Is Exercise Important?

I found this post on the internet and wanted reblog it. This author knows and understands how important exercise is to the health of your body. I've been writing about the very same thing for more than 10 years now.
Exercise is a preventative and also helps to give you more strength, mobility, balance, and better circulation. Exercise also helps your lungs put more oxygen in your blood which increase the healing power that your blood gives to the parts of your body.

Is Exercise Medicine?

Author Christian Worsten

Does exercise work as well as prescription drugs to treat certain health conditions?

Doctors have been telling patients for years exercise is important, however, the rates for obesity and obesity-related conditions continues to rise. What if preventing some of these diseases and conditions was as simple as getting regular exercise?

For some conditions, exercise works as well as — if not better than prescription drugs to reduce your risk.

What Exercise Can Prevent

Studies have shown regular physical activity (defined as the equivalent of walking at least 2-1/2 hours per week) can reduce your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, osteoarthritis, obesity, and even cancer. Just 30 minutes of exercise a day, five times per week, can greatly improve your quality of life and help prevent premature death. While this is the bare minimum, it is a level most people can achieve no matter their condition.
One study found in a testing group of over one million people that regular physical activity helped reduce the risk of 13 different kinds of cancer, including breast, endometrial, colon, liver, and more.

Exercise As Medicine

Exercise was not a worry when people had to grow their own food and walk long distances, as we were made to move and our lives demanded it.
Nowadays, it is seen as something you do to lose weight or bulk up. With the sedentary jobs most people have these days, it is no wonder we as a group are continuing to gain weight and have weight-related issues.
We see exercise as just one more thing to add to our schedules, rather than a part of our lives. Exercise is medicine for your body. Exercise keeps your blood pressure down, your weight down, is a natural stress reducer, reduces inflammation, and can increase immunity. It helps keep your body working efficiently.
When you begin to think of exercise as something your body needs rather than just another thing you must do, you may have a bit of a mindset change. Only about 20% of Americans get regular aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise regularly.
Without a change in our exercise mindset, we are only going to see health issues becoming more and more common at earlier ages of onset.

Where Do I Start?

Now that you see the benefits, you may be wondering where to go from here? Should you join a gym? An exercise class? How about just taking a walk?
Walking is easy to work into your day and it is also among the easiest workouts on your body. Start with just 30 minutes a day at a comfortable pace and work up from there. Do some light stretching before and after to keep your body flexible.
Once you get into a routine, begin to add more time or even consider adding weights to your program.
Eat right. No matter your age, you need to eat healthy foods and drink more water. Medicare has even started coveringnutritional counseling for older adults, which is amazing for those who need it, as they are even more prone to medical issues.
A nutritionist can help you find the right eating plan for you and guide you in seeing exactly what a portion size looks like. Our portion sizes today are large, and most people do not even know what a healthy portion size looks like anymore.
Exercise is medicine. If you want your body to work efficiently from head to toe, a regular exercise routine is a way to do it.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.
There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.
My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

Which Is The Best Diet?

As new research comes out, the age-old debate over the best diet for weight loss keeps evolving. Is it a low-fat diet, a low-carb diet, the Military Diet, paleo, gluten-free, or something else? 

The answer really boils down to you. Ultimately, all of these diets are just fancy ways of cutting calories so that you eat less than you burn. That's the only way you'll lose weight. 

Before you decide, explore your choices. Make sure the diet you choose isn't bad for you, ask yourself these important questions, and talk to your doctor or another licensed health professional to help you make the right decision.

Many diet plans make promises that weight loss is easy, that you can eat anything that you want and that you'll see quick results. The claims can be both tempting and confusing. So, how do you sort through the plans to find the best diet plan for you? Ask yourself these questions before investing any time or money in a weight loss plan plan.

What is my budget? Before you begin shopping for the best weight loss plan, decide if you have money to invest. Then, based on that budget, investigate as many diet plans and products as possible. Be sure to evaluate all costs that might be involved. This includes the cost of the food, support services, reference materials and exercise classes. 

Keep in mind that the cost of a diet program is not necessarily a predictor of the plan's success. Just because you pay to lose weight doesn't mean that the weight will necessarily disappear. However, there is some evidence that suggests commercial weight loss plans are more successful than trying to lose weight on your own. Research in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that dieters who followed a structured commercial plan lost slightly more weight than those who followed a self-help plan.

But if you don't have money to spend on a commercial diet, don't worry. There are some great online weight loss programs that are cheap or even free.  These apps, online workouts and virtual coaching services are perfect if you are a do-it-yourself type who prefers to be independent and create your own weight loss program. The best program for you is the one you can stick to. This is more than a diet it's a life long meal plan you can stick to so be carefully. Don't give up because because you didn't pick well, most people don't. You'll gain knowledge and do better next time.

