which you can make adjustments to your eating and exercise schedule.
It is important not to obsese over the number on the scale. At the most you should be weighing yourself once a day. Try doing it at the same time as your weight fluctuates with what you eat, drink and your daily activates.
Don’t eat after Dinner
Fact: A planned healthy snack shortly before bedtime can be good for you.
Many diet experts tell you dinner is the last meal of the day and that eating late at night is the ultimate diet sin. Many successful dieters including myself save 150 to 300 calories during the day to use at night. The amount of calories you eat during a given day is more important then when you eat them.
I personally do my workouts at night 2 to 3 hours after dinner. I also snack on protien rich foods right after those workouts. If I didn’t eat afterwards, I would actually do more harm than good.
Not everyone works 9 to 5 and late night eating may be the only option, so eat when you want as long as it fits into your overall weightloss plan.
Cut out all your favorite junk food
Fact: You need to treat yourself every once in a while.
By completely cutting out your favorite junk foods all toghter is setting yourself up for failure. A healthy diet includes all types of foods even the not so healthy choices. Just don’t over do it. The saying “everything in moderation” couldn’t be more accurate. If you like potato chips have some, just not the whole bag.
I have found that whenever I have completely cut out one particular food i.e chocolate, I usually think about it all the time and eventually end up bingeing on it.
Fat is the root of all evil
Fact: You need more fat than you think.
Yes, Trans and Saturated are very bad for your health. They clog the arteries and contribute significantly to your belly fat. There are however 2 good types of fat Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated that can help you reduce your risk of developing heart disease.
Omega 3 fatty acids are one type of polyunsaturates that have become popular lately. They are found mostly in cold water fish, some nuts and enriched eggs and margarine.
Fat also has the same effect that protien does in that it helps you feel fuller after meals. An estimated 20% to 30% of your calories a day should come from health sources of fat.
You can spot tone a particular area of your body
Fact: Spot toning doesn’t work!
This is simply not true. You can do endless crunches and still never get that 6 pack you want so bad. The same goes almost all exercises that target a specific body part. Unless you have a body fat% of around 7-10% for men or 10-15% for women. You see all those crunches and bicep curls will make your muscles stronger or bigger, but with a thick layer of fat covering them you won’t see the defined shape. That definition is what you are after when you think of toning your body.
Using free weights will make you look bulky
Fact: Not true, weights can build strength without adding size.
You can add size to your muscles by using free weights if that is your goal, but to think that is all that weights will do for you is crazy.
Lifting weights can build strength and endurance without the bulk. It really all depends on the actual weight used and the number of repetitions done. Lower weights and higher reps will produce more endurance and better defined muscles. To gain strength you do the opposite higher weights and lower reps.
Using free weights should be a part of your weight loss plan at some point.
No pain, No gain
Fact: Pain is your body’s way of telling you to stop doing whatever is causing the pain.
There is a difference between simply feeling uncomfortable during exercise and all out shooting pain. Intense pain during exercise can be an indication of an injury. While a slight uncomfortable feeling commenly happens when you push your body beyond what it is normally used to. This is where the real gains are made.
It’s best to exerscise in the morning.
Fact: The best time to exercise is whenever you have the time to do it.
If you are a morning person and have the time and energy to workout early in the morning, great! If you don’t have the time until the afternoon or late evening, great! Exersice is best whenever you can do it, just do it.
These are just some of the myths about diet and exercise. More to come.
I’m sitting here with the flu and have been researching the symptoms. I have visited a doctor so I do know I have the flu but I felt this information would be helpful to all of you as a reference.
This information is from Web MD which I find is a great site. It doesn’t relate much to losing weight and dieting but look after yourself and you can recover quickly and look your best. You’ll never lose weight and get in shape unless you’re well. Thought this would be a good information piece.
Keep your energy up and get lots of rest and you can prevent either one of these from moving on to a more serious stage.
Common Cold Symptons. What’s normal and what’s not.
Your nose is constantly running. You’re coughing and have trouble catching your breath. But do you have symptoms of a common cold? Perhaps you have flu or allergy symptoms instead.
