Eye is the most sensitive part of your body. It should be allotted thorough care and protect as well. You always should take care of your eyes to make sure they are always healthy and safe! Here are some simple ways but proven best on how to care healthy eyes.

What should I do if I get something in my eye?

If you get something in your eye, NEVER EVER rub your eyes! Eyes are sensitive and can be scratched easily. Instead keep blinking till your eye waters.

How can I protect my eyes when I an active?

When playing sports or constructing, always use the proper eye protection, such as goggles, helmets, or visors.

Why should I never look into the sun? 

Your eyes are made to see only certain kinds of light, and the sun is just too bright for your eyes to handle. So you should never look into the sun, because its brightness will damage the light-sensitive part inside your eye called the retina.

What kinds of foods should I eat to make my eyes stronger? 

Milk. Drink lots of milk every day. Its full of important vitamins. Fruits and Vegetables are a good source of vitamins too! Vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and carrots, and fruits such as apples, pears and oranges are very good for your eyes too. 

What is eye strain? 

Eye strain is what happens if you make your eyes work really hard for a really long time. Your eyes are controlled by muscles just like you have all over your body. If you use them too much in the wrong way, the muscles in your eyes will get damaged. So always have plenty of lights on when you read, watch, TV, use the computer, or do anything that you use your eyes for. Proper lighting reduces eye strain. And whenever you watch TV or use the computer, take little breaks every 15 minutes or so to rest your eyes. 

Will my eyes be affected if I don't get enough sleep? 

Your eyes will definitely be affected. Eyes need lots of rest to work their best, so be sure to get plenty of sleep every night. 

Do I really need to visit the eye doctor? 

The eye doctor is very important because he can let you know how your eyes develop as you grow. Visit your eye doctor regularly for check-ups, at least once every two years. People over the age of 60 should see their eye doctor every year!

"Prevention is much better than cure".

The human eye is organ of vision. A vital organ of vision it plays a very important role not only in life but also the Human body. The human eye is the organ which gives us the sense of sight, allowing us to learn more about the surrounding world than we do with any of the other four senses. The eye allows us to see and interpret the shapes, colors, and dimensions of objects in the world by processing the light they reflect or emit. The eye is able to see in bright light or in dim light, but it cannot see objects when there is no light. 

We use our eyes in almost every activity we perform, whether reading, watching television, and in other countless ways. Now days, good vision is critical and essential to conducting activities of daily living easily. It is important for language, and affects developmental learning, communicating, working, health and quality of life. It is very important to take care of your eyesight. Imagine not being able to read the newspaper, see if you are going to be hit by a car, or drive a car. Without a healthy vision you will be forced to rely on others to cross the street or go grocery shopping, becoming many times very inconvenient. Most people probably would agree that sight is the sense they'd value more than the rest. 

Here are some proven effective eye care info.

1. Need Nutrition Food: For healthy eye and healthy eye-sight requirement of Carbohydrate, Protein, Mineral, Water and Vitamins is mandatory. In comparison to all the vitamins Vitamin A is essential to keep your eyes bright. Also, Vitamin C and Vitamin E plays a vital role to secure your eyesight. For this, green vegetables, fruits, small fishes should be in your dining table daily. 
2. Need Light: Eye can adjust itself any in any lighting condition. However, working on less light or bright one can be harmful. In daylight, do not read in direct sunlight. At night, use Tube Light or Energy saving bulb rather than normal Bulb. Whenever you are reading with the help of Table Lamp, move it opposite to the wall and use the reflected light to study. 
3. Watching Television: Generally keep your TV at least 10 feet from the eyesight. If you cannot do this then keep this range between 6 feet to 10 feet. Adjust the brightness, contrast, color to prevent from eye defect. Take a break when you are watching TV programs in a row. Switch a tube light or a 40/60 bulb in the time of watching television, but never watch in dark room. 
4. Take care to your eyes in different diseases: Moreover, take special care to your eyes when you are in severe diseases. Consult to Doctors. Avoid excessive hard work that can harm your nerves. Specially, for diabetes and high blood pressure patients this can be major factor. Avoiding eyesight factor can cause Diabetes Retinopathy to diabetes patients. Eye disease of pregnant women also affects their baby. That is why, keep these things in mind. 
1. New born patients should be taken to eye specialists as they need eye massages in addition with medicines. 
5. Take care to your glasses: Again, those who need spectacles at first meet their doctor and follow doctor’s prescription. Clean your glasses time to time. Never use readymade power specs prescribed by yourself. Some people avoid glasses as they believe it would become a habit which is a wrong thinking. Avoiding glasses creates pressure to your eyes.

Everyone aims for healthy lifestyle. No money can buy health. Some people are not taking consideration on their health status just because of they were busy in businesses and their careers. Some tips on how to gain healthy and fit will be share on this article. These some effective and most physicians advise to patients having health problems.. 

1. Swallow at least seven or eight spectacles of water on each day. Not drinking satisfactory water leads to little energy with a fake intelligence of food shortage. If you drink sufficient amounts you’ll discover it easier to care for an in first-class physical profile go on a diet and a soaring power rank. 

2. Try to sleep as a minimum seven to eight hours all night. If the body doesn’t obtain sufficient sleep it workings fewer professionally all over the day. Snooze is in addition the time while our physique develops. Not sleeping sufficient makes us additional level on the way to rotate our calories to unattractive fat in its place of lean influence tissue. 

3. Make longer earlier than bedtime. Stretches keep the muscles, joint, in addition to tendons healthy and nimble. It too reduces the prospect of injury 

4. Shrink stress. Stress has a group of unnecessary belongings resting on top of the cadaver: it disrupts the commonplace function of inside organs, and it causes the explosion of membrane blemishes and bad skin, and a large amount more. Reducing stress will remain you more vigorous and beautiful. 

5. Reduce alcohol. Alcohol is wealthy during calories and sugar. It is capable of cause havoc happening the liver and kidneys. I’m not adage discontinue ingestion entirely, just perimeter it to social measures and construct sure not to go overboard.

6. Exercises atleast three days in a week as a minimum. This keeps body bend over and healthy. You need to fit into place in mutually potency and cardiovascular workouts and create convinced to compensate attention to each muscle group. You force not only seem to be better; you will moreover be aware of better.

7. Stop smoking. Whether you’re smoking cigarettes or anything else, just stop at anyhow. Smoking is solitary of the most terrible things for your physical condition and health level. It basically troubles each physically system. It as well turns your teeth fair-haired and may smash up your membrane and vocal cords. So just stop that. 

8. Do somewhat which challenges your brain. The association stuck between mind and body is central to your vigor. Similar to any extra body branch, you need to keep fit your intelligence so as to remain it at the top of its sport. Whether you achieve that through reading a good book, solving a mystery, captivating a class, otherwise whatsoever you experience like, observance your intelligence in shape is a must. 

9. Observe what you eat. Attempt to slash behind the quantity of Tran’s overweight, process honey and sallow crabs that you eat. As an alternative, eat more bright vegetables and fruit, multifaceted crabs, and lean protein like chicken or turkey. 

10. Take pleasure in physically having cooled just the once in an even as is especially significant. Make positive to boast a good snicker once every day. It loosens you up, gets your blood sinuous, releases nervousness and pressure, and is just simple fun. It’s also very vigorous. Thanks for your interesting and stay with us.

Often consult your physicians for your health status. Always remember the general principle "health is wealth", no one can buy health.

Having more productive sebaceous glands causes for extreme oily on the skin. The excellent news is this skin type is usually sluggish to confirm well line, crumples and staining. The problem can be more repeated escaping, huge apertures and an oily emergence. If you try to following steps can reduce the harmful results. 

Oily skin care formulation: 

Fasten with the essentials: The specialists propose purification your appearance two or three times daily with excellent old soap and water. Set a moistened purification pad if you won’t be about a water sink all over the day. 

Recognize that aesthetics and dermatologists frequently differ on which types of cleansers or soaps to use but all consent that once you get a product that works fine with your skin, you must carry on that product. 

Follow the suggestion of dermatologists and bath or shower in apathetic before steaming hot water. Hot water is able to stripe your skin of desirable wetness, while cold water can upset your skin. 

Keep away from using purifier that tends to more dry skin. These inconsistently cause your skin to construct especially oil than typical. 

Talk to your dermatologist about a class of drugs called retinoid, which decrease creation in oil glands and minimize their range. 

Remember that oil glands are very receptive stimulus such as hormones, heat and greasy food brought oily skin as well. 

Bear in mind that your hard work to keep your oily skin plain can only go to date, as some studies specify that oily skin is inherited. 

Many cheap solutions for excessive oily skin is now available in the market. 

There are groups of “collide” diet absent there that guarantee so as to you’ll fall a sizable quantity of heaviness in time of a time or a week. I comprise tried a small amount of these, as well as in my knowledge the weight always come reverse on, immediately as rapidly because the weight beating tips specified are not amazing that will work by means of your cadaver. 