I chose the Mediterranean diet that the people of the Mediterranean region have had for centuries. You'll find it on the internet for free. I chose it because the food chooses are numerous, more than any other plan I looked at and it's a proven plan with thousands of years of proven results.

One of the reasons that many diets fail is that busy schedules get in the way of good eating-habits. It's hard to pass by a fast-food restaurant after working a 10-hour day. But if you know that a healthy meal is waiting at home, making a good choice might be easier.

If your serious about succeeding this time, you want to prepare your own meals. You can't trust pre-made food, you don't know what in it. You can't trust food labels. The pre-made diet meals are usually very small and the plan is to starve you and you'll lose weight. You can't lose weight by starving. This is the biggest mistake that even the commercial plans get wrong. All the designer plans want to cut your calories by giving less food. If you eat less, you'll lose weight. But the idea doesn't work very long because you can't keep restricting your food intake. That leading to bingeing and then you develop a more serious problem. 

The trick is to change the food your eating so you eat less calories, not less food. You don't want to be hungry. Eat fresh and eat clean and you can eat all you need to stay full. 

In the process of choosing the right diet for you, try to ignore the claims and advertisements. Focus on your own physical, emotional and lifestyle considerations to find a plan that helps you reach your weight loss goal.

Eating fresh means no packaged foods, no frozen foods, no processed foods, no frankenfood, You want food that gives you the most nutrition in every meal. Also eat more seafood. You can find websites like seafoodedf.org which will tell you which seafoods are low in mercury. Another tip is to drink more water and avoid drinks with calories. Also eat less red meat; Americans eat too much red meat and tube meat; it contain animal fat and it will add inches to your waist line.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Getting Weight Loss Advice From TV

This post was on the AboutHealth website and where I think the shows have some good information, I also realize that it's a TV show that's trying to be informative but also entertaining. You can't bore people to death with all the science involved in medicine, they'd turn the channel, but you are trying to be informative and so you try and create a message that will hold the attention of the viewer. 

How many times have you saw a movie and said to yourself, "That wasn't like the book." And that happens. The story becomes condensed and changed a little to fit into the allotted time. That means things get left out, things that sometimes change the message. The doctors doing the show don't write the lines or decide on what is said. They have to follow the script.

If you are a fan of The Dr. Oz Show or The Doctors you don’t necessarily have to stop watching the shows if you are looking for weight loss advice.

Their diet tips can be fun and are often helpful. But if you use their recommendations to slim down, there are three critical tips you should keep in mind to make sure your weight loss program is successful. TV diet tips may be unbalanced:  The British Medical Journal research points out that the medical and diet advice provided on these popular shows is often presented without the balance needed to help viewers make fully informed decisions. The researchers also point out that conflicts of interests are often ignored. What the medical journal means by balance is that you're only hearing one side of the story, which often happens on TV shows because they don’t have the time to do the pros and cons on everything.

As a viewer, that means that you need to take weight loss tips with a grain of salt.  No one on TV programs explain that some the of programs that they talk about only work for about 20% of adults. Why only 20% you might ask. Losing weight depends on age, how long you've been overweight, whether you're male or female, and the important one, "How overweight are you?" Understand that you may not be getting all the facts about an exciting new treatment, diet pill or weight loss supplement and that a featured expert who is recommending the pill may also benefit financially from selling it. If you are interested in a particular weight loss product mentioned on the show, discuss it with your own doctor or registered dietitian to get a more balanced perspective.

TV weight loss advice is not personalized. Many of the diet tips or lifestyle recommendations provided by Dr. Oz and The Doctors may work for some television viewers, but may not be the healthiest suggestion for you.  Remember that every dieter’s health history, goals and lifestyle is different.  A great diet tip for your friend might be the worst diet tip for you. And if your under a Doctor’s care, consult the Doctor before you eat or drink anything. Even certain kinds of food can react with your medication. If the weight loss advice you see on television contradicts the personalized advice you’ve received from your own health care team – and especially if your weight loss program is already working – be very cautious before you change your program based on the TV show advice.  The BMJ researchers suggest that you get detailed information from your personal physician about the specific benefit, potential harms and real cost or inconvenience of any treatment before you incorporate it into your program.

