6 Steps to Ending Bad Eating Habits

Whether quitting your addiction to snacking, too much sugar, or quitting smoking it  starts with knowing what you want, checking obstacles then handling them in advance. Follow these six steps and you'll more easily reach your goals.

A client wrote, "Help me! I thought I was finally getting a handle on my weight issue but the sugar is killing me. I had an awful day. I won't even tell you what I ate today because it is just so unbelievable. All I will say is that 90% of my food today consisted of sugar! I really, really need some help getting past these cravings. I am no doubt a sugar addict. If I could get past this there is no doubt that I will reach my goal."

 

 If you see a little of yourself in this message, you're not alone. Many describe themselves as sugar addicts. They believe if it were only for that one thing, then they could reach their weight loss goals. If you believe only one thing stands in your way of losing weight, consider this: What if that one thing (an  addiction to sugar for instance) were gone? Do you really believe, "If I could get past this, there is no doubt that I will reach my goal," or is it an easy excuse to stay stuck?

If I told you I could show you a way to stop craving sugar, would you want me to show you how?

Think about that for a moment. Close your eyes and really think it through. You've said if only you didn't crave sugar, then you could lose weight, but is that really true for you? Ask yourself these questions:

Would you eat differently, and if so how?

Would you act differently, and if so how?

What else would change, and what would stay the same?

What would you lose?

What would you gain?

Until you know what you want, know you can achieve it, and know what else will change (i.e. how your life may be different), you can't discover any obstacles that first must be considered. For instance, you may want to stop eating anything after 7 PM yet your husband doesn't come home from work until 8 and he wants you to join him for dinner. That's an obstacle.

If you've got a habit of watching your favorite TV show with a bowl of ice cream, then breaking that habit is another obstacle.

 

If you don't work out ways to overcome your obstacles perhaps through discussion and compromise with your husband, or habit breaking exercises for your ice cream habit, there's bound to be a problem. Just saying you're not going to do something any mroe rarely works. Instead determine what might stand in the way of achieving your goals, find a way around them, and you're much more likely to actually achieve those goals once and for all. 

The statement, "if this one thing were handled, then everything else would fall into place" is an "If Then" statement and gets people into trouble. They want a fairy godmother to make it all better. A strong belief that one single thing such as, "eating sugar is my problem," sets you up to fail, especially if you really like eating sugary foods.

 

Getting a handle on your cravings is not an all-or-nothing proposition. You must leave room for occasional deviations. It's not the occasional side trip that causes weight trouble, it's the road we usually travel.

In NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) a good starting point is the exercise called Establishing a Well Formed Outcome. "Well formed" means it meets all criteria of a well thought-out end result.

NLP: How to Create a Well Formed Outcome & Get What You Want

Here are the steps to creating a well formed outcome:

1) State what you want (not what you do not want). "I want to weigh 135 pounds."

2) Determine whether you can achieve it (do you believe it is possible?).

3) What resources do you have and what do you need (time, money, gear, clothes, equipment, coaching, whatever).

4) Check whether anyone else is involved and any potential obstacles that may come up regarding others. Think of everyone involved in your day-to-day life.

5) Picture yourself "as if" you've obtained what you say you want and see if that picture fits. Do you like what you see?

6) Put together a plan of action for the achievement of your outcome.

While it may seem like a lot of effort simply to decide what you really want, going through these steps at the beginning helps you find potential obstacles which previously stopped you from moving forward. For example, if you decide you want to join a gym and start exercising every day but you've forgotten you don't even own a car and just lost your job, that exercise plan might not work out right now. If you did join a gym, you'd end up not going and then you'd think you'd failed, yet it was the plan that failed, not you. You didn't think it through.

A better plan in this instance may be doing exercises at home, or within walking distance (or simply walking for exercise). Later, when you do have transportation, you can rethink the plan and perhaps join a gym then. There are always options.

It's better to look at what you want from every angle, then put together a plan you know can and will work. Then when you know what you want, you'll also know you can make it happen and begin by taking that first step toward making it a reality.

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Does Water Help You Lose Weight - Find Out How

Does the water help you lose weight?

Many of us have heard the popular theory that says you should drink water to lose weight, the belief that drinking water helps suppress your appetite. But can an extra one or two glasses of H2O really do that or even help you shed pounds? It sounds too good to be true.

