Help your healthy diet survive the eating season
With Thanksgiving comes the official opening of The Eating Season. From holiday parties to family gatherings, office goodies to chocolate-covered Christmas presents, temptation is everywhere. (more…)
diet news, parenting tips, teenage weight loss, d…
diet news, parenting tips, teenage weight loss, diet, child obesity, teen diet, teen weight loss, teens, overweight teen, overweight child, exercise, fitness, teen fitnessCurrent Weight Loss News Every manufacturer of high-carb food products insists that low-carb dieters can eat their products Every industry or company that manufactures high-carbohydrate foods insists that their own (more…)
Dieting Preparation — The Impact of Sleep & Stress
Dieting PreparationThe Impact of Sleep and StressWhen you have started a diet in the past, how much sincere and attentive focus did you give to preparing for your diet? Isn’t it true that usually you are getting the food together a particular diet requires,… (more…)
Fish, Soy Oil Quickly Cut Heart Attack Risk (Healthday)
For older men and women, a dose of fish or soy oil a day could help keep the cardiologist away. (more…)
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Teen Diet Online Are you a concerned parent of an overweight teen? Are you tired of watching your teenage son or daughter struggle with weight? If so, hereI Want to Help My.. (more…)
Are You Ready To Lose Weight?
I know, I know. What a crazy question!
Considering that we’ve all tried so many diets until we can give calorie counts in our sleep - where do I get off asking a question like that?
But bear with me please. This may actually get you closer to your weight loss goals than you think!
We’ve heard it a million times but it’s true:
Losing weight permanently is not just a quick fix.
It’s not taking a magic pill and waking up the next morning with a body fat count of 10%. It’s not reading the latest diet-book-of-the-week and ‘poof!’ you’re a size 6. It’s not getting into ‘the zone’ for half a day and all your weight troubles disappear.
But you know that right? We all know that!
But if we know that why do we jump from diet to diet to diet? From weight loss plan to weight loss plan?
Why do we keep trying the latest way to lose weight? Why do we get discouraged so easily? Why do we give up and think it’s just not possible?
Here’s the truth: Losing weight is a life change, plain and simple.
Funny how we cut ourselves some slack with other life changes like moving or getting married or having a baby, but not with losing weight! Why not?
Are all those infomercials promising fast, easy weight loss getting to us? Are the constant images of thin models and size 0 actresses making us think it’s easy?
I don’t know what it is but it seems that the first thing we have to do when deciding to lose weight is ask ourselves if we’re really ready for that kind of life change.
Are you ready to change your eating and exercise habits for good? Are you willing to move permanently towards a healthier way of life?
We also have to realize that letting go of extra weight requires letting go of other things as well. Like the way we might do things, or the way we think about food and eating. It requires us to be open to change, to be ready to see what works and what doesn’t.
So before we choose a method of losing weight, we should decide if we’re truly READY to lose weight or not.
Key point: It’s ok, if you’re not!
For one reason or another you might not be ready yet for a change in your lifestyle - that’s ok. Accept yourself and wait until you are truly ready.
BUT if you are ready, if you are determined to lose weight WHATEVER it takes, if you’re open to the kind of life changes losing weight will require—then look out baby. Here you come!
Because when you decide that you’re truly ready to lose weight, nothing will stop you!K. O'Neill is a contributing writer to <a target="_new" href="http://www.freetobethin.com">Diet and Weight Loss Reviews</a> .
For more free weight loss tips and diet reviews, visit <a target="_new" href="http://www.freetobethin.com">http://www.freetobethin.com.</a> (more…)
The Perfect Diet
The Perfect Diet
By Stan Dyer
We are so fortunate in this country to have so much abundance. Foreign visitors are awed by the availability of goods in America, and especially by the availability of food. With some pocket change, a person can find something to eat around almost any street corner. Along with the abundance often comes excess baggage in the form of increased body weight that soon has many of us searching for a weight loss plan, and the perfect diet. Yet, the perfect diet may be more elusive than it seems. Not every fad, idea or diet plan works equally well for everyone. In the end, the perfect diet is any balanced diet that is part of an overall health plan, and, most of all, is perfect for you.