Medical shows provide entertainment.  Ultimately, daytime television shows provide entertainment to their viewing audience.  Diet tips are presented in a way that makes the viewing experience fun and interesting.  Unfortunately that may lead to confusion or misinterpretation. For example, on a recent episode of his show, Dr Oz recommended eating pine nuts before bed at night to curb nighttime snacking.  He said that dieters should eat two tablespoons of the fatty nut to help manage cravings. But as Dr. Oz explained his diet tip, he stood in front of a large bowl of pine nuts.  It would have been reasonable for a viewer who was not paying close attention to believe that eating a larger portion of pine nuts could help them lose weight.  But since pine nuts are high in fat, eating too many of them could cause that viewer to gain weight instead.

Diet tips from Dr Oz may help you slim down, but any weight loss advice whether it comes from television, magazines or online should be evaluated with a critical eye.  If it seems too easy or too good to be true, it probably is.  Use Dr Oz’s diet tips to get ideas, then discuss the specifics with your own health care provider or registered dietitian in order to stay safe and reach your goals. Everyone will not lose weight the same way. We can take suggestions or advice from others who have been successful, but that doesn't mean you can lose weight the same way. If your under a doctors care and taking medication always see you doctor before to discuss any new weight loss plan you want to try. 

If your someone with a serious amount of fat and are not use to working out see a doctor before you start any diet or exercise program. Exercise can put strain on your heart.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

What Causes Us To Gain Weight?

Most of us just think it's one of the mysteries of life. Wrong, it's all about your behavior. What you're eating and drinking, and how active you are all day long. Weight gain is all about the way you live your life.

The reason it's so hard to lose weight is because weight creeps up on us. For me it started in my 30's. For some of us it starts in College. You might not realize it but most College students are not very active. In Fact, walking from class to class and walking to the cafeteria might be their only exercise.
Many of our population work in offices and office workers have about the same activity level as students. Many of us and I'm no exception, are literally tied to our computer a big part of the day. Actually the housewife and mother maybe more active than the office-worker, in fact I'm sure of that.
Here is some science for you. After sitting for 20 minutes, your body's metabolism will shut-down and stop burning calories much like when you sleep. It will only burn a few calories to keep the heart pumping and other vital organs working.

I calculated how many hours a day I'm on my feet and I was amazed that many days I'm only on my feet less than 6 hours a day. About one hour walking around the house in the morning before I leave for work. Maybe a total of two hours a day until I get home. So thats three hours so far. When I get home I stay pretty active until I finish dinner and then I'm either in the office reading or on the computer until I change rooms and watch TV until I go to bed. So after work I might get 2 or 3 more hours on my feet for a total of 5 or 6 hours a day.

It wasn't until I retired that I found I was more active than before. Actually, I'm so active now that when I think back, I wonder how I ever found time to work. So getting back to gaining weight. You can understand now how the average person gains weight just by lowering your activity level. Six hours a day on my feet was not enough activity to burn the calories I was eating.

That's the same problem most of us have. Remember how I said before that weight creeps up on us. Okay, and it will work against you. When you gain weight as an adult, it takes the body more energy to function. The bigger you become the more energy your body needs to use just to accomplish the same work. Over time as you increase weight your increasing body fat. Once body fat becomes 30% of your body mass, Your muscle mass becomes a smaller part of total body mass. Your muscle mass burns body fat normally, but after you reach that 30% level of fat, you are slowing down your activity level because your fat is robbing your body of energy. You reach a level where you can no longer be active enough to burn body fat.

I get emails every week about a person who eats like a bird and can't lose weight. Your in a tough place because the body needs energy to burn fat but the food you're eating isn't sufficient for the size of your body. Remember your body fat needs energy just like your muscle mass and now you are running out of the extra energy you need to be more active. You have to lose that body fat by changing your diet. Stop drinking calories and start eating clean. Do some homework and find out how to "eat clean". Your doctor will love this diet; talk to your doctor about changing your diet, your doctor can help.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

Why Can't You Lose Weight

Losing weight is just as much mental as physical. You have to really want it and be willing to do what it takes. That's the secret, "be willing to do what it takes".

You have to quit buying all those foods you love to eat. You have to walk more. Most people gain weight as they get older because they are less active. When you're less active you burn fewer calories and if you eat the same but burn fewer calories you gain weight. It's not that hard to figure out. It's normal that people gain 3 pounds a year give or take as they get older. Why? you might ask. Because you're slowing down even if you don't realize it. Slowing down is normal and if you're not fighting it, trying to increase activity, then you will gradually gain weight. It will happen to everyone if you're not tracking your food and your activity levels.

It's easy to do with a journal which you can do using paper and pencil or your PC or your smartphone.  I use an APP called "MyFitnessPal", it's free and there are dozens more all free. You pick the one you like. I use to use a spreadsheet but it got too hard to remember everything from the whole day. The App is great for me because I can enter things as I go along.