First, let's have an idea of the role that water plays in our body. Water makes up close to 70% of our body, and our organs contain an even higher percentage of water. The liver, for example, is nearly 95% composed of water.

 

The experts have answered your question, Does water help you lose weight. Well, water doesn't directly affects weight loss, however, water consumption directly correlates with weight loss. As in: Water does not have any magical property that burns fat, but it definitely can help you with your weight-loss efforts.

Think of a well-tuned mechanism like a clock or a car engine. It cannot run effectively without lubrication, the same analogy can be applied to our human body, water is the ideal lubrication to keep it working properly. So, does drinking water help you lose weight? First, you should understand how water can be used to achieve good health and effective weight loss.

First off, staying hydrated could help you avoid overeating, A lot of people confuse thirst for hunger so they tend to eat rather than drink water. So having a glass of water before a midday snack is not a bad idea if you want to make sure your bites are caused by hunger not hydration.

Also, if your body doesn't get enough water, it sees this as a threat to its survival and holds on to what it has. It is called Water Retention that causes water weight gain and bloating, so by getting a steady external supply of water that water retention in your waist, face and ankles are released because there is no longer a reason for your body to store it.

Of course, drinking water also means you're not drinking anything else, such as sugary, caloric beverages or even potentially diet coke. Caffeine, commonly found in tea, coffee and coke act as diuretics which drives water out of the body and causes even more dehydration. The same goes for alcohol.

Does drinking water help you lose weight, still asking?

Do you remember earlier that your liver is nearly 95% water? The liver breaks down toxins and removes them from your system, it also stores fat-soluble vitamins. And most importantly to answer your question "Does drinking water help you lose weight", it has a huge role in carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism. The liver is responsible for breaking down fatty acids and transporting them to the blood to be metabolized.

So does drinking water help you lose weight? Water has numerous health benefits and is a great accessory for weight loss, Drinking enough water and staying properly hydrated is part of healthy weight-loss diet.

Source:My Hawwa / Ezine

Five Reasons Why Energy Drinks Are the Worst Focus and Energy Supplements

The energy drink business is booming. This extremely lucrative industry features catchy names, colorful cans, extreme advertisements and a variety of bold flavors. Quickly replacing coffee as the go-to drink of choice for teenagers, college students and young adults, these drinks promise hours of improved focus and enhanced energy. However, they provide those effects by using extremely high doses of caffeine and filling them with sugar - both of which can have very negative ramifications to your health. Plus, caffeine and sugar have both been proven to work for a limited period of time, before wearing off and causing crashes and fatigue, which is contrary to the reason you consumed the drink in the first place! Here are five reasons why energy drinks are the worst focus and energy supplement:

Too Much Caffeine
According to research done by the Mayo Clinic, the average human adult should only ingest a maximum of 300-400 milligrams of caffeine per day. Cola beverages have about 40 mg of caffeine per can, and your typical cup of coffee has about 90-150 mg of caffeine. Your average energy drink, however, has over 150 mg of caffeine PER CAN, with some having as much as 240 milligrams of caffeine in a 16 ounce can! Consuming two cans of energy drinks is roughly the equivalent of drinking 5-7 cups of coffee, which exceeds the recommended daily limit of 400 mg of caffeine.

So Sugary
Another reason why energy drinks are bad for focus and energy is because of all the added sugar included to hide the bitter taste of the caffeine. The World Health Organization recommends that adults should only have 25-40 grams of sugar per day maximum, and those sugar grams should be absorbed from natural sources like fruit. An average energy drink has 150-250 of calories from sugar. Research shows that 1 gram of sugar is roughly 4 calories, which means that a typical energy drink can has almost your entire daily maximum sugar intake. That's equivalent to 10 teaspoons of sugar!

Don't Even Work
The Department of Exercise Science at Creighton University decided to test the claims of the popular energy drink Red Bull, seeing how it worked to enhance athletic performance. This randomized, double-blind, crossover study of seventeen college-aged men yielded results that suggested there was no improvement or enhancement of their athletic performance. A second double-blind, randomized crossover study by the Utah State University also determined that caffeine-based drinks did NOT enhance the performance of 20 NCAA football players who participated in the experiment.

