Seven Habits of Highly Healthy Eaters

“What exercises can I do to …? As fitness professional I hear these words often. It doesn’t matter if the sentence ends with, “get bigger muscles”, “firm up my butt” or “flatten my stomach”. My initial response is always the same. “Well, what are you eating? In terms of physical fitness exercise is only part of the equation. Proper nutrition is vital regardless of the specific fitness goal.

If you want to maintain energy levels, achieve or maintain optimal weight and lower risk of disease, a healthy diet is imperative. It doesn’t matter if your goal is fat loss, body shaping, mass building, improved athletic performance or just maintaining a healthy lifestyle; the following tips will help build healthy habits that will allow you to fine tune your body and feel great.

1. Eat 5 – 6 Smaller Meals a Day.

This practice will allow your body to utilize the food you eat more efficiently. More of your food will be used for providing energy, building muscle and maintaining healthy tissue, while less will be stored as fat. If your goal is weight loss, this is a great way to reduce calories without loosing energy or feeling hungry. If you are looking to gain lean muscle mass, eating more frequent meals will allow you to take in an increased number of calories without feeling stuffed. This will also insure that the vital muscle building nutrients will be available when your body needs them. Regardless of your fitness goal, eating 5 – 6 smaller meals a day will get your metabolism firing on all cylinders and give you the energy needed to reach your goals.

2. Do Not Skip Meals.

Skipping meals often leads to extreme hunger which can lead to “binge” type eating. The body can only process and utilize so much food at a time. It doesn’t matter if you’re only eating one or two meals a day. If you eat too much at any given meal, much of what the body doesn’t use will be stored as fat. Here’s another important reason not to skip meals. Depriving the body of vital nutrients often leaves one feeling tired and unmotivated (a real workout killer.)

3. Eat Real Food.

Our bodies are designed to metabolize food! Unfortunately the food industry has turned our bodies into chemical processing plants. Grocery store shelves are littered with food products containing non-food additives that are used to color, sweeten, stabilize, emulsify, bleach, flavor and preserve the food. The FDA lists approximately 2800 international food additives and about 3,000 chemicals, which are added to our food. Avoid foods that claim to be “enriched.” The only reason processed foods are enriched in the first place is because their process has stripped them of virtually all their vital nutrients. Stick with whole foods including a good variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats.

4. Read Food Labels.

To be sure you’re making good food choices, read food labels. Look at the ingredients, the main ingredients are listed first. If the first few ingredients on the label include processed sugar (i.e. high-fructose corn syrup.) or saturated fat or trans–fatty acids (coconut oil, palm kernel oil, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil, vegetable shortening), you may do well to make another food choice.

5. Pay Attention to Serving Sizes.

Pay attention to serving sizes, it’s easy to over load. Weighing and measuring food is a good way to assure you are taking in the proper amount of calories and nutrients. This is especially important if you are on a weight loss or a weight gain program.

6. Eat Slowly and Chew Food Thoroughly.

Chewing food thoroughly aids in digestion, thus reducing the time it takes for vital nutrients to become available for use by your body. Eating slowly gives the stomach time it needs to tell the brain it’s full. Taking your time to eat your meal is especially helpful if you are on a reduced calorie diet. It will allow you to eat less, yet still feel satiated.

7. Keep a Food Journal.

Write down everything you eat and drink. Initially include serving sizes along with the number of calories, as well as the amount of macronutrients (fats, proteins and carbohydrates). This will make you conscious of everything you eat while you become educated on the components of a healthy diet. If you are not making satisfactory progress towards your goals, your food journal can provide valuable information needed to make necessary adjustments.

Goal Setting in Fitness & Nutrition

A goal is the result or achievement toward which effort is directed. Without setting goals in exercise or nutrition, there is far less value and purposeful direction; and they need to be measurable and realistic. For example, a thin teenager weighing 120 pounds wishing to weight 220-pounds of muscle is both specific and measurable. However, he cannot hope to achieve such a physique, especially not soon and probably not without growth-enhancing drugs. Therefore, in this instance, the goal to gain 100 pounds of muscle is specific, it is measurable, but it is unrealistic.

