When it comes to shedding a few extra pounds it may not be as difficult as you once first thought. However with the huge range of slimming products and pills on the market today many don’t know where to start. This may seem obvious but the best thing you can do is start eating healthy foods. Eating healthy means you have to monitor and watch the foods that you eat. Many people think eating less is the answer but the real solution is to eat the right kind of foods. As an example a portion of chips or fries could easily be replaced by an apple or some other fruit, cutting down on any foods with high calories will certainly help. If you are unsure exactly what healthy food is you could do a search on the internet, there are hundreds of great sites out there with lots of healthily meals and cooking instructions. Try to find meals you like and then replace it with one of your unhealthy meals. Once you start to look about you will find there is thousands of different meals to try and something for every taste. As well as eating healthy meals taking regular exercise is also essential help lose weight. Exercise is very important as it helps your body burn off calories. If you haven’t done any exercise in a while it is very important to take things slowly at first, you don’t want to pull a muscle or damage your body in any way. If you don’t at present have an exercise plan or program or don’t know where to start it is a good idea to find a free instructional workout video on one of the popular video sites like google or youtube. When exercising you can use special equipment such as weights and exercise balls but it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, although many people enjoy going to a club you can just as easily exercise at home using the things found in your house such as the stairs to do step ups on. When it comes to exercising many people are just plain lazy and require some kind of motivation, if you have any friends or a partner see if they are interested in working out with you. Keeping a log or journal is also a good idea; you can even use a online blog. Keeping a track of your progress can help boost your confidence as you see your weight dropping.
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Obesity is a life threatening condition and is spreading at an alarming rate throughout Western society. It is particularly prevalent in the USA. However there are some steps you can take to reduce your weight and improve your health and lifestyle. Reducing calorie intake: What are calories? A calorie is a unit used to measure energy. It is required by most governments to print the calorie value of foods on the nutrition label of all foods that are sold to consumers. Because if this it is easier to calculate your calorie intake. Reducing calories means not just cutting food intake but being careful of the actual caloric value of the foods you are eating. Reduction but not eliminating fats and oils: fat and oil is necessary for the body but we often eat foods which are too high in fats thus taking in more fat and oil than we need to. When you cut down fat and oil you will reduce calories and definitely manage to lose those pounds. Decrease but do not eliminate carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are necessary to the body but we often eat too much of this class of food resulting in the body storing these foods as fat. When you cut down carbohydrates you will reduce your weight. Increase your protein levels: It is often good to eat foods that are high in proteins as they are not as fattening as other foods. High protein foods are good to eat when you are reducing weight to prevent any muscle loss occurring as you shed those pounds. Eat more fruits and vegetables: These are good for providing nutrients to the body and are low in calories. They are a good alternative to “junk food” snacks. They will also increase fiber in your diet. Reduction in sugar and sodium. Sugar is readily broken dawn by the body into energy and excess stored as fat making it a fattening food. Sodium eaten in excess can contribute to water retention by the body and prevent weight loss. Increasing fiber in your diet: this will help you to curb hunger pangs as fiber rich foods will help you feel full as they take longer to digest. Your digestive system will work better with an increase in fiber.Whole grain foods, unrefined foods, fruits and vegetables will give you more fiber. Increase your fluid intake: Drink more pure water especially. This will help to improve your health and fill you up. Increase exercise: Regular exercise will help you reduce weight and build muscle instead of storing fat. You can either work out for about 20 minutes 3 times a week or take a brisk daily walk. When you use these steps you will reduce your weight. You will not achieve a super figure in one day but when you keep up a healthy diet you will lose weight steadily. Maintaining a healthy diet with regular exercise will ensure that you not only reduce but will keep the weight off. You will feel healthier and have more energy to do the things you really want to do in life.