Individual thing you don’t wish for to perform if you are in reality severe about behind weight is to chase these vogue diets and their preposterous weight loss tips. After their hopelessness has been established time and once more, public will begin to intelligent up to so as to meticulous go on a diet, and spirit head off in look for of a new-fangled trend. 

Let’s be alive honest, people are for all time searching for fresh weight loss. Tips because they desire to misplace pound and they desire immediate outcome, however this is very soon wishful thoughts. To lose weight endearingly and efficiently it resolve be a slightly sluggish evolution, all depending on your metabolic speed and how a high-quality deal you require losing. 

There are on top of the extra hand several confirmed tried and right weight loss tips intended to aid in the weight loss procedure, and I can build you memorable with them. 

Don’t miss to take the breakfast. Whatsoever you do tag along this suggestion, because if not you are an immense arrangement more probable in verity lying on your front to splurge later on in the calendar day. 

Don’t consume whatever thing for as a minimum an hour earlier than going to bed. 

Don’t snack at the same time as watching TV. It’s up to standard to eat a something to eat while watching TV, but in no way is snacking on this time up to standard. 

Alternate fruits like; bananas, watermelon, plums, peaches, and oranges for sugary treats like; cookies and chocolate. 

Alternate honey for sugar, and carob crush for chocolate within each and every one recipe. These flavor just as good quality if not improved when used properly. 

Eat additional vegetables. This be capable of smooth be pleasurable if you contain a good recipe book like Good housekeeping’s newest version. 

Avoid needless far above the ground calorie foods. As an alternative of a towering calorie salad covering for instance try cottage cheese or yogurt to improve the salads taste and peel of the pounds. 

Work out as a minimum a half hour daily for five days out of the week. You can practice to drive and for your information while analysis is an immense form of exercise to slight legs.

When managing your body - losing, maintaining or gaining. What you're looking for is the right mix of calories and proper nutrition that will give you high hunger control and last for 3+ hours along with a reasonable exercise program. You're not looking to starve (fasting) or have to run 5 miles a day because you can't maintain that regime on a long term basis. 

How do you do it? First, make sure you really want to lose and get the body shape you want. An ounce of commitment is worth a pound of promises, understand your choices. Most dietary regimes fail because the person will not be consistent and follow their program - then they blame the program. You want to avoid this trap it's negative and reinforces a poor self-image. 

Here is a simple map of how different foods affect your body chemistry.

Refined / Simple Carbohydrates: Sugars, white breads, rice & pasts, fruit juice & white potatoes. High hunger control BUT only lasts 10 minutes - this is what produces constant cravings.

Complex Carbohydrates: Fruits, veggies. and whole grains (whole oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat pasta & bread). Produces low hunger control that lasts 30 - 60 minutes.

Lean Protein: Chicken, fish, lean beef, egg whites and soy products. Medium hunger control lasting 2-3 hours.

Complex Carbohydrates + Lean Protein: Meal replacement shakes, balanced meals, and balanced snacks. High hunger control that lasts 3+ hours. THIS IS THE BEST.

If the key to lower calories and balanced nutrition personalized in the right mix. The question is how do you do it consistently and at a price point that is sustainable? The answer is a flexible program of meal replacement shakes, supplements and healthy balanced meals. 

Power of Protein and Your Body Needs

Balanced nutrition means that you are getting what you need at the time you need it and your body can absorb it properly. Si your body needs sugars, fats, etc. The issue is that processed foods are not nutritionally balanced and by their nature difficult to personalize. 

The chief component of effective weight loss is protein. Protein is what makes you feel full and it builds muscle. Build muscle - build your metabolism to burn calories - a pound of muscle burns 14 calories a day. There are different types of protein - animal protein and vegetable proteins at a high level. While your body absorbs both - animal proteins are more difficult to rapidly digest and your body doesn't absorb their full nutritional value. Vegetable proteins, like soy, deliver protein that is more quickly digested and the body can absorb the nutrition better. That's why soy and similar foods are used as extenders in meat products, like fast food hamburgers. 

If you want to gain weight and really build muscle you'll need 2,700 to 4,000 calories a day and that translates to roughly 300 - 400 grams of protein. That's a lot of food. For weight loss a woman needs about 100 grams and a man needs 150 grams of protein a day. And when you need it throughout the day depends on the stresses and activities of your lifestyle. How do you get what your body craves in a healthy sustainable fashion?

Meal Replacement Shakes

Meal replacements have over a 25 year track record of clinically proven success in weight management. The correct formulation and you lose weight or using the same system you can gain weight and develop muscle with the right exercise program. Just like any other product there are variations and quality differences that have given the shake and undeserved reputation among those who have not tried a good product. Meal Replacement shakes fall into three categories - the "protein" shake, the unbalanced shake and the balanced meal replacement shake.

A lot of people are familiar with the phrase protein shake and assume that any shake is a protein shake - this is not true. A protein shake is a specific formulation used by body builders for muscle development. Quite frankly, grainy and not very tasty but it does build muscle or cause you to gain weight. 

The unbalanced shake is what people normally find in pre-mixed cans on supermarket shelves - they do not have a full nutritional mix and are usually watery, too low on protein, leading to hunger and have an unpleasant aftertaste. Unfortunately this product has given the meal replacement a reputation it does not deserve.

Balanced Meal Replacement Shake

A good meal-replacement shake can actually be more nutritious than the average meal and prevent you from getting hungry. That's because this type of shake contains plenty of soy based protein and good nutrition without excess calories and fat. And it can be custom tailored to your taste and nutritional needs with different flavors and adding some fruit of your choice. They are a great way to achieve your target weight and maintain it. Studies confirm that those who lose weight with meal-replacement shakes are more likely to keep it off than other dieters.

Why? Because in most diet programs you are calculating your lean complex carb and lean protein needs. That's why they specify the amounts of fish, certain meats, etc. However, based on your weight, sex, personal eating habits, smoking, drinking, etc. those needs vary. With the balanced meal replacement shake everything is contained in the shake that you need and you can then customize by adding/subtracting protein and carbs as needed. Example: a high quality meal replacement can deliver the equivalent of 1500 calories of nutrition in only 300 calories of shake and you feel full. That's the magic!!!!

This is one of the reasons that having a personal wellness coach along with your program can be instrumental in your success. Your coach can advise you of the amount of protein your body requires by measuring your body composition with a Lean-Protein Estimator and build a Body Mass Index (BMI) for you. Then, they coach can create a simple meal plan to help ensure you get that amount of good protein. Example - you want to add more protein based on your needs - your add protein powder to your shake - protein delivered this way is fat free and cholesterol free.

Personal Wellness Coach - Who's a good fit?

Spouse or partner - While it's great to have the support of your partner or spouse, they may not always know how best to help. And sometimes it is tough to take and implement advice from someone close to you.

Good friend - A good friend can be a wonderful ally for losing weight, particularly if they become a workout buddy. But for the same as a spouse - their knowledge and existing relationship make for support but not for the most effective coaching.

Personal weight-loss coach. - It's true, there's nothing like having a personal coach to help you achieve your weight-loss goal. With good programs that coach comes with the program! The coach should be available, keeping you on track with product suggestions, exercise tips, body-composition testing, check-ins and more!

Try this for fun

Take a McDs burger and fries, don't do anything special - just keep them in their bag the way you got them and put them in your pantry or garage or car - probably a fry or two there anyway is it's like my car. Come back in 3 months and take a look. They haven't changed - no mold, the fries are the same color - better living through chemistry. My question to you - if the bugs don't want, why should you? Know that I will probably stop by and pick up a burger now and then but it starts you thinking

Gordon and Lori Townsend have over a decade of experience as wellness coaches and have helped hundreds of people achieve their health and fitness goals without the use of drugs or other medications. Lori lost 28 pounds and 6 inches of body fat, her cholesterol went down 100 points and she got off all prescription thyroid medication in 8 weeks. Gordon lost 30 pounds and went from a size 34 waist to size 30 in 8 weeks. We have not been to the doctor nor have our children for any illness in 4 years! How would you like energy levels through the roof, the body shape you want and fundamentally change how you look and feel about yourself?

We believe that success is in the details and the coaching so let's see if we have a match - http://www.loseweightnow.com/loriandgordon or contact us for a free consultation at loriandgordon@gmail.com.

Diane was a middle-aged financial consultant who had been in relatively good health. She had undergone a hysterectomy 24 months prior and used only bio-identical hormones. She ate a healthy diet, worked out regularly, took the proper supplements, and slept well. You may picture Diane as a fit, happy, and healthy person. However, Diane was forty-five pounds overweight, losing her hair, exhausted all day, depressed, perpetually cold, and having digestive problems. She was doing all the right things, so why did she still feel like gum on the bottom of a shoe? The important missing tidbit was that Diane and her spouse of twenty years divorced one year prior. How is it possible for just one stressful circumstance to wreak such havoc? The answer is cortisol induced hormonal chaos.