Sleep Slips Away
Studies have shown that regular energy drink consumption can disrupt sleep patterns and cause insomnia. The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research analyzed the connection between their use and sleep problems among service members. They found that the 44% of deployed service members who regularly drank at least one energy drink per day were more likely to sleep less than 4 hours per night, as well as be more likely to experience stress, fatigue and depression. The service members felt they needed to compensate for this fatigue by increasing consumption, which caused a vicious cycle of caffeine abuse because of the harsh effects of caffeine withdrawal.

They're Health Supplements, NOT Beverages
Energy drinks are not even beverages as we think of them. They are technically defined as dietary supplements, like vitamins, instead of an actual drink, allowing for less regulation on the industry. They were originally intended to be used as a health supplement, with regimented use similar to other focus and energy supplements and vitamins. However, marketing and advertising companies quickly realized the potential to market to teenager and young adult males who were steering away from traditional soda beverages. They are intended to provide an increase in focus and energy, not be a refreshing beverage to quench thirst.

Energy drinks are an extremely unsustainable way to improve focus and energy, and are not conducive to a healthy lifestyle. They have lots of calories that negate the benefits of exercise, contain extremely high doses of caffeine that can cause health problems, and as research has shown, really don't even work as intended. Many students, athletes and service members have switched to using cognitive supplements to increase their focus and energy. Cognitive supplements are traditional dietary supplements, either in pill or capsule form, that combine natural herbs and vitamins to achieve very powerful improvements in focus, energy and mental performance, without using caffeine or sugar. These energy drink replacements are quickly catching on with mainstream consumers because they provide the positive effects with no calories, negative side effects, or caffeine withdrawal symptoms. If you a focus and energy product consumer, you may want to consider substituting your beverage for a natural cognitive supplement.

Does Exercise Beat Stress?

Exercise not only shapes our bodies, it also shapes our minds. With the ability to calm, elevate mood and counter anxiety and depression, exercise is a valuable tool for combating stress. But how does it work?

Chemical Reactions

One of the most well-known ways that exercise provides mental benefit is through chemical reactions brought about in the brain. During exercise, the body's stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, are reduced, while endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, are stimulated. Endorphins have also been associated with providing a sense of euphoria, but according to the review article, "The Antidepressive Effects of Exercise," published in Sports Medicine, it is unclear if the endorphins are directly responsible for these feelings or if they simply block pain while allowing the pleasure chemicals, dopamine and serotonin, to be more apparent.

Brain Reconstruction and Resilience

Currently, the National Institutes of Mental Health are studying the effects of exercise on mice and results suggest that regular physical activity can actually reshape the brain circuitry involved with emotional processing while protecting against stress. Other studies, published in The Journal of Neuroscience and Behavioral Neuroscience, have found that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), involved in protecting and producing neurons, was higher in active mice than in those who were sedentary. Additionally, the active mice developed new neurons that appeared to be more resilient; when faced with stress, they displayed more controlled reactions than the inactive mice.

Total Body Communication

The American Psychological Association describes the benefits of exercise as total body communication, "Biologically, exercise seems to give the body a chance to practice dealing with stress. It forces the body's physiological systems -- all of which are involved in the stress response -- to communicate much more closely than usual...And all of these are controlled by the central and sympathetic nervous systems, which also must communicate with each other. This workout of the body's communication system may be the true value of exercise..." By regularly activating these communication pathways, the better the body becomes at handling stress. The less often this happens, the less efficient the body is with coping.

Improved Overall Well Being

By performing regular physical activity, the body typically becomes healthier and stronger which can reduce stress associated with other health issues that may be worsened, or brought on, by inactivity. Lost work and lost wages, doctor's visits, and expensive medications can lead to worry, insomnia, and irritability. According to Harvard University Health Publications, during the stress response, mind and body can amplify each other's distress signals, creating a vicious cycle.

Although they can work against each other, the mind and body are also capable of working together to provide tremendous benefits. Regular exercise provides improved health, better sleep, and more energy. This can lead to improved self-confidence and a sense of command over body and life, which can help an individual feel more equipped and confident when faced with stress.

Whether it's a needed escape, meditation or playtime, exercise can provide a way to get away from it all, either in solitude or with friends or family. Harvard University Health Publications state, "...when your body is busy, your mind will be distracted from the worries of daily life and will be free to think creatively."

