Showing posts with label diet recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diet recipes. Show all posts

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Live a Longer and Healthier Life

A Natural Technique To Stop Panic Attacks and General Anxiety Fast!

You should balance your activities with the proper amount of rest. Some of the leading experts in the field of aging now believe that regular exercise along with the proper amount of rest may actually add years to the life span. Results from a number of tests indicate that speed and muscular strength of many of the elderly can be extended.

Leading authorities agree that this new data is going to shatter many of the myths about aging and physical performance. The conclusion now is that the performance and ability of the elderly has long been underestimated, diet, proper sleep and exercise along with rest and relaxation are all important factors in preserving our bodies.

Laughter is one of the best things for your mental and physical state. People are naturally attracted to someone who has a good sense of humour. You can develop a good outlook and a good sense of humour by associating with and surrounding yourself with pleasant happy people.

Recognize that stress is a killer. A life filled with stress can really wreak havoc on your body causing a number of illnesses such as heart attacks, strokes, asthma, gastric problems, menstrual disorders, ulcerative colitis, angina, irritable colon, increased blood pressure, ulcers, headaches, etc.

There are different types of stress such as mental, emotional and physical. Emotional stress seems to take the greatest toll on everyone. All stress is not bad; in fact, life would not be very interesting if it were not met with challenges. However, too much stress, too often with no effective and appropriate outlet, does not allow the body and soul to recuperate. You might review a typical week to see if you can identify things that might be making you anxious or causing you stress. Once identified, stressors can be attacked and eliminated.

Are you a worrier? Chronic worriers don't have more serious problems than others - they just think they do. Many worriers try to cope by trying not to think about their problems, but this just makes things worse. Doctors say that chronic worriers feel less anxious if they actually spend a half-hour a day thinking specifically about their problems.

Get plenty of exercise. People who are physically fit look good and feel good. A good exercise regimen will lengthen your life. Improve your appearance, build self confidence and help delay the aging process.

Remember that you need to do something physical every day. If you don't use your joints, quite simply they'll tighten up with age to create the stooped, bent and worn out appearance we so often associate with old age. Studies have shown that people with arthritis experience less pain if they continue to keep their joints flexible. As one gets older, the bones tend to get brittle which is why it is common for senior citizens to break bones and especially their hips when they fall.

Eating right, getting proper sleep and learning to relax are all very valuable in maintaining a healthy body and mind. And keep in mind that eating healthy foods and avoiding those high in fats, sodium and cholesterol will help to decrease your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and associated problems.

For a healthy diet I recommend The Mediterranean Diet and for anxiety and stress try a natural remedy to prevent anxiety.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

5 Steps to Banish All or Nothing Thinking

All or nothing thinking can negatively affect your weight-loss efforts in ways you don't even realize. For some, the idea of either doing things to "perfection" or not at all may even keep them from losing weight altogether. This article will help you understand the connection between weight-loss difficulties and this mind frame and provide steps on how to lose weight and avoid all or nothing thinking.

Step One: Get a Life (Change)!

The first way to avoid all or nothing thinking is to shake the idea that losing weight is something you do "right" just temporarily and then the work is done. The fact is, most people who successfully lose weight -- and more importantly, keep that weight off -- make healthy, permanent lifestyle changes such as getting regular exercise, consciously practicing portion control and finding ways to prevent emotional eating.
If you look at your weight-loss efforts as something you're only doing "for now," those new, healthy changes won't be permanent. But if you try to do too much too soon, the changes will last only days. Small, gradual changes are what will work. And seeing the big picture -- that little slip-ups don't count, but long-term changes do -- helps keep things in perspective.


Step Two: Give In Now and Then

Severely limiting your food intake or completely cutting out your favorite foods sets you up for a binge. That ever-present sense of deprivation not only makes overeating a risk, it also makes life downright miserable. Temptation becomes much less powerful when you know it is fleeting and can be quelled with less than you think. So, allow yourself a small portion of something "bad" that you really love now and again instead of telling yourself it's off-limits for good. While this can be daunting at first, you will become accustomed to satisfying your craving with a small treat and you'll learn when to say "when" and in turn feel more confident in your weight-loss efforts.

Step Three: Stop Saying the "D Word"

D for diet, that is. Following a strict diet naturally lends itself to giving in to all or nothing thinking: You're either "on your diet" or you've "blown your diet" and if you've done the latter ... well, you might as well quit altogether and eat whatever you want, right? That kind of "black and white" thinking can make your weight-loss efforts much more difficult and may even prevent you from losing weight at all.
Few of us can stick to a diet plan that restricts entire food groups or relies on one type of food -- such as freeze-dried, pre-prepared meals -- as its mainstay. (Honestly, how long do you really think you will be able to eat those for each meal?) Believe me, I've been there: Go on a diet that requires you to eat foods you don't like and you will eventually dread every meal. Find the middle ground. Somewhere between following that overly-strict diet and eating everything you want,
The Mediterranean Diet is not so much a diet as a new way of enjoying every meal you eat. This is the point at which you can be both happy and healthy.

