Diet Success or Failure - Destiny or Choice

By Mark Louis

Many people feel that it is not their fault that they cannot lose weight. They may feel as though they have been struggling with diet after diet without any consistent or long-term weight loss achievements. However, is their lack of weight loss success truly their destiny, or is it actually a choice that they have made?

Think about your own life and the way that your choices impact your weight loss success. Virtually everything that you do is an opportunity to make a more weight loss-friendly selection; and one choice will frequently impact the next one.

Consider the following scenario:

You've come home from work and you feel like a snack, so you eat an apple. You take your time eating it, peruse the headlines in the newspaper, and wind down from the day. Now you feel energized and although you'd considered playing plunking down on the couch to catch up on the soaps, you instead decide to take the dog to the park to toss a Frisbee around. When you get home, it's time to make dinner, and you discover that you're missing a key ingredient. Fortunately, you noticed before you started cooking, so you have a few extra moments and you take a quick walk to the corner store to pick up what you need. When you return home, you prepare and eat a healthy, home cooked meal and feel satisfied with your food intake, and with yourself. You then have enough time to catch your favorite television show before you head to bed and get a good rest.

Now consider this second, similar scenario:

You come home from work and you feel like a snack, so you pick up the half-eaten bag of potato chips that you broke into last night, and set to munching as you plunk down on the couch to catch up on the soaps. You feel comfortable and kind of beat, so instead of making dinner as you'd planned, you hop in the car and drive to the corner store to pick up a frozen pizza, which you nuke when you return home and eat in front of your favorite television show before you return to bed. Unfortunately, even though you went to bed at a good hour, you don't sleep well because you have restless legs and heartburn.

These two scenarios illustrate how a single choice - eating an apple versus eating chips - can alter all of the choices that you make after that point.

By choosing the apple, you ate a healthy, energizing snack that encouraged activity instead of couch-potatoism. The number of calories taken in were substantially lower due to a healthy snack and a good, home-prepared dinner, and the food was much more nutritious. Furthermore, the activity helped burn additional calories. The healthy food and activity encouraged a good sleep which is vital to proper weight loss.

By choosing the potato chips, you bog yourself down with fats and salts, discouraging activity. This leads to less desire to even perform regular everyday tasks such as cooking, and may mean an unhealthy, ready meal that is low in nutrients and again high in fat and salt. Without activity, and with such unhealthy foods, the body is restless and does not digest well, leading to broken or short sleep.

As you can see, it is vital that you pay attention to each choice that you make and never simply shrug off something as simple as a snack in the afternoon. It could be the difference between the success and the failure of your weight loss!

What So Great About GL Diet?

By Ng Peng Hock

GL stands for glycemic load. It is believed by many health professionals that low GL diet will be more popular than low-fat, low-carbohydrate (carb) or low-calorie.

The low-fat and low-calorie diets do not stop obesity epidemic in countries like Britain and United States despite the fact that the average number of calories and percentage of calories from fat went down. To the contrary, the obesity epidemic has in fact accelerated. Obesity will cause us gets higher risk of developing into many medical health issues including heart disease.

Dr Atkins realized that it was the carbohydrate that increases the blood sugar and hence the weight. In order to prevent the body from converting carbs into fat, a high-protein, high-fat and low-carb diet was proposed. It works but it does not really make one healthier.

In 1980s, people started measuring GI (glycemic index) of foods, which is a measure of how fast the sugar in food increases one’s blood sugar level compared with glucose. GI diet suggests limiting high-GI foods but does not restrict the quantity of carbohydrates.

GL means the quantity of carbs (the Atkins factor) multiplied by the quality (the GI factor). For instance, watermelon has fast-releasing sugar (GI of 72), but a large slice has only 6g of carbs. So multiplying the quantity (6g) by the quality (0.72) gives 4.3 GLs.

The GL value of food tells us more things: what that food will do to our blood sugar level and hence, our appetite, energy and weight.

Low GL diet can be achieved either by eating a low-carb, high-protein diet (and Atkins) or with a higher carb, but strictly low GI carbs and moderate protein diet. Patrick Holford, founder of the Institute of Optimum Nutrition in London, prefers the latter approach. What he suggests is a meal of 45 GLs a day, spaced out in 3 meals and 2 snacks, combining protein with carbohydrate will even out blood sugar and maximize weight loss.

