Health-f4r-U

The 30-Day Low-Carb Diet Solution

2012-09-14T11:07:00.001-07:00

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The pH Miracle Balance Your Diet, Reclaim Your Health

2012-09-12T00:18:00.003-07:00

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Becoming Vegetarian The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Vegetarian Diet-Mantesh

2012-09-08T21:03:00.001-07:00

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The Acid Alkaline Balance Diet An Innovative Program that Detoxifies Your Body's Acidic Waste

2012-09-05T02:46:00.002-07:00

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Simplified Diet Manual (11th Ed)

2012-09-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

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Weight Loss Tips!

2012-08-29T21:08:00.001-07:00

No More Sodas:

First off, no sodas. Sodas contain phosphates which make weight loss extremely hard. These phosphates keep your fat cells surrounded and you have to work off the phosphates and then fat. So stay off the sodas for a week or so.

Lay Off The Carbs:

Carbohydrates are the first things your body burns off, so when you exercise, it burns off carbohydrates, then fat. So, if you lay off the carbs, your fat gets burned first.

Protein Is The Key:

You can't eat fat foods, so you should eat low-fat protein foods (nonfat yogurt, lean cut steak, protein shakes, etc.), because you need some food in your stomach.If you have a protein shake in the morning, you should be ok for breakfast. Protein also helps keep you aware and awake during the daytime. Protein is the key, because it is the last type of calorie your body burns off, and it helps keep your metabolism going.

Stay Active:

Run, play a sport, bodybuild. I suggest that when you are on a diet, do less pounds with more reps. Some people don't explain that when they tell you to start getting ripped. More tone means more ripped muscles.

Start Squatting:

You're probably tired of hearing that. Squats are the most important weightlifting exercise, period. They increase your metabolism, and increase your testosterone level.

Eating Smaller Meals:

Eat little. Eat small portions, and take Ripped Fuel. Ripped fuel helps keep your metabolism pumping

The Ultimate Dieters Guide!

2012-08-26T11:54:00.004-07:00

Everywhere you look; there are signs, commercials, and advertisements trying to get you to buy their miracle fat-loss pill and/or diet. From Anna Nicole Smith and Trim-Spa to such potent supplements that are only recommended to people in need of losing over 30 pounds, there are so many options for the dieters of America.

Americans spend over 33 billion dollars annually on diet pills and devices. And with the recent ban of Epehdra by the government, Americans are resorting to anything that looks like it might work.

With so much hype out there about dieting and diet pills let us examine, some fad diets, tips to stay healthy, and new developments in weight management.

There are so many diets these days that one gets lost in the diet world frenzy. I have heard just about everything from the Oreo diet to the starvation diet. Most advertisements are backed by what the advertiser says is clinical proof the diet works.

Not only does it work, but it is backed by a doctor who was paid very well to appear in the ad. It has been said, that for every pound lost with a fab diet, the person gains twice as much back within months. So with all this hype about various diets, let us take a look and examine all of them.

The Atkins Diet

The Atkins Diet has been heralded by many. This diet is a low carbohydrate highprotein diet. So if you are a pasta craving Italian, it is doubtful you will survive a week on this diet. However, if you frequently snack on nuts, eggs, and meat, this may be a match made in heaven.

Atkins assures dieters that not only will they shed the pounds away, but they will be healthier in the long run. The diet is built on the theory that overweight and obese people eat way too many unneeded carbohydrates. By severely reducing carbohydrate intake and eating more protein, our bodies naturally lose weight by burning stored body fat more efficiently.

Or so they say. Here's the experts take on it. Gary D. Foster, PhD, clinical director of the weight and eating disorders program at the University of Pennsylvania said, "The Atkins diet works at producing weight loss. If you are looking for weight loss? it works?"

The Zone Diet

The Zone does not recommend that you eat fewer calories than you're currently consuming, just different ones. Although the book has a more complicated and exacting measurement of what to eat, it can be simplified as:

A small amount of protein at every meal (approximately the size of your palm or one small chicken breast) and at every snack (one in the late afternoon, one in the late evening)

"Favorable" carbohydrates twice the size of the protein portion -- these include most vegetables and lentils, beans, whole grains, and most fruits

A smaller amount of carbohydrates if you have chosen "unfavorable" ones -- these include brown rice, pasta, papaya, mango, banana, dry breakfast cereal, bread, bagel, tortilla, carrots, and all fruit juices.¹

The Zone claims it is backed by 15 years of studies and extensive research. The Diet declares that it is effective because it regulates the insulin our body produces. Unlike the Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet petitions for a lower carbohydrate intake, not an absolute abolishment of them.

Simply put, I think the Zone is all about eating healthy for the long term. A meal would include meat and vegetables, but like most diets, portion control is key. Many doctors and scientists are skeptical about the status of this diet.

They say that the Zone's authors have blown research and studies out of proportion. Susan Roberts, PhD, who is a professor of medicine at Tufts University says, "Like most fad diet books, The Zone takes one of the several known controllers of energy, blood glucose, and blows it up into a whole book. It downplays the other factors that also determine how hungry we get and how much we eat, such as fiber and the caloric density of the food."

The South Beach Diet

The South Beach and Atkins Diet nearly walk hand-in-hand. Both diets preach about the restriction of carbohydrates. One of the main differences between these two popular diets is the fact that the South Beach Diet allows "good" carbohydrates, such that are derived from fruit and foods with a low glycemic index.

South Beach also advocates portion control. They allow snacking all day and do not count calories. However, if you are like most, and take advantage of these snacking periods by gorging on whatever you can get your hands on, the diet will not work.

It is funny how similar many of these diets are. As with the Atkins Diet, there is an "Initiation" phase that bans nearly all carbohydrates and then it is followed by the gradual increase of carbohydrates to the diet.

The problem is that with the initiation phase or as they the "Induction Phase" nearly all of the weight that is lost is water weight.

Weight Watchers

If you have not seen there own brand of food in the super markets you must be living under a shell. That or the fact you may not be the one who goes shopping. Weight Watchers comes equip with many low calorie options in grocery stores.
From full dinners to ice cream cones, Weight Watchers preaches low caloric intake. They believe that they are not teaching a diet, yet a way to eat healthier long-term. I have taken there point system diet and seen tremendous results while still eating the foods I wanted like Pizza and Hot Dogs.
The points system is run something like this: each food has a point value ranging from 0 for Jell-O to 8 for Pizza. Depending upon your body weight, you can have "x" amount of points daily. Stay under your limit, and lose weight.
But what makes this so unique is the fact that you are allowed to bank points and carry spare points over for days. Exercise more and get additional points. Finally a reward for going to the gym! Group support is another great feature.
If you are feeling in the doldrums or are not motivated simply go to one of the daily meetings at a Weight Watchers center and hear from others who have achieved there goals and get great tips from big losers. In April 1998 there was a study taken of doctors who had recommended weight loss plans. Remarkably, Weight Watchers was recommended 65% of the time.
The Weight Watchers' program has changed some over the years, but it has certainly stood the test of time," says Alice Lichtenstein, a professor of nutrition at Tufts University. This, to me, is the ideal diet. Reducing caloric intake to this point is the only proven way of losing weight, and Weight Watchers has calories down to a science

Slim-Fast
Slim-Fast is focused upon the idea that meal replacement makes you lose weight. Slim-Fast outlines a four-step approach to weight loss that is similar to most others -- emphasizing portion control, sensible eating, regular physical activity, and support.²

It is a slow and steady diet with average losses of one to two pounds a week. However, the Slim Fast website says that you will lose 10% of your weight in six months.Many know Slim-Fast for their shakes, but recently, the company has come out with products like snack bars and dinners. A positive about this diet is that it is very structured and I think that is crucial.
Many diets emphasize having so many foods available to you. However, with Slim-Fast they prescribe a day's worth of food, so it is near impossible to mess up. Nevertheless, if you do not like the taste of their products, it will be difficult to stay on the diet..

Dieting Tips
With all these diets and miracle pills, here is a list of tips that many physicians recommend to stay fit and healthy.

30 minutes of exercise daily will help burn off calories

Portion control is key, don't super-size anything!

Drink 8 or more glasses of water a day, it helps flush out toxins that help bind fat.

Reducing caloric intake is the only proven way to lose weight

Make sure to take a multi-vitamin.

Make many short-term goals to get to the long-term goal.

Reward yourself! Dieting is hard, make deals that if you lose 10 pounds, you'll go out and buy yourself a gift.

You're not alone! Try to diet with another family member and push each other to stay on the diet. It's much easier that way. You can even try betting on who will lose more weight quicker.

What Is The Paleo Diet?

2012-08-25T04:48:00.001-07:00

Regardless of whether your goal is to melt fat off your body or build up higher amounts of muscle mass and gain definition, you've likely done your research and realize that diet is a key element necessary for success.