Tracking what you do and what you eat is a big help. When you have that "I'm not going to quit" attitude a journal will help you find your mistakes and there will be mistakes. The time when you just stop losing and don't know why. The journal is your logbook and when you look through the pages you'll find what you're doing wrong. It's not that hard. When you go off track there are only two answers: You ate the wrong things or ate too much or didn't burn enough calories, usually because you skipped exercise or you cut back on walking.

When you find a plan that's working for you, stay with it, don't make any changes until you have to. When your plan is failing and you are stuck and not making any progress it's because your body got used to the routine. When that happens you won't burn as many calories and your progress will stop. All successful trainers want you to change your routine every few days so your body doesn't get a chance to get used to the routine. As long as you keep the same intensity and work out for the same amount of time you'll continue to burn the same amount of calories.

All you need is about 3 different exercise plans. I do a run, walk routine, a free weight routine and I'll swim a couple days a week. Do some research and find some exercises that are right for you. You want exercise plans that challenge your muscle. Building strength will burn body fat. Losing body fat will make you a happier, healthier person, a stronger person with better balance.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

 

Can Stress Cause Overweight?

I always knew stress had an effect on us and stress on people trying to lose weight is the main reason people give up. But I was listening to a radio talk show today and he was talking about stress on employees. People that retire are more stress-free, happier, and healthier people. They have more time for themselves. They eat better and exercise more so is that the answer to being a healthier person? You have to quit your job and then you'll be healthier and happier?

Maybe, but we can't all do that. The radio host was also saying that most people don't realize how much stress they have in their life until they quit  their job and the weight is lifted off their shoulders.
The thing about stress is that it takes your mind off of you. It puts the focus on the problem or problems that are constantly on your mind and because your focus has shifted you are now spending your time worrying about these problems and that's what causes the stress.

If you have a busy lifestyle to the point where you are constantly the problem solver, then stress is your middle name and some people love it. But for the most part, people have a limit to the amount of stress they can deal with. You hear all the time how someone is stressed-out and to me that means they have more than they can deal with. If you're still in the workplace, you may know a few people who seem like they are always stressed-out. Sometimes we are pushed into these stressful positions at work and we have to accept them.

Being over-stressed is common in today's workforce and it's contagious. It's easy to bring it home with you and pile it on your spouse. Of course, your spouse may have just as much stress trying to deal with other family members or the spouse's job. All of this stress in a family contributes to the unhealthy population. Only three percent of our adult population lives a healthy lifestyle. The statistics are staggering.

I contribute the number of people living an unhealthy lifestyle to a stressed-out population. And it's these people that are a part of the 97 percent that are pushing the percentage of overweight adults up to a staggering 67 percent and still climbing.

Most people have never been taught to deal with stress or deal with the fast pace lifestyle we have today. This is why we have millions of adults overweight. I think because of the high-stress levels we have that many turn to comfort food to deal with their situation. Comfort foods has the excess salt, sugar and fat content that packs on the pounds. Because we're under so much pressure we don't care about how much we eat or drink, we just want some comfort. A release from the pressures caused by stress.

The young adults in our world are trying to avoid the problems associated with stress by waiting to get married, waiting to buy a home, and many young adults are avoiding stressful jobs. I think in the future employers will have to make the workplace a better place. A place more stress-free. I'd like to see that day real soon. Employers talk about employees being productive, but what they really mean is that employees need to do more. It's wrong to keep asking for more from your employees and just keep mounting up the pressure, because all that amounts to is more health problems that translate into more time off from work and more turn-over.

You have to be happy with your situation at home and at work and then you can deal with your health problems like being overweight.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

How To Read Food Labels

How to Read Nutrition Labels to Lose Weight

Reading food labels can be very confusing. This post from WebMD will help you to understand the important stuff.  Reading Food Labels can be the best way to start losing weight.

You might know how to read nutrition labels, but do you know how to read food labels to lose weight? If you’re trying to slim down, there are a few important numbers that matter more and a few numbers that matter less. If you can learn to scan the Nutrition Facts label quickly for essential information, you’ll be able to shop faster, eat better, and lose weight with greater ease.

Learn to Read Food Labels for Weight Loss

As you read through this guide, keep in mind that the Nutrition Facts label changes from time to time. The label you see in the store today will be changing in the coming years to reflect the newest health guidelines established by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). By 2018, most food labels will need to use the new design. The new design includes larger text for “Calories,” “Serving size,” and “Servings per container.”  These changes will help you to find the most important weight loss information.

The images throughout this guide will show an example of an older version of the nutrition label on the left and an example of the newer version on the right. So no matter which version you find on a package, you will know how to read food labels correctly to lose weight.  

