Countless ways have been devised and marketed by individuals and businesses to help people in weight loss. Although, Xenadrine treatment is yet another of those ways by which people can lose weight, it has proved to be an incredibly effective method. Xenaadrine is marketed by Cytodyne Technologies and has been increasingly growing in popularity over the last few years.
The most popular Xenadrine product right now in the market is Xenadrine EFX. These are selling like hot cakes and have been getting very positive reviews from people who have been taking them for weight loss. This version of xenadrine is free of ephedrine unlike most of the other versions that used to be marketed by Cytodyne Technologies. Xenadrine RFA1 used to be really popular too but it came under the scanner, which was mostly because people tended to misuse it too much.
The main reason Xenadrine RFA1 use was checked is because it contained ephedrine, which has proved to be a topic for research for quite some time now. Most of the times, the problem was that people tend to sometimes take more the prescribed dosage in their eagerness to lose weight, as soon as possible.
Having said that, it has come to light that Xenadrine EFX has been doing really well and there has been no indication of any side effects, like the other ephedrine containing fat burners. A lot of the diet and weight loss products in the market contain ephedrine and so this Xenadrine EFX comes as a great respite in the face of all this. It proves to be a healthy alternative with no ?negative? ingredients.
The amazing thing about Xenadrine EFX is that it really helps in significant weight loss without the presence of ephedrine. This comes as quite a surprise because most weight loss products hardly work in the absence of ephedrine. But that is not the case here as Xenadrine EFX has proven that it can help to significantly reduce body weight and burn body fat without the presence of ephedrine.
This effectiveness is doubtless brought about by a great mix of ingredients. Some of the main ingredients include Yerba Mate, green tea extract, tyroplex, Isotherm and grape seed extract. Most of the ingredients have one benefit or the other.
Therefore, the effectiveness of Xenadrine EFX is actually not restricted to just the realm of weight loss or fat burning. For example, the tyrosine, it contains can also act as a mood enhancer and has been proven to alleviate depression in people who have taken Xenadrine EFX.
Apart from this, green tea extract helps in blocking harmful carcinogens and acts as a major anti-oxidant. Other benefits include better attention spans and greater energy. All these go a long way in saying that Xenadrine EFX is a great and more importantly a very healthy way to lose body weight.
In case, you are planning to go on a diet of this supplement, you must check the side effects and read all the ingredients. If you suffer from any chronic diseases, it is advisable to go and check with your physician.
By: Phil Carpenter
Phil Carpenter - CEO All Your Nutrition - Providing High quality, Low cost supplements and specialists in Xenadrine
Xenadrine How It Helps Effective Weight Loss
Why Shortcuts Dont Cut It
Have you ever wanted to take a fitness shortcut, go on a popular fad diet, take a pill or other supplement to set that new bench press record, or use some other way to "cheat" your way to greater health?
Me neither.
Well, since we have that out of the way, let?s talk about why shortcuts will bring you nothing but trouble.
Wait???you have tried shortcuts?
You?ve been on fad diets, crash diets, and crazy exercise all day programs to try and lose weight?
Why didn?t you tell me? Lol??
Ok, ok, ok??.I?ll forgive you??
This time.
Ok, since I forgave you of all of your ?cheating? ways?..let me explain why shortcuts will ultimately get you nowhere.
Let me give you a sentence that you should keep with yourself forever??.
When you take a health and fitness shortcut, you are ultimately cheating yourself.
Let me repeat that if your eyes had some trouble reading that??
***When you take a health and fitness shortcut, you are ultimately cheating yourself.***
How are you cheating yourself, you may be asking?
Good question?
When you take shortcuts, i.e. crash/fad diets, taking supplements that have God only knows what in them, and doing other crazy things to lose weight (starving yourself, surgery, etc.), you are ultimately HURTING your body, whether you notice it or not.
Why would you want to hurt your body?
Why do want to take supplements that are potentially unsafe?cough, cough, Ephedra.
Well, we all know why you and/or others take these products.
It?s to ultimately lose weight.
Or get in better shape.
Look better for your class reunion.
Or try to make that guy/girl jealous, lol.
Or maybe it?s to impress that certain person(s).
No matter what your goal is??..there is a better way.
Actually, there is a MUCH better way.
It?s called, ?Doing it the right way?.
In order for you to reach ultimate health and/or fitness success, you must ?Do it the right way?.
What is the ?Right Way??
Well, let me tell what it?s not:
- Starving yourself
- Popping diet pills
- Depriving yourself of sleep
- Silly liquid diets
- Crazy ?all meat? diets
- Non-stop exercise
And that?s just the beginning.
Don?t ever, ever, ever, bring yourself down to this level to THINK you need the above ?shortcuts? to get fit. You don?t!
And, if you do it the right way???you will lead a lifestyle that is SUPREME to anything a ?shortcut? will ever give you. No matter how out of shape, overweight, or unhealthy you think you are?..no ?shortcut? will ever give you the success you?re looking for.
As a matter of fact, there is a pretty good probability that it will do more harm than good.
It will take some work, it will take some discipline, but doing it the right way will lead you to more success than you could ever imagine. Step up to the plate, and make that change???I?ll talk to you soon.
By: Chris Callegari
Chris Callegari, founder of http://www.fitnesswithchris.com is unleashing his real-world exercise, fitness, nutrition, and healthy eating tips to the world, to help support lifestyle changes for any and everyone.
Why Diets Fail
Maybe it happened to you. You were overweight and watching television at one in the morning, feeling down about yourself. You knew you had to make a change for the better, and fast. Then on the screen appeared an infomercial touting the latest diet craze.
Guaranteed, you could lose up to ten pounds a week, maybe more! All you had to do was either take this supplement twice daily, or drink a certain shake in place of breakfast. Maybe you had to forgo food altogether for 48 hours and just drink a specially formulated juice cocktail designed to cleanse your colon.
Whatever it was, it looked good to you. The screen was filled with before and after pictures of people who tried the diet and were happier, thinner, and healthier. So you called the toll-free number, bought the product, followed the instructions and...nothing.
What went wrong? Why did the diet fail? Why was the only thing lost money from your bank account?
