Health Fitness

Green smoothies are simply a fruit smoothie with fresh or powdered greens added. I love green smoothies and they are huge part of what I eat every day. On a typical day, I might make 1- 2 quarts of green smoothie in the morning and drink most of it for breakfast. Friends often drink 4 quarts a day. If I don't finish it or make extra, it provides a great mid-afternoon energy boost.
Green Smoothies are easy to make, very nutrient-dense and one of the best ways to increase your greens intake significantly. They also crowd out the desire to eat less nutritious foods. You can make them very sweet, with the right mix of fruit and greens, so they satisfy sweet cravings and provide the real nutrition that your body is craving.
The only thing you need to make great green smoothies is a blender and access to fresh fruits and green vegetables (green powders can be a substitute when traveling or when fresh greens are unavailable). You can use a typical low cost blender that you already own or purchase at any store. However, if you develop the healthy habit of making your green smoothies daily, you will eventually burn out the blender. I learned the hard way and burned up three blenders over two years' time before finally buying a commercial grade Vita-Mix blender.


But don't let the lack of a great blender stop you from starting - simply use what you have, borrow one, buy a used one, or the best quality one that you can afford. Just use it!
Basic Green Smoothie Recipe:
2 cups filtered water
2 bananas
2 oranges
1 apple
1 lemon (optional)
1/2 inch chunk fresh ginger (optional)
1/2 - 1 head of romaine, spinach, chard, beet greens, or kale


Add the water. Then fill your blender half way with fruit and the rest of the way with greens. Depending on the power of your blender, you may need to add slowly while blending. Blend for 1-2 minutes, or until very smooth.
Filtered water and organic fruit and greens are best - but again, do the best you can with what you have. Apples and berries are more important to select organic than are peeled citrus and bananas. Chop the fruit and ginger - a stronger blender can take larger chunks. The orange and lemon can be juiced or just peeled with seeds removed. Apples and ginger can be left unpeeled for extra nutrients.
This basic recipe can be made into endless variations based on your own taste and the availability of ingredients.

•  You can use any fresh or frozen (unsweetened) fruits and any greens.
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• Nutrient-packed herbs like parsley and cilantro are also great additions in your green smoothies.
• Spinach and romaine are the best greens to try first as they are more mild than kale or beet greens.
• Carrot tops and dandelion greens are very nutritious and deeply cleansing greens.
• Fruit juices are another option in your green smoothies if you cannot access enough fresh fruit or want to add some variety. Use only 100% juice without added sweeteners and organic when possible. Bottled juices are pasteurized (heated) so their fruit sugar is more concentrated and they do not maintain the same amount of nutrients as fresh or frozen fruit.
• Try adding avocado, celery, tomatoes, carrots or beets.
• Add spirulina, hemp powder, ground flax, bee pollen, maca, or other superfoods to boost the protein and the nourishing/cleansing effect of your green smoothies.

When you first make your smoothies, you'll probably need a higher ratio of fruit to greens. Make it sweet enough that you will enjoy drinking it, but as "green" as you can handle. Over time you will be able to lessen the amount of fruit and increase the amount and variety of greens.

Vegetarianism may be defined as the belief and the practice of eating vegetable foods (fruits, nuts, legumes, vegetables and whole grains) and refraining from any food made with animal products. Vegetarianism focuses on a diet that focuses on dry beans and lentils as rich sources of protein.
Vegetarianism is increasingly becoming a way of life for more and more people everyday. The advantages of are today being established by researches in this area and properly planned vegetarian diets have now come to be recognized by most people as being a wholesome nutritious diet. Vegetarianism has many health benefits and not only prevents but may be a part of the cure for many life-threatening diseases.
Disadvantages of Vegetarianism
There are some disadvantages of vegetarianism. A study conducted on a 33 vegan patient brings to light the disadvantages of vegetarianism. The patient had been a vegan since he was 20. He had no history of alcohol or drugs. However, due to some nutritional deficiencies the patient had suffered from severe neuropathy of his eyes. He had vitamin and mineral deficiencies which caused poor eyesight. Thus vegetarianism has its disadvantages but these may be avoided by being careful enough and including all essential nutrients in ones diet.


Advantages of Vegetarianism:
The Advantages of Vegetarianism are many. Vegetarianism is healthy not only for its physical benefits, but for its moral, humanitarian and psychological benefits as well. But the physical benefits of vegetarianism are huge too: general well being and good health, prevention and cure from many diseases, weight loss and relief from anxiety and stress are some of these.
Vegetarianism and Weight Loss:
Vegetarianism and weight loss are intimately related. A vegetarian diet helps weight loss and also ensures that the pounds do not come back. Since vegan foods are generally low fat, calorie counting is not necessary and yet weight loss becomes possible with vegetarianism.
With vegetarianism it is possible to eat more and yet weigh less. Vegetarianism and weight loss are innately connected and many scientific studies have proved this fact again and again.


Vegetarianism and Health:
Vegetarianism promotes good health and overall well being. This fact has been established beyond doubt today. Vegetarian food has many preventive benefits. Tofu (soy bean curd) is a very healthy vegetarian food. It prevents cancerous growth, lowers the risks of heart disease, and lowers the risks of bone loss and blood clots.
Cancer Protection
A major study conducted in 1997 by the World Cancer Research Fund suggested that the risk of cancer is significantly lowered by vegetarianism. In fact the risk of most types of cancers is 20-50% lowered by vegetarianism.
Plant foods which have been found to lower cancer risks include cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, umbelliferous herbs and vegetables such as carrots, celery, dill, parsley cilantro, caraway, and other vegetables and fruits such as citrus fruits, tomatoes, cantaloupe, berries cucumber, grapes, beans and soybeans, whole grains, flaxseed, nuts, and seasoning herbs such as garlic, onions, chives, scallions, turmeric, rosemary, ginger, oregano, sage, thyme, and basil).
These foods all have anti-oxidant properties and strengthen the immune system.


Heart Disease
Vegetarianism significantly lowers the risk of ischemic heart disease.
Studies have shown that lifelong vegetarians have a 24% lesser incidence of coronary heart disease in comparison to meat eaters. Vegetarianism lowers cholesterol and improves cardio-vascular health. The presence of minerals, folic acid, dietary fiber, flavonoids etc in vegetarian food promotes general well being of the human body.
Many studies have now shown that legumes significantly lower the level of blood cholesterol, help in improving blood sugar controls, and also lower the levels of triglyceride. Beans are a great source of vegetable protein, soluble fiber, phytosterols, saponins, and polyunsaturated fat. Thus a diet rich in legumes lowers the risk of heart diseases. Nuts also lower the risks of heart disease. Though nuts are rich in fats, these are healthy fats mostly. Nuts contain many vitamins and minerals which are very healthy for the heart.
Vegetarianism also helps control diabetes.

Carrots and apples are definitely the two most popular juicing ingredients. This is because they both have an enjoyable sweet taste that allows them to blend well with other produce to create lots of great juice recipes. Of course, as with all fruits and vegetables, they are both plentiful in nutrients. As you get into juicing, you will find that carrots and apples will be main components in your juicing diet.
Everyone has heard that you should eat carrots to improve your eyesight, but carrots do a lot more than that. Carrots contain many antioxidants that can also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. They contain more beta carotenes (which the body converts to vitamin A) out of all produce, which improves night vision and skin health. Carrots also contribute small amounts of vitamin C, potassium, and vitamin K, making carrots a very powerful vegetable.
There is one warning about carrots though. They contain an abundance of vitamin A, a fat soluble vitamin. These types of vitamins are not expelled from the body as easily when in excess. A condition known as hypervitaminosis A is when there is an overdose of vitamin A in the body. Some symptoms include bone fractures and skin discoloration. However, there are sources that state you cannot overdose from the beta carotene in carrots. Either way, it may be a good idea to play it safe and mix up your juice recipes so you don't consume too much vitamin A.


Apples are full of antioxidants that are essential to maintaining a healthy heart. In addition, there are a bunch of flavanoids that lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and help the body's immune system. Like carrots and many other produce, apples also contribute a small amount of vitamin C. All these phytonutrients in apples have even been linked to reducing the risk of cancer.
At the grocery store, both are really cheap, and while organic is a little more costly you may want to opt for organic. As far as carrots go, they are not at great risk when it comes to pesticides and other chemicals, so it is not necessary to buy organic carrots. Apples, on the other hand, are often exposed to many pesticides and chemicals, so it is worth it to spend the extra money for organic apples for your safety.

Broccoli - Broccoli contains necessary fiber, vitamin C, folic acid, and carotenoids. This super may be bane of many children's existence but it's crunchy and nutritious and provides a big dose of disease fighting elements.
Melons - Melons are low calorie, high fiber, and rich in antioxidants. The most interesting thing about melons is that the part that is the best is often the part that is thrown away, the rind. Remember those watermelon rind pickles your Grandmother used to make? Those things are cancer fighters! Dig out the old recipe and add a antique super food to your diet.
Okra- Okra is staple of Caribbean, Creole, and Southern Soul food that has amazing health properties. It is rich in nutrients like calcium, folic acid and vitamin B-6, and is high in fiber.  This is a food choice used in blood sugar stabilization and as a way to improve the function of the bowels.  Okra is probiotic and helps to heal lung inflammation and ulcers.
Carrots and Sweet Potatoes - These fabulous orange vegetables contain beta-carotene, probably the most studied anti-oxidant in the world! As an anti-oxidant it is a cancer fighter but is particularly good at fighting off lung cancer.

Hot Peppers - Hot peppers are analgesic, anti-inflammatory, heart healthy and cancer fighting fruits that contain capicinoids, which you may know as capsaicin.  Capsaicin gives these peppers their heat and gives you this wide variety of health promoting qualities. Forget chicken soup! Have a big bowl of chili!
Alliums - Alliums are a family of vegetables that include garlic, onions, shallots, chives and leeks among others. All of these vegetables pack a huge dose of flavonoids that make your liver produce an antioxidant called glutathione. Toxins, carcinogens, and a never-ending variety of viruses are eliminated from your body with this antioxidant.
Citrus - Citrus contains vitamin C, fiber, and folic acid. All of these are antioxidants and necessary vitamins to fight and prevent disease, defects, and aging! The importance of vitamin C as a disease fighter is probably the best known, and citrus fruits have it in abundance.


Curry - curry contains Turmeric which is an antioxidant that controls inflammation. This has been shown to reduce the risk of cancers and brain conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer's. It is also beneficial for gastrointestinal and circulatory disorders.
Dark Chocolate - dark chocolate not only feeds your cravings, it also packs the highest levels of antioxidants of almost any food! Dark chocolate consumers show a 20% reduced risk of heart disease. Who could reduce resist that?!
Manuka Honey- This is perhaps the most interesting of the super foods as it is also used externally to heal the body as well as being consumed. This African honey has the hydrogen peroxide that all honeys have, but it also contains a second antibacterial component that has been to know to kill even the most stubborn bacteria like MRSA. Used both internally as a supplement and externally as a salve for wounds, this amazing honey is produced by bees on a plant that is grown in New Zealand. Truly a Super Food!
Thanks Angelika Young for this post. More  http://www.supernutritionadvice.com

MSG is everywhere it's in almost all the food we eat, or rather, in all the food choices that we prefer to eat. MSG or mono sodium glutamate can be traced in the foods that we stack in our cupboards and even in the fast food chains and the restaurants and diners that we love to dine at.
According to one research conducted by a team at the University of Waterloo, MSG has a way of causing obesity because it increases the secretion of insulin by the pancreas. The result of this reaction is that the body is able to store more fat in the cells and as a result, rapid weight gain, later developing into obesity, steps is.
No matter how we deny it, the reality is staring right back at us. Obese and horrendously overweight people are increasing in numbers. In spite of these, they are not being much appreciated because our society has dictated certain norms. These norms were set to be followed at all costs. Although there are many other reasons why some people want to lose weight, more often than not, their first priority is to look their best. And this can be done by resorting to several weight loss programs.
Unfortunately, no matter how religious we are in following these weight loss practices, if we consume too much MSG, all our efforts at weight loss would only go to waste.


Nevertheless, research also shows that the consumption of too much MSG is rather inevitable because not only does this element appear in most of the foods served at our diners and our dining tables every day. A shocking revelation is the reality that these elements have an addictive stint to it, which makes us keen on consuming foods that contain MSG.
Sometimes, indulging in our favorite foods can be so satisfying, especially when we want to have a good time, or when we just want to reward ourselves for doing a significant thing for a particular day. This is a common practice for most people. The difference sets in when the indulgence in eating becomes overindulgence, to the extent that the individual already feels the irresistible urge to eat and to eat.
And this is food addiction manifesting itself more or less purported through the ingestion of too much MSG.


To a certain extent, limiting ourselves is a good way to instill discipline on our appetites. However, the problem tends to come in when we start to feels too deprived that we actually cheat on our diets. What's worse, cheating on our diets may also lead to more food cravings, especially if the food choices that we are opting for are those that can significantly increase the fat and body weight.
The solution to this dilemma is quite simple: choose a weight loss plan such a diet plan that is viable and doable at the same time. There are many diet fads in this day and age but as far as we know, nothing beats a healthy lifestyle: an exercise regimen and a high fiber diet to boot.
Thanks Charles Volcolatte for this post. He is a health and weight loss researcher for http://www.skinnyasap.com.

Joint replacement surgery whether its the shoulders , hips , or knees, is considered a major surgery. After our bodies have had surgery it no secret that rest and nutrition are vitally important for our bodies to regain the strength and stamina it needs to start repairing itself. Nutrition I have found over the years with most people gets neglected at times and only retards the healing process.
Without the proper nutrition our bodies are not given the proper fuel to repair itself. There are numerous processes going on within the body both day and night attempting to heal itself and, if you come up short in any one area of your nutrition, the process is slowed down leaving you feeling lethargic and wondering if the healing process will ever end.
Also important to know is after having a joint replacement, this is not the time to decide to lose weight or consider a diet. Your body right now will need all the good calories it can get to help in the repair process. The following nutrients will be needed each meal to ensure optimal nutrition.


1. Protein. You can get your protein sources through a number of different foods. Milk, cheese, yogurt, assorted cuts of beef. and eggs. There are multiple protein powders out on the market as well that can be mixed in water or low fat or fat free milk that will give you the needed requirements to assist in healing the surgical site. I find many of my patients are not taking in the amount of protein they could use to speed up recovery and for that matter strengthen the body as a whole. Your protein requirements will be different depending on your body weight etc.. check with your doctor though the numbers they will give you will be minimal at best, many in the medical community still follow old RDA requirements.
2. Carbohydrates. There are different type of carbohydrates out there and they get a bad rap by the general media. Carbohydrates are needed for fueling the body in general. Eating your share is important so that the body does not run low on glucose and resorts to muscle looking for fuel sources. The body will begin stripping muscle for fuel using its protein source. Carbohydrates like pasta, vegetables, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, are just one of many types that are out there. Eating the slowing burning carbohydrate sources like those listed above are utilized by the body more efficiently as they do not raise the blood sugars quickly.
3. Fats. There are good fats out there to consume as well as bad. Almonds and other types of nuts make a great source. Fish also has the good types of fat as well along with getting a solid punch of protein thrown in. Our bodies need the fat sources to help with hormone regulation as many other duties it performs.


The above information even as simplistic as it is is something that is found missing in many patients diets that are recovery from major orthopedic surgery. It is important to watch your appetite as well as it will slow down after surgery to the point you will have to force yourself to take in calories to keep up with your bodies demands. Check with your doctor and registered dietician for further detail in regards to number of calories and the percentages they may recommend you consume after your surgery. Consuming enough water also becomes an issue with patients as many risk dehydration. The muscles which contain high amounts of water need the fluids to keep functioning properly and maintain their strength. Copious amounts of water also are needed for the proper execution of the medicines that are taken during recovery.
So understand that by giving your body the proper fuel it needs to repair itself you will see gains in strength and quicker healing if its given the the proper nutrients.
Thanks Richard A Haynes for great article. More http://www.richardhaynes.com

We all want to eat healthy, and save money by doing so.  The best way to save money is to have a garden!  Our garden is now producing, and we are enjoying the results of our labor.  The main reason for growing our own food is that we can be sure it is good for us.  There are no hidden or surprise toxins to worry about. Furthermore, fresh fruits and vegetables help to improve your pH to an Alkaline level. However, even with a garden we still need to purchase some fresh foods. We have put together a list of ideas to help you save money in the fresh food aisle!
1. If you do purchase food with wax and pesticides, here is a simple way to remove those toxins.  Clean your sink, and rinse it well.   Fill it half-full of cold water, and add 1 tablespoon of 35 percent, food-grade hydrogen peroxide.  Add in fruits or vegetables that you want to clean.  Allow food to soak for 10 to 15 minutes.  Drain the water and rinse thoroughly with pure water.  Don't use tap water.  You could be adding toxins back into your clean food.  If your only concern is wax, it can be cleaned off with a mild detergent.  Just make sure you rinse the soap off.


2.  To save money we do not purchase Organic Bananas.  That is because we know that the peel is so thick that any pesticide that could be sprayed on them couldn't get through the peel.  Other foods with thick peels are Grapefruit, Lemons, Oranges, Pineapples, Tangerines, and Watermelon.   You remove the toxins you do not want to eat when you remove the peel.
3.  Since lettuce does not have a peel, you will need to remove the outer layer of the lettuce and throw it away. We don't use lettuce, because it does not have nutritional value.  Fresh spinach is much healthier when making a salad. We suggest that you purchase the Organic brand of Spinach.


Some other foods that we recommend that you purchase Organic are: Cantaloupe, Celery, Cherries, Grapes, Nectarines, Peaches, Pears, Raspberries, Spinach, and Strawberries.  Remember, you can get Organic Food at your local Farmers Market.  We know some families that really are growing food without chemicals or pesticides.  They always have their booth in the same spot at the Farmers Market.  This makes it easier to find them, and we give them our support when we purchase from them.
In the store, don't be fooled into making decisions on what to purchase simply by size or color.  Producers that use chemicals will have products that are bigger and brighter.  They may look more appealing, but you don't know what chemicals have been used on them.  Also, research shows that the bigger more colorful products have fewer nutrients. 

If you are anything like me you are probably already aware that omega3 benefits your body in many ways, however scientific research is coming out all the time with different ways that taking fish oil is good for us.
And what is also quite impressive is that medical research is backing up claims that people who believe in natural supplements have been saying for years, which in itself is unusual as they normally like to dismiss holistic approaches so that they can keep on selling prescription drugs.
Now of course the main thing that we probably all know about omega3 is that it is an excellent inflammatory. Now we need to have an anti inflammatory in our lives because as we get older, inflammation occurs inside of us naturally and this can lead to complaints such as arthritis and sore joints. However, it can also lead to much more serious issues such as strokes, brain disorders and also heart attacks - silent killers that give you no warning.
But as well as being excellent at combating inflammation there are many other benefits of taking fish oil and here are just a few for you to mull over, and they are all backed by scientific research:-


Allergies - The oil has actually been found to help with certain allergies such as hay fever, asthma and skin allergies to name but a few. Further research has shown that mothers taking fish oil during pregnancy may be helping the unborn child reduce its risk of developing allergies too.
Eyesight - Taking omega3 has been linked through research to show that it helps prevent degeneration of eyesight caused by aging. The fatty acids actually are a building block of maintaining a healthy retina.


Women's Health - For women using this kind of supplement can benefit enormously. Some of the things researchers have discovered is that it can help with osteoporosis and cardio vascular problems - but in addition to that it can help pre-menstrual women by reducing pains normally associated with cramps.
As good as the above benefits are it can be quite tricky to get the right amount of fish oil in your system to see results. The problem is that first of all you would need to eat a lot of oily fish which can be come quite expensive. Secondly, not only can it become costly, but also could lead to you having a high level of mercury in your body which can cause a whole different set of problems.
Fortunately there are now fish oil supplements readily available so that you can get the desired quantity into your body at an affordable price. The downside though is that the quality of the fish in some of these products are not as good as it should be which in itself means that you are paying money for a supplement which may not be any good, and giving you no health benefits whatsoever.

If you're looking to get a six pack, it's going to be very important that you're carefully tracking exactly what you're putting into your mouth. While exercise will definitely play a role in your ability to get six pack abs, if you aren't making sure you're eating the right foods, the chances of you seeing success are going to be very slim.
That said, here are the main steps you must take to create your own effective six pack abs diet.
Set Calorie Intake
The first thing you'll want to do is set your calorie intake. This is a fine line for seeing results because you don't want to be taking in too few calories or you'll really see a slowed metabolic rate, but you also don't want to take in too many either or you won't lose any fat at all.
A good range to shoot for is between ten and thirteen calories per pound of body weight.
Most people will consistently lose weight on that amount and will see the results they're looking for.
Figure Out Your Protein Intake
The second step will be determining an optimal protein intake for your six pack abs diet. Protein is going to be the macronutrient that helps safeguard your muscle tissue the most, preventing you from losing lean muscle mass.
Protein also tends to be the most satisfying nutrient, so most people do really well on a flat abs diet that contains a higher amount of protein. Shoot for 1-1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight each day.


Decide Whether You'll Do A Low-Carb Diet
Finally, the last step to successfully create a six pack abs diet is to decide how many carbs you'll consume on the diet. Many people do really well on a low carb diet approach but do note that this isn't for everyone.
In some cases all they will do is make you feel tired, irritable, and make it next to impossible to get through your workout.
This tends to be somewhat individual so it's a smart idea to spend some time figuring out exactly what will work best for you. There's nothing special about low carb diets that make them much better - if you're consuming the same number of calories on a mixed diet you'll still get just as good of results.
So be sure you keep these three steps in mind as you create your six pack abs diet. If you really want to achieve this goal, it's a must.

There is no question that high-protein low-carbohydrate diets are effective for weight loss. But because high protein foods usually have fat and cholesterol, there is a concern that being on a high protein diet may increase the risk of heart disease. Medical studies do not support this idea at all.
A study reported in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology in 1995 examined two groups of people with elevated cholesterol. They were placed on either low-protein high-carbohydrate or high-protein low-carbohydrate diet for four or five weeks and then switched to the opposite diet for additional four or five weeks. In other words, people who started with a low protein diet were switched to a high protein diet, and visa versa. The amount of fat, cholesterol, and fiber was the same in both groups.
People on high protein diet experienced up to 9 percent decrease in low density lipoproteins (LDL, the "bad" cholesterol), up to 17 percent increase in high density lipoproteins (HDL, the "good" cholesterol) and up to 23 percent reduction in triglycerides (fat in the blood). The authors concluded, "substitutions of dietary protein for carbohydrate favorably alters human blood cholesterol cardiovascular risk profiles." In other words, eating protein instead of carbohydrates improves cholesterol levels in the blood.

In 1999 the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study of over 80,000 women who were followed for 14 years. The participants provided detailed description of the kind of foods they ate, including how often and how much. They were separated in 5 groups based on the amount of protein in their diet.
The lowest group ate about 15 percent of calories as protein, while the highest consumed 24 percent. After fourteen years, there was a 26 percent reduction in the risk of heart disease in the group that ate the most protein. According to the authors "our findingsstrongly reject the hypothesis that a high protein intake, includinganimal protein, is associated with an increased risk of ischemicheart disease. On the contrary, our results suggest that a dietwith a relatively high protein and low carbohydrate contentmay reduce the risk."


This research should make you realize that protein is your friend. But it has to come from the foods that are as close to being natural as possible. There is nothing wrong with eating real eggs, but stay away from egg substitutes. Meat (steak, hamburgers) is fine, but not processed luncheon meats, such as salami, bologna, and hot dogs because they are full of chemicals, some of which may increase your risk of cancer.
As you see, animal proteins are not "artery clogging" as some "experts" still call them. People have been eating them from the beginning of times and you can too. If you have been avoiding them because you think it will make you healthier, now you know better.
If you really dislike meat or eggs, then by all means stay away from them. But if you enjoy a nice steak or an omelet, then go ahead and eat them as often as you like. If you can get free-range, organic meat and eggs, even better. And don't worry about your cholesterol, because the studies show not the increase, but the reduction of heart disease.

Thanks Michael Teplitsky for this post, MD has been practicing alternative and holistic medicine for over 20 years. He has treated thousands of patients using nutrition, herbs, and nutritional supplements. His book Nutrition and Your Health explains complex and confusing nutritional concepts in an easy to understand layman language. Please visit the http://www.CommonSenseHealthGuide.com to get a free report 7 Health Myths That Can Hurt You, health news, and other valuable information.

A human bowel houses more than 400 different kinds of bacteria weighing around 1.5 kilos. Around 30% of the mass of a stool is made up of these bacteria. Most of the bacteria present in the bowel are harmful and disease causing but there are a few bacteria that are beneficial to our body. Those friendly bacteria are known as Probiotics. The literary translation of the word 'probiotics' is 'for life'. The two major friendly bacteria present in our bowels are Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum. They are found throughout the digestive tract of the human body including the stomach, esophagus and mouth, but they reside mostly in the large and small intestines.
Protection and cleansing of the human system is a result of their metabolism.
These two friendly bacteria keep a check on the harmful fungi and bacteria like candida albicans. Incase there are more harmful bacteria than friendly in the bowel then it might lead to less production of vitamins and enzymes in the body and the toxin level of the body also increases. If the toxins in our body increase then it might lead to liver and kidney diseases, high blood pressure, artery disease, cancer and a poor immune system.