There's no getting around the fact that the foods you put into your body on an everyday basis are going to be the largest determining factor in what you look like. If poor food choices go in, a poor body image will result. Likewise, if you're only choosing to put in the highest quality of nutrients, you can be sure that it's going to reflect upon your results.

One diet design that you might have come across either in a book or magazine, or have heard someone else raving about is the Paleo Diet. What does this diet consist of and will it really bring good results? By understanding the concepts behind the Paleo Diet approach, you can gain a clear picture of whether this diet is right for you. Let's take a look at what you need to know.

The Paleo Approach

The Paleo Diet, shortened from the true name of the Paleolithic Diet approach, is one that takes us back to the ancient years and essentially tries to create a diet that the cavemen would have eaten.

There's no debating that as time has moved onwards, modern technology and cooking processes have changed significantly from our ancestor's years. While they would have had to go out and hunt for the foods they were going to serve up for dinner, today we just take a simple trip to the grocery store where we're greeted with rows and rows of prepared and processed foods to choose from.

The problem with this is that through all these changes that have occurred, we've degraded the nutrition content of our daily diet and have moved further and further away from eating as Mother Nature intended.

The concept of the Paleolithic Diet then is to get back to ancient times. When adopting this dietary approach, you're going to forgo all the processed foods you find at the supermarket and instead focus on foods that either occur in the wild or come straight from the ground.

Essentially, if it was available thousands of years ago, it's going to have a place in your meal plan. This means that your daily diet will primarily consist of meat and fish, plenty of fresh fruitsand vegetables, as well as nuts and seeds. Oils are typically allowed in moderation and foods to be avoided included dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, starchy vegetables, fatty meats, and foods that are very high in salt content (such as processed meat products and salted nuts).

Pro's Of Paleo

So what are the pros of eating Paleo? Is this a diet you should adopt?

Right off the start you can see how well this diet is going to control blood sugar levels. In a world where many of us experience rollercoaster-like blood sugar fluctuations, this aspect alone proves to be an extremely beneficial aspect of the set-up.

The more stabilized your blood sugar levels are, the less likely you're going to be to experience food cravings, to battle ongoing fatigue, and to be at the potential risk of developing diabetesdown the road.

Since the Paleo Diet is also chalk full of healthy fats from all the seeds and nuts that are being consumed while also being low in saturated fat due to the restriction of dairy and high fat meat sources, this is also going to work to improve your cholesterol profile and help to reduce the risk of heart disease.

When using the Paleo Diet you shouldn't find you have any issue getting enough protein in either, which is something that's critical for both the fat loss and muscle building process as you'll be including lean meat sources with each meal. By choosing to incorporate a wide spectrum of fruits and vegetables in your menu, you're also going to help to keep calorie intake on the lower side, so this will be beneficial from a fat loss point of view.

If you are someone who happens to actively looking to build muscle and thus require that higher calorie surplus, you can simply add larger doses of nuts and seeds into the plan to help boost your calorie and healthy fat intake up higher.

Since the Paleo Diet has you moving away from all forms of processed and refined carbohydrates, most individuals will find this naturally lowers their calorie intake as well as less food choices are available. Without ten different flavors of chips to choose from or eight different types of cereals lining your pantry, you're going to have a much easier time sticking with your meal plan and getting the results you're looking for.

Is Diet Soda Making You Gain Weight?

2012-08-23T11:12:00.001-07:00

If you feel better about having a burger and fries for lunch because you ordered a diet soda, you shouldn't. Studies show that diet soda may not be any better for you than regular soda. In fact, it may even be worse.

Close to 60 percent of Americans drink diet soda on a regular basis. Many of them believe diet soda helps them with weight loss, but there is mounting evidence that diet soda may actually cause you to gain weight.

Diet Soda and Weight Loss: What Research Revealed

"Recent literature suggests that those who drink diet soda weigh more than those who don't. That shouldn't surprise anyone. Does diet soda cause weight gain? I think that is the wrong question. I don't think people should drink diet soda, whether they have weight problems or not," says Darwin Deen, MD, senior attending physician at Montefiore Medical Center's Department of Family and Social Medicine in the Bronx, New York.

Of top concern, drinking diet soda has been linked to developing metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that include expanding waist size, increased blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, lower levels of good cholesterol, and high fasting blood sugar levels. Having three or more of these findings increases your risk of diabetes and heart disease. Here are some other research findings you should know about diet soda:

According to the San Antonio Heart Study, the more diet sodas you drink, the greater the chance that you will be overweight or obese. For each diet soda you drink there is a 65 percent increase in your risk of becoming overweight.
According to the Framingham Heart Study, if you drink diet soda you are at risk for weight gain andmetabolic syndrome.
According to research done at Purdue University, rats that were fed artificial sweeteners gained more weight than rats fed normal sugar.
Findings from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, show that meat, fried food, and diet soda are all significantly associated with metabolic syndrome.

Diet Soda and Weight Loss: Why the Weight Gain?

Although researchers can't say for sure why diet soda sets the stage for weight gain, there are several possible reasons. "I discourage my patients from drinking diet sodas because while they have no calories, they are created to simulate the sweetness of a regular soda. This leaves the drinker’s taste buds completely overwhelmed. For an example of this, take a sip of water and then bite into your favorite fruit. Then try the same experiment with diet soda. Note that the real food tastes flat after drinking soda," explains Dr. Deen. The distortion of taste may cause the diet soda drinker to seek higher calorie foods.

Another possibility is that people just eat more because they think they are saving calories from drinking a diet soda. A direct link between artificial sweeteners and a craving for high-calorie foods may exist. There is also the possibility that the link is related to unknown factors involving diet, exercise, or other personal characteristics.

Diet Soda and Weight Loss: Caffeine’s Role

Although diet soda has fewer calories than regular soda, the caffeine content may be greater. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a 12-ounce regular Coke contains 35 milligrams of caffeine and a Diet Coke contains 47 mg. At low levels, caffeine can stimulate energy, make you more alert, and may be beneficial for weight loss. In higher amounts it can cause nervousness, increased heart rate, and difficulty concentrating. You may also get withdrawal symptoms such as headache, irritability, or depression if you stop taking caffeine suddenly.

"Although caffeine can be helpful for weight loss, I recommend getting your caffeine from iced coffee. If you need to add sugar, add as little as possible for taste," says Deen. "I advise my patients to drink water. For a healthy alternative to diet soda, try adding one-third cup of fruit juice to seltzer water for a low-calorie and not-too-sweet beverage.”

Although the exact relationship of diet soda to weight gain and metabolic syndrome is not clear, it is obvious that diet soda should not be considered a “healthy” alternative to regular soda. When you choose to drink any soda, you are choosing to drink a beverage that is just not as healthy for you as milk, juice, or water

Stress management: Identify your sources of stress

2012-08-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

Your response to the demands of the world determines your stress level. Take time to consider common stressors and how they affect you.

he kids are screaming, the bills are due and the pile of papers on your desk is growing at an alarming pace. It's undeniable — life is full of stress. Understanding the types and sources of stress — big and small, short-term and long-term, internal and external — is an important part of stress management. So what stresses you out?

Two main types of stress

Stress is your body's reaction to the demands of the world. Stressors are events or conditions in your surroundings that may trigger stress. Your body responds to stressors differently depending on whether the stressor is new — acute stress — or whether the stressor has been around for a longer time — chronic stress.

Acute stress

Also known as the fight-or-flight response, acute stress is your body's immediate reaction to a significant threat, challenge or scare. The acute-stress response is immediate and intense, and in certain circumstances it can be thrilling. Examples of acute stressors include a job interview, a fender bender or an exhilarating ski run.

A single episode of acute stress generally doesn't cause problems for healthy people. However, severe acute stress can cause mental health problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and even physical difficulties such as a heart attack.

Chronic stress

Mild acute stress can actually be beneficial — it can spur you into action, motivate and energize you. The problem occurs when acute stressors pile up and stick around. This persistent stress can lead to health problems, such as headaches and insomnia. The chronic-stress response is much more subtle than is the acute-stress response, but the effects may be longer lasting and more problematic.

Effective stress management involves identifying and managing both acute and chronic stress.

10 Best Slimming Foods

2012-08-21T19:52:00.002-07:00

Looking for a miracle diet food? It's time to call off the search — there's no such thing. "If you take in more calories than you expend, you gain weight," says David Katz, M.D., of the Yale Prevention Research Center in Derby, Connecticut. "It's simple biology, and no milkshake or mackerel can save you from that fate."