If you understand common cold symptoms — what you might feel with a cold — you can take action, such as increasing the rest and fluids you get early in the illness when it might be most effective. Let’s look at some common cold symptoms.
Beginning Cold Symptoms
Colds usually begin abruptly with a sore throat followed by symptoms such as clear, watery nasal drainage; sneezing; fatigue; and sometimes a low-grade fever (below 101 degrees F). Postnasal drip causes the sore throat and cough that accompany colds.
For the first few days of a cold, your nose drips with watery nasal secretions. Later, these secretions may become thicker and darker. (Dark mucus with a cold virus does not necessarily mean that you have developed a bacterial infection, so don’t beg your doctor for an antibiotic.)
A mild cough is a common cold symptom. The cough won’t get much worse, but this common cold symptom is likely to last into the second week of your cold. If you suffer with asthma or other lung problem, a cold may make it worse. If you are coughing up dark mucus — or if you are feeling a lot of distress in the lower parts of your lungs — you may have a bacterial infection. It’s a good idea to touch base with your doctor to find out if you need to be seen.
Usually, there is no fever with common cold symptoms. In fact, fever and more severe symptoms may indicate that you have the flu and not a cold.
Common cold symptoms usually start between one and three days after you are infected by a cold virus. Typically, they last for about three to seven days. At that point, the worst is over, but you may feel congested for a week or more. During the first three days that you have common cold symptoms, you are contagious. This means you can pass the cold virus to those you come in contact with.
Flu or Cold Symptons?
When you wake up sneezing, coughing, and have that achy, feverish, can’t move a muscle feeling, how do you know whether you have cold symptoms or the flu? And if it’s the flu, could it be swine flu?
It’s important to know the difference between flu and cold symptoms. A cold is a milder respiratory illness than the flu. While cold symptoms can make you feel bad for a few days, flu symptoms can make you feel quite ill for a few days to weeks. The flu — whether it’s typical seasonal flu or the swine flu virus — can also result in serious health problems such as pneumonia and hospitalization.
What are Common Cold Symptons?
We all think we know them but this is a short review. Cold symptoms usually begin with a sore throat, which usually goes away after a day or two. Nasal symptoms, runny nose, and congestion follow, along with a cough by the fourth and fifth days. Fever is uncommon in adults, but a slight fever is possible. Children are more likely to have a fever with a cold.
With cold symptoms, your nose teems with watery nasal secretions for the first few days. Later, these become thicker and darker. Dark mucus is natural and does not usually mean you have developed a bacterial infection, such as a sinus infection.
Several hundred different viruses may cause your cold symptoms.
How Long Do Cold Symptons Last?
Cold symptoms usually last for about a week. During the first three days that you have cold symptoms, you are contagious. This means you can pass the cold to others, so stay home and get some much-needed rest.
If cold symptoms do not seem to be improving after a week, you may have a bacterial infection, which means you may need antibiotics.
Sometimes you may mistake cold symptoms for allergic rhinitis (hay fever) or a sinus infection. If your cold symptoms begin quickly and are improving after a week, then it is usually a cold, not allergy. If your cold symptoms do not seem to be getting better after a week, check with your doctor to see if you have developed an allergy or sinusitis.
What are common flu symptons?
Whether a person has typical seasonal flu or swine flu, the symptoms seem to be quite similar. Flu symptoms are usually more severe than cold symptoms and come on quickly. Symptoms of swine flu or other flu include sore throat, fever, headache, muscle aches and soreness, congestion, and cough. Swine flu in particular is also associated with vomiting and diarrhea.
Most flu symptoms gradually improve over two to five days, but it’s not uncommon to feel run down for a week or more. A common complication of the flu is pneumonia, particularly in the young, elderly, or people with lung or heart problems. If you notice shortness of breath, you should let your doctor know. Another common sign of pneumonia is fever that comes back after having been gone for a day or two.
Just like cold viruses, flu viruses enter your body through the mucous membranes of your nose, eyes, or mouth. Every time you touch your hand to one of these areas, you could be infecting yourself with a virus, which makes it very important to keep your hands germ-free with frequent washing to prevent both flu and cold symptoms.