Each year thousands of people begin a diet program with the intent of seeing it through to success. Oftentimes, people do lose the weight and keep it off, but sadly a great number of people become frustrated and quit early in their programs. Discouragement leads to depression, which in some cases leads to a backlash in eating habits...and more weight gain.
What causes these diets to fail? Why is it so difficult to follow a diet plan and lose the weight? Why is it, even when the plan is followed to the letter, nothing happens?
- Frustration - In the world of the quick fix, if you don't see immediate results you assume it's not working. Dieting is not a quick fix, losing weight takes time!
- Starvation - The body needs food to survive. Diet plans that begin with an initial period of food restrictions can prove difficult for some people to handle, causing them to "fall off the wagon" and binge on the same snacks the body craves.
- Nausea - You took a pill, it made you sick. You stopped the taking the pill. You just spent $100 for nothing. Did you follow all instructions when taking the supplements? You'd be surprised to know how many people don't!
- Time - Your plans calls for home-cooked meals and time set aside for exercise. But between work, kids, recitals, etc. there isn't time. You become distracted, the plan ends, and you're back to square one. Failure often leads to depression, which triggers hormones in the body that cause you to eat, even when you're not hungry. What started out as a plan to improve your life only tailspinned into further damage to your body and self-esteem.
It doesn't have to be this way! You can follow a program to success!
One important thing to remember when researching diet programs is that not every plan tailored to the public as a whole will work for everybody the same way. When you go to a department store to buy a new shirt, you notice how the racks aren't stocked with identical shirts, right? You will see shirts of different colors and sizes; some shirts will have long sleeves, some short. Some shirts will have pockets, and others will have buttons. Every shirt is designed for the same purpose - to cover you up - yet accomplishes this goal in a different way.
Diet plans work on a similar plane. A person allergic to grapefruit wouldn't go on the grapefruit diet, right? Consequently, a person suffering from celiac disease shouldn't follow a program that prescribes wheat products. For a diet program to work, you need to know what regimen works best for your body and lifestyle. Read up on all programs before making a sound decision. Set aside time to do what is necessary, but don't feel frustrated if you skip a day in your regimen - start over again! Above all, never feel frustrated about having invested time researching weight loss options. Everything is a learning experience, and as time passes and you learn more about how your body works, you will find the answers you need.
Kathryn Lively (http://www.kathrynlively.com) is a freelance writer for the travel and weight loss industries. Her writing appears on the site for Compuslim (http://www.compuslim.com), a weight loss program tailored to individual needs.
What is Carbohydrate Net Anyway
Net carbs are the carbohydrates that can be digested and processed by the body as dietary carbohydrate. Therefore, they directly impact blood sugar. You can determine how many net carbs you are eating by subtracting the grams of fibre, glycerine, and sugar alcohols from the total grams of carbohydrate. Net carbs are the only carbs that you need to count when you are on low-carb diets, such as the Atkins diet.
It is important to understand why fibre does not count as a regular carbohydrate. Fibre substance does not break down into sugar, so it does not play a part in the overall sugar load of the carbohydrate. If a slice of bread has 27 total carbohydrate grams and 3 grams of fibre you have a net carbohydrate content of 24 grams (27 g ? 3 grams = 24 grams). This explains why some high fibre foods will have a more favourable impact on the blood sugar and insulin levels.
Only plant foods contain dietary fibre. Fibre has a number of effects on digestion, some beneficial, and some more harmful. One positive effect is that fibre is likely to decelerate the rate of digestion of food. This leads to a more gradual emptying of the food from the stomach into the small intestine. This means that there is less possibility of large quantities of glucose being absorbed quickly from the small intestine into the blood, and therefore a lower chance of an insulin surge. Insulin is the hormone that is released when glucose is absorbed from the small intestine. It is possible that by slowing stomach emptying, fibre helps avoid the situation where the body has to produce large quantities of insulin, as a result of repeated rapid release of glucose into the intestine. In turn this may help protect against diabetes in susceptible people.
However, fibre does get in the way with the absorption of some nutrients. For example, up to 5% of the fat in a moderately high fibre diet is not absorbed because of this interference. This may even be a good thing in Australia, given that 63% of men and 47% of women were overweight in 1995, with no sign that these levels of overweight and obesity will decrease. High fibre foods also interfere to some extent with the absorption of some essential minerals and trace elements, but a high fibre diet is also probable to provide you with extra minerals and trace elements, so the effect is not believed to be very significant for normal Western diets.
Despite these minor detrimental effects, a high fibre intake is understood to be considerably advantageous on the whole. Low intake of fibre, particularly of the insoluble forms of fibre such as those in bread and other wheat products, is one of the major causes of constipation. Low fibre intakes are also strongly associated with an increased risk of diverticulitis. Although the evidence is less compelling, lack of fibre in the diet may also contribute to the incidence of rectal cancer, haemorrhoids, obesity, appendicitis and ulcerative colitis. High intake of soluble fibres such as the pectin and gums, found in fruits, vegetables, rolled oats, and saponins, found in legumes, is associated with reduced blood cholesterol. High intake of foods of plant origin, all of which contain some fibre, is linked with a reduced threat of heart disease, cancer, and an improved life expectancy.
Another benefit, and one that may help with weight control, is the sensation of satiety, that is, a feeling of fullness, which follows a meal plentiful in fibre. It is also true that high fibre foods are almost always low in fat, so a high-fibre diet will usually be a low-fat diet.
By: Nathan T Lynch
Carbohydrate Net is your carb dessert dietpoundsaway.com low recipe headquarters
Wipe Out Those Extra Pounds Through Weight Loss Tips
Do you feel embarrassed due to the extra pounds on your body? Are you not able to lose weight? Every person is working hard to lose that extra weight from body, but there is a need of proper guidance to achieve this goal. Gaining weight is very easy but once you have gained weight it?s even harder to lose the weight. Proper consultation is required to lose weight, as in the race of losing weight you may harm yourself. Controlling weight is as important as to lose weight.
Here are few dieting tips with which you can control weight: -
? Consumption of more fruits, salads, and vegetables
?Avoid use of butter and other fat enriched food
? Fried food should be avoided
We all know that no two human bodies are same. Similarly, the fat burning process of every body is different and a planned methodology is required to earn the lost slim body. The metabolic rate of few people is higher than others. It?s now possible to change metabolic rate of the body to lose extra pounds.