But before you throw in the towel, there are certain foods that promote satiety (the feeling of fullness that comes after a meal) more than others. While they're not miracle foods, they can help you eat less over the course of the day. "When you're looking for foods that are going to keep you fuller for longer, look for ones high in fiber, healthy fats and protein, or with a high water content," says Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., professor of nutrition at Penn State University and author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan. "The additional benefit is that a lot of these foods are also really good for you and packed with important nutrients, vitamins and minerals."

Apples

An apple a day may keep the fat pants away, too. This portable fruit is the perfect snack, with a high water content and both kinds of weight-busting fiber: soluble, which helps prevent blood sugar spikes that lead to cravings, and insoluble, which helps fill you up. "A medium apple is about 85 percent water with 5 grams of soluble fiber, making it a snacking powerhouse," says Elisa Zied, M.S., same calorie level. To sweeten the pot, apples also contain quercetin, a flavonoid shown to help fight certain cancers, reduce cholesterol damage and promote healthy lungs.

TIP: Organic apples are worth the extra cost because commercial apples retain more pesticide residue than fruits you peel, such as oranges or bananas. And with half the fiber and most of the iron, magnesium and vitamin C, you definitely want to eat that peel to get the full slimming benefits.

Eggs

They're a great source of protein, which may be key to keeping you full. A recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that when people ate two eggs for breakfast, they took in more than 400 fewer calories over the next 24 hours than when they ate bagels. "The study proved our hypothesis that eating eggs induces higher satiety and keeps the subject fuller for longer," says lead researcher Nikhil V. Dhurandhar, Ph.D., from Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Although this was only a one-day study, eating eggs regularly may have long-term weight management benefits, says Dr. Dhurandhar.

TIP: For a healthier egg, farmers are improving the hen feed by adding canola oil, alfalfa, rice bran and even sea kelp. Try Eggland's Best eggs, which contain omega-3 fatty acids, along with more vitamin E and less saturated fat than regular eggs.

One study found that eating a breakfast of two eggs can leave you feeling full longer than a bagel.

Cauliflower

"When you are trying to lose weight, non-starchy vegetables such as cauliflower are one of the few foods that can be eaten in unlimited quantities," says Dr. Rolls. It's good for you, too. Cauliflower contains the cancer-fighting phytonutrient sulforaphane, as well as a good amount of folate and vitamin C, which may be helpful for weight loss. In fact, a review from Purdue University pointed to vitamin C status as a key factor in how much fat is burned during physical activity. All that and it's pretty tasty, too. (If you're not a cauliflower fan, try spinach or broccoli.)

TIP: Love the creamy consistency of mashed potatoes? Steam a head of cauliflower and mash it with garlic salt, a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese and a touch of butter.

Lowfat Yogurt

If the yogurt ads are to be believed, you should be fitting into that itty-bitty bikini before you know it. While yogurt and other dairy products are not weight-loss magic bullets, there is some truth in advertising. A recent study at the University of Tennessee found that dieters eating three servings of yogurt daily lost twice as much weight as their non–dairy– eating counterparts on a 12-week weight-loss program. Why? "Calcium combined with other bioactive compounds found in dairy products slows down the process of making fat and increases fat burning, especially around the belly," says lead researcher Michael B. Zemel, M.D., a professor of nutrition and medicine at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. No word yet on how effective ice cream is at burning fat, but we're not holding our breath.

TIP: Sneak more dairy into your diet by adding plain yogurt to dips, sauces and salad dressings. You get the health benefits without the added sugar of flavored yogurts.

Oatmeal

Mom didn't know how right she was: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day — just eating it can make you slimmer. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley analyzed a national six-year survey and found that people who ate breakfast had a lower body mass index (BMI) than people who skipped breakfast, and that those who ate cooked cereal had a lower BMI than any other breakfast-eating group. Also, oatmeal was ranked as the most satiating breakfast food on the Satiety Index, developed by Australian researchers a decade ago, and it's the third most satiating food overall. "Oatmeal helps you stay fuller longer, since it's packed with fiber and is a good source of protein," says Dr. Katz.

TIP: If you don't have time for cooked oatmeal every morning, make muesli by mixing old- fashioned oats with plain yogurt, dried fruit and fruit juice and leaving it in the fridge overnight.

Peanuts

Almonds and walnuts have been getting all the glory these days, but don't discredit peanuts, the most commonly eaten nut in America. Researchers at Purdue University found that peanut eaters end up eating less over the course of the whole day and are more likely to maintain weight, even if given as many peanuts as they want. So what is it about peanuts? Is it the protein? The fat? Turns out it's a little bit of everything. "We've tried to isolate different components of the nut to determine what makes it so filling,' says Richard Mattes, Ph.D., a nut researcher at Purdue. "But there is something special about the whole package."

TIP: Calories do count, so look for single-serving sizes at convenience stores and drugstores.

Soup

We all know soup is good food, but who knew it was slimming, too? A recent study published in the journal Obesity Research found that adding two 10-ounce servings of broth-based soup to a weight loss diet each day can almost double the amount of weight lost in a six-month period. Why? Adding water into a food makes it more filling than drinking water separately. "The water in soup adds volume to a meal and helps you feel fuller, without extra calories,' says Dr. Rolls, lead researcher on the study. "As a result, you take in fewer calories over the course of the day."

TIP: Add your own veggies or fiber-rich beans to broth-based canned soup to keep you full longer.

Fish

You might be surprised to learn that fish tops oatmeal and vegetables in the satiety department. The Australian Satiety Index ranks steamed white fish such as halibut or cod as the number-one most filling food out of 38 common foods. Also, a new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden found that people ate 11 percent less at dinner after having fish for lunch versus those who ate a beef lunch. "This study demonstrated that a protein-rich lunch meal with fish protein reduced calorie intake compared with the same-calorie lunch meal of beef protein," says lead researcher Saeedah Borzoei, Ph.D. Why is it so filling? "We are still learning about the filling properties of fish, but we do know that fish has a strong flavor, which can lead to greater satiety and less of a need to eat," notes Dr. Katz.

TIP: To add some flavor to grilled fish, try a quick marinade of soy sauce, lime and ginger.

Bulgur

High-fiber grains are a great way to round out a meal, and fine-cut bulgur is easy to cook. Bulgur, which is a quick-cooking form of whole wheat, takes about 10 minutes or less to prepare once water is boiled and is a great substitute for white rice and pasta, which are low in fiber and heavily processed. "Fiber helps prolong the insulin response so you don't have the blood sugar spikes you have with low-fiber carbohydrates like white pasta or rice," says Dr. Katz. With all the good fiber comes some other benefits: iron and vitamins E and B6.

TIP: Find bulgur in health-food stores and organic markets. For a quick side dish, combine fine bulgur with chicken broth, diced canned tomatoes and some cooked onions.

Salad

When most people think of dieting, they think of salad. But if that means some sad greens topped with unripe tomatoes, it's no wonder diets don't work. "Salads are a great opportunity to add a lot of filling foods into your diet at one time: fresh vegetables, lean protein, beans and healthy fats," says Dr. Rolls. And research backs it up. A study from Penn State University found that women who ate a salad before a pasta lunch ate fewer calories for the whole meal than those just digging into the pasta.

TIP: Start your salad with mesclun, arugula or spinach. Not only are these greens tastier than iceberg, they also contain more iron, calcium, vitamin C and folate.

Creating a Weight-Loss Lifestyle

2012-08-21T05:59:00.005-07:00

If you're looking into weight-loss programs, the best one is both the easiest and the hardest: Change your lifestyle.

"People should not go on a weight-loss program," says Keri M. Gans, RD, CDN, a nutrition consultant in New York City and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "They should develop healthy eating habits. The problem with a program is people feel they can go off at any time. If you instead change your lifestyle and how you approach food, then you're looking at a long-term plan for health."

The Best Weight-Loss Programs

It all comes down to calories. If you eat 100 more food calories than you burn each day, you'll gain about a pound a month. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you slowly but surely will lose weight.

Figure out how many calories you should be taking in to maintain your current weight. The number can range from 1,600 calories a day for a sedentary older woman to 3,000 calories a day for an active young man.

Next, increase your physical activity to match or outburn the calories you take in every day. Also, plan your diet carefully to maximize nutrition while minimizing calories.

Lifestyle Obstacles to Weight Loss

Finally, begin your weight-loss program by carefully re-examining your life and recognizing some of the habits that can block weight loss. These include:

Skipping meals. "Are you eating small, frequent meals throughout the day, or are you skipping meals and having long gaps between meals?" Gans asks. "That only makes you hungrier, and you'll tend to overeat at your next meal."
Eating out without thought. "Do you dine out all the time and use that as an excuse not to make healthy choices at a restaurant?" Gans asks. "Even when you're dining out, you can make healthier choices. Order broiled food, not fried. Say no to desserts. Have a bowl of berries instead of pie. Order sauces on the side."
Keeping unhealthy foods in your house. As part of a smart weight-loss program, you should clear out all the junk food and make sure you have a wealth of healthy options available for snacking and dining. "You need to keep fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy in the house so it's there for you to make meals out of," Gans says. Simply limiting some foods, such as soft drinks, that are high in sugars may help you significantly reduce calories.
Keep your portions small. One quick way to control weight is to cut back on the size of your portions. Many personal weight-loss programs fail because people ladle out way too much food for themselves and then feel compelled to clean their plates.