People come in many different shapes and sizes. Variety is good. We should celebrate the differences, but instead we strive for or wish for some unrealistic image of perfection. A peculiar paradox arises out of this where people striving for healthy perfection actually engage in unhealthy diets and exercise programs. It took years to put on the weight, but our minds want us to believe we can shed the weight in a matter of weeks. It’s not going to happen. The first part of your perfect diet should be to accept your heredity and strive to make the best of it. Instead of trying to be perfect, try to be a perfect you. Once you have accepted yourself, start out slowly.
No matter what path you decide your perfect diet should take, a slow start is the best start. People who start by starving themselves deprive their bodies of important nutrients, people who eat too much of one food may damage their bodies just as much, and people who try to do too much too soon tend to become discouraged and quit. You can skip all of that and just make small changes, gradually evolving and developing. Try to develop a program around The Six Points.
The Six Points are:
1. Cardiovascular exercise
2. Weight Training
3. Stretching and Flexibility
4. Dietary Changes
5. Attitude Adjustment
6. Rest and Sleep
Cardiovascular exercise can be anything that raises your heart rate and respiration, keeping them raised for a minimum of 20 minutes. You only really need to do this three time a week to achieve benefits, and it is OK if you have to work up to the minimum level. The important thing is to make it a part of your lifelong routine.
Weight training is any isometric or isotonic exercise that challenges your muscles to the point of fatigue. Building muscle will increase metabolism, increase bone mass, decrease risk of injury, and make you feel better. You don’t even need weights to weight train. The weight of your body can provide effective resistance. Weight train at least three times a week, varying the body parts worked.
Stretching and Flexibility exercises help maintain posture, help reduce risk of injury, and help us to relax. Although these exercises need to be done on a regular basis, they are also great for filling those times when you want to do something, but just don’t feel like doing anything at all. Always begin slowly with these exercises to avoid strains, pulls and tears, but regular attention to stretching and flexibility will produce rewards.
The key to Dietary Changes is variety. When you research deeply enough, you discover that most diets really come down to the same thing: variety. A general recommendation is that the diet be 60% complex carbohydrate, about 30% monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fat, and around 15% protein.
Our bodies run on carbohydrates, and the complex carbohydrates are the best because they digest more slowly, give us more fiber, and tend to make us fill “full” sooner. We need the fat in our diets to help us absorb vitamins and to maintain body function. The RDA for protein is .8 grams per kilogram of body weight, but not more than 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight. An easy way to arrive at an “about” figure is to divide your weight in lbs. by two. The number you arrive at won’t be perfect, but it will easily put you within the range at the higher end. Many people don’t realize that eating too much protein can damage the liver and kidneys and should be avoided in most cases. Also, any healthy diet should include drinking plenty of water and fluids. The body is around 95% water, and the fluids serve a variety of important functions in the body.
The final two points of the Six Points are Attitude Adjustment and Rest. Try to find ways to feel good about yourself, your life, and who you are. The mental aspect of overall health is key and often overlooked. When we struggle through the day, every day becomes a struggle. If we find ways to be happy and enjoy life, the burden is lifted. Sleep is an important part of this. Getting enough sleep allows our bodies the opportunity to repair, and our minds the opportunity to rejuvenate.
Use these principles and design your own health plan. You do not need to do everything everyday, but you should try to incorporate as many points as you can, altering and varying the days of the week to keep things interesting. Many people even take one day just to do nothing. Whatever you do and however you decide to do it, just remember to stick with it. A consistent, varied routine should produce favorable results over time.
No one can promise you that this, or any other diet, will be perfect for anyone. You will find, however, that the principles outlined here are found in almost every honest health plan. Be sure to consult your physician before beginning any diet, health or exercise program, and be patient with yourself and your results. In the end, you will discover that the perfect diet is the one that you have made perfect for yourself.Stan Dyer is a freelance writer working out of Arvada, Co. A graduate of Indiana University, Stan has studied Linguistics, American History, Health, Nutrition, and Exercise. Stan has been a vegetarian for over 15 years and has co-authored two vegetarian cookbooks. Stan can write intelligently on just about any subject, and enjoys sharing his ideas, views and opinions with anyone.
All articles by Stan Dyer are the property of Stan Dyer and may not be used without the author's consent. All material is guaranteed original unless otherwise noted within the text. Any resemblance of this author's works to any other author's works are purely coincidental. (more…)