How do you know if you have flu or cold symptoms? Take your temperature, say many experts. Whether it’s seasonal or swine influenza, the symptoms often mimic cold symptoms with nasal congestion, cough, aches, and malaise. But a common cold rarely has symptoms of fever above 101 degrees F. With flu symptoms, you will probably have a fever initially with the flu virus and you will feel miserable. Body and muscle aches are also more common with the flu. This table can help determine if you have cold or flu symptoms.
Symptons Cold and Flu.
Fever Sometimes, usually mild Usual; higher (100-102 F; occasionally higher, especially in young children); lasts 3 to 4 days
Headache Occasionally Common
General Aches, Pains Slight Usual; often severe
Fatigue, Weakness Sometimes Usual; can last 2 to 3 weeks
Extreme Exhaustion Never Usual; at the beginning of the illness
Stuffy Nose Common Sometimes
Sneezing Usual Sometimes
Sore Throat Common Sometimes
Chest Discomfort, Cough Mild to moderate; hacking cough Common; can become severe
Complications Sinus congestion; middle ear infection Sinusitis, bronchitis, ear infection, pneumonia; can be life-threatening
Prevention Wash your hands often; avoid close contact with anyone with a cold Wash your hands often; avoid close contact with anyone who has flu symptoms; get the annual flu vaccine, which protects against the H1N1 swine flu and two other flu strains for the 2010-2011 flu season.
Treatment Decongestants; pain reliever/fever reducer medicines Decongestants, pain relievers, or fever reducers are available over the counter; over-the-counter cough and cold medicines should not be given to young children; prescription antiviral drugs for flu may be given in some cases; call your doctor for more information about treatment.
Usually, the time of year will give you some sense of what you’re dealing with. The standard flu season runs from fall to spring of the next year.
When do I call the doctor with cold or flu symptons?
If you already have flu or cold symptoms, it’s important to call your doctor if you also have any of the following severe symptoms:
Persistent fever: This can be a sign of another bacterial infection that should be treated.
Painful swallowing: Although a sore throat from a cold or flu can cause mild discomfort, severe pain could mean strep throat, which requires treatment by a doctor.
Persistent coughing: When a cough doesn’t go away after two or three weeks, it could be bronchitis, which may need an antibiotic. Postnasal drip or sinusitis can also result in a persistent cough. In addition, asthma is another cause of persistent coughing.
Persistent congestion and headaches: When colds and allergies cause congestion and blockage of sinus passages, they can lead to sinus infection. If you have pain around the eyes and face with thick nasal discharge after a week, you may have a bacterial infection and need an antibiotic.
In some cases, you may need to get emergency medical attention right away. In adults, signs of a crisis include:
Severe chest pain
Severe headache
Shortness of breath
Dizziness
Confusion
Persistent vomiting
In children, additional signs of an emergency are:
Difficulty breathing or rapid breathing
Bluish skin color
Not drinking enough fluids
Lethargy and failure to interact normally
Extreme irritability or distress
Symptoms that were improving and then suddenly worsen
Fever with a rash
Can I prevent flu or cold symptons?
The most important prevention measure for preventing colds and flu is frequent hand washing. Hand washing by rubbing the hands with warm soapy water for at least 20 seconds helps to slough germs off the skin.
In addition to hand washing to prevent flu or cold symptoms, you can also get a flu vaccine to prevent seasonal influenza. Seasonal flu activity in the United States generally peaks between late December and early March. Within two weeks of getting a flu vaccine, antibodies develop in your body and provide protection against flu. Children receiving the vaccine for the first time need two doses delivered one month apart.
Antivirals may also help prevent flu if you have been exposed to someone with flu symptoms.
I know it seems like an unusual subject for WeightGoneBye.com but it’s that time of year and to look your best, you need to feel your best. Hard to stay focused on a weight loss or fitness program if you have a cold or the flu. Keep this information for easy reference.