Benefits of Probiotics or Friendly bacteria
Probiotics are beneficial for the human body in the following ways:
• Normalize the Bowel movements
Friendly bacteria are a great help in the processing of human body wastes. They decrease the time taken by the waste products to travel through our body; ingesting them helps to relieve constipation.
• Produce Acids in the Colon
They produce byproducts of acetic and lactic acids along with the production of an unstable fatty acid. The byproducts of acetic acid and lactic acid help in fighting the harmful bacteria like Shigella, Salmonella and E. coli. The fatty acid produced by the probiotics makes the growth and survival of harmful fungi and yeast cells difficult.
• Help in Vitamin Formation
At least 7 important B Vitamins are produced with the help of friendly bacteria. They help in the formation of Vitamins like folic acid, biotin, pyridoxine, riboflavin, cobalamin and pantothenic acid along with Vitamin K.
• Help in Improving the Immune System
They speed up the creation of antibodies. These antibodies help in fighting the harmful bacteria and fungi, which would have been the cause of various diseases and infections.


• Help in the Creation of Lactase
Lactase is an enzyme that helps in digestion of milk and milk products by the human body. No Lactase formation in the body can cause milk allergies.
• Help in Regulating Hormone Levels
Lack of friendly bacteria in the body can result in unregulated and unbalanced hormonal levels. Unbalanced hormones can lead to hair loss, prostrate trouble, breast enlargement and irregular fat distribution in men.
• Help in Regulating Cholesterol Levels
Friendly bacteria help in reducing the deposits of cholesterol in our bloodstreams and helps in the excretion of cholesterol through our bowels. Without the help of probiotics, cholesterol level in the body would increase and accumulate in our bloodstreams.


• Reduce Intestinal Gas
Harmful bacteria produce stinking waste products and cause pain in the abdomen due to intestinal gas. The probiotics prevent the harmful bacteria from dominating the colon and thus, reduce gas.
• Kill Cancer-Causing Compounds
Various cancer-causing compounds enter our body through ingested food and as byproducts of many other organisms, the friendly bacteria kill these.
• Help in Managing Food Cravings and High Stress Levels
Help in the management of high stress levels and reducing food cravings in the body
• Help in the treatment of various diseases and infections
Friendly bacteria help in the treatment of various diseases and infections like Eczema, Psoriasis, colitis, gastritis, duodenitis, diverticulitis, vaginitis, irritable bowel syndrome, urinary tract infections, rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma.
Friendly bacteria have also proved to be beneficial during pregnancy, labor and postpartum period.

Are you an average adult American? If so, then you consume 70 pounds of beef, 60 pounds of pork, and 550 pounds of dairy (love that ice cream). Americans feel safe eating because they know the foods they eat have been monitored by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
But, how safe is our food industry, really? Do the USDA and FDA really monitor our food for quality and safety? Is there anything to fear?
When I was contracted to write an article about foodborne illnesses (illnesses that come directly from eating food), I discovered that illness directly related to food come in all shapes and sizes. In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated there are more than 200 foodborne illnesses, from allergies to "stomach flu" to vomiting; the CDC have identified 30 pathogens associated with these foodborne illnesses, classified as bacteria, virus, chemical, parasitic, prions, antibiotic residues, genetic modifications, or unknown. In fact, the CDC estimated the average adult American consumes 10 pounds of additives each year, pathogens included!
And any one of these pathogens could cause or lead to illness, disability or death.
Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety at the Center for Science in the Public Interest stated "Consumers play a lottery every day they eat." But it isn't just E. coli and Salmonella that cause illnesses to occur. Sure, they cause the classical signs of stomach and digestive distress, but what about those illnesses that occur down the road from eating foods? What about antibiotic resistance or allergies? These too are now being considered foodborne illnesses.
The CDC stated that foodborne illnesses cause 9,000 American deaths annually, 81 million are sickened, and 325,000 require hospitalization. The long-term effects of some food-borne contaminants are still being studied by the CDC; these effects are cancer, paralysis, and disability.
As many illnesses are now being considered "food-borne" because they began with food, this article looks at the "traditional" foodborne illnesses (i.e. parasites, bacteria, viruses), genetically modified foods, hormones and irradiation. Each needs to be examined for its impact on health, as the building blocks to health begin with what we put in our mouths.
Food Poisoning (previously considered as "Foodborne Illnesses")
Foodborne illnesses used to be considered as illnesses caused by eating food contaminated with a bacteria, virus or parasite. The majority of the time the symptoms are digestive: diarrhea and vomiting are the two main symptoms. Each year, hundreds of millions become sickened worldwide.
The two most common pathogens (illness-causing substances) are E. coli and Salmonella, with Salmonella being the leader in causing deaths from foodborne illness. E. coli in itself is considered harmless because it exists in human and animal digestive tracts; however, when too much E. coli enters the body through ingesting it, illnesses can occur. Most cases of E. coli do not harm a person long-term; however there is one E. coli that can lead to disability and death: E. coli O157:H7. Approximately 3% of the deaths from foodborne illnesses occur from having this deadly form of E. coli.
Most cases of foodborne illnesses are mild, so people attribute the symptoms to being the "stomach flu." Plus, people rarely make the connection between their symptoms and food from two days prior. Most cases of foodborne illness do not occur shortly after eating.
The USDA states that foodborne illnesses are primarily caused by improper food handling, storage, and preparation. However, Robert A. Robinson, associate director of food and agricultural issues at the Resources, Community & Economic Development Division of the USDA, in a statement to the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Human Resources & Intergovernmental Relations on May 23rd, 1996, stated that experts agree that, in many cases, the pathogens were present at the processing stage, i.e. before the food reached the cook's hands. Despite the new methods of destroying bacteria, viruses and parasites, the incidences of foodborne illnesses have increased over the past 20 years, and the pathogens have become more deadly, as incidences of hospitalizations and deaths have also increased.
Over the past 20 years, genetic modifications, irradiation of foods, and the use of antibiotics and pesticides have not decreased the incidences of foodborne illnesses. Why?
According to Mr. Robinson in his address to the House of Representatives, six reasons can be considered aside from undercooking or otherwise mishandling of food:
1. Food supply is changing in ways that promote foodborne illnesses: ex: large numbers of animals herded together; broad distribution, so contaminated food can reach more people in more locations.
2. Demographics: certain people are more at risk for foodborne illnesses: those with suppressed immune systems, children in group daycare, and the elderly.
3. Three of the four most common pathogens the CDC consider most important were unrecognized as causes of foodborne illnesses 20 years go: Camphylobacter, Listeria,and E. coli O157:H7.
4. Bacteria already recognized as sources of foodborne illnesses have found new modes of transmission: ex: E. coli O157:H7 previously found only in uncooked hamburger is now being found in other foods such as salami, raw milk, apple cider, and lettuce.
5. Some pathogens are far more resistant than expected with long-standing food-processing and storage techniques: ex: Yersinia and Listeria can continue to grow in food under refrigeration.
6. According to the CDC, virulent strains of well-known bacteria have continued to emerge: ex: E. coli O104:H21 is another new potentially deadly strain of E. coli.
The two government agencies that monitor food quality in the United States are the USDA (monitors meat, poultry and eggs) and the FDA (monitors everything else). Because of the vastness of the food processing industry, only 2% of the annually estimated 5 million shipments of food are inspected; but still, all commercialized food bears a label as being inspected by either the USDA or FDA. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, 2/3 of all outbreaks of foodborne illnesses are from FDA- or USDA-regulated foods.

The commercialized beef and poultry industries blame the organic farmers for the increased incidences of foodborne illnesses and the enhanced virulence of the pathogens, stating that organic farmers use cow manure as fertilization instead of chemical fertilizers, and they do not use antibiotics on their cows and chickens. Mr. Robinson believes the increase in incidences of illness was directly related to the commercialized slaughtering and processing of meats. In the larger commercialized farms, cows, for example, are cared for through automation. The milking is done by machine, the feeding is automated, and distribution of antibiotics is automated. When the cow reaches the factory for slaughter, it too is automated, and severely dirty with cow manure that finds its way into the meat that is processed. The meat from one "bad" or contaminated cow can be mixed into many pounds of meat, and distributed across the United States.
With organic farming, very little is automated. Mr. Robinson did not state any concern about the organic farming industry as being a contributor to foodborne illnesses. All fingers were pointed at commercialized industries.
Genetically-Modified Foods
Genetically-modified foods are called a variety of names: transgenic crops, hybrid crops, GE (Genetically Engineered), GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), Frankenfoods, or GM (Genetically Modified), to name several of the more common names. No matter the name, the premise behind them is the same: Genetic engineering makes it possible to mix genetic material from one species into another species, thereby giving the altered species traits it would normally not possess. For example, taking genetic material from a fish and inserting it into corn, thereby giving corn some of the characteristics of the fish.
At this time, more than 60 genetically modified crops have been approved by the United States for human consumption and feed for animals. Eighty percent of the GE crops are modified to resist pesticide and herbicides that would normally kill them and, to resist pests such as insects or worms; the balance are tailored to either increase or decrease growing/ripening time. As of 2005, the GE crops currently approved for planting and consumption in the US are varieties of alfalfa, canola, corn, cotton, flax, papaya, potatoes, radicchio, rice, soybean, sugar beets, tobacco, tomatoes, and yellow crookneck squash. Genetic modifying of crops was first introduced in 1997 as a way to increase farmer profit, decrease pesticide use, increase convenience, and support hunger throughout the world. In proposed estimates, or example, GE soy, corn and cotton would decrease insecticide and herbicide sprays by over 8 million pounds/year. They also were estimated to decrease the death of farmers who die from these sprays by 75%. Work hours, gas use, and water use are also estimated to decrease, along with the decrease in soil erosion due to the decrease in tillage.
Although the concept of genetic modified crops looks beneficial to the farmers as well as consumers, studies have concluded that the public does not support genetic engineering. Consumer polls by the USDA repeatedly show that 80-95% of Americans want GE foods to be labeled-so they could avoid buying them.
It isn't just the American population that is averse to GE foods. Aside from the U.S., Canada, China and Argentina, no other country allows GE foods, making it impossible for these four countries to export their GE crops and foods. Charles Margulis of The Center for Food Safety, and Michael Hansen, senior scientist of The Consumers Union, stated that some African nations have even refused GE crops in the form of food aid. As Margulis said, "Even people who are hungry don't want to be used as guinea pigs."
To date, the U.S. government does not make it mandatory to label foods that are genetically engineered, leaving consumers to wonder if their foods have GE ingredients. Surprisingly, lab tests and industry disclosures indicate that 60-75% of all non-organic supermarket foods now "test positive" for the presence of GE ingredients, with 60-70% of corn, soy, canola and/or cottonseed being genetically modified. Some products in themselves, such as corn and "vine ripened" tomatoes have been genetically modified.
So where does this leave the consumer?
There are several troubling things that have been discovered through the use of genetically engineered crops. Scientists have warned that GE foods may set off allergies, increase cancer risks, produce antibiotic-resistant pathogens, damage food quality, and produce dangerous toxins.







Consider the way the crops are modified: genetic material from one organism is taken and forcibly injected into a DNA strand of the crop seed. The new piece of code is tagged with an antibiotic-resistant code, which is used to test which seeds are viable and which are not. Once the procedure is done, antibiotics are used to see which seeds are viable (able to be used) and which are not (they die). The viable seeds are planted, and the plants that result have antibiotic-resistant DNA. The medical community is having difficulty treating infections due to the prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Another problem that is now being seen is allergies to foods where a person hadn't been allergic before. When the strand of genetic code is inserted into a seed, the abilities, and contaminants, of the genetic strand go along with it. This includes viruses and allergens. Nut DNA inserted into tomatoes can now elicit an allergy in a person eating the tomato who is allergic to nuts. The British Medical Association has called for a global ban on GE foods, while the New England Journal of Medicine has warned, "the allergic potential of these newly introduced microbial proteins is uncertain, unpredictable, and untestable."
Also, as mentioned, viruses are transmitted through genetic engineering. Eating GE crops may transmit the virus to the consumer, and the virus may have new properties it didn't have before being genetically modified. The virus may now be more deadly.
As for the farmer, GE crops didn't help them as planned. Studies have found that herbicide use has increased because some of the GE crops themselves wouldn't die with herbicide use, so more toxic and stronger herbicides needed to be used to kill the GE crops. With the use of these more toxic and stronger herbicides, farmer profit has decreased, and the ingestion of more toxins has increased for animals and humans.
Also, field contamination can occur, where GE seeds are transferred to a non-GE farm by the wind or birds, and the farmer of the contaminated field is held responsible. One farmer in Canada is being sued for patent infringement for having GE crops growing in his field when a GE field contaminated his. For organic farmers, they would lose their organic status if this occurred. The farmer is responsible for his field, no matter what gets planted there by "others."
For consumers wanting to avoid GE foods, it is best to buy organic or buy local. Some products also bear the label "non-GE" or "non-GMO"; these are not supposed to have GE ingredients.
Hormones
One of the most common genetic modifications is recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), which is designed to increase milk production in dairy cows. Currently, 10-30% of cows are injected with rBGH.
Consumers protested the use of rBGH in their milk, causing the dairy industry to remove the labeling from milk cartons, but not to stop using the hormone. rBGH has been banned in every other industrialized nation of the world, leaving the United States as the largest producer of cattle injected with this growth hormone. Although the hormone is designed to increase milk production, millions of gallons of milk are destroyed daily as the purchasing of this modified milk is avoided by consumers, and other countries have banned importing.
Studies in Europe and Canada have determined that rBGH is linked to increased risk for cancer and antibiotic resistance. Approximately 79% of cows treated with rBGH develop udder infections, requiring additional antibiotics to be given. Antibiotics from cows treated with rBGH have also been found in milk, as has pus that went into the milk from infected utters. Plus, the CDC has recently warned that 16% of all U.S. meat contained potentially dangerous antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Since all commercially-raised cattle are given antibiotics, and the majority (90%) are given hormones of some form, consumers must look to organic sources for their beef, milk, and dairy products to avoid antibiotics and hormones from cow sources.
Irradiation
Irradiation of food was researched for the past three decades ever since it was discovered that radiation killed the parasite Trichonella in pork. Since that time, irradiation has been used in an effort to decrease the number of foodborne illnesses, increase shelf life, preserve food quality and make more food available at a more reasonable cost. Legally defined as an additive, irradiation has now been approved for use on more than 100 foods, and is being used in 52 countries throughout the world.







Irradiation involves treating food with high doses of ionizing gamma radiation. This radiation is different from microwaves, as it is not designed to heat food, but to destroy pathogens such as bacteria and parasites, destroy sprouting enzymes in potatoes, delay ripening, and kill infestations from insects.
The amount of radiation used depends upon the intention. For example, 15,000 rads are needed to kill the sprouting enzymes in potatoes whereas 3 million are needed to kill bacteria in meats. How does this compare to medical x-rays? A chest x-ray, for example, requires 0.5 rads. This is considerably less than what is being used on food.
With hundreds of millions of people worldwide succumbing to a foodborne illness each year, the FDA felt that irradiating foods that contain the common sources of pathogens (such as beef and chicken) would decrease the number of foodborne illnesses. Irradiating food was shown to kill the number of illness-causing pathogens in meat, for example, and it was touted to not affect taste or nutritional value of the food.
However, several studies have indicated that radiation levels over 100,000 rads destroyed vitamin C, B1, B2, B6, A, E, and K, as well as amino acids (the building blocks of protein) within the food. At doses of 7.5 million rads, trace minerals in food (potassium, magnesium, nickel, etc) can become radioactive, according to the FDA. The FDA claims that the radioactivity is short-lived however.
Dr. Joseph Barna performed a study for the Hungarian Government in 1979; in his findings, irradiated foods produced 185 beneficial effects, and 1,414 harmful effects. Plus, irradiation of food did not ensure that the food was uncontaminated with foodborne pathogens; some parasites, bacteria and viruses survived.
Many other studies have been done to confirm that irradiated food is safe to eat. Animals fed irradiated food have shorter lifespans, have increased rate of infertility, lose weight quickly, and developed nervous system disorders, organ damage, cancer, tumors, and kidney disease.
Malnourished children developed abnormal blood cells called polyploids, which are linked to leukemia. Other tests involving humans led to human subjects developing internal bleeding, chromosomal disorders, cancer, organ damage, stillbirths, and fetal anomalies.







Today, there are many less-invasive ways to process and handle foods that can accomplish the same benefits for foods, and are considered less harmful to the public. For example, FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford, speaking to the International Congress on Meat Science and Technology on August 8, 2004, said that the risk of food-borne illnesses in shellfish can be substantially reduced by cutting the time from harvest to refrigeration or freezing and using high pressure or mild heating. Crawford said, "85 to 90 percent of illnesses in the United States could be eliminated if the product were iced within four hours or refrigerated within one hour of harvest."
The FDA does not require labeling of irradiated ingredients in foods, but does require it for whole foods that have been irradiated. The flower symbol "radura" is the labeling; it is a flower circled by a thick broken line. No words need to be written.
To avoid foods that have been irradiated, consider foods that are labeled stating the foods have not been irradiated. You may also want to consider buying organic and/or locally.
Late Addition
In the Green Bay Press-Gazette (Saturday, August 19, 2024) and the Shawano Leader (Monday, August 22, 2024), a brief article was printed announcing the FDA approval of using viruses to kill bacteria on poultry and ready-to-eat meats, such as hotdogs and cold cuts.
The virus spray contains 6 viruses that are designed to kill the foodborne pathogen Listeria. The meats would be sprayed with this new formulation before packaging in an effort to decrease the cases of foodborne illnesses caused by this pathogen.
The American Society for Microbiology stated that viruses tend to swap their genes with other viruses, opening the potential for this spray to cause different strains of viruses, as well as more deadly ones. Plus, the bacteria may develop a resistance to the viruses in the spray, making the bacteria more difficult to kill through conventional means.
There is also the concern that the viruses will mutate once ingested into the human body. As mentioned previously, E. coli exists naturally in the human digestive system, and is required for adequate nutrient absorption and food break-down. Although currently E. coli is not a target of this spray, if any of the viruses mutate, it could be. Also, a virus formulation to destroy E. coli is being developed, to be sprayed on beef, before it is ground for hamburger.
Although this formulation is classified by the FDA as an additive, it will not appear in food labeling.
Conclusion
Foodborne illnesses are on the rise despite efforts by the USDA and FDA, and the pathogens are becoming more deadly. Twenty years ago, a foodborne illness rarely caused more than a few days of diarrhea and vomiting; today, more people are being hospitalized and dying as a result of a pathogen in their food. The pathogens exist despite efforts to irradiate or modify the foods genetically; some of the interventions to destroy these pathogens are making more harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites, and adding dangerous toxins and by-products.
The only industry that does not irradiate, genetically-modify, or use hormones in the raising and preparation of foods is the organic industry. The beef industry, for example, has routinely tried to blame the organic industry on the increase in incidences of foodborne illnesses. However, Robert A. Robinson, in his report to the House of Representatives stated it was the current commercialized food industry that is causing the increase of foodborne illnesses, NOT the organic farming industry.
All farmers before World War I were "organic", using cow manure to fertilize their fields. It was only after WWI that farmers began using chemicals in their fields. Today, only farmers that do not use chemicals on their fields are considered organic. When looking for organic products, however, look for the seal that says "USDA Organic", as anyone can say they are organic (even if they are not), but only those certified by the USDA are considered to be truly organic.
No matter where you get your food, always prepare it as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control: cook meat thoroughly leaving no red meat; do not eat raw eggs; refrigerate all cooked food immediately after cooking; and wash cutting boards and work surfaces with warm, soapy water after cutting meats to decrease contamination.
If you suspect you have a foodborne illness, seek medical care for diagnosis and treatment.
(Research sources available by written request)
The information provided by Ronda Behnke ND, RN is for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for medical advice and it is important that you not make medical decisions without first consulting with your personal physician or health care practitioner.

Eating a plant-based diet is:

1. Healthier
2. More humane
3. More environmentally sustainable

Vegans and vegetarians suffer from heart-related diseases far less than those who eat animal products. They also have the joy of knowing that they are not contributing to the inhumane treatment of animals in slaughterhouses or commercial dairy farms and chicken coops. The amount of plant food resources fed to herds of livestock could otherwise be harvested and grown for people across the world. With all of these reasons to go vegan, it's hard to understand why anyone would still submit to consuming animal by-products at all.
Becoming a healthy vegan is easy, because the diet itself is so healthful. Don't be swayed by those who are shocked by your decision or try to convince you that becoming vegan is an extreme lifestyle. You'll find that within a few months of becoming vegan you will feel better and even lose weight plus have more energy. A healthy vegan diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts make you feel full faster while needing to eat less. With veganism, there is a much more efficient use of calories and it shows in your looks, health and energy.

Meat and other animal by-products are not necessary for the human diet. Most cultures in the world eat largely vegetarian diets, and their average life spans are generally much longer than American ones (See 'The China Study' for more statistics). Nature provides solutions for getting protein in the form of nuts and legumes. Modern technology has also made convenient substitutes for animal products like hamburgers, eggs, milk, and cheese that are healthier and don't involve the harming of any animal.
Though most of the changes involved in becoming vegan are about what you eat, you have to remember that many animal products are involved in the clothes we wear. Leather is one animal by-product that is often used in shoes and jackets, but thankfully much more vegan-friendly substitutes are being used each day.
Becoming vegan is about more than just eating a specific diet. It is the environmentally, compassionate, healthy choice. It isn't hard to make the switch to veganism. Getting rich diversity of nuts, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits in your diet are more than enough to make you a very healthy vegan.

Thanks Rebecca Bennett for this post. Rebecca has worked in the vegetarian and vegan industry for many years. She is the founder of http://www.Vegetarian-Secrets.com and http://www.VeganSecrets.com portals with many interesting vegan and vegetarian books, articles, veg living tips, tricks and information on everything vegan, vegetarian and cruelty-free.

1. To help both you and your family become healthier. When you plan meals ahead of time, you can be sure you include foods from a wide variety of food groups. Pay special attention to serving a sufficient variety of both vegetables and fruits in family style meals. Also you can share desserts rather than be sorry you "ate the whole thing".
2. It helps balance your meals. When you are serving a food with a lot of fat or salt, you can plan lower fat or lower salt foods to go with it. For example, ham is high in salt. If you have ham, bacon, or corned beef for dinner, you also can serve a green salad or other raw vegetable that doesn't need salt (and is lower in fat).
3. It helps you save money. By planning ahead you can create a shopping list based on what you have on hand and what you need. Also, shopping from a list helps you avoid expensive "impulse" purchases. Never buy items in the check out aisle as they are to tempt you into buying things that you do not need (just want, like candy bars or gum).
4. It can save time and effort. When you plan meals ahead of time, you can have foods on hand and make fewer trips to the grocery store. Planning helps you make good use of leftovers and results in less wasting of food. This can cut both your cooking time and food costs.



5. It can help create Quality Family Time. Can you think back to your own childhood? Family-style dinner is sure to come to mind. It is a memory of a time when everyone got together to eat a meal and discuss the events of the day.
6. It helps reduce "hungry" buys. You can shop for your food after you have eaten and are not so hungry. Studies have proven that we tend to buy more sugary and high-fat foods when we are hungry.
Thanks Lu Young for sharing this post. Email at [email protected]

Yerba mate is a South American herb from Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. The Yerba tree grows in the wild to about 49 feet tall, near streams and 1500 - 2000 feet above sea level and is a member of the Holly tree family. With graceful, full-leafed branches and white flowers, grow small berries that come in colors of red, black or yellow.
These beautiful trees are cultivated and pruned from 9 - 16 feet in height. The stiff, leathery-like leaves and tender stems are used and produced to make herbal medicine and tea for around the world. Yerba mate trees can produce leaves for 40 years.
Yerba leaves contain high levels of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Scientific evidence shows that antioxidants reduce the risk of chronic diseases including cancer and heart disease. The leaves also contains carotene, vitamins A, C, E, B1, B2, B complex, riboflavin, biotin, magnesium, calcium, iron, sodium, potassium and more!


Yerba mate produces energy like caffeine in coffee that is called mateine. This is safer than caffeine because it does not produce muscle tension. Mateine allows you to stay relaxed, yet alert. Caffeine and mateine are from a family called xanthines. Many xanthines have side effects that are not pleasant. But mateine contains little or no side effects, making the tea an excellent substitute for coffee.
A scientific study was done in Switzerland in 1999 that showed yerba mate had a thermogenic effect on healthy individuals indicating a rise in fat burned off for energy. Researchers concluded that yerba mate could be beneficial for weight-loss.
Clinical studies shows that the yerba leaf inhibits an enzyme, lipoxygenase, involved with inflammatory diseases and relaxes the smooth muscle to increase bile flow and stop narrowing of the blood vessels.
A recent U.S. patent in 2002 shows that yerba mate inhibits MAO monoamine oxidase activity by 40 - 50 percent showing that it may be useful for disorders such as depression, attention and focus, mood and emotional disorders, Parkinson's disease, eating disorders, substance abuse and more disorders.
More Information at Health Diet Success Blog

I know lots of folks who skip breakfast thinking that doing so is good because it helps they lose weight...
But nothing could be further from the truth!
The reality is this... and it is backed by numerous studies... those who eat a healthy breakfast every single day... eat fewer calories during the day and follow a healthy diet.
And the net result is these folks lose more weight and body fat than those who regularly skip breakfast.
And I think I can break it down some more... you see... your metabolism is like a steam train. You must keep feeding the fire box with fuel to keep the fires hot enough to boil the water to make steam.
Same thing for your body. You must stoke that fire to keep your metabolism burning hot enough to burn the fat. And don't forget you just woke up from a fast of 7-9 hours. YOU NEED FOOD!
So if you regularly skip breakfast... guess what? Your metabolism isn't optimal. You aren't burning fat.
And this is one of the best and easiest trick to burn your body fat. Eating foods that support your metabolism to burn fat all day long.
This is what I suggest. Try to eat a good quality and healthy breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up. But Matt... I don't have the time!!!
No problem little grasshopper... I got a great suggestion for you... wake up twenty minutes earlier in the morning or prepare your breakfast at night before going to sleep. Breakfast is THAT important and must not be ignored if you are serious about wanting to lose weight.