Make Smart Food Choices

Your food choices can also help determine the success of your weight-loss programs. Healthy and nutritious eating will include:

Fruits and vegetables. "Low in calories and rich in nutrients, fruits and vegetables can build your meal and help fill you up," Gans says. Orange and dark-green vegetables contain some of the best nutrition around.
Whole grains. At least half the grains you eat should be whole. They contain loads of fiber and will help you feel full.
Low-fat milk and milk products. They fill you up and ensure you get enough calcium to stay healthy.
Lean meats, poultry, and fish. Everyone needs protein, which satisfies hunger like no other food group. So choose lean meats, poultry, and fish and prepare them by baking, broiling, or grilling — no frying.

Last but not least, remember that lifestyle-based weight loss will occur more slowly than with fad diets, melting off only one or two pounds a month, Gans says. But because you've changed the way you eat, you'll be glad to hear that those pounds are far more likely to stay off.

? Does Stress cause Cancer

2012-08-20T13:18:00.004-07:00

One could say, that of the main causes of death today is stress. People think it is cancer, or heart disease. But how do you think it gets started? Stress is present in all areas of our lives, and we have become so used to it that we are even unaware of its constant presence in our lives. Yet, stress invades our space when we are stuck in a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam and the cars are not moving. We feel stress when we rush to catch the morning train because we left a little bit later than usual.

Stress attacks us with billboards advertising everywhere your eye turns, with blaring music and engine noises. We are invaded with pollution, we go to shops and our senses are blasted with stimulus to get us to spend our money, music, announcements, colours, and signs to read. Have you ever been on a holiday to a really quiet place? If you've been to a quiet place, it might have been at the beach or the mountain, or in the country, but it would have been a place where there is no television, no radio, no music of any sort, and the external stimulation was provided by natural sounds. This is getting increasingly more difficult to find, even your local café or restaurant is saturated with music, loud cappuccino machines and many TV sets.

The fact that conditions such as stress have a serious impact on immunity is no longer in question. Temporary stress, like studying for an exam, can completely wipe out the body's interferon levels, literally reducing them to 0. Interferon is necessary for certain cells of the immune system to do their jobs. For example, one kind of immune cells is a lymphocyte known as the natural killer cell. Natural killer cells have 2 functions. First, they patrol the body and seek out virus-infected cells for elimination. Second, they seek out and destroy cancer cells. In students, the stress of exam week often results in colds, cold sores or other minor illnesses, perhaps as a result of the poor natural killer cell activity brought about by low interferon levels.

In terms of long-term health, chronic stress is much more important than short-term stress. Walter Cannon first described the body's response to acute stress which he called the fight or flight response, in 1929. When we are faced with an emergency, there is a miraculous symphony that plays itself out flawlessly in the body. Adrenaline pours out of the adrenal glands, causing blood pressure to rise and the heart to beat more forcefully. At the same time, sugar is liberated from storage in the liver and pours into the bloodstream. This rapidly burning fuel is quickly delivered to our muscles, giving us uncommon strength. Adrenaline simultaneously improves visual acuity, short-term memory, and mental sharpness. We can make decisions fast and then act on them, we can survive. To learn more about how stress causes disease, read Cancer Free For Life.

If you have a scare in traffic, your body responds instantly. A minute later, calm prevails unless you decide to wallow in anger or frustration. Then stress can become chronic when we hang on to ancient anger for years. Research showed that chronic stress leads to enlarged adrenal glands and the thymus gland, the producer of T-lymphocytes used to fight cancer, is very small. Chronic stress leads to illness. When we are stressed the hypothalamus secretes a hormone which causes the adrenal glands to manufacture cortisol. In the long run, it is a suppressor of the immune system. It prevents the formation of new immune cells, and inhibits the activity of the ones already in the system.

How to Sleep Well to Lose Weight

2012-08-20T03:04:00.002-07:00

Wouldn't it be great if you could just go to bed and wake up thinner? Scientists are beginning to find a strong connection between sleep and weight loss.

Research Connects Sleep and Weight Loss

Several new studies suggest that sleep pays a key role in our ability to make better food choices. So if you're short on willpower and you don't have time to exercise, perhaps your best bet is to learn how to sleep well. The reason revolves around a hormone called ghrelin.

In 2010, researchers found that when people have higher levels of ghrelin, they were more likely to crave sweets and junk food. In a press releaseabout his research, lead scientist Tony Goldstone, MD, PhD, suggested that if we could find a drug to block ghrelin, we may be able to reduce cravings for high-calorie foods and help people lose weight.

But wouldn't taking a nap feel better than taking a pill? Another study published in Obesity Reviewsfound that catching a few zzz's might be just as effective at reducing ghrelin levels. Researchers from Louisiana State University found that stress management techniques like sleeping and exercising help to reduce both ghrelin levels and the cravings that come with them.

But the strongest link between sleep and food intake came when researchers from St. Luke's - Roosevelt Hospital Center and Columbia University in New York did MRI scans on people who had been deprived of sleep. They found that when people didn't get enough sleep, they craved more junk food.

Sleep Better to Eat Less

Most of us don't spend our days reading dry scientific journals, so it might be easier to takeweight loss advice from a noted fitness expert. "When I tell women that they are going to eat less when they sleep more, their ears perk up!" says Chris Freytag. Freytag is a nationally recognized health and wellness expert with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. She is also chairman of the board for the American Council on Exercise.

Chris explains that we can recharge our human battery in one of three ways: by exercising, by eating, or by sleeping. If we don't get a good night's sleep, she says, we are likely to refuel by eating too much. So how we do improve the quality of our sleep? Chris gave me tips for sleeping better as part of her campaign with Beautyrest Beds and Mattresses to promote healthy ways to refuel and recharge.

How to Sleep Well: 3 Tips from Chris Freytag

Evaluate your environment. If you can't afford to get a full eight hours of sleep at night, don't despair. Chris reminds us that it is the quality of sleep that matters more than the quantity. "Just because you are laying down for eight hours doesn't mean that you are sleeping for eight hours," she says. Her advice for better sleep includes making few simplechanges to your environment.
- Minimize distractions, such as light or noise from a television.
- Don't charge electronic accessories next to your bed as they create a subliminal distraction.
- Invest in a high-quality mattress to achieve the best sleeping posture.
Skip the late night snack. If you find yourself craving a late night snack, Chris suggests trying to skip it and to refuel by sleeping instead. She explains that when our bodies aren't recharging through sleep, we look for energy in another form: food! "People tend to overeat when they are tired," she says.

But if you really need a small snack before bed, she recommends passing up the typical chocolate treat and eating a complex carbohydrate like oatmeal or a piece of toast. These foods will keep you satisfied for a longer period of time.
Respect your own sleep habits. Work within your own guidelines to recharge your human battery. This might mean adjusting your daily habits. For example, some people find that exercising late at night is disruptive to a good night's sleep. But for others, an early morning workout isn't tolerable. The key, says Chris, is working within your lifestyle to find what works.

Lose Weight and Lose Pain, Too

2012-08-19T11:35:00.001-07:00

Both obesity and chronic pain are widespread problems in the United States, but what you might not know is that the two conditions can be related. If you’re carrying extra weight, you’re at risk for chronic pain, especially after age 40. And the heavier you are, the greater the risk.

Recent research published in the journal Obesity made the relationship between pain and obesity very clear. This study of more than a million people suggests that obesity in and of itself may cause pain, even in the absence of a painful disease or condition. Researchers speculate that body fat increases

hormones associated with inflammation, leading to pain.

Weight Loss to Conquer Pain

You can dampen the risk of pain-causing inflammation by losing weight. In the process, you'll also decrease the strain that excess weight puts on your body, especially your back. “We ask a lot of our backs," says David Greene, MD, CEO of Florida Pain Network. "They carry our body’s weight [and] provide the ability to rotate, flex, extend, and absorb significant loads every step of the way.” He adds that carrying additional weight forces the spine to absorb more load than necessary, which may lead to herniated discs, sciatica, or spinal arthritis — all painful conditions.

