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How to Stay on a Diet
No one ever said that staying fit and thin is simple. In fact, your weight may be the hardest thing to control. You must tame your own natural urges to consume high calorie foods, and you have to focus your diet on vegetables, fruits, and lean meats. With so many individuals failing to remain on a dietary plan, we want to help you stay on track with some simple tips and suggestions. Whether you want to stay healthy or lose weight, we are here to help you learn how to stay on a diet.
- Your doctor is going to be your best friend during this period of dieting. Their medical opinion can help ensure that you remain on a balanced, nutritious diet. If you request it, they will plan out a diet plan that includes the needed nutrients to get to the weight you want, while keeping your personal health in mind.
- Keep a list of what foods you consume. Mark down the calorie content of each item.
- Never guess on the amount of portions in your food. Use exact measurements.
- Drink at least eight glasses of water per day. This will keep your stomach full and your body hydrated. Avoid drinking canned or frozen juices – they are often extremely high in carbohydrates.
- Before you eat breakfast, eat a small portion of fresh fruit or vegetables. This will get your metabolic system working even before you eat your first large meal of the day.
- To avoid snacking, set designated times for you to eat a formal meal. You will retrain your brain to consume large portions at set intervals throughout the day – it is classic conditioning at its best.
- If you ever find yourself sitting for a prolonged period of time, do something with your hands, like knitting, crocheting, or drawing. This will at least keep some part of your body active.
- Give yourself one day per week to cheat away from your diet. This prevents your body from falling into a stagnant metabolic routine.
- When your body has become stabilized to its new found diet, utilize a dietary aide, or a diet pill, to maximize your chances of remaining diligent to your weight loss.
As a parting note, never put your trust in popularized diets. There is a reason they are heavily marketed and often cost you loads of money to join – they are in it for the money. Stick with your doctor’s advice and you will be fine.
Have any questions? Feel free to leave a comment and I will reply back as soon as possible!
Do you have a Body Building Plan?
There are countless supplement companies out there trying to snatch people up under their advertisements and unmitigated claims. This is nothing something you want to fall prey to. Instead, you should be using your head and planning out how to get yourself the better body you want. If you are ready to take the first step into the world of fitness, or you are looking for a way to improve on your physique, here are three simple steps for you:
- Diet
Before you even start to exercise, or even think about exercising, you need to focus on your diet. No pill, or pills, can replace the conventional foods you have come to enjoy throughout your life, but you need to learn how to manage them. Obviously, you should not be downing ice cream and soda for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You need the nutrients that will get you the results you want. To do this, you should plan out your meals ahead of time, even if it is only a couple days in advance. This will help you maintain focus on the overarching goal: your health and your body.
- Exercise
To build muscle and burn fat, you need to move around and do stuff. This could be running, lifting weights, cleaning the house, shoveling snow, or raking leaves, all it has to do is get your muscles working. The more you move around and perform repetitive motions, the harder it becomes for your muscles to actually perform those movements. This is how muscle growth is encouraged: you move a muscle until it becomes tired, but you continue anyway, forcing it to push beyond its usual state. Now you have induced some muscular activity that may promote muscle growth.
- Supplements
Only when you have managed a healthy balance of diet and exercise should you move into the realm of supplements. You must create the internal environment capable of utilizing the nutrients and ingredients in the supplements to actually see the results that you want. Plus, the supplements are designed to ‘supplement’ your workout abilities, not hand you the results you want on a golden platter. When you want to get some serious muscular growth going on, grab some supplements and continue maintaining a healthy routine of diet and exercise. Your body will be one step closer to the perfection you dream about.
What do you think about this article? Please feel free to leave a comment
Pistachio Purchases On Hold
Remember last winter when we watched the national salmonella outbreak in peanuts unfold, when a Georgia Company shipped contaminated products, well the FDA is now warning people not to eat any food containing pistachios, which could carry contamination from the same bacteria.
Salmonella, the most common cause of food-borne illness, is a bacteria that causes diarrhea, fever and cramping. Most people recover, but the infection can be life-threatening for children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.
For nuts, roasting is supposed to kill the bacteria. But problems can occur if the roasting is not done correctly or if roasted nuts are re-contaminated. That can happen if mice, rats or birds get into the facility.
It seems that California-based Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., the second-largest pistachio processor, is voluntarily recalling more than 2 million pounds of its roasted nuts shipped since last fall.
The FDA learned about the problem last Tuesday, when Kraft Foods Inc. notified the agency that it had detected salmonella in roasted pistachios through routine product testing. Kraft and the Georgia Nut Co. recalled their Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix the next day.