Serving Size

Portion control is essential when you are trying to lose weight. And counting calories accurately matters, too. So it’s essential that you check the serving size on the food label because it will help you to eat correct portions for weight loss and to count the right number of calories each day.

• Use “Serving size” to manage portions. The serving size on the package is notthe amount of food you should eat. It is the amount of food that a typical eater consumes during a single eating occasion. So you shouldn’t use this number to decide how much food to eat. Instead, use this number only to determine how many calories are in a typical serving of that food. To find out how much of it to eat, use my guide to correct portions for weight loss.
• Use “Serving Size” to calculate calories correctly. If you use a diet app or a website like Calorie Count or MyFitnessPal, you will enter foods and food amounts into your daily food journal to count calories and manage your diet. Most of these services use “Serving size” as the default amount. Be sure that you change the amount if your portion size is different than the serving size listed. 

Calories

No matter what kind of weight loss plan you follow, calories matter. You’ll lose weight faster if you eat the right number of calories each day. When you read nutrition labels at the grocery store, check the calorie count to see how many you'll gain when you eat the portion of that food that you usually consume. Then compare different brands and products to see if you can find one that provides fewer calories to keep your daily intake on track. 

Fat

Eating some healthy fat is good for your body and will help you to stay satisfied throughout the day. If your belly feels comfortable, you’re likely to eat less and slim down faster. But fat is full of calories, so you need to choose your fat carefully and eat it sparingly. When you read food labels, first check the total number of fat grams (red arrows) provided by the food. Then check the numbers below (yellow arrows) for further information. 

• Saturated fat. While there is some emerging evidence that saturated fat may not be as bad for our bodies as we thought, most experts still recommend that you eat less saturated fat and more polyunsaturated fat or monounsaturated fat for good health. So it’s best to choose foods that have the lowest number listed here.
• Trans fat. Experts agree that trans fats are not good for your body. Try to choose foods with as little trans fat as possible. 

Carbohydrates

If you’re on a low-carb diet for weight loss, you should check this number right away. Keeping your carb intake low will make a big difference in the success of your diet.

But even if you’re not counting carbs, choosing better sources of carbohydrates is important for good health. The food label can help you make better decisions about which food to choose. But you’ll need to look underneath the “Carbohydrates” listing to get the information you need.

Check these numbers to choose good carbohydrates for your diet.

• Dietary fiber. Fiber is a dieter’s friend. You’ll feel full longer and you’ll keep your net carb intake low if you choose foods with more dietary fiber. So if you can choose foods with a higher number in this area, you may have an easier time sticking to your diet. Packaged foods that contain whole grains or vegetables like spinach are often good sources of dietary fiber.
• Sugars. It's smart to watch your sugar intake if you want to reach and maintain a healthy weight. So you’ll want to check this number and choose foods that contain less sugar. But not all sugar-rich foods are the same. The new Nutrition Facts label makes it easier to choose healthier foods with sugar. On the new label, you will see a listing for “Total Sugars” and “Added Sugars.” Try to choose foods with the fewest “Added Sugars.” Foods with more added sugars provide empty calories that can increase your daily calorie intake and provide very little nutrition.  

Protein

Protein is another important macronutrient for dieters. When you select foods at the grocery store, read food labels and try to choose some foods that provide protein. Lean meat products and low-fat dairy products are good examples.

But when you check the nutrition label for protein, scan the fat grams to make the number is not too high. Many protein-rich foods are also high in saturated fat. And some foods in the dairy aisle contain unhealthy trans fat. 

Food Label Numbers That Matter Less for Weight Loss

All of the information on the nutrition label can help you to eat a healthy diet. But there is some information on the label that matters less when you’re trying to lose weight. It doesn’t mean you should ignore the numbers. But if weight loss is your primary goal, these numbers may be less important for you.

• Percent Daily Value. As a dieter, the numbers listed under “Percent Daily Value” may not matter to you. In fact, depending on your specific diet, you may want to ignore these numbers completely. Why? Because the numbers tell you how much a particular nutrient contributes to your total daily diet if you consume 2,000 calories per day. Most dieters will consume far less than that. Many diet plans for women are based on a 1,200 calorie intake per day and many diets for men recommend a total daily intake of 1,600 – 1,800 calories. If you consume fewer than 2000 calories per day, then the percents listed in this column will not be accurate for you.
• Cholesterol. Your doctor may have told you to reduce your dietary cholesterol intake. If so, this number is important for you. But choosing foods based only on cholesterol won’t necessary help you to lose weight.
• Sodium. Most experts recommend that healthy eaters keep their sodium intake under 2,300 milligrams per day. For that reason, this number is important. But low-sodium foods aren’t necessarily better for weight loss than foods that contain more sodium.
• Vitamins and Minerals. The numbers listed under the thick black bar give you important information about the healthy micronutrients in your food. If you choose foods that are more nutritious, it will be easier for you to build a strong, fit body. In a perfect world, dieters would choose foods that are low in calories and high in nutrition. But vitamins and minerals don’t actually cause weight loss to happen faster.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

What Is My Healthy Weight?