Step Four: Forgive Yourself

So, you decided to follow that "give in" step last night and allow yourself a cookie. But before bed you enjoyed a few more. And then this morning ... you polished off the package for breakfast. Does that mean it’s time to go off the rails the rest of the day just because you blew it this morning? No way!
Not allowing yourself to make mistakes is the worst mistake you can make. Here's some food for thought: All or nothing thinking is a way to let yourself off the hook. Subconsciously you think: "Oh, now I've screwed up. Glad I don't have to bother anymore!" ... for some of us, quitting something just because we didn't do it perfectly is an easy escape route.

There's an old saying: "No matter how far you've gone down the wrong path, it's never too late to turn back." and that is true in every aspect of life. So don't think just because you made less-than-ideal choices today, you can't start over tomorrow. It sounds trite, but every day truly is a new beginning. You can't erase last night's binge, but you can aim for a much healthier today!


Step 5: Celebrate Small Victories

Reward yourself for the small challenges you surmount. Acknowledging your achievements -- no matter how insignificant they seem -- with non-food rewards will help you stay motivated throughout your weight-loss journey. Yes, brown bagging a healthy lunch four days in a row instead of getting fast food is a victory. Doing an exercise video just twice this week is a triumph if you didn't do it at all last week. Rewards don't have to cost a dime -- they can be as simple as allowing yourself time to read a chapter of a favorite author or enjoying a long bath.
Take it easy on yourself as you learn how to be a new, improved, healthier you. After all, you're only human ... a soon-to-be much lighter human!

Are you seriously interested in losing weight and gaining a brand new and surprising boost in your health and vitality, then this fun maintenance program & guide, will be one of the most important diets you'll ever learn about! The Mediterranean Diet. Few people are aware this diet is also well known for longevity, reducing the risk of heart disease and some forms of cancers too.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Losing Weight Takes Effort

"The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night."
~~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

In order to take advantage of losing weight and being successful, you must be prepared--that means " paying your dues."

Nothing is more frustrating than to see that you are gaining weight again.

Be in a position to benefit from your failure. It pays to be prepared, and that comes down to plain, hard work. It's not usually glamorous. It's not always exciting. It's not always fun. It is, however, always necessary.

By being prepared, you have to create a game plan to get back on track right away without beating yourself up and devastating your self-esteem. My game plan is taking it a bite at a time. What's your's? Maybe it's taking it a day at a time, going back to your diet tomorrow. Maybe it's getting angry and becoming more determined than ever to succeed.

Have you ever been at a Weight Watchers or TOPS meeting and noticed several people there who are slim and trim? What about those Jenny Craig and Nutri/System ad's with their before and after pictures? They make losing weight look so effortless, but remember, in reality, these people have been dieting for years.

Without effort and action, you will not succeed. You can't wish your weight away. You have to work at it and be prepared for those times when you slip, so you can pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move on...

Losing weight demands preparation, effort and commitment to come to fruition.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Where Diets Go Wrong

Choosing The Right Diet

When we discover that we are heavier than we want to be, we have a natural inclination to eat less food. We may skip lunch or eat only a tiny amount of our dinner in the hope that if we eat less our body will burn off some of its fat. But that is not necessarily true. Eating less actually makes it more difficult to lose weight.

Keep in mind that the human body took shape millions of years ago, and at that time there were no diets. The only low-calorie event in people's lives was starvation. Those who could cope with a temporary lack of food were the ones who survived. Our bodies, therefore, have developed this built-in mechanism to help us survive in the face of low food intake.

When researchers compare overweight and thin people, they find that they are roughly the same number of calories. What makes overweight people different is the amount of fat that they eat. Thin people tend to eat less fat and more complex carbohydrates.

Losing weight is not something one can do overnight. A carefully planned weight loss program requires common sense and certain guidelines. Unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformantion floating around and lots of desperate people are easily duped and ripped off.

Every day you can open a magazine or newspaper and see advertisements touting some new product, pill or patch that will take excess weight off quickly. Everyone seems to be looking for that "magic" weight loss pill. Millions of Americans are trying to lose weight, spending billions of dollars every year on diet programs and products. Often they do lose some weight. But, if you check with the same people five years later, you will find that nearly all have regained whatever weight they lost.

A survey was done recently to try and determine if any commercial diet program could prove long-term success. Not a single program could do so. So rampant has the so-called diet industry become with new products and false claims that the FDA has now stepped in and started clamping down.

