Sweat Talk

4 Dangerous Weight Loss Methods

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:21:00 PST

Most of us know that shedding pounds the right way should be a gradual process and takes a lifetime commitment to health. But most of us don’t have the patience, and as a result, some people take extreme measures to become thin too quickly and too dangerously. While extreme dieters may lose weight, they can also lose their life. Stay away from the following four dangerous weight loss methods. Plus: Could you have an eating disorder?

The desire and pressure to lose weight for many women is so great they’re willing to compromise their health in the process. But extreme dieters who use any of these four dangerous methods will find there are no guarantees for weight loss. In fact, the only guarantee is that they’re complicating matters by compromising their health.

1. Diuretics

Diuretics, or water pills, are classified as drugs that increase the production and discharge of urine. They don’t make you lose real weight – just water.

In response to the excessive water loss from the diuretics, the body will begin to retain water after a few days. This triggers an ugly cycle of diuretic use since users take more pills to get rid of this new water weight.

Dehydration is the most common side effect of using diuretics. Serious dehydration can turn into a life-threatening condition. The only thing diuretic users lose is vital fluids and electrolytes, which are necessary for proper heart, kidney and liver function, as well as other important minerals, such as zinc.

2. Laxatives

Laxatives empty the large bowel, which has little effect on actual weight loss. The reason for this is because the food and calories that you consume have already been absorbed in the small intestine by the time the laxatives begin to work.

Like diuretics, the only difference in weight is the loss of water, even though you may feel thinner. Eventually you’ll start retaining water, making you look and feel bloated, and this begins the cycle of continued laxatives use in a desperate attempt to combat water retention.

Repeated use of laxatives can cause unpleasant side effects. Users tend to find that after awhile they can’t have a bowel movement without using a laxative. Your bowels become permanently damaged, and in extreme cases, death can result.

Electrolyte imbalance, dehydration, constipation, bloody diarrhea, severe abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting are also common side effects. Getting off of regular laxative use usually requires the help of a doctor.

3. Ipecac Syrup

Those who are familiar with medicine know that ipecac syrup is used to induce vomiting for poisonings. Bulimic women are often familiar with ipecac syrup because they use it induce vomiting too. Sadly, bulimics have died from using it on a regular basis.

Ipecac syrup causes systemic toxicity, while emetine, its active ingredient, builds up in the tissue and weakens the heart, causing irregular heart beats, chest pains, breathing problems, rapid heart beat, cardiac arrest, seizures, shock, and coma.

4. Diet Pills

Diet pills are a huge industry in the U.S. and continue to be one of the most popular attempts at weight loss (think Phen/Fen and TrimSpa).

Some diet pills are prescribed by doctors (such as Meridia and Xenical) and others can be obtained over-the-counter (which is then classified as dietary supplements rather than diet pills).

Prescription diet pills are given to obese people because they’re very effective in stimulating weight loss; their ingredients are stronger because they’re regulated by the FDA and are taken under medical supervision. But dependency on over-the-counter diet pills or self-proclaimed diet pills can be dangerous.

Diet pills come in the forms of appetite suppressants, caffeine pills and herbal supplements. Some are combinations of two or more of these.

For example, Phenylpropanolamine and Ephedra are popular appetite suppressants. They stimulate the nervous system, producing amphetamine-like reactions.

Some dangerous side effects diet pills include: nervousness, high blood pressure, insomnia, hyperactivity, fatigue, dizziness, heart arrhythmias and palpitations, headaches, vomiting, dry mouth, heart attack, stroke, blurred vision, fever, urinary tract infection, hair loss, decreased sex drive, tightness in chest, tingling in extremities, and unhealthy bowel movements.

More seriously, overdosing on diet pills or using them regularly can kill you.

It may seem like people who use these dangerous weight loss methods do succeed, but remember that it is a hazardous and potentially life-threatening path to go down.

Keep in mind that any permanent weight loss may actually be due to using these methods in combination with other methods, such as lowering daily caloric intake or increasing exercise, not just from one method itself.

So this begs the question – why not just lose weight the old-fashioned way – by eating healthy and exercising – if it’s what’s really behind successful weight loss?

We urge you to seek medical help if you have ever used or currently use any of these dangerous weight loss methods or if you know someone who has. Compromising your health to be thin is never worth the risks.

8 Weeks to a Brand New Body

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:34:00 PST

12 Seconds Can Change Your Life

Want to get in shape but hate spending endless hours in the gym? New York Times best-selling author Jorge Cruise says success is closer than you think. Designed to burn fat and firm jiggly spots, his 12-Second Sequence plan focuses on getting maximum results with just two 20-minute workouts a week.

In his new book The 12-Second Sequence (Crown Publishers, 2007), Cruise outlines a revolutionary fitness program for busy people who want results but don’t want to live in the gym. Cruise’s motto? Burn fat, not time!

That’s the message he’s spreading on his nationwide 12-Second Sequence™ fitness tour. Check out Where’s Jorge? for a stop near you and to learn more about how to enter the $100,000 12Second.com Challenge and score free Jorge’s Packs™ Whey Protein Shakes.

Cruise’s 12-Second Sequence program shows you how to achieve maximum results in the least amount of time – shrinking your waistline and boosting your metabolism by 20% with just two workouts a week for eight weeks.

Cruise’s secret? Work out smarter, not more.

“People don’t realize that they don’t have to spend hours working out every week to get in top shape,” Cruise says. “Too often people only think about the quantity of the workout, not the quality.”

Maximizing Your Workouts

The 12-Second Sequence program uses resistance training to build lean muscle, which helps burn calories even when you’re not exercising. “While aerobic exercise is good for heart health, it won’t change the shape of your body as efficiently as resistance training,” Cruise says.

The key to effective strength training with the 12-Second Sequence is Cruise’s trademark method Controlled Tension™. This helps create lean muscle tissue efficiently by engaging the maximum number of muscle fibers in the least amount of time. There are two powerful components to controlled tension: slow-cadence lifting and static contraction.

Slow-cadence lifting: Exercises are slowed down to a 10-second count as you lower or lift.

Static contraction: The weight or resistance is held at a key point for a set amount of time (two seconds in Cruise’s program).

For cardiovascular fitness, the program also uses circuit training: doing the exercises consecutively without resting, which gets your heart rate up and burns more calories.

Each workout is divided into three circuits with four exercises in each circuit and four reps of each exercise. Each exercise involves the weight or resistance being lifted or lowered slowly to the count of 10. There is also a 2-second static hold at the point of maximum tension (which, combined, is the 12 seconds of the program name). Then, to the count of 10, you return to the starting position.

Each exercise should take approximately 90 seconds, and each circuit should take about six minutes.

The workout schedule:

Day 1 – Legs, back, chest, and abs (primary muscles)
Day 2 – Shoulders, biceps, triceps, and abs (secondary muscles

Cruise recommends getting at least two days of rest between workouts; to help with this he suggests scheduling your workouts on the same days each week, such as on Mondays and Thursdays.

“When it comes to strength training, all you really need is two sessions a week,” Cruise says. “If your sessions are intense enough, you will actually need the other five days in the week to let your body rest and recover.”

Burn Calories with the Right Foods
Eating right is also crucial to reaching your 2008 fitness goals. Many people think if they exercise, they can eat whatever they want. Not true, Cruise says. “Knowing how to eat right will ensure that you whittle your waist. Think of your diet as the ingredients that will literally construct your new body.”

To maximize the benefits of good nutrition, check out Jorge’s Packs shakes and personalized vitamins at www.JorgesPacks.com.

The 12-Second Sequence includes detailed diet information; recommended sources of carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats; fast, nutrient-rich recipes; even suggestions for healthy fast-food meals.

The basics of Cruise’s eating plan:

Eat every three hours – three meals, three snacks.

Have breakfast within one hour of waking up.

Avoid eating starchy carbs at night.

Each meal is 400-600 calories; each snack is approximately 100 calories.

Diet should be 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat.

The 12-Second Sequence program also builds in a “free day,” once a week in which you can eat whatever you want. While that approach may seem like self-sabotage, Cruise says one cheat day (but just one!) actually helps your weight-loss efforts. “Studies have shown that if you eat double the amount of calories you normally eat in one day, you will actually speed up your metabolism by 9% for the following 24 hours.” Plus you won’t feel deprived, often the reason people fall off diets.

Ready to start? Try these four fat-burning, muscle-building exercises from The 12-Second Sequence, plus a delicious, protein-rich recipe.

Exercise #1: Chair Crunch

Works: Abs

1. Sit on the front edge of a sturdy chair.

2. Reach your hands behind you, and grab the sides of the chair.

3. Extend your legs out, and allow your upper body to recline back slightly.

4. Inhale deeply and exhale in short bursts as you slowly draw your knees in and up toward your chest through a count of 10 seconds.

5. Hold the position and squeeze for 2 seconds.

6. Return legs to starting point through a count of 10 seconds.

7. Without resting, repeat 3 times.

Exercise #2: Incline Push-Up

Works: Arms

1. Lean against a wall or staircase, so your upper body is elevated above your feet and you are looking at your hands.

2. Keep your head up, back straight and abs tight.

3. Inhale deeply and exhale in short bursts as you bend your arms, lowering yourself down through a count of 10 seconds.

4. Hold at maximum tension for a count of 2 seconds.

5. Return to starting point through a count of 10 seconds.

6. Without resting, repeat 3 times.

Exercise #3: Plié Squat

Works: Legs

1. Hold one dumbbell with both hands and stand with your feet about twice shoulder-width apart, toes turned out to the sides and knees aligned over the toes.

2. Inhale deeply and exhale in short bursts as you squat through a count of 10 seconds.

3. Hold for 2 seconds in a full squat position.

4. Push through your heels to return to starting point through a count of 10 seconds.

5. Without resting, repeat three times.

Exercise #4: Chair Dip with Swiss Ball (large exercise ball)

Works: Triceps

1. Sit on the front edge of a sturdy chair or exercise bench, hands close by your sides, fingers forward, and legs extended and resting on the ball.

2. Inhale deeply and exhale in short bursts as you bend your arms lowering yourself down through a count of 10 seconds.

3. Hold at the maximum tension for 2 seconds.

4. Push yourself back up to starting point through a count of 10 seconds.

5. Without resting, repeat 3 times.

Curried Chicken Salad in Lettuce Cups

Serves 4

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

3/4 cup quick-cooking brown rice

1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise

1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt

1/4 cup chopped chives

1/4 cup red onion, finely diced

Juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon curry powder (or more to taste)

1 1/4 lbs cooked chicken breast meat

2 tablespoons golden raisins

2 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 large Bibb or butter lettuce leaves

Preparation

1. Combine rice with 1 1/2 cups water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.

2. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.

3. Simmer until rice is tender and the water has been absorbed, about 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, stir together the mayonnaise, yogurt, chives, onion, celery, lime juice, and curry powder.

5. Gently fold in chicken, raisins and almonds. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Stack two lettuce leaves on each of four plates. Spoon 1/4 of the chicken salad into each lettuce cup.

7. Add 1/2 cup of rice mixture to each lettuce cup and serve.

10 Ways to Beat the Bloat

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 05:08:00 PST

Fat days. Everyone has them. You feel puffy, bloated and downright uncomfortable. Did you really gain five pounds overnight, or is something else to blame? The good news: You’re just bloated. Even better, with a few simple changes in diet (plus a little exercise), you can make those skinny jeans fit comfortably again. Follow these 10 bloat-busting tips…

1. Stay Hydrated

Drinking water is probably the last thing on your mind when you feel your abdomen is about to explode. But, believe it or not, water is exactly what your bloated body needs. Several glasses a day will restore your body’s sodium balance so your body will ironically be more willing to give up fluids. Fluids also flush your system and keep your digestive tract moving so you don’t become constipated.

Ditch the sodas and other carbonated beverages. You may think they’ll make you feel better by inducing burping, but all they do is add gas to your system and increase bloating.

Instead, quench your thirst with water – the perfect, all-natural drink. If a glass of the clear stuff doesn’t excite you, dress it up with lemon or lime slices or an instant flavor pack. You can find low-calorie, sweetened flavor packs to carry in your purse or gym bag. Look for Crystal Light, Propel, Water Sensations or any store brand. If you love the taste of fresh lemon and lime, but don’t want the inconvenience, try True Lemon and True Lime (TrueLemon.com), crystallized lemon or lime in individual packets with no sweeteners or calories.

The right foods can help hydrate you, too. Many fruits and veggies are naturally water-filled, so they’ll give your body just what it craves. And they come with a bonus: disease-fighting phytochemicals. Grab in-season, juicy fruits like tangerines and kiwi for a healthy snack, and leave the chips on the shelf. Or sit down to lunch with a colorful fruit salad or a plate piled high with plenty of hydrating vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers.

2. Be Strict About Salt

Salt makes your body retain water. And since nearly every item on grocery aisle shelves and restaurant menus is sodium-packed, cutting down is no easy feat. In fact, nearly 80% of the sodium in our diets comes from packaged or canned foods and restaurant meals.

Where should you start? Think fresh and unprocessed. Prepare more meals at home and buy convenience foods labeled low sodium. You’re always a winner with plain fruits and vegetables, but be careful about what you dip them in or top them with. The salt in dressings, dips and sauces can bring on the bloat.

Study the nutritional information on food labels, too. You can’t judge a food’s saltiness by its taste: a 6-inch tuna sub sandwich has over 1,000 milligrams (mg) of sodium, but an ounce (1/4 cup) of salty peanuts has only 160 mg, about the same as a cup of fruit-flavored yogurt.

At home, skip the salt shaker. Add flavor with lemon, garlic, basil, rosemary, cilantro, parsley, jalapeños, or any of your favorite herbs and spices.

3. Skip Sugar Alcohols

These sugar substitutes – sorbitol, xylitol, maltitol, isomalt, lactitol, mannitol, erythritol, and hydrogenated starch hydrolysates (HSH) – could be lurking in any food marked sugar-free, so scrutinize labels. Buying sugarless foods may save you a few calories, but the food additives replacing sugar come at a cost. Because sugar alcohols are slowly and only partially digested, they linger in your gut. The normal bacteria there make a meal out of them, and the end result is gas, a little or a lot.

4. Be Wise About Dairy

A great source of calcium, protein and other nutrients, dairy also contains lactose, a natural sugar. Nearly 50 million Americans are lactose-intolerant, meaning they lack enough of the enzyme lactase to completely digest the sugar lactose found in dairy products. When lactose is undigested, it causes gas and cramping.

If you’re one of those 50 million, don’t despair. You might be able to eat cheese and yogurt without any discomfort: Much of the lactose breaks down during processing. Some lactose-intolerant people can even drink milk in small quantities. If dairy bothers you, start with about one-fourth to one-half cup milk twice a day and gradually work up to about two cups daily. You can also buy lactose-reduced milk or use Lactaid, an over-the counter lactase enzyme. Take Lactaid each time you eat or drink dairy foods to help digest the lactose.

If you avoid all dairy or eat very little of it, you’ll have to work extra hard to meet your calcium needs of about 1,000 mg to 1,300 mg per day. Try calcium-fortified soy milk or orange juice instead.

5. Eat Potassium-Rich Foods

This mineral blunts the effects of too much salt by triggering the kidneys to excrete more sodium. Most fruits and veggies are potassium-loaded. Here are some that are especially rich: bananas, mangos, melons, papayas, potatoes, spinach, tomatoes and nuts. Orange juice is another great source of potassium – but keep an eye on the calories (fruit juice is a concentrated source of natural sugars, which means the calories can add up fast).

6. Eat Small

If you have that stuffed feeling, eat smaller quantities to give your digestive tract a chance to do its thing. If smaller meals leave you hungry and low on energy, perk up with a healthful snack. Or divide your meal into two mini-meals eaten two to three hours apart.

If a typical lunch includes a sandwich, broccoli and apple salad, and yogurt, switch to two mini-meals:

Mini meal #1: 1/2 sandwich, broccoli and apple salad

Mini meal #2: 1/2 sandwich, yogurt

7. Savor Every Bite

Don’t gobble. Slow down and enjoy your food. You swallow more air when you race through a meal, and more air in your belly means more bloating.

8. Take Beano

Plenty of good-for-you foods like beans, broccoli and beets cause gas. But don’t skip this disease-fighting fare. Beano, an over-the-counter digestive supplement, breaks down the foods’ complex sugars into simple sugars before your gut’s bacteria has a chance to chow down and leave you with a gas crisis.

9. Move It

Get off the couch. Feeling bloated and sluggish is no reason to skip your workout. You can move gas quickly through your system with a little huffing and puffing. Turn on some loud music and dance the bloat away. Take a walk. Or play tag with the kids.