Losing weight is easier said than done, but by breaking it down into small steps, the hurdle can seem less daunting. These ideas for long-term weight loss from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics will get you started:

Change your mindset from a quickie diet to a permanent change in your eating habits, the difference in long-term success. Learn from past mistakes and don’t give up, even if you have to make several attempts to lose weight.
Create both short-term and long-term goals before you start a weight loss program. Good general goals are to exercise more often or to eat healthy snacks, but you may have better success reaching them by setting weekly goals with a more narrow focus. For example, decide to eat an extra serving of vegetables each day instead of a starch. Or, replace that slice of cake for dessert with a cup of juicy berries.
Slow and steady wins the race. Avoid making radical, across-the-board diet changes. Start by improving what you are eating for breakfast and advance from there.
Make your food servings look appetizing by adding colorful fruits and vegetables to your plate. They’re loaded with nutrients as well as fiber, which keep you feeling full longer and make you less likely to snack between meals.
Drink a large glass of water before each meal. Research has shown that people who drink water before a meal ingest about 75 fewer calories with the meal. Over a year’s time, that’s 14 pounds lost!

If you’re having trouble getting started, enlist a registered dietitian to help you with a sensible approach and get support and motivation from family and friends.

Exercise Gently to Conquer Weight and Pain

You might be tempted to rely on diet alone to shed pounds, but exercise is the second part of any successful weight-loss plan. Besides its many health benefits, exercise boosts weight loss — it helps you burn more calories and builds muscle, and muscle uses calories even when you’re at rest. Common examples of physical activity include walking, yoga, running, swimming, and lifting weights, but even small daily activities — climbing stairs, sweeping the porch — burn calories. And those calories add up. These steps can help you ease into exercise:

If you’re out of shape and are battling chronic pain on top of that, start with low-intensity activities that don’t require much exertion, like walking around the block once or twice a day. Find ways to be more active at home or on the job — put down your remote control and get up to change TV channels, walk across the room a few times a day, and refill your water bottle at the office water cooler during breaks. Gradually, you’ll be able to exercise for longer periods of time.
Once walking is comfortable, try a moderate-intensity activity, like swimming or riding a stationary bike. (Swimming is especially low-stress because the water cushions your joints, rather than straining them.) One easy way to tell if you’re at the right level is if you can talk during the activity but not sing.
Strength training is another type of exercise that increases your fitness level and helps you lose weight. Start slowly by working with resistance bands or light hand-held weights, and target each of the major muscle groups two or three times a week (with a rest day in between). To avoid injury and learn proper form, try working with a certified fitness trainer to get started. As you get stronger, you can add more weight.

As you progress and as the weight comes off, you’ll find the motivation you need to keep going. Remember to reset short-term goals as you reach them and keep relying on your support network of loved ones and health specialists to stay on course for the long term.

Diet After Weight-Loss Surgery

2012-08-16T01:52:00.001-07:00

In order for weight-loss surgery to help you lose a significant amount of weight — and keep it off in the long term — you'll need to adopt new eating habits. This not only means changing what you eat, but also how you eat.

"It's very important for patients who have had Lap-Band or bypass surgery to realize they've got a small pouch that holds only a small volume of food: Initially, it's about one ounce per meal, and after a few months it's about one cup to one-and-a-half cups of food," says Charles E. Morton, MD, bariatric surgeon and medical director of bariatric services at the Metabolic Surgery Center at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. That means you've got to be very choosy about what you eat.

The Right Foods After Bariatric Surgery

Eating lean protein (like chicken and fish) and vegetables before consuming rice or bread can increase satiety and nutrient intake, says Dr. Morton. "People should have at least 60 to 80 grams of lean protein a day to increase lean body mass and stay healthy and energetic during rapid weight loss," he suggests.

For some people, one side effect of the surgery is enough to encourage them to choose healthy foods: Their bodies find greasy or fatty foods (like fast food) more difficult to digest, which can result in "dumping syndrome" (bouts of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, and sweating). After Pamela Folle, 49, of Las Vegas, had Lap-Band surgery in November 2007, she found that she could not tolerate steak, hot dogs, hamburgers, and carbonated drinks. "Not even in very small portions," she says. Folle now opts for lean proteins and vegetables, and she limits her daily intake to four ounces of food three times a day.

Folle also takes a daily multivitamin. "My doctor recommended it," she says. That's because bariatric surgery causes patients to absorb fewer nutrients from food, which may leave them deficient in iron, calcium, folate, and vitamin D. Since few multivitamins contain adequate levels of vitamin D, your doctor may suggest that you take an extra vitamin D supplement in addition to your multivitamin.

The Wrong Foods After Bariatric Surgery

Which foods are most problematic can depend on the type of weight-loss surgery you've had. "Lap-Band patients must stay away from soft foods, foods that melt, and high-calorie liquids," says Morton. "Bypass patients should avoid any concentrated source of sugar such as sweets, whole milk, and milk shakes. These aren't tolerated due to the sudden deliverance of this type of food into the small intestines." That sudden deliverance often causes dumping syndrome.

No matter what type of weight-loss surgery you have, your new stomach probably won't be able to handle both solid food and fluids at the same time, says Laura Gittus, RD, who works with Morton and coordinates the bariatric-nutrition program at the Metabolic Surgery Center. Therefore, make sure you separate fluid and food intake by at least 30 minutes. When you do drink, sip — don't guzzle — and opt for at least 48 ounces a day of things like water and low-calorie beverages or tea, and up to 24 ounces per day of skim, low-fat, or soy milk.

Gittus also advises those who have undergone weight-loss surgery to minimize or eliminate these other high-calorie, low-nutrient foods: deep-fried foods like chicken and french fries; fast-food meals; high-fat foods like pizza, bacon, or breakfast sausage; high-sugar foods such as cakes, cookies, ice cream, and candy; and alcohol.

Slow Down and Savor Each Bite

Importantly, don't rush through meals. "Eat slowly and savor each bite to prevent overeating," Gittus says. "That will also help you enjoy food without feeling like you're restricted or on a 'diet'."

Guide to Quicker Weight Loss

2012-08-15T00:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some simple ways to speed up the weight-loss process, without sacrificing health benefits:

Buy food instead of packages. Challenge yourself to buy only fresh food for a week mdash; meat and fish from the butcher,fruits and vegetables from the produce section, whole grains from the health-food store bins, etc. When you buy "food" instead of "packages", you're eliminating any chance of unwanted processing, refined grains, added hydrogenated fats, and mysterious chemicals sneaking into your diet.
Eat more chicken and fish for protein than red meat, beans, or eggs
Skimp on you plate filling. There's no rule saying you have to load it up to the edges. Portions just a tiny bit smaller will pay off over the long run.
Eat even more slowly. The longer you take at a meal, the less you're likely to eat and the more satisfied you'll feel. Find ways to slow down at all three meals, not just the one very leisurely meal of the day.
Choose most of your vegetables from what we call "Tier 1." Tier 1 vegetables are more nutrient-dense, with fewer calories.
Limit snacks to nothing more than a Tier 1 vegetable. If that's enough to tide you over until the next meal, why have more?
Drink your snack. Try having a cup of hot tea or a tall glass of water instead of your usual snack. You may be more thirsty than hungry, and as long as you're not reaching your next meal in starve mode, those uneaten calories will pay off.
If you haven't been exercising, start. If you have been exercising, push up the intensity a notch.

? Should You Consider Weight-Loss Surgery

2012-08-14T01:01:00.000-07:00

Having weight-loss surgery because of obesity is a major decision that will alter your life forever. It changes what and how much you can eat. You’ll have to swap your normal-size meals for small portions that you eat slowly, and you may have to give up some of your favorite foods.

But weight-loss surgery may be just what you need if you’re carrying around a significant amount of extra weight that you haven’t been able to lose through diet and exercise. With obesity rates in the United States soaring, many are choosing weight-loss surgery. The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery estimated over 220,000 people in the United States had bariatric surgery in 2008 — more than double the number of just five years earlier.

It’s a big choice to make, and one that should take some time and contemplation.

Weight-Loss Surgery: Are You a Good Candidate?

There’s a misconception that anyone can decide to have weight-loss surgery, explains Margaret Furtado, RD, a clinical dietitian specialist at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Bariatric Surgery Program in Baltimore. Bariatric surgery programs like the one at Johns Hopkins have a screening process to determine if this surgery is right for each patient.

Screening starts with evaluating your body mass index, or BMI, a calculation based on your weight in relation to your height. The minimum weight criteria is either:

BMI of 40 or higher, with or without health problems
BMI of 35 or higher with health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, or sleep apnea

Typically, men who have weight-loss surgery are 100 pounds or more overweight and women are 80 pounds or more overweight, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Weight-Loss Surgery: Have You Tried Diet and Exercise?

Insurance companies require that patients first try to lose weight by eating healthy foods, cutting portions, and exercising for at least six consecutive months. If that fails, they meet the criteria for weight-loss surgery. Most people attempt this by working with their primary physician or through classes at a medical center, Furtado says. But it can also be done through Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, or other weight-loss programs.