Being seriously overweight and particularly obesity can develop into a number of diseases and serious health problems, and it is now a known fact that when caloric intake is excessive, some of the excess frequently is saturated fat.

The myth is that people get heavy by eating too many calories. Calories are a consideration it's true, but overall they are not the cause of obesity in America today. Americans actually take in fewer calories each day than they did at the beginning of the century. If calories alone were the reason we become overweight, we should all be thin. But we are not. Collectively, we are heavier than ever. Partly, it is because we are more sedentary now. But equally, as important is the fact that the fat content of the American diet has changed dramatically.

People who diet without exercising often get fatter with time. Although your weight may initially drop while dieting, such weight loss consists mostly of water and muscle. When the weight returns, it comes back as fat. To avoid getting fatter over time, increase your metabolism by exercising regularly.

Select an exercise routine that you are comfortable with and remember that walking is one of the best and easiest exercises for strengthening your bones, controlling your weight and toning your muscles.

If you would like to know more about how to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle then please check out The Mediterranean Diet

Friday, August 21, 2009

Why Most People Fail At Weight Loss

Why do so many people fail at losing weight? Is it because they are lazy? No. Is it because they are addicted to food? No. Is it because they aren’t good at exercising? No. Failure at weight loss stems from a few main factors:

1) People don't truly understand the risks of being overweight. Why do most want to lose weight? Most would say to look better. Looking better certainly is a benefit of losing weight, but this shouldn’t be the sole reason to lose weight. There is a 1000 pound gorilla in the room and it’s often ignored. Being overweight for a long period of time kills thousands of people each year. Thousands of studies have shown and proven without any doubt that losing body fat will improve and lengthen your life. Knowing the dangers of being overweight is a tremendous motivator to not only lose fat, but to keep it off.

2) People don't commit to permanent lifestyle changes. So many people think of a "diet" as something temporary. When they are on a "diet" they restrict themselves so much that they are miserable. Sooner or later failure is inevitable because of the unreasonable demands of most "diets." Some of these diets force you to only eat certain foods (e.g., no carbs, special soups etc…) You, like myself, have probably tried them before. The key to losing weight long term is to make gradual lifestyle changes you can stick to forever. This is where The Mediterranean Diet comes into it's own. It will not only help you lose weight but reduce the Risk of Heart Disease, Blood Pressure & Common Allergies.


3) Most individuals are not provided the truthful facts of losing weight and becoming healthier. With the conflicting information in the media, and all of the different lose weight quick fad diets, it’s understandable why so many people really don’t know the truth about losing fat and keeping it off long term. We will go over the no-nonsense truth.

4) Most people don't understand they are constantly either gaining fat, or losing fat. There is no in-between. Some people justify binging or giving up because they hit a small road-block. This isn’t an all or nothing game. For example, when I was overweight, if I ate an unhealthy lunch, I’d go ahead and eat an unhealthy dinner since I already "messed up" the day. Or I’d say, I’ll start eating healthy on Monday since I’ve already eaten poorly this weekend. Every person at times eats too much. The successful people will not let a road bump completely derail their entire lifestyle change. If you are not implementing positive lifestyle changes and losing weight, you are gaining weight. Again, there is no "in-between."

5) Most people don't realize what they consume each day. So many overweight people eat thousands of extra calories and fat without realizing it. It’s tough to know if you are gaining weight or losing weight each day unless you are keeping an eye on what you’re consuming.

This article was written by Rob B, the creator of FreeWeightloss.com, and the author of the Ultimate Weight Loss eBook.

Get your copy of The Mediterranean Diet Now. It comes complete with recipes, cookbook, food pyramid and lots more.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

5 More Ways to Lose Weight and Keep it off

Get off your butt- Lean muscle burns calories. To lose weight you need to create a calorie deficit, so just by building muscle you will be burning fat-without even changing your diet.

2. Exercise less, but the right way- When we start a diet and exercise program we tend to be so enthusiastic that we go overboard. But by exercising every day we do not give our muscles a chance to recuperate, and thus do not burn fat as efficiently. And by using resistance training (negative reps) you get faster results!

3. Get in the right mind set- Instead of focusing on the short-term goal, focus on losing weight and getting healthy for life. We are all looking for a quick fix, but by doing things the right way (i.e. eating healthy and exercising) your body will become addicted to it. Sure, it may be hard to start, but do not give up!

4. Combine steps 1 though 5- Seems like everything everyone has been telling you all your life, right? Drink your water, skip the junk food, and exercise. The key is you have to make the plan, with healthy foods you like to eat, and an exercise program that fits your lifestyle.

5. Get to it! So many of us read.... and read ....and read about diet and exercise plans and never get started. Make a date to start changing your lifestyle for the better. Not only will you be losing weight but you will be feeling SO much better!