Non-measurable goals, such as “I want to lose fat and get lean,” will never be realized since the term “lean” is subjective with no objective measurement. What is lean to one person may not be lean to another… or perhaps it is “too lean”. Once the individual obtains a supposed state of leanness, will that person know that he has achieved that goal or will his perception of what he thinks is “lean” change because of higher standards and greater expectations? On the other hand, if a trainee indicated that he wants to reduce body fat to a level of ten percent, then he has a measurable goal – one that can be quantified.

Next, to achieve goals better, trainees must provide a measurement and do so in the smallest amount necessary and within reason relative to past accomplishments. Don’t aim for something greater than you could ever have achieved in the past. Moreover, the more distant the goal, and the smaller the increments, the more likely the success of obtaining the goal. But it should be noted that a goal must require some degree of effort and challenge. If the goal is too small or easy to obtain, there is little incentive or sense of accomplishment or pride.

Goals can be measured in terms of outcome and performance. An outcome goal refers to that which a person is aiming to achieve, such as lifting five pounds more in the bench press next workout or a far greater weight over the course of several months. There is little flexibility in this type of goal – either it is achieved or it is not. Performance goals refer to the process through which a person achieves those goals, including both the short- and long-term. Performance goals are much more flexible, and allows a person to reorganize a strategy from day to day in order to meet the outcome goal(s). Performance goals are associated with less anxiety, since there is flexibility and, as a result, should be emphasized in an exercise and nutrition program. It can be upsetting not to achieve an outcome goal, but if all the steps leading up to the outcome were done to the best of your ability, it is easy to maintain motivation in preparing for the next outcome goal.

When determining a long-term goal, a strategy of immediate, short-term goals (performance goals) must be considered. For example, if you desire a ten-pound increase on the best bench press, how will you get there? This is accomplished by creating a workout schedule, a long-term plan of increasing “x” pounds/ounces to the bar each workout until you achieve the extra ten pounds. The plan may need to be reevaluated then re-designed – particularly if you fail to increase the weight by “x” pounds/ounces during one of the workouts, and falling short in the end. It could be further stated that creating a goal strategy in exercise is very similar to a marketing or business plan in that goals may be established, but they may also need reformulating on a regular basis to reflect current facts of finance, the economy, sales, customer satisfaction, etc.

GOAL SETTING PRINCIPLES AND STRATEGY

Set Specific Goals. The goal must be measurable, such as “bench press 275 pounds” by a certain date rather than “increase the bench press” and without a concrete date in mind.

Set Difficult and Realistic Goals. The goal must be within reach, yet challenging in order to increase mental arousal and motivation. Easy goals will not be motivating, yet goals that are nearly impossible will hinder motivation for future workouts. Goals must reflect your genetic ability accurately; as strength and size increases, the ability to match past goals will diminish.

Establish Short-term Goals. Each main goal must consist of sub-goals or short-term goals. Before a person can increase chest measurement by an inch, or bench-press an additional 50 pounds, he must progress in smaller amounts. Being able to see patterns in those amounts (your results over a particular period of time), or lack thereof, provides valuable data and feedback in your ability to achieve long-term goals during a specific time frame. Not being able to achieve short-term goals provides further information as to what is not working and the need for a new plan of short-term goals in order to achieve the long-term goal.

Develop Goal-Achievement Strategies. A trainee cannot achieve short- or long-term goals without knowing how he or she eventually will get there. In order to lose an inch off the waist, you must first lose a quarter-inch, then a half-inch, etc., and each step requires a certain amount of exercise and a proper eating plan. These aspects determine your daily or immediate goals.

Create Backup Plans of Action. What happens if a short-term goal is not reached? If something goes wrong, is it probable that the long-term goal will be reached? It will be difficult to get back on track if a backup plan of action is not established to correct any minor setbacks. If the goal is to lose a quarter-inch off the waist during the first month, and the trainee only lost one-eighth inch, the chances of losing a quarter-inch during the next phase of the strategy is highly unlikely (unless exercise is increased and eating is decreased). It will be necessary to rethink the strategy and decide what must be done in order to get back on track. But rather than waiting for the possibility of failure, strategize ahead of time and anticipate failure or what could go wrong.