And you will find that you have more pep and "pep" is good. It means you are more active and the more active you are.. the more calories you burn...
Whew!
But what happens if you are NOT hungry? Then do the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning. Drink a cup of water. I think you will find yourself a little more hungry...
And if you are one of those early birds that like to workout in the morning... again, I would say you should eat something between forty five minutes to thirty minutes BEFORE you workout.
There is a method to my madness! You see, when you workout, your muscles need energy. If you haven't eaten anything yet, your muscles are going to rob from Peter to pay Paul. That's right... your muscles will metabolize your other muscles to get the energy to perform your workouts. NOT the body fat! So after your workout (if you didn't eat anything beforehand), you will actually have less muscles and still the same body fat.
When you say that in this way... it sure makes sense, right?
So this is what I suggest if you are super busy and want to workout:
Eat a light snack of yogurt plus some fruit. And then eat your regular healthy breakfast afterwards. Or you can eat half of your breakfast before and after your workout. Or you can just drink a protein shake before working out and eat your breakfast afterwards.
The point is to eat SOMETHING your body can use BEFORE working out and absolutely... EAT YOUR BREAKFAST each and every morning from now on -- if you are serious about losing body fat.

Until you are willing to take complete responsibility for yourself and your results in life you are going to keep sabotaging yourself and your results. You will continue on the yo-yo weight loss path and eventually give up for good.
You deserve better. The secret to lasting weight loss is consciousness. That is it. You have to be conscious of your life, conscious of your moods, conscious of when you eat, what you eat and why you eat it. They key point is that you should be aware of when you are feeling full and when you are hungry. I've laid out some steps to get you started...
1. Take a really good look at your life. What does your life look like? If it doesn't look like you want it to (make sure you look at all areas) then you have inconsistencies. Why? What are your limiting beliefs? And trust me...it's not about the food!

2. Examine or create your life vision. Before you can begin to lose the weight you have to get a really clear vision of how being thinner will affect your life. Sit down and come out with a complete life vision. What do you want to be different once you are thin? Why do you want to lose the weight? Get a really perfect vision, and the emotions that accompany it. This will help you when you are struggling.
3.  Prioritize. You have your life vision (written down, on a vision board, or recorded somewhere) and it's incredibly detailed and full of positive emotion. Now it's time to get things straight. If your life vision includes you as a size 8, what priorities go with that? Don't let laundry become more important that your yoga class or your daily walk with the dog. Set your true honest priorities and stick to them. At this point if you're honest, you might discover that you're okay with your weight right now. It's just isn't a priority. Give yourself permission to feel that way.

4. Look at your eating. What are you really hungry for? This requires consciously examining everything you put in your mouth. Now you might be resisting this process because it takes a lot of "work". Are you worth it? This is where your priorities will really come in to play. If you don't truly want to lose the weight, and it is not a priority to be thin, then you will come up with excuses to NOT do this step. Take responsibility for your results. If consciousness and asking yourself some questions before you put anything in your mouth is too much work, than you might not really want to lose weight.
5. Work on the resistance. If you feel resistant to asking yourself some questions, but think that you really do want to lose weight, there are a couple of resources for you. I recommend EFT (emotional freedom technique). You can also use the Sedona Method or The Work.
6. Learn to live in the moment. Again this is a simple process that requires energy. Take small steps every time you think to. Start off just taking 10 deep breaths in a row and doing this 5 times a day. Then you can move on to looking at every single thing you put in your mouth. Eventually you will get to the point where it takes very little energy and you are automatically deciding what you are really hungry for and when you're just on autopilot.

Anyone who has experienced weight gain around their stomach has probably wanted to know how to eliminate belly fat. Belly fat or visceral fat is a condition that affects a large number of people. It can show up at any time in life. Many middle aged people can experience this due to the slowing down of their metabolism but it can also show up in young children and young adults. It is mainly caused by overeating and/or a sedentary lifestyle. It is fat deposits that build up around internal organs of the stomach (dangerous) area as opposed to fat build up under the skin or around muscle tissue.
Is visceral fat affecting you? If you are a female and have a waist size of 35 inches or larger or you are a male with a waist size of 40 inches or larger, you may be experiencing visceral fat buildup around your waist. The following items discussing belly fat should be understood and used as a guideline to getting on the right track to health. Use this information as a tool to evaluate and improve your physical fitness.

Item number 1.
Abdominal fat has long been associated with higher risks of heart disease. It has also been linked to hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Intra-abdominal fat (visceral fat) has a strong link to cardiovascular disease. This information is not mentioned to scare you but to inform you of the potential dangers of abdominal fat.

Item number 2.
Crunches or sit-ups do very little to help reduce the fat round the waist. When performing exercises that concentrate on a specific muscle group (abdominal muscles as an example), this muscle group will strengthen but the fat around this area will not likely be affected or will be affected very little.
Item number 3.
Aerobic exercise is a major key  to eliminating belly fat. Aerobic exercise is the type of exercise which increases the oxygen consumption in the body. By doing this, the oxygen in the blood is increased, the heart muscle is strengthened and enlarged and the muscles used for respiration are strengthened. Along with this, the body's muscles use excess fat during exercise.
Item number 4.
One must always consider a healthy diet as a main ingredient to maintaining a slim waistline. What is a healthy diet? Stay away from saturated fats (fats in solid form) and trans-fatty acids. Reduce your intake of salts and sugars. Try to utilize nuts, grains, seeds, beans, fruits and vegetables in as many meals as you can.
Item number 5.
Eat 4 to 5 small meals throughout the day rather than 3 large meals. Your body will metabolize the foods much easier with smaller meals and you won't be tempted to overeat because you won't be as hungry. Make sure your last meal of the day is completed 3 hours before bed time. This gives the body enough time to metabolize the food and reduces the amount of food in your stomach when it is time to sleep.
I hope these items helped you gain an understanding of belly fat and how to eliminate it. I wish you the best in all your endeavors.

For those individuals who have high cholesterol, sometimes all that is necessary is a few tips on lowering cholesterol and a little discipline to bring down those readings. Yes, it really is that easy. I am always amazed at how little effort medical professionals put into communicating natural ways of lowering cholesterol levels.
There are actually a two things that need to be done for improved cholesterol readings:
1) increase fiber intake, and
2) decrease the consumption of saturated fats.
Here's my list of the five easiest and most effective tips to lower cholesterol.
1. Cut back on the amount of beef and pork in your diet. I found that ground turkey, when properly seasoned is actually more enjoyable than ground beef because of its low fat content. If you can't do without your beef then stay with lean cuts of beef such as sirloin and tenderloin.
2. Increase the amount of vegetables that you eat. Stir fry as many vegetables as possible with small amounts of meat. Whenever possible, put vegetables on your sandwiches. When eating fast food, try having a sub sandwich from a restaurant that allows you to put your selection of vegetables on it.


3. Eliminate starchy foods such as white rice and potatoes from your diet. Substituting brown rice for white rice or potatoes will substantially increase your consumption of fiber and provide you with more nutrients. These empty carbs are quickly converted to sugar and fat in your body which will cause your triglycerides and cholesterol levels to spike.
4. Begin snacking on nuts more often. They are very high in dietary fiber and the fats that they contain will actually improve your health.
5. Avoid fried foods. Foods like fried chicken and potato chips quickly increase cholesterol levels. If you must fry your foods, do so in olive oil. An even better idea is to grill your meets whenever possible. It is best to avoid potato chips whenever possible. However, baked tortilla chips with salsa or pita chips with a little bit of humus makes a wonderful, cholesterol-lowering snack.

Bringing down your cholesterol levels really is not difficult, but it does take some discipline. Use these tips to lower cholesterol as a starting point. I invite you to visit my website to find other natural ways to quickly return your cholesterol levels to where they belong.

If you have high cholesterol, it is natural to be wondering what foods lower cholesterol? However, the truth is that many people don't ask that question. They just take their doctor's word for it that medication is the best thing for them. Don't make that mistake!
You see, nature itself provides many healthy, cholesterol lowering substances that you need to be aware of. What foods lower cholesterol? Here are the five most effective foods for lowering cholesterol:

• Oats
• Beans
• Nuts
• Spinach
• Fish

Oats rank right at the top. They are high in fiber and extremely nutritious. One of the very best cholesterol-lowering breakfasts that you can eat is oatmeal with walnuts mixed in.

The second food for lowering cholesterol that you need to be aware of are beans. Beans contain zero cholesterol and are loaded with vitamins, minerals and fiber.
Thirdly is nuts. Nuts are misunderstood because of their high fat content. Many individuals believe nuts should not be a part of any diet for this reason. However the fat that they contain is a healthy fat that is essential for mental and physical health. They make a great snack and their fiber content helps lower cholesterol.

Most vegetables are very effective foods that lower cholesterol, but spinach is one of the best. Once again, they are high in fiber as well as vitamins and minerals. Any cholesterol lowering diet should make use of spinach.
The last thing on our list is fish. But not any fish. Look for a high-fat species such as salmon and tuna. These are the types of fish that contain the highest amounts of the omega-3 fatty acids that are effective at balancing out cholesterol levels. At first it may seem like fatty species of fish should be avoided but the Omega-3s in salmon and tuna help lower triglycerides.
What foods lower cholesterol? Asking that question will get you started on the road to healthier cholesterol levels without having to resort to medication. My website provides a more in-depth look at the answer. The information you find there will help you lose weight, have higher energy levels and may very well help you live longer.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), approximately 100 million Americans-that's about one-third of the entire population-have a total cholesterol level of more than 200, a level that increases the risk of heart disease.
Those at greatest risk are the 41 million Americans whose cholesterol is higher than 240. We all need some of this soft, waxy substance found among the fatty substances (lipids) in our body. It is a key ingredient in the formation of body tissues and cell membranes and a component in several hormones. The right kind of cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein, or HDL), actually helps protect from heart disease because it removes excess cholesterol from the blood vessels and other tissues and carries it back to the liver.
However, a high level of total cholesterol, or abnormal levels in the different types of cholesterol, can be a major risk factor for diseases of the heart and circulation. Excessive low-density lipoprotein (LOL), the so-called "bad" cholesterol, is an undisputed major risk factor when it rises above 100 milligrams per deciliter of blood. Triglyceride, another form of fat that comes from food and is also made by your body, may also increase your risk of heart disease and often occur along with high total cholesterol.

Over time, high blood cholesterol (LDL and triglycerides) can build up in your blood vessels, leading to the formation of plaque. This often occurs without symptoms over many years. Disturbance of plaque may abruptly lead to development of a clot in a blood vessel, causing a heart attack or a stroke. Low HOL cholesterol (less than 40 for a man or 50 for a woman) is also a major risk factor. Lowering cholesterol prevents heart disease. High cholesterol can be a major risk factor for diseases of the heart and circulation problems. The right kind of cholesterol actually helps protect from heart disease because it removes excess cholesterol from the blood vessels and other tissues.

Mangosteen juice will help fight the cholesterol battle. It's also likely that certain plants have more cardio-protective and cholesterol regulating properties than others, and one of the top contenders is the fruit mangosteen. Scientists from Australia and Thailand postulated that if mangosteen inhibits oxidation (free radical) damage, then perhaps it could help reduce the oxidation of LDL in the blood. After comparing a number of other xanthones; the researchers found that xanthones from mangos teen were effective inhibitors of LDL oxidation-and suggested they possess therapeutic potential in treating heart disease. While these experiments were performed in vitro (on a glass plate), other studies in animals add further credence to the concept that xanthones have a beneficial effect on cholesterol levels.
Mangosteen juice, this is the natural way to heal, will help with acid reflux, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, lowers cholesterol, weight control, cancer treatment/ prevention. You will never know if this can help you unless you try it.

At any time, may it be night time or day time, even if you are careful enough of what you are eating, heartburn can attack you. You can try the following tips for a heartburn cure the next time you need help. Most people have experienced heartburn so it is very helpful if you have knowledge on what to do in case of a heartburn attack.
There are few simple and easy treatments for heartburn. Some treatments are natural and have been used through many generations and have effective results. Those natural cures are also used in the kitchen to fix delicious foods. Some other treatments for heartburn can be found in drugstores and have been developed and formulated into tablets or capsules. Try the following for the effective treatment of your heartburn:

1. Add a fair amount of fennel seeds (two teaspoonfuls) to one cup of boiling water. Let it soak for a few minutes. Fennel seeds can be found in some stores for natural food health or at the supermarket. After finishing a cup of your tea, you should be able to be relieved
2. Ginger root is also a common cure for heartburn. You can find them at supermarkets in the produce section. Peel and shred the ginger roots and steep it in your tea or just add it to the food you are cooking to aid your digestion and prevent you from stomach discomfort.
3. Peppermint is one of the most long timed favorite in the natural digestive treatment. You can as well grow them in your garden or in just a pot in your patio. Moreover, you can also buy them in the supermarket. When preparing them, wash the leaves along with the stems and just chew them when you are having a heartburn episode.
4. Another natural solution is the Rhubarb. However, its sour taste dos not make it a popular choice for the heartburn. You can slice the stalk and chew it to relieve your heartburn. You can also make it as stew with water and sugar and add a pint of strawberries for a much better taste.
5. Try to incorporate more vegetables that are raw in your everyday meals. Adding some fresh papaya or pineapple in your meal can naturally help you in your digestive process as well as prevent heartburn episodes.
6. During the night, if you are suffering from acid reflux, it is better to not eat in about three hours before lying down.

The different treatments of heartburn can work effectively in different kinds of people. Every one of us is different in our sensitivities as well as idiosyncrasies. Find what works best for you by keeping a food diary and eliminate what spices in food causes your heartburn. This way, you can also avoid heartburn attacks. One at a time, try these treatments for heartburn and note what is the most effective and efficient natural cure that can help you treat your heartburn.

The 3 food groups that lower cholesterol form the foundation for heart disease prevention & treatment. Relying solely on prescription drugs is a dangerous strategy that could leave you at risk. Eating the right foods is often the key step to reaching your target cholesterol level.
The 3 food groups that lower cholesterol are: binders, inhibitors, and regulators.
Binders
Binders are foods that stop the intestinal absorption of cholesterol into your body. Soluble fiber and phytosterols form large clumps of cholesterol that can't pass through the lining of your gut and enter your bloodstream:
1. Food Sources of Soluble Fiber
-Oat/Oat bran
-Dried beans and peas
-Nuts
-Barley
-Flax seed
-Fruits such as oranges and apples
-Vegetables such as carrots
-Psyllium husk


2. Foods Rich in Phytosterols
-Sesame seeds
-Corn
-Soybeans
-Unrefined vegetable oils
-Whole grains
-Legumes (alfalfa, peas, beans, lentils)
Inhibitors
Inhibitors are foods that prevent the liver from making cholesterol. Unlike statin prescription drugs, inhibitors come from natural food sources and aren't dangerous:
1. Foods Rich in Monacolins
-Chinese Red Yeast Rice (mostly available in supplement form)
2. Foods Rich in Flavonoids
-Grapefruit
-Lemons/Limes
-Tangerines
-Pomegranate
-All berries


Regulators
Regulators are foods that lower cholesterol by maintaining the cholesterol cycle. Cholesterol normally cycles back and forth between the liver and the rest of the body. Vitamin C and the trace mineral copper help to keep the cycle going and prevent the build-up of cholesterol:
1. Foods Rich in Vitamin C
-Sweet red pepper
-Strawberries
-Oranges
-Brussels sprouts
-Broccoli
-Collard greens
-Grapefruit
-Canteloupe
-Cabbage
-Tomato
2. Foods Rich in Copper
-Oysters
-Shellfish
-Whole grains
-Beans
-Potatoes
-Organ meats
Foods that lower cholesterol provide the foundation for heart disease prevention and treatment. If you can't reach your target cholesterol level, you only have two choices: take more drugs or eat the right foods. What are you going to do?

High cholesterol level is not a major cause of coronary heart disease
Different from other people's opinion that high cholesterol is the major cause coronary heart disease, there are many research result that will lead us to have another opinion. Coronary heart disease is caused mainly by atherosclerosis. Some of us think that high cholesterol level will lead to building blockage in the blood vessel. Many people had a low cholesterol level (may be because of the cholesterol lowering drugs) but still got the coronary heart disease. On the other side, there are many people had a high cholesterol level, but they do not get the disease.
Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is a disease affecting arterial blood vessels. It is commonly referred to as a "hardening" or "furring" of the arteries. It is caused by the formation of multiple plaques within the arteries, known as coronary heart disease.
Atherosclerosis is a condition where the walls of the arteries are damaged and narrowed by deposits of plaque (cholesterol and other fatty substances, calcium, fibrin, and cellular wastes), eventually blocking off the flow of blood. Plaque deposits can result in bleeding (hemorrhage) or formation of a blood clot (thrombus). When hemorrhage or thrombus blocks the flow of blood through the entire artery, a heart attack or a stroke occurs. High cholesterol levels - particularly the cholesterol carried by low-density lipoprotein ("LDL", a protein found in blood) - are associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis. But LDL by itself is not dangerous, read the fact about oxidized LDL in this article.


Lipoprotein (a) is still a mystery
Studies have identified Lipoprotein (a) as a putative risk factor for atherosclerotic diseases as coronary heart disease and stroke. Lipoprotein (a) concentrations vary over one thousand fold between individuals, from < 0.2 to > 200 mg/dL. This range of concentrations is observed in all populations studied so far. The mean and median concentrations between different world populations show distinct particularities, the main being the two- to threefold higher Lipoprotein (a) plasma concentration of populations of African descent compared to Asian, Oceanic, or European populations.
High Lipoprotein (a) in blood is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD), cerebrovascular disease (CVD), atherosclerosis, thrombosis, and stroke. Lipoprotein (a) concentrations may be affected by disease states, but are only slightly affected by diet, exercise, and other environmental factors. Commonly prescribed high cholesterol-reducing drugs have little or no effect on Lipoprotein (a) concentration. Niacin (nicotinic acid) and aspirin are two relatively safe, easily available, and inexpensive drugs known to significantly reduce the levels of Lipoprotein (a) in some individuals with high Lipoprotein (a); they should be used under the supervision of a qualified physician.

High Lipoprotein (a) predicts risk of early atherosclerosis similar to high LDL, but in advanced atherosclerosis, Lipoprotein (a) is an independent risk factor not dependent on LDL. High Cholesterol level do not have correlation with Lipoprotein (a) level.
Oxidized LDL
Normal LDL in plasma is not oxidized. Oxidation of LDL is believed to contribute to the development of atherosclerosis. Macrophage cells preferentially take up oxidized LDL, become loaded with lipids, and convert into foam cells. Foam cells accumulate in fatty streaks, early signs of atherosclerosis and leading to heart disease. Humans produce autoantibody against oxidized LDL, and the levels of such autoantibody are higher in patients with atherosclerosis. The identification of LDL oxidation as a key event in atherosclerosis suggests that it may be possible to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis by antioxidant supplementation. Vitamin E is the major naturally occurring antioxidant in human lipoproteins
Antioxidant
An antioxidant is a molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals, which start chain reactions that damage cells. Antioxidants terminate these chain reactions by removing free radical intermediates, and inhibit other oxidation reactions by being oxidized themselves. As a result, antioxidants are often reducing agents such as thiols or polyphenols.
Although oxidation reactions are crucial for life, they can also be damaging; hence, plants and animals maintain complex systems of multiple types of antioxidants, such as glutathione, vitamin C, and vitamin E as well as enzymes. Low levels of antioxidants, or inhibition of the antioxidant enzymes, causes oxidative stress and may damage or kill cells.
Summary
Atherosclerosis can lead to coronary heart disease. Lipoprotein (a) is an independent risk factor of coronary heart disease. Oxidation of LDL is believed to contribute to the development of atherosclerosis. We can prevent the oxidation of LDL by taking antioxidant.

According to the American Heart Association, "The hypotriglyceridemic effects of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils are well established". There has been an enormous amount of research performed proving that fish oil for triglycerides works beyond a shadow of a doubt. Triglycerides are simply the chemical form of fats in the body. When people consume too many calories, they transform into triglycerides and are stored as fats.
One of the main causes for high triglycerides is obesity. The foods you consume on a daily basis can either make or break your cardiovascular health. If you are already overweight and continue to eat foods high in fat, consider yourself walking on thin ice. In addition to using fish oil for triglycerides, it also helps to lower the bad cholesterol while increasing your good cholesterol. Overall, these supplements help to improve heart health altogether.
Some of the problems which can erupt from having high triglycerides are coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, atherosclerosis, and possible heart attack and stroke. Foods that pack on the pounds and add an increase in likelihood toward the development of these problems are all fast foods (cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes, etc.), processed foods, cookies and other sugary sweets, and foods which are high in carbohydrates and low in nutritional value. An excessive consumption of these foods can quickly equal up to an increase in triglycerides.

Fish oil for triglycerides as well as an ongoing daily exercise regimen will decrease anyone's risk for cardiovascular problems. An ideal workout plan should involve at least five days per week of 30 to 45-minute aerobic exercise sessions and two days per week of total body weight lifting sessions.
It may sound difficult, but the weight lifting sessions do not have to be very intense. Just as long as you are exerting yourself somewhat, you should be able to build a legitimate amount of strength. It is important to keep your cardiovascular health in top form to avoid possible complications.
There are also a lot of medications prescribed by doctors for health issues concerning high triglycerides. However, more and more physicians are beginning to realize the effectiveness and safeness of recommending this supplement due to the fact there are no side effects and they work in the same manner as most prescription medications.
The benefits are that they cost less, are more effective, safer, and natural. They thin the blood, provides the fats that the body needs to function with ease, and also have several other health benefits.
One positive health benefit leads to another. The fact that your heart health will improve means you will be less stressed. Less stress also improves cardiovascular health. Taking fish oil for triglycerides can literally change your life. After all, the benefits have been proven.
Having heart issues is never an exciting ordeal. Finding out you have problems with your heart can be very discouraging. But the truth is that living an overall healthier lifestyle is what will ultimately put an end to your worries and concerns.

Being big fans of lists let's run through 7 tips to put your new exercise routine on the fast track to success.
1. The obligatory "consult your doctor first." This one is particularly for if you're not normally physically active. Confirm you're physically up to it before you begin a new exercise program. Make sure you don't have anything serious that needs to be addressed.
Find a doctor that is familiar with exercise and physical fitness. This is important because one doctor told me that women should never lift weights, they should stick to aerobics. Most doctors do not get a lot of training in exercise and nutrition, find one who did and you are golden. Take home lesson: don't be afraid to question your doctor about exercise. Lecture over, let's get to the fun stuff.
2. Set small goals. While it may be really exciting to set a large goal like running a marathon or going to the gym every day, the motivation fades fast if you don't have smaller goals for positive feedback. Without the feedback of accomplishing smaller victories it gets difficult to motivate yourself to achieve the grander goal. Don't risk a blind-date with feeling overwhelmed.

The key is to break the larger goal into smaller steps like running 1 mile a day, then 2 miles until you are ready for the marathon. You will find yourself going from the couch to the Boston Marathon sooner than you think.
3. Reward yourself. Achieving your goals should be fun. When you reach a goal, whether it is a little one or a big one, reward yourself. Rewards keep you going. Pick a reward and don't give up until you've earned it. The reward will be a lot more satisfying and keep you motivated for the next goal.
4. Do something fun. Exercising doesn't have to be running around a track until you can't breathe anymore. Take up a sport you enjoy and your goals become part of the fun. Keeping things fun will avoid a blind-date with overwhelmed's ugly cousin: burnout. If you think that sitting on an Abdominizer for hours on end in front of your television is fun you don't need tips, you need an intervention.

5. Mix it up. It's easy to get into a rut when you're beginning a new workout routine. In order to keep things interesting and maintain your motivation, change up the exercises or sports you do. This is to make things easier on the body as well the mind. For example, if you're running two or three times a week, consider riding your bike on the other days. Weight lifting? Add mobility drills to keep your muscles strong and flexible.
6. Exercise with friends. Friends motivate you to get to the gym, friends make it fun, and friends can challenge you to push yourself just a little bit farther than you might if you were working out alone. Nothing is more powerful than a friendly "she is NOT going to do more push ups than me!" Just remember that this is not social time and if you can easily talk while you exercise you aren't working hard enough to get fit.
7. Exercise during your best time of day. Are you a morning person? I'd wager that the morning is when you will get your best workouts. If you're a night person, then try working out in the evening. You will need to experiment with this until you find your sweet spot.
Like any good list you have to draw the line somewhere and end it. OK, many more tips could have made this list but information overload won't help you succeed. Start with these tips and once you make them part of your regular routine you can worrying about finer details.
Congratulations on your decision to get into shape. Your body is designed for movement and exercise is vital to your health.

You are not feeling good. You got the sniffles. You are coughing up phlegm.
But you are worried about not working out because you are making such good progress...
What are you nuts? Sick is sick. Your body needs to recover from the illness. But you still want to workout...
Alright, I'll tell you how to do it if you want but you have to agree not to tell me any nasty details...
Deal?
Between you and me, when I get sick... I'm grumpy. I don't like doing anything except lie on the bed and read a book.
You can feed me. You can get me drinks... but do not ask me how I feel!
OK. End of rant.
So you are worried about falling behind because the flu is just so... inconvenient.
First of all, try to resist the impulse that you must do SOMETHING. Rest and recovery from the flu should be your #1 priority.
ANd working out while being sick make not be the best idea you ever had...
But still... I try to please all my readers... you know, I give and give and what do I get back? The flu. Yeah, sick people tend to want to give me their misery. Why? I don't know... perhaps because I am such a cheerful, happy go lucky sort of guy that doesn't have a care in the world...
That would bug a lot of people but I digress...