If you liked my tips and want to learn more about losing weight and adapting a healthy lifestyle check out The Mediterranean Diet to find out how you can improve your health, reduce the risk of heart disease and blood pressure and lose those extra pounds.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

5 Ways to Lose Weight and Keep it off

The best way to lose weight, Do not diet- Yes you heard me right- throw away your Atkins, South-Beach, Zone, and Jenny Craig books. I am a firm believer that diets just do not work. Why, you might ask? Well, if watching my mother diet from the time I could walk and NEVER lose those last twenty pounds is not enough proof, I do not know what is. We all like to see instant results, but once the weight loss plateaus, we give up. And, once we go back to our old way of eating we gain all of the weight we lost back.

2. Make your own lifestyle change- So, instead of dieting start focusing on adding healthier foods into your diet, and slowly removing the unhealthy ones. You do not have to be a nutritionist to realize that fried foods are not good for you and that soup and high fibre foods will help you feel full. The best part of making your own diet, you can still eat the foods you like to eat- just make sure you don't over-do with the junk food.

3. Skip the processed foods- Wherever you live you can lose that extra ten or twenty pounds without even trying by eating just that little bit healthier. Eat more natural foods. Fresh fish, meat, poultry and try this with fresh vegetables or even salad. I even get the bread fresh from a bakery. Not only does everything taste better, it is better for you.

So, while I am assuming most of you are not able to buy completely fresh foods, you can do your best. Wherever you shop you can usually ask for advice on how best to cook from fresh. Make cooking part of your daily fun routine and it will change your lifestyle, believe me. Most recipes show you how to make dinner for a family of four.

Whatever your budget, when you go to the grocery store try to shop on the outside online (don't go down the aisles in the middle) the outside usually contains the unprocessed foods (your dairy, meats, and vegetables). Also, read the labels- if you cannot pronounce a word in the product, it most likely is not good for you!

4. Try and leave the sweet stuff alone, you know it’s not good for you. If you want something sweet you are better off eating something made with real sugar as it will break down better in the body.

5. Drink plenty of water- The average person drinks 1/3 of their calories each day. If you drank iced cold water instead, you would actually be burning calories. Try drinking MORE than four 8-oz glasses for two weeks and I guarantee that you will see a difference.

For more tips on losing weight visit The Mediterranean Diet. It includes a collection of tasty Mediterranean recipes, a 28 day diet plan plus extra bonuses

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Slimming Exercise Tips to Lose Weight

Many people recognise that a major component to weight loss is to exercise. Of course, eating well is important too, but without exercise, especially as you get older, you are going to find that eating well is not going to do much for you other than perhaps keep your cholesterol down. If you are exercising to lose weight, then the following slimming exercise tips should help you achieve the results that you desire.

Slimming Exercise Tip #1: Walk, walk, walk! If you are among the many people who cannot take the time out of their day to go to the gym, then you are going to have to make your day work for you. Anytime you have the option, take the stairs instead of the lift. Park away from your destination so that you have to walk to get there and don't forget to walk quickly to increase calorie burn.

Slimming Exercise Tip #2: Get some regular exercise! Most experts will tell you that you should exercise at least three times a week for 20 minutes, more if possible. This can include walking, running, lifting weights, swimming, biking, etc.

Slimming Exercise Tip #3: Remember your diet! Do not think for one second that since you are exercising that you can eat what you want. That might work for a 14-year-old boy or girl, but that is not going to work for you. Eating all of the wrong foods is simply undermining your exercise routine, so stick with eating healthy.

Slimming Exercise Tip #4: Keep it interesting! There are literally hundreds of different exercise routines available to you. If weight lifting isn't appealing to you, then try swimming, if you don't like swimming try biking. Find something that you enjoy and include it in your regular routine.

Slimming Exercise Tip #5: Increase your endurance! The best way to start a program is by strength training and cardio exercises. Strength training gives you the stamina to work at the level you need to in order to lose the weight you desire. Cardio is the fastest way to burn calories and lose weight. Running, cycling and swimming are three exercises that embody both of these elements.

For the perfect diet, or rather food, to compliment these exercises I thouroughly recommend The Mediterranean Diet. It's full of Mediterranean Diet recipes, cookbook, food pyramid, food, and more...

Mediterranean diet foods are scrumptious and very tasty indeed. There are those who also make adjustments to the diet due to their geographic limitations and this is often referred to as a modified Mediterranean diet depending on where you live.

The Mediterranean Diet
1.won't cause kidney failure (like some diets)
2.has a significant history and an abundance of evidence to back it
3.reduces risk of increasing cholesterol
4.reduces the risk of rebound weight gain
5.also decreases the risk of cancer and heart disease
6.tastes so good, that it's fun!