10. For Chronic Bloat, See a Doctor

Most bloat is no cause for concern. But if the problem is chronic or these tips don’t offer you relief, visit your healthcare provider to rule out something more serious, like bowel obstruction. Celiac disease, a digestive disease triggered by intolerance to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley, may also be to blame.

Train Your Brain to Lose Weight

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:16:00 PST

Never Say Diet

Another year has gone by and you’re still battling the bulge, trying everything to shed those extra pounds. You’re sick of too-tight clothes, feeling self-conscious and making new promises every Monday. A familiar four-letter word may be on the tip of your tongue, but the secret to finally saying goodbye to the flab is to NEVER say diet. That’s the motto of Chantel Hobbs, an author and personal trainer who shed 200 pounds without pills or surgery. Below, she talks about the 5-step plan that helped her lose weight…

“You have such a pretty face.”

These words haunted Chantel Hobbs for years. As her weight ballooned to nearly 350 pounds, the mother of four tried everything under the sun, only to fail time and time again. Throughout her life, Hobbs turned to food for solace. Embarrassment and shame about her weight consumed her.

But it all changed in an instant. Driving home from church one night, Hobbs, then 29, sat in her car wallowing in self-pity. She contemplated what her life would be like if she could shop in normal-sized stores, dine in restaurants without being stared at, and play actively with her children.

In this moment of desperation, Hobbs realized she had to do something immediately.

A lifelong yo-yo dieter, Hobbs vowed to realize a healthy life and a healthy weight, no matter what it took. Over a period of two years, Hobbs lost 200 pounds, and she’s kept it off for the past five years. Her incredible story has been featured in People magazine and on Oprah.

In her book, Never Say Diet (WaterBrook Press, 2007), Hobbs chronicles her journey from obese to fit, and she shares her 5-phase plan for lasting weight loss.

The Brain Drain Decisions

Unlike most diet programs, Never Say Diet doesn’t promise rapid weight loss and quick results. Instead, the 16-week program uses a 5-phase approach that implements one major transition a month – from exercising to eating right to behavior modification. However, it’s the mental activities that really make the plan stand out, Hobbs explains.

“In order to change your life, you must change your brain,” she said. “You must adjust your lifestyle.”

“My approach is inside out. It’s a transitional plan, unlike most other plans that say ‘Here’s a program that’ll take you 30 days to lose 30 pounds.’ When it comes down to anything quick and easy, it usually isn’t lasting,” Hobbs says. “You have to learn behavior to make it lasting. It’s not just about losing weight.”

According to Hobbs, without laying a foundation of new behavior, you’ll keep doing what you’ve always done – and getting no results. With Never Say Diet, it’s as simple as making five key “brain-change” decisions:

1. Be truthful

Own up to your failures. Identify the excuses you’ve made all of these years about why you can’t achieve a healthy weight. Stop lying to yourself and tell the truth.

2. Be forgiving

Forgive yourself. Refuse to be punished by your past. But remember how important it is to learn from your mistakes.

3. Be committed

Decide today that you will be dedicated. Enjoy the small successes to build both confidence and commitment.

4. Be interested

Do research and strive to learn about your body. It’s easier to make the right decisions when you understand why you’re making them.

5. Surrender

Let go and ask for help from a higher power.

The Power of 5

After starting her weight-loss process in 2000, Hobbs began learning what it takes to live a healthier, happier life. Like many dieters, she encountered obstacles that challenged her dedication.

Hobbs got to the finish line by sticking to a 5-phase plan that slowly, but surely, resulted in her dropping pounds and firming up. By making just one big change a month, she found she could revamp her lifestyle without setting herself up for failure.

Phase 1: Get a Move On

For five days a week, five days in a row, do 30 minutes of movement. It doesn’t matter how many calories you burn or how intensely you work out; just move. The first month is about discipline. Do cardiovascular movement from walking to jogging to running. For Hobbs, it was a matter of getting on the stationary bike when she was at her highest weight.

Phase 2: Take Charge

Find the food you struggle with most in life – whether it’s ice cream, chips or French fries. Give it up for a whole month. By the end you’ll find you’re not bonded to that food anymore. You’re also still exercising five days a week. This newfound momentum (and improving fitness) will help you get even better results.

Phase 3: Make Food Boring

Look at food as fuel. Consume five meals a day that are 250-300 calories each. Hobbs would eat her proteins and carbs early in the day. In the afternoon, she’d eliminate the carbs and anything other than vegetables or salad. Dinner was mostly vegetables and protein.

However, the program is about creating what works for you. If you have a meal that goes over your calorie limit, then cut back a bit at the next meal.

Phase 4: Get Strong

Continue strength training. Ten more exercises are introduced in this phase. The key is to develop a strong core, which is the basis for most of your movements. A powerful core is crucial for overall strength, whether you’re lifting groceries or carrying the kids. You aren’t training to get good at the gym – you’re training to get good at life.

This is also the time to start reintroducing certain foods back into your diet. One meal a week, indulge in your favorite foods. Don’t think of it as cheating. By factoring that splurge into your diet, you will stay on plan without feeling deprived.

Phase 5: Make It Real

Create your own strength-training program using the exercises from Never Say Diet, or create your own. By Phase 5, you’ve been on the program for more than 16 weeks. You’re closer to your weight-loss goals, so the next step is a long-term maintenance plan.

Hobbs recommends an 80/20 eating regimen. Eat “clean” foods (natural, unprocessed, without added sugar and fats) 80% of the time, restricting your intake of processed foods to 20%. People who still need to lose a lot of weight should follow Phase 4’s nutrition plan for four additional weeks.

Never Say Diet

Through ups and downs, progress and setbacks, Hobbs managed to stick with her program. Her credo: Avoid the four-letter word that dooms so many people struggling to lose weight.

“If I can do this, you can do this,” Hobbs says. “I realize now that the diet industry is rigged to keep us fat. They need us to keep needing them. They want you to think you’re incapable of planning your own meals, that you need them to figure it all out for you. It’s not that it doesn’t work, it just doesn’t work forever.”

Want to learn more? Get your own copy of Never Say Diet and check out ChantelHobbs.com.

Reba McEntire’s Secrets to Staying Slim

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 18:07:00 PST

Trimming Tips from the Country Star

Unlike many A-list celebrities who swear they are simply blessed with a speedy metabolism, country music superstar Reba McEntire admits that it takes hard work to maintain her figure. She monitors what she eats, exercises regularly and, yes, splurges occasionally. In this candid interview, the 52-year-old star shares her tips for keeping trim. Plus, get two recipes straight from McEntire’s kitchen…

A Grammy-winning singer and Emmy-nominated actress, McEntire knows the importance of good health. The famous redhead has been in the spotlight for decades, along the way racking up 22 number one hits, selling more than 50 million records, and starring in a hit T.V. series, Reba.

Like many women, McEntire has to work for what came easily when she was younger. “There comes a time in your life when you realize you have to take good care of your body,” McEntire says. “That means eating right and exercising regularly.”

At 5’7”, McEntire aims to be a slim 125 pounds but says her weight fluctuates, especially when she indulges in her favorite foods. Here she reveals her five strategies for staying slim, healthy and strong.

Cut down on red meat and fats

“We used to eat meat almost every day growing up,” says McEntire whose father was a rancher and champion steer-roper. “Our biggest treat was some of my mother’s Southern cooking, filled with cholesterol.”

Today, McEntire has learned the benefits of eating nutritiously. “I’m aware of what I eat and if it’s healthy or not. I’ve all but given up eating meat, opting more for chicken, fish and salads. When we do have meat, it’s a grilled lean steak.”

Even a Southern tradition of barbecue gets the healthy treatment at McEntire’s house. “I love to throw a thick steak on the grill; I just make sure it’s lean and the fat is taken off,” McEntire says. “We’ve perfected grilled tuna and swordfish too. Put that with steamed vegetables and rice and you’ve got a well-balanced, low-fat dinner.”

When McEntire isn’t on the road, she enjoys cooking for her family – husband/manager Narvel and their 17-year-old son, Shelby. “I wouldn’t say I’m a gourmet cook, but I do love trying different recipes,” McEntire says. “I’m also trying to eat foods high in calcium since I don’t eat a lot of dairy products. I try to use broccoli in a lot of my cooking because of its overall goodness.”

Her favorite quick, easy and healthy meal? “Skinless chicken, potatoes and salad!” (Get the recipe for Reba’s Yogurt Chicken on page 6)

Don’t stress about weight fluctuations

“Right before last year’s Academy of Country Music Awards, I went on a really strict diet and worked out a lot,” McEntire says. “I had some dresses that I bought three months ago that I couldn’t get into anymore. Then I went on vacation and gained back five to 10 pounds.”

The singer takes the up-and-down in stride. “I fluctuate quite a bit – at least five pounds. But I do love to eat. It’s a great part of life. But if I set my mind to it, I can lose the weight.”

To do that, McEntire follows a regimented program consisting of lots of protein, avoidance of carbs, drinking at least 10 glasses of water a day and getting a lot of sleep.

Regular exercise

McEntire varies her exercise activities. At home, she uses her tennis courts and swimming pool – mixing fitness with fun. She also has a small gym complete with free weights and a treadmill. Plus, “I like to go for walks and horseback ride, too. I could ride for hours.”

When on the road touring, McEntire picks hotels with a gym or spa so she can do some cardio exercise. “I like doing regular Pilates. It’s a great total body workout that isn’t rough on you.”

Yet like most women McEntire has some body parts she’s just not thrilled with. Her trouble spots? “A flabby butt and jiggly arms.”

Juice up

Living a leaner lifestyle has also meant lots of natural fruit juices. “Instead of the tried-and-true waffles with peanut butter, syrup and jelly, I now like a fresh juice for breakfast,” McEntire says. “It’s very filling and it really cleans out my system. I try and make one in my juicer in the morning. I like an apple/orange one but my favorite is the carrot/cucumber juice.”

To make McEntire’s carrot/cucumber juice concoction, combine the juice of: 2 carrots, 1 bell pepper, 1/2 to 1 cucumber, 1 celery stalk, 1 sliced apple.

Entertaining with friends and family

Keeping track of her diet doesn’t mean McEntire shies away from parties. Being a Southerner, the singer loves dishing up some down-home hospitality at her Nashville house.

“Food is the comfort spot for most people so I always serve some kind of chips and dip,” she says. “I’ve had Texas barbecues for Don Henley when we were recording. He loved my Reba Beans, a comfort food made from scratch right inside my own kitchen. I serve it with cornbread.” (Get the recipe for Reba’s Beans on page 7).

Over the years, the Oklahoma native has cultivated lasting relationships with country music’s other female all-stars, including Trisha Yearwood, Dolly Parton, Faith Hill, and Barbara Mandrell. McEntire says these friendships help keep her grounded, balanced and mentally healthy. “You have to stay in contact and work at it, so I do stay in touch. There are things you can tell a friend that you can’t tell anyone else. It’s kind of like a therapy session.”

Reba’s Yogurt Chicken

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Preparation

1. In small bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken; mix well.

2. Score top of chicken by making shallow cuts, about one-eighth to one-quarter inch deep.

3. Place chicken in zipper-topped plastic bag; add enough yogurt mixture to coat, reserving some for basting. Turn until chicken is coated. Let stand at room temp for 15 minutes.

4. Preheat broiler. Place chicken on broiler pan coated with non-stick cooking spray; brush with reserved yogurt mixture.

5. Broil 4-6 inches from heat source for 6-8 minutes.

6. Turn chicken over; brush with more reserved yogurt mixture.

7. Broil an additional 7-9 minutes or until chicken is fork tender and juices run clear. Discard any remaining yogurt mixture.

Reba’s Beans

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

2 large onions, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

1/2 lb lean ground beef

1 green pepper, seeded and chopped

1/2 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

2 (15 oz) cans pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 (10 oz) box frozen corn kernels, thawed

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

3 tablespoons molasses

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce

2 tablespoons ground dry mustard

Preparation

1. Heat grill. Add onion slices and grill 3 minutes or until softened, turning once.

2. Remove onions from grill and coarsely chop.

3. In heavy large pot or Dutch oven, on medium-high heat, cook beef, green peppers and green beans for about 3 minutes.

4. Stir in remaining ingredients, including cooked onions.

5. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook 20 minutes, or until heated through.

Stirring the Pot With Anthony Bourdain

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 19:31:00 PST

Celebrity Chef Shares the Secret to a Great Meal

He’s the bad boy of cooking – the chef that people love… or love to hate. Anthony Bourdain rose to fame with his book Kitchen Confidential (Bloomsbury, 2000), a look at the drug- and alcohol-fueled inner workings of restaurants, culled from his experience in several of New York’s trendiest kitchens. His freewheeling, blunt approach then found a home on his popular TV series “No Reservations,” in which he eats and drinks his way around the world. Bourdain offers his characteristically candid take on his favorite meals, his restaurant and why Billy Joel music isn’t allowed in his kitchen. Plus, get one of his favorite recipes…

You don’t want to eat some of the dishes Bourdain has tasted on national TV: the still-beating heart of a cobra, rotting shark, raw seal brains, or – the worst, he says – a fire-roasted warthog, complete with fur and entrails. For the New Jersey native, truly great cuisine requires taking chances. As he says, “Food that’s too safe, too pasteurized, too healthy, it’s bad! There should be some risk, like unpasteurized cheese.”

These types of pronouncements, and his fearlessness in taking aim at fellow celebrity chefs (Emeril Lagasse is “Ewok-like”, Sandra Lee “pure evil”, and Rachael Ray “a bobblehead”), made Bourdain a natural for television. The Food Network snapped him up in 2001 for “A Cook’s Tour” in which Bourdain traveled the world in search of extreme cuisine – a format he’s taken to the Travel Channel with “No Reservations.”

Bourdain lives in New York City with his wife, Ottavia Busia, and their 9-month old daughter, Ariane. Yet being a husband and father hasn’t tamed his frank nature. Below, Bourdain weighs in on some of his favorite topics.

Best meals

“In South Vietnam, I ate at a restaurant with low plastic stools and had pho, basically a spiced chicken noodle soup with a little chicken or beef in it. [A] rustic bistro meal in Paris was a working man’s type place and the 20-course meal in Napa Valley speaks for itself. I think my point is that you really can’t plan for perfect meals – they tend to sneak up on you.”

Worst meal

Probably the vegan meal I had in Berkeley – it was just frightening. If you’re eating not very good food with just abominable people in a terrible situation, that’s the worst meal ever. A little piece of your heart gets chipped away by people who frighten or dismay you and I think we’ve all experienced that situation at some time.

What makes a meal memorable?

The context of a meal is important. The professional side of my brain takes over when I’m eating at a fine restaurant, but it’s the emotional side when I’m at a little noodle stand or a restaurant in rural Mexico. I’m more grateful to be there, I guess. Some of the best meals of my life, the food has actually been mediocre. So I rate a meal [on] whether there is good conversation, a nice atmosphere and good people, then the meal itself.

If I find myself dining with headhunters in the jungles of Borneo and having a really good time, being treated very well by often very poor strangers and in an exotic situation that I never thought in a million years I would get to experience – it’s exciting, fun and gratifying to me.

I’ve had some pretty bad food with some really great people in some really amazing places. I’ll remember those great meals. The duck in the Mekong Delta with former Viet Cong was a great, pinch-me meal that I’ll always remember and the duck wasn’t really that good. Didn’t matter.

Favorite dish to make at home

I’m very happy making linguini and white clam sauce. There are some differences of opinion on how great I actually make it, but, for some reason, I’m not an Italian cook. It’s really not my strength. But when I do get a chance to make it, it’s fun and actually good tasting.

Why he’s a better cook in restaurants than at home

The difference between cooking at home and cooking in restaurants is often how professionals approach their work area and manage their time and space. Halfway through the cooking process at home, you realize ‘Oh gee, where did I put that’, whatever ‘that’ might be. At that point, you’ve messed up, or you lose focus and you begin to get frustrated, and all is lost. Food senses fear and misbehaves.

Not a born chef

I had no plans to become a chef. There wasn’t much going on in Jersey food-wise then. There was one good deli.

Why Billy Joel music isn’t allowed in his kitchen

Let’s put it this way. If I found anyone visibly enjoying Billy Joel music in my kitchen, a tiny switch would go off in my head that this is someone I could not work with for long. I’m just not a Billy Joel fan, yet I’ve met him in person and like him. He’s a nice guy and knows how to eat. He even sent me an autographed photo of himself for my kitchen saying, ‘I guess you do let Billy Joel in the kitchen.’

On his Manhattan restaurant, Les Halles

Best dish: “It’s a very straightforward working-class French food signature dish called cassoulet or steak frites. Very simple stuff, but very flavorful and good.”