So with trepidation I shall tackle this icky subject for YOU, my dear reader.
First of all, it is absolutely OK NOT to workout for a day or two. The only way you can gain all the weight back is if you start eating bad nutritional food. So rule #1 is don't eat crappy foods. Continue to eat the good stuff.
Second of all (putting on Mr. Obvious cap on), if you have a fever, dizziness, or contagious. Get thee back in bed. You have no business worrying about fat loss while you are very, very sick.
My prescription is as follows: Rest and recover. Give your immune system some time to chase all those germs and viruses right out of your body!
But if you just have a minor cold... sure! It's OK to do a workout but listen to your body anyway. Do your workout at a less frenetic pace. I find that sometimes activity does allow me to breathe better through my nose.

So here is what you are going to do...
Make a common sense judgment that you are over the worst of your cold or flu. Then ease through your workouts. Start off light for the first day or two. Eat plenty of good quality foods to replenish your body's store of energy. Remember your body is not only burning fat, it also has to deal with that little thing called the flu.
Getting sick doesn't mean through out your well-thought out meal plan out the window! Eating pizza, ice cream and other lousy food choices isn't going to help.
Be sure to drink water and liquids while working out. Just listen to your body. If you start to feel dizzy -- stop. If you start to feel weak -- stop. If you feel like trying to get me sick -- stop!
Or you can try it my way... grumble... tell anybody that bothers you, too much details so they will leave you alone... stay in bed and read a book or watch TV. Try to recover as fast as possible so you can get back on the saddle and start working out again...
And besides... there must be a reason why we tend to get sick a few times a year... I can't think of a reason but still...

A lot of folks are just too busy with life and work to go regularly to the gym to exercise to lose weight. Keeping that in mind, I decided to list the exercise routines that you can do to increase your strength and lose weight. All you will need is some small space at the house and a pair of dumbbells. And I have to tell you this... these exercises will kick your butt and is superior to many exercise machines at the gym...
For your legs (use the dumbbells):
Squats
Lunge
Step on on an elevated bench
For your chest (again, use the dumbbells but if you got an adjustable bench... awesome!):
Flat chest press
Incline and decline bench press
Flat chest fly
Incline and decline chest fly
Back exercises (still use your dumbbells):
Rows
Shrugs
Shoulder Exercises (use your dumbbells again):
Military bench press
Lateral raises
Leg exercises (no dumbbells needed):

One legged squats
One legged dead lifts
One legged Romanian dead lift
Push ups! Great for building upper body endurance and strength.
Traditional push ups. (beginners can kneel until they get stronger).
Decline and elevated push ups
Spider man push ups. Advanced but challenging! Just bring one of your knees up when lowering your body to the floor.
Close up push ups.
Now some exercise routines for the abs! Do not round your back with these exercises!
Plank
Side plank
And the bird dog.
If you can do the first three with no problem... then you should go ahead and try the more advanced exercise routines for abs here:
Spider man climber
Mountain Climber
There ya go! You see... you don't need to get any stinkin' membership at the gym! Just go to your workout room and hammer away... Try doing these three times a week to boost your strength and lose weight. Best of all, you are putting in an awesome workout without wasting all the precious time traveling to and from the gym.

Core training has become a buzz word in the fitness and personal training industry. We see it in magazine, books, training videos, and we hear it coming out of the mouths of personal trainers and fitness professionals everyday.
Everyone wants a strong core and flat abs. If your back hurts, strengthen your core. Do more core work to burn belly fat. There are many myths and loose theories out there as to how you properly train your core, and what the core actually is.
First and foremost I want to discuss the anatomy of the "core" and what muscles we are talking about when we use this ever so common word. Many times when people think of the core they think about the abdominal muscles only. The core of the human body is made up of many muscles, small and large, that provide stability, balance, power, strength, and movement.
For the sake of this article let's keep the anatomy simple and avoid getting into small groups of certain muscles. The core includes:


• Abdominals
• Lower Back (Erector Spinae)
• Oblique Muscles (rotators)
• Hip Flexors
• Hamstrings
• Gluteus
• Quadriceps
There are several sub areas of each of these muscle groups but this gives you the general idea of just how much is involved with core movement and strengthening. The core is the gateway to all power and strength. Think of your body as a chain. If there is a weak link in any part of the chain, maximum effort in a given movement cannot be achieved. When you perform a squat you must transfer energy from the floor through your lower body and eventually through your core in order to get to the standing position.



If your lower body is strong but the abdominals or lower back piece of the chain is weak, your squat movement will be less than desired. In that same scenario if you have very little gluteal activation, as you progress through your squat, your lower back muscles will have to take over to overcome the force of the movement. They are going to be stressed more than necessary and this can lead to injury. Having a strong and balanced core is the key to any exercise and will help you see progress in any training program regardless of your goals.
In order to strengthen the core, I take the same approach as I do for any other muscle group or movement. Work the muscles together and avoid isolation. Basic crunches will do nothing for your overall development. An isolated spinal flexion movement is really unnecessary because you are not recruiting any of the synergist muscles around that particular joint area.
Think of the core training like training any other area. Would you do 100 squats with no weight except your own bodyweight? Probably not because it would take a ton of time and would be of little value. So why would you do 100 crunches with no weight? The abdominals and the entire core region need to be taxed and pushed through strength movements.



Here are a few of my favorite basic core training exercises. The movements can be done in a gym setting or at home because they require little equipment. These movements all have the same principles of my athletic fitness programs; look for efficient and effective movements, burn a lot of calories, recruit large muscle groups to tax the nervous system and elevate metabolism, and move your body the way it was meant to move.
1. Dumbbell/Kettle bell Sit Ups
2. Standing Band Crunches
3. Medicine Ball Rotation Throws
4. Cable Rotations (straight arm for more difficulty)
5. Ab Wheel- the "evil wheel"
6. BB Dead lifts
7. BB or DB Squats
8. Glute Ham Raises
9. Hanging Knee Raises
10. Overhead Carries (DB, KB, Sandbag, or any heavy object)
Any large movement will immediately tax the core muscles but this gives you an idea of some exercises that you can incorporate into your training plan. Whether your goals are to overcome a recent injury, lose body fat and get lean, train for an athletic event, or just to become fitter, the athletic mindset of core training is the most effective and efficient. Look at the top athletes in most sports. They are strong, fit, lean, explosive, and healthy. Why wouldn't we want to train like that?

To ensure success and results with any strength training or conditioning program, it must be designed with the following principles in mind. Effective training programs will incorporate periodization, specificity, and overload, while avoiding overtraining.
The following paragraphs will briefly describe what each of these terms mean.
Periodization
Periodization is a term used to describe the breakdown of a training program into periods, or phases. The idea behind periodization is to constantly present a new training stimulus to the body to force it to repeatedly adapt to this new stimulus.
If a new training stimulus is not presented, the body will adjust to the training and performance will not continue to improve and will eventually decline. On the other hand, if a new type of stimulus is presented too soon, the body won't have had enough time to react and adapt, and again, adaptation will decrease.
This is the reason you should see programs last only about 4 weeks. Trained athletes can adapt much quicker to new programs, and should consider changing programs more frequently. Athletes newer to training can continue to make gains for much longer on the same program. This is the reason you see many people "plateau" in their training. They aren't taking advantage of the principle of periodization.
Periodization is accomplished by varying the training intensity and volume during certain phases to continue to place stress on the body that it isn't used to.


Specificity
Specificity refers to training specifically for a desired outcome. You will train differently to build muscle mass than you would to improve performance. You would train differently if you wanted to run a marathon as opposed to play football. There are different strengths, movements and physiological requirements that need to be more developed in certain activities than others. Everyone has things that that they should be training to improve, whether it's health-related or performance-related (notice I didn't say beach body-related). A good training program is designed with specificity, taking into consideration the needs and goals of each person.
Overload
This is the most important principle behind any training program. Overload can be substituted for the word stimulus or stress in the description of periodization. To create an overload, the body must be made to do things it is not accustomed to. This places a stress, or shock, on the body. If the body is not given an overload, it will not adapt. If there is no adaptation, you will not get any stronger or any more conditioned than you already are. In short you will not see results. Keep this in mind during your training. Always push yourself to improve on your last workout. Did you get eight reps at 100lbs last time? Try for nine today, or try to get eight reps at 105lbs. Always push yourself to get better.
Overtraining
Overtraining is when fatigue or a decrease in performance arises from excessive training and a lack of proper rest and recovery between workouts. Overtraining is an injury. In most cases, overtraining is caused by "too much, too soon", or simply training too often and not allowing the body the proper amount of rest from an intense workout.
Some symptoms of overtraining may or may not include: Increased resting heart rate, increased resting blood pressure, decreased sports performance, slower recovery after exercise, weight loss, decreased appetite, decreased desire to exercise, increased irritability and depression, and increased incidence of injury.

As a Personal Trainer one of the first lessons I give all of my clients is to define the right measuring tools for success. I work to help them understand that we are not necessarily working to lose weight, we are working to burn fat. So it is more accurate to work to burn fat then to simply lose weight. Accordingly you will always want to measure your body composition, not your absolute weight.
Below are the 3 smartest methods most health professionals use to measure success:
Handheld Body Composition Machine (Body Fat) - this is considered the quick and dirty method of measuring . The advantage is that it is fast. The disadvantage is that it is not as accurate as other measures.
These measurement devices can be up to %7 off. As a result two things are very important to remember. First you should always use the same measuring instrument, and second you should always be more interested in the amount of body fat lost between two measuring dates, not the absolute numbers.
Remember the absolute reading you get from any measuring device will likely be slightly inaccurate, so focus on the difference between measuring dates.
Calipers - You will need a fitness professional to help you with this, but it is the most accurate measure of Body Composition available to the general public. It is also referred as skin fold measurement and is normally at least 97% accurate.

In this process your fitness professional will actually "pinch" your skin in several spots of your body with a set of calipers. They will then record the measurements and place them into formula that will then calculate your number. If you have a fitness professional do this, be sure they to remember to measure the same sites and use the same formula every time. There are several different formulas you could use, just have your fitness professional choose one and stick with it.
Pay Attention To Your Body - To me this is the most important and effective ways to measure your success. There are a few activities that will help you. The first is to take and record circumference measurements. This means that you actually take a tape measure and rap it around your neck, arm, chest, waist, hips, thighs and calves to measure their size. All you have to do is record those measurements over time and compare. Just make sure that you take your measurements from the exact same sites every time.
Pay Attention to how your clothes fit. Write down where you fasten your belt loop. Grab 1 pair of jeans, fasten them up and see how they feel in the waist, butt, hips and legs. Do the same thing with one of your shirts in the neck, arms and stomach.
Record how you feel. Do you feel strong? Do you feel week? Do you feel tired or energetic? All of these are signs of whether or not you are following the right program and eating enough, too much, or not eating the right stuff.
So for now never mind the scale. It is a poor indicator of how you are actually doing, for many reasons. Also make sure not measuring too often. No more than once a month especially in the beginning. A very good exercise program will make you feel stronger, give you more energy, have your waistline shrinking and your clothes fitting better!

Fat burning foods are nature's gift to those who want to get rid of that excess fat without dangerous prescription drugs.
The following nutrient rich foods can help you lose weight by breaking down unwanted fat so that your body can easily get rid of it. These foods also help by increasing your health. A healthy body is more efficient in all of its processes, including its ability to burn off that pesky fat.
The foods below also help to regulate blood sugar, which in turn helps to curb those outrageous and uncontrollable feelings of hunger.
Keep the following fat-burning foods available for accelerated weight loss and to improve your health. These foods will play an important part in helping you get that weight down for a more attractive and slimmer you.
10 Natural Fat Burning Foods
1. Apples
As the old saying goes, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Well how about, "Two apples a day, helps shoos the fat away...and makes you healthier to boot!"
Apples are great because of their ability to satisfy hunger with so few calories, and because they stabilize blood sugar and stimulate your metabolism. A stimulated metabolism burns more calories, which means you lose fat much faster.
Instead of dredging your body with fat and calorie-laden junk food, eat an apple and turn up your body's fat-burning process.

2. Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar contains malic acid, which converts sugars and fats into energy. It's also high in potassium. Potassium works to eliminate that stubborn fat that has attached itself to your body. This natural fat burner works 24 hours a day to help you slim down.
3. Beans
"Beans, beans, have you heard the news? The more you eat, the more you lose...weight that is." Yes, beans will actually help you lose fat.
Beans contain a lot of fiber and protein. A serving of beans is very filling and can satisfy your hunger for hours. Beans also help to keep your blood sugar level in balance.
"Wow, I'm headed for our nearest El Greaso Grande Restaurant for their Mucho Grande Refried Bean Burrito. Think of the pounds I will lose after a couple of those."
No, no. I'm not talking about those grease and salt-laden refried beans you get at your friendly Mexican restaurant. I'm talking about pure, healthy, properly-seasoned, boiled beans that should take the place of that fatty beef rib you might have eaten if you didn't have this better alternative.

4. Cucumber
This great little vegetable helps the kidneys to filter out uric acid, which is a waste product. Once this uric acid is washed out, the result is a faster loosening and removal of fat from cells in the body.
5. Cabbage
Not only is cabbage loaded with great nutrients, but it also makes it difficult for sugar and carbohydrates to convert into fat on your body. Another great thing about cabbage is that it does a great job of breaking up that unwanted fat stored on your stomach, hips, back, legs, rear and tummy.
6. Garlic
Oh, yummy. I am very happy to be able to include garlic in this list of fat burning foods. Being half Italian, I love garlic in just about everything...except my oatmeal of course. Garlic contains vitamins A, C, and D. It also has the ability to make many bland foods taste a lot better.
Studies have shown that garlic can lower cholesterol and high blood pressure; and helps the body to break down fat so it can get rid of it.
7. Onions
Onions contain minerals and oils that break down fat deposits and by speeding up your metabolism. And as an added benefit, onions are also rich in vitamin C and chromium. Chromium is a mineral used as a weight-loss supplement because of its ability to boost the body's metabolism and help you burn those calories without any extra effort.
8. Olive Oil
Yes! Combine olive oil with garlic and onions and you've got some great smells going on while you're cooking in the kitchen.
Olive oil should be high on your list of fat burning foods. Many studies have shown that one of the reasons for the low rate of heart disease and great health found in the Mediterranean area is their use of olive oil as their primary source of fat for cooking or just drizzling on a dish.
Extra-virgin olive oil is made of monounsaturated fat that helps to lower the bad cholesterol in your system. Therefore, olive oil, used in reasonable amounts as a replacement for the unhealthy fats, will be a great supplement to your weight loss program.
9. Tomatoes
Tomatoes are extremely popular in the United States. It is easy to mistake the tomato for a vegetable, but it is actually a fruit that is used in cooking as a vegetable. It is high in vitamin C and citric, malic, and oxalic acids. These "acids" contain enzymes that speed up metabolism, which makes it a great fat burning food.
10. Oatmeal
I eat oatmeal daily for breakfast and I have for years. I add some dried cranberries before I cook it to perk it up. After all these years I haven't grown tired of oatmeal, perhaps because of the many benefits it offers.
Oatmeal is a great source of cholesterol fighting, fat-soluble fiber. Also it is filling and provides good energy to propel you through the day. Not only is it a great addition to the other natural fat burners I eat, but it helped me to get my used-to-be-high cholesterol down without pills.
So now you have my list of 10 great fat burning foods that will expedite your weight loss in a healthy and safe way. Eat these foods regularly as a part of a good diet, and you will become a healthier and slimmer you.

Everyone that wants to lose weight wants to know the best diet to lose weight fast. There are a lot of ways to do this, but you don't want to jeopardize your health by starving yourself or doing anything that may be harmful to you. I'll show you how to lose weight quickly and safely with some simple weight loss tips that work and foods that burn fat. You'll also have more energy and feel better about yourself.
If you follow these weight loss tips that work one step at a time, you'll notice a difference right away. I'll give a brief explanation of each to help you understand how they can help you achieve fast weight loss:
1. Drink More Water: Drinking eight large glasses a day including before meals fills you up, and lubricates your body to help it work more efficiently for faster weight loss. It's the healthiest thing for you, and also removes toxins to help body and skin health.
2. Eat a healthy breakfast. It boosts your metabolism to burn fat, giving your body the protein it needs to work more efficiently and keep your energy level up. It should be your biggest meal, decreasing your meal size as the day wears on.
3. Eat several small meals a day. It's not difficult to do, and it keeps your energy level up throughout the day, boosting your metabolism to burn calories and fat. It's healthier for you instead of eating 2-3 larger meals a day with your largest meal in the evening, and you won't be hungry or as likely to have cravings. Your evening meal should be the smallest because that's usually when you're most inactive and will be going to bed, and that food will turn to fat. Try not to eat after 7:00 p.m. depending on your schedule and activity level.

4. Eat a lot of raw fruits and vegetables. Raw fruits and primarily green vegetables have high protein and natural sugar for energy to boost your metabolism naturally. Substitute one item at each meal with raw fruit or vegetables and eat them for snacks. It will make a big difference in your energy level and weight loss.
5. Reduce processed food (boxed), fast food and junk food. Don't try to totally eliminate them, but reduce them one step at a time. Most of these foods have a Ton of processed sugar, salt, bad fats and starches including mystery ingredients, all of which add fat. There are very good high fiber, high protein, low fat and low sugar alternatives that help satisfy your cravings and provide more nutrition and energy.
6. Exercise -- the dreaded word! However, exercise includes walking, going up and down stairs, cleaning, working in your yard, riding your bicycle, playing with your kids or pets, and dancing. Doing more of a physical activity that you enjoy burns fat and calories, gives you more energy, and you'll feel better physically and mentally.
These are just a few helpful weight loss tips that work for the best diet to lose weight fast. You can learn how to lose weight quickly and safely, but do it one step at a time, be positive and persistent, and remember your goal. Losing weight doesn't have to be an overwhelming burden.

I'm with you here...
Getting your flat belly back is NOT easy because there are so many fitness and nutrition myths that are just as bad as eating a Bavarian cream doughnut.
Today... I'm going to let you in on a secret how to get a flat tummy... no joke!
Actually, it isn't a secret... these two ways are pretty obvious but hard to spot because of all the junk science about fat loss...
The 1st secret to getting a flat belly is... are you writing this down? The first secret is this... develop a healthy eating plan that supports your fat loss plan to shed and lose your belly fat.
Unfortunately, it has been proven over and over again but most of the diet plans out there are nothing more than a figment of someone's fertile imaginations. And many women and men choose to believe them! So if you are doing one of the low fat, low carb, anything with Hollywood in it or some fruit diet... you might want to stop it.

Implementing and planning a healthy diet requires moderation and balance. Cutting out the carbs or the fats may work in the beginning and you may see a drop of some weight. But your metabolism will drop and all the weight you lost will go back to your waistline. And then you quit on the diet and go back to your old eating habits that got you in trouble in the first place.
So it is time for a new idea...
Plan a healthy meal plan that will help increase your metabolism and burn your fat. The best thing about it is you can get all the food you will need from your grocery store! So no more shelling out big bucks to those diet gurus or companies that are nothing more than a scam to separate your hard earned money from your wallet.
So the first thing you are going to do is plan your four to six daily meals or snacks. No more skipping breakfast. And eat the foods that you love (even the naughty ones) in moderation. I hate it when some diet is so rigid and no fun at all!
Life was made to be enjoyable... but NOT that much! Just eat the tasty stuff in moderation...
But let's just move on...
The 2nd secret to getting a flat belly is... strength or resistant training. You need to work all of your major muscle groups to jump start your metabolism. And drop kick any of those spot reduction or isolated training workouts. It's a myth that should be thrown under the bus...
All those late night info-commercials that blare how great the latest ab gadget is gonna get you that flat tummy is nothing more than a scam. You can't focus on just one part of your body... it isn't possible. Your body works in major muscle groups. Let me ask you this... have you EVER met anyone with a flat, toned abs but with flabby arms?
I don't think so!
The next thing I would suggest is to stop doing those cardio or aerobic workouts. They are a very inefficient way to burn your fat and boost your metabolism.
Why not do a much, much shorter way that is much, much more effective?
And that would be focusing on strength training on your compound muscle groups. Strength training or resistance training has been shown to increase your metabolism for up to 3 days after you finished! That's right... your body is burning fat while you watch TV or even sleep.
So you shouldn't have to waste your extremely valuable time pounding your feet on the pavement or the stairmasters in the gym.
One more thing about resistance training. You are also stimulating the muscle growth which will burn ever MORE fat!
I just see benefits upon benefits upon benefits with resistance training... so no more of that cardio training.

That's it! You got two terrific ways to get started on the right path to getting a flat belly and burn your body fat.

Here's are 9 diet tips you can count on to help you get on the right track to eating healthier and developing good eating habits. Spending half our Sunday's preparing meals for the week just doesn't seem all that practical, so you can try following these simple steps!!!
1. You'll need to get rid of your canned veggies and switch to frozen veggies instead. Canned vegetables are extremely high in sodium and very low in nutrition. Purchase the economy sized bags that you can get small potions from and then zip the bag back up for safe storage.
2. Get yourself a vegetable steamer. Steaming your vegetables is one of the best ways to cook vegetables. When you steam veggies, almost all of the natural nutrients are retained instead of seeping out into boiling water. This, of course, makes your veggies taste much better therefore you are much more likely to eat them rather than filling up on the same old food that's causing you to gain weight.
3. Are you eating out a lot?? Food portions at restaurants are usually much larger than they should be. When we were kids we were taught to "clean our plates", a rule most of us still stick to today. If at all possible, try ordering from the kids menu where the portions are much smaller.

4. Try keeping some healthy snacks around that you can access easily. On your kitchen table you should have a bowl of fruit at all times. In the fridge you should have plenty of carrots or celery sticks accessible. At your office you should have a couple of pop-open cans of fruit or some breakfast bars in your desk for those times you get sudden hunger pangs. What I'm saying is that you need to keep good, healthy food at your finger tips, not candy bars or chips or cookies.
5. Drink plenty of water. In order to keep your body working properly, the FDA recommends that you consume at least 64 ounces of water per day, approximately 8 glasses. It's not only to make you feel full, but water is great for cleaning out your system, helping your food to digest properly and keeping you hydrated.
6. If you don't really want to join a gym, then find some friends who would like to exercise with you. Try getting together 3 times a week or more to go bowling, play volleyball or play tag football or soccer. You guys can even go for a walk or jog for about a half hour a day.

7. Your meals should be spread out during the course of the day. When you eat just 3 meals per day, your body stores whatever it doesn't use. If you eat 6 to 8 small meals instead, you'll be able to keep your metabolism working all day long. Try eating a small breakfast, some fruit at mid-morning, a small lunch and a healthy snack at mid-afternoon, and then a small dinner. Try to remember that you're just breaking up your eating habits to keep your metabolism working. You don't want to add extra food to your daily intake.
8. Instead of drinking carbonated beverages, you should try a piece of fruit or some flavored water instead. Carbonated beverages are nothing more than a bunch of empty calories that are loaded with sugar and no nutrients.
9. Stop eating chips, cookies and candy bars. These types of foods only contribute to excess fat, calories and sugar, sodium and not much more. Try grabbing some dried fruit or some yogurt for a much more nutritional snack instead.

Interval training is where you alternate between periods of high intensity exercise and periods of low intensity exercise or complete rest. Trainees have been steadily switching over from boring, steady state cardio, to high intensity interval cardio.
However, we can take interval training to the next level by performing dumbbell interval. Dumbbell intervals are where you choose a whole-body dumbbell exercise such as the Dumbbell Snatch or Swing, and perform this exercise with interval training.
The following are 6 reasons why I love this method:
1) Dumbbell Intervals Makes me a Better Athlete
I come from a martial arts background. When you're sparring (practice fighting), you don't maintain a barrage of punches for a full 3 minutes. Instead, you go all out for 30 seconds, then pull back. It's a constant balance between offense and defense. And so interval training helps you move the way you would move during sports. When you add in the element of resistance exercise, you get the simulation of a real game - holding a ball and moving through opponents at a fast pace - over powering your opponent on the ground - or moving from one end of a court to another at an extremely fast pace. Sports combine cardiovascular exercise and strength endurance training. Your workouts should follow this approach as well.

2) Dumbbell Intervals Allow me To Get it Done Fast
Here's the thing, just like you, I have a busy lifestyle. For individuals that have family, work, or school responsibilities (some people have all three!), Dumbbell Intervals allow you to exercise within an extremely short period of time. No one has ever said "I'm going to do Dumbbell Intervals for an Hour!" Trust me, you won't even last 10 minutes for your first time. Most of my Interval workouts last around 12-20 minutes. The shorter the workout, the more I'm able to push myself.
3) Dumbbell Intervals Boost your Metabolic Rate
We all know that high intensity cardio does wonders for your metabolic rate. Now, if you pushed yourself even harder with Dumbbell Intervals, imagine how high you'd raise your metabolic rate! If you at the same amount of food as you did when you were not performing dumbbell intervals, then the fat would literally melt off your body.
4) Dumbbell Intervals Can be Done at Home
I hate the gym for a number of reasons - distractions (girls!), not being able to get to the free weights on busy days, driving down to the gym is annoying, the locker rooms smell, the locker rooms have old naked gay guys walking around, etc. So, I like to work out at home. All you need is to purchase a set of dumbbells, and you're on your way! Training at home offers me a ton of benefits including privacy, no distractions, no need to drive down anywhere, and no smelly locker rooms.
5) Dumbbell Intervals allow me to Stick to my Program
Interval training is fun and exciting. And so, when something is fun and exciting, I tend to stick to it. I rarely ever stick to a program for more than 3 weeks. But I've been doing dumbbell interval training for months! I might do it once a week and mix it with some other forms of training, or I may perform intervals up to 3 times a week! The bottom line is that this intense form of exercise is fun. It's challenging and it'll really humble you down. You won't be running on some treadmill for 30 minutes at a time. You'll be pushing yourself to the maximum for just 10 minutes a day!