The recalled nuts represent a small fraction of the 55 million pounds of pistachios that the company’s plant processed last year and an even smaller portion of the 278 million pounds produced in the state in the 2008 season, according to the Fresno-based Administrative Committee for Pistachios.
California alone is the second-largest producer of pistachios in the world.
According to the company’s Web site, Setton Pistachio is in the corporate family of Commack, N.Y.-based Setton International Foods Inc. The company sells nuts, dried fruit, edible seeds, chocolate and yogurt-coated candies.
By Friday, grocery operator Kroger Co. recalled one of its lines of bagged pistachios because of possible salmonella contamination, saying the California plant also supplied its nuts. Those nuts were sold in 31 states.
Fabia D’Arienzo, a spokeswoman for Tulare County-based Setton Pistachio, said the company was only recalling certain bulk roasted in-shell and roasted shelled pistachios that were shipped on or after September 1.
Because Setton Pistachio shipped tote bags of nuts weighing up to 2,000 pounds to 36 wholesalers across the country, it will take weeks to figure out how many products could be affected, said Jeff Farrar, chief of the Food and Drug Branch of the California Department of Public Health.
“It will be safe to assume based on the volume that this will be an ingredient in a lot of different products, and that may possibly include things like ice cream and cake mixes,” Farrar said. “The firm is already turning around trucks in transit to bring those back to the facility.”
The outbreak is still ongoing. More than 690 people in 46 states have gotten sick. Nearly 3,900 products made with peanut ingredients from Peanut Corp. of America have been recalled.
California public health authorities have taken hundreds of samples at Setton’s processing facility, but lab results have not yet determined whether salmonella was found at the plant. The food companies’ own tests of the contaminated products isolated four different types of salmonella, but none were the same strain as the one found in the peanuts, Acheson said.
Antioxidants That Work
BioNovix is a world class nutritional supplement company that prides themselves on providing the best of what this industry has to offer.
They have revolutionary products backed by sound science, and a knowledgeable support team. Working together to encourage a lifestyle that inspires others, BioNovix offers a path to achieve total balance, from the inside out.
The prices on the Bionovix line of supplement products have been lowered recently and one product I like is Meridium XN Antioxidant
The ingredients have 6 times more power than citrus antioxidants. In addition to keeping cholesterol down, it helps to maintain healthy glucose and insulin levels.
Meridium is a part of keeping a healthy heart, along with the cornea and retina in your eyes. It also seems like you have more energy when you take it as they recommend.
Bionovix scientific research indicates that the active ingredients in MeridiumXN, when taken daily, can bring your body back to metabolic balance.
I also found I can take an extra 12% off MeridiumXN this week by using the healthy12 coupon when I go online and order.
Lose Weight Without All The Math
While trying to come up with new and exciting ways to try to lose some weight I had been browsing articles on the web. Whenever I see one that requires measuring, weighing, calorie counting and planning meals, it reminds me of filing my tax return and I get depressed and give up.
For me there has to be an easier way. I know from experience that I won’t carry around a calorie chart or write a journal of everything I eat gets me out of the mood almost immediately.
By a stroke of good luck I found a “Women’s Health†article by Paige Greenfield who had a lot of good ideas about losing weight. It was called “Lose Weight Without the Math!â€
One of her suggestions was to sign up with a health management club that will set up meals for you. There are even places that will deliver meals to you that are already the correct calorie and portion size. Look for frozen meals that have less than 500 calories and have at least four grams of fiber, no more than 15 grams of fat (fewer than three grams saturated and no trans fat), and fewer than 700 milligrams of sodium.
I have seen the popular diets like the Zone, Atkins, or South Beach but I don’t want to take the time or bother to update percentages exchanges or ratios at every meal. It’s just easier to pay more attention in the grocery store. I have begun to take a few seconds to scan the labels for key ingredients. If sugar is around the top of the list I put it back. All sugar does for me is jack up calories, and send my blood sugar to a new level.
The better choice is making natural, whole foods the majority of the diet plan. That means more fruits and veggies, chicken, turkey, flank steak, pork chops, and fish. If the package says it has whole-wheat flour, oats, peanuts, and real fruit, in the first line of ingredients, it will be lower in calories and higher in fiber and protein.
Instead of weighing portions, slow down how quickly each meal gets finished. It takes the brain around 15 minutes to figure out that your stomach is full, so why not wait for it. Try putting the fork down between bites and chew each one longer, it’s a good bet that you will feel satisfied before loading up on seconds. If that doesn’t work, Plan B, is to choose foods that you have to work at to eat like bananas, oranges, pistachio’s in the shell, and spicy foods.