Semi-retirement: “I don’t cook there anymore. I’m sort of the poster boy, spiritual leader, but I really don’t serve a day-to-day function there anymore.”

If his entertainment career went bust: “I’d be happy [cooking full-time]. I sure as hell wouldn’t be as good as I used to be. I’m slowing down. I go in there for a vanity shift a few times a year, just to prove I can still move in there, which I can, but could I do it every day like I used to? Could I do 14 hours a day, five or six days a week, and do I want to? I might require slightly cushier arrangements.”

His history of substance abuse

It came as a surprise to me when I lived past 30. I idolized all the wrong people, ones who lived fast and died young. I never had any notion that I would someday travel the world doing whatever I wanted. Nobody was more surprised than me when Kitchen Confidential did so well.

Food critics

There are hundreds of food writers who are unapologetic schnores. Anyone looking to beat a check, feed a friend for free or have me buy their boyfriend’s paintings, I don’t respect. But I don’t complain. Now book critics? I believe everything that has been written about me, good or bad. They’ve always got a point. The celebrity chef thing, for whatever reason it happened, I think has been good for diners. It certainly has been good for chefs.

Leche de Tigre with Seviche

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

4 to 5 limes, juiced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
2 to 3 serrano peppers, seeded and minced, to taste
Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces calamari, thinly sliced
1 lb red snapper or grouper, thinly sliced
24 to 32 littleneck clams
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, optional

Preparation

1. Add all the ingredients (except cilantro) to a nonreactive* glass or stainless steel bowl.

2. Marinate about 10 minutes in the refrigerator.

3. Strain the juice from the seviche, and serve the juice in 8 chilled short glasses.

4. Arrange the seviche in 8 martini glasses. Garnish with cilantro.

Serve the juice alongside the seviche and enjoy!

*Nonreactive materials, like stainless steel, glass and ceramic, don’t react with acidic ingredients. Reactive materials, like copper and aluminum, trigger a chemical reaction when they come in contact with acidic foods, possibly affecting the taste and/or color of your recipe.

Want to learn more? Get your own copy of Kitchen Confidential.

The Gal's Guide to Her Guy's Equipment

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 06:56:00 PST

8 Things You Should Know About His Penis

What’s long and hard and carries seamen? A submarine! Grade school kids love that joke. But here’s a fact that’s not so funny: Most grown women have little more than a grade-school understanding of “submarines” even if they’ve berthed quite a few. Worried that you’re missing the hard facts about what’s going on below his belt? We asked prominent urologists – people who have penis knowledge well beyond the standard owner’s manual – to give us the lowdown on what a woman needs to know about her guy’s favorite submersible…

1. Five to six inches is average
Is my penis big enough? It’s such an age-old worry for guys that someone actually got out a tape measure and checked. In a laboratory.

And the news is that, despite the massive members showcased in X-rated flicks, studies published in medical journals indicate that the average guy measures 5.1-5.7 inches when erect and 3.4-3.7 inches when not.

Some penises can appear smaller than they actually are because fat around the lower abdomen masks their true size – guys can lose the appearance of a full inch for every additional 35 pounds they’re carrying. It can also be caused by skin on the penis that isn’t securely anchoring the shaft, which means his member retracts when soft.

When it comes to size, says Dr. Ciril Godec, chairman of urology at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn – the thing to remember is this: “The vagina always adjusts to the penis that’s in it.”

2. There’s no need to supersize.
Email boxes are flooded every day with offers to “enlarge your penis” – even if you don’t have one. “They’re garbage,” says Dr. Marc Greenstein, a urologist with the North Jersey Center for Urologic Care.

The same holds true for surgery to expand the penis. One such procedure involves injecting body fat into the penis to thicken it. Another severs the suspensory penile ligament, which attaches the penis to the pubic bone.

Reputable urologists won’t perform either procedure because they’re not effective and because there’s a risk of mutilation, infection and fracture.

Plus, once the ligament’s cut guys lose their ability to steer, which is not good for you. “The penis just kind of flops; you can’t really direct it,” says Dr. Sovrin Shah, a urologist with Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.

Still, if you and your partner feel the need to upsize, pick up a penis pump or cock ring at an adult boutique. They can temporarily increase penis size by drawing more blood to the area.

3. If it’s morning, he’s erect.
Much as we’d like to think that guys wake up hard because they’re sleeping next to us, morning erections (called morning wood in the U.S., morning glory in the U.K. and nocturnal penile tumescence in the urology world) are really just a holdover from the dreaming or rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep. During the REM cycle, neurological activity and the release of hormones like testosterone produce erections.

Some docs believe that the body’s natural way of keeping the penis healthy is to infuse it with fresh, nutrient-rich blood each night through erections. But regardless of why it happens, it’s fairly routine.

On average, healthy guys experience three to five erections during a normal night’s sleep. We’re just awake enough to appreciate it in the morning.

4. If you bend it, it can break.
While there are no bones in boners, the corpora cavernosa – the chambers of the penis that fill with blood during erection – are made of connective tissue, and if the penis bends suddenly and awkwardly, the tissue can actually crack.

The classic recipe for breakage: Gal on top, guy on bottom, and in the throes of passion, somebody... misses. Ouch! “It breaks right in half,” Greenstein says. Fractured penises require surgery to repair and take about six weeks to heal completely.

5. His testes won’t burst if he doesn’t ejaculate.
No doubt Greenstein will be drummed out of the guys’ club for divulging the truth about this popular ploy for talking us into sex, but arousal without release doesn’t damage the family jewels. While it’s true that men’s testicles can expand by 25%-50% during arousal, there’s yet to be a report in medical literature of testicles popping from lack of climax. The trapped blood can make the testicles feel achy without the big finish (they may even turn a bit blue as the blood loses oxygen), but the only damage done, says Greenstein, “is to men’s pride.”

6. Not hard? It’s (probably) not you.
Equipment malfunctions have a lot to do with how guys treat their own bodies. Smoking, for instance, narrows the blood vessels in the penis, which are already pretty narrow at 0.5-1 millimeter in diameter. Since erections depend on unimpeded blood flow to the penis, any kind of narrowing or impedance reduces rigidity. Indeed, smokers are twice as likely to become impotent as nonsmokers. In addition, having a few drinks to “get you in the mood” can backfire by basically paralyzing the nerves of the penis, according to Godec. “If there’s no stimulation leading to dilation of blood vessels, there’s no erection,” he says.

The occasional flat tire isn’t cause for concern, but if your guy’s been more deflated than elated lately, get him to a doctor pronto – erectile woes are often the first indicator of serious health problems. Men with erectile dysfunction typically develop coronary artery disease within three years and diabetes within eight years. And if they also have hypertension, they’re more likely to have a heart attack or stroke. “The penis is the thermometer of men’s health,” says Dr. Ridwan Shabsigh, associate professor of urology at Columbia University in New York City.

7. Hair triggers can be handled.
It’s thought that about 30% of guys are, shall we say, quick on the draw. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy marathon sex with your guy, provided you approach the situation with patience, honesty and a diplomat’s tact.

First, you’ve got to strategically raise the issue. Yes, this will be awkward, but couching it as a conversation about how you can please each other takes the edge off, says sexpert Pepper Schwartz, Ph.D., author of Prime: Adventures and Advice on Sex, Love and the Sensual Years (Collins, 2007). She suggests this opener: “Is there something we can do that can help us last a little longer? I enjoy having you so much, I don’t want it to stop that quickly.”

“This way it’s not all about him; it’s about you as a couple,” Schwartz says.

Once you’re both on board with the slow-down program, there are many ways to apply the brakes. SSRI antidepressants are often prescribed to help with premature ejaculation. But according to Shah, this buys guys only a couple minutes of extra time.

A better approach may be the “start-stop” method: Your partner gets aroused, backs off before the point of no return, lets things cool down, and then starts again. The idea, explains Shah, is to gradually build tolerance so that with practice he can last longer.

Schwartz also recommends having a throwaway round. “Having a quick session will reduce the sense of urgency,” she explains. “Then plan on having a longer session together. He simply won’t be as quick the second time.”

Another exercise is to play around without having intercourse. “This way he learns how to hold an erection for a while without feeling that he has to do something with it right away,” Schwartz says.

8. The flipside: Erections can last too long.
There’s admirable staying power... and then there’s the erection that overstays its welcome. Erections that stick around for two to three hours after ejaculation are a sign of plumbing problems. You’ll remember from sex ed classes that erections occur when blood rushes into the penis and the veins snap shut to keep it there, making the penis stay hard. After ejaculation, those blood vessels are meant to relax so the blood can drain out.

If blood gets trapped erection becomes painful and, if untreated, this congestion may lead to impotence. Known as priapism (after the Greek fertility/virility god Priapus), this condition mainly affects men with sickle cell anemia, diabetes or leukemia. However, it has been known to happen when guys double up on their erection medications in an effort to put on a good show in bed. So if your guy’s woody shows no signs of wilting, swallow your embarrassment and go to the emergency room. In the early stages, docs can use drugs to lower the boom. But the longer you wait, the more likely he’ll need surgery.

Want to learn more? Get your own copy of Prime.

Get an UltraMetabolism Upgrade

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:21:00 PST

9 Steps to Faster Fat-Burning

If you’re among the two-thirds of Americans who struggle with weight, you may consider food an unavoidable enemy. The variety of processed eats that surround us 24-7 not only pack on pounds, but can also lead to heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and even dementia. According to Dr. Mark Hyman, creator of the UltraMetabolism Diet, simply by eating the right foods, you can boost your metabolism and improve your health. He shares his 9 steps for a slimmer you…

If food is a source of anxiety and guilt, not pleasure, best-selling diet expert Hyman has the antidote. In his latest book, The UltraMetabolism Cookbook (Scribner, 2007), Hyman serves up a culinary cure in 200 easy-to-follow recipes designed for “automatic weight loss.” Each recipe contains carefully chosen ingredients that can help ignite the body’s natural fat-burning ability.

“I wanted to create a fabulous cookbook of delicious, fresh, wonderful foods that didn’t include gluten and dairy,” Hyman tells LifeScript. The reason? For many people, food sensitivities caused by gluten and dairy products create inflammation in the body, which in turn causes insulin resistance and, ultimately, obesity. “I’m not saying everyone should be gluten- and dairy-free, but many people have unrecognized, hidden reactions to these foods.”

That’s especially true in the U.S., he says, where whole, locally-grown foods are often difficult to find on grocery shelves. “When you go to Europe and have gluten and dairy, it’s different,” he says. “Eating cheese from some guy’s local cow that eats the grass – no hormones or antibiotics – is a different molecule combination.”

Fresh, natural foods kick-start your metabolism and heal your body. By contrast, he says, processed foods that are high in trans fats and sugars rev up your disease and weight gain genes. “The basic message is if you want to get thin you have to get healthy,” Hyman says. “The same things that make people sick are the same things that make people fat.”

In UltraMetabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss (Scribner, 2006), Hyman explains how the right foods maximize your body’s potential for weight loss. “UltraMetabolism was an educational book, the owner’s manual for your body,” Hyman says. “This cookbook is an extension of that.”

The UltraMetabolism Cookbook features a 62-page primer on the diet program. Included is a review of Hyman’s seven metabolic keys to health and well-being. Among them: the need to subdue stress, because the body stores calories and conserves weight in such periods; the need to control inflammation, the root of disease and weight gain; and the importance of taking proper care of your liver so it can efficiently metabolize sugars and fats.

These steps embrace a new nutritional science called “functional medicine” that focuses on the underlying problems that cause weight gain and poor health.

Implementing the plan is simple. Hyman advises people to eat a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables. Why? Because “phytonutrients” – the color pigments found in vegetables and fruits – are powerful disease-reversing and age-defying compounds that our bodies crave.

“Phytonutrients are more important than vitamins and minerals,” Hyman says, “They’re powerful antioxidants that regulate inflammation and gene function. It’s quite astounding how it all works.”

Shiitake mushrooms, for instance, boost immunity. Enjoy cherries? They control inflammation. Broccoli helps your body shed environmental toxins; green tea boosts your metabolism. And it’s worth it to go organic. Organic foods contain higher levels of phytonutrients because the plants use these natural chemicals to ward off disease.

Fortunately, eating for health and weight loss doesn’t mean you have to eat boring, plain food. The cookbook includes recipes for some luxuriously rich dishes, including Chicken Cutlets with Cornmeal Crust and Cilantro Buttermilk Dressing, Wild Salmon Cakes with Asian Cabbage Slaw, and Soy Nut Pancakes with Strawberry-Banana Sauce.

“If people just eat real food, they don’t have to worry about counting fat,” Hyman says. “They don’t have to count carbohydrates. They don’t have to count calories.” All you need to do is eat and your body will begin realigning to health.

In fact, Hyman says, cravings for refined foods and sugars will likely fade within the first couple of days. “What you put in your mouth controls your hormones and your neurotransmitters,” he says. “You put in different information, you’re going to get different messages in your neurotransmitters immediately. So, actually, it’s not that hard.”

Here are Hyman’s nine steps to give your metabolism an “Ultra” upgrade:

1. Go through your pantry and cupboards and get rid of the bad stuff. “No trans fats, high-fructose corn syrup – eliminate 100 percent from [your] diet,” he says. “That alone will transform most people’s lives.”

2. Whenever possible, replace processed foods with whole, real foods that are organic.

3. Include omega-3 fatty acids in your diet by eating fish (such as wild salmon or sardines) or taking omega-3 dietary capsules.

4. Remove all gluten, dairy and eggs in your diet for three weeks, then add them back and measure how your body feels to determine if you if you have sensitivities and/or inflammatory reactions to these foods.

5. Pay attention to the colors you eat. “Eat a rainbow of color: blue, green, yellow, orange, red, purple… and I don’t mean Skittles or M&Ms,” Hyman says. Colorful whole foods are the source of “all the vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that run your metabolism and keep you healthy.”

6. Eat early and eat often. Begin with a daily breakfast that includes protein, whether it’s a protein shake, eggs or a whole grain, gluten-free cereal with nuts. “There’s a real need for eating something with protein, which regulates the amino in acids in your brain,” Hyman says.

That, in turn, communicates with your body’s appetite control center, which shuts down your hunger system. “You won’t be hungry until lunch,” Hyman says. “But if you start with a cup of coffee and big bagel or muffin you’ll be starving by 11 a.m. and craving sugar, even if it’s an 800-calorie meal.”

7. Don’t eat late. Curb your desire to snack before bedtime. “When you eat at night, particularly two to three hours before bedtime, you store the food you’re eating. That’s how they make sumo wrestlers fat.”

8. Exercise daily. Even a 30-minute walk once a day will keep you far healthier than a sedentary lifestyle. If possible, exercise in the morning to ensure you’ll get it done. But any time of day is a good time to move, Hyman says.

9. Take a quality multivitamin each day.

By incorporating these healthy habits into your life, as well eating the right foods, Hyman says you can reprogram your body to lose weight. “The payoff is you don’t feel deprived, hungry or tired. You feel full of energy, the weight comes off and many other chronic problems go away,” Hyman says. “The thing most people tell me is, ‘Doc, I didn’t know how badly I was feeling until I was feeling so good.’”

Read on for sample recipes from The UltraMetabolism Cookbook.

Wild Mushroom Sauté

Ingredients

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 medium shallots, peeled and minced (about 3 tablespoons)

2 large cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)

2 lbs wild mushrooms (shiitake, cremini or oyster), cleaned, stems removed, sliced 1/4-inch thick

3 springs of thyme

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons minced parsley

Preparation

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add shallots and cook, stirring for about 3 to 4 minutes, until translucent.

3. Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, until fragrant.

4. Add mushrooms, thyme and bay leaf. Stirring occasionally, cook until the mushrooms have released their juice.

5. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes more, until the mushrooms have browned.

6. Remove from heat and discard the bay leaf.

7. Sprinkle with the minced parsley and serve.

Nutrition Facts (per 1/2-cup serving): 108 calories, 7.5 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 4 g protein, 9 g carbohydrates, 139 mg sodium

Scallops Poached in Thai Coconut Curry Broth

Ingredients

2 cups organic low-sodium chicken stock or broth

2 (15-oz) cans unsweetened “lite” coconut milk

1 cup coconut juice

1/2 cup sliced onion

1 medium garlic clove, sliced

1 teaspoon red chili paste

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

1 large stalk of lemongrass, outside layer removed, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1 1/2 lbs sea scallops

2 cups cooked brown basmati rice

Preparation

1. In large saucepan, combine the chicken stock or broth, coconut milk, coconut juice, onion, garlic, and red chili paste. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.