Other questions that need to be answered include:

Do you have untreated emotional problems? Part of the screening involves meeting with a psychologist at the weight-loss surgery center to make sure you are not binge eating and don’t have untreated depression. If you’re experiencing a condition like binge eating, you may need cognitive-behavioral therapy before you can have the surgery, Furtado says.
What are your expectations? When a patient tells Furtado that she wants weight-loss surgery in order to be a size 2 or to look like her personal trainer, she explains that those are unrealistic expectations and may be a sign that she’s not ready for the surgery. The same goes for patients who refuse to give up drinking soda or won’t quit smoking before the surgery. “It’s a red flag that they’re not ready,” Furtado says.

How do you know when you are ready? When you understand that weight-loss surgery is a tool to help you take control of your weight for the rest of your life and that the ultimate goal is to be healthy. “Some people think their life will be perfect,” Furtado says. The reality is, there’s work to be done after the surgery. You’ll still have to think about your diet, you’ll have to practice mindful eating, you’ll have to eat slowly, and you’ll have to listen to your body’s signals of feeling hungry and feeling full.

If you’re ready and you meet the criteria, you have the opportunity to see big-time results. The average patient loses 60 to 75 percent of excess weight during the first two years after surgery. Studies show that weight-loss surgery can resolve diabetes in 77 percent of patients and sleep apnea in 86 percent of patients. High blood pressure and high cholesterol can also be improved or resolved in many patients.

Weight-loss surgery can mean a whole new life for you, as long as your goals are realistic and centered on wellness.

Ten Tips for Your Vegetarian Diet Plan

2012-08-13T02:34:00.001-07:00

(NaturalNews) Vegetarians and vegans typically live longer and healthier lives. Lower body weight, good cholesterol levels, and less risk to diabetes are just a few reasons to become vegetarian or vegan.

The transition from a meat eater can often be hard. Many experienced vegetarians struggle to find new options and avoid monotonous meals. Below are tips for starting or staying on the vegan or vegetarian diet plan.

1. Find Vegetarian Restaurants - You may find yourself calling a restaurant ahead of time to determine just what is in their vegetarian meal. This can be a good idea to insure your meal is good but you can instead use the "Vegan" or "Vegetarian" option under "Restaurants. This way you can view ratings and reviews of local restaurants with vegan or vegetarian cuisine. Another method would be this search on Google Maps .Just change the zip code in the Search box at the top to your own.

2. Join a Vegetarian Support Group Online - This could include a Facebook group, vegetarian forum (message board), church group, or social group. Or you and your friends can start your own vegetarian support group. The purpose is to get talking and exchange help, support, tips, recipes, and stay strong in the vegetarian lifestyle.

3. Be Sensitive to Carnivores - You may think it is gross but not everyone has seen the light of the vegetarian way. To them eating meat is natural and tasty. An overly negative reaction or nagging will never convince them. Could they convince you to eat meat? So be patient, understanding, and polite with your carnivore friends and maybe they will follow your good example.

4. Stock up on Vegetarian Recipes - Do not get yourself into a food situation with limited choices and repetitive meals. There are plenty of great vegan and recipes available online for every meal of the day.Talk to your vegetarian support group and exchange recipes. Visit a bookstore and browse some of the vegetarian recipe books. Do not be afraid to experiment on your own.

5. Beans & Lentils - Beans and lentils provide a much needed source of protein, fiber, iron, and other nutrients. Beans and lentils can easily be combined into many different types of foods. There are a wide range of ethnic foods that can use beans and lentils as a tasty and filling combination. Women in particular need to consume more beans and lentils to avoid a risk of anemia.

6. B12 - B12 is necessary for the natural health of your body. It is normally found in animal products and a vegetarian on its own does not provide enough B12. Most multivitamins contain B12. Or you can try soymilk fortified with B12.

7. Calcium - Calcium is important for strong teeth and bones. There are many other alternatives than dairy products for obtaining calcium. Make sure to eat plenty of dark leafy greens. You can get large boosts from drinking orange juice fortified with calcium and by eating molasses, tofu, soy, and more.

8. Vitamin D - Vitamin D is necessary for strong bones. Make sure to spend time in the sun, take a vitamin D supplement, or drink soymilks fortified with Vitamin D.

9. Omega 3 - Omega-3 fatty acids help you to regulate your cholesterol. They can be found in flax seeds, walnuts, fish, almonds, and cloves.

10. Drink Lots of Water - Drinking plenty of water is highly recommended for everyone. It is particularly important for vegetarians to get your body running at peak performance and not wasting energy or nutrients. It can help your body adjust to and create a filling feeling.

Get Ready to Diet

2012-08-12T00:16:00.001-07:00

Being ready to lose weight involves many things. There is definite preparation to be done, and without the right kind of preparation, it is unlikely that you will be able to maintain your weight-loss effort.

If weight control is a serious issue in your life, you need new awareness and insight into your problem before you can solve it. A one-sided food solution superimposed on a multifaceted problem is doomed to fail. Even the best techniques won't be effective if you are not prepared to change.

Don't equate action with change. Taking action may be the most visible, obvious step to you and to those around you. But there are things that need to happen before you take an action like starting a diet. Here are some things that will help you get ready.

Try to make your goal crystal clear. One way to do this is to imagine a time in the future, maybe the moment when you step on the scale and the number reads the way you want it to read. Then, in your mind's eye, conjure an image of yourself at this weight. Try as much as possible to keep this image in your mind's eye. This will help you keep your goal in front of you.

Use this visualization technique often. Now that you can see your goal clearly, begin to think about your feelings, your self-image, your attitudes, the pressures in your life. Consider whether any of these things have been getting in the way, keeping you from achieving your goal. Make a list of those things that you think may be undermining your desire to lose weight.

Consider what your real needs are. Are you meeting your needs in other areas of your life? Write down ways in which overeating may be an attempt at meeting these needs. Then you can think of ways to answer your needs that would be much more effective in your life than overeating.

Think about three times in your life when you had the most trouble controlling your weight. Try to remember if there was anything stressful going on at those times. If there was, see if there is a connection between those stresses and your eating. This will give you greater understanding of your eating patterns.

See if you can team up with a friend who is also interested in losing weight. You can decide to lean on each other, take courage from each other, listen to each other, help each other over the rough spots. This kind of helping, supportive relationship will strengthen your commitment, give you courage, and make the process more enjoyable.

Consider which food plan out there is best for you— not the latest, trendiest, best-selling diet— but the one that will best fit in with your own lifestyle, your own needs, your own comfort. You might want to ask other people what their experience has been with certain diets. You might even decide to create a food plan yourself, one that is totally tailored to you.

When you get going on this kind of comprehensive thinking, your diet effort will pack much more of a punch. Having the power of good, constructive thought behind you can mean the difference between yet another diet failure and real, lasting weight-loss success

10 Best Slimming Foods

2012-08-11T10:56:00.003-07:00

But before you throw in the towel, there are certain foods that promote satiety (the feeling of fullness that comes after a meal) more than others. While they're not miracle foods, they can help you eat less over the course of the day. "When you're looking for foods that are going to keep you fuller for longer, look for ones high in fiber, healthy fats and protein, or with a high water content," says Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., professor of nutrition at Penn State University and author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan. "The additional benefit is that a lot of these foods are also really good for you and packed with important nutrients, vitamins and minerals."

Apples
An apple a day may keep the fat pants away, too. This portable fruit is the perfect snack, with a high water content and both kinds of weight-busting fiber: soluble, which helps prevent blood sugar spikes that lead to cravings, and insoluble, which helps fill you up. "A medium apple is about 85 percent water with 5 grams of soluble fiber, making it a snacking powerhouse," says Elisa Zied, M.S., same calorie level. To sweeten the pot, apples also contain quercetin, a flavonoid shown to help fight certain cancers, reduce cholesterol damage and promote healthy lungs.

Eggs
They're a great source of protein, which may be key to keeping you full. A recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that when people ate two eggs for breakfast, they took in more than 400 fewer calories over the next 24 hours than when they ate bagels. "The study proved our hypothesis that eating eggs induces higher satiety and keeps the subject fuller for longer," says lead researcher Nikhil V. Dhurandhar, Ph.D., from Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Although this was only a one-day study, eating eggs regularly may have long-term weight management benefits, says Dr. Dhurandhar.

One study found that eating a breakfast of two eggs can leave you feeling full longer than a bagel.