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Obesity is a real life problem that is spreading fast throughout the Western world but most particularly in the USA. It has given rise to literally 100s of diets and a huge money making industry that has grown up around peoples’ desperate need to shed those pounds. However there is far more to losing weight than a mere diet. Diets are good for emergency weight loss but they are in effect just a quick fix. Many people go thorough with a weight loss diet and do indeed lose weight and are ecstatic! Then when they return to a normal diet they see those pounds returning and pretty soon they are the same, or worse still, heavier than they were in the beginning. Depressed they give up and resign themselves to being fat. You can avoid this happening to you with a few simple steps: Avoid fad diets (ones in fashion) and “lose weight quick diets” Do not just rely on diet alone combine with other weight loss techniques Exercise Mindset Diets in fashion are just that. They are not usually long lasting and if you lose weight it is often only temporary. When you lose weight quickly your body will be stressed and you have a very good chance of regaining your weight and even adding more pounds. A better way is to adjust your eating habits permanently. This can be done by: · Cutting out so-called junk foods like chips candy and sweets. · Eating smaller portions · Drinking more water · Eating more fiber rich foods-these fill you up and stop you from getting so hungry Combine with other weight loss techniques: do not just do dieting, for success use other techniques to help you lose weight, like exercise. Exercise: is one of the best ways to lose weight. You need only do about 20 minutes 3 times a week and you will be losing weight. A brisk walk everyday will help you lose and maintain weight control. Mindset: Be determined to succeed and you will. Once you decide that you have a problem, (you are fat and need help) and are determined to lose weight you will be able to do it. You just need the willpower and attitude to make the changes in your lifestyle to lose those pounds. Try to reduce stress (both mentally and physically): mental and physical stress causes your body to react by retaining weight and not allowing you to shed those unwanted pounds. Lack of sleep is a big factor in stressing out your body and one that many of us do. When you deprive yourself of sleep your body reacts to this stress by retaining fat and not enabling you to lose weight. Mental stress is a big factor in weight loss. When you are stressed or even depressed there is a tendency to eat more to relieve emotions. Plus your body views this frame of mind as a stress factor and again inhibits weight loss. Next time you decide to get rid of those unwanted pounds do not just rely on diet. Change your habits and try to put all these simple techniques to work and you will lose more weight than you expected. When you lose weight you will look better feel better and be able to live a healthier more satisfying life.
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Copyright 2006 Jonathan Perez Many people looking to burn / lose a significant amount of fat / weight can become very confused when they read and hear all of the conflicting information that’s spread on TV, magazines, the internet, and diet books. .. One of the most misunderstood techniques is the low carb diets that have been very popular in the last several years. The popular belief lately is that sugar (carbohydrates) should be kept to moderate to low levels in your eating. The reason for this is because of the recent popularity of low-carb diets, such as The Atkins diet, The Southbeach diet, The Zone diet, etc. Even in bodybuilding magazines all of a sudden everyone and their mother is recommending to keep carbs in your diets almost to a minimum. Well, the misconception that sugar is somehow “evil” and will cause you to get fat, raise your bad cholesterol, and even lose your “insulin sensitivity” is based on several MYTHS that have been passed around by the media and “monkey see, monkey do” nutrition and exercise “gurus”. One of the main misconceptions is that eating carbs will cause a sharp rise of insulin in your blood, which supposedly causes your body to store fat. A lot of this is based on the incorrect belief that you should avoid eating “high GI (glycemic index)” foods, and to mainly get most of your carbs from “low GI” foods. Basically, the Glycemic Index is a chart that was developed years ago that measures how much of a rise in insulin a certain food causes in the blood once digested. To put it simply, the higher the GI number is, the higher and quicker it makes your insulin rise. (For some odd reason that’s NOT based on any real, conclusive evidence. People seem to think that raising your insulin levels is “bad”). Well, in 1981, researchers at the University of Toronto were the first to accurately notice that “simple” carb foods (having a high GI) actually produced a smaller increase in blood sugar than most “complex” (or low GI) foods (everyone today thinks the opposite is true, of course based on what they read in the “burn fat / lose weight” article)! In fact, eating table sugar (sucrose) actually causes a smaller increase in blood sugar than eating foods such as baked potatoes and whole wheat bread. Foods containing added sugars do NOT have a higher GI than foods containing naturally occurring sugars. In fact, you really can’t count on the “GI” much at all!!! Why? Because the Glycemic Index does NOT take into account the differences in variety, ripeness, processing, or cooking foods, which have a huge impact on how that particular food affects your insulin levels, even if you are trying to lose weight. Also, the fat content of food also has an affect on insulin: foods that are high in fat have a lower GI, like peanuts, which only have a GI of 14. In addition, there some foods that have a high GI number, but don’t affect your insulin levels at all……..like carrots! Carrots have a GI of 95 (which is pretty high), but don’t try to tell me that you’ll get fat, get diabetes, etc., from eating carrots!!! Bodybuilding magazines, supplement companies, and the internet spread myths to all of us seeking to burn fat / lose weight, only leading us to NO RESULTS! If you are trying to eat your way to a leaner, more defined, more sculpted you, there is NO NEED TO BREAK DOWN YOUR EATING DOWN TO ALL KINDS OF RATIOS or PERCENTAGES. Regardless of what type of foods you eat and in what combinations, “IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE CALORIES”!