2. Add the ginger and lemongrass and simmer for 20 minutes, until reduced to approximately 4 cups.

3. Strain the broth and discard the solids. Return the broth to the saucepan.

4. Add the lime zest and lime juice.

5. Reheat the broth to a simmer and add the scallops. Cook for about 2 minutes, until just opaque in the center. (Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the scallops.)

6. Spoon basmati rice into bowls. Pour broth over rice and top with scallops.

Nutrition Facts (per 6 oz of scallops plus 1 cup broth): 420 calories, 15 g fat (12.3 g saturated fat), 69 mg cholesterol, 4 g fiber, 38 g protein, 37 g carbohydrates, 450 mg sodium

Want to learn more? Get your own copies of The UltraMetabolism Cookbook and UltraMetabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss.

Bodybuilding Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 04:37:00 PST

1. A great way to improve your pull-up strength is by doing multiple sets of low reps. When most people do pull-ups they will grab the bar and grind out as many reps as they possibly can (usually not that many for most folks).

But rather then training to failure on a few sets, strive to do 10 sets of 2 reps. The way it will go is
you'll do your first set of 2 reps. Rest 1 minute. Then do your second set of 2 reps. Rest 1 minute.
etc... until you have completed 10 sets of 2 reps (i.e. 20 total pull-ups).

Even if you can't get all 10 sets of 2 reps at first, just do as many sets of 2 reps as you can. Then
for each back workout push yourself to improve until you are able to complete all 10 sets of 2
reps.

Once you can knock off 10x2 then add 1 rep to each set. So you will work towards completing 10
sets of 3 reps. Then 10 sets of 4 reps, etc. When you get to doing 10 sets of 5 reps (i.e. 50 total
reps) keep the volume close to the same and work on performing the reps with fewer sets.
(i.e. 9 sets of 6 reps, 8 sets of 7 reps, 7 sets of 8 reps, etc...)

2. My personal favourite forms of cardio include; walking and bicycle riding out doors. I also have
a stepper and an elliptical machine at home that I use quite a lot.

You don't have to stick to the same thing day in and day out. In fact I actually recommend to
people that they vary their cardio workouts so that they can prevent repetitive strain on the
joints, tendons, and ligaments from doing the same movements excessively.

I personally get better results from longer, moderate intensity cardio sessions. When I'm dieting
for a bodybuilding contest I will do 60 minutes of cardio each morning before breakfast. It does
get a bit monotonous at times, but by varying the cardio it is much more tolerable, and the fat
loss results are well worth the effort.

3. For question of gaining muscle or losing fat, I would suggest that you switch gears for a while
and focus on muscle building instead of fat loss.

The reason for this is that you have recently lost 80 lbs. and it seems that you may be at a fat
loss plateau. By taking a couple months now to focus on muscle growth you'll be able to make
some really good lean muscle gains and fire up your metabolism.

For the next couple months cut back to doing cardio no more then 3 days per week and increase
your calories so that you consume at least 500 calories above your maintenance levels. Still eat
clean healthy foods (don't use this as an excuse to eat junk food)
just increase your portion sizes to make up the
extra calories.

Then after a couple months of higher calorie eating, change back to your current fat loss plan
with less calories and more cardio.

When you switch back to focusing on fat loss you'll burn fat even faster because your metabolism
will be higher and you'll have more lean muscle mass then before.

This is why competitive bodybuilders purposely plan out phases in their training where they
focus on bulking up. And phases where they focus on getting lean and ripped for a contest.

The Bio-Genetic Muscle Gain Program is an excellent system for gaining lean muscular
bodyweight.
You can get a copy for yourself online at:
http://www.drugfreemuscle.com

5 Scrumptious Super Bowl Treats

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:28:00 PST

So Good, You Won’t Believe They’re Healthy

We all know that Super Bowl Sunday is not just about the game – it’s about the food. Those unhealthy but oh-so-delicious appetizers and entrées that you might usually avoid are hard to keep away from on game day. We’ve compiled some of our favorite Super Bowl-worthy recipes: healthful twists on the fatty, salty classics that will definitely score big with your friends…

Avocado & Corn Salsa
With only 50 calories and 3 grams of fat per serving, this healthier alternative to high-fat guacamole is sure to be a hit at your party!

Serves: 8 (about 1/4 cup each)
Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
3/4 cup frozen corn, thawed
1/2 cup quartered grape tomatoes
1 medium avocado, diced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation
Toss corn, tomatoes, avocados, cilantro, lime juice and salt in a medium bowl.

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Per 1/4 cup serving
50 calories
3 g fat (0 g sat, 2 g mono)
0 mg cholesterol
5 g carbohydrate
1 g protein
2 g fiber
37 mg sodium
169 mg potassium

Boneless Buffalo Wings
Sink your teeth into these spicy chicken breast tenders instead of the traditional, skin-on buffalo wings. We've dramatically cut the saturated fat and sodium in this Super Bowl party favorite and added a generous serving of crunchy vegetables with a lighter version of blue cheese dip.

Serves: 8 (2 wings, 1/2 cup vegetables, 2 tablespoons dip each)
Preparation time: 40 minutes

Ingredients
3 tablespoons nonfat buttermilk
3 tablespoons hot pepper sauce, such as Frank's Red Hot, divided
3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar, divided
2 pounds chicken tenders
6 tablespoons whole-wheat flour
6 tablespoons cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
2 cups peeled carrot sticks
2 cups celery sticks
Spicy Blue Cheese Dip (recipe follows)

Preparation
1. Whisk buttermilk, 2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce and 2 tablespoons vinegar in a large bowl until combined. Add chicken; toss to coat. Transfer to the refrigerator and let marinate for at least 10 minutes or up to 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, whisk flour and cornmeal in a shallow dish. Whisk the remaining 1 tablespoon hot sauce and 1 tablespoon vinegar in a small bowl.

3. Remove the chicken from the marinade and roll in the flour mixture until evenly coated. (Discard remaining marinade and flour mixture.) Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with cayenne.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken, placing each in a little oil. Cook until golden brown and cooked through, 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer to a serving platter. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and chicken, reducing the heat if necessary. Transfer to the platter. Drizzle the chicken with the reserved hot sauce mixture.

5. Serve with carrots, celery and Spicy Blue Cheese Dip (recipe follows).

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Per serving
257 calories
10 g fat (4 g sat, 4 g mono)
83 mg cholesterol
13 g carbohydrate
31 g protein
2 g fiber
382 mg sodium
257 mg potassium

Make Ahead Tip: The chicken can marinate (Step 1) for up to 1 hour.

Spicy Blue Cheese Dip
Make this your dip for Boneless Buffalo Wings and crunchy vegetables instead of a higher-fat blue cheese dressing. We've added a generous amount of cayenne pepper for fans of hot wings – omit the cayenne if you're serving this to a less spicy crowd.

Serves: 8 (1 cup each)
Preparation time: 5 minutes

Ingredients
2/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preparation
1. Whisk sour cream, blue cheese, vinegar and cayenne in a small bowl.

2. Serve with Boneless Buffalo Wings and carrot and celery sticks.

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Per 2 tablespoon serving
67 calories
6 g fat (4 g sat, 2 g mono)
16 mg cholesterol
1 g carbohydrate
3 g protein
0 g fiber
165 mg sodium
56 mg potassium

Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Chicken Parmesan Sub
You may disagree on whether the chicken parm sandwich should be known as a “sub,” “hoagie” or “grinder,” but who doesn’t love this neighborhood-deli classic? We added some spinach and have done away with all the greasy breading to make it healthier.

Make it a meal: The sandwich is filling and complete on its own, but add some crunch with carrots, celery and cucumbers on the side.

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (2 large breasts cut into 4 portions or 4 small breasts)
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 6-ounce bags baby spinach
1 cup marinara sauce, preferably low-sodium (see Tip)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
4 soft whole-wheat sandwich rolls, toasted

1. Position oven rack in top position; preheat broiler.

2. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Place chicken between 2 large pieces of plastic wrap. Pound with the smooth side of a meat mallet or a heavy saucepan until the chicken is an even 1/4-inch thickness. Dip the chicken in the flour mixture and turn to coat.

3. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add spinach and cook, stirring often, until wilted, 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl.

4. Add 1 teaspoon oil to the pan. Add half the chicken and cook until golden, 1-2 minutes per side. Transfer to a large baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and chicken; transfer to the baking sheet.

5. Top each piece of chicken with the wilted spinach, marinara sauce and Parmesan. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Broil until the cheese is melted and the chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Serve on rolls.

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Per serving (1 sub)
467 calories
13 g fat (4 g sat, 5 g mono)
78 mg cholesterol
48 g carbohydrate
42 g protein
5 g fiber
762 mg sodium
791 mg potassium

Nutrition Bonus: vitamin A (160% DV), vitamin C (46% DV), folate (43% DV), magnesium (26% dv)

Make Ahead Tip: Refrigerate leftover marinara sauce for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.

Southwestern Layered Bean Dip
Our take on this classic party dip is made with lower-fat sour cream, plenty of fiber-rich beans and vegetables – and it's still just as delicious. Scoop it up with tortilla chips.

Serves: 12 (about 1/2 cup each)
Preparation time: 20 minutes

1 16-ounce can fat-free refried beans, preferably spicy
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
4 scallions, sliced
1/2 cup prepared salsa
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 cup pickled jalapeño slices, chopped
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 1/2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 medium avocado, chopped
1/4 cup canned black olives, sliced (optional)

1. Combine refried beans, black beans, scallions, salsa, cumin, chili powder and jalapeños in a medium bowl. Transfer to a shallow 2-quart microwave-safe dish; sprinkle with cheese.

2. Microwave on High until the cheese is melted and the beans are hot, 3-5 minutes.

3. Spread sour cream evenly over the hot bean mixture, then scatter with lettuce, tomato, avocado and olives (if using).

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Per 1/2 cup serving
146 calories
7 g fat (3 g sat, 3 g mono)
12 mg cholesterol
15 g carbohydrate
7 g protein
5 g fiber
288 mg sodium
164 mg potassium

Nutrition bonus: fiber (20% DV), vitamin A (15% DV), vitamin C (15% DV)

Make Ahead Tip: Prepare through Step 1, cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. To serve, continue with Steps 2 & 3.

Chewy Chocolate Brownies
These high-energy chocolaty brownies are sure to score a touchdown on Game Day!

Serves: 24
Preparation time: 50 minutes

16 whole chocolate graham crackers (8 ounces)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup chopped pitted dates
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Coat an 8” x 11” x 1/2” baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Pulse graham crackers into crumbs in a food processor or place in a large plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. You should have about 2 cups crumbs. Transfer to a small bowl; add cocoa and salt and mix well.

3. Combine eggs, egg white, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at high speed until thickened, about 2 minutes. Blend in coffee granules and vanilla. Gently fold in dates, chocolate chips and the reserved crumb mixture. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish, spreading evenly.

4. Bake the brownies until the top springs back when lightly touched, 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before cutting.

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Per serving (1 brownie)
93 calories
2 g fat (0 g sat, 0 g mono)
18 mg cholesterol
8 g carbohydrate
2 g protein
1 g fiber
72 mg sodium

Can Unemployment Make You Sick?

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:49:00 PST

You’ve been laid off (or left your job). Suddenly, those bills look daunting, the job market bleak, and your car’s making a worrisome clunking noise. You feel a headache coming on. The fact is, your body may be taking your unemployment as hard as you are…

It has long been established that chronic stress can affect your health. Put laboratory or zoo animals under stress and they get sick or die – and so do humans. Ongoing stress ups the risk of cardiovascular disease, colds, depression, and even the recurrence of oral and genital herpes.
Now researchers at the University of California, San Francisco are closer to understanding why.

Immunity Goes Underground
The researchers examined the immune systems of 100 unemployed and 100 employed healthy men and women, taking blood samples monthly for four months to measure the effectiveness of a particular type of immune system cell. One-quarter of the participants were reemployed before the study ended, permitting investigators to take blood samples immediately before and after the workers obtained new jobs.

What the researchers found won’t surprise anyone who’s been laid off: Unemployment stresses out the immune system. The persistently unemployed group – men or women – had significantly lower immune function compared to the employed. But when someone became reemployed, the stress lessened and immune cells recovered.

Interestingly, neither group reported any illnesses during the study. Other studies of unemployment and illness have had mixed results: some have found increases and others have not.

In general, the San Francisco findings were consistent with an 8-month Swedish study comparing the function of a particular immune system cell in unemployed and employed women. Once again, immune system functionality decreased significantly in the unemployed. What was new in the San Francisco study was the ability to compare immune system activity before and after gaining employment.

The unemployed aren’t the only ones whose immunity suffers from stress. Bereaved spouses, war prisoners and hurricane victims all have slumping immune system function.

The Sabotage of Stress
Increased vulnerability to disease caused by chronic stress may be due to changes in the activity of certain brain chemicals. We know that in both laboratory animals and humans, stress increases epinephrine and norepinephrine, chemicals in the sympathetic nervous system. And increased levels of these compounds may impair immune system activity.

Under stress, your heart rate speeds up, you breathe faster and you may even feel more energy. Your body is responding as if you are in danger – the fight-or-flight response. You can also feel the effects in your stomach and back, and you may have trouble sleeping. It doesn’t do anything good for your mood either; you are more vulnerable to mood swings or depression.

In the short term, the response is fine. But long term, the resulting chemical changes appear to be a pathway to infections, tumors and autoimmune diseases.

Are All Stressors Equal?
Sure, unemployment is enough to dial up the stress. But what about employment? Or caring for sick children and Alzheimer patients? Aren’t those things just as pressure-packed?

Work stress, financial stress and major life events like the loss of a loved one or divorce are associated with acute heart attacks. A recent study in the British Medical Journal found a strong link between work stress and metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors likely to increase the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Work-related stress usually seems to stem from a mismatch between job responsibility and authority. If you have a lot of responsibility but little control over how the job gets done, you are set up for unhealthy stress. As with the unemployment study, the resulting rise in certain brain chemicals appears to compromise the immune system.

But there is good news for caregivers attending to patients with Alzheimer’s disease or to sick children. While worry, financial strain and physical demands can wear down the heartiest of caregivers, decreases in immune function are not as common in this group as they are in the unemployed or in a stressed-out worker. One reason may be that providing care offers some psychological rewards that offset at least some stress.

Does Duration Matter?
In the San Francisco study, the longest period of unemployment was 19 months. The fact that measures of immune function returned to normal levels so quickly after reemployment suggests that certain physiological systems may be resilient if the stress lasts less than two years.

Indeed, in the work-related stress study, the effects of stress were observed over 14 years. So the body has a fairly generous capacity to deal with stress over limited periods, perhaps even a few years.

Stress Self-Defense
The exact factors that moderate the effects of chronic stress – and determining if those effects are permanent –requires more research. However, in the meantime, you can try the following to make you less vulnerable to the mental and physical effects of stress:

1. Rest up.
Chuck the alarm clock and get whatever sleep your body needs, probably about 8-10 hours a night. Sleep appears to keep hormone levels in balance, your reasoning clear and your mood upbeat.

2. Exercise.
Just taking a 30-minute walk four times a week boosts your immune system. Don’t overdo it though; too much exercise can actually lower immunity.

3. Watch your diet.
Following a diet rich in fish, fruits and vegetables and low in red meat can bolster your immune system. Throw in a little chicken soup with mushrooms as well; studies show that both seem to strengthen your body’s ability to fight illness. Although researchers aren’t clear why chicken soup works, it could offer a psychological boost. And mushrooms appear to increase the production of certain substances (such as white blood cells) that protect us.

4. Turn up the iPod.
According to one study, reporters on deadline who listened to 30 minutes of music boosted their levels of immunoglobulin A (IgA), antibodies that help fight infection.

5. Have a little sex, a little wine.
Sex and even hugs also raise IgA levels, as does a glass of wine.

6. Stick to a routine.
One of the tough things about losing a job is that suddenly you have no timetable, no parameters for your day. Keeping a regular schedule of sleep, exercise, job hunting, and even playing with the kids will help keep you and your mood in balance.

7. Don’t beat yourself up.
It’s easy to feel lousy after losing or leaving a job but don’t second-guess what happened. Instead, try listing all your positive attributes and experiences on paper. Think about the opportunities a new job may offer – like the chance to pursue something you’ve always wanted to do.

This information should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing any medication. Always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare professional regarding any medical condition. Information and statements provided by the site about dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. LifeScript does not recommend or endorse any specific tests, physicians, third-party products, procedures, opinions, or other information mentioned on the Site. Reliance on any information provided by LifeScript is solely at your own risk.

Mental Health For Men

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:23:00 PST

Mental health for men is being called a silent crisis, a sleeper issue that has crept into the minds of millions. At the heart of the problem are new and emerging pressures for men, stemming from changes in societal dynamics at work, and in family and personal life.