6) Dumbbell Intervals Save me Money
Well, for one thing I'm not going to some noisy and smelly gym. But a lot of people think that dumbbells are expensive. They're not, especially if you purchase them second hand. Go to eBay or Craigslist and you'll find lots of people trying to sell off their equipment at rock bottom prices.
Hopefully these 6 reasons have convinced you to start incorporating Dumbbell Intervals into your training program.

Interval training is when you perform a particular exercise for a given time period before moving onto the next exercise. Interval training is usually performed with cardiovascular exercises such as sprints and jump roping.
Well, I like to use bodyweight, kettlebell, and barbell exercises when I perform interval training. This way, I can burn fat and build muscle at the same time. This is clearly one of the best ways of getting a quick, full body fat burning and muscle building workout.
There are three key elements to an interval training workout:
Element #1: Total Training Time
Interval training is all about time, and so you must take into consideration first how long you want to workout. Lets say you only have 10 minutes to workout before heading off to work. Then your workout should not last more than 10 minutes.
Element #2: Number of Exercises Performed
I like to keep things simple and don't like to cram in a whole bunch of exercises into a single workout. All you really need is one upper body push, one upper body pull, and a lower body exercise in order to develop a good, full body program.

Element #3: Length of Interval
Intervals should last anywhere between 20 to 60 seconds. 20 seconds will give you a short, intense strength and conditioning workout. A 60 second interval will stress strength endurance. Either way, you'll get a really intense workout.
Element #4: Length of Rest Interval
You will have to program a rest interval either after each exercise, or at the end of an interval circuit. Advanced trainees can move through a workout without any rest. However, if you truly train with full intensity, then you should program a rest interval.

Everyone wants to get a flat stomach and I believe that most people can get a flat stomach. But the journey from belly fat to a flat stomach is long and hard. The majority of people just fail to reach the target for several reasons. But if you do make it, then you can easily call yourself a fat loss expert. So hopefully these 5 tips will give you a good start.
5 tips for a flat stomach
1. Knowing exactly the amount of calories you need to lose fat, is obviously very important. It all comes down to calories, if you burn more calories then you take in then you lose fat (not weight, hopefully). And if you have no idea how many calories you need and try to guess, then you will fail sooner or later. Finding out the exact number of calories is not that easy, but you can get a fairly accurate number if you use the right methods.
2. Just as important as is the number of calories you take in daily, is what type of food you eat. Not all foods are the same obviously and some foods make you lose fat and others make you gain fat. Eating natural and unprocessed foods has to be a priority always. Food is just like fuel and if you want to burn the most amount of calories, then you have to consume the best quality food as possible. For example good starchy carbohydrates that should be in your menu are oatmeal, brown rice, potatoes, yams, whole wheat bread, beans, whole grain pasta. Fibrous carbohydrates such as peas, lettuce, green beans, broccoli, asparagus, spinach, salads, tomatoes, cucumber etc. Simple carbohydrates such as bananas, oranges apples, grapes, berries etc. Lean proteins such as turkey breast, chicken breast, egg whites, fish, shellfish, low fat dairy products, lean red meat etc. And fats such as olive oil, flaxseed oil, nuts, fish fat, seeds, olives etc.

3. The next important part of getting a flat stomach is your meal frequency. The key is to eat small frequent meals. Because frequent but small meals speed up your metabolism. It takes a lot of calories just to digest food and the more often you eat, the more calories your body has to spend. Eating 5-6 or even 7 meals after every 2-3 hours is about the average. Another great thing about eating frequently is that it keeps away those nasty food cravings and snacking.
4. Obviously without exercise you will never get a flat stomach. And not only are cardio exercises very important but also strength training exercises. Very often people believe that strength training is only for bodybuilders, but this is not true. Strength training builds muscles and the more you have muscle mass, the more calories your body has to burn. Muscle is essentially a furnace that keeps burning calories. Unfortunately the muscle mass of most people is very small and the amount of calories that the body burns, is not very significant. So both aerobic and strength training are very important and need to do them regularly.
5. And finally if you really want to get a flat stomach, then you of course have to keep track of your progress or the lack of progress. If you do not measure and count everything, then you can not be certain, if you are moving in the right direction. And if you progress stops and you hit a plateau, then you have to know what are you suppose to do next. So count your calories, weigh yourself, measure your fat percentage, keep a training diary. But the danger also is to get really obsessed about everything, which is also bad. Try to avoid that as well.

Do you have a list of super foods that you eat? Probably not...
First let's talk a little what exactly is a super food. Super foods have high concentration of antioxidants and are very nutritious. The best part is that they are usually delicious, reasonably priced and fairly easy to prepare for meals.
Let's get started!
One) Apples. These fruits are easy to store and take with you on the road. And besides, you SHOULD be eating at least two servings of fruit per day.
Two) Almonds. Very portable and high in protein and healthy fats. Can combine almonds with fruit. However, is is way to easy to eat too many if you are trying to lose weight. So be sure to parcel out about one-fourth of a cup at a time.
Three) Cereals with fiber. Look at the food label on the back of the package. The cereal should have more than five grams of fiber per serving. However, be sure each serving size doesn't have more than eight grams of sugar.!


Four) Salsa! I love fresh spicy salsa on everything. Eggs, rice, beans and even as a salad dressing! It has tomtoes, garlic, onions, cilantro and more.
Five) Eggs. I love omelets in the morning. I either include lots of vegetables (tomatoes, avacados, & mushrooms) or salsa (see four) on the eggs for an extra bang of super foods. Eggs are a excellent source of high quality proteins to support your muscle growth to burn fat.
Six) Spinach. This low calorie super food goes with everything. Breakfast (omelete), lunch (salad & wraps) and dinner (steamed).
Seven) Yogurt. I enjoy a snack every day with cut up fruits in fat-free, probiotic, cultured natural yogurt. And I eat some almonds too to make it a complete meal. But the thing about yogurt is some brands have lots of added sugar. Avoid those if your goal is to lose fat.
Eight) Black beans. Cheap and solid protein choice. You can easily add variety to your meals by mixing beans with chicken, pork or beef.
Nine) Chicken. Not fried chicken though! Chicken is easily one of the most versatile meats that you can prepare for your meals. You can boil, steam, roast and fry chicken for a great source of protein.
And finally, Ten) Green Tea. Less caffeine than coffee. Try to go with the organic varieties. Loaded with antioxidants and you can drink it anytime of the day. I usually like to drink it in the middle of the afternoons when I am reading.
There are many more super foods that I didn't put on this list. But just using this list is a good way to start.

In the same way that a car runs on fuel, our body needs food to function. How our body performs depends on the quality of the food we eat. The right foods can turbo charge your engine and help in its maintenance. They provide you with what you need to prevent regular wear and tear associated with as much tread as you've put on your tires.
To keep your engine firing on all cylinders, what additives do you need? Most of the foods that have healing qualities also work preventively. In fact they work best this way and are most effective when eaten as whole foods. You have probably heard about the superfoods. If you haven't started making them a part of your diet, its about time you did.
Bean Dieting
Beans are rich in protein and fiber thus eating them can be extremely filling. They are able to keep you feeling full longer thereby helping you to control your food intake without much effort. Eating beans aids in weight loss lose weight and it also prevents obesity. Furthermore, a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in November 2005 reported that a diet rich in lean protein (about half from plant sources such as beans) was found to lower blood pressure and "bad" LDL cholesterol, and to reduce the risk of heart disease by 21 percent. This magical fruit, often mistakenly thought of as a vegetable, has a high antioxidant content. In some studies, beans have also been shown to cut the risk of colon cancer.

Thank You Berry Much
Berries such as strawberries, raspberries and most especially blueberries, are generally known as being very rich in antioxidants. An analysis of the disease-fighting antioxidant activity of 40 fruits and vegetables done at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University showed that blueberries have twice to thrice the amount of antioxidants as spinach, apples, broccoli and many other fruits and vegetables.
Berries are also believed to slow the deterioration of joints. A Boston University study of arthritis patients reports that the vitamin C content of these fruits provides protection for the joints. Vitamin C is also a major ingredient in the creation of collagen which is an essential component of bone and cartilage.


Go Nuts for Your Heart
Aside from being a great source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids, nuts can also help lower bad LDL cholesterol levels. An example of a nut that has an especially high level of omega-3's is the walnut. These substances lower the risk of hypertension and heart disease.
A study on Japanese men and women showed that those who ate one-fourth to one-third cup of walnuts a day lowered their "bad" LDL cholesterol levels by up to 10 percent. Nuts such as pistachios, almonds and walnuts are all rich in arginine which is an amino acid that increases blood flow to the heart.
Grainy Reception
University of Minnesota researchers suggest that eating three daily servings of whole grains provides the following health benefits: it reduces the risk of stroke by 37%, heart disease by 25 to 36%, and Type 2 diabetes by 21 to 27%. Whole grains include brown rice, oats, bulgur, whole wheat, and bran. Choose breads labeled whole and ditch those "enriched" kiddy breads.
Yo-Yo-Yogurt
Probiotics are the good bacteria that fight illness and disease. Among the foods that contain probiotics, yogurt is considered king. Findings from two recent studies show that eating yogurt can significantly improve a persons ability to combat pneumonia. Its okay to eat yogurt everyday as long as you get the brand that contains live or active cultures because its pointless to eat dead bacteria, even if they're the beneficial kind.
Fish Food
Numerous studies show that a diet that includes salmon reduces blood pressure, lowers cholesterol levels and helps prevent heart disease. In a recent research done by the University of California, San Diego, it was observed that a higher intake of omega-3s seems to preserve bone density which strengthens the bones and provides better protection against fractures. Cold-water fish like sardines, tuna and mackerel also contain omega-3s.
Cabbage Curbs Cancer?
Different studies on this vegetable point to its ability to fight various types of cancer. In November 2005, the American Association for Cancer Research presented a study which found Polish women who ate cabbage or sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) four or more times a week to be 74% less likely to develop breast cancer. Additional studies suggest that cabbage may also protect against lung, stomach and colon cancers. The magic substance appears to be sulforaphane which is a phytochemical in cabbage that eliminates cancerous substances by stimulating cells.

Many fad diets neglect proper nutrition for weight loss. You may lose weight with these diets. However, your health may suffer. Is it possible to lose weight in a healthy fashion, while eating foods you love and getting proper nutrition at the same time? Absolutely. Believe it or not, the secrets of a healthy weight loss diet all boil down to a few easy rules.
First, shoot for as many servings of vegetables and fruits per day as you can handle. Sneak them in with each meal in various ways, whether it's adding a salad to your dinner, berries to your breakfast cereal, or a side of vegetables instead of French fries with your lunch. Try to eat fresh or frozen vegetables, and stay away from the canned varieties, which pack a lot of sodium and lose their nutrients through the canning process. (Tomatoes are an exception to this, as they retain nutrients and are quite healthy when canned.) Also, aim for a variety of colors. Different colored foods lend us different nutrients, so it is important to eat fruits and vegetables from the red, orange, yellow, white, and green families.

If you have a hard time getting your daily fruit and vegetable servings in, you can disguise your food to hold more nutrients! For instance, try a fruit and berry smoothie with a little low fat ice cream. Or, finely grind up carrots and add them to your spaghetti sauce. You can even grind up spinach and add it to meatballs or low fat hamburgers or turkey burgers. With a little ingenuity, you'll find those fruits and vegetables disappearing into your system quite stealthily and easily!
Another food group that promotes good nutrition and healthy weight loss is whole grains. Instead of white bread, noodles and rice, which have been stripped of their beneficial nutrients, eat as many whole grain products as possible. This includes whole wheat bread and pastas, bran, rolled oats, brown rice, and many other types of grain. If you want to experiment, you might even try barley, quinoa, or another more exotic grain that does not receive as much focus in typical western culture.
When you are looking for whole wheat bread, be wary of advertising tricks. Many breads and cereals will announce that they are made of wheat or contain whole grains. However, wheat flour is not the same thing as whole-wheat flour, and even a cereal with whole grains can be loaded up with white flour as its main ingredient. Make sure that the very first ingredient in your bread and cereal is one hundred percent whole wheat, or another whole grain flour, such as oat.

In addition to fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, you will also want to make sure you are limiting sugary, fatty foods. It is a good idea to have a little bit of fat each day, but your fat should come from healthy sources such as olive or canola oil. Shortening, butter, and other saturated fats are very unhealthy. You will also want to avoid trans fats, and the best way to do this is to steer clear of packaged foods and look for fresh, whole foods instead. A word of caution: although a small amount of healthy fat is good for you, use fats sparingly while trying to lose weight. A little goes a long way.
Finally, it is important to note that although you are eating healthfully, you can still gain weight if you eat too much of a good thing! Be loosely aware of your calorie intake each day, and make sure you don't go over the amount specified for weight loss by your doctor.
Good weight loss is not about deprivation and focusing on what you can't have. Rather, it is about celebrating the joys of eating nutritious, whole foods. Even a week or two into this diet plan, you will begin to notice that your energy has picked up, your eyes look brighter, and you feel great. Don't give up, even if it's difficult at first. These new habits will soon become a way of life that will cause you to be the best person you possibly can be.

Many of us have heard of and/or cooked with some of the most common culinary mushrooms: portabella, white button, etc.
However, there is a whole class of mushrooms called medicinal mushrooms, and these medicinal healing mushrooms are not meant for flavor-enhancement, though some of them can be used in recipes. They are often taken in tea form, tinctures and extracts, and in capsules as powders.
These medicinal mushrooms include reishi mushroom, agaricus mushroom (or agaricus blazei mushroom), maitake, shitake, and coriolus mushroom.  There are many others, but these are some of the most popular.
Medicinal mushrooms such as these share much in common with human beings in terms of their chemical and genetic structure.  Many scientists say that mushrooms are closer to human beings genetically than almost any other plant.
Given this fact, certain "higher level" mushrooms, often called the "medicinal mushrooms" (NOT magic mushrooms!), can positively heal and impact the body, emotions, mind, and spirit of we humans who consume them.

Reishi mushroom is one of the preeminent healing mushrooms of China (though it is found in other parts of the world as well).  Reishi mushroom is sometimes referred to as "the mushroom of immortality" since it can be taken everyday as a tonic "herb" and it useful in extending life.
Reishi mushroom is frequently used (in the East) as an immune system stimulant by people with HIV and cancer.  Reishi is also purported to help reduce inflammation, help with fatigue, help heal viral issues in the body, and to help calm and relax the spirit, helping people meditate and connect with Spirit easier.
Maitake mushroom is another one of the very most powerful medicinal mushrooms in the world. Maitake is used culinarily as well as medicinally, and is a very powerful source of beta-glucan polysaccharides--potent immune system healing chemicals.
Maitake mushroom is used in cancer prevention, as well as helping control diabetes and high cholesterol.  Maitake increases the activity of the natural killer cells of the body, helping rid the body of immune system problems.
There are several more common types of medicinal mushrooms, and I've written more full descriptions of them in my blog, linked below.
Just one final note, if you are thinking of checking into the healing properties of medicinal mushrooms: if you take them supplementally alongside a Vitamin C source (preferably a natural plant-based Vitamin C source), you can triple the effectiveness of both the medicinal mushrooms AND triple the effectiveness of the Vitamin C!  Powerful information for having the best health ever!

Whenever I read new statistics, I always refer back to my favorite expert, Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, National Institutes of Health, one of the world's leading authorities on Omega 3. I read the other day we now have 60,000 pre-packaged food items available in super Wal-Marts, Targets, grocery stores, and back in the 50's we had a mere 2,000 items. And I was reminded of this excerpt from Dr. Hibbeln's radio broadcast:
"I have data from the USDA of how much of every food was consumed from 1909 to the year 2000. We know what was available for purchase in the US diet. Seed oils and these Omega 6's were a very small tenth of a percent or hundredth of a percent of the calories in the US diet in evolution and at the turn of the century. Now they are 20% percent of all calories in the US diet. Where do you find it? Every time you pick up a pre-manufactured food and it says vegetable oil. Soybean oil is called the lubricant of the food industry and it literally is."
It's just so easy to go to fast food restaurants, out to dinner to your favorite restaurant, pick up something pre-packaged for dinner on the way home from work. If you're working 40 hours plus like most of us, have children and maybe a husband or significant other to feed, by the time you get home everyone's hungry and you don't have time or the desire to cook.

Unknowingly, unsuspectingly, never believing all this seed oil could harm us in more ways than calories, we consumed more and more of it in our foods until we've reached a health epidemic in the US. With Harvard reporting 3 out of 4 Americans have either chronic pain, a disease or depression, and with the seed oil link to inflammation established, it seems pretty conclusive, we are drowning in an over-abundance of seed oil. By the way, the statistics just two years ago was 2 out of 3 Americans. Now that's pretty scary.
The best article I've read to help understand the rise in inflammation and the link in diet-related disease is TIME's cover store, Inflammation, The Secret Killer. 2/04. Research has come a long way since that article to state what we know conclusively today - we need Omega 3 EPA DHA on a daily basis, in sufficient quantities, from a molecularly distilled source, to change the balance of fatty acids in our bodies. All we have to do is balance out the over-abundance from seed oil to a balanced ratio from Omega 3 fatty fish. For me, it felt like turning a hose on the fire within smoldering for a while until finally it was extinguished.
A few years ago, when Dr. Perricone's book first came out, The Anti-Inflammatory Diet, advocating salmon at least once a day, twice if possible, I found some relief from painful inflammation. The thought of eating two servings a day was more than I could bear and turned to the shelves for a supplement. Little benefit came at the time but back then, the research wasn't nearly what it is today. Today, we know we can reverse the fatty acid cart in our favor.

Can carbohydrates make you fat? Are carbohydrates essential for fueling the body and having it run efficiently? Do I need to watch my intake of carbohydrates to prevent fat storage? The answer to all 3 questions is Yes!
So what does all this mean? Am I not to eat carbs or am I supposed to eat carbs? How many carbs should I eat? What types? The entire carbohydrate craze has gone from one extreme to the other and back again. It's no wonder you may be confused, frustrated, mad or all of the above.
There is a ton of information flying around and much of it is garbage. Here are the facts about carbs and how you can apply this information.
1. Your body can store all carbs as fat when the muscles and the liver are already full of glycogen. So if you continuously eat a high carbohydrate diet this can lead to increased fat storage. Also, you can store more of your carb calories as fat when you eat too many processed and refined carbs. The key is to consume moderate carbs and choose carbs that have at least 2gms of fiber per serving. This will help control insulin spikes, which leads us to number 2.

2. Eating too many carbs at one sitting without enough other nutrients to counteract its effect will cause insulin spikes, which then triggers your body's fat storing mechanisms. This is why I suggest you eat whole grain carbs, vegetables and fruits with skin when possible because they will provide good sources of fiber to help control these insulin spikes. Also, make sure you balance your carb intake with lean protein to further counteract the effects of carbs in the body in regards to elevating your insulin levels.
3. Through a process known as de novo lipogenesis your body can directly increase fat storage by converting carbohydrates to fat. So I will reiterate why you need to eat carbs. Eat whole grain, high fiber carbs as well as lean protein to control blood sugar rise, which then controls insulin spikes and helps prevent you from storing carb calories as fat.
So now that you have the facts about carbs should you be eating them or not. To summarize you do need carbs. To maintain optimal efficiency and function properly you body does need carbs. The body doesn't need as many carbs as we feed it though. It also doesn't need the refined flours and process carbs we have become accustomed to eating. As we have gotten lazier and our lives have become busier we tend to lean towards convenient foods and they are usually not the healthiest of foods.
We have consumed too much of those foods and then blamed it all on carbs as to why we are fat. Carbs are not the main culprit. They do play a part as I describe above as to how they can make you fat. I also mention how to eat carbs so that they don't make you fat.

Have you tried to cleanse your inner system using the pure acai berry pro supplement? If not, it's time you did so. In order to maintain a healthy body, you need to try and flush harmful toxins using the acai berry supplement. Here are 3 ways by which you can clean your body the natural way.
1. Use A Detox Version
The detox version of the acai berry supplement is supposed to work wonders for your inner health. You can now hope to cleanse your digestive tract the natural way. The acai detox supplement contains essential nutrients which helps flush toxins from within your bloodstream. The presence of powerful antioxidants in the acai berries also act as a natural deterrent to the accumulation of harmful toxins.
2. Acai Berries Reduce Weight
The acai fruit has essential ingredients that have been known to reduce your body fat content and then convert the fat content into pure muscle. Reduction in weight has a direct impact on the general health of your body. After loosing extra weight, you have the advantage of maintaining a detoxed body.
3. They Minimize Internal Damage

You tend to catch diseases if your internal system is not working perfectly. In a bid to minimize your internal damage, you need to try and make use of an acai berry supplement. When your immunity improves, you have the tendency to improve your overall health and this in turn leads to a super-efficient body.
The acai berry detox supplement has the ability to flush harmful toxins from your blood stream, reduce excessive weight and minimize internal damage. If you combine a natural colon cleanse supplement to it, you can hope to flush blocked fecal matter, persistent plaque and harmful parasites at warp speed. This awesome combination has allowed numerous Hollywood celebrates to lead a 'disease-free' existence.

If you are obese, you need to try the acai berry pro at least once in your life. The acai berry supplement has been designed in such a way that you can hope to shed pounds of fat at warp speed. Well, here are 4 tips that can help you reduce your pounds with ease.
1. The Detox Product
Losing pounds of body fat is not an easy task. You need to use the most appropriate supplement to meet your goals. This is when the acai berry detox comes to your rescue. Health experts have finally accepted the fact that the acai detox version is by far the most effective means of losing weight.
2. Follow The Dosage
In order to lose body fat, you need to try and make sure that you take the prescribed dosage on a timely basis. The acai berries supplement has an ability to flush pounds of fat at warp speed. This ensures that you loose weight in the initial stages of your intake. Please do not cut down your doses after seeing instant results. Instead, try and continue with the same doses.


3. Exercise And Drink Water
By adding cardio exercises to the acai berry supplement, you can hope to shed pounds of fat at warp speed. Besides, you also need to drink lots of water. This would ensure that your toxins are flushed out on a regular basis.
4. Be Positive
A positive frame of mind is often neglected when the need of the hour is to shed pounds of body fat at warp speed. If you want to succeed in your fat-loss mission, you need to think positively and be focused.
By using the best supplement, following the doses, exercising, drinking lots of water and being positive, you can hope to shed pounds of fat at warp speed. Just remember to include the best acai berry supplement and a natural colon cleanser to achieve your goals with ease.

I've recently written about the link between obesity and food sensitivities here in this ezine (see "The Way to Lose Weight Easily and Permanently Without Drugs")
Isn't it interesting that individuals with obesity are at higher risk for other illness such high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, arthritis, various forms of cancer etc?
Are these problems due to the obesity itself or are they linked in some other way?
Well it is clear that obesity can have direct effects on other organ systems i.e. placing a greater strain on the heart, joints etc. There is however another connection which is not so direct.
That connection is through what many have termed food sensitivities.
Sensitivity to a food is not dis-similar to sensitivity to a toxin. In other words when you are sensitive to a given food, that food is for all practical purposes toxic to you.
Like any toxin there is a threshold beyond which it begins to become toxic to your body. Beyond this threshold the body has trouble handling and processing the excess intake of that toxin in the normal way and therefore must handle it as if it is a threat to the vitality of the organism.

How does it do that? Well it attempts to store the excess in places like fat, in joints, in muscle tissues, and other tissues that have no use for such toxins. When this happens the normal functioning of these tissues and the organ systems they are associated with begin to break down and malfunction.
The malfunction manifests as the illnesses I mentioned earlier. How are these illnesses treated commonly? Well with a multitude of chemicals that in themselves are foreign to the normal structure and function of the body.
I will leave it to you to figure out what impact they have on the body's ability to recover from the excess toxicity it is already carrying.
My personal experience over 6 years ago struggling with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was that by becoming aware of what toxic food substances I was taking into my body and simply eliminating them my energy levels and my health improved considerably.
Now food sensitivities are not generally something that many physicians ever address with their clients. I know because while I was in medical school I only received one or two classes on nutrition and food sensitivity was never even mentioned.
If you would like to have your own experience with this interesting issue I invite you to do what I did which was as follows:
1. Research food sensitivity testing on the internet under "Electro Dermal Screening" or EDS testing. Please note that you will also find a great deal of negative advertising about EDS from some individuals. Don't allow yourself to be swayed by words alone; always search out your own experience.
2. Have yourself tested. This will cost you anywhere from $100 to $150 depending on where you live and how many foods are tested.
3. Do this under the supervision of a qualified naturopathic doctor who will likely need to supplement your diet with the appropriate vitamins and minerals.
4. Stay on your schedule of appropriate foods for at least 6 months or longer to see the results for yourself.
5. Have yourself retested every couple of years, or sooner depending on the recommendations of your naturopath as food sensitivities can change.
I welcome you to send me your experiences to let me know how useful this information was for you.
All the best in your adventure back to health!

Are you frustrated with all the different advice about omega 3 foods? Let me show you some of the best sources including the ultimate one and what to look for.
Omega 3 is vital and classified as essential because we cannot manufacture it ourselves so it must come from our diet and it is estimated that over 90% of us are deficient in it.
Omega 3 foods that are good can be leafy greens like spinach and kale, flaxseed, strawberries, walnut and almonds from vegetable sources. Most good quality meat will contain some omega3 like beef, chicken and eggs.
Unfortunately due to today's intensive farming practices, the omega 3 content is extremely low as the animals are not fed on their natural diets.
The ultimate source is cold water fish like hoki, salmon and mackerel with the New Zealand hoki being the ultimate one.
The problem with fish today is that they contain many harmful contaminants and as a result you can only eat one or two portions a week which is not enough, making fish oil supplements the ideal solution and recommended by everybody from the government to heart foundations.
With omega 3 foods like flaxseed you get a type of omega 3 fatty acid called ALA which affects the body differently to the main ones from fish oil, DHA and EPA. It is not as beneficial and is rarely able to be converted into the other more useful ones.