Wow, That's a good question that many of my readers ask. There isn't a perfect answer. Everyone
5' 8" won't weight the same.

I don't have a simple answer for that question. A healthy weight for anyone is constantly changing. Being at a healthy weight is really about how much body fat you have. If your Body Mass Index is lower than 25 then you're at a healthy weight.

Your Body Mass Index is an indicator of the percentage of body fat you have. Look up Body Mass Index on the web and there are several websites that will show you a formula to use to find your number. If your number is between 18 and 24 then you are at a healthy weight. If your number is more than 24, you're overweight. I'm not a fan of this way of measuring body fat. If you belong to a health club or know someone that can take you, they measure body fat with a caliper. You can even buy a "body fat caliper" on the web. I read somewhere that you can buy one on Ebay for about $8. A health club will measure you free of charge.

So even if you and your friend are the same height your number can be different. Muscular people weigh more than skinny people and that doesn't mean that either one is not at a healthy weight.

If you want to use a BMI calculator, do it twice on two different websites to check for accuracy. If you come up with a high number both times, you might want to think about changing your diet. Eating healthy is the "key" to losing body fat. Exercise like speed walking will help you lose it quicker, but you can't exercise away a bad diet. 

It took me several years to realize the mistakes I was making. If you eat foods containing fat, like red meat, you'll retain some of that fat in storage cells around your waist. All red meat is marbled with animal fat and that's the worst kind of fat for your body to process. Fat from cold water salmon or tuna is good for you. The Omega-3 fatty oil is good for your heart, but animal fat from red meat or pork is fat your body can't process and it ends up stored in fat cells.

Your body will burn some of your stored fat if you're not eating enough and the body needs more. So limit the animal fat your eating and let your body burn your stored fat.

I have less body fat today than I did in school and that was 50 years ago.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

5 Small Meals A Day For Weight Loss

This is so true and I'm an advocator of the "5 small meal a day plan", but it's easy to overdo the calories. When I started the small meal plan I had to put everything on paper  first and count the calories and you have to stick to the plan you make. Always eat at the proper time and never skip a meal and stay between 250 and 300 calories every meal then do your exercise and you won't get hungry and you will lose weight.

1. 
   

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

(HealthDay News) -- Many Americans have tossed the conventional three-meals-a-day routine out the window, and replaced it with frequent chow downs spread throughout the day, new research shows.

The study found that most folks were eating for 15 or more hours while awake, and the lion's share of calories were eaten well after 6 p.m.

"Most participants thought they don't eat or drink that regularly outside their breakfast-lunch-dinner routine," said study co-author Satchidananda Panda, an associate professor in the Regulatory Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif. Most people also assumed that they had been confining their eating routine to a 10- to 12-hour window, he added.

But after tracking actual eating patterns, Panda found that the "recorded fact was different."

The study's results are in the Sept. 24 issue of Cell Metabolism.

The findings stem from a new effort to track real-world eating behavior by means of a newly designed mobile app.

For three weeks, 150 healthy men and women continuously snapped photos of all the food, drinks and nutritional supplements they consumed. In turn, the app tracked all caloric intake, along with the exact time and place food was consumed, the researchers said.

All the participants were between the ages of 21 and 55, and resided in the vicinity of San Diego, the study reported. No one was asked to modify his or her normal eating habits in any way. Also, no study volunteers were dieting.

After 21 days, investigators determined that food intake was generally both erratic and continuous.

In essence, the study authors found that whenever they were awake, people ate. More than half of the participants spread their food intake over a roughly 15-hour period each day. Fasting tended to occur only during sleep, the study found.

What's more, less than a quarter of daily caloric intake happened before noon. By contrast, more than a third of food was consumed after 6 p.m., the study said.

A follow-up experiment tracked eight participants who were classified as obese and who had a habit of consuming food for periods stretching beyond 14 hours each day.

The five male and three female participants were instructed to restrict all food intake to a 10-hour block of time per day for 16 weeks. The app was used to track their eating behavior, and this enabled all participants to log onto a website to follow their actual dietary habits in real time.

The result: Although no one had been instructed to change the kind or amount of food they normally consumed, the obese participants had cut back their daily calories by about 20 percent by the end of the four-month study period. They ended up losing an average of about 7 pounds. They also reported experiencing improved sleep and increased energy levels, the study revealed.