Individual Personality Considerations. Prior to establishing goals, personality must be considered. Is the person a high-achiever or a low-achiever? Does the person have the commitment and can he or she maintain that commitment? Can the person sustain the motivation to reach a difficult goal that may be a year away while paying attention to diet and intense exercise during that time on a daily/weekly basis? Does the person have the maturity and intellect to work through any problems leading to each goal? How does the individual accept failure – as a learning experience or another “nail in the coffin” of defeat?

Provide for Goal Evaluation. At the end of each short- and long-term goal, evaluate performance, dedication, motivation, and well you did to achieve (or surpass) your goals. From this information it will be easier to establish future goals, and to make goals easier or more challenging, by learning from mistakes, failures, and successes. Also, evaluate the backup plans of action and if any of those steps needed to be implemented, your problem-solving skills, what went right, what went wrong, and any factors that were not considered.

Provide Goal Support. Share goals with others, such as a loved one, friends, a mentor, or associates on the Internet. Telling people about what you intend to achieve increases support and keeps you on the path to prove your ability rather than experiencing humiliation or embarrassment from backing down when the going gets tough. Regular updates on a long-term goal, and how each short-term goal is proceeding will keep you in check and sustain motivation.

Celtic Tattoos and Their Popularity

The history of the Celtic peoples goes back thousands of years. The early Celts displayed their skills in complex artwork particularly metal, jewelry and weapons as they were regarded as fierce warriors by the Romans. Evidence of celtic crossses and celtic artwork can still be found all over Ireland.

Modern Celtic peoples have evolved symbols for themselves, and in the North American people of Celtic descentoften wear these symbols to show that they are of Celtic descent. The ancient Celts passed knowledge down through an oral tradition of storytelling and didn’t keep many written records, consequently, there is little evidence of their tattooing remaining even though celtic cross tattoos and celtic know tattoos are very popular designs.

Most of Celtic tattoo designs are taken from the Irish Illuminated Manuscripts ‘The Book of Kells’, on display in the library of Trinity College in Dublin, my home town. This is a much later time period than the height of Celtic tattooing. Designs from ancient stone and metal work are more likely to be from the same time period as Celtic tattooing.

Celtic knot tattoos are usually loops with no end or beginning symbolising the never ending cycle of death and rebirth. Celtic animal (zoomorphic tattoo designs) designs are similar in construction but the cords terminate in feet, heads, tails. Pure knots are usually unending, unless the end of a strand is stylized into a zoomorphic element or a spiral.

Celtic knotwork’s meaning defies literal translation and is to be found at a deeper level. The repeated crossing of the physical and the spiritual are expressed in the interlace of the knots. The never ending path of the strands may represent the permanence and the continuum of life, love and faith and for these reason celtic tattoos have become so popular.

For people who have a Celtic heritage, whether Irish, Scots or Welsh , getting a Celtic design can be a way of expressing pride in their heritage by reaffirming an affinity the indigenous artistic style of their ancestors. They are usually not easy designs to do, and it is strongly recommended to anyone contemplating getting one to make sure that the artist they are considering has experience in designing Celtic tattoos. Not all tattoo artist have the eye for detail and exacting line placement needed to draw the intricate patterns particular to Celtic art.

New Weight Loss Plan

The only two options are to stop dieting and exercise only or continue dieting as usual with additional steps to prevent diet shock from initiating the weight regain reactions. This article is on exercising to lose weight.

How Exercise Can Help You Lose Weight

There are two ways in which exercise can lead to weight loss. The first way is simple thermodynamics and the second way is metabolic.

1. Thermodynamics and Weight Loss

Weight loss will occur when the amount of energy you consume (calories) is less than the amount of energy you use or “burn.” You can achieve this state, referred to as a negative energy balance and represents a true energy deficit, by eating fewer calories, exercising more, or both.

Let’s look at a simple example and use exercise as the sole means of creating a negative energy balance, which will lead to weight loss.