Exercise is an efficient way to lose weight. Exercise burns fat of our body. Regularly exercising can significantly changes your metabolic rate. It increases your heart rate and allows more blood circulation in the body. It allows you to burn more fats then consumed fats. After few days you can experience a remarkable change in your body. Morning walk is best to make your extra weight disappear.
You can make use of the underlying weight loss tips to lose weight: -
Drink as much water as you can. Water is the best remedy to stay away from being overweight. Replace your soda with water. Say no to junk food. Junk food prevents proper digestion process to work and in turn increases weight. Add boiled food to your diet. Most of the fats can be removed by grilling the food. This makes the grilled food a healthy one to eat. A small portion of breakfast can prevent the temptation of eating more food between breakfast and lunch time. Eat less to prevent over weight. Try to have small portions of meal with some sort of gaps between them.
If still you are not getting any results then you can consume diet pills. Diet pills are short term treatment for obesity and it limits your hunger to an extent. A number of diet pills are available in the market as: -
? Phentermine
? Adipex
? Bontril
? Didrex
? Ionamin
? Diethylpropion
? Meridia
? Phendimetrazine
? Tenuate
? Xenical
Phentermine is the most popular diet pill among these pills. These diet pills can easily wipe out your excess weight and make you stay healthier. Before the start of the treatment you should consult your doctor regarding each and every aspect of these diet pills.
By: Joseph Jones
Joseph Jones received training as a healthcare scientist. He has been working in the same field and writes informative articles for weight loss subject. To find Buy phentermine online, cheap phentermine, Diet pills visit http://www.onlinephentermine.net
Weight Loss Does Breakfast Count
One set of statistics I recently saw said that about 25% of Americans skip breakfast. Another set said that nearly one-third (33%) of Americans are obese. Is there a correlation between eating breakfast and being overweight? Will eating breakfast be a significant factor in a weight loss program.
The answer to those questions is yes...er, I mean no...or maybe I mean maybe. While there seems to have been no definitive studies linking breakfast and weight loss directly, there does seem to be a mathematical relationship between skipping breakfast and gaining weight. There also seems to be other evidence that eating breakfast can be a factor in weight loss for some people.
As I often point out, weight gain and weight loss, is very seldom the result of a single action or omission. However, like activity, nutrition, rest, cortisol, and chocolate ice cream (my sin), eating breakfast can and should be an important part of any weight loss program, even if just to help prevent any further weight gain.
Preventing Weight Gain
One significant aspect of eating breakfast is that it can definitely be a weapon against weight gain. Someone who does not eat breakfast (and we aren't talking about coffee and donuts) is more likely to snack later in the day, and is more likely to eat more food at meals than if they had eaten breakfast. A large portion of this is simply due to fluctuations of blood sugar and other chemicals related to hunger and stress which can be toned down by the simple act of starting the day with a healthy meal of some kind.
Loss Of Energy
People who skip breakfast are more likely to run out of energy earlier in the day. Simple equation here. Less energy = less activity = less calories burned + snacking and overeating = X or Y or something. What do you think? Maybe creeping weight gain?
Lack Of Attention &Poor Performance
School children in particular, but even the guy at the next desk, may have trouble keeping up with lessons, work, life if they skipped breakfast. It's no problem for you because you ate breakfast right?
Dont Like to Eat Breakfast?
Everybody's got an excuse. I don't have time. I don't like to eat breakfast. There's nothing to eat in the house. The dog ate my breakfast.
Come on. We're all grownups here. When we know that doing something is good for us, not doing it is bad for us, and it's simple to do, refusing to do it is childish. Nobody said breakfast has to be a gourmet meal. A peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk and a banana is better than nothing. A bowl of cereal takes less than a minute to prepare and less than five minutes to eat. There are a multitude of nutritious breakfast bars available. You don't even have to eat them at the house. Keep them in your desk drawer or stick one in your pocket or purse as you leave the house. Sure beats munching on a Hershey bar from the machine and raiding the candy bowl on the receptionist's desk!
Lets Have Some Breakfast
If you want to control your weight, fight fatigue and prepare yourself to cope with stress throughout the day, Start the day off right with breakfast. The calories you take in at the morning meal will help prevent your taking in even more calories later in the day.
By: Donovan Baldwin
Weight Loss Is Like a Golf Swing
A few years ago I made an effort to improve my golf game. Upon a visit to the local golf store I asked the sales clerk for some advice on how I could improve my golf swing. He suggested several books and a video tape that featured the legendary golf instructor, Harvey Penick.
Mr. Penick had trained countless golfers at all levels and without a doubt had forgotten more about the game of golf than most of us will ever know.
I can remember arriving back at home and watching that video once, twice maybe even three times before heading out to the driving range and applying what I had learned from the teaching great. I have to admit that using the techniques that Mr. Penick taught helped me at the range and even when I actually played.
Several months went by before I was able to return to the course to play another round of golf. To my surprise not only were all of Mr. Penick?s teachings far from my mind I also realized that my golf game was right back to where it was before I watched the video in the first place.
I went back home and watched the tape again and on my next visit to the golf course, my game had improved a bit.
As I continued to watch the video and reading articles and books on the proper golf swing, I realized that there are many intricacies to what the pros make look simple.
How you hold the club, lining up correctly, the position of your feet, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows and wrists. Oh and let?s not forget the club speed, keeping your eye on the ball, the direction of the wind, the speed of the wind and whether or not anybody who isn?t in your group is watching you. Talk about pressure. In fact, when you consider all of the subtleties (most of which have gone unmentioned) that go into a golf swing, you might find yourself wanting to laugh, or maybe even cry.
How does this relate to weight loss, you ask? Well what I eventually found out about golf is that it is just like anything else that you are trying to improve on; the more you practice, the more success you will have. Sounds simple doesn?t it?
The old saying of ?practice makes perfect? really should be ?repetition makes excellence?.
When you get into the habit of consistently practicing good eating habits such as consuming sensible portion sizes and becoming active you are creating repetition and repetition makes excellence.
If you feel that you are not at the point of excellence where your weight loss efforts are concerned, you should know that excellence comes with repetition and repetition comes with making a decision, and a decision is made on the hope that it will work for you.