In clinical trials, Atkins and South Beach diets give a weight loss of about 500g a week while the above-mentioned low-GL diet causes a weight loss of 590g a week with 94 percent of participants claiming better energy. The findings were published in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine.

A paper published by the American Medical Association also suggested that dietary glycemic load (GL) and not just overall energy intake (calories), influences weight loss.

Moderate reduction in GL appears to increase the rate of body fat loss, particularly for women. Diets based on low-GI wholegrain products maximize cardiovascular risk reduction, particularly if protein intake is high.

Will GL diet become the future of safe, effective and life-long weight control, as what Holford suggests? Perhaps it is too early to tell. Let us wait and see if more favorable clinical findings will emerge to make this come true.

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Heart Disease Prevention - 8 Simple Ways You Can Do Immediately, Go to: http://www.howtopreventheartdisease.com

Can You Get A Six Pack With Electric Belts?

By Gordon Bryan

If you're wondering how to get a six pack with electric belts, you'll be welcomed with open arms by the companies trying to sell you them. I wonder how welcoming those same companies will be when you try and get a refund!

Here's the theory -

You want to get six pack abs, but you don't want to do all those crunches. Apart from the fact that you don't even need to do all those sit ups, which I'll come to later, you're intrigued by the adverts for the electric belts and other devices.

They claim that running an electric current to the stomach muscles will make them contract, enough to replicate the effect of all those sit ups and crunches.

Hence you can turn it on and get a six pack while sitting down watching tv!

Right?

Hmm...

These devices were originally invented for medical use. Yes, the electric current does make the muscle contract, but it was designed for physiotherapy work, when the patient was unable to contract the muscle any other way. Or, say if someone is in traction or disabled, they can help to stop the muscle wasting away. They simply do not make the muscle contract enough to build it up in any way, and when you see the pictures in the ads of those rippling stomachs, you can just smile because you now know better!

Building any set of muscle in the body in isolation, in this case the abs, is very hard, and usually detrimental to other parts of the body. An all round body approach is far more beneficial in the long term.

Also. if your stomach muscles are covered in a layer of belly fat, you won't have a rippling six pack no matter *what* you do, the layer of fat will just cover it up!

This means that all the crunches are a waste of time. The work on those specific muscles is the last piece of the puzzle, if needed at all.

What I mean by that is that once you have got rid of the belly fat, and developed an all round fitness lifestyle, you'll likely as not have an impressively developed stomach anyway!

So, the next time you wonder if you can get a six pack with electric belts and the like, remember what you now know to be true!

Gordon Bryan only recommends one six pack course. Read about it and grab his FREE 8 Step Goal Achievement Plan at: http://www.gordonbryan.com/sixpackabs

Best tips for Maintain healthy pregnancy diet

It is very necessary to maintain a proper diet if you are pregnant. You must be aware about your fetus during pregnancy. If you manage a healthy diet then you can save yourself from health problems. You can get problem- free delivery and get a healthy baby.

Let me explain a proper and healthy pregnancy diet: -

1. Firstly, always follow the instructions of your doctor.


2. Keep your weight under control.


3. Give attention to your daily calories.


4. Always focus on healthy foods.


5. Avoid foods high in salt, fat and preservatives.


6. Minimize fried and greasy foods.


7. Pay attention to natural and whole foods.


8. Always eat fresh fruits, green leafy vegetables and complex whole grains.


9. Always eat lean meats such as chicken and fish.


10. Take adequate amount of milk, soy and cheese.


11. Always take pre- natal vitamins full of iron.


12. Do not take those things, which you are not advised.

Some helpful suggestions about yoga?

Here some are the suggestions by which yoga can be done effectively. You surely derive maximum benefits from the following suggestions.