Before Exercising…

Energy in (calories consumed)=3000

Energy out (calories used or burned)=2700

Total energy= +300 calories extra that you will store as fat

After starting an Exercise Program…

Energy in=3000

Energy out=3100

Total energy= -100, utilize stored energy to make up the 100 calorie deficit

On a daily basis, by exercising, you’ll create an energy deficit of 100 calories that your body will fix by using stored energy. This results in weight loss. No fancy diets, no added cost, no diet shock and weight regain, just weight loss by moving your body in some consistent manner, called exercise.

Historically, this option makes the most sense, too. Your extra weight is extra energy collected over the years. So why not do something that directly gets rid of the extra energy keeping you overweight? This is what exercise does. It burns the extra energy you have by physically working your muscles.

Dieting to lose weight, on the other hand, is an indirect attempt to burn the extra energy packed away as fat.

2. Metabolic Weight Loss

The more you exercise the more you use muscle. The more you use muscle the more metabolically active muscle becomes. This means, even at rest, you’ll burn more calories and protect yourself from gaining weight in the first place.

Herbology

Herbology is one of the oldest healthcare sciences known to mankind. In fact, hebology is the utilization of herbs for various therapies, remedies, spices, aromas or medicinal purposes.

Derived from plants, herbs are used for their medicine, aroma and spice in herbology. Herb plants produce and comprise a mariyad of chemical substances that interact with our bodies. Herbology allows natural plants and herbs to act as nutrients to empower our organs and tissues to regain normal functionability.

Currently, over four billion people or eighty percent of the world population use herbology for some forms of healthcare. Ayurvedic practitioners, homeopathic practitioners, naturopathic practitioners, traditional Oriental practitioners and Native American Indians commonly utilize herbology.

Common illnesses and conditions that herbology can benefit are digestive problems, sinusitis, Chron’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome. Other conditions like arthritis, post-cancer treatment, fertility issues, menopause, PMS, colds and even flu can be helped with herbology as well.

Laxatives You Find In The Drugstore

A laxative is defined as,

A substance that is used to promote a bowel movement when you are constipated.

Laxatives work by starting and stimulating peristaltic action. Peristaltic action is a wave like movement that occurs throughout your gastrointestinal tract – esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon – that helps move your food into your stomach, through your intestines, through your colon, and out your rectum. There are drugstore products, natural occurring foods, special nutrients, liquid preparations, herbal substances, and homeopathic liquids that have laxative effects. I do not recommend using drugstore laxatives or any other form of drugs to clear a constipation problem.

All my recommendations are for using natural foods, minerals, special nutrients, or herbal products. And some of these natural methods should also be used only for the time it takes to clear your constipation.

Recommendation: You should use Drugstore laxatives or drug laxatives only under Doctors recommendations.

There are no safe drugstore laxatives. These laxatives are habit-forming and work by desensitizing your colon. Their use can irritate nerves and muscles along the intestinal lining, interfere with digestion and adsorption, cause cramps, deplete fluids, and create other physical internal problems.

Laxatives can enlarge and seriously damage your colon when used for a longtime. Eventually, after continual use, you will not be able to have a bowel movement without using them.

If you have been using laxatives for a long time, you will have to retrain your colon to activate peristaltic action. This training will have to be done under the care of a medical practitioner. If you are tempted to use drugstore laxatives remember that,

Laxatives bought in drugstores are of questionable safety. Because of the action these laxatives have on the small intestine and colon, doctors and other health practitioners recommend their limited use since they,

* have chemical side effects that affect your health

* produce an active force that can damage nerves that control the muscles in your colon walls

* desensitizes your colon so your natural peristaltic action is reduced

* become habit-forming

* rush food through your intestines so it does not digest and absorb nutrients or minerals properly

* kill friendly bacteria, unless they are fiber foods

* contain preservative, coloring, and other additives that are unhealthy.

* Remove excessive fluids and electrolytes from your body.

Recommendation: Never use a laxative, Drugstore or Natural, when you have acute abdominal pain, especially if the pain is on the lower right hand side, where the appendix is located. See your doctor right away.

Using Laxatives for the wrong reason can be life threatening.

If you use drugstore laxative, use them for just the time needed to clear your constipation. Then starting looking at what it takes to stop your constipation from occurring.