You are just a hope away from being excellent.
By: Ken Crawford
Ken Crawford, President of Weight Loss Partners LLC, a leader in motivational and accountability programs for weight management and healthy lifestyle creation. Crawford stresses a team approach to weight loss, with the goal of building a foundation for living a healthy lifestyle for years to come. Visit Weight Loss Partners at http://www.weightlosspartners.com and subscribe to receive a complimentary tip every week
When Fasting for Weight Loss Remember the Following
Well, it?s been labeled as ?the greatest remedy-the physician within? by Philippus Paracelsus and more and more people are discovering the use of fasting as a means of improving health and losing weight. However, as beneficial as this method can be, being radical in nature, the use of fasting should be approached with care.
Though fasting is by far a greater cure of our ills-both physical and mental-than all of the drugs of the medical fraternity combined, for weight loss or for anything it may be used for, one has to be aware of certain criteria to achieve success with its use.
These include the types of fasts one can use, how long to fast, when to fast and how to come off of a fast.
Friends, there are several types of fasts that can be beneficial for weight loss.
1. The complete water fast: This, admittedly, should be conducted with extreme caution or in a specialized sanitarium if undertaken more than 3 days.
2. The Juice Fast: This is much easier for the general populace and can be undergone as long as you feel like it.
3. The Fruit Fast: This, well, is really not a fast per se?but when one lives exclusively on SEASONAL ORGANIC fruits for days on end?meaning mono meals (2 at the most ) of only one kind of fruit say Apples in Fall, Melons in summer for a week plus, you will be bound to see the benefits.
The second and third choices are by far my personal recommendations for those seeking to lose weight through fasting.
How to Fast
Being far-reaching in nature, fasting must be undertaken with care, however from my experience with it, here are a few tips to hopefully get you started.
1. Prepare yourself for a fast by gradually tapering off of acid-forming aka ?junk foods and commence to consuming raw and cooked fruits and veggies to begin a milder cleansing process as these items are the best intestinal brooms for the colon.
2. Every now and again, 3 hours after supper and say an hour or so before retiring to sleep, drink an herbal tea laxative such as ?Smooth Move Herbal Tea? during this preparatory stage.
3. Drink 1-2 quarts of unflavored lemonade in the mornings to balance the chemical reactions within the body and to restore it to an alkaline state.
4. Be mentally prepared for the task ahead of fasting.
5. Take things a little easier while fasting or on a mono-diet of fruit.
6. Avoid using microwaves at all costs-can?t go into detail as that is another subject, however, TRUST me. You want to exclude the use of this so-called convenience device not only while fasting put permanently.
7. Taper off a water fast by using the second type (juice fasting) for a few days, then gradually going to the third (mono-fruit fasting), then afterwards you could (like I do most of the time) simply stick to tons of fruit as the core of your diet or include properly cooked roots, steamed or raw leafy vegetables.
Whatever you do, just please don?t go back to eating the old junk stuff. To explain why in a nutshell, here are two quotes: ?You are what you eat? and ?Let your foods be your medicine??
I really think options 2 and especially 3 (in regards to the types of a fast) are quite easy for any and everyone to do. So why not give it a shot? I can confidently say fasting, when used properly, will not only make you lose the excess pounds, but you?d also be well on your way to a cleaner, better, healthier and happier you in no time.
It may come across as a huge sacrifice however, when you see the results, you sure will be glad you did it.
Here?s to your health and happiness.
By: Foras Aje
Foras Aje is an independent health researcher and founder of Bodyhealthsoul.com
What Causes Weight Gain
You eat for energy. You expend energy through work, exercise, and daily chores, burning off the calories you took in as you ate. Sometimes, you don't use enough energy to burn off all the food eaten in a day. What is left behind stays in the body, causing you to gain weight.
Weight gain is as simple as that...or so we are led to believe. While overeating is a major contributor to one's weight gain, other factors can play a role. With the many programs on the market for personalized weight loss, it is only a matter of determining which factors have led to your current size, and which products can help counteract the gain.
Let's take a look at other factors known to cause unhealthy weight gains.
Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism is defined by having an underactive thyroid. The thyroid is the gland located beneath the larynx (voice box) and secretes the hormones that regulate metabolism and growth. As an underactive thyroid produces less of this hormone as it would in a person with a normal thyroid, a person suffering hypothyroidism will also suffer from a low metabolism. This, in turn, may cause weight gain.
Food Allergies
Food allergies are defined as bodily reactions to the consumption of specific types of food. Symptoms may ranges from minor skin irritations to more serious medical emergencies.
Oftentimes, a person with a specific food allergy may crave that particular food when they stop eating it, not unlike a drug addict experiences withdrawl pains when trying to come clean. Falling off the wagon, so to speak, may strengthen the desire to eat more, thus causing weight gain.
Cushing's Syndrome
Cushing's syndrome is a hormonal disorder defined by the body's overproduction of the steroid cortisol. Cortisol regulates blood pressure, cardiovascular function, and the body's usage of proteins, carbohydrates, and fat stores. When the body experiences a great amount of physical or emotional stress, cortisol production increases. If you have ever wondered why you turn to the refrigerator in times of personal anxiety, it is because of this steroid. A condition like Cushing's Syndrome produces cortisol constantly, thereby increasing unecessary cravings and eventual weight gain.
Blood Sugar Imbalance
A diet consisting mainly of simple carbohydrates can lead to fluctuations in your body's blood sugar levels. As you eat things like potatoes and starches, and sweets like chocolate and pastries, your blood sugar levels rises. Your body will secrete insulin to store the sugar and stabilize these levels, but an overabundance of insulin can cause cravings for these same foods. The more bad carbs you eat, the more insulin is produced, continuing this cycle.
Hormonal and emotional imbalances in the body not only contribute to strong cravings for unhealthy foods, but may also factor into overall low metabolism. When energy is low, you are less likely to exercise and expend energy, causing a build-up of sugars and fats in your system.
Once you are able to pinpoint the reason for weight gain, you are armed with the knowledge to prevent it in the future. Whether you choose exercise, diet supplements, or another form of weight loss, consult your doctor before beginning any strenuous program.
By: Kathryn Lively
Kathryn Lively (http://www.kathrynlively.com) writes for Compuslim (http://www.compuslim.com), a weight loss program suited to individual body needs.