Recent studies show us that it is DHA which provides most of the benefits and a good supplement will contain twice as much DHA as EPA for the maximum rewards.
To ensure you are not unwittingly introducing substances into your body that you do not want like mercury, PCBs or even increasing your load of free radicals, make sure the process of molecular distillation has been performed.
This will separate out all the toxins like arsenic and PCB's to leave only pure concentrated oil in its natural form. Many poor quality products will not have been through this so check the website or label carefully.
To help you maintain optimal health now and avoid many of the diseases in the future, eating omega 3 foods and a quality supplement will help you achieve this.
If you would like to learn more about the high quality DHA omega 3 supplements I personally take daily, visit my website today.

ORAC stands for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity and is a measurement that has been developed to test the antioxidant levels in foods. Antioxidants help protect our bodies from the oxidation caused by free radicals. The higher a food scores on the ORAC better that food can help fight these free radicals. Free radicals are one of the main causes of aging, and can mutate out cells into deadly cancer cells. Sadly, most people only get about 20% of the recommended intake of antioxidants.
This means you should be looking for high ORAC value foods that you can easily add to your diet. The exact ranking vary depending on which website you visit, but the top 5 scoring foods on the ORAC scale are:
1. Acai 2. Goji Berries 3. Mangosteen 4. Pomegranate 5. Wild Blueberries
Luckily you should be able to get your days supply of antioxidants by eating any of these fruits. My suggestion would to try them all and decide which you enjoy the most. You could even mix some, or all, of them together in a smoothie for the ultimate antioxidant boost.
My personal favorite way to get my daily fix is through Acai berry juice. On top of being at the top of the ORAC list it is also packed with Omega fatty acids and essential amino acids. Acai has been shown to reduce cholesterol, increase memory, and improve your mood. It also is a great source for a natural energy boost. I used to drink a lot of coffee, but since I started drinking Acai juice I haven't had to drink it to stay active. The boost that I get from Acai is longer lasting and much more enjoyable.

One of the best reasons to go with Acai is that it has an amazing taste. Most people describe it having the flavor of chocolate berries. It's one of the few health foods you can enjoy without realizing that it's actually good for you. There is no better way to start off your day than with a nice refreshing glass of Acai juice.

Do you want to loose weight using the acai berry juice? Are you wondering whether the acai berry supplement can help you loose 10 pounds in 10 days? Well, if you really want to loose weight using the acai supplement, you need to try and avoid these 3 things.
1. Avoid A Fat Burner
While trying to loose weight using the acaii berries, you need to try and avoid using an ordinary fat burning pill. The combination of an acai supplement and a weight loss pill is not effective. You need to therefore try and simply use an acai supplement.
2. Avoid Reducing The Doses
The acai berries supplement has the ability to flush the fat content from within your body. Hence, within the first week itself, you would see visible results. This does not mean you start to reduce your daily doses. Hence, stick to your doses so that you can lead a fat free life.

3. Avoid A Sedentary Lifestyle
The acai supplement has omega3 & omega9 fatty acids, rich dietary fibers, body building proteins, complex carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. This combination is simply perfect for burning body fat. In order to hasten the weight loss process, you need to include cardio exercises on a regular basis.
By avoiding a fat burning pill, less doses and a sedentary lifestyle, you can easily hope to improve your health. If you wish to loose weight at warp speed, you need to simply try and make use of a natural acai berry supplement. Health experts suggest that you combine acai berry with colon cleanse. This would ensure a fat free as well as a disease free body for the rest of your life.

Becoming physically fit is more than just buying a gym membership and hitting the weight machines. There are a few major components that are essential for achieving total body fitness. Of course, you can be trim or muscular without including all of these, however you'll be missing important pieces of the fitness puzzle and in the long run you'll feel it. Here are those 5 components.
#1. Eating a healthy diet
The old saying "you are what you eat" has never been more true than it is in today's society. The commercial driven fast food industry combined with convenience and a busy lifestyle has made many Americans morbidly overweight. This is an epidemic in our children that must be changed soon or we may be the first generation in history to outlive our kids.
A good balance of lean meats, fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables are an essential part of your everyday diet. Also, manage your portions.
#2. Aside from the diet, the proper fitness training is also essential to building and strengthening muscle. Using heavy weights during your workout will help you develop strength, endurance, and muscle mass. Weight training, coupled with the increased caloric and protein intake, will encourage your body to build muscle tissue. As your muscle tissue grows, you will also gain strength. The combination of weight training and the proper diet is a key ingredient to a muscle fitness plan. If the proper combination is not observed, you will burn not only fat but also muscle rather than building it.
#3. Add cardio exercises to your workout program. This is very important as cardio will build up your endurance and strengthen your heart. You can do this by running, cycling, rowing, etc long distances or by other short term, high energy workouts such as hill sprinting, swimming, etc.

#4. Take multi-vitamins and other nutrients. The fresh vegetables that we get at the market today are nowhere near as good for us as they were as recently as the 1950's and far less than the turn of the 20th century. This is caused by severe erosion of our topsoil and the early harvesting that's required in order to get our fruits and vegetables to market before they spoil. We're essentially buying products that aren't fully matured, therefore they haven't reached their full nutritional value. The American Medical Association now recommends that every American take a daily multi-vitamin.

#5. Drink lots of water. I'm not talking about calorie filled energy drinks, soda or diet soda, etc, I'm talking about good old h20. Our bodies need a lot of water in order to keep us properly hydrated and to help flush out unhealthy toxins from our systems. Drink 6-8 8 oz. glasses per day for your good health.
While many of the local fitness clubs offer the best in fitness equipment geared toward strength training, it is not absolutely necessary to join a gym just to workout. You can exercise at home as well. There are many different exercise equipment manufacturers out there offering effective weight training machines at very affordable prices. As long as you put your mind to it, have the most basic equipment, and stay consistently aware of your health and fitness, your physical fitness program should work fine as long as you stick with it.

We all need to take the time to get fit, but fitness for mom can be quite a challenge. While most of us would love to spend an hour or two twice a week away from our families in the pursuit of getting fitter, between looking after the kids and the house plus taking time to relax we soon lose most of our day, if not all of it.
Getting fit does not have to be that difficult, and there are many ways that you can incorporate exercise into your every day routine. By turning regular activities into fitness for mom by the end of the day you will great all over, and your muscles will be humming. While these tips should not replace a regular exercise routine if you can manage one, they are a great way to keep up your fitness level in between gym visits.
First of all, you need to get moving. Any type of activity that gets your body in motion will help tone muscles and burn calories. This can be as simple as picking up your pace while vacuuming, or making a few extra trips up the stairs when doing laundry. Over the course of the day all this extra movement will add up.


Secondly, take your fitness for mom routine outside, to the park or just for a walk. If you still have a very young child then going for a walk with a stroller is easy and can become part of your daily routine. Head for a hilly part of town when you are ready for a challenge, or invest in a nice jogging stroller if you want to pick up the pace. If you have more than one child and going for a good walk isnýt an option then take the kids to the park and keep yourself busy by running after them.
Third, in your aim of achieving fitness for mom do not neglect the parts of your body that need a little extra attention, like abs and upper arms. Most of your major muscles will get a good workout during the day if you keep active, but these areas need specific attention. Invest in a ball and some resistance bands so you can tone your muscles and abs while watching the evening news.

Making the decision to exercise regularly is an admirable one. However, actually keeping the commitment to yourself to exercise regularly is truly praiseworthy. Given all of the directions in which we are pulled each day by the commitments in our lives, it is a wonder that we can ever find the time to work out.
One sure-fire way to increase your chances of sticking with an exercise routine is to design a personal exercise plan that is tailored to your body and your schedule. If you are looking to design your own personal exercise plan, here are 7 elements to be sure to consider:
1. Determine your maximum heart rate:
The first thing you need to is to "know thyself" better, as the Greek philosophers used to say. In the case of creating a personal exercise routine, you need to calculate your maximum heart rate. Wait - don't skip ahead - this is very simple math and takes just a second. Ready? Just subtract your age from 220 (220 - your age = your maximum heart rate). That was easy, wasn't it? Okay, keep that number in mind.

2. Check with your doctor first if you are new to intense exercise:
If you are a stranger to intense exercise or have taken more than a two or three year break from a regular routine, check with your doctor to make sure you have their blessing. In particular, ask him or her if there is anything you should avoid, given your medical history.
3. Find the right target training zone:
Now, you need to figure out your target training zone for your heart rate for when you are doing aerobic (or cardiovascular) exercises. This, too, is super-quick calculation now that you know your maximum heart rate. First, you will need to determine where you are in terms of your intended intensity level. This is a function of your exercise history, your current state of health, and your goals. In general, here are the various target heart rate training zones you have to choose from:
* 50-60% (of your maximum heart rate) for beginners or people resuming after a long break
* 60-70% for people who are already involved in a regular workout routine

* 75-85% for competition or athletic performance
4. Incorporate one or more aerobic exercises:
Your personal exercise plan will need to include both aerobic and weight or resistance training-type exercises. Aerobic exercises are simply those that get your heart beating faster than your resting heart rate (see #3 above) for extended periods. This type of exercise is great for your overall heart health and can include: biking, jogging, walking, climbing stairs, swimming, etc.
5. Include weight training or resistance training:
The other major component of your personal exercise plan should include lifting weights (either free weights or machine weights) or resistance training (isometrics). Weight training is the only effective way to build muscle mass and increase overall body tone. The benefits of weight training include having a more well-defined musculature, looking fit, and reducing your chances for injury.
6. Determine the right workout frequency:
You will want to work out at least 2 times per week if you are just getting into an exercise routine. However, if you are already into the swing of things, your goal should be 3-5 times per week, with no more than 48 hours between workouts.
7. Duration (or how long you should work out):
You should plan to do at least 20-30 minutes of aerobic exercise each time you work out. Then, do some weight training for another 20-30 minutes. Or, if you find yourself getting into intense workouts, try alternating your aerobic workout days with your weight training days, thereby devoting a full 45-60 minutes solely to one or the other each time you work out.
By designing your personal exercise plan correctly, you will be much better equipped to stick with your plan long-term in order to see the results you desire.

The reasons people choose to commit to a workout routine are many. Typically, men and women are interested in one of the following:
* building up their muscles to look bigger, buffer and stronger
* slimming down for improved health and attractiveness
* improving their core body strength for better overall health and resistance to injury
* toning their body to attain that healthy glow
Of course, each of these goals calls for a different type of workout routine. If you are looking for a winning workout routines for toning, follow these 7 tips:
1. For free weight lifting, focus on repetition, not heavy weights:
Train with free weights as part of your muscle-toning routine. But how much weight should you be lifting? For bodybuilders looking to win a muscle competition or kick sand into the face of nerds at the beach with impunity, lifting very heavy weights should be the goal. That's because heavy weights build mass. However, because toning is your goal, you should be using lighter weights with high repetition.

2. Strengthen your abs with isometrics:
For an all-around more toned look, you need to really hit your abs hard. You should be working on your abs at least 3-4 times per week. Of course, sit-ups are a great start. And, if you have access to a gym, ab machines and leg extensions can also help you build your abs. However, these exercises can also be hard on your spine. For a safe, effective alternative, try isometric exercises. Isometrics simply means resistance training without actually moving your body. Isometrics can increase strength and tone without building significant muscle mass.

3. Blast your obliques:
If you ask people, "What makes someone look great in a bathing suit," usually "great abs" is the first response you get. But, it is easy to ignore the effect that great obliques (the muscles to the left and right of your abs) can have on your overall look. Firm obliques can actually make your abs look better. And, as a bonus, they can actually protect your spine from injury and stabilize your body. So, how do you get great obliques? Isometrics (see above) can help you here, too.
4. Employ compound exercises:
Your winning workout routine for toning should also include a generous dose of compound exercises. These are simply any exercises that include 2 or more joint movements. Compound exercises help with toning because they involve more muscles at once and therefore build more muscle mass. Examples of compound exercises include the squat, dead lift, chin ups, dips, bench press, barbell press, and lunges.
5. Remember to train your lower body:
You may not know it, but 60-70% of your musculature is in your lower body. While it may feel more important to focus mainly on your upper body during your workouts, focusing on your lower half helps contributes to your whole body's muscle mass gain - and therefore your toning process. When you work your lower body, you produce more muscle growth hormone, which will help you look more tone all over.
6. If have lost more than 50 pounds, you may want to condition your skin:

People who have lost a lot of weight in a short period of time may notice their skin does not look at tight as it used to. While your workouts will help focus your muscles into a tighter, better-defined shape - they will not help your skin regain its youthful look. The answer? Try a skin toning solution from your favorite cosmetics provider. Over time, this can help complete the toned look you are going for.
7. Make the right food choices:
Don't neglect your food choices when putting together your winning toning workout. You won't make nearly as much headway by following super-intense workout schedule if meanwhile you are eating junk food or just playing it "business as usual" in terms of your eating habits. Take the time to put together the right eating regime by talking to a nutritionist first - and then following their advice. Just this step alone will contribute heavily toward that tone body you are looking for.

Workouts at gym facilities should be fun! You do not need to perform every possible exercise available at your health club or gym. Simply complete one well-executed exercise for each muscle group.
Let's take a look at each of the major muscle groups and one of the workouts. Gym equipment is different at each facility. But certainly you can find appropriate equipment at your gym to perform at least one appropriate exercise for each group. NOTE: If your gym does not have at least one machine to exercise each of the following muscle groups, you probably need to a find a better-equipped gym.
::: Abdominals ::: Practice your best posture when using an ab machine. Keep your abs tight, your neck straight, and your chest up. Focus on your abs as you crunch up and forward. Do not use your arms. The motion is not a sit up ... it's an ab crunch. Keep your lower back flat on the machine. Slowly lower the weight almost to the end, then reverse and slowly return to your beginning position.
::: Triceps ::: When you use the tricep machine (excellent for non gym workouts), you will again need to use correct posture while keeping your back pressed against the machine. Keep your abs tight, your chest up, and elbows in. Slowly lower the weight, making sure to keep your elbows in. Right before you straighten your elbows, gently stop and move the weight back up. When your elbows reach a 90 degree position, gently stop and move the weight back down.

::: Biceps ::: Sit upright on the biceps machine and keep your back pressed against the back pad. Keep your abs tight, your chest up, and elbows in. Anchor your elbows in one position on the pad. Focus on your biceps as you lift the weight straight up. Lift the weight to a 90 degree angle then lower it back down and stop when your elbows are straight, then lift the weight back up to a 90 degree angle.
::: Forearms :: You can use a resistance band hammer curl to work your forearms even in home gym workouts. Both your feet and your grip should be the width of your shoulders. Keep your abs tight, your chest up, and knees bent. Keep your elbows in a stable position next to your sides. Your thumbs should be pointed forward as you lift the weight straight up. Lift the weight to a 90 degree angle then lower it back down and stop when your elbows are straight, then lift the weight back up to a 90 degree angle.

::: Shoulders ::: While sitting on a shoulder press, press your back against the back pad. Always try to keep your abs tight while bending your knees and relaxing your chest. Focus on your shoulders as you push the weight up. Slowly push up until your elbows are almost straight, then slowly reverse the motion. As soon as your elbows are in line with your shoulders, slowly reverse the motion and push the weight back up.
::: Chest ::: Using a chest press machine, press your back against the back pad. Always keep your abs tight and keep your shoulders down while keeping your chest up. Focus on bringing your elbows together while you push the weight out. Push out until your elbows are almost straight, then slowly reverse. When your elbows are in line with your shoulders, slowly reverse the motion and push the weight back up.
::: Legs ::: While sitting on a leg press machine, press your back against the back pad. . Always try to keep your abs tight while bending your knees and relaxing your chest. As you lower the weight, make sure your knees do not move above your toes. You will need to keep your hips back in order to accomplish this. Done properly, you should feel the weight between your hips and your knees. When you are comfortable, push the weight up. Right before your knees are straight, slowly reverse the motion.
::: Back ::: The latest workouts in gyms feature rowing machines. Focus on maintaining the natural arch in your back while seated on a rowing machine. Keep your abs tight, your chest up, and shoulders back. Bring your shoulder blades together as you pull the weight back. Pull until your elbows are in a straight line with your shoulders, then slowly reverse. Right before your elbows are straight, slowly reverse the motion.
Simply focus on completing one well-executed exercise for each muscle group ..... and keep your abs tight! Sometimes it helps to watch people performing an exercise so you can visualize the correct way to perform it. Take a look at these workouts gym videos .....

Getting that flat belly or ripped abs that make you look good in a swimsuit or with your shirt off is one of the goals of almost anybody who wants to look their best. But, for many, while they may have mastered the art of maintaining a healthy weight or gaining muscle, that washboard stomach continues to elude them. Unfortunately, an intensive routine of abdominal crunches is almost never enough to attain this coveted result.
If you are looking for winning workout routines for toning, check out these four exercises:
1. Plan to do these exercises 3 times per week:
Below, I introduce the details of four exercises you'll need to master. Before I do, I'll review with you exactly how to prepare yourself and how to implement them. Let's start with frequency: you'll need to perform these exercises three times per week on different days.
2. Start with a quick, one-minute warm-up:
Before you jump into the exercises each morning (or whenever), make sure you do a short warm-up exercise first. I suggest jogging in place or doing jumping jacks for about a minute. This will loosen up your muscles and get your heart pumping - reducing the chances for injury.

3. Do each of the exercises for one minute each:
It is important to perform each of the following exercises for one minute each.
4. Do all four exercises back-to-back, then repeat:
Perform the first, second, third and forth (as listed below) in this order. Be sure to do them back-to-back. Once you have completed one cycle, go back and start the cycle over again.
5. The four exercises:

* The Vacuum: Get on your hands and knees on the floor (as if you were a table) position. Keep your back straight and parallel with the ground. Inhale while pushing your belly out at the same time. Then exhale while pulling your stomach up and in. Hold for three seconds. Repeat for the entire minute.
* Power Plank: Lie face-down with your legs extended straight out behind you, with your body propped up by your forearms. Slowly lift your torso and legs so that only your forearms and the balls of your feet touch the floor. To prevent your stomach from sagging down to the ground, contract your stomach muscles. Hold for 10 seconds. Gradually work your way up to repeating this for a full minute

* Seated Crossover: Sit in a chair, then sit up straight with your feet flat on the ground. Place your arms so that your elbows are bent at 90-degree angles - level with your shoulders - while facing your palms forward. Bring your left elbow and your right knee toward each other. Then, after returning to the starting position, repeat with the right elbow and left knee. Continue this pattern for one minute.
* Captain's Chair: Remain upright in your chair, grabbing both sides of the front of the seat, near your hips. Inhale. Then, as you exhale, slowly lift your knees up toward your chest. If necessary, lean back a bit, but do not allow your lower back to curve. Hold for three seconds, then return to the starting position. Repeat for a minute.

Weight Loss - 15 Ideas You May Not Know About Diet and Exercise
Below are some weight loss truths you may not want to know about your diet and exercise program. Adjust your fitness program accordingly...
1. Food Calories count more. The calories listed on the nutritional information label on the package are "big" Calories (kilocalories), so multiply what you read by 1000. If the package says 150 calories (a typical number for a regular soda) it is really 150,000 calories (with a small "c").
2. The calories you burn on exercise equipment like a stationary bike are the "small calories" unless it is listed specifically as a food Calorie. This means, unless specified, you are actually burning 1/1000th as many Calories than what is displayed on the equipment.
3. You lose weight in specific areas differently. Some exercise routines promote faster weight loss in the face. Others promote loss faster in the chest area.
4. You don't need a fancy diet or exercise program to lose and maintain weight - their primary function is to serve as motivation.
5. Calories in (food/beverage consumption) minus calories out (exercise) = weight gain or weight loss. It's really that simple.
6. "You" still have to ride the bike. "You" still have to row the boat. "You" cannot just watch the TV personality and lose weight.

7. You need a disciplined program, not a severe one. You can give yourself diet and exercise holidays. Just make sure they're "holidays" and not an occurrence that grows more and more common!
8. You can be nice to yourself without being indulgent. For example, swearing off sweets entirely isn't being nice - eating a chocolate cake is being indulgent. But, having a small slice of cake on a weekend is a lovely treat for successfully controlling yourself all week!
9. You gain weight by expanding the fat cells you have; not by growing more fat cells. This means you won't see results instantly because your existing fat cells need to lose enough mass across the board before they shrink.
10. For weight loss, if you must choose just one to follow, diet or exercise, choose diet. It decreases your caloric intake, which is a much more beneficial thing to slow down than to attempt to exercise away that hot fudge sundae. Of course, it is still best to do both
11. Change of lifestyle seems intimidating-especially when it comes to losing weight. Try changing one thing at a time, something small; add more as you grow accustomed to each change.

12. Don't think of exercise as something you can only do in the gym or dismissing anything less than running a marathon. Do simple activities all day. Be creative.
13. As with all things in life, commitment and self-discipline are imperative to reach your goal. Your workout is only as effective as you let it be.
14. It's not that you can't "diet and exercise" it's the wanting to "diet and exercise" every day. Be it rain or shine, feeling good or bad, there can be no excuses if you are seriously looking for a change.
15. Don't let someone else do your thinking. You know "you" the best and know what you can realistically do. Read. Think. Make a simple plan and start. Now. This second. Stop reading. Now.

The 1st. of June every year is a very special day when the whole world comes together to celebrate the goodness of milk and its importance as a global food source. Started by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2001, the recognition of the World Milk Day continues to grow as it is celebrated by more and more countries every year. Nothing compares to the goodness of milk.
It is the best source for calcium and vitamin D - two nutrients essential for building strong bones and teeth. It is also rich in protein which is important for building and repairing body tissues. In fact, milk is regarded as one of the most nutritionally complete foods available on our planet and has been part of the human diet for thousands of years.
A growing number of studies have shown that milk, when consumed as part of a healthy balanced diet, provides several health benefits:
It helps provide protection against bone diseases like osteoporosis
It helps reduce high blood pressure
It helps lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases
It helps reduce the risk of colon and breast cancer
It helps reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

To obtain the same amount of calcium from a 200ml glass of milk, you would need to consume four servings of broccoli, or seven and a half slices of white bread, 11 servings of spinach, or 15 servings of red kidney beans. So celebrate the goodness of milk.
Daily cows produce the greatest amount of world milk supply mostly from developed countries. It is a vital sector of agricultural businesses in developed countries of the Mediterranean region such as France, Italy, Spain and Greece because production of milk and its product of cheeses and yogurt are also a valued part of the total dairy industry in developed countries,
Production of goat milk is equally important in countries of the underdeveloped world, where it provides basic nutrition and subsistence to the rural people, which are the majority of their populations, and milk is important in the prevention of under nutrition and malnutrition, since milk is the superior source of calcium and protein,

Goats milk is also great for your skin because it is rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins as well as high in lactic acid which helps exfoliate dead skin cells and soften your skin. Thus, goat milk serves in a general way four types of market around the world, such as (1) Home Consumption, (2) Specialty gourmet interests, (3) Medical needs, and (4) Cosmetic goat milk products. So celebrate the goodness of milk yearly on World Milk Day.

There is a common belief that to succeed in sport, you need to eat meat and drink milk. It is thought by many that vegans won't have the necessary strength or stamina to beat meat eaters. These beliefs are false and based on a lack of knowledge.
The 'proof' that's sometimes offered is that there are hardly any vegans who are at the top in sporting endeavours. This is faulty logic which could only be applied if there were an equal number of vegans to meat eaters.
There are precious few vegans in the world. To become the best in any sport you need the dedication and focus to reach the top when there are so many distractions that could stop you. Not many people have that dedication. You need the right genes to give you the edge over your competitors. Very few have the right genes that can make them champions.
If there is only, say, 1 person in 400 who is vegan, what are the chances that that 1 person is the one who has the ruthless dedication and the right genes for the sport they are interested in? What is the chance that they will have had the right encouragement or influences when young that will bring them into that sport? You would be much safer betting that a meat eater would have those things because there are 399 meat eaters and only 1 vegan. We'd have to pin all our hopes on that 1 vegan to emerge with everything needed to be a champion. Your money would be much safer betting that one of the 399 meat eaters would have what it takes. It's a numbers game: double the number of vegans and you'll double the number of vegan champions.

In the UK there are supposed to be about 250,000 vegans out of a population of 60 million. That is about 1 person in 240. Some will have been vegan for just a few months. Some will revert to being meat eaters or lacto-ovo vegetarians. There is an even smaller percentage of vegans in some other countries. It is my guestimate that long-term vegans are more likely to be less than 1 in 400 or even 1 in 500. If you have a group of 400 how many will have the genes to become a champion? Very few. How many of that very few will have the determination? Very few. How many of the very few (of the very few) will be vegan? Most probably not even one. More likely those people will be meat eaters. But vegans do still manage to become champions against all those odds. Strange, isn't it that the still common perception of vegans is of weedy, skinny, weak and unhealthy people?
There are a few vegan champions but why aren't there more if it is such a healthy lifestyle? There are so few vegan champions because there are so few vegans. How many ginger-haired, left-handed sportsmen called Alphonse are champions? None at all. Not because someone like that is incapable of sporting success but because there are so few of them.