Source Many Seay/ Fit Day

Sorting Nutrition Fact from Fiction with a Cardiologist

Low-fat, fat-free, sugar-free, low-carb, good carbs, trans-fat, paleo, gluten, kale, quinoa, juicing, and coconut oil are just a few of the many dietary trends and buzzwords we hear while trying to make sound nutritional decisions. It seems like every day a new food is made a scapegoat for weight gain, high cholesterol, diabetes, or even autism, while a new food is touted as the next “super-food” with the power to lower blood pressure, aid weight loss or build muscle. Additionally, foods such as eggs or red wine are alternatively promoted as heart-healthy or contributory to high cholesterol, depending on who you ask. Even the most discerning consumer can have a difficult time separating nutritional fact from fiction. What does a cardiologist have to say about what we should be eating?

Consider the much vilified egg. For years, conventional wisdom was that eggs were high in cholesterol and should be avoided. However, new research shows that eating one egg per day, including the yolk, is safe for your heart. The American Heart Association’s advice for a heart healthy diet is simple: Eat a variety of foods. Enjoy an egg with fruit and foods rich in protein, such as cheese, and vitamin C, like spinach. Neither is red meat the scoundrel it has been made out to be. Red meat is an excellent source of protein and saturated fats, and is a healthy component of a diet that also includes fish and chicken.

 Additionally, any regimen approved by a cardiologist will involve exercise. After all, our ancestors managed to live long, productive lives while eating a hearty diet of farm-fresh butter, eggs, cheese, red meat, bread, and even our beloved bacon. In fact, the Amish eat this way today, and obesity among them is a fraction of the rest of the population. Exercise is what sets the Amish, and our ancestors, apart from the rest of us. For thousands of years, humans foraged for food, hunted, or grew crops. As the world became mechanized and, eventually, digitalized, the amount of physical activity required for work and even survival declined drastically. Today, chasing your next meal is an option, not a requirement. The American Heart Association recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week.
Finally, any cardiologist worth his salt would recommend keeping the amount of processed foods consumed to a minimum. Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock famously gained 25 pounds over 30 days in the name of science in order to assess the toll a fast-food only diet took on his body for his award-winning documentary, “Super Size Me.” Our ancestors might not have eaten fancy grains like quinoa, but they certainly did not eat anything out of a box engineered to withstand years in a bomb shelter, either. Try sticking to food items with an expiration date sometime in the next few weeks. Better yet, try buying fruits and vegetables from the farmers market, or using lemons and limes to flavor your dishes. Save room for dessert, too, because ice cream, in moderation, can be part of a heart-healthy diet.

Make smart decisions about what you eat. Learn more about proper nutrition from a trusted cardiologist Metairie LA. Here
  

Are You Feeling Sick? Why Getting Into Good Shape Is Essential!

It may seem impossible to accomplish your exercise goal. But you can make severe exercise upgrades considerably more effortlessly than you believe. All that you should do is develop changes in lifestyle that may boost total physical fitness levels and help you reach your targets.

If you're just starting with workout, begin slow. Don't jump in brain initial and then try to operate several kilometers without the need of worked out well before. It is possible to end up injuring on your own and carrying out more damage than good. Instead start with a brief stroll and gradually boost the duration along with the speed. Before you know it you'll be working 5 miles without any problems.

 

Tend not to let on your own be postpone with the weather conditions. The climate in no alibi not to determine. In the event you imply to run outside the house and also you get that it is raining, work close to that. You are able to still get out and go walking in the light-weight drizzle. In case the weather is horrible, obtain an option within.

For healthy fitness remaining hydrated is extremely important. The advantages of obtaining a lot of drinking water do not stop in the club entrance, though. Aside from powering an exerciser via a challenging workout, a plentiful intake of water enhances general health and supports in digestive system each day. Overall moisture is yet another component of a plan for all round health and fitness.

An excellent suggestion to assist you lose fat is usually to exercise moderately. A number of people create the oversight of proceeding too hard at the beginning. They'll do over two hours of cardio exercise in a single period and fairly in the near future they'll burn off their selves out. It's best to select an even more moderate exercise routine.

You could be watching television, but that doesn't mean you will need to get rid of energy in the direction of your weight decrease objective. Attempt to walk set up on commercial breaks. You can even do simple strength training exercises with hand weights while you take a seat on the chair or floor. There's usually ways to press far more exercising into the day.