Some short videos that will give some key points to help you lose weight. Some seem strange but they really help and who knows if something might twig an idea. At least you will have second thoughts at times when you have a craving and you might remember one of these ideas. Loseing weight can be rather painless if you let it. Remember weight loss needs to be permanent and starvation diets won’t work. Some times we just need a tweek to change some habits and these videos could provide that. Enjoy them.
It seems that everyone is determined to stay in their best shape these days. You can’t even drive down the street without seeing someone running or power walking. This need to stay in shape goes beyond exercise though; it also has most people watching what they eat. And this, of course, leads to going on diets.
Diets are extremely popular these days and there seems to be some new fad diet that comes out every other month or so. But as of late, many doctors have spoken out against fad diets—particularly ones that promise to have you dropping large amounts of weight in very little time. These sorts of diets are proof that not ALL diets are healthy. In fact, if you aren’t in great health from the start, some diets can actually be very bad for you Then of course, there are diets that are centered around calories, others on carbs and other still that are more concerned with heart healthy foods.
With so many different diets floating around out there, how are you supposed to tell which one is right for you? Not only that, but once you decide on one, there is usually an entire list of foods you can’t eat. And those you CAN eat, you usually have to eat with other bland foods. By the time you have gone grocery shopping for specially selected foods that adhere to your diet and THEN purchased the diet’s instructional material, you may stop wondering why dieting so HARD…and EXPENSIVE!
So if you want to take the uncertainty out of dieting and actually ENJOY the experience rather than dread it, check out the products on this page!
Here’s a page that gives you some great foods ideas.
http://bit.ly/gYfDGf Great Food ideas Whether you want fancy recipes or effective diets, we’ve got it all.
With healthcare on the minds of most of the country these days, people are beginning to focus more and more on their health. Health insurance and doctor’s bills can be scary areas for families that aren’t wealthy. Of course, there is a very obvious solution to not sweating the health care issues that saturate our news:
Do your very best to stay healthy!
It isn’t as hard as you may think to live a healthy lifestyle. All it really takes is a little determination and a helpful guide to follow. With a proper diet and an exercise regiment within your realistic abilities, staying in shape is not hard to do. Additionally, with your diet, if you follow it closely and get the recommended intake of daily vitamins, your immune system stays in tip-top shape and you rarely ever have to battle illnesses. True, keeping anti-bacterial soap close at hand—in your car or even your pocketbook—is a great idea, but isn’t there so much MORE you could be doing?
Given all of that, do you know where to go for dieting and exercise advice? Your doctor is a pretty good source of information since he gets paid to know what is healthy and unhealthy for you. But, as we all know, doctor’s visits and consults can be pricy. And who wants to go to a doctor unless you absolutely have to?!
Well how about getting some of the best advice and health tips from experts WITHOUT those annoying and expensive doctor’s visits? Believe it or not, you CAN get such a thing. And even better than THAT, you don’t have to look any further!
That’s right…all of your health related questions can be answered here! We’ve got several amazing products that are going to not only help you get into healthier shape, but will KEEP you that way! http://bit.ly/fSDWeA
The LA Weight Loss Program is very unique and I wanted to give you a sense of the program as you consider buying it. It’s an awesome fat loss system. It offers you a fast but controlled way to lose weight quickly.
How Does the Program Work?
You’ll lose weight quickly and safely.
The Rapid Results Diet Program has been developed to ensure a safe and healthy weight loss. They’ve designed a weight loss system that incorporates the industry’s cutting-edge research so you lose more weight and feel more satisfied with and motivated by your success.
You will use the Rapid Results Menu Plan when you first start the program and transition to the LA My Way Menu Plan once you lose 20 pounds or reach your goal, whichever comes first.
Both Menu Plans consist of foods that can easily be purchased from grocery stores or restaurants so you will be eating everyday foods, along with 2 LA Lite™ Bars each day and LA Supplements.
The program is based on our Free-to-Live™ philosophy where you lose your weight but maintain your lifestyle by personally choosing the foods you want to eat each day.
With just the right combination of structure and flexibility, the program works by allowing you to use the foods you enjoy with a structure that produces the faster, better results you want. The Program consists of:
2-Day KickStart Plan featuring TakeOFF™ Juice to use during your first two days.