Worst Foods For Weight Loss
So you decided that you want to lose weight, you already know that you need to cut down on your calories by doing exercise or lowering the amount of food you eat, but what you should know is that it's your diet that's going to decide if you're going to lose weight. There are certain types of foods that are filled with sugar and fat that have zero nutritional value and are just empty calories. Here are the foods you should always avoid if your goal is weight loss.
White bread - most people can't imagine eating their breakfast without their toast, their hamburgers without their buns or simply wrapping their chicken in a white bread pita. What they don't know is unlike whole grain breads; white breads have been stripped of their nutritional value. Not only that, but because of heavy processing, white bread is equivalent to table sugar: it has a very high glycemic index close to glucose.
Table sugar - not only the table sugar you use to sweeten your morning coffee, but all candy, chocolate, soda and other sweets included. Table sugar, which is actually a 50/50 mix of fructose and glucose, has zero nutritional value and just a bunch of empty calories which will increase your blood glucose levels and force the body to release large amounts of insulin. Not to mention all the damage it can cause to the body.
Fried foods - all fried are bad for weight loss. First of all, they're mostly fat because of all the oil, which is mostly saturated and trans fat and they're high in calories. Second, because of the extreme heat when frying, it destroys EFA's (essential fatty acids) which are fatty acids that the body can't produce on its own and actually help with weight loss.
Doughnuts and other pastries - Imagine a bagel made up of white flour, deep fried and added with sugary toppings; that's how bad doughnuts are. Doughnuts are very calorie dense, high in saturated/trans fats and have a lot of sugar in them which is the complete opposite of what you want in a food when your goal is weight loss.
Ice cream - much like doughnuts, these are also very bad for you, but they can actually be worse because of the fact that they're extremely calorie dense. One cup of regular vanilla ice, which is a small serving for most people, has over 360 calories and half of those calories come from fat that are mostly saturated. The more tasty ice cream flavors contain a lot more calories, so you won't realize it but the time you finish your "little" snack, you'd have consumed close to 1000 calories.
Bacon, sausage - even though people have made this a standard feature for their usual breakfast, they fail to realize is that almost all the calories in these types of foods come from fat.
You can still eat these foods from time to time as long as it is not a big part of your diet and that you watch your serving size. But for everyone who wants optimal results, it is always best not to include these types of foods.
By: Michael Russell
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Weight Loss
Weight Loss Pills
Everybody wants to be slim these days. This trend is observed in teenagers and senior citizens, and everyone in between. Regular exercise and good eating habits go a long way in keeping those excess pounds at bay. However, everybody does not find the time to exercise. Students and working people find it extremely difficult to take time out of their hectic routines. Severely obese people cannot exercise, as they get exhausted very quickly. Weight loss pills or diet pills are very effective and beneficial for such people.
Weight loss pills are developed after lot of research. All aspects of weight loss such as body metabolism, appetite and carbohydrate intake are taken into account. Most diet pills are safe. Different diet pills contain different herbs and ingredients. Some diet pills work on the theory of suppressing the appetite, while some work by elevating the metabolic rate. Eventually, all pills have the same goal, which is to reduce weight. These pills are usually targeted to lose four to eight pounds a month. It is advisable to stop using a pill if it fails to produce any weight loss in six months. Weight loss achieved by weight loss pills may be permanent if the person adopts a good and healthy eating pattern and exercise after stopping the medication. Some pills start working right from the moment they are consumed while some others may require time before they actually start showing results.
It is important to take a physician?s advice before taking any kind of weight loss pills. Certain drugs cannot be used for a long time and some drugs may not be safe for a pregnant woman. Heart patients should avoid taking weight loss pills. Dosage taken should not be more than what is recommended. Several companies assure guaranteed results and offer attractive money-back offers. It is important that the credibility of such products and companies be verified. Intake of pills that are incompatible with a certain individual?s body disposition may result in severe side effects.
By: Kent Pinkerton
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Weight Loss Hoodia Gordonii
Many Americans are always looking for something to help them lose weight. There is a diet pill craze going on right now. There are hundreds of different brands of diet pills that claim to help you lose the unwanted pounds, but there is one plant that is making headline news. If you haven't heard of Hoodia Gordonii then you will soon.
Hoodia Gordonii is a succulent plant that grows in the Kalahari Desert region of South Africa. This region is about 100,000 square miles of desert. It looks like a cactus because of its spiny appearance and it is in the cactus family but it is classified as a succulent. For centuries this plant has been used by the Sans people to help control their hunger while on long hunting expeditions. There are about 100,000 Sans people in that region that are going to benefit a lot from the harvesting of the Hoodia plant.
Hoodia is a very powerful supplement to help suppress hunger. It works by stopping the craving for food. It works by making people feel full after ingesting it. There are no known side effects of Hoodia, but it has been known to act as a mild aphrodisiac. It does not contain any stimulants. There have been results showing that the active ingredient in Hoodia could reduce the appetite by 2,000 calories a day. The active ingredient in Hoodia works by imitating the effect glucose has on our nerve cells in the brain, in turn, fooling the body in thinking that it is full. It appears that it contains a molecule that is about 10,000 times stronger than glucose.
Most people find that they have to take at least 500 mg of Hoodia to start seeing the effects. You also have to be careful when buying Hoodia. Most companies claim that they have 100 percent natural Hoodia when in fact they have a Hoodia blend. You will need to do your research to find actual certification of Hoodia derived form Southern Africa. This is not a magic pill and it is not an excuse to eat what ever you want. The basic ideas of a losing weight still apply. Decreasing the calorie intake and exercise to lose weight. Hoodia will not stop the intense hunger you get after a really good workout.
With Hoodia you still have to control your food choices. Hoodia is an appetite suppressant. If taken right it will help curb your appetite. It's not a pill that dissolves fat, or releases extra water weight. It doesn't boost your metabolism. Hoodia does not change the laws of physics, if you continue to eat a lot you will continue to gain weight. Taking Hoodia will help give you control over your eating instead of letting your hunger do the driving. Hoodia cannot get you into shape either. You will need to boost your resting metabolism by building lean muscle mass by walking, running or a cardiovascular workout.