1. Yoga should be done in a relaxed state of mind.


2. Use a soft mattress for doing yoga.


3. Yoga should be practice only on an empty stomach.


4. Practice yoga after taking a bath.


5. Always doing yoga after taking one glass of water.


6. There should be a gap of at least three hours after eating lunch.


7. The patients of asthma, arthritis and diabetes must not do some asana of yoga

Reasons and preventions for back pain

Back pain is definitely a big problem. It has become very common in Indians. A survey has revealed that one of every two Indians is a victim of back pain. It is the worst hit for all of us. It has been fallen out due to many factors. Some of them are the following: -

1. Fast paced life style, which leaves people with little to exercise.


2. Economic prosperity, which means that people drive, even to neighborhoods market.


3. A faculty posture while sitting can wreck havoc.


4. Alcoholism, smoking are cause calcium depletion from the bones and that causes back pain.


5. Un-comfortable commuting, with public transport and two- wheelers emerging causes back pain.


6. Lack of exercise


7. Maximum stress on back

Some prevention by which it can be removed at some levels are: -

1. Keep your weight under control.


2. Reduce stress on your back


3. Avoid prolonged sitting in one position


4. Lumbar support and periodic breaks to move around are essential.


5. Always bend knees instead of back when lifting.


6. Always do regularly exercise.


7. Avoid alcoholism and smoking at possible levels.


8. Always maintain the correct posture by placing the monitor above eye level.


9. Sometimes use your foots to run instead of using wheelers.

Top Tips for Better Health

By Rebecca Alliker

1. Hydrate Yourself.
Drink plenty of water. Your body needs 2 litres of water a day. It will replenish your system and help to flush out toxins, making you feel more alert and your skin look radiant.

2. Get Your Daily Portions.
We all know by now that we need at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Make sure that you get yours today and don’t think that you will start tomorrow or next week… Berries are particularly rich in antioxidants, which help to restore balance to your body when you have overdone it for a while.

3. Eat Organic.
No-one wants to be eating unnecessary pesticides and chemicals, but often people become overwhelmed by information or think its too expensive. So pick one product that you buy regularly and buy it organic from now on. Always buy organic carrots and root vegetables, as they are often the most contaminated of the fruit and vegetables.

4. Go Natural.
Remove all of the unnecessary chemicals from your bathroom. Your skin doesn’t benefit from them and they overload your system, making it harder for your body to function. There are plenty of fantastic alternatives that really do feed your skin, search them out.

5. Body Brush.
Body brushing is excellent for your skin. It helps to break up fatty deposits, aids in lymphatic drainage and stimulates your circulation as well as exfoliating your skin. Use a natural fibre body brush to brush the body, following the direction of the heart, do this each morning before showering.

6. Smile.
When you are feeling down or are having a bad day, just smile. Try it now. When you smile it’s hard to stay glum. Just keep on smiling and you will soon feel better.

7. Get Fresh.
Open the windows or step outside and take a deep breath of fresh air. This will help your lungs to remove its unwanted matter and make you feel fresher and more alert. What are you waiting for?

8. Move Your Body.
The lymphatic system is one of the key areas of detoxification and relies on the movement of your muscles to do its job. Sedentary lifestyles can lead to congestion in this area. So go for a gentle stroll, climb the stairs or get dancing to your favourite CD and think of all those toxins your will be removing.

9. Take Five.
Relax and recuperate, take time for yourself to do whatever you fancy. Whether it’s to catch up with friends, watch a film, read a book or our personal favourite; a long soak in the bath.

10. Go To Bed.
Your body does most of its repair work whilst you are sleeping. So make sure you are getting regular sleep. We would advise you to keep a window open if possible, so that the air remains fresh and your sleep more peaceful.

Rebecca Alliker
Kaniker Natural Health
http://www.kanikernaturalhealth.co.uk

Honey and Weight Loss

By Ruth Tan

Honey and weight loss are often associated. Why is honey a smarter choice than table sugar honey a smarter choice than table sugar if you are watching your weight?

Refined dietary sugars lack minerals and vitamins and are often called empty calories. They draw upon the body's nutrients to be metabolized into the system, and when these nutrients are depleted, metabolizing of cholesterol and fatty acid is impeded, contributing to higher cholesterol and promoting obesity due to higher fatty acid on the organs and tissues. The good news is that honey, the natural sweetener, on the other hand, contains 22 amino acids and a variety of minerals essential for its metabolism and hence is helpful in preventing obesity. It is believed that drinking lemon juice with a little honey the first thing in the morning is an effective anti cellulite treatment as it helps to increase body metabolism. If you are determined to shed weight and speed up your sluggish metabolism, try this honey and lemon diet tip. If you like, another very popular recipe associated with honey and weight loss is a drink that uses honey and cinnamon as ingredients. Many people have found this home remedy very effective in losing pounds. The steps are easy: mix a teaspoon of honey and half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder (or ground cinnamon) into a paste in a cup and pour a cup of boiling water. Stir and cover for half and hour. Filter away any big particles before consumption. Take it in the morning with an empty stomach about half an hour before breakfast.