Hormones are chemical messengers released by our bodily organs is response to orders received from two key areas in the brain, the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland. These two 'parental figures' tightly regulate the functions and behaviors of the body's 'hormone children' so the family lives harmoniously. The sibling hormone cortisol is the most disruptive of them all, and because it is the most influential bodily hormone, it alone can dictate the whole hormone family dynamic in a detrimental way. Cortisol is the body's main stress hormone and is released by the adrenal glands in response to stress. As the primary 'fight or flight' hormone, cortisol is the only hormone we could not survive without. We are designed to mount a 'healthy' fight or flight response for short periods of time. However, if we defy the rules of nature and subject ourselves to persistent stress in its many forms, the body does what it can to protect your life but not your health, peace of mind, and longevity.

Cortisol is the body's primary 'wear and tear' hormone. Its task is to provide cells with the fuel necessary to mount a stress response. Various other hormones including estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and growth hormone are 'growth and repair' hormones. In order for your body to function optimally, there must be balance between all of these hormones. If chronic stress tips the balance in cortisol's favor, 'non-essential' functions (i.e. digestion, sleep, and reproduction) take a back seat on the long trip to poor health. Exploring the influence cortisol exerts on other hormones may provide a better understanding for why so many bodily functions go awry when we are 'stressed out'.

Cortisol and Estrogen 

Estrogen has in excess of four hundred functions within the body which include maintaining a healthy cardiovascular system, building bone tissue, protecting brain function, and promoting reproduction. When cortisol is elevated, the release of estrogen declines. Furthermore, the sensitivity of tissues to estrogen is absent even if it is present. As a result, delayed puberty, infertility, absence of menses, and miscarriage may occur. In aging women, cortisol frequently rises, and it is believed this could be responsible for postmenopausal women's propensity towards developing weight gain, mood problems, inflammation and autoimmune disease, insulin resistance, and greater risk for heart disease.

Cortisol and Progesterone

Not only is progesterone a reproductive hormone, it also functions as an anti-inflammatory, anti-muscle spasm, anti-anxiety, and anti-uterine cancer and anti- breast cancer hormone. Its capacity to also serve as a neuroprotective hormone (preserving and sustaining the brain) enhances thought processes, focus, and recall. Since the body normally uses progesterone to make cortisol, during times of acute and chronic stress, a unique phenomenon identified as "the progesterone steal syndrome" may occur. The result is a decrease in levels of progesterone as it funnels into cortisol production to meet the body's increased cortisol requirement. This can cause premenopausal females to have PMS symptoms and postmenopausal women to suffer from worsening signs and symptoms of estrogen dominance (i.e. irritability, sleep disturbances, an increase in weight, bowel disturbances, breast cancer, and uterine cancer)

Cortisol and Testosterone 

Testosterone plays as essential a role in men as estrogen does in women. Studies have revealed testosterone to be crucial in instrumental in maintaining heart health, optimizing blood glucose control, improving sexual function, and improving bone health. Testosterone is essential in women too serving to maintain energy levels, sex drive, mood, bone strength, and mental function. As is the case with other 'feel good' hormones, levels of testosterone plummet in the face of cortisol dominance.

Cortisol and DHEA

DHEA is the other primary adrenal gland hormone and it rises with cortisol during an acute stress response. Just as progesterone is the body's natural 'anti-estrogen' hormone, DHEA is the body's natural 'anti-cortisol' hormone. Its appearance during acute stress helps prevent cortisol from causing extensive injury to otherwise healthy tissues. Chronic stress leads to a decrease in DHEA. Since DHEA is essential for immune system function, heart health, bone building, and brain function, cortisol induced reductions in DHEA can bring about a myriad of signs and symptoms involving many different bodily systems. One unique hint that DHEA could be low is loss of hair in the armpits, on the legs, and in the pubic area.

Cortisol and Thyroid Hormone 

Thyroid hormone is a key player in the metabolism of protein, carbohydrates, and fats, advising cells how to handle each type of energy form. Thyroid hormone is also crucial in maintaining the health of tissues, stimulating bone growth, and boosting brain cell development. Like cortisol, thyroid hormone is actually a 'wear and tear' hormone. To protect itself from stress induced spontaneous combustion, the body can put the brakes on thyroid hormone production and action. Common symptoms of low thyroid hormone levels include lethargy, cold intolerance, constipation, depression symptoms, memory problems, and an increase in weight. Considering that stress induced alterations in thyroid hormone occur in an indirect manner, test results may fall 'within the normal range', and therein lies the challenge.

Reestablishing Hormone Family Harmony It may be more obvious why Diane's hormone balance was disturbed soon after she experienced a tremendously stressful ordeal. Since cortisol effectively negates the beneficial effects of other hormones, every organ system can be harmed by perpetual cortisol excess. It is important for your health care provider to check the integrity of your stress response system, including cortisol levels, before initiating any kind of hormone replacement therapies. Bear in mind, sibling rivalry is intense between cortisol and all the other hormones. Just as a cortisol lowers other hormones, replacing other hormones in the presence of low cortisol can cause and equal and opposite problem. Estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, and thyroid hormone, especially when given simultaneously, can lead to signs and symptoms of worsening fatigue, weight gain, depression, and chronic pain since these hormones will tip the balance out of cortisol's favor (remember hypocortisolism?)

I call stress 'The Great Equalizer' for good reason. Only in the company of a happy stress response system will the body function at optimal levels.

Dr. Lena Edwards is a physician, author, speaker, entrepreneur, and health & wellness advocate. Her area of expertise is in the area of stress and stress related diseases. You can read additional invaluable and medically credible information about stress, cortisol, and health in her book, "Adrenalogic: Outsmarting Stress. http://www.adrenalogic.com.

Kick start a weight loss diet now if you need!

Dietary practices of many societies have changed over the past decade as a result of increasing affluence and food availability. Ready-made, high-fat, high-sugar, high-calorie foods are the most convenient norm in this fast-paced age. If we allow ourselves to indulge too much in these foods, we may find ourselves losing control of our weight and becoming obese, which is scientifically defined as having a weight that is more than 20% expected according to age, sex, height, and build.

Nobody wants to be obese as more body weight translates into higher blood pressure, and hence higher risks for numerous potentially lethal health problems including cardiovascular disease, stroke, kidney disease, diabetes, cervical, prostate, colon or breast cancer, hypertension, high blood cholesterol, high triglyceride, osteoarthritis, sleep disorder; depression, anxiety, and back problems.

Genetic and environmental factors do play a strong role in obesity too. Some people are genetically prone to weight-gain, while others face challenging environments, like sedentary work conditions. All these, combined with sparse physical activity and poor eating habits, contribute to obesity.

Many fret and get depressed over their excess weight. But, the good news is obesity is a problem that you can control. You don't have to be fat!

From some diet and nutrition experts, I have learnt some very useful tips on healthy dieting and an easy method to control portion sizes and eat the right foods combinations. The first tip, reduce the size of your meals by eating smaller but more frequent meals instead of three large meals, and avoid snacking in between. Pay attention to your portion sizes for each meal. Eat about one cup of complex carbohydrates or starches, such as potatoes, rice, and breads, but look for whole-meal varieties, not the over refined white stuff, the best is to be able to bake your own fresh breads (they last for only about two days, but are worth going - free of preservatives and full of vitamins!).

For protein, take a small palm size of lean meat for each meal and keep it to just 3 or 4 times a week. Substitute fish that is high in omega-3 fatty acids instead of meats high in saturated fat like hamburger. Take fatty fish like mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon as they are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. In your weight loss diet, avoid saturated fat, trans fat and high cholesterol foods by replacing them with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as canola oil, olive oil or liquid margarine. Animal fats are saturated fats that get stored in layers of fatty tissues, our body doesn't need them. Egg is rich in protein but take just two or three times a week as too much of it can raise cholesterol and is not good for any weight loss diet.

And of course, for each meal, remember to take a fist-full of fruits and vegetables to give your stomach a sufficient dose of antioxidant and that "full" feeling it craves. Take fresh fruit and not those you find in convenient cans, and don't overcook your vegetables.

Grab a healthy snack for the road, and always have fruit, carrot sticks, or another healthy snack handy which you can use to fend off the urge for quick, high-fat food such as chocolate chip cookies, ice-creams, and sugar-filled rolls. Keep a stock of healthy snacks around your house and workplace such as seeds, dried fruit, and wholemeal crispbread. Try to cut down on chips and takeaways as far as possible, and avoid using white sugar in your daily foods such as tea, coffee, bread and toasts and replace it with natural sweetener, honey.