While the concept of mental health for men is nothing new, comparatively, gender-specific health awareness and research have focused predominately on women. Women have the tendency to band together, and they are more vocal and expressive about emotions and other aspects of their mental health. As a result, women seek health care in much greater proportion than men. Men, on the other hand, traditionally shy away from the health-care system, and we are only now starting to understand why that is.

Men tend to view partners and friends as primary health sources. When they do reach a physician, men tend to focus more on physical problems, and are less likely to discuss deeper emotional issues -- particularly if the physician is female. Perhaps most influential are perceptions around male masculinity. As it is seen unmanly to discuss weakness, mental issues become masked and often go undiagnosed.

Recognizing these barriers is only the first step to overcoming illnesses that might be weighing on a man’s mind. Greater understanding of new and emerging mental illnesses for men is equally as important, and hopefully the following will help to raise your awareness.

Depression and suicide
Researchers estimate that at least 6 million men suffer from depression each year in the United States. While this number is larger in women, men are almost four times more likely to suffer the ultimate consequence of their depression: suicide. Even though women attempt more suicides each year, men are more successful, in part because the methods employed by men are more lethal.

Sadly, the above statistics make one point clear: Depression in men is different from women. The question is why?

Looking back to those barriers introduced above, similarities are seen when it comes to depression. Men are simply not seeking proper treatment. The issue is confounded because men’s depressive symptoms are not being readily recognized by physicians and by men themselves. Men are more willing to acknowledge physical symptoms -- fatigue, headaches, irritability, loss of interest in work, lowered sexual drive, and sleep disturbances -- rather than emotional feelings of sadness, worthlessness, hopelessness, and excessive guilt. It is these physical symptoms, and other signs such as alcohol or drug dependence, that require greater recognition by men as possibly pointing toward an underlying illness of depression.

If you are among the millions of men being plagued by the symptoms described above, it is important to seek help promptly, and there are numerous resource readily available online. While the cause of your depression may not be immediately clear, on account of the numerous factors at potential blame -- specific distressing life events, biochemical imbalances in the brain or certain psychological factors -- what is clear is that you’re not alone and should never feel ashamed. Depression is common, and most cases are entirely treatable.

Fertility and fatherhood
Social and economic changes have affected the family structure and have redefined the role of men within the home, hence impacting mental health for men. With the increasing independence of women, men have seen greater responsibility in contributing to housework and child-rearing. The result is an increase in associated mental illnesses.

But before one can even consider the prospects of fatherhood, one must first consider the prospects of conception.

Infertility in both men and women is no small concern, as it can be an important cause of stress and can significantly affect partner relationships. Generally, younger couples (30 to 35 years and younger) should commit to at least one year of well-timed intercourse before even thinking about fertility testing. If you are considering testing, however, be advised that because infertility has numerous causes -- some environmental, some from medication or infection -- testing and subsequent treatment can be extremely difficult, excessively expensive and even traumatic.

Instead, increasing your infertility awareness and committing to prevention well ahead of planning pregnancy can really take a load off your mind. General prevention techniques include limiting tobacco and alcohol, limiting the number of sex partners and wearing a condom to prevent STDs, and maintaining ideal body weight to prevent hormonal balances. Men diagnosed with cancer should also consider saving sperm prior to cancer treatment.

If conception is successful, as a male, you aren’t out of the woods just yet. Pregnancy-related health concerns specific to men are now becoming apparent. Perinatal (during pregnancy) research indicates that men undergo significant stress during the first three months of pregnancy, with only minimal resolve for the months thereafter. A major contributor to this stress for men is a decline in sexual function, a decline that often fails to return to pre-pregnancy levels even up to a year after the pregnancy is completed -- a prospect that men fail to anticipate. Further studies have shown that men are also significantly affected by postpartum (after pregnancy) depression more so than previously thought. Depression in new fathers may take the form of isolation. And such isolation can have a negative impact on a child’s development as children may consequently receive less attention and less stimulating interaction.

Sexual abuse
Two powerful words with powerful implications: sexual abuse. Sexual abuse is not necessarily physical, and can include any non-consensual act of sexual coercion and/or domination that threatens the physical and/or psychological well-being of an individual. While most men are well aware of the issues surrounding sexual abuse, once again, the majority of this awareness is focused on women. The scary fact is that sexual abuse is also largely prevalent in males with some conservative estimates suggesting that one in six males has been sexually abused before age 16. While exact statistics are difficult to confirm, a valid point remains: Sexual abuse in males is a problem -- and it can lead to serious mental complications.

The extent to which sexual abuse affects an individual is dependent on a variety of factors: the age of the victim, who committed the abuse, whether or not violence was involved, and how long the abuse went on. The psychological effects, however, are even more diverse and can thus manifest in a number of different ways.

Men who are sexually abused often experience problems with gender and sexuality. Feelings of masculine inadequacy, or the reverse, hypermasculinity, are common. Men may also become confused about their sexual orientation. Other mood disturbances such as depression or anxiety can lead to devastating physical effects, and men can become subject to denial, leading to stubbornness and difficulty in recognizing that what happened was actually sexual abuse.

What’s important to understand is that most victims do not become offenders. And most victims can overcome their mental issues and can have perfectly normal sexual relationships with a little help. Amvosa, The Men’s Project and Male Survivor are excellent organizations that offer tons of information online.

out of sight, out of mind
Times have changed; the Tim Allen Tool Time depiction of masculinity is becoming a thing of the past. No, this doesn’t mean that males are becoming more effeminate, just simply more aware. Norman Mailer once said that “masculinity is not something given to you, but something you gain. And you gain it by winning small battles with honor.” Battling the mind can be one of the most hard-fought contests, but a win against it commands the ultimate esteem. In times of mental hardship, your greatest enemy is silence. Overcome this and you are well on your way to having good mental health.

Resources:
www.amvosa.ca
www.bchealthguide.org
www.canadian-health-network.ca
www.malesurvivor.ca
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
www.themensproject.ca
www.cmha.ca
www.jimhopper.com
www.mind.org.uk
www.mja.com.au
www.nimh.nih.gov

Synchronize Your Diet And Cardio

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:45:00 PST

To jump on the fat-loss bandwagon, you'll probably start with a diet and throw in the cardio at full force to ramp up your progress. This technique is common among all those craving a lean physique because they want results now, which is understandable considering that most men will need to spend a good four to five months in the gym while eating a surplus to put on any muscle mass. After patiently waiting for muscle to appear, men are eager to show off the results. But when it comes to fat loss, too much can be a very bad thing.

Here’s how to synchronize your diet and cardio in the healthiest and most efficient way possible to get the kind of muscle mass you’re dying to show off.

Create a negative balance
To synchronize your diet and cardio, remember: In order to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. If you don't achieve this negative balance, you aren't going to lose any weight. Alternately, if you achieve too much of a negative balance, you’re more likely to lose muscle weight along with some fat. This is the undesirable part of the equation.

You can create this negative balance through diet, through increased physical activity, or through a combination of both -- which is the route most people take. This is the acceptable and best way to lose weight.

Don’t shock your system
Most people who want to lose weight want to see results right away, which leads to a drastic decrease in food intake and an increase in time spent on the treadmill. Talk about shocking the system.

In this situation, the body perceives a state of famine and slows down its metabolism so that you are, in fact, burning very few calories per minute. This total daily reduction in metabolic rate means you’re not going to lose the amount of weight you expect to, and is the very reason why it’s so important to synchronize your diet and cardio.

Add a massive amount of cardio to your low-calorie diet, and the situation worsens. Not only does your body perceive a famine, but it's also being forced to exercise for a lengthy period every day. What's it going to do first? Well, since cardio is a catabolic exercise, it's going to break down the most metabolically active tissue available -- muscle.

Do one first
The best way to synchronize your diet and cardio is to transition into your goals. If you'd rather reduce your food intake, diet first. Don't add the cardio right away; first see what kind of progress you can make with diet alone.

Likewise, if you hate giving up food, add some cardio into your routine. As your weight loss begins to slow down, you can either add more cardio or start to diet.

Remember: The body will adapt quickly to steady state cardio, and the last thing you should do is three hours of cardio a day to lose a measly half-pound per week. Generally speaking, dieting is a better way to go about losing body fat while retaining muscle. It's part of a healthy fitness regimen.

getting instant results
What if you need to see immediate results, but don’t have time to ease into synchronizing your diet and cardio? Whether it's for a special event, a bodybuilding competition, or otherwise, some situations call for you to maximize fat loss by doing cardio while dieting; this method helps achieve a higher calorie deficit.

Don’t make it a habit
You should only do this for a short period of time until the desired fat loss is achieved. This is not for someone who wants to lose more than 30 pounds of fat, but more for someone who really only has 5 to 10 pounds to lose.

Consume enough food
To prevent muscle loss when adding the cardio while on your diet, consume 1.5 times your body weight in grams of protein per day. At this level, you will decrease nitrogen loss, meaning a lower amount of muscle tissue will be used for fuel. Upping your daily protein intake will allow you to start the cardio right away, and shed calories without many problems. Do note, however, that after five or six days on this diet it would be wise to eat more calories (particularly more carbs) for one day. This will help prevent the metabolic slowdown that may be happening in response to the diet.

work it!
The best way to synchronize your diet and cardio is to start one before the other. Let your
body adapt to one stressor and, once the results begin to slow down, add the second component. This
will minimize metabolic damage to your body and prevent lean muscle tissue loss.

For those who really must diet and exercise at the same time, it’s important to get enough protein in your diet. If you skimp on this, you will likely be disappointed in your results because, while you may very well lose bodyweight, a large portion of that dissipating weight will be the muscle mass you worked so hard to gain.

Cholesterol Lowering Diets

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 04:27:00 PDT

It’s great to look at the diets that are aimed toward fat loss, muscle building, osteoporosis prevention, cancer prevention, and so on, but there’s another very important type of diet that many men should be considering. We’re talking about cholesterol-lowering diets.There’s a prevalent increase in the consumption of fast food across our nation, and as such there’s also a corresponding increase in bad cholesterol levels and heart disease. If you want a healthy system, it’s worth taking the time to understand cholesterol-lowering diets.
Saturated fats should be on the radar of anyone who is on a cholesterol-lowering diet. These fats are found in a variety of foods, both processed and unprocessed, so start reading labels on a regular basis and you will be one step ahead in the cholesterol-lowering game.
Another factor that many people overlook is the role your carbohydrate intake has on cholesterol levels. With carbohydrates, the exact type you ingest is absolutely essential to your health, because where one will cause problems the other helps.
Simple, refined carbohydrates, such as those in table sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, candy, baked pastries, granola bars, and processed cereals, contribute to problems with cholesterol levels due to the impact they have on insulin levels.Unrefined complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, tend to help lower cholesterol levels. They are able to do so because they are a good source of fiber, which helps to move cholesterol out of the body via the bloodstream, and they prevent you from eating other foods that could be potentially higher in saturated fat.Now, let’s look at what a healthy cholesterol range is and at what foods you should be eating in cholesterol lowering diets.

what is a healthy cholesterol level?

Getting regular checkups and blood cholesterol readings is important to maintaining the upper hand with cholesterol. You need to take immediate action to lower your cholesterol if it reaches an unsafe range.
If there is no family history, you should get your cholesterol level measured once every five years. Having a family history or being overweight means that you should get checked more frequently.Ideally, you want your blood cholesterol levels to be below 180, with 180 to 199 being acceptable. If you move into the 200 to 219 range, you have a level that’s borderline high and if you are above 220, you need to look for and follow cholesterol-lowering diets.
Looking at the cholesterol types individually, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) is the kind of cholesterol that’s good and it’s considered too low if it is below 35, acceptable if it is between 36 and 50, and ideal if it is 50 or greater.
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is the bad cholesterol and it’s at an ideal level if it’s less than 130, it’s considered borderline high between 131 and 159, and it’s too high if it is above 160.Understanding the two types of cholesterol is important, as they dramatically affect your health standing. HDL helps protect against heart attack and carries cholesterol away from the body in the arteries, transporting it to the liver where it will then be excreted.
LDL circulates in the blood and can build up on the inner walls of your arteries. This accumulation then causes plaque, which proceeds to make the arteries less flexible. If this progresses enough, you are at risk for heart attacks or strokes.

foods to help lower cholesterol levelsSo, that brings us to how you can go about creating a cholesterol-lowering diet.Right away, you should try and make the core focus of your diet around fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These will provide you with essential vitamins, antioxidants and they’re generally lower in both fat and calories, which helps you control your weight.Weight is yet another factor that causes problems with high cholesterol; losing weight or preventing weight gain is important to your cholesterol as well.

Carbohydrate selection

When it comes to choosing your carbohydrates, oatmeal and oat bran are particularly good to include in your cholesterol-lowering diet because of its high-soluble fiber content, which will absorb the cholesterol you ingest while it’s in the intestines.Other good choices that will achieve the same objective include kidney beans, brussels sprouts, apples, pears, psyllium, barley, and prunes.Pay attention to the fruits that are in your cholesterol-lowering diet and include as many as you can. Blueberries, for example, contain a cholesterol-lowering antioxidant known as pterostilbene, should be consumed on a regular basis.

Protein selection

When selecting the protein sources that you will include in your cholesterol-lowering diet, you really want to watch the quantity of red meat you eat. Red meat is high in saturated fat and you should, therefore, make extra effort to only choose the leanest resources possible.
Furthermore, it’s important to lower your cholesterol to include omega-3 fatty acids and to get your recommended daily dose. Aim for 3 grams to 6 grams per day, with good sources being flaxseed, walnuts, salmon, canola and soybean oil, mackerel, herring, and sardines.
Eggs are a common controversy when it comes to cholesterol. One large egg contains about 213 mg of cholesterol and for those watching their intake, it’s recommended to keep daily intake levels at 300 mg or lower. If you are eating a very low-cholesterol diet the rest of the time, one egg a day should be fine -- but you do need to pay extra attention to everything else you consume.

Fat selection
The last aspect of your diet is dietary fat choices. As stated in the introduction, saturated fat is what you really want to watch here, as well as any products containing trans fats.
Common food choices that contain these are high-fat dairy products, vegetable oil, fried or deep-fried foods, butter, liver, cookies, crackers, and any other commercially processed foods.
Instead, try and choose mono and polyunsaturated sources of dietary fat, with good sources being safflower, sesame, soy, corn and sunflower oil, all forms of nuts and seeds, olive oil, peanut oil, and avocados.
Additionally, when you consume nuts, try to choose forms that still have their skin, since they will further contain properties that help lower cholesterol.

construction zone
Cholesterol is compared to traffic, and for good reason. We all know that our vascular system is comparable to a network of roads, and when there’s an accident or a stalled car, the congestion that follows ruins everyone’s day. The same is true in the body, only if the car that has stopped traffic isn’t removed, the road system gets closed permanently. Whether your cholesterol numbers are currently in the problematic range or not, it’s a good idea to start taking precautions and making select choices to your diet to help promote better cholesterol levels and protect your health in the future.

Resources:www.ehealthmd.comwww.eatingwell.comwww.gicare.com

Specialization Routines

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:28:00 PDT

It's usually best, when you first begin weight lifting, to start with a base program that will develop a good amount of strength for your entire body. After you begin to progress, however, you can start looking into specialization routines that will really zero in on one or two particular body parts over time.This could either be a muscle you feel is generally weaker or a body part that you simply wish was larger. Whatever the case, by getting yourself onto a specialization routine, you can bring up this lagging part while maintaining your current strength level for the rest of your body.Then, after you are satisfied with that one particular muscle, you can proceed to choose another. This also adds variety to your workout routine and helps keep the motivational levels high to get you continual results.Here are the basics on setting up your very own specialization routine.

frequency

The first thing you must consider with a specialization routine is the frequency of your sessions. While you are definitely going to be focusing more intensely on one or two particular body parts, you must still ensure that you are giving them enough rest in between sessions so that they can grow back stronger.
A good approach to take is to pick two key body parts that you really want to target; one being an upper body muscle and the other being a lower body muscle.
All the other parts of your body will be put on a low-volume maintenance protocol so that you can devote more energy toward training those chosen muscles, as well as recovering from your workouts.
You'll likely find the best results if you train the body parts you're specializing two to three times in a seven-day period. If you choose to train them three times, you will go on a full-body workout program; and if you choose two times, you'll do an upper/lower split set-up. The two-times-per-week setup generally works slightly better with specialization routines because it allows for a little more volume with each workout session.

workout design

After you've chosen the focus muscles, you will include one compound lift for that muscle, lifting in the rep range of 5-6 for 4-5 sets, total.Next, add in two to three isolated exercises for that same body part, performing 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps.
Basically, what you are doing here is first performing a heavy-tension exercise, followed by a few exercises that will apply a good fatigue stimulus. This combination is what's going to get the muscle to grow stronger, and larger as well.
The rest of your workout, since it's on maintenance, should consist of mostly compound movements, performing 2-3 sets of 6-8 reps.