For people who tend to overeat or feel discomfort in the stomach after meals, honey can be taken for better digestion. Honey is a simple carbohydrate because it contains easily digested sugars. Foods that are rich in sugars or complexes of sugars are carbohydrates. How the sugars are arranged will determine whether we call a food a source of simple or complex carbohydrates. When sugars are bound into rows, as they are in starches such as whole grains and legumes, they are called complex carbohydrates. It takes the body much longer to digest the sugar from a complex carbohydrate.

The latest theory based on the hibernation diet also builds a link between honey and weight loss. It suggests taking a generous spoonful or two of honey at night, either as a warm drink or straight from the jar, and promises to help us sleep and lose weight at the same time by fuelling the liver, speeding up fat-burning metabolism and easing stress hormones.

And if you are considering artificial sugar or sweetener like Aspartame to help you lose weight, you are completely on the wrong track. It might get you off from a few calories but it gives you a bunch of other serious health problems.

Source: http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-and-weight-loss.html

R. Tan is the owner of the website benefits-of-honey.com which is a rich honey resource community specially built for all the honey lovers and fans in this world. She has packed this website with a wide range of quality contents on honey based on her knowledge and experience with honey, so as to promote its invaluable benefits which she believes could bring many positive spin-offs in everyone's daily life.

How About A No Starve Diet?

By Ng Peng Hock

Glycemic index (GI) is a ranking system for foods (specifically the carbohydrates contained therein) based on their effect on blood sugar levels in the first two hours. The concept was invented in 1981 by Dr. David J. Jenkins of the University of Toronto.

Foods with a high GI tend to raise quickly the blood sugar level in the body while foods with a low GI will slowly increase the blood sugar over a longer period of time.

Foods with a high GI value require less energy to be converted into glucose and will rapidly break down and raise the blood sugar. People who eat high-GI foods will feel hungry very soon. If this pattern is frequently repeated, one may end up with gaining in weight as a result of constantly overeating.

On the other hand, foods with a low GI value break down slowly and release sugar gradually into the blood stream. The body will digest and absorb the sugar and starches in the foods at a slower rate. It will help control appetite and delay hunger as people will feel fuller for longer and are less prone to snack. In addition, a lower glycemic response equates to a lower insulin demand, better long-term blood glucose control and a reduction in blood lipids. It will benefit people with diabetes (type 1 and type 2), as suggested by various studies.

GI is a standardized system that runs from 0 to 100. There are basically 3 categories:

1. Low GI
55 or less, most fruit and vegetables (except potato), basmati rice, oats, all-bran will fall in this category.

2. Moderate GI
56 to 69, sucrose and Mars bar are some good examples.

3. High GI
70 or above, some representative examples are corn flakes, baked potato, jasmine rice, white bread.

A low GI diet will make you less susceptible to constipation due to high fiber content of low GI foods. Your blood cholesterol level and risk of heart disease will be reduced, too. It is also possible to help you lose or control your weight. More importantly, you need not starve as the diet comprises of a balanced combination of proteins, carbohydrates and good fats.

Nevertheless, foods with a low GI value may contain high contents of other undesired things such as salt. So relying solely on GI value is insufficient, you still need to take note of the nature of foods you eat. Moreover, it is also difficult to identify the GI value of a complete meal which may contain various types of food with different GI values. Some dietitians and nutritionists do caution that one should not totally avoid all high-GI foods. As a guideline, the more low GI foods that are included into a meal, the lower the overall GI value for that meal.

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Heart Disease Prevention - 8 Simple Ways You Can Do Immediately, Go to: http://www.howtopreventheartdisease.com

How to Stop Snoring

By Eric Hartwell

Snoring happens when the free stream of air through the passageway at the back of the mouth and nose is blocked. This region is the collapsible element of the airway flow where our tongue and upper throat meet the soft palate and uvula. We snore as soon as these formations strike each other and they shudder when we breathe.