The only way the weight will come off is by eating less and exercising more. Hoodia, if taken in doses at least of 500 mg or more will help you with the eating less part, the rest is up to you.
By: Michael Russell
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Weight Loss
Weight Loss Gastric Bypass
Severe or morbid obesity is a chronic condition that is tough to treat. When exercise and diet alone are not working, then this is when gastrointestinal surgery becomes an option for people who are morbidly obese. People who cannot lose weight traditionally and who suffer weight related medical problems may need to look into surgery. This is not a cure all. If one decides to do any weight loss surgery they need to make life long changes such as eating healthier and exercise.
Candidates for restrictive surgery have a body mass index of 40 or more. This may equal to about 100 pounds overweight for men and 80 pounds overweight for women. You will need to have a very clear understanding of the operation, its risks and all the lifestyles changes that you will need to make. A lot of surgeons require that you attend classes and support groups months before you have the surgery. If you have a body mass index between 35 and 39.9 and you have obesity related medical issues like diabetes and heart disease you may take into consideration for surgery.
In your body's normal digestion, the food will pass through the stomach and enter the small intestine. This is where most of the nutrients and calories are absorbed. Basically, in gastric bypass surgery, the surgeon makes the stomach smaller and makes it so food will be allowed to bypass a part of the small intestine. This will make you feel fuller a lot faster by eating smaller meals. When the surgeon bypasses some of the small intestine, it results in fewer calories being absorbed, this in turn leads to weight loss.
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is the most common gastric bypass surgery. This is the most successful gastric bypass surgery in the Untied States. The surgeon will first create a small stomach pouch to restrict the intake of food. A Y-shaped section to the small intestine is created next. It is attached to the pouch to allow food the bypass the lower stomach and the first sections of the small intestine, the duodenum and the jejunum. This will greatly reduce the amount of calories and nutrients being absorbed. So you will have to multivitamins and other mineral to replace the nutrients being lost. You may also have to take more protein as well.
Most of the patients who have this surgery will lose weight quickly and will continue to lose 18 to 24 months after the surgery. Most will maintain their weight loss of 60 to 70 percent of their excess weight for at least ten years.
There are some disadvantages that people need to know about as well. This procedure is more likely to cause long term nutritional deficiencies because of the small intestine bypass. Women who are still in their menstruating years may develop anemia because they may not get the vitamin B12 and iron. Calcium is also not absorbed easily and it may cause osteoporosis and other related bone diseases. Patients must take supplements for the rest of their lives and they need to understand that before the surgery.
After the surgery you should expect a 4-6 day hospital stay. Most of the patients will be able to return to their normal lives in about 3 to 6 weeks.
By: Michael Russell
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Weight Loss
Weight Loss Gastric Bypass
Severe or morbid obesity is a chronic condition that is tough to treat. When exercise and diet alone are not working, then this is when gastrointestinal surgery becomes an option for people who are morbidly obese. People who cannot lose weight traditionally and who suffer weight related medical problems may need to look into surgery. This is not a cure all. If one decides to do any weight loss surgery they need to make life long changes such as eating healthier and exercise.
Candidates for restrictive surgery have a body mass index of 40 or more. This may equal to about 100 pounds overweight for men and 80 pounds overweight for women. You will need to have a very clear understanding of the operation, its risks and all the lifestyles changes that you will need to make. A lot of surgeons require that you attend classes and support groups months before you have the surgery. If you have a body mass index between 35 and 39.9 and you have obesity related medical issues like diabetes and heart disease you may take into consideration for surgery.
In your body's normal digestion, the food will pass through the stomach and enter the small intestine. This is where most of the nutrients and calories are absorbed. Basically, in gastric bypass surgery, the surgeon makes the stomach smaller and makes it so food will be allowed to bypass a part of the small intestine. This will make you feel fuller a lot faster by eating smaller meals. When the surgeon bypasses some of the small intestine, it results in fewer calories being absorbed, this in turn leads to weight loss.
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is the most common gastric bypass surgery. This is the most successful gastric bypass surgery in the Untied States. The surgeon will first create a small stomach pouch to restrict the intake of food. A Y-shaped section to the small intestine is created next. It is attached to the pouch to allow food the bypass the lower stomach and the first sections of the small intestine, the duodenum and the jejunum. This will greatly reduce the amount of calories and nutrients being absorbed. So you will have to multivitamins and other mineral to replace the nutrients being lost. You may also have to take more protein as well.
Most of the patients who have this surgery will lose weight quickly and will continue to lose 18 to 24 months after the surgery. Most will maintain their weight loss of 60 to 70 percent of their excess weight for at least ten years.
There are some disadvantages that people need to know about as well. This procedure is more likely to cause long term nutritional deficiencies because of the small intestine bypass. Women who are still in their menstruating years may develop anemia because they may not get the vitamin B12 and iron. Calcium is also not absorbed easily and it may cause osteoporosis and other related bone diseases. Patients must take supplements for the rest of their lives and they need to understand that before the surgery.
After the surgery you should expect a 4-6 day hospital stay. Most of the patients will be able to return to their normal lives in about 3 to 6 weeks.
By: Michael Russell
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Weight Loss
Weight Lifting And Weight Loss
During the Jane Fonda era, everyone focused on aerobic exercises for weight loss. While it is true that aerobic exercise uses fat as fuel, weight lifting is an essential part of a weight loss regime.
Many people undertake only one component when attempting weight loss. What I mean here is, they may take up jogging, but neglect to improve their eating choices. On the other hand, maybe they start weight training, but neglect both improvements in their eating and undertaking cardiovascular exercise.
Weight loss is a three-pronged process: weight lifting, cardiovascular exercise and healthy eating. This article will focus on the importance of weight lifting and weight loss.
If you are like millions of people, you have been concerned about your weight. You may even consider yourself to have a poor metabolism. Your metabolism is critical to your weight loss efforts. Your metabolism is an important part of how you lose your weight and how you keep it off.
Metabolism is like the motor of your body. Your metabolism is the rate at which your body uses fuel, or burns calories when you are at rest, just to maintain the regular functions of your body. Typically, people use 60-75% of their calories at their resting metabolic rate and can burn more calories if they participate in exercise or other physical activities.