A glass of honey water or non-caffeinated tea helps to fill your stomach, hold cravings at bay, and is a good Personally, I like to I keep bottled water within reach at my desk all the time and take a swig whenever I feel hungry. Water is an important nutrient which is vital for a variety of bodily functions and processes including removal of waste products, carrying nutrients, and regulating body temperature. It helps reduce fluid retention, and keep bowel functions normal. Drink plenty of water - at least eight cups of water or fresh juices each day and put away coffee, alcohol, and sodas, if you are serious about following a weight loss diet and shedding the pounds. You probably know that a can of coke contains almost 10 teaspoons of sugar or the entire daily recommended amount of calories from sugar, and takes 32 glasses of water to neutralize the phosphoric acid (which weakens our bones) your body? Many years back, I used to rely on artificial sweeeteners for weight loss and to cut calories in my diet but later was shocked to discover that they are worse than table sugar! These sweeteners not only give us an acidic waste removal problem and throw off our pH balance and but also introduce toxins and damage our body in serious and irrepairable way.

Start today, gradually work to improve your good eating habits and replace bad ones, and you are on the way to achieving fitness!

Besides committing to a weight loss diet, slowly establish a start an exercise regimen. You don't have to be an athlete to stay fit. Health and fitness experts believe that 30 minutes of moderately intensive activity, like fast walking at least three days a week, will gradually improve our fitness level. A higher fitness level will benefit you physically several ways. You will have more energy, a higher metabolism, more lean muscle and less fat. You will have more strength and energy all day. And of course, very importantly, there is cosmetic benefit of a healthy weight; you'll feel better about yourself and your appearance. An improved self-image and self-esteem give you more confidence in social settings. Begin with manageable goals, track your progress, and find creative means and ways to cheer and motivate yourself to press on each day.

R. Tan is the owner of the website benefits-of-honey.com which is a rich honey resource community specially built for all the honey lovers and fans in this world. She has packed this website with a wide range of quality contents on honey based on her knowledge and experience with honey, so as to promote its invaluable benefits which she believes could bring many positive spin-offs in everyone's daily life.

By just being here and reading this article right now you have taken an important step in the right direction towards achieving your fat loss and muscle building goals. We all want to have the perfect body, but as you know most people just "hope" that someday they'll get around to losing the fat and getting in shape. However, you are actually taking action and looking for a solution. So for that I have a lot of respect for you and what you are trying to achieve.

Now with that being said, there is no shortage of "fitness solutions". Heck, a single google search on how to lose fat or how to build muscle will bring up literally millions of results. And here in my articles I share some of my very best "How To" tips with regards to proper weight training, cardio, eating, supplementation, etc. that you'll need to follow in order to transform your physique.

But knowing what to do isn't enough. Let's face it everyone knows "What To Do" to some extent. We all know that we should exercise regularly, that we should eat a healthy diet, that we should drink plenty of water, and all that stuff. But how many people have the fitness motivation to actually do it?

You need to have a big enough reason "Why" you want to be lean, fit, athletic, and muscular in order to have the motivation and determination to do all the "How To" stuff to begin with, and then actually stick to your program over the long term so that you achieve your fitness goals.

Why Do You Want To Burn Bodyfat, Gain Lean Muscle, And Transform Your Body?

Here is an important exercise that you can do RIGHT NOW that will help move you even closer towards achieving the body of your dreams.

Open up a new word processing document on your computer right now and just jot down at least a dozen reasons for why you want to get in your best shape ever. And get real honest with yourself, what are those deep emotional and often irrational selfish reasons that you have for wanting to get in great shape?

Very often the logical and practical ones like: it will improve my health, lower my blood pressure, lower my cholesterol, reduce my risk of heart disease, etc. are not the "hot buttons" that will move you to action. No one really gets excited and passionate about lowering your cholesterol (unless your doctor says it is dangerously high and you are in risk of serious health issues).

But most everyone would get excited about the idea of being able to take your shirt off and feel proud of how your body looks, rather then worrying about a soft flabby gut hanging over your belt.

Imagine having the type of body that commands attention and respect everywhere you go, that causes people to stop do a double take when you walk by because you are in such good shape. Picture how good it will feel to get the attention from the opposite sex and have them hit on you (rather then the other way around :-). And how cool would it be to be one of the fittest guys in the gym and have people complementing you on how good you look and then asking YOU for training advice?

We all have our own reasons for why we want to get in shape, often times the real motivating ones feel so silly and foolish that we wouldn't even tell anyone about them. But those are the ones that will actually keep you on track, help you stick to your plan and follow through. So take a few minutes right now and think about what those reasons are for you.

Think of all the benefits you'll experience from being lean and ripped. Maybe it is so you can fit your your old clothes again. Or so you can go out and buy new clothes that will highlight your new athletic physique. Or maybe it has nothing to do with the clothes and you just want to look good naked. Imagine how awesome it would feel to get "intimate" with that special someone while sporting a lean muscular body with a trim waist and visible 6-pack abs!

And also think of all the negative things you'll move away from. Maybe it is the embarrassments and frustrations you'll avoid. Maybe it is to never have anyone make fun of you for being fat and out of shape ever again. Maybe it is to avoid feeling self conscious and inadequate compared to the more athletic guys at the gym. Maybe it is your way of getting back at someone and getting your revenge, or to make an ex-girl friend jealous for leaving you (that's one I heard about recently).

Whatever it is, write it down. You don't have to share this with anyone but keep it for yourself and review it on a regular basis. Use the carrot and the stick so that you have every possible motivating factor working to your advantage and pushing you towards achieving the body of your dreams.

Psychologists have proven over and over again that the reason for doing something is much more powerful than how you get to the job done. If you have a strong enough reason WHY you want to burn fat, gain muscle, and transform your body then you will find a way to do it. It's as simple as that.

Obviously, you probably already have an idea of what some of the motivating factors are right now. Otherwise you wouldn't even be hear and reading this article right now. But take the time to write them down and make them even more clear and specific. Then review this daily, tweak it, and refine it so that you know EXACTLY what you want, and also know what you DON'T want when it comes to achieving your best body ever!

Lee Hayward is a Muscle Building Coach who is committed to helping aspiring bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts gain muscle, burn bodyfat, and develop the lean muscular body that they desire. Visit Lee's website to download a F.R.E.E. copy of his "10-Part Muscle Building E-Course" at: http://www.leehayward.com

What is anabolic?

The word "anabolic" is largely misunderstood. This is understandable because every time it makes the news the word "steroids" is attached to it. It's actual meaning is "build up/repair" in that when your body is in an anabolic state of being, you are feeling healthy and vital. You are also probably in good hormonal health when your body is anabolic. Anabolic steroids are known for their ability to exponentiate this effect, thus creating a greater level of build up/repair. The problem with anabolic steroids is that when the person goes off of them, which is inevitable, the lack of anabolic hormones can create a catabolic state where the muscle begins to atrophy away. Thus, it's possible to see all of the muscle you have worked so hard to develop while utilizing steroids, whither away into nothing when you quit using them.

The signs of a healthy, anabolic metabolism

If you are in an anabolic, or healthy metabolism, there are certain things that you can expect to experience within your body.

You can expect:

1) To have a healthy libido(your sex drive is active).

2) To be able to lose weight if you exercise.

3) To be able to digest food with relative ease.

4) To be able to recover from minor injuries, and perhaps major ones in a short amount of time.

5) To be relatively pain free concerning most of the joints in your body.

6) To be able to fall asleep at night, and stay asleep.

7) To wake in the morning feeling well rested.

8) To have good skin tone and healthy hair(a bit of luster to both).

9) To have energy to get through the day.

10) To experience a general sense of well being, emotionally.

11) To experience muscle and strength gains if you workout with weights.

How do I know if I have a catabolic metabolism?

Conversely, you can expect to experience virtually the opposite of the above mentioned signs and symptoms if your body is in a state of catabolic breakdown.

Some of the signs include:

1) Lack of sex drive, unhealthy libido.

2) Difficulty losing weight, even if you workout regularly.

3) Feel tired a good portion of the time.

4) Feel out of breath going up a set of stairs.

5) Aches and pains in your body, ie; knees, lower back, neck, shoulders, wrists.

6) Difficulty digesting sugars and carbs(rice, pasta, bread, fruit juice). These items create instant water retention for someone in catabolic metabolism.

7) Difficulty sleeping, or falling back asleep if you wake up. Do not feel well rested in the morning even if you slept.

8) Difficulty building lean muscle mass when you workout with weights.

9) Feel lethargic or have chronic fatigue.

10) Overall sense of unease and nervousness.

11) Potential to have constipation.

12) Unhealthy or dry skin and hair loss, vellus hair.

The causes of catabolic breakdown/metabolism

The causes of catabolic breakdown are pretty straight forward. Generally speaking, it's anything that causes the buildup of cortisol in your system. Your adrenal glands are these little life giving balls of flesh located on the tips of your kidneys. They are responsible for most of the hormones in your body, including DHEA, Testosterone, Estrogen, and indirectly for Growth Hormone. But they also secrete Cortisol as well.