Panda said that at this point, the app is designed to serve as a research tool, rather than as a dietary consumer aid.

Lona Sandon, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, said the study findings are "not much of a surprise."

"Basically this new study helps confirm what we already suspect," she said. "Eating sporadically and at all hours is just not good for our health.

"I see this a lot in those that I work with in my weight-loss classes," Sandon added. "There is a lack of planning and stability in their eating schedules, so eating just happens whenever. Many skip breakfast, have a light lunch, then find themselves hungry and tired in the afternoon and seeking a pick-me-up from the vending machine, only to get home from work ravenous and wanting to eat anything and everything with no energy to exercise. They then spend the night snacking before bed. This is a common phenomenon.

"[So] planning ahead for regularly scheduled meals is an important strategy for weight loss or just simply eating healthier," she advised.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Why Do We Have Body Fat?

Good question. Some body fat is necessary; we need it to cushion the organs in our body. Also, our body burns good fats as fuel to create energy.  Approximately  30% of all the calories burned every day to create energy come from fat that you eat or stored fat that you body keeps in reserve.

So why is fat bad? you might ask. There is good fat and bad fat, I'll explain. Your body will try and process all the food and drink you consume, but some things that we eat can't be processed; it has no value to the body, so it's stored in fat cells. When your body processes food it separates it into food it can use and the waste it can't use, but if your body can't process something or you over eat and the body hasn't the time to process it, then it gets sent to fat storage cells before the body can process it.

Our ancestors needed this system of fat storage because Man  never knew when he would find food again. Because of the active lifestyle of our ancestors, always doing physical work, always walking about, there was never any thought about Man storing too much fat. Man was not designed to deal with excess body fat. Man was designed to store fat whenever possible for the purpose of survival. And yes we were given brains to deal with our evolution because over time we would evolve. But in spite of the brains we were given, we haven't done a very good job of maintaining our bodies. The body has no mechanism  to control our weight. We have no way of knowing that we are eating too much.

Our activity level is much lower than our grandparents even. Today we do most of our work with our mind's. Yes, we do small things to keep us active, but the average office worker is only on their foot about 4 hours a day.  So we do have to be more active all day long whenever possible. But that's not our only problem; American are in the habit of eating whatever and whenever they want. We have food available 24/7 and on average we consume twice the calories we should.

Her lies the problem. To stay healthy and keep a healthy weight you have to burn the calories you eat. Simply right? Not really. If man had a fresh food diet and only fresh food like vegetables, fruits and lean meat and some whole grain like brown rice and there was no other food; than Man wouldn't have a weight problem. As long as you were moderately active you couldn't eat enough to gain weight. But today we eat all types of food that give us no nutrition; the body can't process this type food and stores it as fat. We consume too much fatty foods that overload the Liver, so if the Liver can't process all the fat  it passes through into the blood stream and clog up the arteries.

To be healthy and stay healthy you have to stick to a fresh food diet. Look up "The Mediterranean diet" and look for the food pyramid that shows all the choices. If you eat healthy you will lose body fat over time. By walking more, and I recommend the 10,000 step a day program for beginners that don't exercise regularly,  you can lose the weight quicker. But losing weight does take time. Don't get discouraged, stick to the program and don't cheat. Cheat days only ruin all the good that you've done.

The Atkins Diet is an alternative. It's a little more restrictive, but it works. Check out both those, they are the best one I know.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Getting Fit For Life

This should be everyone's objective. Being "fit" is being healthy which means you'll be more productive, better organized, more energized, and you'll feel younger longer. Some active people will be middle age clear into their 60's. You see them on the Golf Course, walking the course instead of using a golf cart. You see them jogging in the park and riding bikes in the long charity races. These people might not come in first anymore, but they still compete.

I found this post on WebMD and had to reblog it just to try and get more people motivated into exercise.

Why Exercise Matters

There are many reasons you should stay physically active, especially if you want to live a long life.

It can help:

Keep your bones, muscles, and joints healthy
Lower your chances of things like diabetes, colon cancer, and osteoporosis
Lower blood pressure
Manage stress and improve your mood
Ease symptoms of anxiety and depression
Lower your risk of heart disease
Manage chronic conditions like arthritis or diabetes, by improving symptoms like stamina, joint swelling, pain, and muscle strength
With balance, so you're less likely to fall and fracture bones

Sometimes as you get older, you may be a bit fearful of exercise. Maybe you think you might hurt yourself. You may believe you have to join a gym. Or you may not be sure what exercises you should do.

The key thing isn't how or where you get active, it's just to start moving.