Muscle Building Workouts at Home!

Most people make an excuse that they don’t have time to workout, they are too lazy to spend any time on workouts. Whatever time they are left with, they want to relax, watch TV or listen to music .Here are a few excesses that may just be a solution for you. These can be done while listening to music or during tv commercials.

PUSH UPS

Place the body in a face down and lift the body on both the palms and feet keeping the body straight. Take the chest toward the floor while exhaling and push up with the power of the arm and chest muscles while inhaling. If floor push ups are to difficult for you, start off with standing push ups with you hand on the wall, then pushing yourself back. Repeat at least 8 – 10 times, increase the number of repetitions as the exercise gets easier .Push ups effect your chest and arms the most . To effect your chest the most do push ups with your arms placed wide apart.

SQUATS

Stand with legs shoulder width apart and feet pointed forward. Sit down and stand up make sure that the knees don’t lock. Don’t move too far forward, try to keep your neck in line with you spine. Repeat this 20-25 times depending on the comfort level too start with and then increase the no of repetitions as you get used too the exercise. Squat is the best exercise for complete leg fitness. It can do wonders to your thighs hips and butts. For better results squats may be done with weights.

BICEP CURLS

Biceps curls can be done while sitting on a chair or while standing. You need a pair of dumbells. Hold a dumbell in each hand. Lift the dumbells alternatively without bending your elbows. Repeat this atleast 10 times. As you get used to the exercise you can increase the weights or the number of repetitions. Biceps curls is an effective exercise to increase your arm size.

Mood Stabilizers & Mood Enhancers – A Remedy to Naturally Boost Mood & Alleviate Depression

Depression and mood disorders are very prevalent mental health issues today. In an increasingly health conscious society, more options are being put forth in the realm of natural medicine, allowing people to stabilize and enhance mood naturally, without addictive and often harmful prescription antidepressants.

Natural mood stabilizers and mood enhancers usually work by encouraging the production of serotonin and other “pleasure” chemicals such as norepinephrine in the human brain, thereby promoting a sense of calm, well-being and revitalization.

Herbal mood enhancers may contain several different herbs and vitamins in concentrated form ranging from St. John’s Wort, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin B12 and various other proprietary blends of botanical extracts and powders. The goal of natural mood stabilizers is to simultaneously alleviate stress and anxiety, while increasing energy and vitality levels (this is where Vitamin B12 usually comes into play – as an energy enhancer). All of this is done through precise blends of complementing ingredients to produce the desired outcome chemically in the human body.

A mood stabilizer is an excellent way to help make it through life’s rough patches or particulary stressful events in life, since they are natural and non-habit forming, but very effective at enhancing mood for those who need some temporary help from time to time. Please note that individuals who suffer severe clinical depression should seek the help and guidance of a therapist and/or psychiatrist though, as therapy and medication may be needed in extreme cases.

Mood enhancing herbs have actually long been used in ancient civilizations as a means for mood stabilization and mood elevation. Natural mood enhancers, in contrast with prescription antidepressants, actually do not produce many of the common side effects of prescription antidepressants.

Side effects of the more common antidepressants (Zoloft, Paxil, Effexor, Lexapro and more),may include any of the following: suicidal tendencies, sexual disfunction, dry mouth, urinary retention, constipation, blurred vision, headache, weight gain, gastrointestinal disturbance and more.

Most people actually discontinue the usage of prescription mood enhancers (antidepressants) due to the simple fact that the side effects are worse than the actual depression. Many critics of prescription mood stabilizers argue that we don’t know enough about how or why they work in the human brain, and that it is the “overkill” approach to treating depression or the “sledgehammer to crack a nut” approach, which is not necessary to effectively treat many cases of depression.

One thing is certain. There are countless people who suffer from moderate depression and mood disorders from time to time. There is simply no reason to not try a natural method to stabilize and regulate your mood by using a natural mood enhancer to get through emotionally difficult times. It’s simply not worth the risks associated with antidepressants if it is not severe enough to warrant a psychologist’s supervision.

