Archive for February, 2008

Stubborn Weight Loss?

Nobody would argue that obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States–one look around confirms that. Unfortunately, many people try to lose weight–and when it doesn’t work, they think they’ve failed. In addition to the resulting physical and health issues, repeated diet failures take a heavy emotional toll, leaving many feeling weak, guilty, ashamed and humiliated. But it’s not their fault!

When diets fail, we usually blame the person for a lack of self-control, but the reality is, their body chemistry has gone awry. Science has proven our brains and body chemistry control our appetite. Certain eating patterns can alter those chemicals and create an unconscious, internal process that may even lead to a hidden addiction to food.

There are several causes of appetite disorder but each relates to an imbalance of the brain chemicals that control eating. One of the most potent causes involves excessive neuropeptide Y (a chain of amino acids), which is triggered by skipping meals. As it builds up, it forces people to binge. Our bodies are remarkable machines. When food isn’t coming in regular intervals, your body produces chemicals that make you eat more, so you’ll have enough food–just in case.

Appetite disorder is also caused by stress and a lack of serotonin. We learn, sometimes very early in life, that eating specific foods in certain quantities brings relief from stress and makes us feel better. No wonder people become addicted!

So how do we go about breaking the cycle? The first step is to diagnose the specific profile. 7 chemical imbalances can cause appetite to be disordered, and unless you know which ones affect you, you could be making the wrong changes.

The 2nd step is never skip a meal– especially breakfast. The goal is to eat regularly throughout the day and reprogram the body to trust we’ll feed it. This alone can naturally reduce appetite by a third!

Another way to repair body chemistry involves finding new ways to self-soothe so that we won’t turn to food when we feel bad or stressed. Admittedly harder than not skipping meals, this fix takes re-training since food has become a friend to us. It’s possible to learn a way to listen to your feelings so that they don’t hurt and so that you aren’t triggered to eat.

Once an appetite disorder is balanced, almost any diet can work. The key is to choose one that’s a good match for your body chemistry and to adapt it to fit your recovery needs. The bottom line is that your ability to stay on a diet depends on staying in recovery from your appetite disorder.

The above information has been abstracted from my book, How to Make Almost Any Diet Work, Repair Your Appetite Disorder and Finally Lose Weight. As a therapist with nearly 40 years experience, I’ve done extensive research on food addiction and appetite disorder, and now I lead one of the most effective programs available anywhere for the repair of appetite disorder.

About the author: Anne Katherine is a respected therapist who specializes in treating appetite disorder, food addiction, and binge eating. Take a quick questionnaire and find out about her 4-phase, 90-day SOAR program to balance appetite chemicals at http://www.annekatherine.org
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

Get Beautiful Skin by Eating Right Food

Everybody wants to have clear, healthy glowing skin. You can achieve this by gathering the following ingredients, and following the simple steps below. It’s simple and takes little time. In order to get the right skin, it is important to look at the part played by nutrition in skin care. Healthy skin happens when we eat good foods, exercise regularly, minimize stress and protect our skin from the harsh environment.

Tips

Drink a lot of water: Just by hydrating your body, you will notice quick improvements in the quality of your skin. Because the body uses water you drink first, if you’re not getting enough, the skin may not ever get any extra. By increasing your water intake to at least 8-10 glasses each day, you’ll notice your skin become more plump, supple, healthy and young looking.

Green Smoothies: Green smoothies are amazing skin food. Green smoothies come loaded with antioxidants, minerals, vitamins and other micro-nutrients that your skin requires to be healthy and look young.

Protect your skin from the elements. If you spend time outdoors, particularly skiing, add a sunscreen to your regimen. In the winter, brisk winds add to the damage from the elements. Your body may not feel warm, but you can still get sunburn. Studies show that we receive more ultraviolet rays in the winter than was previously thought.

Eat Yoghurt: Yogurt is the only dairy product that is good for your skin. During the fermentation process the probiotic bacteria make it easily digestible. The probiotic bacteria in yogurt are also very important for healthy, radiant skin because they improve the immune system and kill bacteria that cause acne and other skin problems.

Eat Fruits for Breakfast: Did you know that while you sleep your body is detoxifying and cleansing out the waste material from previous day? This is very important for healthy skin as these toxins and waste material can cause acne and other skin problems.