If you like watching tv, try out incorporating just a little exercise routine to the TV observing. Watching Television while hitting the gym may help you neglect that you are currently training, which will increase the length of your exercise routine. Try using television shows as a timer. Once you learn which a show goes for thirty minutes, explain to oneself that you simply works out for two shows.

A great health and fitness tip is always to add up reps in reverse. This can assist you in doing a lot more reps due to the fact if you strategy the end of any set, you will not be thinking about the amount of repetitions you have accomplished. As an alternative, you will certainly be thinking of just how many you possess remaining, which can help you squash out those final few reps.

Before you start your regular workout, warm up your brain. It is merely as essential to get your central nervous system completely ready for exercise, since it is to put together your muscle mass. Your central nervous system tells your own muscles when you should contract and using this method you will get more efficient exercise.

 

 

For those who have a old tree in your residence and are thinking about possessing a support get rid of it for you, you must reconsider. When you reduce up the plant yourself with the axe or perhaps a chainsaw, after which cut the logs to fire wood with the axe, you are going to give yourself a lot of wonderful workout routines and reduce your gas bill as well!

If you realise oneself having an injuries on a single aspect of your body, continue to work out with all the other to discover advantages both for. The body will be sending muscle development supplies to each side, even when merely one is operating. You will observe less of a build on the hurt area, but a obtain is a get!

An excellent health and fitness suggestion is to start off performing cable tv crossovers. Cord crossovers are an easy way to develop the interior pectoral muscle tissues. Even though it isn't the very best exercising to tack on muscle, it's continue to a pleasurable exercise that can be a great add-on right at the end of your own torso exercise routine.

To cycling more proficiently, workout by biking making use of one particular lower leg. This procedure helps you figure out how to greatest spread the task across your leg muscle tissue if you make you to take into account tugging your lower body support on the stroke's bottom part. Have each toes shut in to the pedals, but simply allow one particular remain static. The very best method is half an hour every lower-leg, then five minutes of both legs.

Although boosting your health and fitness will take a lot of operate, you can do it! By increasing your level of fitness, you do not only boost your appearance, you also improve your overall health and well being. Getting fit and keeping yourself that way can make lifestyle much easier.

Source Nichole Shedden / Go 

5 Things You Should Know If You Want To Get A Flat Stomach

The reason why you have excess belly fat on your body is due to the fact that the amount of calories that you are consuming is greater in number than the number of calories that you are burning. You have to turn this the other way round if you want to get a flat stomach. In other words, increase the number of calories burnt than have been consumed. Here are 5 top tips to help you get a flat belly.

 

1. Build Muscle.

Muscles burn more calories, even while they are at rest. Lifting weights or resistance training helps to build and tone muscle but it will not turn you into a bulky bodybuilder. Body builders use a very particular exercise regimen and usually take muscle enhancing supplements to get their bulky body shape. Your resistance training routine to get a flat stomach should focus on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest.

2. Eat Less, But Frequently.

According to nutrition experts, consuming around five smaller and healthy meals everyday is a lot more effective to burn calories. This is because, every time you eat, your digestive system will burn food and in the process calories will also be burnt.

3. Cardio Workout.

You do need to include some cardiovascular activity to increase your heart rate, condition your lungs and stay healthy. But if you spend hours on the treadmill or stationery bike at the same continual pace, it is not going help you get a flat stomach so that those abs muscles start to showing. To burn fat but to get the maximum results from your cardio exercises, use interval training where you alternate between high intensity exercise with low intensity recovery periods.

4. Eat Foods That Help You To Burn Fat.

There are certain foods that do help you to burn fat. Foods like spinach, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, watermelon, berries and apples are high in water and fibre but low in calories. Cruciferous vegetables, like brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, turnips and watercress actually contain nutrients that help fight elements that cause the body to deposit fat in the stomach area..

5. Drink More Water.

When you want to get a flat stomach, what you drink is just as important as what you eat. Water has no preservatives, no sodium, and no calories. You can drink plenty of water without adding to your caloric intake. If you feel hungry, try drinking a glass of water first because the sensation of hunger and thirst are very similar. Drinking water can help you to feel fewer hunger pangs, so you'll eat less and that will help you to get a flat stomach more easily.

Do you want to learn more ways to lose weight and get fit? Are you confused about healthy eating? Do you want to know the best workout techniques to get the results you want?

Source By Jon Allo  / Ezine