Healthy adults should shoot for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity, aerobic activity every week. Sure, you can do that in exercise classes. But you can also get it by brisk walking. It's also important to do movements that work all your major muscles at least 2 days a week. Also, try to do flexibility exercises 2 or 3 days a week to improve your range of motion.

Though 150 minutes sounds like a lot, you don't have to get it in big chunks. You can take a 10-minute walk around the block or spend 10 minutes sweeping the porch. It all adds up.

Feeling really motivated? You'll get even more health benefits if you work up to 300 minutes or more of exercise a week.

But a simple goal is to try to get 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on most days. You may be able to do that on some weeks and not others. Remember, it's a goal and not a rule. Do what works for you.

How to Get Moving

There are two ways to move: exercise and physical activity.

Exercise is planned activity like aerobics classes, tai chi, spin classes, or swimming. Physical activity is the way you "sneak" movement into your day, like walking the dog or gardening. Adding both to your routine will help you stay healthy and live longer.

Always check with your doctor before increasing your activity level.

Ready to move? You can go to the gym or community center and take water aerobics or dance classes and do strength-training exercises.

To get in motion in a less formal way, you can:

Take a brisk walk or jog
Ride a bike
Rake leaves or pushes a lawnmower
Sweep or dust
Play tennis
Walk up and downstairs
Carry groceries

You don't need fancy clothes or equipment to start. Just get moving. You should start to feel stronger and have more energy in just a few weeks. That's the key to a longer, happier life. Be more active every day and stop eating processed foods and your body will burn off the excess body fat that you're storing.

If you really want to lose your body fat then look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Can Your Diet Affect Your Appearance?

"Can you look older because you're eating crap? Absolutely."

I like this post from WebMD.com. It tells you the truth about what bad food choices can do to your health. 

“For example, eating too much sugar and processed carbohydrates (like some pasta, bread, and baked goods made with enriched flour) can lead to damage in your skin's collagen, which keeps your skin springy and resists wrinkles”, says Andrea Giancoli, MPH, RD. 

“What's more, these foods put your overall health at risk. They are tied to diseases like heart disease and diabetes”, she says.

Did you know that Obesity can cause heart damage without any symptoms. Other foods, like fruits and vegetables, are good for your body and your overall appearance. When you look good, you feel good and your body is working the way it was built to.

A person can be considered middle-age even past 65 or even 70 by the condition of their body. Your body doesn’t know what the calendar is. Your body only knows that your not fully grown or that your are fully grown or that your getting close to “end of life”. And your body can determine this by the condition of your body. This is what is call your “biological age”. 

Aging is really not about how old you are in chronological years, aging is about how old you are in biological years. A study done in a university in New Zealand recently showed that out of the 1000 people in a study of people in the late 30’s, some had a biological age as high as 60, some of them have actually stopped aging and some had a biological age less then their chronological age.




You can’t reverse aging but the study shows that in some cases people have actually stopped aging. Yes, some of this may be caused by the genes you were born with, but most of these people have stopped aging because of their diet and activity levels.




Everyone is born with a different set of genes and some genes maybe better then others, for instance we know that your genes depend a lot on the condition of your parents at the time you were conceived. As an adult goes through life his or her genes age along with the biological age. 




So genes your born with do play a factor in your biological age and that maybe why some people in the study were found to have a biological age 20 years older then their actual age. But most of the aging process can be controlled by your diet and exercise.

Science doesn't know how long man can live. It only has history to go by. Science and a team from Google are doing research now to try and determine if man can live to age 500. Other scientists believe we can live to age 1000 in theory but I don't think any research is being done yet. No one really knows how long man can live. 

Medicine may have it all wrong. Today Doctor's are treating the medical problems the patient has, but now they think that they need to be preventing the diseases and illnesses that people could get. Prevention is the next step for medicine. So in theory, if we never get a disease or illness then how long could we live?




You don’t have to age, it’s mostly up to you. You can slow down or even stop the aging process if you want. You won’t stop aging forever but in the study some of the adults did have a biological age younger then their chronological age. When your biological age is younger, your body stopped aging several years ago because of your lifestyle. If your interested, you can calculate your biological age by looking on the internet and finding the formula. Just do a search Biological Age and you'll find several websites to help you. 

You can stop the aging process at any age if you take control of your diet and exercise. Losing body fat will make a big difference in your health. I have a friend about my age with a weight problem and his Doctor warned him he was pre-diabetic and would have to start taking insulin if he couldn't lose weight. My friend could remember when his father had to take insulin and he knew that wasn't for him. In 6 months he lost the weight and was off his medications. At the age of 60, he was one happy guy. 

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.