Chest/quad specialization upper/lower routine

So, for example, let's say you choose to do a chest and quad specialization routine.
This is what your setup would look like:Monday: Upper Tuesday: Lower Thursday: UpperFriday: Lower

Monday/Thursday workout:
Chest press: 5 sets of 5 reps
Incline chest press: 3 sets of 8 reps
Pec flyes: 2 sets of 12 reps
Bent-over row: 3 sets of 6 reps
Shoulder press: 3 sets of 6 reps
Bicep curls: 2 sets of 8 reps

Tuesday/Friday workout:
Squats: 5 sets of 5 reps
Leg extension: 3 sets of 8 reps
One-legged squat: 3 sets of 8 reps
Hamstring curl: 3 sets of 6 repsCalf raise: 2 sets of 12 reps

Notice in the above workout scenario that your core lift is done first so that you are freshest for this movement, since this is where you really want to try and max out your weight. On a week-to-week basis, you should be focused on loading as much weight as you can onto the specialization exercises, while keeping the other exercises in the program constant (some weight can be added; however, this is not the main objective). The more weight you add to the other exercises, the less energy reserves you'll have available to recover from the specialization lifts, thus potentially decreasing the rate of improvement you experience.

duration

The total duration of your specialization routine should last for 4-8 weeks, at which point you should drop back on the total volume you're doing for the chosen parts, while keeping the intensity up (total weight lifted). Proceed to do this for another two weeks (other parts are still at maintenance), and then if you'd like you can switch over to a new program that is going to specialize in two new muscle groups.
Note that, in some cases, your core compound lift to start with will be the same since it will work multiple body parts at the same time.For example, if you're doing a tricep specialization, you may begin with a chest press again, but then proceed to do tricep extensions followed by an overhead tricep press as the other two isolated lifts.Finally, keep in mind that, as with any workout protocol, after three months of lifting straight you should be taking one full week off of all lifting to really let your body fully recover. You can still be active during this week -- and should be -- just don't try to progressively overload any body parts since the whole point of this break is to allow for any supercompensation to take place, and also to prevent overtraining from setting in.

make workouts special

If you feel as though your workout needs a change or you just can't seem to improve a certain body part, give a specialization routine a try to reap the rewards of concentrating your workout and your body on specific muscles.

Multiple Methods For Multiple Orgasms

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:36:00 PDT

Most guys know more about what’s under the hood of a car than they do about what's under the hood of a clitoris. We’re woefully “ill-cliterate,” which is a shame when you consider that the clitoris -- with more than 18 parts, twice as many nerve endings as the penis, and the enviable ability to produce multiple orgasms -- is the indisputable powerhouse of the female orgasm. Fortunately, when pleasuring a woman, there are multiple methods for multiple orgasms, so in the spirit of resourcefulness, here are some sexual survival tips for making it happen.

Avoid Freud

Forget everything you learned in Psychology 101. Sigmund Freud made a name for himself demonizing the clitoris and formulating a truly kooky view of women’s sexuality. Freud got the idea into his head that the clitoris was an immature source of sexual pleasure, a mere launching pad for the more mature vaginal orgasm, which, of course, could only be produced via genital intercourse. At the end of his life, Freud acknowledged his incomplete understanding of female sexuality and said, “If you want to know more about femininity, you must interrogate your own experience, or turn to the poets, or else wait until science can give you more profound and more coherent information.” Or, for today’s modern guy, just turn to the woman in bed next to you and deploy some basic cliteracy.

Ladies first

When it comes to satisfying a woman, a little old-fashioned chivalry goes a long way. Lest you think the importance of such courtesy is over-exaggerated, direct your attention to Lorena Bobbitt who, when questioned by police as to why she cut off her husband’s penis, responded, “He always has an orgasm and doesn’t wait for me. It’s unfair.” Need one say more?The simple fact is that the male orgasm typically comes easy. Masters and Johnson dubbed it “ejaculatory inevitability” and the late Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey declared that 75% of men ejaculate within two minutes.
Is it any surprise, then, that researchers from the University of Chicago declared in the 1994 Sex in America Survey that men reach orgasm during intercourse far more consistently than women do, and that three-quarters of men, but less than a third of women, always have orgasms? This means that more than two out of three women on average are consistently denied their climax -- good reason to start hiding the cutlery.
Studies such as those by Kinsey and Masters & Johnson have concluded that, among women whose partners spent 21 minutes or longer on foreplay, only 7.7% failed to reach orgasm consistently. That’s a shift of tectonic proportions, from two out of three women not being able to reach climax to 9 out of 10 achieving satisfaction, all due to a matter of minutes.So take the path of the true gentleman: Postpone your pleasure. As Sir Thomas Wyatt wrote, “Patience shall be my song.”

Think outside the box

Rare is the man who boasts in the locker room, “I made love to her as subtly and lightly as a feather” or, “I grazed her vulva as with the delicate wings of a butterfly.” Yet such language would be appropriate, since the inner two-thirds of the vagina are substantially less sensitive than the outer third. So think outside the box (pun definitely intended), but know that the clitoris is extremely sensitive to physical sensation and needs to be properly prepped for serious stimulation. Avoid her genitals and go easy on the breasts for a good 10 to 15 minutes.

Develop a clitoral compass
When embarking on a journey of female sexual response, know your way around her vulva -- from the northern tippy-top of the clitoral glans (the “love-button,” so to speak), to the western and eastern boundaries of the labia minora (her inner lips) to the southernmost regions of the perineum (the smooth expanse of skin just below the vaginal entrance) and anus.
Stop thinking of the clitoris as a little bump, and start thinking of it as a complex network, a multiple orgasm-producing pleasure-dome, the Xanadu at the heart of female sexuality. With over 8,000 nerve fibers, the clitoris has more of them than any other part of the human body and interacts with the 15,000 nerve fibers that service the entire pelvic area. As science writer Natalie Angier describes the clitoral network, “Nerves are like wolves or birds: If one starts crying, there goes the neighborhood.”

Let your fingers do the walking, and don’t stop talking

That advice comes from one of my female patients, who told me that some of her best orgasms came while receiving manual stimulation from her boyfriend as he simultaneously stared into her eyes and talked dirty. I won’t put words in your mouth (you can use your imagination for that), but I will tell you to rest comfortably on your side, place your hand over her vulva, and press against her pubic mound with the base of your palm.
Let your fingers drape against the full expanse of her vulva like a thick curtain. Let her push against your palm, and use your index and middle fingers to make rhythmic upside-down "come hither" gestures along her vaginal entrance. Lightly stimulate her clitoral glans (the head) with your fingertips. For variety, reach in and up with two fingers and press them against her vaginal ceiling as though you were lifting her up off the bed, an ideal way to simultaneously stimulate her clitoris and G-spot.
The tongue is mightier than the sword…Indeed, the tongue is a powerful tool, but not when used like a cobra lashing out at a mongoose. As one woman confessed, “Every time my boyfriend goes down on me, it’s like the running of the bulls in Spain -- a mad stampede for the clit and I just want to get out of the way.”
When it comes to conversing in the language of love, cunnilingus should be every man’s native tongue. Oral sex can be an excellent method for multiple orgasms. Even porn star Ron Jeremy, in possession of the famous 10-inch member, observed, “More women have gotten off with my tongue than with my penis.”
Once found, a skilled cunnilinguist rarely goes unappreciated. But if you’re not sure exactly how, just press a flat, still tongue against her vulva and let her do the work. It’s the cunnilingus equivalent of letting her get on top.
One of my favorite tongue techniques is the “Rope-a-dope”: Let her push and grind against your flat, still tongue -- take it all in -- and then spring back with a series of fast vertical and diagonal tongue strokes. Lick her senseless with a short burst of energy and then return to the flat, still tongue, waiting for yet another opportune moment to spring to life again.Try licking her with the skill of an experienced painter: broad strokes, with pinpoint targeted precision. Swoop serpent-like, starting with the flat part of the tongue and ending with the tip. Be sure you know what you’re aiming for; demonstrate the precision that underlies the passion.

Learn how NOT to make love like a porn star

Irrespective of Jenna Jameson’s best-selling admonition, take the pressure off and think of your penis as just another tool in your sexual survival kit.

Ian Kerner breaks down the top techniques for giving her multiple orgasms..

Focus on shallow thrusts.

In the standard missionary position (you on top, her beneath you), use the tip of your penis to barely penetrate her vaginal entrance. Let your penis rest just inside her. (If you’re uncomfortable in the missionary position, simply kneel or sit in front of her vulva). Linger. Loiter. Meander. Stay close to the entrance.Press your thumb against her clitoral head and gently flick it from side to side as you penetrate her with your short, shallow thrusts. Or press the shaft of your penis against her clitoris and gently thrust between the folds of her labia without ever entering her. When you thrust deeply, press your pelvic bone against her clitoris and hold the position before withdrawing.

Get into the 90-second window

Before shifting from genital penetration to orgasm, use manual and oral stimulation to bring her as near as possible to the point of orgasmic inevitability.
Cunnilinguists are in a great position to observe the visible signs of arousal, especially when the lights are on. Of particular note will be the darkening in color and deepening in luster of her inner labia and the retraction of the clitoral head into its hood, both signs that she's within 90 seconds of reaching climax. Even in the dark, it's not hard to observe when the glans has retracted; focus on feeling the head when it's fully protruded and erect, and you'll easily be able to recognize its absence.Once she’s in the 90-second window, try the female superior position (woman on top). An excellent method for multiple orgasms, this position is ideal for her to: Position her clitoris against your pubic bone at the base of your penis and achieve the ideal amount of pressure; stimulate her clitoris against your penis; control rhythm and pace; and modulate the experience of orgasm.
Or try the Coital Alignment Technique (CAT). This sexual position is designed to greatly improve a woman's chance of orgasm through genital penetration and enhances the standard missionary position. During CAT, the man penetrates from a higher angle than usual, placing pressure on the woman's clitoris with the base of his penis and pubic bone. When performing CAT, the main thing to keep in mind is to maintain contact with the clitoris. The overall movement is much less a thrusting than a synchronized rocking back and forth, with the focus on the clitoris and the base of the penis.

OK, we’ve been touching on it, now let’s hit it directly

Fortunately, the G-spot, named after German doctor Ernest Grafenberg, is really more of an area than a single spot. Located atop the vaginal ceiling, with the diameter of a small coin, you can actually feel it swell during arousal. The G-spot responds to firmer stimulation than the clitoris, and though its stimulation will very likely enhance or deepen clitoral satisfaction, that won’t happen independently of the clitoris. Some of the latest research even suggests that the G-spot is nothing more than the back-end roots of the clitoris.
That brings us to the point that the most satisfying orgasms are the ones that combine clitoral and G-spot stimulation, also known as the blended orgasm. Focus on simultaneously stimulating the surface of her vulva and her upper-vaginal ceiling. Some time-proven combinations for producing blended orgasms that respectively stimulate her clitoris and G-spot include tongue-fingers, tongue-vibrator, and fingers-vibrator.
You might be thinking, with all of these various roads to orgasm, which is the one best traveled? All women have the innate capacity to experience multiple orgasms, and many realize this potential during masturbation. As Natalie Angier has written of the female orgasm, “It may take many minutes to reach the first summit, but once there, the lusty mountaineer finds wings awaiting her. She does not need to scramble back to the ground before scaling the next peak, but can glide like a raptor on currents of joy.”

Viva la vulva!

Ian Kerner is a sex counselor and New York Times best-selling author of many books, including She Comes First. For more information, visit IanKerner.com.

How liquid calories can make you fat

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:52:00 PDT

At least 7 scientific studies have provided strong evidence that energycontaining beverages (i.e., "liquid calories") do not properly activatethe satiety mechanisms in the body and brain and do not satisfy theappetite as well as food in solid form.

Epidemiological research also supports a positive association betweencalorie-containing beverage consumption and increased body weight orbody mass index.

The primary source of liquid calories in the United States Diet iscarbohydrate, namely soda. Now running a close second are specialtyand dessert coffees. Did you know that a 16 ounce Frappucino cancontain 500 calories or even more! That's one-third of a typicalfemale's daily calorie intake while on a fat loss program.

A recent study at Purdue University published in the InternationalJournal of Obesity set out to learn even more about this bodyfat -liquid calories relationship.

Researchers compared solid and beverage forms of foods composedprimarily of carbohydrate, fat or protein in order to document theindependent effect of food form in foods with different dominantmacronutrient sources.

Based on previous research, some experts have recommended targetingspecific beverages as being "worse" than others. High fructose cornsyrup and soda has been singled out the most and you've probablyseen that yourself in the news.

There's no question that soda has been on top of the "hit list" forsome time now, by virtue of the amounts and frequency of consumptionalone.However, this recent study says that from a pure energy balanceperspective, we should be cautious about ALL liquid calories, notjust soda and not just carbohydrates!

Fruit juice for example, appears to be an obvious improvement oversoda, so many people have swapped out their soda for fruit juice.

However, when fruit juice is compared to an equal amount of caloriesfrom whole fruit, the whole fruit satisfies appetite better (largelydue to the bulk and fiber content), and so you tend to eat fewercalories for the day. [On an interesting side note, soup does not seem to apply; soup hashigher satiety value than calorie containing beverages, possiblyfor mere cognitive reasons.]If you were to meticulously track your calories from beverages andyou made sure that your calories remained the same for the day,whether liquid or solid, there would probably be little or no Difference in your body Composition.

But that's not what usually happens in free-living humans. Mostpeople do not accurately track or report their caloric intake.

Our mistake is that we tend to drink calories IN ADDITION TO ourusual food intake, not instead of it.Men are especially guilty of this when they drink alcohol - Men tend to drink AND eat, while women tend to drink INSTEAD OF eating.This new research found that with all three macronutrients - protein, carbs or fat - daily calorie intake was significantly greater whenthe beverage form was consumed as compared to the solid.

Yes, it's true! Even protein drinks did not satisfy the appetitethe way that protein foods did!

While you would think that protein drinks are purely a good thing,because protein foods have been proven to reduce appetite andincrease satiety, if you turn a solid protein food into a proteindrink, it loses it's appetite suppressive properties in the sameway that happens when you turn fruit into fruit juice.

[NOTE: After weight training workouts, liquid nutrition may havebenefits that outweigh any downside, especially on muscle-gainingprograms]Why do liquid calories fail to elicit the same response as wholefoods? reasons include:
* high calorie density
* lower satiety value
* More calories ingested in short period of time
* lower demand for oral processing
* shorter gastrointestinal transit times
* energy in beverages has greater bioaccessibility and bioavailability
* mechanisms may include cognitive, orosensory, digestive, metabolic,endorcrine and neural influences (human appetite is a complex thing!)
* Last but not least, nowhere in our history have our ancestors hadaccess to large amounts of liquid calories. Alcohol may have beenaround as far back as several thousand years BC, but even that isa blip on the biological calendar of humanity.

As a result, our genetic code has never developed the physiologicalmechanism to properly register the caloric content in liquids theway it does when you eat, chew and swallow whole foods.

Bottom line: This study suggests that we shouldn't just target onetype of liquid calories such as soda. If you're trying to reduceyour bodyfat, it's wise to limit all types of liquid calories andeat whole foods as much as possible.

Start by ditching the soda. Then ditch the high calorie dessert coffees.Then cut back on the alcohol. From there, be cautious even about milk,juice and protein drinks.

Drink water or tea instead, or limited amounts of black coffee -without all the high calorie extras.
If you do consume any beverages that contain calories, such as proteinshakes, be sure to account for those calories meticulously and be sure you don't drink them in addition to your usual food intake, but in placeof an equal amount of food calories.

Those protein shakes you might be drinking are called "meal replacements"not "free calories!"

Top 10 Ways to Stay Motivated

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 21:35:00 PDT

1. Take it slow and steady.

Many people, in a combination of enthusiasm and impatience, wind up doing too much, too soon, too frequently. That results in soreness, exhaustion, and feeling burnout - in other words, lack of motivation. Take your workouts one day at a time and enjoy the journey."Inch by inch life is a synch, yard by yard life is hard"

2. Schedule your workouts in advance.

Make a "workout appointment" with yourself for a specific time and place. Treat this appointment the same as you would an important business meeting, a doctor's appointment, or whatever. If
you schedule time for your workouts in advance and plan on keeping your word, you're more
likely to keep consistent.