Diet

Two liters of water a day should be drunk this helps keep the skin hydrated and flush away toxins from the body

Eat vegetables & Fruit

Eat 2 – 3 portions of vegetables for lots of nutrients for the skin,

The best ones are below, but really any vegetable or fruit is good and in terms of vegetables try and eat them raw if you can.

Sweet potatoes tomatoes and spinach.

Protection

Cleansing: Your skin requires proper cleansing to keep it properly toned and clean. Cleansing removes the dust and stress from your face by cleaning the pores and circulating the blood supply. Use a gentle cleansing agent. Face washes are specially prepared to be effective at cleansing your skin gently and tenderly. For your body use a good mild and moisturizing soap.

Moisturizing: It is essential to use good moisturizers since the UV rays and pollution dries your skin thoroughly and makes it lifeless. There is a range of moisturizers available in the market to suit your skin type but what is important here is to pick the right one with the right components in it..

Sunscreens: With the rise in pollution level and the intensity of the ultraviolet rays it is very essential to use sunscreens during daytime to protect your skin form any kind of damage and premature wrinkles even if you are at home because these rays come in through the windows and there is no running away from it

Facials: Facial is also a vital step towards beautiful skin. Facial thoroughly cleanse your face and remove the top dead layers of the skin resulting into having a beautiful and glowing skin. Facial moisturizers your face effectively and help in faster cell renewal and relaxes the muscle of the face.

About the author: Read about Beauty and Makeup Tips and Natural Herbal Home Remedies. Also read about Vitamins and Minerals
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

Set Yourself Up for Success and Weight Loss

People everywhere are searching for a way to lose weight fast. Unfortunately there is no magic potion that will accomplish this with a simple pill or ten minutes of exercise per day. It can not happen overnight or even over a week. To be successful it should occur slowly and somewhat naturally. You must be prepared to adjust your eating habits and ensure you are getting adequate exercise.

You must keep in mind that you did not gain weight over those short periods therefore you can not expect the body to shed those pounds in that short period. Having said that though, there are some proven ways to help you achieve your weight loss goals relatively quickly and achieve very satisfying results.

Learn more about what these simple yet effective weight loss techniques require and how you can use them to achieve maximum results in the shortest practical period. You must be prepared to set goals. You will never lose weight fast unless you have a specific goal towards it.

Many people tend to jump into a quick exercise routine and a new diet without a weight loss plan or a goal. This is simply a recipe for failure and acceptance of the condition. How can you possibly reach your goal if you don’t even know what the goal is? It is essential to success that the very first step towards losing weight is to determine a goal and a vision.

Do some research and some soul searching. Which dieting system and exercise routine will fit your needs? Many different approaches to diet can be successful. Many videos are available to guide you through an exercise routine that will work the appropriate muscles. Simply making use of these videos will provide encouragement and goals. The videos encourage and stimulate you to complete a workout that will be complete.

Always keep in your mind that you only get one body and you must learn to satisfy the needs to keep it healthy. In order to lose weight fast some people tend to jump from post to pillar. Through misguided or incomplete actions may find themselves thrown into an even unhealthier state due because they have not developed a systematic procedure conforming to a routine recommended by an expert in the field. As stated previously, before you start your weight loss program it is extremely important to understand your plan and goals. Be sure your plan is safe and healthy and follows a system recommended by experienced persons.

Don’t give it up. Some people do not see any weight loss results within the first couple of months they start to train. There may be a lag initially and in fact it is quite normal to experience short term pauses in weight loss with even the most successful programs.

Always keep in mind that each body is different and it is not necessary that you produce the same weight loss results as someone else may have experienced. This can lead to a depressed attitude and defeat in the mind. You must maintain a positive attitude. This is important in any facet of your life.

A positive attitude may well be the very first thing you need to achieve in order to lose weight. Learn to concentrate on the workout and think positive results. This works for anything you want to achieve. Once you are getting it right you will see positive weight loss results. So what might be the real weight loss secret? My money says getting a good plan developed and gets you into a positive state of mind. Visualize a time in the future where you have lost some of that weight.

This will encourage you to move forward. Set a goal; get your mind to accept the fact that you are going to meet that goal. Go for it and succeed.

About the author: Tom Henricks is a retired utility worker and charter fisherman from The Canadian of Shore of Lake Erie. For more information about Weight Loss please visit Lose Weight Quickly To lose weight and get 6 pack abs please visit Flat belly and 6 Pack Abs
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

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