Cauliflower
"When you are trying to lose weight, non-starchy vegetables such as cauliflower are one of the few foods that can be eaten in unlimited quantities," says Dr. Rolls. It's good for you, too. Cauliflower contains the cancer-fighting phytonutrient sulforaphane, as well as a good amount of folate and vitamin C, which may be helpful for weight loss. In fact, a review from Purdue University pointed to vitamin C status as a key factor in how much fat is burned during physical activity. All that and it's pretty tasty, too. (If you're not a cauliflower fan, try spinach or broccoli.)

TIP: Love the creamy consistency of mashed potatoes? Steam a head of cauliflower and mash it with garlic salt, a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese and a touch of butter.

Lowfat Yogurt
If the yogurt ads are to be believed, you should be fitting into that itty-bitty bikini before you know it. While yogurt and other dairy products are not weight-loss magic bullets, there is some truth in advertising. A recent study at the University of Tennessee found that dieters eating three servings of yogurt daily lost twice as much weight as their non–dairy– eating counterparts on a 12-week weight-loss program. Why? "Calcium combined with other bioactive compounds found in dairy products slows down the process of making fat and increases fat burning, especially around the belly," says lead researcher Michael B. Zemel, M.D., a professor of nutrition and medicine at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. No word yet on how effective ice cream is at burning fat, but we're not holding our breath.

TIP: Sneak more dairy into your diet by adding plain yogurt to dips, sauces and salad dressings. You get the health benefits without the added sugar of flavored yogurts.

Oatmeal
Mom didn't know how right she was: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day — just eating it can make you slimmer. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley analyzed a national six-year survey and found that people who ate breakfast had a lower body mass index (BMI) than people who skipped breakfast, and that those who ate cooked cereal had a lower BMI than any other breakfast-eating group. Also, oatmeal was ranked as the most satiating breakfast food on the Satiety Index, developed by Australian researchers a decade ago, and it's the third most satiating food overall. "Oatmeal helps you stay fuller longer, since it's packed with fiber and is a good source of protein," says Dr. Katz.

TIP: If you don't have time for cooked oatmeal every morning, make muesli by mixing old- fashioned oats with plain yogurt, dried fruit and fruit juice and leaving it in the fridge overnight.

Peanuts
Almonds and walnuts have been getting all the glory these days, but don't discredit peanuts, the most commonly eaten nut in America. Researchers at Purdue University found that peanut eaters end up eating less over the course of the whole day and are more likely to maintain weight, even if given as many peanuts as they want. So what is it about peanuts? Is it the protein? The fat? Turns out it's a little bit of everything. "We've tried to isolate different components of the nut to determine what makes it so filling,' says Richard Mattes, Ph.D., a nut researcher at Purdue. "But there is something special about the whole package."

TIP: Calories do count, so look for single-serving sizes at convenience stores and drugstores.

Soup
We all know soup is good food, but who knew it was slimming, too? A recent study published in the journal Obesity Research found that adding two 10-ounce servings of broth-based soup to a weight loss diet each day can almost double the amount of weight lost in a six-month period. Why? Adding water into a food makes it more filling than drinking water separately. "The water in soup adds volume to a meal and helps you feel fuller, without extra calories,' says Dr. Rolls, lead researcher on the study. "As a result, you take in fewer calories over the course of the day."

TIP: Add your own veggies or fiber-rich beans to broth-based canned soup to keep you full longer.

Fish
You might be surprised to learn that fish tops oatmeal and vegetables in the satiety department. The Australian Satiety Index ranks steamed white fish such as halibut or cod as the number-one most filling food out of 38 common foods. Also, a new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden found that people ate 11 percent less at dinner after having fish for lunch versus those who ate a beef lunch. "This study demonstrated that a protein-rich lunch meal with fish protein reduced calorie intake compared with the same-calorie lunch meal of beef protein," says lead researcher Saeedah Borzoei, Ph.D. Why is it so filling? "We are still learning about the filling properties of fish, but we do know that fish has a strong flavor, which can lead to greater satiety and less of a need to eat," notes Dr. Katz.

TIP: To add some flavor to grilled fish, try a quick marinade of soy sauce, lime and ginger.

Bulgur
High-fiber grains are a great way to round out a meal, and fine-cut bulgur is easy to cook. Bulgur, which is a quick-cooking form of whole wheat, takes about 10 minutes or less to prepare once water is boiled and is a great substitute for white rice and pasta, which are low in fiber and heavily processed. "Fiberhelps prolong the insulin response so you don't have the blood sugar spikes you have with low-fiber carbohydrates like white pasta or rice," says Dr. Katz. With all the good fiber comes some other benefits: iron and vitamins E and B6.

TIP: Find bulgur in health-food stores and organic markets. For a quick side dish, combine fine bulgur with chicken broth, diced canned tomatoes and some cooked onions.

Salad
When most people think of dieting, they think of salad. But if that means some sad greens topped with unripe tomatoes, it's no wonder diets don't work. "Salads are a great opportunity to add a lot of filling foods into your diet at one time: fresh vegetables, lean protein, beans and healthy fats," says Dr. Rolls. And research backs it up. A study from Penn State University found that women who ate a salad before a pasta lunch ate fewer calories for the whole meal than those just digging into the pasta.

TIP: Start your salad with mesclun, arugula or spinach. Not only are these greens tastier than iceberg, they also contain more iron, calcium, vitamin C and folate.

The Right Diet for Heart Health

2012-08-10T02:49:00.000-07:00

The Right Diet for Heart Health

There are many benefits to a healthy diet, and heart health is one of the most important. Find out which foods can improve heart health.

By Connie Brichford

Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH

For maximum heart health, you need to eat a well-balanced diet. But what does that really mean? “Try a diet low in saturated fat and high in fiber,” recommends Lisa R. Young, PhD, RD, adjunct professor in the department of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. Here’s how to put such a diet in place.

Diet for Heart Health: Get Plenty of Fiber

Fiber can help lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of diabetes (a risk factor for heart disease) and certain types of cancer. “We recommend about 25 grams of fiber a day, for men a bit more. It’s based on your weight,” Young says. “Most Americans eat much, much less than that. If you follow a good diet, you’ll get enough, but so many of us don’t.”

The best way to include fiber in your diet is to eat a variety of whole grains and a mixture of fruits and veggies that have both soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber helps clear out cholesterol from your bloodstream. Good sources of soluble fiber include oatmeal, barley, dried beans, and peas; insoluble fiber is found in vegetables like beets and brussels sprouts, as well as whole-grain bread.

Diet for Heart Health: The Role of Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates should be 50 to 60 percent of your diet. In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, get your carbohydrates from legumes, whole-grain breads and pastas, and brown rice.Carbohydrates from these sources are considered good because they offer you nutrients, vitamins, and fiber, in addition to the calories.

However, Young explains that carbohydrates are often vehicles for saturated fats like butter, sour cream, cream cheese, and dips and spreads. That’s not good news because saturated fat increases your LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol. So you want to watch what you put on your carbs, and how much of them you eat.

· Eat the right carbs and the right fats. While too much LDL cholesterol is bad news, replacing all the fat in your diet with carbohydrates is not the answer either. “A diet too high in carbs and too low in fats will decrease the HDL cholesterol,” says Young. The HDL cholesterol, found in certain good (non-saturated) fats, is actually good for your heart.

· Understand the role of triglycerides. Fruits and vegetables contain carbohydrates and are jam-packed with nutrients that your body needs. Other simple carbohydrates, like breads, cakes, and cookies made from white, refined flour, have less nutritional value. After we eat, our bodies turn carbohydrates, fats, and protein into triglycerides, the chemical that our cells use to give us energy. We need some triglycerides to fuel us throughout the day. But too much of this chemical has been found to increase the risk of heart disease. “It depends on the type of carb,” Young says. “White bread, for instance, elevates the triglycerides.”

Diet for Heart Health: Vitamins for the Heart

While many people swear by vitamins and supplements, there’s not much evidence to support the idea that any particular vitamin is good for the heart. “There was a lot of talk about vitamin E, and it didn’t really pan out,” Young says, “and the folates, B-6, B-12 — these vitamins didn’t pan out either.”

“As they say, there are no quick fixes and no miracles,” Young adds. Most of us can get all the nutrients our hearts need from a well-balanced diet — full of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Weight-Loss Surgery Alternatives

2012-08-09T03:54:00.001-07:00

Weight-loss surgery is very effective for losing a lot of weight and improving or even reversing health conditions like diabetes, but as its name implies, it is surgery. Wouldn’t it be nice to get its benefits without having to undergo as serious or invasive a procedure ?

Two weight-loss techniques being performed in other countries — gastric stimulation and stomach balloon — promise the benefits of weight-loss surgery without the complications of an operation. But before you hop on a plane to have one done, studies show these alternative approaches may not provide the solution you’re hoping for.