3. Get a workout buddy.

Try to find a good training partner who is very serious about working out. Preferably someone who is bigger and stronger then you are. This will help motivate you and push yourself to become bigger and stronger as well. A good training partner will really help you be consistent
with your workouts. You'll not only have to show up at the gym for yourself, but you'll have someone else depending on you as well.

A lot of times we will do more for others then we will do for ourselves, and in this case it will help both you and your training partner.

4. Keep a training journal.

This is one thing that nearly every bodybuilding and fitness expert agrees on, and as you know, when it comes to "experts" we don't agree on too many things :-) By keeping an accurate record of your workouts you'll be able to monitor your strength and muscle gains. Also keep track of your bodyweight and bodyfat percentage. This will help to not only motivate you, but give you feedback on whether or not your training and nutrition program is working on not.

5. Strive to be the best that you can be.

This one sort of ties in with keeping a training journal. Actual changes in strength and body composition are often so gradual that most of us take them for granted. For example, I often hear from guys who have went from 150 lbs. to 175 lbs. over the course of 6 months and then
they e-mail me saying that they are a "hard gainer".

Most times it is because they are comparing themselves to the pictures of the pros they see in the magazines, or to some jacked-up guy at their local gym. Bottom line, there will always be people who are better then you, and people who are not as good as you. So judge your progress based on your personal improvements, not on how you compare to someone else.

6. Educate yourself.

Read bodybuilding and fitness related books and articles. You will constantly be picking up new tips and training ideas that you can apply to your own workouts. Also watching workout videos is awesome for motivation and it's very educational as well. Reading about training is one thing, but actually seeing it is totally different. Most of us learn better with visual examples. It's much easier to grasp new exercises and training techniques by seeing them actually being performed, rather then just reading about them.

7. Change your workout.

If your training progress is slow, then boredom is sure to follow. If you find you're bored with your current workout program, then change it. There are lots of training programs that you can follow, there is no need to stick to doing the same thing day in, day out. Try something new.

8. Change the gym where you workout.

This one ties in with changing your workouts. Different gyms will have different pieces of equipment, a different atmosphere, different members, etc. this can all help to add variety and fun to your workouts. To give you an example, in the past 5 years I have trained at 8 different gyms, and each one provided a fresh and stimulating change to my workouts.

9. Go watch local bodybuilding and powerlifting contests.

This is really motivating. Nothing fires me up more then seeing a good bodybuilding or lifting contest. You willget to meet lots of like minded people who are all
interested in bodybuilding and weight training. Plus you may want to train and get ready for a local competition yourself. Nothing will motivate you to train hard and stick to your diet like training for a competition.

10. Don't make bodybuilding your life.

And last, but not least. Don't make bodybuilding and working out the whole focus of your life. Have other hobbies and interests outside of the gym. By having other interests and priorities in your life you'll be a more well rounded person. When something is a hobby it is fun, when it becomes an obsession you usually take
the fun out of it.

Top 10 Reasons Why Smoking Stink

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Sun, 03 May 2009 05:19:00 PDT

It’s Time to Kick the Habit!

Smoking used to be so in vogue that tobacco companies branded their products with hip characters like “Joe Cool” Camel and the Marlboro Man, who rides off into a cloud of cigarette smoke at sunset. But smoking isn’t cool anymore. Both cigarette manufacturers and smokers have had to answer to the mounting evidence that proves smoking kills. But just in case death isn’t enough to scare you into dumping this addiction, here are the top 10 reasons you should quit smoking – today.

If smoking wasn’t bad for you, there wouldn’t be so much controversy surrounding it. There wouldn’t be the Truth® campaign or 10-step programs that help you quit smoking, and there certainly wouldn’t be a “how to quit smoking” section on the Philip Morris tobacco company’s web site. So if you’ve ever wondered why your doctor jumps down your throat about not smoking, there’s good reason.

In fact, there are 10 good reasons:

10 Reasons to Kick the Habit

1. You Stink!

You don’t just smell like cigarettes while you’re smoking, you reek of them all day long. The scent of stale cigarettes saturates your hair and clothes and follows you wherever you go, including your vehicle, your work and your home. Smoking also gives you terrible breath, and there’s no mint in the world that can get rid of the smell of a pack-a-day habit.

2. You Have 10 Times More Wrinkles

You can always pick a regular smoker out of a crowd, not just by the stench but by his or her skin quality as well. Smokers have 10 times more wrinkles than non-smokers. They also have pale, ashen skin and yellowing teeth, fingers and fingernails. In fact, a study published by the British Medical Journal found that smokers with prominent wrinkles are five times more likely to suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases like emphysema and bronchitis than non-smokers.

3. Your Lungs are Full of Phlegm and Tar

Smoking causes sticky, black tar to build up in your lungs, reducing the exchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nutrients between its tissues and the bloodstream. This negatively affects your entire body, but you’ll especially feel it in the lungs. Smokers have more of a difficult time breathing and are more likely to develop painful chronic coughing due to the increase in phlegm production. The good news is that if you stop smoking, your lungs can clear some of the tar and heal significantly. According to the National Cancer Institute, your body begins the healing process just 12 hours after your last cigarette. Improved lung function and circulation can take up to three months.

4. Smoking Can Cause Depression

Feeling moody lately? Outlook on life a bit pessimistic? Smoking has been shown to be a major cause of depression, so don’t just blame the rain if you’re feeling blue. A study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry followed more than 1,000 smokers and non-smokers over the span of five years and found that the smoker group was twice as likely as the non-smoker group to suffer from major depression.

Some smokers actually turn to cigarettes to ease depression, but this only contributes to the problem. Kick the habit and you’ll have the chance to rediscover a sense of control over your life that may help lift depression.

5. It’s Expensive

If the fact that smoking is burning a big hole in your health and happiness doesn’t move you, maybe the fact that it’s burning a big hole in your pocket will. Depending on where you live, a single pack of cigarettes can cost up to $6, and if you smoke a pack a day, that’s almost $2,200 a year!

Just to drive the point home, let’s say you start smoking at age 18 and live to age 68 (since you’ll most likely die young from smoking). Over the course of those 50 years, you will have spent almost $110,000 on cigarettes alone. And that doesn’t include the extra gum and breath mints, in addition to higher dry-cleaning bills for getting the smell of stale smoke out of your clothes.

6. You’re Becoming Infertile

It has long been known that male smokers generally have a low sperm count, but recent studies also show that genetic mutations of sperm from male smokers may also be to blame for infertility. Male smokers are also at a higher risk for erectile dysfunction. Female smokers may also have a harder time getting pregnant.

7. You’re in for a Difficult Pregnancy

If you do actually become pregnant, you’re in for a rough ride. Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to experience ectopic pregnancies, which occur when the fertilized egg begins to develop in the slender fallopian tube instead of the uterus. Ectopic pregnancies can be fatal for both mom and baby. Other risks to the baby’s health include lower birth weight and birth defects. Women who smoke during pregnancy are also more likely to deliver prematurely or miscarry.

8. You’re a Bad Influence

Kids imitate their parents. So if you smoke in front of your kids, they’re likely to copy you. One study presented at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting showed that 50% of kids whose parents were smokers thought smoking was “cool.” Fifty-five percent of kids of smokers planned on smoking in the future. Children brought up by smokers have also been found to be generally less active and develop poor nutrition skills. If you want to positively shape the futures of your children and the other children around you, quit smoking and be a healthy role model.

9. Second-Hand Smoke Kills

Not only is smoking a bad influence on those around you, it’s killing them too. You can’t contain cigarette smoke, which means that innocent people breathe in your second-hand smoke. Children and adults who are exposed to second-hand smoke are at a higher risk of developing lung cancer and heart disease, as well as other respiratory problems including shortness of breath, coughing and increased production of phlegm. Children exposed to second-hand smoke are particularly at risk for developing asthma.

10. Smokers Die Young

Smoking is the #1 leading cause of preventable disease and death in America. And it’s not a pleasant way to go. Smokers risk developing cancer of the mouth, throat and lungs, as well as asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Smokers are also more prone to high blood pressure, high LDL (bad) cholesterol, stroke, and heart disease. In fact, a smoker’s risk of dying from sudden cardiac death (heart attack) is anywhere from 2-4 times greater than non-smokers.

Top 10: Steroid Excuses

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:31:00 PDT

Although hundreds of athletes have been tagged with steroid allegations, only a rare few like Marion Jones and Andy Pettitte have openly admitted to using. The rest are either claiming ignorance or coining dog-ate-my-homework-type steroid excuses. Athletes are known for their physical gifts and not their intellectual aptitude, which explains why there have been so many far-fetched steroid excuses over the years.Here's a list of the top 10 steroid excuses used by athletes who have tested positive.

Number 10 "It must have been the entire bottle of shampoo I drank."

Most athletes that invest in steroids also invest in the drugs to mask them for a steroids test. Either British shot-putter Paul Edwards didn't buy the masking agent -- or maybe he just ran out of it -- but he decided that drinking a full bottle of shampoo might somehow cover it up instead. After Edwards tested positive, he blamed the hair-cleansing product for causing the failed test, which raised a few eyebrows as to why he drank a full bottle of shampoo in the first place. Hopefully he didn't chase it with conditioner.

Number 9"The turtle blood and dried caterpillars are to blame."

There's always something suspicious about athletes who've never made it to the top before but suddenly sky-rocket with multiple wins. On the one hand, that's part of what makes sports so exciting, but on the other hand, that's what makes cheating a business. Speculation mounted after a few unknown Chinese runners came out of nowhere to break several world records in 1993. Those runners were linked together not only because they were all coached by Ma Junren, but because they all tested positive for EPO afterward. Ma blamed the positive test on the Fear Factor-like diet he forced on his runners, which included dried caterpillar supplements and turtle blood potion. If that's the case, we're thinking that maybe the turtle who beat the hare should be tested for EPO.

Number 8 "I'm just so very manly."

After Floyd Landis was caught with elevated levels of testosterone following his incredible come-from-behind Tour de France victory in 2006, he claimed that his body had naturally created a spike in his testosterone production. The contention to be a manly man with internal organic testosterone super powers took a big hit when the New York Times reported that the testosterone found in his urine sample came from an external source, and was not produced by his body. Landis continues to incessantly appeal, but has been stripped of his Tour de France title and was served with a two-year suspension from the event.

Number 7 "I was massaged with testosterone-laced cream."

One of the more popular and recent steroid excuses for a positive drug test has been the claim of unknowingly taking the illegal substance. However, ignorance really is no excuse. After Olympic gold medalist and world-class sprinter Justin Gatlin tested positive for using testosterone cream, he couldn't account for the positive test. Gatlin's coach, Trevor Graham, blamed a malicious masseuse. However, considering eight athletes that Graham previously coached had tested positive for steroids, maybe Gatlin should have questioned his relationship with his coach instead of his massage therapist. Gatlin was served a four-year ban from track and field despite his seemingly well-thought steroid excuse.

Number 6 "You've got the wrong twin."

Identical twins are easily mistaken for one another; take Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen for example, or George and Oscar Bluth in Arrested Development. However, using the "you've got the wrong twin" steroid excuse is pretty much guaranteed to never work. Tyler Hamilton was caught blood doping and tried to use the wrong-twin alibi. He blamed what looked, smelled, felt, tasted, and sounded like blood manipulation on a vanishing twin that died in his mother's womb. The problem was he didn't have any proof, which for this type of claim is rather mandatory.

Number 5 "I brush my teeth everyday with nandrolone toothpaste."

Dieter Baumann, the 1992 Olympic 5,000 meter champion, claimed that simply brushing his teeth doped up his body with nandrolone, which caused his failed test. Baumann alleged that somebody manipulated his toothpaste and injected it with the performance-enhancing drug. Without a suspect, however, his story remained in the fiction section of steroid tall tales.

Number 4 "My girlfriend had an infection..."

There are many reasons to use protection during sex, most of them relate to averting pregnancy and avoiding STDs. According to Italian soccer player, Marco Borriello, a positive steroid test can also happen without protection. Borriello blamed a positive test on ointment that he was using on his chief of staff after his Argentinean model girlfriend passed along an infection through sexual intercourse. When doctors claimed that the quantity in his system was too high for absorption, Borriello cunningly claimed that he did ingest it as well since his partner was using the cream on herself.

Number 3 "Someone spiked my ginseng!"

Ben Johnson, one of Canada's brightest track stars, went from having a detailed chapter in Canadian lore to being a short fable faux pas for future Canadian athletes. Johnson reached the highest pinnacle in his sport when he set new world records for the 100 meter sprint in the 1987 World Championships, and then again in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, taking home a gold medal for his Olympic efforts. However, Johnson gave it back shortly after, as his efforts were proved to be aided by steroids. He claimed that somebody spiked his ginseng drink and then 18 years later, professed that that somebody was Carl Lewis. To completely sell out, he did a television commercial where he admitted that he likes to "cheetah" all the time.

Number 2 "Too much sex and alcohol."

Although Johnson takes the headlines, five of the eight runners in the 1998 Seoul 100 meter sprint also failed drug tests. Mitchell, who was part of the race, was caught with elevated levels of testosterone 10 years after the Seoul Olympics. Mitchell pinned the positive test on having sex with his wife four times the night before and drinking five bottles of beer, which was a completely implausible steroid excuse if ever there was one. Interestingly enough, USA Track and Field actually bought the story, but the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) did not and Mitchell was banned for two years.

Number 1 "I swear it was the veal."

Many cows are doped up with steroids to produce bigger steaks, but rarely are those drugs passed down to the consumer for athletic performance enhancement.However, former Australian Open champ Petr Korda tested positive for the banned substance nandrolone and held his veal dinner responsible. He claimed that the nandrolone-fattened veal triggered the positive test. His reasoning was slaughtered by scientists who determined that he would have had to eat 40 calves a day for 20 years to achieve the levels his test produced.

excuses, excuses…

If athletes can learn anything from this article it is that eating veal, having unprotected sex and brushing your teeth can lead to positive steroid tests. And if they can't refrain from those malicious activities they better invest more into public relations staff to come up with better alibis than the ridiculous 10 steroid excuses from this list.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org

www.nytimes.com

www.cbc.ca

www.cyclingnews.com

Sleep Better Tonight

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:53:00 PDT

Several years ago, scientists discovered an "internal" body rhythm in all human beings and animals. This is like an inner clock that determines not only when and how long you sleep, but it also dictates your ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, the quality of your sleep, and consequently : your daily energy levels.

This inner sleep system has several components. One of the absolutely crucial components of this system is the deep sleep stage. Deep sleep is one of 5 stages of sleep that your body cycles through several times during sleep. This is the stage of sleep that is responsible for restoring your physical energy by "sending" blood directly to your muscles and preparing your body for yet another day.

When you experience those nasty feelings like daytime fatigue or an overall lack of energy, it's usually because your body didn't spend much time, if any, in this stage of sleep night before. Obviously, you would benefit greatly from getting as much of this stage of sleep as your body requires. By now you may be starting to see the inner workings of this "secret".

Your body needs more deep sleep, not just more sleep. This is why the sleeping pills enable you to at least get by. This is why even on those very rare nights that you get five, six, or even eight or more hours of sleep you still feel awful the next day. It's highly possible that your body only spent a tiny fraction of time in this "deep sleep".

The human race has been crammed into a vastly different way of life. We've simply messed with the natural components of our sleep system!

And what is the result? Insomnia, lack of energy, irritability, lack of motivation and productivity, and a variety of health problems. If you're like most people under such circumstances you'll find yourself less capable of achieving the things in your life that you really want. Link

It's easy to beat the bulge

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Fri, 08 May 2009 09:01:00 PDT

Forget the gym. Get fitter, leaner and stronger in just six weeks – by walking. Try this simple plan:

If you're unsure of your fitness levels, make an effort to walk more. It's the ideal way to kick-start an exercise regimen. A one-hour power walk can burn up to 350 calories, help tone your body and boost energy levels.

Start by wearing a pedometer for seven days. Record how many steps you do each day. The greatest number is your baseline. You'll need to improve on the baseline each week.

Always aim to walk briskly but ensure you can still talk. Find a route that will allow you to increase your number of steps. You could get off the bus early, walk with a friend in the streets near your home or find a park to pound around.

Once a week, test your fit

ness by taking your pulse for one minute before you start walking. Take it again when you finish and again after a minute's rest. The quicker your heart rate returns to the pace it was before you began, the fitte

r you are.

Lower blood pressure, stronger bones and improved sleeping patterns are just some of the benefits walking promotes. So get out there and start walking.

Week One Buy a pair of good- quality, comfortable walking shoes. Aim to walk enough steps to equal your baseline number every day.

Week Two Add 1000 steps to your baseline on five days. Maintain three minutes of continuous intensity walking (a brisk pace, with-out stopping) on three of those days.