Cortisol has it's benefits, it helps to prepare your body for action-fight or flight. However, most people are not in need of fight or flight all of the time. If anything, most people need to relax and breathe a little more. But what happens if someone is in fight or flight all of the time? The answer is that the adrenal glands are triggered to secrete more and more cortisol into the blood stream until the body is flooded with this accelerated aging hormone.

The primary causes of catabolic breakdown in order of likelihood to your daily life:

1) Coffee

2) Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi

3) Lack of sleep(explained below)

4) alcohol(yes, even red wine and microbrewed beer)

5) Stress over deadlines and finances

6) Poor solid food diet(too many sugars, fats, and carbs-not enough leafy greens)

7) Overworked body, physically speaking

8) Neurosis(although this is usually caused by one of the above)

Many of these items are interrelated with one another, such as it makes it difficult to pinpoint the beginning of the cycle. However, in general whatever is causing you physical and emotional stress is what is causing your catabolic breakdown.

Sleep, the anti-aging miracle

One thing is certain, that you can do some pretty horrendous things to your body and still be healthy as long as you always get good quality sleep. Such is the healing and restorative power of the deepest level of sleep that it can, by itself, reverse catabolic breakdown. However, most people(even those that think they are getting 'enough' sleep) do not get the quality sleep that they need to reverse this process.

For starters, if you are drinking coffee(and I don't care how much), there is a very high degree of likelihood that you do not get the quality of sleep you really need. You may even achieve 8 hours of sleep, but not get the deepest level of rest that your body needs. One of the most important anti-aging things happens at night when you sleep, your adrenals trigger your pituitary to secrete GH or growth hormone. This hormone occurs in small levels within your blood stream throughout the day, but is secreted in greater amounts when you sleep at night. It's supposed to, but often times does not get secreted because your body has to be in deep sleep for this to happen.

Growth Hormone

Growth hormone is the body's primary anti-aging hormone. Without growth hormone, life becomes increasingly difficult and unfun. This is because GH actively fights the aging process and keeps you vital, full of life. Without it, your body starts to become unable to repair and re-energize itself. You will also become glucose intolerant with the lack of sleep and GH. This means that you will begin having trouble digesting sugars of all kinds and the biggest symptom of this is instant water retention upon consumption of the afore mentioned.

To get proper GH secretion into your blood stream you need good quality sleep. To get good quality sleep you need to quit or reduce your caffeine intake. And, reduce your overall stress level.

The ways to combat catabolic breakdown and promote anabolic metabolism

1) Quit drinking coffee, perhaps switch to green tea(although this has caffeine too-but is better for you).

2) Quit drinking diet coke or diet pepsi. Sorry, but this is a catabolic nightmare.

3) Reduce alcohol consumption. Generally, it's the hard alcohol that really interferes with sleep and anabolic metabolism. But, people can abuse wine and beer as well and induce catabolic metabolism.

4) Prioritize your sleep. Period. Your sleep is how you recharge and repair your adrenal glands. Without them, you will accelerate your aging process. Also, you need deep sleep to secrete GH. GH has been referred to as "the elixir of life".

5) Begin to exercise regularly. Regular exercise has been proven to increase GH levels in your blood as well as reduce cortisol. The only exception is obsessive/compulsive exercising hours a day, every day. This has a reverse effect.

6) Clean your diet up. Less or no chocolate, less or not saturated fat, less or no sugar. Eat more greens, less breads, pastas, rices.

7) If you have done all of the above and still have trouble, then I recommend meditation. Proper meditation has been proven to effectively induce anti-aging.

A new lease on life

This process very well may require you to revamp your priorities in life. What is your health and well being worth? As an author and trainer I have had to address this question with myself as well. At one point, I was drinking large amounts of coffee and eating a lot of garbage. I just sort of banked on my regular exercise and incredible metabolism to carry me through. But, with enough abuse, anybody can go into catabolic breakdown. Studies have shown that all you need is to not get enough sleep for 4 nights in a row to reduce the regular production of GH in your blood stream. This shows me that sleep is all important and that anything that hinders your sleep should be eliminated from your daily routine.

If you execute the above mentioned items, you will assuredly experience a positive shift in your physical body. It may take some time, but you will eventually experience more energy, easier weight loss, an increased sex drive, and a new feeling of well being. Begin now to make the necessary, life giving changes that you deserve.

Most women will come to think that a svelte figure, a well-chiseled face and a voluptuous figure is all that matters. They spend thousands and thousands of money to correct unsightly features and enhance assets, just so they could be as pleasing and alluring for the opposite sex. But these women are forgetting a great element of sexiness that goes beyond figures and builds, and that is fitness and health.

The amount of money and effort spent for unhealthy dieting techniques and easy-lose-weight-pills may be harmful to the body in the long run. Also, the little hazards that come with quick dieting are contrary to the promotion of health.

Fitness is a state of well-being. It is characterized by the ability of the body to do daily tasks without undue fatigue. When a woman is physically fit, it is absolutely sexier and healthier than a 36-24-36 body, because in the long run, health with supersede beauty. Some guys are actually much more interested with fit bodies, rather than overly slim ones.

More so, this isn't just for your man. This is for you. Being fit will lengthen your life span, and at the same time, give you much better results, in terms of weight loss and maintenance. This is like being beautiful while being fit. So here are some ways that could help you get that luscious figure without sacrificing your health.

Keep a good, controlled diet. Everybody knows which food are healthy to the body and which ones will give the most promising gain loss results. Fruits, vegetables, lean white meat, wheat and cereals in regulated amounts are just what you need. If one would equate fitness with sexiness, that would mean the right amount of shape and proportion of the body as a result of eating well.

Exercise regularly. Despite the many effortless weight-losing products in the market today, every woman who wishes to achieve her ideal figure must know that exercising is the best option to promote metabolism in the body. Artificial sweat catalysts like sauna belts or gels will not give the same results as exercise does. A good regular exercise will be the healthiest option to sweating out the fats, because not only does it secrete the toxins from the body, it also tones certain parts of the body definitely. While some products may let you lose weight fast, it may also cause faster weight gain when you do not keep up a good, healthy diet. You may consider:

- Walking or Running. This is the simplest exercise. A good amount of walking can do wonders to the body and health. If you do not have time to schedule a regular walking exercise, do it when you go to work or when going anywhere. Instead of riding your car in going places, walk it. It might not be the kind of exercise that gives you a great amount of sweat but a regular practice like this will help you get fit, as it can be a good cardiovascular exercise.

- Talking to a fitness instructor. If you are sure that you can set aside an amount of time for regular exercise, consult a fitness instructor and let them know what you want. They provide good fitness programs for people, as they base your weight on your height. They do not suggest quick tips on reaching your ideal body, rather, get you to lose it gradually with a variety of exercises.

Beauty and sexiness must be coupled with a conscious consideration for fitness. It does pay to have be beautiful while being healthy.

Designing any weight training diet may be one of the most important factors in achieving your body building goals. Some bodybuilders declare that a correctly designed diet plan is responsible for up to 80% of their success.

Many people believe that the simplest way to build lean muscles, particularly if you need to lose some weight as well, is to exercise like crazy and reduce calories. They think that having less and exercising much more will force the body to tap into its fat hold. It is not that simple though.

To begin with, counting calories is only part of necessary eating habits. Designing a perfect bodybuilding nourishment plan is not only about how much to consume.It is important to know when to consume, as well as what kind of food raises our metabolic rate, and which decreases it. Many extreme eating plans promise rapid weight loss through reducing calories intake and also decreasing appetite. The truth is, they put your system into starvation mode and decrease you metabolic rate.

Your current basal metabolic rate (BMR) depends on other factors you'll want to take into account. The most critical are your health, sex, age and our body size. Men normally have more muscle tissue and less fat than girls do, but planning the diet plan is equally important. Another important factor in planning your weight training weight loss program is your lifestyle and work problems; a construction worker needs a different weight training diet as compared to someone who spends hours working at a computer.

Some people think that working out on empty stomach may help them lose weight. Naturally, by eating too much before your workout, you may get stomach cramps so apply common sense. On the other hand, in the event you exercise on an empty stomach, your body goes directly to muscle tissue for fuel, instead of excess fat. You will end up fatigued and finally quit exercising completely because it will probably be too hard.

Additionally, our body needs fuel for other crucial functions like breathing, circulating blood, creating heat, growing hair and nails, developing and repairing cells, along with proper functioning of the coronary heart, lungs, nervous system, and other bodily organs.

The best thing you can do is to eat a normal meal before exercising as well as giving yourself enough time between eating and going to the fitness center. The best and the safest solution to create an optimal weight training diet and sticking to it, is to to follow qualified advice and maintain a food journal.

You will find formulas you can use to calculate weight training diet that will be the most effective for your body type, gender plus your level of activity. They make designing the program much easier.

Putting all your increased exposure of exercise and neglecting diet is a big mistake that can prevent you from achieving real results in smaller time. No matter how critical your weight program, the weight instruction diet can make all the difference. Get more information about muscle gain workout.