The simplest thing that I have done is just cutting all my portions in half and taking the time to enjoy what I eat. Then I increased the exercise I get every day and it helps.
Diet Dilemna … Carbs Vs. Protein
A new study on losing weight was recently published in the Journal of Nutrition found that diets with more protein may be better for reducing body fat and improving the fat in your blood also. The researchers suggested that dieters exchange some carbohydrates for protein.
Over the course of a year a moderate-protein diet worked better than a regular high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet to help adults shed body fat. The other benefits had to do with increasing “healthy” HDL cholesterol and decreasing triglycerides, which can clog the arteries.
For the study all participants were given menu plans and attended weekly meetings with a dietitian to help them stick with their lifestyle changes. If you don’t have a personal dietitian and don’t think you are getting enough protein you can find Supplements like Whey Protein powder which athletes and body builders have used for years. Whey protein is also low in calories, tastes great, and mixes easily in juice, milk, or water.
One of the problems with any diet is plan is going about it the right way if you want to succeed, and that is where the dietitians helped. They planned menus and conducted weekly nutrition education sessions. If they had to do it by themselves the individual results might have varied somewhat.
If you want to cut out carbohydrates by modifying your eating plan to include more protein you also have to change your approach to how many meals you consume each day.
What that means is the idea of eating around six small meals over the course of a day works when the diet is high carb, low fat because people are hungry more often, but it’s opposite for a moderate protein diet.
The dietitians advised that it is more important to eat three consistent meals with balanced protein and carbohydrates for each meal. A higher protein diet is not more protein at dinner, but balanced protein at breakfast and lunch.
The bottom line was that after a year, the average weight loss was similar in the two groups, the moderate protein diet lost 23 pounds, and around 19 pounds with the high carbohydrate diet.
The difference between the two groups was the protein diet lost more fat mass, and had greater improvements in both HDL and triglyceride levels.
Dr. Donald K. Layman, of the University of Illinois in Urbana was the lead researcher, and he concluded that the extra protein at each meal helps dieters preserve “metabolically active” muscle mass. Along with that the diet’s lower carbohydrate content means lower levels of the blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin.
According to Dr. Layman the diet encourages the body to shed more stored fat. The greater improvement in triglycerides, he said, is largely the result of cutting carbs, which can raise triglyceride levels.
My personal philosophy on nutrition, along with everything else in life is Moderation. I like the idea of a well balanced moderate protein diet, not only to control blood sugars but because the body needs all of the nutrients that supply energy carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Each category has a special purpose and is essential in the proper amounts, and causes problems for the body in the wrong amounts. Too much of any of these nutrients can lead to an increase in body fat. Add a good exercise program to the mix and you have everything it takes for a healthy lifestyle.
Safe Places For Weight Loss Supplements
Recently there have been news items that the FDA is investigating dozens of weight loss supplements, most of them imported from China, that contain hidden and potentially harmful drugs like bumetanide.
The best known brand was a pill called StarCaps, a papaya-infused weight loss capsule. It had some celebrity endorsements and magazine ads.
A full list of the tainted pills of which there are 69, is available on the F.D.A.’s Web site, www.fda.gov. An agency spokeswoman said people who want to report problems with the pills could call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Steven M. Mister, the president of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade group whose members include ingredient suppliers and makers of dietary supplements, said that the majority of weight-loss supplements were safe. The F.D.A., he said, is mainly citing obscure imported brands.
Last year, the F.D.A. adopted new “good manufacturing practices†rules that require makers of dietary supplements to test the purity of each ingredient and the final product. Another new statute, which went into effect in December 2007, requires manufacturers to notify the F.D.A. of any reports of serious health problems caused by the pills.
“The law adequately protects consumer health because it does have the monitoring system in place,†said Mr. Mister, of the industry trade group.
After seeing these reports late last fall I searched a number of popular online sites like supplementstogo and worldclassnutrition, and found that they DID NOT contain any of the tainted weight loss supplements.
It restored my confidence that there are ethical merchants online that indeed check to ensure the safety of supplements before listing them on their sites.
So my advice for today is to choose a reliable merchant who conforms to the good manufacturing practices if you are in the market for weight loss or supplements in general.
It is tough to know everything about the thousands of products available these days, but quality conscious retailers are monitoring their sites to ensure the safety of the ingredients in the products they buy and sell also.
Hibiscus Tea Please …When I’m Stressed
Not only is the hibiscus pretty to look at but nature has given it some pretty potent medicinal properties.