Week Three Add 2000 steps to your baseline on five days. You should notice you are sleeping better.

Week F

our Repeat week three.

Week Five Add 3000 steps to your baseline on five days this week. Also do four minutes continuous-intensity walking on three of those days.

Week Six Add 5000 steps to your baseline on five days and do five minutes continuous walking on three of those days.

On the last day of each week, take the fitness test. You'll be surprised by how quickly things change.

Joanna Hall in "The GI Walking Diet"

Look and Feel Years Younger without Drugs & Surgery

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Mon, 11 May 2009 02:55:00 PDT

Is it possible to look and feel years younger than what you are now without expensive drugs and surgery? Yes, of course you can. Here is how:

* Do Cardio Exercises – When you exercise your cardiovascular system, your heart and lungs get stronger. You will breathe better and oxygen circulates better. You may be able to avoid age related diseases like high blood pressure, stroke and heart problems. Since your blood circulates well, that will put a glow of pink health on your skin and face. And since you are fitter, you won't look tired and haggard. Cardio exercises will also help you to maintain a healthy weight. With low body fat, you will also avoid many age related diseases besides look great and younger.

* Build Muscle – In order to build muscles, you will need to lift weights. Weightlifting with strengthen your bones too and helps prevent other aging diseases like osteoporosis and muscle dystrophy (wasting away of muscles). With cardio exercises, weightlifting and correct eating habits, you will keep your body fat down and owned an attractive well toned body. This will boost your self esteem and your added confidence will be another look young factor.

* Avoid Direct Sunlight– Always wear at least an SPF 15 sun block when out in the sun even on cloudy days. Sunlight is now known to be one of the main factors of skin aging. Prolong exposure to sunlight will cause wrinkles, skin pigmentation, rough and coarse skin and even skin cancers.

* Vitamins and Antioxidants – Take multi vitamins and antioxidants regularly as a supplement. They will mop up free radicals and improve your general health besides providing better immunity to diseases and great looking skin.

* Sleep – Sleep at least 8 hours a day. More even better. Sleep helps your body to recharge and repair itself from stress and work. Your muscles build up from the exercises you have done during your sleep. Furthermore, with enough rest, you will look fresh and radiant. They don't call it "beauty sleep" for nothing right?* Water – Drink lots and lots of plain water. It will help flush out toxins and waste products and thereby hydrating your skin for a better glow.

* Say No To Cigarettes and Alcohol – Cigarettes and alcohol are a no no if you want smooth beautiful skin. Cigarettes with its many toxins will speed up the aging process. Wrinkles and fine lines on your face and hands will appear even when you are young. Alcohol will dehydrate your skin and you will have with flaking and dry skin. Combined the two together, you will look much older than you really are. Just do all these anti aging and very soon, you will look years younger without surgery or drugs.

Are Drinks Making You Fat?- Get a Grip on That Glass

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Tue, 12 May 2009 22:28:00 PDT

Having trouble dropping pounds? It’s time to think before you drink. What you’re sipping through that straw may actually be keeping the scale from budging. Beverages alone can cause gastronomical increases in calorie intake, rounding out your waistline. In fact, Americans get more than 20% of their calories from beverages – way too much for both health and weight loss. So how should you quench your thirst?Conventional wisdom would tell us that it doesn’t matter if you choose a 150-calorie drink or a 150-calorie snack. After all, a calorie is a calorie… right?

Unfortunately, drinks don’t do much to curb appetites since the brain doesn’t seem to register the calories from beverages the way it does from food. In fact, studies show that people rarely compensate for liquid calories by cutting calories at that meal or later on, whereas they would normally do that had they taken in extra calories from a food source.

Drink size is also a problem. In the last few decades, beverage portions seem better suited for thirsty horses than people. Not to mention that most popular drinks usually have a vat of sugar in them as well. The average soft drink has ballooned from 13 to nearly 20 ounces – and the average woman increased her daily caloric intake by 335 calories. No wonder Americans are fatter than ever before – more than 57% of us are overweight.

Sipping Sodas

There’s not much in the way of nutrients that heads up that straw either. One 12-ounce can of regular soda has about 150 calories. Sure, that doesn’t seem like much. But keep in mind that it’s above and beyond what your normal calorie intake would be, since your brain won’t register the extra calories.
n extra 150 calories a day can pack on 15 pounds a year. But who’s stopping with one can? Restaurants and quick marts offer cups as large as 32 ounces – often with free refills. Kick back one Big Gulp (32 ounces) and you’re chugging 400 or more calories without a second thought.Diet sodas offer flavor without calories, but experts caution here too: Diet sodas may condition us to prefer sweetness.

Coffee or Tea?

Coffee and tea are calorie-free, so drink up. In fact, recent studies suggest that they may actually be good for you. Coffee may act as a mild antidepressant and protect against type 2 diabetes. And a cup of tea offers antioxidants and disease-fighting chemicals you can’t find elsewhere.But dress those beverages up and all bets are off: You add 45 calories for each tablespoon of sugar, 25 for cream and 20 more for a pump of flavored syrup. Down several of those a day, and your coffee and tea habit could tip the scales out of your favor. In fact, some specialty drinks can climb to 500 calories and beyond.

Coffee and Tea Facts:
6-oz. white chocolate mocha = 510 calories
6-oz. latte with whole milk = 260 calories
6-oz. latte with nonfat milk = 160 calories
6 ounces black coffee = 10 calories
6 ounces black tea = 2 calories

Get Real

One hundred percent real fruit juices can be nutritional powerhouses loaded with taste and disease fighters – and unfortunately, calories. That’s why experts recommend you drink no more than eight ounces daily. If you do choose juice over fruit, reach for the unusual. Tropical and berry juices like mango, passion fruit and blueberry are rich in antioxidants that block cell damage. Cranberry juice helps prevent urinary tract infections and fights dental plaque. Pomegranate juice may have some heart benefits.Fruit drinks or cocktails, however, are not the same thing as fruit juice. Although their calorie count is similar, they’re full of added sugar – sucrose, dextrose and high fructose corn syrup – and lacking in nutrients. Watch out for fruit drinks that say “10% real fruit juice” because the other 90% is sugar water.

Juice Facts:
ounces pomegranate juice = 160 calories
ounces cranberry juice = 140 calories
ounces fruit punch = 120 calories
ounces orange juice = 110 calories

Got Milk?

Research suggests that drinking milk aids weight loss, although the studies are conflicting. Still, milk is a great source of calcium, vitamin D and protein.The important thing is to choose skim milk, not full-fat. Switching from eight ounces of whole to skim milk saves 60 calories and five grams of artery-clogging saturated fat.

Milk Facts:
ounces low-fat chocolate milk = 150 calories
ounces whole milk = 150 calories
ounces 2% milk = 130 calories
ounces 1% milk = 120 calories
ounces nonfat milk = 90 calories

Alcohol: To Drink or Not to Drink?

An occasional glass of wine or beer won’t toss your diet out the window. Light to moderate alcohol consumption is even associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. But at 70-150 calories a drink (more for mixed cocktails and specialty drinks), regular imbibing can undo your calorie count as well as your restraint. A few glasses of wine and that cheese platter just tastes better and better. Watch out: the calories add up fast.

When you’re at parties or out with friends, try alternating alcoholic drinks with zero-calorie or low-calorie beverages. Sip on club soda with a twist of lime.Or try something more substantial (and nutritious) like tomato or vegetable juice – these typically only have about 50 calories per eight ounces.To avoid overeating, decide in advance what and how much you’re going to eat. Leave it up to chance, and you’ll get caught up in fun and forget to watch your calories.Carry a plate of raw veggies or other low-calorie food; your hands will stay full – and out of the chips and dip. In fact, step away from the buffet table.

Alcohol Facts:
2 ounces beer = 120-180 calories
2 ounces light beer = 70-125 calories
ounces daiquiri = 112 calories
shot (1.5 ounces) 80-proof rum = 100 calories
ounces red or white wine = 80 calories

Wet Your Whistle with Water

Since 60% of your body weight is water and every cell in your body relies on water to function properly, drinking lots of water is a no-brainer.There’s no better way to stay hydrated than to down this all-natural, zero-calorie drink: bottled, tap, or flavored water.

Water Facts:
6 ounces water = 0 calories
6 ounces artificially sweetened flavored water = 0 calories
6 ounces vitamin- or nutrient-enhanced water = varies; up to 100

Beyond Viagra: The Hidden Roots and Risks of Erectile Dysfunction

noreply@blogger.com (Joe) — Tue, 26 May 2009 05:30:00 PDT

It’s estimated that about 50% of men over 40 have some form of erectile dysfunction (ED). And while the knee-jerk reaction is to pop Viagra or one of its cousins for a hydraulic lift, the reality is that erection medications don’t work for all men. Surprisingly, some experts say that’s a good thing. Why? ED is often an early warning sign of serious health problems ahead…A malfunctioning member shouldn’t be treated by casually popping a pill, says Dr. Ridwan Shabsigh, FACS, director of urology at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn and co-author of the new book Sensational Sex in 7 Easy Steps: The Proven Plan for Enhancing Your Sexual Function and Achieving Optimum Health (Rodale Books, 2007).

Shabsigh is one of a growing number of health professionals spreading the word that when a man starts to go soft it’s a red flag that other parts of his body need medical attention, too. A healthy penis starts with a healthy body, according to Shabsigh. But because most guys would rather swallow broken glass than admit they have a problem in any part of their bodies (let alone that part), it’s up to you, ladies. Read on to learn: 1. Why an Internet prescription for Viagra isn’t the best remedy for bedroom breakdowns. 2. How getting your guy to lay off the burgers and trade the couch for some cross-trainers might beat a prescription for a little blue pill. 3. A trick to get him to the doctor that doesn’t require hog-tying or chloroform. 4. Why pinpointing the cause of his ED could save your man’s life.

You’ve said that every man can improve his sexual health and most can do it without medication. What’s the first step?

Dr. Ridwan Shabsigh: The first step is to overcome the barriers. We surveyed 32,000 men in waiting rooms of primary care physicians in America and five other countries. We asked those who had ED if they brought it up with their doctor. And we found that more than half of patients with ED did not bring it up with their doctors despite already being in the doctor’s office. When we asked them why, the reasons included denial, thinking that ED is a normal part of aging, not knowing that there’s help, and embarrassment. Embarrassment is a big issue. And we found that embarrassment was more common among younger men with ED. The younger the men, the more embarrassed they were.
In my book I talk about a number of techniques to overcome the barriers. Take someone with you to the doctor, such as your wife, who can help explain. Or write a letter to the doctor. Remember that there is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. The penis is an organ like the spleen, the kidney or the liver. It can malfunction. It’s important to remember that ED is not a normal consequence of aging. It’s a progressive condition. And it should be treated.

You’ve called the penis the “thermometer” of a man’s health, and when that’s not working well it usually means there are more serious health problems brewing. What can the penis tell us about the state of a man’s health?

Shabsigh: A number of systems are required for the penis to function. These include the vascular system, which includes the blood vessels in the penis. Consequently, anything that damages the vascular system will result in erectile dysfunction. The nervous system is also required to send signals to the blood vessels in the penis telling them to open up and bring blood to the penis to make an erection. And both the nerves and blood vessels need testosterone to function.

So, think about diseases that interfere with any of these body systems. Diabetes causes nerve damage, which affects the nerves of the penis along with other nerves. It also affects the blood vessels and hormones. Testosterone is low in patients with type 2 diabetes. Low testosterone is associated with low desire, erectile dysfunction and weak ejaculation. So testosterone deficiency can warn us of future diabetes (about eight years in advance).

That is very exciting to know because diabetes in its early stages is a silent disease. Many patients’ diabetes gets discovered years after subtle symptoms like frequent urination first appear. So sexual dysfunctions aren’t just sexual dysfunctions by themselves. We realize now that they’re early warning symptoms of major medical problems.

Can ED signal other problems besides diabetes?

Shabsigh: Erectile dysfunction can be an early warning symptom of heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. What are the symptoms of high cholesterol? It’s a number on paper for the patient. But erectile dysfunction is a real tangible symptom.ED is a warning symptom of future coronary artery disease with a lag time of about three years. If you have high blood pressure and erectile dysfunction, you’re more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than if you had high blood pressure and no erectile dysfunction – it’s an indicator of how dangerous your hypertension is. This is important because hypertension is one of those silent diseases.
Does obesity play a role, too?

Shabsigh: Obesity is related to vascular disease. The more obese a person is, the more hardening of the arteries – or atherosclerosis – there is, which affects blood flow in the penis and causes difficulty in obtaining and maintaining erections. There’s another and probably more profound effect of abdominal obesity: Fat in the abdomen is especially harmful because fat cells in the abdomen have an enzyme called aromatase, which converts testosterone into estrogen. Estrogen lowers testosterone. And if you have testosterone deficiency, then you have sexual dysfunction, erectile dysfunction, low sexual desire, poor orgasm, low-volume ejaculation, and lack of pleasure and satisfaction.

So how does losing weight help?

Shabsigh: If you lose weight, a number of things improve: The arteries become more flexible. Blood pressure improves. If you’re borderline diabetic, or even diabetic, that will improve. In addition, your testosterone goes up. It’s been shown that if you have abdominal obesity and you lose inches and pounds, your testosterone will go up, your sexual desire will go up, your erections will improve, and your orgasm and ejaculation will become more pleasurable. To see a difference in sexual function, you need to lose ten percent of your weight, which can improve things significantly.

Is smoking also an issue?

Shabsigh: Smoking damages blood vessels and reduces blood circulation in the penis. So the same way that it affects the heart and coronary arteries, it also affects the penile arteries, keeping in mind that the penile arteries are smaller than the coronary arteries. If you’re taking Viagra, Levitra or Cialis and you stop smoking, your response to the medications will improve.
According to the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (an ongoing survey of men’s health administered by the Harvard School of Public Health), watching more than 20 hours of TV a week, along with excessive consumption of alcohol, smoking and being overweight, was associated with higher levels of ED.

Shabsigh: Watching football, drinking beer and smoking cigars are typical guy things. If you have a sedentary lifestyle and you start exercising, you improve your sexual function. But it has to be aerobic exercise. That improves the function of the arteries and the veins in the body. Remember, the penis is a complex vascular organ, and you need healthy blood vessels for it to function.

Any other lifestyle factors that affect sexual function?

Shabsigh: Acute stress releases adrenalin, which restricts blood vessels and makes erections less effective. In addition, when people are under chronic stress, they frequently cope poorly. They overeat. Some people also resort to alcohol, which has two effects: If you drink enough, you go to sleep, and some parts of you go to sleep before other parts. If you abuse alcohol for years, you will damage the nerves in the body. That’s why many men with a history of alcohol abuse report not only erectile dysfunction but also sensory numbness in the penis.

So your prescription for sexual health is to quit smoking, exercise, lose some weight, manage your stress, and drink less. How do we start?

Shabsigh: The first step is to know where you are. Calculate your BMI [Body Mass Index] to know whether you’re normal, overweight, obese, or extremely obese. If you want to reduce your [weight], you have to … eat less and exercise more. How you do that? The general rule is that any diet that is healthy for the vascular system and the prostate is healthy for sex. As for exercise, I recommend thirty minutes a day, four to six days a week. Choose the activity most suitable to you, individually. Exercise also reduces anxiety and improves the ability to deal with stress. So do meditation and yoga.

Perhaps many men would disagree, but you’ve said that the day a man is diagnosed with ED can actually be a good day for him. What do you mean by that?

Shabsigh: It could be a good day because it’s a day to review a man’s health. Many men haven’t been to a doctor in years. Women are used to going to the doctor. Once a year you get your Pap smear, your mammogram. Men aren’t like that. They go ten years without going to the doctor.Taking a pill is the easy part of this. That’s why I tell my patients that asking for samples of Viagra or Cialis or Levitra is not helpful because what they really need is a review of their health. I ask my patients, Do you know your blood pressure? Do you know your cholesterol? Do you smoke? Do you know your weight? Do you know your BMI? Do you know your waist circumference? Do you know your testosterone level? Do you have any prostate or urinary problems? Are you depressed? How is your relationship? Are you under stress? Do you have too much anxiety? Are you overcommitted in life? Do you exercise regularly? Do you overeat? Do you over-drink? This review makes coming to the doctor about erectile dysfunction more valuable than just taking a pill. Sure, there is value in pills for ED. There’s also value in using penile injection therapy for those who don’t respond to the pills. There’s great value in having a penile implant if medications don’t work. There’s value in taking testosterone if your testosterone is low. There is value in all these things. But alone they’re not enough. Just taking Viagra and maintaining bad lifestyle habits is not good.