However, it isn?t just the activity rates that affect your metabolism. Your muscle tissue is where the bulk of your calories are burned in your body. Unfortunately, if you are not participating in activities that will maintain your lean muscle mass, you will start to lose approximately one half pound of lean mass every year after around the age of 30.
So, the more lean muscle mass you have, the better your metabolism works, as it is burning more calories and fat just to feed your muscle.
Therein lies the reason that weight lifting and weight loss go hand in hand. If you undertake a calorie counting diet program without adding strength training, you may lose weight, however some of the weight could be muscle. Then what happens is, once you start back eating more calories, those additional calories get stored as fat because your metabolism has been negatively affected. You need the muscle!
Research has proven that this theory works. In the book Strong Women Stay Slim, the author Miriam Nelson cites a study where a group of women following a weight loss diet along with weight training exercises lost 44 percent more fat than those who only followed the diet.
In addition, weight training is essential for keeping the weight off once you have reached your goal weight. Many research studies have shown that the participants who lost weight through a combination of exercise (including weight lifting) and caloric restriction were better able to keep weight off over the long term versus those that only undertook caloric restriction.
If you are new to weight training, but are on a mission to shed excess pounds, be sure not to focus so much on the scale. Yes, the scale can help you track pounds lost, but you don?t know if those pounds are fat or muscle. A better way is to evaluate how your clothes are fitting. Muscle weighs more than fat, so you may be gaining muscle and losing fat and the scale will not tell the whole story.
Many personal trainers recommend having your body measured at the start of your program and continue measuring every week. Stay motivated by the inches lost and muscle definition you start to see. Don?t be so obsessed by what the numbers say on the scale.
Consider meeting with a personal trainer who can help you develop an all over weight lifting / strength training program to help you reach your weight loss goals. Your program should:
? target all the major muscle groups;
? vary the exercises for each of those muscle groups;
? vary the weight and intensity;
? add resistance as you get stronger;
? have plans in place to prevent plateaus.
Most trainers will recommend strength training at least every second day for maximum benefits and lean muscle building.
I hope you are now motivated to start weight lifting for weight loss. Weight lifting will give you a more sculpted appearance that will rev up your metabolism and allow you to keep the weight off that you worked so hard to get rid of! Start lifting today!
By: Blake Bissaillion
Blake Bissaillion is the owner of building muscle 101. Get your free copy of building muscle 101's 12 week fat loss program. This 43 page e book includes a 7 day weight loss menu and a full exercise program including aerobics and weight training for 12 weeks. Get your copy here:
http://www.building-muscle101.com/burning-fat.html
The South Beach Diet
The South Beach diet was developed by Arthur Agatston who was a Florida native that practiced cardiology in Miami. The main objective of this diet in his views was to consume ?good fats? and also ?good carbs.? He performed studies on his clients and through the information he gathered from these studies he was able to create this diet to help them achieve proper and healthy weight loss. Once he saw some great results he published a book about the diet entitled, South Beach Diet. Although a lot of people think that this diet is very similar to the Atkins Diet, there are huge differences between the two diets.
Dr. Agatston had a theory that eating bad carbohydrates, meaning foods that have a high glycemic index. Foods that have a high glycemic index are foods that effect a given persons blood glucose levels in an abnormal way. Once a person has eaten a ?bad carb? food, their glucose levels will be adversely affected, making their body not be able to process the sugar and fat in the food properly, thus adding to weight-gain. There is also an adverse effect on a person?s body by eating ?bad fat? foods and this effect would be that a person has a higher chance of developing cardiovascular disease. So, in order to cut down on these two non-healthy occurrences in a person?s body Dr. Agatston tried to encourage his patients to eat foods that contained ?good fat? and ?good carbs.? Comparatively to many diets, the South Beach Diet is broken down into phases, so that a person?s body can adjust to a different type of eating habit, which will eventually help the body begin to lose weight. In all of the phases a person will basically cut out all ?bad fats.? In the first phase, Dr Agatston advises that people should take away all foods that are high in glucose, or high-glycemic carbs, and these foods are bread, candy, sugar, potatoes, fruit, cereals, and grains. Much like the Atkins Diet, a person?s body will begin to burn body fat instead of excess glucose found in all of these foods. The dieter will find that they might lose between 9 ? 13 pounds in the first phase which should last about 2 weeks.
Once the 2 weeks are finished, the Dieter should begin Phase II. Fruits, cereals, and whole grains are slowly added back into the diet, but in much smaller portions than before the diet began. A person should still be careful not to eat foods with a high glycemic index, which means any foods that have high sugar content. Phase II should last until the person reaches their desired weight loss that they wanted. Once this happens, then they can transition into Phase III. Once in Phase III the diet will begin to add more servings of whole grains and fruit into the diet, but only three servings each.
Ok, now that the dieter has begun Phase III, it is important to explain how this diet will help them keep the weight off and make sure that they eat healthy from now on. What makes the South Beach Diet so great is that it helps distinguish between good and bad fats, and good and bad carbohydrates.
Good carbohydrates: They always should be high in fiber, or high in good fats, but still low in glycemic index. This all means that they are absorbed and digested slowly into the body. Another difference between good and bad carbs are those with a higher nutritional value than their alternative. Just one suggestion would be eating brown rice rather than white rice.
Good fats: are monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats especially those foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids. Trans fats and Saturated fats are what are considered to be bad fats. What are all of these huge words that are hard to read? Well, here is a quick explanation. Basically monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats are fats that have a double bond in their molecular structure making them slower to break down in the digestion process of a person?s stomach. Like many other diets, the South Beach Diet makes it almost necessary to change eating habits for a lifetime. This will almost guarantee that weight lost during the beginning stages of the diet will stay off, and overall a person?s health will be better due to eating better foods. Basically, stay away from trans fats and saturated fats all together, eat fish which contains omega-3 fatty acids, and eat large amounts of vegetables. Do not eat foods that are overly refined and processed, and meats with a high fat content.
Dr. Agatston suggests that you should always eat until satisfied, that it?s not how much you eat but the quality of foods that you eat. He recommends eating 6 meals a day: breakfast, lunch, dinner and smaller snacks in between.