Basic Facts about Prescription Eyeglasses

Persons, who have the following vision problems such as astigmatism, myopia, or farsightedness, need prescription eyeglasses. Although it may sound like common sense, sometimes it’s not that easy to spot who needs prescription eyeglasses.

Here’s a short but telling list of mannerisms you could be subconsciously doing. Any combinations of these are signs that you need to have your eyes examined.

• If you find yourself consistently sitting too close to, the television set to see clearly.

• If you hold a book too close that it’s almost touching your nose.

• If you use a finger to follow along while reading.

• If you squint when you look into the distance.

• If you tend to tilt your head to see better.

• If you frequently rub your eyes.

• If you notice, you’ve become more sensitive to light.

• If you find that, your eyes are constantly tearing.

• If you close one eye in order to read, watch TV or see objects better.

If you see yourself, or any member of your family exhibit a combination of these mannerisms, have your eye check up with a licensed optometrist.

Don’t fall into the temptation of self prescribing or picking discount eyeglasses. You’ll end up damaging your eyes. That said, as you get older, you should have regular or annual eye exams. This will stop any early eye condition from worsening. Don’t think a one kind of prescription eyeglasses works for all kinds of eyes. You’ll get headaches, and make the problem permanent.

Ok, now you’ve got your eye condition properly diagnosed. You’re ready to pick your very own pair of prescription eyeglasses, what are the tips to remember? Should the frame be fashionable or frugal?

Well, if you are buying only one pair of prescription eyeglasses, it’s better to pick a classical pair.

Ask that your lenses be scratch resistant.

If your are buying for your child, whose prescription changes often, just keep changing the lenses so the prescription warrant this rather than to keep changing the frame.

You can resort to buying cheap frames, but you can not compromise on the quality of the lenses. If you need prescription eyeglasses, it’s always wise to go to a licensed optometrist. Protect your these two most precious resources.

Vitamin Nutritional Supplements: Tips, Myths, Facts, and Online Store!

With dietary supplements making their way in our daily life, we find it difficult to survive without them. We have very smartly and effectively heralded these supplements as panacea for all ills. But as the saying goes, too much of even good things can be bad! So, we should be cautious enough not to make supplements our oxygen. To know your thresholds of the supplements, read on.

Myth: When it comes to vitamins and minerals, more is better!

Fact: A person might become hypervitaminosis if he eats too much of vitamins. Water-soluble vitamins like vitamin B and C don’t affect the body much if taken in high quantity as they can be flushed out of the body but fat soluble vitamins like vitamin A,D,E and K gets stored in the liver and might become toxic eventually if taken in large amounts. We get most of the requirements from our daily food (provided it is a balanced diet) but incase of malnutrition and sickness, you may need to take multivitamins doses.

Myth: Intake of supplements during illness harm our body!

Fact: During illness, cells are destroyed and exhausted adrenal glands do not function properly because they are deprived of nutrients. Hence body needs its fighting team of vitamin c, B6, folic acid, zinc in higher amounts. Other important thing to be noticed here is, fever and stress deplete most essential nutrients from our body. Hence the need for extra supplements is all the very more. Piece of advice: Always take supplements during illness after consulting with your physician.

Myth: Even if vitamins do not help, they do not harm!

Fact: All chemicals can get toxic if taken in high amounts including vitamins and minerals. Hence, it is important to consult your physician before taking extra vitamins or minerals supplements. For e.g., too much of calcium can cause kidney stones. So, it is wrong to make assumption that extra vitamin and minerals wont harm your body.

Myth: Supplements can help me lose weight!

Fact: You might come across various herbal weight loss products making tall claims and promising you quick weight loss. But the fact is, none of these herbal remedies work and some like ephedra, the banned weight loss supplement, can have serious side effects. Regular exercises and a perfect diet plan just makes the perfect recipe for the effective weight loss. And this kind of weight loss is long term too.

Myth: Vitamin C supplements help in preventing cold and cures sinus.

Fact: Nobel prize winner Linus Pauling advocated high doses of calcium to prevent common cold But it showed no significant effect on common cold. There has been no scientific data to support the effectiveness of vitamin C towards common cold. Infact, excess of vitamin C can cause gastro intestinal problems like nausea, diarrhea and stomach cramps.