Two Healthy Menu Plans:
Rapid Results Plan: Use until reaching your goal or losing 20 pounds – whichever comes first.
LA My Way Plan: Use once you’ve lost 20 pounds.
Exclusive LA Weight Loss Products:
LA Lites™
LA Supplements
Specially-formulated Meal Replacement
Online One-on-One Counseling:Join our online MyDietSupport and get connected with an expert weight loss counselor.
Support Tools: Free tips and tools to help you succeed.
As part of the program, you’ll also receive the LA My Way Lifestyle Guide which provides you with advanced strategies and tips on all dimensions of eating, weight loss, nutrition, meal planning, healthy eating habits, metabolism, keeping active, positive thinking, dining out and enjoying vacations and special events.
So get on a fast track for rapid results and order your Rapid Results Diet System today. It can be a fast and effective weight loss program.
It is such an effective program. Get started and get in shape for the holidays or give someone you love this program to get them started on the path to a healthier life.
If you are over 40 or approaching it , you know that it is getting harder to keep your weight under control. It doesn’t mean you can’t maintain a healthy weight.
First you need to change your goals or your outlook. If you are dreaming about getting back to the best shape you’ve ever been, you probably a reality check. For most it could be unrealistic. When determining what your goal weight is, consider these factors. Calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI). This will help determine whether you really need to lose weight, or you just want to look better. If your BMI is in the healthy range of 19-24, then you can be certain that your weight is somewhat appropriate for your age. If it is over 24, then that’s a different story.
Karen Seeley
If you think that losing fifteen pounds will solve all of your body image problems, you are probably wrong. Be happy with the body image you were born with or try. Try not to let your appearance be your biggest motivator to eat well and exercise.
Consider losing inches, not just the weight. Take your current measurements and then compare them every two to three weeks to compare them after you have begun your diet and exercise program. You may not always see huge losses in weight but lost inches means lost fat and better health.
You probably need to make some changes in your eating habits. Most women at this age are pretty busy. They may be juggling a family, career and aging parents. This often adds up to skipping meals, eating junk food, and being dehydrated. Keep these tips in mind each day to change your eating habits.
Make sure you take a lunch break. While breakfast may be quick, lunch should be a relaxed affair. Eating quickly at lunch may be a time saver but you need a break in the middle of the day to leave you more focused and energized. Plus, sitting down will help you eat more slowly which will help you eat less.
Have two to three snacks a day. If you work out of the home, bring two snacks with you each day. If you work at home, choose your snacks in the morning or the night before. Just make sure they are the right kind of food such as fruit or other low fat items. I’ll leave that to you to do the research.
You have to be patient. Weight loss after forty is a slower process than it was before. Make small changes and stick with them. You will eventually see results.
Finally, exercise is more important than ever. Again, with the busy that 40-something women may lead, they may get relaxed on exercise. It’s never too late to start an exercise program. So consider more formal exercise (like jogging, walking, weight lifting) to be done 3-4 times a week. Household chores count too.
Gradually build up the intensity of your exercises. The good news is that once you increase your intensity, you can get by with 3 days a week of activity. Keep these ideas in mind when planning out your activities. Start walking. A walk outside each morning is a great way to start your day. Even if you only have time for a 30-minute walk, that’s OK. Some activity is always better than no activity.
Try jogging if you already walk. . Increasing the intensity of any activity will help boost your metabolism. Do a combination walk/jog and then increase the jogging time. Before you know it you will be jogging two miles.
Often individuals may have a comfortable lifestyle at this point and be able to hire people to do all their chores around the house. Don’t. Do some of them yourself. They all contribute to your exercise program and your good health. Try weight lifting. Weight training doesn’t mean you have to turn into a body builder nor does it mean you have to go to a gym. We lose muscle as we age and weight lifting is one way to build some back and burn more calories.
Take your weight loss goals one at a time and you will see results. In the meantime, think about your short-term goals and how eating healthy foods and using your muscles keeps your body well. Before you know it you will be inches smaller and a few pounds lighter