Hibiscus is high in Vitamin C, calcium, iron, niacin and riboflavin. It’s even more beneficial property comes from the presence of Anthocyanin, a powerful antioxidant. Studies have shown that Hibiscus tea can help decrease the levels of bad cholesterol and decrease blood pressure.
Hibiscus is in fact a large group of plants, shrubs and small trees that usually grow in tropical or subtropical parts of the world. Mostly they are grown for their flowers, but it is also a main component of many herbal teas.
Some cultures also use it as an antibiotic, antifungal and anticancer agent and as a contraceptive. The bark of the tree is used to make the famous Polynesian”grass” skirts.
In 2004 a clinical trial, published in the medical journal Phytomedicine, compared the effects of a standardized tea preparation of Hibiscus sabdariffa to the potent prescription medication captopril on mild high blood pressure. The participants took either the hibiscus tea or captopril daily for 4 weeks. The data showed that the hibiscus tea preparation was as effective as captopril in reducing blood pressure.
An earlier trial, published in the journal of Ethnopharmacology (1999), concluded that hibiscus tea significantly reduced blood pressure for those with moderate hypertension.
Similar results were found when hibiscus tea was consumed by diabetics with high blood pressure. This study, reported in 2008 in the Journal of Human Hypertension, compared hibiscus tea with black tea. Sixty non-insulin dependent diabetics were randomly assigned to drink either hibiscus or black tea twice a day for one month. Blood pressure was measured at the beginning, middle and end of the 30-day clinical trial.
As expected there was a significant drop in blood pressure for the hibiscus tea group, but blood pressure slightly increased in the black tea group, possibly because of its caffeine content.
Hibiscus tea is considered to be very safe and may also be used as a potent diuretic or “water pill.” It has few interactions with medications but if you already take one or more high blood pressure medications it could cause hypotension. It also has reported anti-fertility effects and, in one study, was effective against head lice, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
The bottom line is it seems that drinking a little hibiscus tea, after a stress filled day, might be both relaxing and help lower your blood pressure a bit. In today’s world, I’ll take what I can get.
An Aspirin A Day Keeps The Surgeon Away?
I read an article in Health news that reinforced what my Doctor has been telling me for years.
Who should take an aspirin each day to fight heart disease, and at what dose? The latest guidelines say that lower doses are as effective as higher doses and safer at preventing heart attack and stroke.
The new U.S. Preventive Services Task Force guidelines match age and gender. Aspirin seems to be more effective in men for preventing heart attack but, in women, better at preventing stroke.
Dr. Carl J. Lavie, medical director of cardiac rehabilitation at the Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans, added: “The benefits of aspirin use always have to be balanced against the risks. If a patient has low risk of events in the near future, aspirin should not be prescribed. If the risk is very high, clearly aspirin is needed.”
The recommendations, published in the March 17 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, state:
Men aged 45 to 79 with heart risk factors should take aspirin if the preventive benefits outweigh the risk of bleeding.
At-risk women aged 55 to 79 should take aspirin if the odds of reducing a first ischemic stroke outweigh the chance of bleeding.
Men under the age of 45 and women under 55 who have never had a heart attack or stroke should not take aspirin for prevention.
At this time, it isn’t clear whether patients aged 80 and older should take aspirin.
The task force emphasized that the recommendations only apply to people who have never had a heart attack or stroke.
The last task force recommendations came out in 2002. At the time, the panel acknowledged that the evidence for the use of aspirin in preventing heart problems was still evolving.
A second paper in the same issue of the journal reaffirms the task force guidelines, finding that lower doses of daily aspirin (75 milligrams to 81 milligrams) are equally, if not more effective, than higher doses (100 mg or more) in preventing heart attack and stroke in at-risk individuals
The paper also found that high doses may actually do more harm, especially in people taking Plavix.
According to background information in the study, aspirin is the most used drug worldwide to prevent heart attack and stroke. More than one-third of U.S. adults are believed to take aspirin each day.
“All these trials put together really favor taking lower doses of aspirin,” said Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, director of women and heart disease at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
Get Thin Quick
One of the things I have learned about Ephedra is that it gets the results it promises. It has been used for over a century.
When combined with caffeine it is even more effective than when used by itself.
STG Supplements has only been around for 25 years but used this formula to produce a weight loss or diet pill that will burn fat, supress appetite, and limit those nasty cravings!
Called ThinQuik 25 it contains 25mg of Ephedra plus Caffeine to kick start any weight loss program. When you combine this product with a healthy diet and the proper exercise losing weight will move from dream to reality faster than you imagined.
ThinQuik 25 is the tool you need to slim down your waist line, lean up your mid section, and get you to your desired weight. Just think in no time you can be the weight you want to be a have the look you desire!
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