Occasionally kids with big tonsils and adenoids snore. Irregularities of the nose for example an abnormal nasal septum can also cause snoring. Snoring should not be taken lightly. Heavy snorers are more prone to be hypertensive and have additional problems than non snorers. The most significant development of snoring is sleep apnea, which causes cardiac, pulmonary and behavioral problems. Heavy snorers should have a careful examination of the mouth, nose, throat and larynx by an ENT surgeon.

There are various ways that can help you to stop snoring. If you have a problem of snoring, first thing that you should check is your weight. Make sure that you are not overweight. Extra weight is the main cause of snoring. If you are obese than it is very important for you to exercise daily and reduce your extra flab. This will not only help you to stop snoring but also help you to get rid of whole lot of other problems like high blood pressure, cardiac diseases that are very common in overweight people. Thus follow a healthy lifestyle to develop good muscle tone and lose weight. Taking care of your diet is the best remedy to avoid snoring.

Another way that can help you stop snoring is by avoiding tranquilizers, alcohol and smoking. Alcohol and sleeping pills can depress your central nervous system and loosen up the muscles of your jaw and throat, making snoring more likely. Smoking is one of numerous aspects that push the body to make excess mucus, which can put in to the restriction of the airways. Moreover if you have any kind of problem related to nasal congestion, make sure to treat it properly. Persistent respiratory allergies might cause snoring by forcing sufferers to respire through their mouths while they sleep and this results in snoring. Taking a decongestant or antihistamine previous to bedtime may aid to stop snoring.

Another way to stop snoring is by taking care of you sleeping posture. You should try to sleep sideways instead of lying down on your back. This allows the mouth or throat tissue and tongue to fall down into the throat and block the airway. You should sleep with your bed tilted so that your head is raised a bit upwards. Sleeping with your head raised may take some of the pressure off the airway, making breathing easier and reducing snoring. Moreover avoiding the use of thick pillow can stop your snoring.

Finally, you can use products like a mouth guard that would hold your teeth together and do not allow your jaws to fall down. Such products are available commercially and can really help you to stop snoring

For more help and information on the difficult problem of snoring and snorers visit snoring resources

Free Dog Training Tips

By Julie Lees

All of us with dogs at home know just how important dog training is. It is possible to train dogs of all ages, not only puppies and it not only saves mess and destruction in your house but results in a content dog too. I am the proud owner of a Border Terrier dog named Ruby. She is just over a year old and I bought her as a puppy. A friend of mine already had two border terriers of her own and gave me lots of advice and information about their temperament, size, grooming and exercise before I decided this was the breed for me. It is important before you buy a dog to consider all of these things, especially their size as an adult and exercise requirements. It is obviously not a good idea to buy a large dog if you live in a small house or one that requires a lot of exercise if you do not have the time to take it out every day.

The first few weeks were a bit hectic. I seemed to be constantly running around following this puppy and teaching her all the basic things she needed to know. What is important with all dogs is that constant praise is essential. No matter what you are teaching your dog to do, lavish praise on them every time they get it right. Your dog will very quickly appreciate this and want to please you all the more.

The same goes for reprimanding them when they do bad things. By this I mean using a stern voice which will be recognised instantly when they understand you are not happy. I never hit my dog when she gets it wrong as this is very confusing for her and can result in aggression. If you have a dog that you find does not respond to well to walking on a lead then I would highly recommend buying a harness instead. There are many available in pet shops and once you have mastered the art of fitting and adjusting it they can be put on very quickly. My dog can be very excitable at the prospect of walkies but I have found that she responds much better when walking with a harness.

These are only a few tips on getting started with your puppy training or dog training. I would strongly recommend that you read as much as you can about training your dog, but please remember it is up to you to devote the time and patience to your pet to get any results. Always make sure training is a pleasurable experience and in a safe environment.

My dog is not perfect like a show dog, but she is now obedient and great fun to have around. I hope you have found these tips on dog training useful as a starting point. If you are interested in finding out how to train your dog, and watch a free lesson online you can find more by visiting here.