People of all ages are concerned about their health - how they feel, how they look, disease prevention, as well as quality of life. Unfortunately, the majority of society has been brainwashed to believe in the concept of eating less fat, excessive exercise, Botox injections or pharmaceutical drugs as the answer to attain Health, Vitality, Longevity and Fat Loss.

How can you achieve complete wellness, naturally without the gimmicks and artificial fixes? Winning Formulas for Health, Vitality, Longevity and Fat Loss are a multi-dimensional state of well-being - a holistic approach which integrates all aspects of wellness encompassing body, mental, emotional, environmental, community and spiritual health.

Holistic health is a lifestyle that requires you to be an active participant taking control and responsibility of various aspects of your life such as:

• A sensible exercise program

• Complementary supplementation

• Eating wholesome, organic foods

• Emotional and mental well-being

• Hormonal balance

• Optimal digestion

• Peace of mind and happiness

• Periodic detoxification

• Positive thoughts and belief system

• Quality relationships

• Restful sleep

• Spiritual connection and awareness 

• Stress management, relaxation, meditation and breathing

Holistic health is a natural expression and harmony of life. It consists of peace of mind, happiness and complete well-being on all levels - physical, emotional, intellectual, mental and spiritual. It is an evolution, balance and integration of these aspects. You are made up of spirit, mind and body. If there is a problem in one of these areas, it will affect the others as well.

Practicing principles of holistic health can alleviate many health conditions including degenerative diseases, chronic stress and lifestyle disorders, hormonal imbalances, elevated cholesterol, hypertension, glandular weakness, gut dysfunction and a lowered functioning immune system.

Holistic health is not portrayed by the individual with a bronzed tan, a chiseled six-pack abdomen eating 800 calories per day. Nor is it the person who jogs twenty-five miles per week, the latest celebrity diet or the individual that has undergone one plastic surgery after another.

The truth is that no amount of exercise or cosmetic surgery will reshape your physique without attention to your lifestyle, emotions and healthy nutrition. Most diets set you up to fail. They work against your natural biochemistry and program your body to store fat.

Diets and weight loss gimmicks lead to a damaged metabolism. People who maintain their natural weight range usually have a healthy relationship with food, viewing it as nourishment. They enjoy food and eating without feelings of guilt, anxiety or obsession.

The American population has been misinformed regarding what it takes to lose weight, attain the ultimate physique and live a healthy lifestyle.

A key component of wellness is self-acceptance. Many believe that at age forty their mind, sight, hearing, libido, joints and physique are on the decline and degeneration is bound to happen. Even worse, society has become dependent upon pharmaceuticals, stimulants or processed foods for maintenance of the most basic human functions.

Addictions to alcohol, sugar and other artificial stimulants are used by many. These deplete you of energy, wreak havoc on your health and leave you more exhausted on deeper levels. All addictions stem from inner emotional conflict.

Ninety percent of all diseases could be avoided with attention to these four components: stress management, sunlight, nutrition and exercise.

Unfortunately, medical schools teach upcoming doctors little, if any, about nutrition, wellness or prevention of disease. Instead, doctors are taught how to prescribe toxic pharmaceutical drugs, making doctors the third leading cause of death. The Rx drug acts as a band-aid. After a period of time, it worsens or reappears in another form. Each patent medicine has a list of side effects that often make matters worse. Eventually, more drugs are needed to deal with them leading to biochemistry disruption and eventually death.

Holistic health addresses the entire person and their lifestyle. It focuses on prevention, health maintenance, high-level wellness and longevity. You are an active participant in the healing process of your life versus a passive recipient.

If you want to accelerate aging and shorten your life span, do what most Americans are already doing (avoid exercise, eat a large percentage of their diets from fast foods, soda and junk foods, consume white four and white sugar, avoid supplements and instead take prescription drugs which prematurely age the liver, pancreas, kidneys and other organs).

WINNING FORMULAS FOR HEALTH, VITALITY, LONGEVITY AND FAT LOSS

Water: Drink plenty of water. Every metabolic process that occurs in your body needs water to complete. Trying to lose body fat, alleviate constipation, headaches or low back pain? Drink more water. The formula for you individually is to take your body weight and multiply by 7 and this will give you the number of ounces of water to consume every day. Add a pinch of Celtic sea salt for better absorption and cellular hydration. Adding lemon to your water inhibits the growth of kidney stones, creates an alkaline environment and is nourishing for your liver.

Moderate exercise: The body MUST move on a daily basis to remain healthy, vital and young. The intensity and frequency of your exercise plan depends on your level of fitness and overall health. Unfortunately, most people tend to either under-exercise or over-exercise.

Performing excessive cardiovascular exercise has a huge influence on a woman's hormone levels. You can deplete your sex hormones simply by overdoing cardio exercise. Often this affects women faster than men, and the effects are magnified as a woman approaches her 40s and nears menopause. The constant revving-up and slowing down of a woman's metabolism from years of aerobic activity has adverse hormonal implications. Many people think that cardiovascular exercise is the ideal exercise because they feel more refreshed and energized afterwards. This is only because the adrenal glands have been over-stimulated and have secreted enough adrenaline and cortisol.

Numerous studies have shown that aerobic exercise does not promote the growth of muscle. In fact, cardio exercise actually blocks muscle growth and can also reduce your muscle mass, which makes it an inefficient way of staying lean.

I am not alone in opposing aerobic exercise. Three of the top leaders in the world of health and fitness, Paul Chek, founder of the CHEK Institute, Dr. Diana Schwarzbein, M.D., who studies the hormonal effects of exercise, and Charles Poliquin, an Olympic strength coach who studies the correlation between body fat and imbalanced hormones, all advise against cardiovascular exercise because it produces high levels of stress on the body, depletes your sex hormones and can lead to excess fat around the midsection.

The average woman does endless hours of cardio/aerobics, no strength training, starves herself, focuses on the number on the scale and wonders why her body isn't changing for all the effort and time she spends.

My Winning Formula to build muscle and lower your fat stores is to lift weights regularly, at least two to three times a week for 45-50 minutes at a time utilizing a full-body strength training program.

Nutrition: Eat whole, unprocessed foods, preferably organic. Commercially farmed animals are pumped with growth stimulating hormones, antibiotics, as well as other drugs. Organic foods not only provide higher density nutrients needed to detoxify the body. Check out for a list of foods with the highest and lowest pesticide content.

Take the time to prepare meals yourself rather than relying on fast foods. You are what you eat. Make sure you eat breakfast everyday that includes a lean, quality protein source. When planning your meals, think PVFC (protein, veggie, healthy fat, carbohydrate) when planning your meals.

Your body requires meals with a high nutritional value as opposed to fast food or crap foods, which are VOID of nutritional value. It actually costs your body nutrients to digest and process fast food. If you do not provide your body with the nutrients it needs for proper functioning, it will degenerate and set you up for a host of health problems. DO NOT underestimate the value of wholesome nutrition. Food is a drug. You are what you eat.

Eliminate toxins: We're exposed to toxins from food additives and preservatives, dry cleaners, pesticides and chemicals. The average American has 116 synthetic compounds in his/her body according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Reduce intake of processed foods, sugars, dairy, caffeine and alcohol. Completely eliminate any product with high-fructose corn syrup and/or partially hydrogenated trans fats.

What you need to realize is this - if you want to change your body shape, all toxins brought into your body through your food have to be processed by your liver. Toxins are stored in your fat cells. It's difficult to lost body fat if you're on toxic overload and your liver is congested.

Sleep: Sleep may very well be the 'fountain of youth.' Studies from the National Institute of Health show that between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. your body undergoes physical regeneration and between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. mental and emotional regeneration occurs. The closer you can adhere to getting to bed by 10:30 p.m. and rising by 6:00 a.m., the more your body and mind can rest and recover. If you consistently stay up past 10:30 p.m., you are destined to have imbalances between your stress hormones (they will be high) and your growth and repair hormones (they will be low).

Manage stress: Stress is like dark chocolate - a little is okay, but a lot will kill you. Stress has been linked to almost every major disease as well as weight gain and obesity. When you're stressed out, your body is in a constant flood of cortisol, the stress hormone secreted by the adrenal glands. This causes a steady breakdown of the body systems leading to premature aging, excess belly fat, degeneration and eventually disease.

Rest may take the form of meditation, a twenty minute, a hot relaxing bubble bath with Epsom salts and lavender, restorative yoga or reading something spiritual or uplifting. Look at your relationships, look at your bills, look at your daily schedule and commit yourself to eliminating anything that is not improving the quality of your life. Manage your "to-do" list, set boundaries, volunteering, pets, listening to classical music, spend time in nature or at the ocean are other stress busters.

Breathe: Deep breathing is the source of all energy in your body. It releases endorphins that create feelings of happiness. Deep breathing revitalizes and energizes every cell in your body. Without sufficient oxygen, cells begin to die and energy is not sufficiently produced. Spend five minutes of solitude practicing deep, full breathing into your belly every day. An example would be to inhale 4 counts, hold 4 counts, exhale 8 counts and hold 4 counts. You will notice a huge difference in your energy, mood and clarity.