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Is the reason that there has been an increase in obesity due to the fact that adults in today’s society are lazy? Are we all just a bunch of lethargic couch potatoes that don’t do anything but sit around and eat all the time? I say no. Instead we are a product of our revolutionary, technological society. I am not saying we can blame technology, rather I am saying that as with our youth, the adults are also a reflection of the society that surrounds them. It isn’t an excuse, but it is a thought I pondered based on my typical day. I get up in the morning, not to the sound of an aggravating buzz, beep, or the blaring of the radio. These alarms would get my blood racing right from the start, but I would hit snooze to stop the insanity. Then it would happen again, and again, the snooze bar. After a few times of this I am would now be late for work, rush to the shower if I even had time, rush to the car, and speed off to work. Not in today’s world. Instead, I wake to the soothing sound of the ocean on my Homedics radio and slowly wake peacefully. No blood pumping, no increased heart rate. I just have a nice and slow, easy awakening. Next I head to the shower where I put turn on my shower CD player and listen to something that I enjoy while I take my time letting the water almost run cold. During my toweling off and getting dressed period of the morning, I can hear my coffee being made on the coffee maker that is set to make me a cup every morning with me not having to do a thing. While I sit and drink my coffee pondering the day ahead of me, I notice that it is almost gone, so I gently push a button on my key ring that starts my car and gets it nice and warm for me before I even get to it. I can then take my leisurely stroll to my car, get in, and have a nice peaceful drive to work (barring any unforeseen road rage). Nothing like before when I had to run to my car because I was late most of the time due to the annoyance of my alarm or run because it was cold and then get in and shake and shiver for 10 minutes until it warmed up. Once at work I find myself taking out my PDA and seeing what is on my agenda for the day. Nope, no more flipping through pages of my pocket calendar or scheduler. My work day is simple and uneventful, but instead of having to run back and forth through the office to get messages to everyone, I can now simply send an interoffice email with the push of a button. When it is time to leave, I again start my car from my office and drive home. Arriving at home, I put in a microwave dinner that doesn’t have to be chopped up, cut up, stirred, blended, kneaded, poked, or even prodded. Push a few buttons and five minutes later I am sitting in front of the TV watching the shows I recorded on my cable’s digital recorder and eating my five minute, nuked meal. Would I have done this in the past? The answer is no, because I would have had to physically make something to eat, and there wouldn’t be anything on TV worth watching, so I would eat and go do something like yard work, clean the house, play with the kids, whatever, just something else to occupy the time. Oops, while I was eating, I got some crumbs on the floor and then dropped some more on the way back to the kitchen. Oh well, I will just push the button on my robot vacuum cleaner and let it clean the whole floor as it is preprogrammed to do. Finally, my day is coming to an end and instead of doing something really constructive before I go to bed, I can’t resist the opportunity to surf the Internet for a little while, maybe chat to some friends or relatives, and check my email. Besides, I have to plug in my PDA to the computer anyway. Now my lazy or technologically dysfunctional day is complete. This whole story brings me back to my question that started the whole thing. Am I lazy or am I just a product of my environment. It is this author’s opinion that I am both. Years ago, even the simple things like making the dinner would be exercise, but now it is too easy because it is done for you in a box. Everything today is easy and most adults are on the heavy side, because things are easier and don’t take as much energy. That doesn’t mean we in society are lazy, it means we don’t have to exert ourselves as much to accomplish the every day routines that are needed to complete the day. However, I could stop by the gym on my way home, or go for a walk after dinner, so I am also lazy too. The Internet just pulls me in night after night and I can’t seem to make myself do anything else after dinner. Shame on you technology for holding that gun to my head! Brad G. Morris
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Obesity is the second leading cause of death after smoking. It is associated with an increased mortality rate of all ages including children. Losing weight though commercialized is still to your benefit if you carry more weight than you should. Obesity and overweight are term often used interchangeably. However, technically they refer to two different states. Being overweight technically means excess body mass. This includes all the body tissues. Obesity on the other hand refers explicitly to excess body fat e.g. a professional heavy weight body builder is overweight because of excess muscles but is not obese. Obesity is what should concern you. Losing weight is no longer an issue you can afford to procrastinate, and probably a good health scare is in order. Reason #1 to lose weight