Most top sportspeople are single minded in their pursuit of excellence. They won't let anything get in their way. They are willing to give up family life, friendships and leisure time to concentrate on training. They are ready to risk their health, as can be seen in the number who are willing to take dangerous performance enhancing drugs. They are willing to train to excess to such an extent that their immune systems are weakened. They care nothing about the possibility of suffering from arthritis in later years as a result of punishing their bodies in training and competition.
Winning is everything to them. They are like fanatics. And, like fanatics, nothing else matters as much as the object of their desire. Compassion for farm animals is of little importance to them in comparison. Thus, this fanaticism will prevent many individuals who might have become vegan from doing so because from an early age, like all of us, they have been indoctrinated with the lies that meat and milk are necessary for good health. This lie reduces the number of athletes and sportspeople who could become vegan and who could go on to glory in the sporting arena. Being a champion is more important to them than being a vegan. The few vegan champions are those who don't believe the lies about meat or those who put compassion first.
There are quite a few vegan sportsmen and women who regularly beat meat eaters. I will only mention a few as representatives of the vegan sporting world.
Mac Danzig won his King of the Cage fighting title as a vegan. You have to be tough to survive in that type of contest and yet he thrived and prospered.
Carl Lewis has said that his best performances on the running track came when he was following a vegan diet.
Scott Jurek is the multiple winner of 100-mile races and twice winner of the Badwater Ultra marathon, which is run over a course of 135 miles. The race starts in Death Valley, at 280 feet below sea level and finishes at Mount Whitney Portal, which is 8.360 feet above sea level. That's a 135 miles course over three mountain ranges with a cumulative ascent of 13,000 feet and a cumulative descent of 4,700 feet. You have to be tough just to think about doing it.
Brendan Brazier is a vegan and a professional Ironman Triathlete, twice winner of the Canadian Ultra Marathon championship.

So, it is possible for vegans to be world champions in both sprinting and endurance events. But what about strength sports? Can vegans be strong? Or can they be top bodybuilders? Can they build up formidable strength or huge muscle bulk?
The answer is (you've guessed it): 'yes!'.
There are many very strong vegans who train with weights. There are quite a few impressive bodybuilders who have built up their bulk on vegan diets.
But where are all the vegan Olympic weightlifting champions and powerlifting world record holders, then? Where is the vegan who has won the World's Strongest Man title?
Give it time. As I said above, there aren't enough vegans from whose ranks these people can emerge. It will happen. It is happening.
There are two vegan strength champions who come to mind, though. Both women. Pat Reeves - she's a world class powerlifter. Many times the British powerlifting champion. And Jane Black olympic weight lifter who has set records in masters' lifting events.
What about the men? Perhaps too many male strength athletes are worried about not getting enough of their usual slaughterhouse products. Again, give it time for the truth to reach them. There are many vegans in training, as can be seen in the vegan fitness and bodybuilding forums. Wait until they start to achieve more success and then the timid meat eaters will see that they have nothing to fear in giving up the meat and milk that their mummies told them they had to eat to grow up big and strong. They will realise that real men don't need to eat meat.
What about vegan bodybuilders? Until a very few years ago there weren't any special supplements for vegan bodybuilders. Meat eaters were spoilt for choice but vegans had no choice because there wasn't anything to choose. Very few bodybuilders rely on just normal food. They take supplements in the form of powders and pills. And many (most pro ones?) take dangerous and illegal drugs. Many of them have muscles that are partly the product of the chemistry lab. Anyone who could build huge muscles on a meat-based diet could do so on a vegan diet.
Not everyone can build competition-winning muscles. Again, the vegan who does so must have the right genes. And the time and dedication. He must be that rare individual who just happens to have all the right attributes. Not much chance that there are many vegans who are like that. More likely that someone from the huge majority of meat eaters will have what is required. You are more likely to find a top athlete or a Nobel Prize Winner in Scotland than on the Isle of Man. Not because the Scots are inherently superior to the Manx people. But because there are more of them.

Don't believe the lies of the vested interests of the meat and milk industries. They have invested heavily in cruelty and they need to keep the people convinced that the slaughter and abuse of their victims is necessary for the continued health of humans.
Believe instead the many healthy, strong and fit vegans who daily prove how healthy the vegan diet is. There is nothing humans need that cannot be obtained from a well balanced vegan diet. A vegan diet is suitable for humans of every age, as the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada acknowledge.

What are nutrients?
Every molecule in the body is created by Nutrients & there are more than 45 nutrients. These nutrients build molecules, cells, and tissues of the body. We get energy from Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats that we eat. These are called macronutrients. These macro nutrients are broken down / metabolized to give energy to the body. Vitamins and minerals (called micronutrients) are not themselves metabolized for energy, but they are important in helping the macronutrients convert to energy.
What is a healthy diet?
The optimal diet has to be individualized to meet your unique needs. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) food pyramid suggests that we use fat "sparingly," and that our daily diet include 2 - 3 servings of dairy products; 2 - 3 servings of meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, or nuts; 3 - 5 servings of vegetables; 2 - 4 servings of fruit; and 6 - 11 servings of bread, cereal, rice, or pasta.

These are general guidelines. Healthy diet is dependent upon many factors like: age, gender, body size, pregnancy, and status of health. A clinical nutritionist or nutritionally oriented doctor can help you determine what type of diet is best for you.


While you know it is important to eat a healthy diet, it isn't always easy to sort through all of the information available about nutrition and food choices. Nutrition has a vital importance to human well-being. Nutrition should play a leading role to improve our quality of life. Nutrition is a key for reducing your body fat percentage. 
 
Better nutrition means stronger immune systems, less illness and better health. Better nutrition is a prime entry point to ending poverty and a milestone to achieving better quality of life. Safe food and good nutrition are important to all. Basic nutrition knowledge is constantly taking shape every day, producing new diet trends to an ever growing audience of people who want to know the latest and greatest ways to achieve their physical fitness goals. 
 
Get nutrition facts and discover how you can use dietary recommendations to improve your health. As you grow older, getting a nutritionally rich diet becomes even more important. The link between nutrition and health is necessary to achieve optimal health. Good nutrition is a clear path to optimize our quality of life. An important starting point for achieving optimum health is to achieve optimum nutrition and get the proper nutrients from the food. Diet and nutrition are the principle preventive measures against diseases. 
 
Reading labels and eating a diet rich in vitamins and nutrients is optimal for healthy nutrition. Research confirms that good nutrition in the early years of life is crucial for human growth and mental development. The study of human nutrition dates back to the 18th century, when the French chemist Lavoisier discovered that there was a relationship between our metabolism of food and the process of breathing.
 
The field of clinical nutrition has evolved into a practice that is increasingly incorporated into mainstream medical treatment. The term "nutritional supplement" refers to vitamins, minerals, and other food components that are used to support good health and treat illness. 
 
A clinical nutritionist or nutritionally oriented doctor can help you determine what type of diet is best for you. During the initial part of the visit, the clinical nutritionist will ask you questions about your medical history, family history, and personal lifestyle. In hospitals, nutrition is used to improve the overall health of patients with a wide range of conditions. Effects of exercise and nutrition on postural balance and risk of falling in elderly people with decreased bone mineral density: randomized controlled trial pilot study. 
 
Proper nutrition is a powerful good: people who are well nourished are more likely to be healthy, productive and able to learn. Good nutrition benefits families, their communities and the world as a whole. Malnutrition is, by the same logic, devastating.
 
Healthy Lifestyle
 
Healthy people are stronger, are more productive and more able to create opportunities to gradually break the cycles of both poverty and hunger in a sustainable way. Healthy eating is associated with reduced risk for many diseases, including the three leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, and stroke. Healthy eating is fundamental to good health and is a key element in healthy human development, from the prenatal and early childhood years to later life stages. 
 
Healthy eating is equally important in reducing the risk of many chronic diseases. We spend a lot of money on food, but there are ways to cut costs and still serve healthy delicious meals. When you choose healthy foods instead of sugary or high-fat foods you can actually improve your health by adding extra phytochemicals and fiber. Breakfast foods should be healthy but they have a tendency to be high in fats and sugar. 
 
We always hear that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so why ruin a healthy breakfast. Good nutrition is vital to good health, disease prevention, and essential for healthy growth and development of children and adolescents. Fiber is an important part of a healthy diet. 
 

Many of us work very hard to eat healthy meals, but struggle with the urge for candy, cookies, cakes, ice cream and anything else full of sugar and sweetness. Most experts agree that snacking is a part of a balanced and healthy diet, as long as the snacks don't pile on empty calories. 
 
When your best efforts go awry, and you order pizza or serve another meal that doesn't exactly fit into a healthy diet, you still have many options for making it healthier. Just about everyone knows that fruits and vegetables are a very important part of a healthy diet. Having a well-stocked pantry and refrigerator can be a busy cook's best weapon in the war against resorting to fast-food, high-fat, unhealthy meals. Fresh oil is a source of essential fatty acids, which help keep the skin healthy and the hair shiny. 
 
We believe eating sensibly, combined with appropriate exercise, is the best solution for a healthy lifestyle.
 
Foods
 

When you choose healthy foods instead of sugary or high-fat foods you can actually improve your health by adding extra phytochemicals and fiber. The goal is to balance negative foods with positive foods so that the combined rating for all foods eaten in a single day is positive. 
 
If you want to restrict your caloric intake without feeling hungry, find foods highest in any vitamin or mineral or lowest in carbs, saturated fats, or sugars. Our general state of health is partially driven by the types of foods we consume. To make vegetable oils suitable for deep frying, the oils are hydrogenated, so trans fats are commonly found in deep-fried foods such as French fries and doughnuts. Trans fats, beyond a limit, are not good for our health. 
 
Hydrogenation solidifies liquid oils and increases the shelf life and the flavor stability of oils and foods that contain them. Other sources of trans fats are vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods, and other foods. Since trans fats increase a products shelf life, many pre-prepared foods and mixes (for example, some pancake mixes and pizza dough) contain trans fats. 
 
The solution: Whenever possible, eat whole, fresh, and unprocessed foods. When buying packaged foods, put in at least as much time into reading labels and selecting products as you do when choosing a shower gel or shampoo. A good diet is central to overall good health, but which are the best foods to include in your meals, and which ones are best avoided. 
 
Fast food has become much more popular of late and all over the world the out cry regarding harms of fast foods is on increase. 
 
Be aware that there is little scientific information about the effect of so-called functional foods --foods to which vitamins, minerals, herbs, or other dietary substances are added -- despite their growing popularity in the market place and claims of beneficial effects. 
 
Some common foods, including nuts, wheat gluten, dairy products, fish, shrimp, soy, bananas and eggs may trigger allergic reactions.
 
Fat
 

Fats add taste to meals and give one a feeling of fullness when eaten. When you choose healthy foods instead of sugary or high-fat foods you can actually improve your health by adding extra phytochemicals and fiber. Breakfast foods should be healthy but they have a tendency to be high in fats and sugar. The human brain is almost entirely composed of unsaturated fatty acids. 
 
You deprive yourself of more than fats when you go for the fat-free or low-fat salad dressing. We need fats to absorb all the beneficial elements of salads and other fruits and vegetables. Learn which are the right types of fats, to create beautiful, supple skin, and a healthy body. 
 
Eating more whole foods is a good way to replace many of the processed snacks and foods that have a lot of extra sugar, fat (including trans fat), salt, and other things added to them and a lot of good things taken out, like fiber. In addition to food labeled fat-free and low fat, healthy low fat foods include most fruits and vegetables. 
 
Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats (called macronutrients) are broken down (metabolized) to give the body energy. For example, lowering fat and cholesterol intake and adding whole grains to the diet can prevent atherosclerosis (plaque build up in the arteries), which can lead to heart disease or stroke. 
 
Fish is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential components of cells and can protect the heart from, for example, fatal arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythm). Omega-3 fatty acids found in cold water fish (such as herring, tuna, and salmon) have been reported to reduce inflammation and help prevent certain chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. 
 
Safe food and good nutrition are important to all. Basic nutrition knowledge is constantly taking shape every day, producing new diet trends to an ever growing audience of people who want to know the latest and greatest ways to achieve their physical fitness goals. 
 
Did you know that you can drastically decrease your chance of heart disease and cancer by eating a healthy diet and following the recommended nutrition guidelines? 
 
Proper nutrition is a powerful good: people who are well nourished are more likely to be healthy, productive and able to learn. Good nutrition benefits families, their communities and the world as a whole. Malnutrition is, by the same logic, devastating.
  
By: Pradeep Mahajan

Almonds are an easily digestible food. They are a good source of protein, essential fatty acids, fiber, and minerals, such as potassium, magnesium, zinc, and copper.
Almonds are thought to have originated in China and Central Asia.
They are also among the best whole food sources of vitamin E in the form of D-alpha tocopherol. Almonds are actually the fruits of deciduous (meaning that the leaves fall off every year) trees originally found in Asia and North Africa.
 
Almonds are extremely rich in proteins so they are ideal for hair and skin. They are abundant in phosphorus, which is good for bones and teeth. They are higher in calcium than all other nuts. They are also higher in fiber than any other nut.

Almonds are roasted whole, and can be diced and/or seasoned. They are used in various forms (whole, chopped, sliced, or paste) predominantly in bakery products such as cookies, cakes, and pies as well as in confectionery products. They are one of the healthiest snacks and are the most widely-used nut for confectionery items like candy bars, cakes, toppings, etc.


Almonds are a great source of monounsaturated fat, which lowers "bad" LDL cholesterol and raises "good" HDL cholesterol. Almonds are even lower in saturated fat than olive oil, and one study in California found them more effective in reducing cholesterol. 

If you think almonds are just for satisfying your mid-afternoon munchies, you're in for a surprise. If you're pregnant, or thinking about it, almonds are a great source of the folic acid you need. Many of the nutrients found in almonds are believed to have positive effects on several different types of cancer. 

Because almonds are a plant food, they contain no cholesterol. 

Bitter almonds are used mostly for cooking and cosmetics. On the contrary, sweet almonds are delicious and healthful.


From folic acid to fiber, almonds are your personal nutritional powerhouses. 90 percent of the fats in almonds are unsaturated, and the nuts are high in protein, fibre, calcium, magnesium, potassium, vitamin E, and other antioxidants. Today, almonds are cultivated in many of the countries that border the Mediterranean Sea including Spain, Italy, Portugal and Morocco, as well as in California. 

Vitamins
 
Vitamin E is believed to play a role in preventing heart disease, certain kinds of cancer and cataract formation. Packed with vitamins, minerals and fiber, almonds are an easy, delicious way to get the nutrients you need every day, and they're naturally cholesterol-free. 
 
Flavonoids in the skins of almonds in addition to the vitamin E in the nut offer more than double the amount of antioxidants than either provide alone. Almonds contain generous amounts of vitamin E, considered a powerful antioxidant with cancer-fighting qualities. They are an excellent source of  magnesium, and manganese; they are also a good source of fiber, copper, phosphorous and riboflavin. 
 
Of the antioxidants your body cannot make, vitamin E is one of the most important because it breaks the destructive chain free radicals start, protecting your cells from harm. But getting enough vitamin E can be tricky in today's fast-food world, which is one reason adding almonds to your diet are a smart idea. 
 
A one ounce serving of almonds provides 7 grams of protein, is an excellent source of magnesium and the antioxidants vitamin E. A one-ounce handful of almonds offers heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, the antioxidant vitamin E, protein, fiber, magnesium, potassium, calcium, phosphorous and iron, all in 160 calories. 
 
 
Heart
 
The high levels of monounsaturated fat found in most nuts may be partly responsible for the observed association between frequent nut consumption and reduced risk of coronary heart disease. From heart disease to cancer, almonds are fighting for your good health. 
 
Since cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease, adding almonds to your diet is a great way to keep that risk under control. A diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and rich in the monounsaturated fat found in almonds can help reduce your risk for heart disease. 
 
Speaking of health, 23 almonds a day will likely reduce your triglyceride levels, an established risk fact for developing heart disease, according to nutrition research funded by the Almond Board.
 
By : Pradeep Mahajan

For most people their breakfast is only making them fatter. When I wanted to achieve my single body percentage one of the biggest mistakes I was making was not taking really care of my breakfast. Fat loss does not begin in the gym it starts from the moment you are up. Think about it if you eat the wrong kind of foods you can screw up an entire hour or even more working out. However if you know exactly what to eat and workout as well you achieve your fitness goals much faster.
5 foods that you must ban of your breakfast
1) White bread
All bread is not created equally. Due the popularity of low carb diets most people think that all bread is fattening. This is not true. The wrong kind of bread will make you gain weight but the right kind of bread helps you. Your body treat white bread the same way as it treat white sugars.
2) Cereals
Every time I see a cereal company promoting their products to help you with your weight loss or fitness goals I have a good laugh. You should avoid eating cereals that comes from a package. Just like white bread they do contain refined carbohydrates. And most of the popular cereal products are fulfilled with sugar. Eating unrefined whole grains is a totally different story. If you want to play save do not eat anything that contains white flavour. This may shock you but manufacturers remove the wheat's seed bran. Therefore more than 75 % of the vitamins and minerals are being lost. And even more worse is that 95 % of the fiber is gone.

3) Fruit juices
You should never drink fruit juices that comes from a carton. From time to time it is allowed to drink fresh natural fruit juice. But for a real fat loss plan you should eat your food as a whole. Our bodies where not designed to separate the juice from the rest of the fruit. The fiber in whole fruit helps you to slow down the blood sugar response.
4) Bacon
Bacon has become a standard in the western breakfast and it's truly a fat turning food. Together with sausages bacon is one of the worst foods you can eat. Turkey bacon or a reduced fat bacon is not a good alternative as well. Reducing fat from 90 % to 70% or even 50% is not that great. The problem is that you are eating processed foods. To say it simple you are not eating pure meat. In fact you are eating a meat product again play it save and eat chicken breast, turkey, fish and eggs. Your body will thank you for it.

5) Eating only the white part of the egg
Eggs can and must be included in your fat friendly breakfast. But you need to consume whole eggs. It is a myth that you can only eat the egg white. The yolk is actually the most nutritional part of the yolk. Never throw away the egg yolk again it is the most nutrition dense part and anti-oxidant-rich part.
Another additional but important tips is to choose only eggs that do come from organic free-rage chickens.
From now on implement these tips into your life to cook a healthy fat loss friendly breakfast

One of the best ways to have success with your weight loss diet plan is to come up with a variety of snack ideas that will help kill hunger and keep you satisfied throughout the course of the day. You don't need me to tell you that when you're hungry, you're going to be much more likely to cheat on your diet plan than when you're satisfied and not thinking strictly about food.
This is a big issue that a lot of people face however as many believe that they either have to eliminate snacks altogether or they don't understand the best fat loss snacks to be eating. Here are the main things to keep in mind when trying to come up with your own to add to your daily fat loss menu.
Higher Protein Content
The very first thing you must be sure you're doing to make the best fat loss snack is including more protein content. Protein is the macronutrient that will digest most slowly in the body so you'll get the best hunger killing benefits. All of your snacks should be focused around protein-rich foods, with the addition of either fat or carbohydrates. Aim to get about 15-20 grams of protein per snack if you can as this will be the ideal mix to help you reach your protein needs for the day with your weight loss diet plan.

Don't Avoid All Fat
Second, don't entirely shun fats. If you're having a snack with a higher carb content, then you may want to keep fat on the lower side to prevent the total calorie level from creeping up there. If you aren't adding many carbs though, then you want to add 50-100 calories worth of fat. Fat is the preferred macronutrient by many because it does tend to fill you up better than an equal amount of carbohydrates would. This does tend to be somewhat individual though, so play around and figure out what works best for your individual situation.
Include Vegetables
Finally, third tip to create the best weight loss snacks are to make sure you're also including some vegetables. Many people think vegetables can only be consumed in main meals and this just isn't the case. They are full of fiber, nutrients, and will help keep you satisfied for a long period of time. Aim to add one vegetable source to at least one of your snacks during the day and you'll be well on your way to meeting your required needs. So keep these points in mind. Creating the best fat loss snacks to help get you through your day could mean the difference between success and failure on your weight loss diet plan.

High blood cholesterol levels are a very common problem in our time. It might not sound very threatening, but high cholesterol can lead to very serious illnesses. Harmful cholesterol slowly but steadily closes up the arteries, blocking the blood flow and thus increasing your risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. You would like to decrease that risk by lowering your cholesterol? Then you should follow the three simple strategies below!

1. Eat less high cholesterol foods.
2. Eat less foods high in saturated fat.
3. Increase your intake of foods high in fiber and other cholesterol lowering foods.

Strategy #1: Eating less high cholesterol foods
Cholesterol is mainly found in animal products, like:

• eggs
• meat (especially beef)
• poultry
• fish
• higher fat dairy products (e.g. milk, cheese, cream)

Prepared foods are also often high in cholesterol, for example:

• processed foods
• pastry
• cookies and muffins

You should therefore limit your intake of these foods. Experts recommend a daily limit of 300 mg cholesterol per day.
Strategy #2: Eating less foods high in saturated fat
Just as cholesterol, saturated fat is mainly found in animal products as the ones listed above. Our modern diet contains way too much saturated fat, and our body produces harmful cholesterol from these fats. So, simply eating cholesterol free foods is not necessarily the solution. Foods low in cholesterol can still raise your blood cholesterol level if they are high in saturated fat. Food that contains cholesterol but also polyunsaturated or unsaturated fats, on the other hand, won't be so bad, as these fats decrease the production of harmful cholesterol and enhance the production of protective cholesterol which cleans the arteries from plaque.
Note that "fat reduced" products still contain up to three quarter the amount of fat of their full fat version. "Low fat" and "low cholesterol" foods contain smaller amounts of these nutrients, but they do contain them. Even fat or cholesterol "free" products contain very small amounts and are not really "free".
Strategy #3: Increasing your intake of foods high in fiber and other cholesterol lowering foods
Fiber draws cholesterol out of your body, like a sponge. Food groups low in cholesterol or even cholesterol-free are:

• fruits
• vegetables (especially green leafy ones)
• legumes
• whole grain products

Specific foods that greatly help to lower cholesterol are:

• green salad
• avocado
• quaker oats
• barley
• extra virgin olive oil

The best advice to give you if you want to lower cholesterol is to not only reduce your cholesterol intake but also the amount of saturated fat you eat. As we produce four times more cholesterol from saturated fats than the amount of dietary cholesterol we consume, these are our worst enemy in the fight against high cholesterol. Additionally, you should eat more high fiber foods. If your cholesterol still remains high, don't hesitate to consult your GP. Maybe a cholesterol lowering supplement can help you.

Throw out your old notions of what you can and cannot eat. Through a process called mindful eating, you can eat what you love, enjoy it completely, and simply eat less of it because you slow down and pay attention while you are eating.
Eating mindfully is eating with awareness. So many of us mindlessly eat in front of the television, while driving or while surfing on the Internet, and by doing so, we end up eating way more than we intended to eat.
If you're eating while you are distracted, you aren't listening to the internal cues that your body is giving you. Your body knows when to stop eating so you can maintain a healthy weight. The key is in setting yourself up in an eating situation so you can listen to these cues.
Mindful eating happens when you pay attention to how the food is making you feel. It's a process of enjoying the sensory experiences associated with eating food. You should be present in the moment and experience each bite as it happens. It's very similar to watching your breath in yoga or meditation.
Here are four must-know tips for success with mindful eating.
1. Eat only when you are hungry. Your body's hunger is a natural cue that you need nutrition. True hunger is different from a craving. You should feel hungry in your gut and not just feel like you need to eat because you should. Most people need to eat every three to five hours.
2. Follow your cravings, within reason. You should eat what you want to eat, as long as it's not overly unhealthy. Although mindful eating is not designed to be a weight loss plan, you should try to find healthy alternatives for what you are craving.

Try to focus on the sensations you are craving. For example, the salty, fried taste of French fries can be replaced with some roasted potato wedges. If you can pinpoint the experience you are craving, you can often find a healthier alternative.
As you continue to practice mindful eating, you are likely to find that it's the whole, nutritious food that your body finds truly delicious. Your taste buds will savor fresh raspberries, for example, and might find a fried donut kind of yucky when you are really paying attention to the flavor.
3. Eat without distractions. If you normally make a habit of eating in front of the television or while driving, you need to change your eating habits. You should sit down and comfortably eat your meal in a leisurely fashion. Don't rush through your meal or you'll end up eating more than your body really needs. Eat each bite slowly and deliberately so you can savor each flavor and texture of the food you are eating.
4. Stop eating when you are full. When you practice mindful eating, you'll come to recognize a state where you are comfortably full but not stuffed. You shouldn't feel discomfort after eating. If your stomach feels too big you have eaten too much. Be sure to stop throughout the meal and ask yourself if you are really still hungry or if you are just eating out of habit.
By practicing these techniques for mindful eating you will be able to regain a healthy weight and enjoy the food you eat even more. Enjoy your new healthy habit!

If you suffer from gas, bloating, changes in bowel movement, weight loss, feeling very tired, and even feel weak, more often than not; then you may have an allergy to gluten or be plagued by a disease called celiac disease. Gluten is a specific type of protein, but one you won't find in meats or eggs. This type of protein is found in wheat, rye, barley, and malt. So to avoid these uncomfortable, painful, and possibly embarrassing problems, you would need to avoid these grains. And practicing a gluten-free lifestyle can be challenging, to say the least.
Quite possibly the hardest thing about following a gluten-free diet is giving up bread and anything essentially related to it. This includes white, wheat, marble, and rye. You must also sacrifice pasta, bagels, most cereals, muffins, croissants, hamburger buns, scones, and even pizza, since the crust is made of dough. But don't despair, many food manufacturers are making gluten-free products just for you. They are using corn, rice or potato flour instead of wheat. These alternatives substitute perfectly, just make sure you check for "100% gluten-free" on the label. Bakeries can also make your favorite sweet treat gluten-free, just ask!