Weight-Loss Surgery Alternatives

These procedures are less invasive than the two most common weight-loss surgeries — gastric bypass surgery and adjustable gastric band surgery — but studies haven’t found that they’re very effective, says Thomas H. Magnuson, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Bariatric Surgery in Baltimore.

What’s more, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved either of the procedures, so you can’t get them in the United States unless they’re being done as part of an investigational study, Dr. Magnuson says.

Here’s an overview of what they are and what risks they may carry.

Weight-Loss Surgery Alternatives: Implantable Gastric Stimulation

This procedure involves putting electrodes or a pacemaker on the stomach wall and using electrical impulses to induce the sensation of feeling full. However, results haven’t shown it to be any more effective than just cutting calories from your diet.

In one recent study of 190 patients, researchers implanted the gastric stimulator in all the patients, but only turned it on in half of them. At the same time, each participant cut 500 calories from his or her diet and met with a support group every month. After 12 months both groups lost about 12 percent of their extra weight.

“In general, most studies have shown that it doesn’t cause near enough weight loss" compared to the high success rate of weight-loss surgery, Magnuson says.

Weight-Loss Surgery Alternatives: The Intragastric Balloon

In this technique, an intragastric, or stomach, balloon, is placed in your stomach with an endoscope, a medical tube inserted through the mouth, and is then filled with salt water or air. The inflated balloon creates a feeling of fullness — it takes less food to satisfy you and consequently you lose weight. The balloon can stay in place for six months, but then must be removed because stomach acid can corrode and deflate it.

“It used to be popular in the 1970s and has lost favor,” Magnuson says. “There are certainly potential side effects or complications.” For one, nausea and vomiting may occur for a few days after the balloon is inserted; ulcers and even a case of pancreatitis have been reported. By far the most serious complication is that the balloon can deflate before being removed and there’s a risk that it can become trapped in the bowel and need to be removed surgically, or lead to fatal consequences if it’s not. However, experts say that the balloons used in today’s procedures are safer and carry less risk of severe complications than those used 20 years ago.

But, even when it’s inserted and removed safely, it doesn’t look to be effective for long-term weight loss, Magnuson says. “So far, we haven’t found anything that results in the same reversal of obesity-related medical problems" that weight-loss surgery such as the gastric bypass and adjustable gastric band offer, Magnuson adds.

Weight-Loss Surgery Alternatives: What’s Next

Doctors are still looking for less invasive ways to get the results of weight-loss surgery. One possibility to help people lose weight, Magnuson says, is a pill that works on hormones in the stomach that control appetite. A magic pill for weight loss? Now that’s something everyone’s been waiting for.

Source : www.everydayhealth.com

How to Lose 10 Kg Fast

2012-08-08T09:34:00.002-07:00

How to Lose 10 Kg Fast

Knowing how to lose 10 kg (22 lb.) fast is one way to look better, feel better and boost self-confidence. While there are many ways to lose weight fast, learning how to lose it in a healthy way increases your chances of being able to keep weight off permanently. By cutting back on certain foods, following a specialized diet and exercising daily, you will be able to reduce body fat by a significant percentage within a few weeks.

Steps

Follow a Specialized Diet

Eliminate all processed foods from your diet. This includes high sugar drinks, such as cola, fruit drinks and cool aide. Eliminate any additional sugar you use in your coffee. Stop eating any high fat, high sugar foods such as candy bars and cookies.
Replace all liquid drinks with ice water. The body has to work harder to process ice water because of its cold temperature. This helps the body burn a few extra calories every time you drink it. Water also helps to cleanse the body of any toxins.
Drink at least 10, 8 oz. (236 ml) glasses of water a day for a month. Avoid using any type of sugar or artificial sweeteners to flavor water.
Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially apples and citrus fruits. These accelerate the body's fat burning process. Avoid buying canned goods. These items have large amounts of sodium and sugars in them, which can interfere with your body's ability to lose weight and reduce body fat.
Consume plenty of whole grains. Replace white bread with whole wheat bread. Replace white pasta with whole-wheat pasta and white rice with whole grain rice. Buy whole grain cereals and breakfast bars.
Purchase non-fat milk or skim milk. Drink this instead of regular milk. Use non-fat milk for low-fat smoothies, cereals and coffee drinks.
Buy lean meats such as skinless and boneless chicken breast. Purchase ground turkey instead of ground beef. Also, make sure the ground turkey you purchase has 7 percent of fat or less.
Eat plenty of small meals throughout the day, as opposed to 3 big meals per day. Eating small meals throughout the day keeps the metabolism constantly working. It also decreases your appetite.
Limit caloric intake to 1,500 calories a day, for a month. Also, keep track of fat grams. Do not eat more than 30 grams of fat per day.

Exercise

Exercise daily, 6 to 7 days a week. Perform various cardiovascular exercises for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening.
Lift weights for 30 minutes after each session of cardiovascular exercise. Perform various weight lifting exercises that work the bicep, triceps, pectoral muscles, latissimus dorsi, anterior and interior deltoids.
Perform squats and lunges for 3 to 4 days a week after you complete your weight lifting routine for the arms. Building muscle in the legs is imperative to weight loss because the more developed the muscles are in the legs, the more calories you burn.

Tips

Attempting to lose more than 10 kg (22 lb.) in a month's time makes it more likely that you put weight back on. To lose weight in a healthy way, give yourself more time.

Warnings

Consult your doctor before following this or any other weight loss diet.

Related wikiHows

How to Lose Weight in 10 Days

Sources and Citations

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001940.htm

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Lose 10 Kg Fast. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How to Keep to Your Diet

2012-08-07T13:05:00.001-07:00

How to Keep to Your Diet

Writing down what you eat is one basic principle. A second principle is to read the food labels. Make sure your grocery items include a lot of fiber and little fat, that equates to a lot of vegetables, fruits, peas and beans and low fat dairy products.

Steps

Eat a snack if you're starting to get hungry but have a few hours till dinner / lunch - especially important around 4pm, when you're between lunch and dinner. If you wait and starve yourself you will be more likely to overeat or eat too fast at dinner.
Do not buy non-diet foods. If it's not in the house, you cannot eat it.If you need a treat and have earned it (by eating well or exercising, not having a bad day) go out and buy one cookie. Don't keep a bag of special treat cookies in the house, they only convince you that you deserve one when you don't. And yes, when you deserve one, have one. Or better yet, think of a way you can treat yourself that has nothing to do with food!
Understand that if you are engaging in an activity that you usually snack during, find something to do with your hands instead of eating. Take up knitting, learn to sew, write those thank-you cards, anything to keep you from munching mindlessly while you watch TV, etc.
Remember if you eat bar peanuts compulsively, sit away from the bowl. You will be less likely to reach over someone else to get to them. Find fun exercise. Join a cool gym that has fun classes, enroll in a dance class with friends, go somewhere beautiful to walk. Get friends to do it with you so that you have company and moral support and someone to hold you accountable, or, walk a dog if you really need someone to remind you to go outside twice a day.
Know that if you are really craving something, like M&M's, just eat a few. Don't try to satisfy the urge by eating everything else in the house. You will never feel as satisfied and will probably overeat. If you are compulsive, have a trusted friend dole out two to you and stick to it!
Eat more dense foods like carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, these foods will curb your cravings. These foods are very healthy for you, so you do not have to worry about gains. Do not eat them cooked, eat them raw.(cooking vegetables removes the density of it.)
Make sure to drink plenty of water! 8 glasses a day! Sometimes when you are dehydrated you compensate by eating when really your body just needs water.

Video

Tips

Disregard anyone or any ad that says that there is a quick fix.
Don't think of it as a diet, think about it as a lifestyle choice.
Think about how much junk you're eating on a daily basis; if you eat 5 bars of chocolate a day, cut down to four the first day, then 3 the next, etc. then replace your unhealthy snacks with fruit!
Stay AWAY from the unhealthy sections in the supermarket. Better yet, if you can, order your food online when you've made a list of food and checked with the helpers at the supermarket that they think it's healthy. They'll be happy to help, and there's always websites on the internet to help you too.
Think about how good you'll look after, and more importantly- how you'll feel. If you're dealing with an unhealthy lifestyle, things are going to be harder.
.running
.blood circulation
.nasty comments
.and even walking because of your breathing! Yes, if you eat more healthily you will be able to breathe better.
Take up a sport:
.jogging
.running
.football
.tennis
.swimming
.walking
Believe in your self! You're doing this for YOU. If you're doing it for someone else you are not doing it for the right reasons.

Warnings

There is no tip that works for everyone. Experiment with what works best for you and then work within that system.
Watch the portion size. Your potato, pasta and rice should be about the size of your computer mouse.
For portion size, cereal should be the size of your dad's fist, meat a deck of cards and peanut butter a golf ball.

Related wikiHows

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Keep to Your Diet. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.