Diabetes:- It is well known that 80 -90% of type-two-diabetes patients are overweight. Diabetes is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., as well as the leading cause of adult blindness in the world. One of the direct causes of obesity is eating wrong foods. Some of these wrong foods include high glycemic foods. High glycemic foods are energy dense foods that quickly increase the level of blood glucose in your body after been eaten. This results to the body reserving the unnecessarily high glucose/energy into fat. This makes losing weight very difficult. Releasing a hormone called insulin does this. Type-Two-diabetes occurs because the body cannot produce enough insulin to remove the excess blood glucose and store it as body fat. This will occur after straining insulin production for some time. And that’s how you end up being fat and diabetic. Reason #2 to lose weight
Stroke:- Obesity is associated with arteriosclerosis, the build up of fatty deposits in the arteries through out your body. This makes them narrow slowing blood flow and among other things increases risk of the blood clotting. Arteries at risk include those supplying blood to the brain. If clotting occurs due to narrowed artery, it blocks blood supply to an area of the brain resulting to stroke. Losing weight reduces this risk. Reason #3 to lose weight
Cancer:- The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates between 25% – 33% of cancer world wide are overweight and physical inactivity related. Body fat evidently promotes higher levels of insulin production and excess estoregens, a hormone. Both insulin and estorogens accelerate cell division. [Probably to create adipose tissue; new fat cells to store fat, in addition to the regular cell division] As research has indicated, the faster cells duplicate the more they increase chances of a cancerous cell developing. The situation is further complicated as the rapid cell division caused by the excess hormones lead also to rapid cell reproduction of the one cancerous cell, hence cancer starts to develop actively. In addition fat cells tend to keep carcinogenic i.e. cancer-causing agents, trapped in the body which increases chances of developing cancer.
Types of cancers you will be at high risk to get include:-
Respiratory problems:- Obesity causes lungs to “become smaller” in size and chest wall become heavier to lift in the process of breathing in. The most common respiratory problem is sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition where by an individual stops breathing for some time while asleep. A soft tissue in the throat collapses around the air way probably due to weight, blocking it. For the severely obese sleep apnea may get more complicated with hypoventilation. Hypoventilation is accumulation of toxic levels of carbon dioxide (the gas we breathe out) in the blood, due to inadequate breathing. Losing weight would be the only permanent safe and healthy solution to sleep apnea. Reason #5 to lose weight
Urinary Incontinence:- This is involuntary release of urine. Being overweight can contribute to urinary incontinence. A heavy abdomen due to body fat deposit may cause valve of urinary bladder to be weakened. The weight also exerts pressure on the urinary bladder, trying to push urine out. This results to leakage of urine when coughing, sneezing or laughing. This is because of a slight relaxation of the bladder valve that normally will not result to leakage. It can even result to bed wetting at night. This particular problem can be a very effective motivator to lose weight. Reason #6 to lose weight Varicose veins:- Also known as Venous Stratis Disease. The leg and thigh muscles assist the heart in blood circulation just like most large muscles in the body. They are involved in pumping blood against gravity back to the heart with the help of valves that close to avoid a backward flow. Pressure as a result of a large abdomen may increase the work load on the valves eventually causing damage. Damaged valves then allow for blood to back up, due to gravity, causing high pressure in these veins leading to swelling, thickening of skin and skin ulcers. Reason #7 to lose weight High Blood Pressure:- The BMI (Body Mass Index) and age together are the strongest indicator of risk of hypertension or high blood pressure. At least a third of hypertension is related to obesity. Reason #8 to lose weight
Other Diseases:- Other diseases which MAY occur as a result of being overweight include;
- Gout
- Coronary heart disease
- Lower back pains
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Gall stones
- Pregnancy disorders such as
- Neural tube defect,
- Prenatal mortality,
- Maternal hypertension,
- Gestational diabetes etc.
- Impaired immune response
- Liver disease
- Pancreatitis
- Bad body smell
- Depression
Research shows that even modest weight loss of even 10 pound for the overweight significantly reduces the risk of developing these diseases. Weight loss is in fact a challenge taken by many every year. Unfortunately many fail in this healthy endeavor. And all because of one thing; they lack proper information on effective weight loss. Effective weight loss is permanent, and a permanent weight loss depends fundamentally on four factors. These four are what we at Health-eMark call the ‘Top 4 Reasons for Weight Loss Failure’.