Without scrutinizing food labels very carefully, you can miss hidden sources of gluten, and cause a GI flair-up without even knowing it. Some ingredient red flags are: wheat, wheat gluten, wheat flour, wheat starch, barley, rye; and the not so obvious ones, malt (which is made from barley), and hydrolyzed vegetable protein (it often contains wheat).
Some not so obvious culprits are:
Crackers
Breaded chicken nuggets and fish sticks
Pizza
Cakes, pies, cookies
Beer
Some gluten-free foods:
Wine
Potatoes
Rice
Eggs
Fruits
Vegetables
Milk
Rice cakes, corn chips, popcorn
Gum drops, marshmallows, plain hard candy
In conclusion, you must be diligent about reading food labels and being able to pick out the gluten offenders. Get familiar with the gluten-free foods at your local supermarket, bakery, and specialty stores. Keep your GI tract healthy and comfortable, while still enjoying great foods and beverages.

You buy the doughnut, you know you'll regret it, but you know you have to have it. You peel off the icing and tell yourself you'll stop there, but seconds later the doughnut is half gone and you find yourself unable to stop.
If this sounds familiar, it's because we've all been there and there's a reason for that. While there are environmental, and psychological reasons why we eat food that we know is not good for us (one could say the definition of an addiction), it's also due in part to the fact that we're hot-wired to eat - we have to do it to survive.
The problem is that we live in societies where there is an abundance of foods high in calories but low in vitamins and minerals and at least in the near future we're not in danger of running out of food. In simple terms your body has a system in place to make sure you don't go hungry. Your body sends silent messages (hormones) to your brain about what is happening in the rest of the body and the brain sends back a message (another hormone) to correct or rectify the situation.
This is essentially what is happening when you get hungry. A silent message (a gut hormone called ghrelin) has been sent to the part of your brain called the hypothalamus and in response a hormone called Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is made and released. This hormone causes you to want to eat.
Ghrelin and of course NPY normally appear in high levels in the morning, but ghrelin has been shown to rise before lunch and dinner intervals causing a release of NPY to make you eat. As if that weren't bad enough, a neurotransmitter called Galanin is secreted in the afternoon and guess what - it wants you to eat fat. When the system of hormones gets out of sync (you might eat high fat or foods high in sugar or a combination of both on a regular basis), these hormones can work against your commitment to lose weight and cause you to want to eat high amounts of fat and simple sugars.

Re-focus your nutrition strategy
The story about you and your hormones is nothing new. It is a small piece of the puzzle but there may be many other factors causing you to eat unhealthy snacks. If you stand back and look at the whole picture - you'll be able to re-focus, curb your cravings and choose foods that reduce your appetite.
Proactively breaking the cycle
It's not hopeless, there is something you can do about your cravings. In many cases, cravings aren't due only to your hormones, there may be a number of factors that are causing you to eat foods that will break your diet. Find out what other factors may be causing you to eat unhealthy foods by completing a food diary. When you've completed your diary, some things to look for are:

• depression and mood
• environmental factors such as the high availability of junk food
• social factors to eat e.g. you may be at a dinner party and you don't want to offend the host by not eating all the food.
• eating out of habit or eating something because that is what you usually eat at that time of day

If you want to lose fat and you think food cravings are getting in your way, then try this how, what, when & why strategy.
Look at WHAT you're eating
*Eat complex carbs that are high in fiber in the morning and combine them with lean protein choices. Eating a breakfast that keeps you fuller for longer with high fibre levels and a source of slow release protein will mean that you are less likely to feel like raiding the bakery at morning tea.
*Raid your fridge and purge it of the comfort foods. This is easier said than done for some, but it has its benefits. Replace them with healthy foods such as fruits, veggies, nuts, low fat cheese, etc...
so when you do get hungry you DO have healthy foods to grab. Get rid of the junk!
*Don't feed the galanin monster and he won't hurt you. If you don't indulge in high fat foods, you will be less likely to crave these foods again. Eating high fat foods will only encourage you to eat more high fat foods, so get into the habit of replacing the high fat foods with foods that add essential nutrients to your diet. If you're in the habit of eating high fat foods, make a promise to yourself to change this habit slowly.

Look at HOW you're eating
*Eat slower and listen to your stomach. When we eat our body will release hormones to indicate that we are full, eat slow and feel when your body is saying it is full.
Look at WHEN you're eating
*If you get that feeling that you need to eat at about 3 pm and you feel like chocolate or a biscuit, replace the chocolate with nutrient dense foods such as a small tub of low fat natural yogurt or a medium sized apple to break the cycle.
*Try eating smaller meals more frequently and plan your meals ahead of time. See how you go with eating 6 small meals per day spread out evenly so that you don't get hungry and get those cravings. Be careful that you don't end up going over your calorie target - by eating 6 regular sized meals.

Look at WHY you're eating
*Think about if you are really hungry - ask yourself if you are really thirsty instead. Try drinking a large glass of water first.
*Are you really hungry - could you be bored instead and just habitually eat to keep yourself busy ? If you are bored don't go to the kitchen! Pick yourself up, invite a friend and go for a walk/run. Use this time to burn off energy to help you lose weight.
We all know what it is like to crave chocolate or biscuits or hot chips. These foods are not bad in themselves, but eaten on a regular basis can mean that losing weight is next to impossible.
So next time you get a food craving, think about the what, when, how and why of the last thing that you put in your mouth and then think about how you can change the way you consume food to proactively eat healthier rather than giving in to temptation.
Snack Suggestions:
Handful of cashews
1/4 cup of chopped apple and unsweetened yogurt
Low fat cheese and whole wheat crackers
Unsalted brown rice and buckwheat cakes with peanut butter
Fresh fruit or small amount of dried fruit
Nuts and/or seeds
Low fat cottage cheese and fruit
A refreshing glass of skim milk

You may have heard of chamomile. It's sold in the tea aisle at the supermarket and often recommended in health food stores, but have you ever seen this plant in action? I decided it was about time that this mysterious blossom was exposed and so I went to find out what chamomile really is. And what does it actually do?
Chamomile is a flower from the daisy family, and the name means 'on the ground'. It has always been associated with relaxation and is sold in capsule, tea and liquid form, but it seems that behind its sunny exterior chamomile is actually hiding a whole lot more.
According to recent research chamomile is actually quite a handy little herb. It is actually thought to help in the cure of a long list of ailments including:

- Indigestion
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Canker sores
- Colic
- Conjunctivitis, eye irritations
- Crohn's disease
- Diarrhea
- Eczema
- Gingivitis
- Hemorrhoids
- Menstrual disorders
- Migraine
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Peptic ulcer
- Skin irritations
- Ulcerative colitis

With all these lofty claims I decided to get some expert testimony! So what do the scientists say? Scientists state that yes chamomile does seem to posses these super powers and that's not even all! A recent study resulting from co-operative research undertaken in Japan and the UK claims that chamomile is actually able to help regulate blood sugar!
The researchers observed how chamomile intake resulted in much less sorbitol being produced by the body.
Sorbitol is a potentially damaging sugar alcohol that particularly affects nerve cells, the eyes and the kidneys when it collects in excessive quantities.
Poor chamomile, so wrongly accused when really what a hero it was, combating villains and serving the cause of good health! So forgive chamomile to today and get sipping on some super herb.

Working hard to lose weight? Here's a tip. Watch your drinks to cut down unwanted calories. That's true. More than twenty percent of your calories come from your drinks or beverages. You cannot stop having certain drinks, but you can make them healthier to cut down on calories.
Here are few tips to make healthier beverages at home:
• Avoid fizzy drinks as they contain lots of empty calories. Do you know your favorite can of soda drink contains more than nine teaspoons of sugar? Though diet drinks contain zero calories, but you cannot ignore the health implications of artificial sweeteners used to make them.
• Milk is an important drink for many of us. But it is better if we drink low-fat milk to get rid of several hundred calories everyday. You can easily get all important nutrients and vitamins required by your body by drinking skimmed milk. Skimmed milk also helps you cut down on extra calories and fat.
• If you want to lose weight faster, you can switch to soymilk, which is low in calories. It helps you fight cancer, menopausal symptoms, heart disease, and osteoporosis.

• When buying fruit and vegetable juices, check the labels. Do you know even the real fruit or vegetable juice can contain only 10 percent real juice and seven to eight teaspoons of sugar. Therefore, go for 100 percent fruit juice for getting health benefits.
• Though energy drinks help you stay hydrated fro long, but they also contain a lot of calories. So, limit your intake of health drinks.
• Cut down on your alcohol intake. Only 12 oz. of beer offers you around 150 calories while a glass of wine contains around 100 calories?
• Water is the healthiest beverage available on earth. More than 80 percent of our liquid calories should come from water. You should drink between 4 to 6 glasses of water everyday. Add flavor to tap water by squeezing one lemon into your glass. This will also help you remain active throughout the day.

Everyone wants to lose weight and they want to do it as fast as possible. There are many benefits to losing weight:

• Improved health: lower chances of cancer, strokes, diabetes, heart disease, and more
• A better appearance: thin people generally look better
• Higher levels of energy
• Better sleep
• And so on

However, most people simply lead their life in the wrong way to lose weight. This article is trying to correct that by providing the following 7 weight loss tips:
1. Go grocery shopping with a list and not when you're hungry. The best way to avoid buying food which you know you shouldn't eat is to prepare a list in advance. Also, if you buy food when you're hungry you will get more and this will include the wrong stuff as well.
2. Don't eat in front of the TV. You need to concentrate on what you eat. Otherwise, you will not even notice it and eat a lot more than you should. The TV is the biggest problem because you can totally lose track of how much you've eaten.
3. Never eat out of the box, always eat from a plate or a bowl. Eating out of the box is the easiest way to overeat. You just have no idea of how much you've eaten because all you see is what is left in the box.



4. Before you begin weight loss process clean out your kitchen of any fatty things that you know you shouldn't eat. This will make it easier on you to avoid temptation.
5. Do weight training to increase muscle mass. More muslces mean a higher metabolism becuase muscles just need more calories to sustain themselves. You don't need to get bulky to really boost your metabolism. Just a little muscle tone will go a long way.
6. Drink a lot of water. Water is the elixir of life. It helps the body function better, burn more calories, and helps you remain full. Drinking cool water can actually help you to burn more calories because your body needs to work a little harder to heat the water up to the regular body temperature. I recommend 8 glasses of water each day.
7. Use meditation. 15 - 20 minutes of meditation each day is an excellent way to alleviate stress and re-focus on your goals. Stress has been shown to induce weight gain, so calming yourself will help you shed pounds. It is easy to lose focus on a diet when you have so many other things in your life. Meditation will help to keep you calm and motivated.

Maintaining a food journal allows you to record your eating habits and also identify whether you need to change them to live a better life. A food journal also allows you to monitor your progress when you follow a weight loss plan. Many studies indicate that people, who keep a track of their dietary habits, reach their weight loss goals faster.
A food journal can be a diary or just a small notebook, which you can easily carry with you. Next step involves recording your diet. This can be done by dividing the pages into various columns signifying each meal and mention the details. For example, on the first page, you can record your initial weight and dietary goals. Always set realistic goal while making a food journal. Never set goals that are difficult to achieve, else, you may become frustrated. For example, you can set health-oriented goals, such as reducing your blood pressure, sugar, or cholesterol levels. Don't forget to create columns for exercise habits along side your dietary record. This will allow you to compare your intake and expenditure of calories.
How to Record Your Eating Habits

• Create different columns for day, time, meal-self cooked/pre-cooked, and exercise habits. 
• Write date and time of day of your each meal or snack.
• Mention the ingredients of your meal. Also specify the serving size and beverages that consumed with each meal or snack.
• Mention whether you prepared the meal yourself or ordered it from outside.
• Create a column next to type of meal where you can mention your feelings about the meal. For example, you can write: I enjoyed/disliked/felt guilty after this meal.
Interpreting Your Journal
Pay attention to your dietary habits. Are you eating too frequently? Are you eating at regular intervals? Do you often crave for certain foods? Did you really feel hungry when you ate? Is the serving size of your meal is larger than required? Do you often skip meals? Do you eat just for emotional reasons?
Now, compare the types and quantities of food that you eat. Does it fit well with the food pyramid or your weight loss plan? Is there any chance to improve it? Take note of those areas, which need improvement. You may even highlight the columns where you gave in to the cravings. Mention whether it is possible to make healthier replacements in your meal?

It is important that you enjoy a well-balanced diet and never starve yourself while following a weight loss plan. If you continue to keep it realistic and healthy, you may achieve your goals faster.

Many people are wondering these days if they should just throw in the towel when it comes to trying to lose weight and then keeping it off because they may have tried a lot of different weight loss programs or maybe they have tried to go on many different diets and even if they have had the endurance to go through them they may not have had success on one of these or many of these programs before. But there is no reason to just give up and to abandon all hope and go out and buy industrial scales and electronic scales. Because you should not give up hope and just resign yourself to the fact that you can not get into shape, because you can even if your genes seem to be saying that you can not.
The hardest part of going on a diet and starting an exercise plan is sticking to it and most of that is a mental struggle that you will have to win against yourself, and this can easily be the hardest thing to do if you do not try to make sure that you win the internal battle before you try to win the external battle with your body which depends so much on the mindset that you have when you are doing the program for it to be successful and work well for you personally.

One of the first things you can do to make going on a diet easier is to do the simplest thing which is similar to one method of going on a special diet which is to count the calories that you take in and this method is to just cut down on the amounts that you eat at each meal, and this can be as simple as having one cheeseburger instead of two or if you usually take two scoops of whatever side dish grandma serves at thanksgiving you may start taking one or even one and a half, cutting back wherever you can so that you will slowly be denying your body unnecessary calories that will just be stored as fat and unwanted body weight that will be difficult to get rid of if you want to.
Another thing you can do that will be a change in your eating schedule, but that will benefit you more than you may imagine is to eat more meals a day, and this does not mean eating two breakfasts or two lunches or two dinners, but what it means is that you should eat small helpings and if you try to do this and eat a lot of small meals throughout the day then you will be able to curb your appetite more and this will be good because getting stuck in the concepts of eating only three official meals a day is not what our bodies were designed to do and a lot of people are not able to alter their metabolism to this sudden change in the way we consume food so it can't keep up.

To lose 7 pounds in a week isn't an easy thing to do. Usually, I'd recommend giving yourself a bit more time to make sure you're weight loss be a healthy one and an easy one to maintain, but if you have a big event, a family gathering, or any other special occasion, you may find that you only have a week to lose 7 pounds and that's that.
So, how can this be done?
The weight loss will need to be fast so not any diet will do. In fact, I believe that only a detox type diet can work here, but you should know that these aren't the easiest diets in the world to follow.
What a detox diet does is help you cleanse your body of toxins and undigested food. This happens due to 2 things:
1. You eat very little for a few days, preventing further toxins from getting into your body.
2. What you do eat or drink is targeted for cleansing purposes. This usually includes fruit juices of different varieties, salt water, and several "safe foods".
While you can lose 7 lbs in a week with the right detox diet, it isn't an easy weight loss plan to stick to. You eat very little and some people find it hard, especially the first day or so. However, the results can be impressive indeed, not only in term of weight loss, but in general well being, energy level, less fatigue, better skin condition, and so on.

The only question is which detox diet should you use to lose 7 pounds in 1 week?
In my mind, there is no better detox diet than the Master Cleanse diet. It has been around for ages and has a great reputation. If you go for a detox diet, this is the one to use.
Of course, any weight loss you may arrive to on the Master Cleanse will not last unless you start eating well and exercising after you do drop the 7 pounds you wish to lose. Make this the beginning of a process of health and leanness, and not a temporary thing.

When you try to lose weight, it's only natural that you'd want to do it as quickly as possible. So what are some diets that work quickly?
In this article I want to share with you 2 options which I found to work well. And by working well I mean that not only can they help you to lose weight quickly, they also make it relatively easy to maintain the weight loss later on.
The 2 diets I refer to are Fat Loss 4 Idiots and the Every Other Day diet. Both can help you to burn fat quickly. Let's take a look at these 2 quick weight loss plans more closely.
Fat Loss 4 Idiots
Fat Loss 4 Idiots is one of the easiest diets to do because it provides you with a menu generating software you can use again and again to create different menus which are made up of food items you select. The menu is arranged according to the calorie shifting eating method to provide a quick weight loss and maintain your metabolism. People have lost up to 9 pounds in 11 days with this diet. It is one of the most popular weight loss plans in the world today.

The Every Other Day Diet
The Every Other Day Diet is another diet that works quickly but it's very different from Fat Loss 4 Idiots. With this diet, you get to eat high protein foods on one day and practically anything you like on the other day. Of course, you can't stuff yourself silly but you still get to enjoy your favorite foods even if they're a bit fattening. The high protein day helps to burn enough fat to last for 2 days.
Both of these diets also do a great job in controlling cravings, so it's easy to stick to them for a long time and lose a lot of weight. Fat Loss 4 Idiots is better for you if you want to have a detailed menu to follow, but both of these can work very well.

You've heard the buzz about yoga and would like to give it a try. However, before you can even touch your toes, your inner-pessimist pipes up: "Yoga is for young people," or "It's too expensive," or "I'm about as flexible as a 2 x 4." If this sounds familiar, it's time to quell that inner voice. Yoga is a wonderful, completely accessible activity for virtually everyone regardless of age, current fitness level and financial means.
You're never too old to practice yoga. Rather than using weights, machines or other cumbersome devices, yoga builds strength, stamina and flexibility by using your own body. Begin at a level at which you're comfortable and work at your own pace. Eventually, you might want to intensify your practice, but it's up to you. Yoga is totally non-competitive; timelines and progress charts are not required. A big part of yoga is listening to your own body. If you experience any pain or discomfort, simply pull back.
Yoga is ideal for people of all ages, especially those over 50. Aging causes some of us to lose our sense of balance which can lead to falls and bone fractures. Yoga postures challenge our center of gravity in a controlled, safe setting, and with regular practice we can thwart those dizzy, off-centered sensations. Yoga is a great antidote to sedentary lifestyles by improving circulation, and also bone density at a time when osteoporosis becomes more common. These are just a few of its many health benefits.

Anyone can do yoga, from world-class athletes to those allergic to exercise. Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar attributes his longevity in the sport (over 20 years) to yoga, while tennis star Andy Murray believes yoga gave him the edge over reigning champ Roger Federer. But what about us mere mortals? Even if you have the flexibility of a marble slab, you have to start somewhere. Maybe on Monday, you're touching your knees, but with daily practice, you're half-way down your shins by Friday. Continue practicing, and 2 weeks later, you just might reach the floor.
Yoga is a low cost activity. While some people like the community feel of a class, you can easily maintain a home practice with a modest upfront investment. Many yoga props are available to aid in flexibility; however, the only essential item is a yoga mat which will run you anywhere from $15 to $50. Also, unless you've memorized lots of asanas, it's advisable to own at least 1 yoga DVD for guidance. You can select from a huge catalog of yoga DVDs designed for various levels of practice (beginner, intermediate, advanced), yoga styles and time lengths.
Still not sure if you're ready to learn yoga? Order a book on yoga from Amazon or your local library and attempt a few poses. And if you think you hear that inner-pessimist, tell it to pipe down and enjoy the journey!

People all over the world have discovered the powerful physical and mental benefits of yoga and yoga meditation. Yoga studios and classes as well as yoga DVDs, books, and home programs can be easily found online. However, before you roll out your yoga mat, get familiar with the many different types of yoga practices that are available to get the best fit for you:
Hatha Yoga: Hatha yoga refers to general yoga practice and includes other types of yoga, such as Iyengar and Ashtanga. General Hatha yoga classes focus on proper breathing, gentle movement, static poses, balance, relaxation, and centering.
Vinyasa Yoga: Vinyasa yoga is a dynamic, flowing form of yoga that focuses on connecting posture, or linking movement to breath. Many times Vinyasa yoga is performed in a heated room to induce sweating, detoxification, and purification.
Iyengar Yoga: Iyengar yoga focuses on alignment of the body and precise movements, Iyengar yoga instructors assist students in alignment of their body while promoting an inner awareness. Many times blocks and straps are used to assist injured or less flexible students properly perform the poses. Iyengar yoga may be ideal for people with neck and back pain.

Ashtanga Yoga: Ashtanga yoga is also known as "power yoga", which uses flowing movements to increase strength and stamina. Pushup and lunge-like movements are common in this vigorous and athletic practice.
Bikram Yoga: Bikram yoga refers to yoga done in a hot environment (approximately 105 degrees Fahrenheit), which not only promotes a detoxifying sweat, but also aids in flexibility.
Prenatal Yoga: Prenatal yoga is yoga practice specifically designed for pregnant women who need exercises that are safe for them and their babies. Prenatal yoga also focuses on keeping muscles strong, which aids in posture and helps when delivery time comes. Yoga is an excellent way for expectant mothers to keep muscles toned, which not only makes them feel better during their pregnancy, but also helps them get back into shape faster after the baby is delivered.
Many yoga classes will combine several different styles of yoga to get the benefits of all the different practices, but not all programs use the same combinations. Yoga DVDs and other in-home programs are a great way to try different styles or focus on the style that best suits you.

This article shows you 7 yoga asanas that efficiently help cyclists, triathletes and runners with stiff muscles.
If you are doing a lot of running or cycling, it is also common that you have stiff legs. This stiffness in the legs, ranging from the foot up to the gluteus maximus, can cause different problems as for instance the iliotibial band syndrome. Other problems that can arise from stiff leg muscles are back problems. Please check my blog for more posts about knee problems and their prevention.
These poses are particularly good for newcomers to yoga. They will help you getting more flexible leg muscles. Every asana is described with its English and Sanskrit name, so that you can find videos and pictures of the poses on the web or in a book. I mostly find the asanas on YouTube.
When your legs are more flexible, they can perform with less resistance. It will be possible to run or cycle more efficient. It will also help you to avoid overuse injuries as iliotibial band syndrome. I have noticed that when I started doing yoga or stretching, I didn't get any knee pain anymore.
It is normal for beginners to feel a light sensation of pain when trying to get into the different asanas. Don't give up! Through regular stretching you will gain flexibility and it will be much easier getting into the postures. In the end you will really enjoy them.
Triangle Pose (Trikonasana): This is a very good stretch for your hips.
Standing forward bend (Uttanasana): This pose will flex your hamstrings, gluteus maximus, medius and minimus as well as your spinal muscles. People with back injury should approach this bend very cautiously. Gravity should do the work, don't push your body into the pose. It is recommended to bend you knees if your hamstrings are very stiff. That will increase the stretch.

Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I): Warrior I is a very good posture to stretch you hip flexors, which is a weak point in many runners and cyclists. It increases flexibility in the hips, back and front groins.
Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II): This is another pose that will stretch your hip joints. It will also open the groins and stretch the inner thigh muscles.
Side Angle Pose (Parsvakonasana): Stretches the back side of the legs and opens the groin. It will also stretch the upper body. Is a very good follower to the Warrior II.
Triangle Pose (Trikonasana): A follow up of the Warrior I posture. Above all the hips are getting worked on here.
Intense side stretch (Parsvottanasana): This pose work on your hamstrings and gluteus maximus. It gives you a more intense stretch for your hamstrings than you get in the standing forward bend.
Wide stance forward bend (Prasarita Padottanasana): For stretching your hamstrings and gluteus maximus, this is a very good asana. The difference to the standing forward bend is that in this pose you have your feet wider apart. It is also called wide-legged forward fold.
To get the most of the asanas described above, stay for five deep breaths in position. By doing the poses regularly you will open up your groin and increase the flexibility in your legs and hips. This will reduce the risk of getting problems with overuse injuries. I recommend doing these asanas at least three times a week and when you have done them for 2 months we can go to the next level.
I hope these Yoga asanas will help you enjoying your sport!

Yoga is an all-encompassing lifestyle consisting of exercise, diet, holistic healing, and mental wellness.  Originally developed in India, yoga is a practice that refers to physical and mental discipline. However, the popularity of yoga as a method of exercise has been on the rise in the past few years throughout the United States.
There are several types of yoga that are utilized for exercise and otherwise. Yoga is very beneficial due to the stretching it provides as well as development of core stability. Even professional athletes are beginning to get into yoga, recognizing the potential for not only physical well-being but also mental strength. Before you decide to take up yoga, you might want to check out the different practices of yoga to decide what is best for you.
Hatha yoga is the basic type of yoga that most people think of when picturing yoga. It works to balance the mind and body through poses, breathing techniques, and meditation. Practicing Hatha yoga is an excellent way to combat stress and worry-based tensions. Additionally, Hatha yoga is a great way to stretch your muscles and relax.

Iyengar yoga is a slightly more intense category of exercise that focuses on the alignment of the body. Technically a subcategory of Hatha, Iyengar is a very different type of yoga that utilizes props, such as belts and blocks, to aid you in performing the poses. Practicing Iyengar yoga is a great way to jump into the more difficult poses of yoga because the props help you reach certain positions without the muscular effort required to fulfill them unaided. Interestingly, Iyengar has shown to alleviate symptoms of depression.
Ashtanga yoga, also called Vinyasa yoga, is a very flowing form of poses that utilizes a connective element, called a vinyasa, in between sets of traditional poses. This method is an excellent way to keep your heart rate up, as you are not given time to rest between positions. This ties in with the goal of Ashtanga/Vinyasa yoga: purification of the body. As you flow from pose to pose, the heat created by your body is supposed to increase circulation and cause you to sweat out toxins. Overall, this yoga is a wonderful way to become more flexible and strong at the same time.
Lastly, there exists a very intense form of yoga named Bikram. Also called Hot yoga, Bikram is typically practiced in a room that has been heated to 105°F. 26 postures are specifically used, as well as  two breathing exercises, which all take place in a class lasting about 90 minutes. Like Ashtanga yoga, the heat of the room helps rid your body of impurities while promoting a deeper stretch.
There are even more, less mainstream types of yoga such as Ayurvedic that are available. However, please use this quick overview to point you in the right direction to a healthy lifestyle.