A 2004 study of the South Beach Diet by Agatston, et al., reviewed a 1998-1999 trial completed by 54 participants over the course of a year. A 2005 study of the South Beach Diet conducted by Kraft Foods was completed by 69 subjects over the course of just less than three months. Both studies showed favorable results for the groups using The South Beach diet.
By: Luke Sanger
Luke Sanger has started a series of blogs that are focused on helping people in areas of fitness and dieting. You can access these blogs by going to http://www.atkins-weightloss.com and clicking on the links tab, or you can go directly to them starting with http://www.edietblog.com Fitness, health and excersise are all great topics in this day and age, so if you want accurate information and info that is always new and updated daily, please keep coming back and take a look once in a while.
The Risk Factors of Obesity
In a world where media and societal mores hold beauty and fitness to high standards, an overweight person can feel depressed, left out, and suffer low self-worth. Television and fashion magazines bombard us with pictures of reed-thin models and actresses and athletes with washboard abs, glamorizing certain impossible ideals to a point that a normal person is destined to feel inadequate. One can imagine how an overweight or morbidly obese person must feel to be exposed to this environment.
Aside from emotional factors that come into play, obesity brings with it various health risks that must be addressed first.
Low Mortality Rate
The Center for Disease Control attributes 300,000 deaths in the US annually to obesity-related illnesses. People with a BMI of 30 or above suffer a 50-100% increased risk of premature death from illness as opposed to people at normal weight levels.
Arthritis
As a person gains weight, the pressure in the body to carry the extra load increases. As a result, overweight people suffer an increased risk of pain in the joints, in particular osteoarthritis - which affects the knees, hips and back.
Heart Disease
As high blood pressure is more common among overweight people than people at normal weight levels, so increases the risk for heart disease. Instances of high triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol as found in obese patient can increase the chances for heart attack, angina, and congestive heart failure.
Deep Vein Thrombosis
Deep Vein Thrombosis, or DVT, is characterized by a clot in the leg veins that forms after a prolonged period of inactivity. While DVT is common among people confined to wheelchairs and business travelers who sit for long commerical flights, DVT can present a problem for the obese. Immobility plays a large factor.
Stroke
Obesity is often associated with inactivity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, the same conditions which may cause blood clots to form in the arteries. These clots in turn slow blood flow to the heart and cause strokes.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a condition where a person will stop breathing while asleep. As excess fat crowding air passageways leads to this condition, obese patients often suffer sleep apnea. Lack of blood flow to the body during sleep can contribute to drowsiness during the day, headaches, and a host of other problems.
Type 2 Diabetes
Commonly known as adult onset diabetes, Type-II diabetes is thought to be caused by the body's gradual inability to use insulin. Prolonged inactivity, obesity, and age are common factors in the increasing risk of onset diabetes. As a person gains an inordinate amount of weight, blood sugar levels can fluctuate out of control and lead to serious imbalances.
Reduce the risks associated with obesity
It's as simple as this: the more excess weight you lose, the better your risks of serious illness will decrease. An exceptional loss of weight can be the difference between having to have surgery for arthritis or dealing with minor physical therapy. First, though, you have to lose the weight. Consult with a physician with regards to the weight loss program that is right for you, and don't feel frustrated about the length of time it takes to be well. Losing weight doesn't happen overnight, and with steady determination you will see results.
By: Kathryn Lively
Kathryn Lively (http://www.kathrynlively.com) writes for Compuslim (http://www.compuslim.com), a weight loss program individually tailored to different lifestyles.
The Healthy Way to Lose Weight
Confused by all the diets on the market today? The best advice I can give you is to eat healthy food for weight loss. Fad or crash diets do not work and are not healthy. In fact, they can slow your metabolism and cause further weight gain. The best way to lose weight is to eat the right foods. A good starting place for a balanced diet is the USDA Food Pyramid. Everyone is different so you will need to find the right balance according to your individual needs.
Be sure to include a variety of colors in your diet - red, orange, yellow, green, etc. This way you will be getting the most nutritional value and health benefits from your diet.
One of the best vegetables you can eat is the sweet potato. It is a great source of fiber and loaded with vitamins. Red peppers are another very healthy vegetable - much healthier than green peppers. Berries are another great food. Blueberries and blackberries are very high in antioxidants. So be sure to eat a variety of berries.
Green tea is a great beverage. It has many health benefits and is high in antioxidants. It can also help increase metabolism and aid in weight loss.
Protein drinks are great as a meal replacement when you are trying to lose weight. Be sure to choose one that is high in protein and vitamins but is low in fat and sugars.
Watch out for extra calories hidden in things like salad dressing, butter, gravy, sauces and condiments. One of the biggest weight loss pitfalls is the fat and calories contained in these items.
In addition to eating healthy food for weight loss, portion control is key. Pay close attention to labels and the size of a serving. The bottom line for weight loss is you have to burn more calories than you consume. You should achieve this with a combination of consuming less calories and increasing your activity so you burn more calories.
It is better to eat 5 or 6 times a day and have small portions than to eat larger portions 2 or 3 times a day. Eating more frequently will help control cravings and blood sugar levels. It also keeps you from feeling so hungry. Eating 5 or 6 times a day will also help to increase your metabolism so you will burn more calories.
In addition to stepping on the scale, you should also take measurements. This is a more accurate indication of whether or not you are losing. You could be burning fat and losing inches but, because you are gaining muscle, the pounds are not changing. So keep track of the inches you are losing and don?t be as concerned about the scale.
Even though eating healthy food for weight loss is very important, don?t feel like you have to give up the foods you love. The key is everything in moderation. If you have a favorite dessert, go ahead and indulge once in a while. I usually try to increase exercise to work off the extra calories if I have a treat. The worst thing you can do is deprive yourself. That will only lead to resentment and failure. You have to look at the diet as a lifestyle change, not a temporary thing. So don?t cut out foods you love, just keep them in moderation.
Vitamins and supplements compliment eating healthy food for weight loss. It is hard to get all the vitamins and minerals your body needs in your daily food intake. There are also many herbal supplements that can assist in weight loss such as increasing energy and metabolism so that you burn more calories. You should, of course, consult with your physician regarding your personal needs. By: Sue McQueen
Sue McQueen is a health and wellness consultant. She helps clients achieve optimal wellness through personal programs based on each individual's needs. For more information, visit http://www.personal-health-beauty-consultant.com