Spiritual connection: Your intention to connect on a soul level is vital for balance and harmony. The manner in which you may choose your spiritual connection may include any of the following: surrounding yourself with like-minded spiritual friends, prayer, reading something spiritual, meditation and/or solitude in nature.

A healthy functioning digestive system: You could be eating the best food on the planet, yet if your digestive system isn't working properly, you won't absorb, assimilate, metabolize and eliminate food molecules correctly. Many health conditions and disease stem from a malfunctioning digestive system. Seventy percent of your immune system is located in your digestive tract.

Tips to improve your digestion: 

1. Drink two glasses of water with the juice of a lemon 15 minutes before each meal. Drinking during mealtime dilutes hydrochloric acid concentrations in the stomach and weakens digestion. 
2. Chew your food until it is liquefied.
3. Consider digestive enzymes and HCl.
4. Never eat while stressed! Don't watch the news, have stressful conversations, listen to chaotic music, eat in a hurry or read stressful information while eating.

Have goals: Set realistic and achievable short, mid-range and long-term goals. Write them down. Doing so ensures you have made a major commitment toward achieving them and are far more likely to follow your plan.

Keep a positive outlook. This is much more important than you can imagine. Chronic stress accelerates aging and encourages disease. People who feel happier have on average, lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, which is linked with hypertension and type II diabetes.

Negative emotional and mental overload taxes your health and creates imbalances and disease. Changing your thinking can change your brain's neurochemistry. A positive attitude can keep you healthy, happy and alive well into old age. Staying in a state of gratitude is another WINNING FORMULA against the potentially deadly effects of stress. Every day make a list of 10 things that you are grateful for. This will shift your energy immediately. You'll feel better and less stressed. Focus on positive outcomes and desired actions. Positive emotional states are linked to prolonged life expectancy.

Copyright © 2009 Paula Owens

Paula Owens is the author of THE POWER OF 4. She is a natural health practitioner, nutritionist, fitness expert and weight loss coach with over 20 years of experience known for helping people look good, feel great and attain results faster - naturally. She holds a Masters degree in Holistic Nutrition, a Bachelors degree in Kinesiology and numerous professional health and fitness certifications. She is the creator of "21 Days to a Leaner, Healthier You," an online weight loss and exercise program. Visit Paula atwww.PaulaOwens.com

What is the real thing about running? Some people say running is just for exercise and some are saying it is a kind of sports. Whatever the meaning or the real thing about running is, there is only one important thing to consider when doing it. It has something to do with the most precious thing in our life-our good health. As the saying goes, "Health is Wealth." In this article, you will be able to discover why running can be one of the biggest factors of our health.

Exercising through running benefits best the human body as well as the mind. The main benefits of running are to keep us healthy and physically fit. Regular exercise and running for weight loss can be coupled. Approximately, 60 percent of the runners lose and maintain their weight. It is another way of cardio exercise that burns fats and calories that are harmful for our health. Your exercise routine through running every day or at least three times a day may raise the good cholesterol or the HDL in our body that maintains our heart's health. It also supports the lungs that we often use.

Aside from those benefits that I have mentioned above, an exercise program on running decreases the threat of blood clot. It maintains and boosts our immune system by lifting up the concentration of the white blood cells or lymphocytes that fight sickness or diseases like breast cancer, stroke, hypertension, osteoporosis, and diabetes and any form of bacteria or foreign microbes. It also increases the sex drive of a person and keeps him from aging because it promotes Human Growth Hormone or the HGH, which keeps us looking young. A healthy running program or a workout through running also prevents bone loss and helps our skeleton to be healthy and strong. In addition to this, exercise marathon, or starting to jog, as well as aerobics are also a moderate running exercise, while yoga running program is also included. These moderate fitness-running workouts help to fight stress and increase your self-esteem.

To go further, here are some 5 exercise-running tips to do or you have to remember when running. The two "S"- Safe and Seen

1. To be safe and can be seen while running, wear clothing that is reflective and in bright colors so that you can easily seen, most especially on the dark spot.
2. Take your time and relax your mind when running. Ease off and save your effort to some other day, if you feel like some injury forming or you are lazy to do the running exercise. Do the exercise walking if you feel that you are tired enough to do the hard running.
3. Always enjoy and have fun. You have a goal for yourself that is why to tend to run. Enjoy and get the benefits from running. Remember your goal is to lose weight or whatever your choice that inspires you to run. Discover new route and gaze at people as you go by.
4. Use running gears that make you feel comfortable while running. Running shoes and clothing are very important. Your body weight will depend on the shoes that you are using. Light clothing makes you feel fresh during the sweating period when running.
5. Run with company or with others. Joining in some running clubs helps you to learn more techniques in running. Most of the exercise runners group has training sessions that makes you improve your ability and go for the standard training foundation. By joining a running club, there is a big chance that you can gain more friends and have fun with them.

Precisely, any of the physical activities can benefit your health. Like exercising through swimming, weight lifting, workout running is one of the best, too, because of its simplicity. For those people who are saying that running is a sport, running drills can give you more opportunity to reach your goal. You should work for the proper training and techniques.

An athlete needs speed training techniques to reinforce the mechanics of running and to become more powerful, faster and much stronger. A running competition is a continuation of the sport. It is a measurement of how hard you tried during the training. But whatever the grounds of running for you is, whether sport or exercise, the main benefits of running is to have a strong motivation and to serve as an inspiration to achieve your greater performance, self-esteem and confidence, and the most important thing is to keep you healthy for the rest of your life.

Hal Johnson has been writing articles for nearly 4 years. Come visit his latest websiteMens Promise Rings which helps people find information on Mens Promise and deals on all other types of rings.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a nine month journey... It is a time in your life to feel happy, excited, serene and joyful. However it is also quite normal to experience anxieties about the birth and worrying about whether you are nourishing yourself properly, exercising, keeping, calm, positive, loving thoughts and emotions within your being. 

Pregnancy lasts 39 weeks or nine months from conception and is looked at in three stages.

Health & Nutrition During Pregnancy

To ensure that your baby develops in a healthy environment, you should keep your body as fit and well nourished as you possibly can. Do not think in terms of devising a special diet for pregnancy, it is more to do with eating a good variety of the right foods which are those that are rich in the essential nutrients.

Weight Gain

The amount of weight put on by women in pregnancy varies between 9 - 16 kilograms, with the most rapid gain usually between weeks 24 and 32. 

Don't "eat for two". Some 46 percent of women gain too much weight during pregnancy.

Diet During Pregnancy

You ARE What You Eat therefore Your Baby Is What You Eat!

What You Eat affects your baby's future. What you eat in the following nine months can impact your baby's health, as well as your own, for decades to come.

A good diet is vital to health during pregnancy, and to the normal development of the baby. The time to pay attention to diet, and if necessary change it for the better, is several months prior to conception and not when pregnancy is confirmed.

During the critical early weeks the normal, healthy development of the embryo depends on the mother's state of nutritional health and also her toxic state.

Mineral and vitamin imbalances which would probably go unnoticed in a child or adult can have a disastrous effect on the developing baby.

This is because the cells in the embryo are growing at such a rapid rate, causing an exaggerated response to any harmful influences.

A natural, organic, whole food diet is the only one which will adequately serve during pregnancy.

A high quality diet is needed to maintain your own health and the best possible conditions for the baby to develop.

As our environment becomes more polluted and the soils more depleted of nutrients, going 100% organic, if possible, is the best thing you can do for oneself, and for a developing fetus, and last but not least; the environment.

Pesticides, herbicides, and other forms of pollution interfere with the metabolic pathways of many nutrients and thus indirectly interfere with the development of the immune, endocrine, and neurological systems.

Eating as many of our foods in their live, raw form preserves 70 to 80% more vitamins and minerals, 50% more bioactive protein, and up to 96% more bioavailable vitamin B12.

Grains, nuts and seeds are the most potent health-building foods of all. Eaten raw or sprouted if possible (some grains need to be cooked), they contain all the essential nutrients for human growth, sustenance, and ongoing optimal health.

A well balanced diet is based on whole cereals and grains (brown bread, rice, pasta, buckwheat, rye, oats), nuts and seeds, pulses and beans, fresh fruit and vegetables, pure unrefined oils such as cold pressed olive oil, with some fish and eggs if required.

Fruit and vegetables are all excellent sources of vitamins, minerals and trace elements provided they are eaten in the right way.

They should be fresh, either raw or quickly cooked, steamed or stir-fried, and preferably consumed immediately after they are harvested.

Salt is needed to maintain the extra volume of blood, to supply enough placental blood, and to guard against dehydration and shock from blood loss at birth, (except in cases of kidney and heart problems) Suggested form of salt is Himalayan Pink Salt.

Proteins

• Form the basic building blocks of all our body tissues, cells, hormones, and antibodies. 

• Food must fuel the growth of the uterus, which can grow to 30 times its original size over the nine months gestation period Add the development of breasts, placenta, development of breast milk, the baby's body.

Proteins are divided into complete and incomplete:

Complete proteins contain significant amounts of all the essential amino acids, you find them in meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk and soya bean products.

Vegetable proteins are incomplete and contain only some of the essential amino acids. Some vegetarian sources of complete protein are: buckwheat, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, and almonds.

Plant proteins are easier for our bodies to digest and produce less toxic waste than animal proteins. The fiber in plants also has a very beneficial effect on the bowel; it ensures healthy bowel movements and the correct bacterial population in the gut, and prevents the buildup of putrefactive bacteria produced by excess animal proteins.

Eating meat and meat products also carries the risk from chemical and hormonal residues found in intensively reared animals. Also soya beans or soy products are mostly genetically engineered, hence it is wise to stay clear of them.

Pregnant women need about 60 to 75 grams of protein a day.

The best and cleanest sources of protein are green vegetables, spirulina, seeds (hemp, flax, sesame, poppy, sunflower, chia, quinoa, amaranth ).

Real strength and building material comes from:

• green - leafy vegetables, seeds and superfoods. They contain all the amino acids we require.

Essential Fatty Acids are vital to :

• the development of the baby's nervous and immune systems. They build the cell walls in all our tissues, and so that trace elements and fat-soluble vitamins (A,E,D, and K) can be absorbed. 

• EFA's are needed to make adrenal and sex hormones, and to maintain a healthy population of bacteria in the gut. 

• They are also essential to the normal development of the fetus's brain: 70 per cent of all EFAs go to the brain.

The Best Fatty Foods include:

Avocados, Borage Seed Oil, Raw Cacao Beans (Chocolate Nuts), Coconut oil/ butter, Flax seed and its oil, Grape seeds, Hemp seed and its oil (cold pressed), RAW Nuts of all types (cashews must be soft to be truly "raw"), Nut Butters (almond butter is excellent), Olives and their oil (stone pressed or cold pressed), Peanuts (must be certified aflatoxin free), Poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds and their oil (cold pressed), Sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, tahini (sesame butter), or even better if you can get hold of it at a health food store unhulled tahini (an alkaline fat, high in calcium), Young Coconuts (young Thai coconuts are available in the US at Asian markets), Coconut milk, coconuts (mature).

SUPERFOODS

Superfoods are foods with extraordinary properties. Usually they contain all essential amino acids, high levels of minerals, and a wide array of unique, even rare, nutrients. I have included the superfoods in the nutritional tips below.

Some prominent superfoods to include:

1) Himalayan Pink Salt - offers 84 minerals exactly identical to the elements in your body.

2) Spirulina (a spiral algae consumed for thousands of years by indigenous people in Mexico and Africa) 

-It has the highest concentration of protein on Earth. 60%

-It is also very high in Iron, and many other vitamins and minerals. 

-It is one of the highest sources of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) on the planet. Only mother's milk is higher. 

-It is recommended to take more Spirulina during breastfeeding because of the GLA. 

-Spirulina is very high in human-active B12.

3) Blue-Green Algae (Klamath lake algae wonderful brain food). It is high in protein, chlorophyll, vitamins, and minerals and enhances the immune system.

I value it in pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and lactation for its enhancing effect on brain function.

4) Bee Pollen (wild pollen, not orchard pollen, should be used and should come from ethically harvested sources where bees are treated respectfully. Bee Pollen is nature's most complete food) All amino acids, immune system, brain, eyes.

5) Flax, Sunflower, Chia, Sesame and pumpkin seeds are the best to use. Flaxseeds are excellent and the highest vegetarian source of omega-3-essential fatty acids, important for the immune system, nervous system, and brain development. I recommend one to two tablespoons daily of the uncooked and unheated oil or three to six tablespoons of freshly ground flaxseeds. (Use a coffee grinder). You may also grind the other above mentioned seeds and add them to salads, and fruit salads.

6) Wild young coconuts (not be confused with white Thai coconuts found in markets, wild coconuts are one of the greatest foods on earth. The coconut water and soft inner flesh are strength enhancing, electrolyte-rich, mineral-rich, youthening and invigorating. Great in smoothies.

NUTRITION TIPS

Here Are Some Nutrition Tips that will help you both:

1) Get Enough Folic Acid. 400 micrograms (mcg) daily. Folic Acid reduces chance of birth defects such as spina bifida. Especially in the first 6 weeks of pregnancy.

2) Best Food Sources of Folic Acid are: RAW Green leafy vegetables, including spinach, kale, beet greens, beet root, chard, asparagus, and broccoli. Starchy vegetables containing folic acid are corn, lima beans, green peas, sweet peas, sweet potatoes, artichokes, okra, and parsnips. Oats are high in folic acid as well as whole wheat brown bread. Many fruits have folic acid such as oranges, cantaloupe, pineapple, banana, and many berries including loganberries, boysenberries, and strawberries. Also fresh sprouts such as lentil, mung bean sprouts are excellent sources. REMINDER: Folic acid is available from fresh, unprocessed food, which is why it is so common a deficient in our culture's processed, cooked food diet.

3) Eat Your Fish. Getting enough DHA (found in abundance in seafood and flaxseed) is one of the most important things you can do for you and your developing baby's health. DHA is the omega-3 fatty acid that can boost baby's brain development before birth, leading to better vision, memory, motor skills and language comprehension in early childhood. Eat at least 12 ounces a week of low-mercury fish, or take a DHA supplement such as Krill Oil.

• Avoid large, predatory fish such as shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish. (As big fish eat smaller fish, the larger, longer-living ones accumulate more mercury).

• Seaweed and Cilantro remove heavy metals and radioactive isotopes from the tissues.

4) Avoid Alcohol - The main risk of consuming alcohol during pregnancy is the development of "fetal alcohol syndrome" (FAS). mother.. NO AMOUNT IS SAFE. AVOID TOTALLY.

5) Avoid Caffeine: In high amounts causes birth defects and still births, miscarriages and premature delivery.

6) Avoid Drugs - As far as possible all orthodox drugs should be avoided during pregnancy, especially in the first three months. Consider natural alternatives and visiting a medical herbalist or nutritionist prior to conception.

FOODS THAT MAY CAUSE INFECTIONS

Although the chance of contracting one of these rare infections is limited, you will reduce this likelihood even further if you follow the basic guidelines given here.

Listeriosis - caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, this is a very rare infection. Its symptoms are similar to flu and gastroenteritis and it can cause still birth.

Toxoplasmosis - usually symptomless (apart from mild flu symptoms), this can cause serious problems for the baby. Caused by direct contact with the organism Toxoplasma Gondi, it is found in cat faeces, raw meat, and unpasteurized goats' milk. Soil on fruit and vegetables may be contaminated.

Salmonella - Contamination with Salmonella bacterium can cause bacterial food poisoning. This doesn't usually harm the baby directly, but any illness involving a high temperature, vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration could cause a miscarriage or preterm labour.

HERBS TO AVOID DURING PREGNANCY.

Herbal remedies are for the most part quite safe to be taken during pregnancy; some are useful alternatives to drugs both in chronic illness and acute minor problems such as may arise during pregnancy. It is still preferable to take NO MEDICATION whatsoever in the first three months, unless there is a specific problem that needs treatment.

There are many Herbs which should never be taken in pregnancy - their emmonagogue or oxytocic properties may, in large amounts, cause uterine contractions and thereby risk miscarriage: I will only mention a few as there at least twenty on the list.

Nutmeg Myristica Fragrans

Thuja Thuja occidentalis

Calendula Calendula officinalis

Sage Salvia officinalis

Thyme Thymus vulgaris

Marjoram Origanum vulgare

Lovage Levisticum officinale

Rosemary Rosmarinus Officinalis

Rhubarb Rheum sp.

Herbs that are safe to eat to take in culinary doses but not as a medicine during pregnancy include:

celery seed, cinnamon, fennel, fenugreek, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage and saffron.

If you enjoyed reading this article and would like to read the full version of this e-book called 'A Natural Approach To Pregnancy', visit my websitehttp://www.easyconsciousliving.com or e-mail me at:barbara@easyconsciousliving.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The Doctor Of The Future Will Give No Medicines, But Will Interest His Patients In The Care Of The Human Frame, In Diet, And In The Causes Of Diseases."

--Thomas Edison.

Barbara Karafokas, BSc, MSc. Barbara holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration, has an Executive Certificate in Management from the Henley Management College and a Masters of Science in Holistic Nutrition from the Clayton College of Natural Health - U.S.A.

She has recently embraced science, skepticism, critical thinking and now walks the path of a free thinker!

Barbara for the past ten years has been devoted to spreading the knowledge of a healthy, mostly vegetarian lifestyle, including conscious living and care for the environment.