Recently, I started a new healthy way of eating so I could eliminate the need to frequently diet and detox. First off, I’ve drastically reduced my intake of alcohol, which only encourages you to eat more; second, I’ve begun incorporating more protein and fiber in my meals, both which are capable of stunting the appetite and revving up the metabolism, thereby, eliminating cravings and hunger pains so you don’t overeat. While 40 grams of protein is the bare minimum required for women who lead a sedentary life, I’ve been ensuring that I intake at least over 70 grams a day, from food sources with a low glycemic index such as fish, chicken and eggs. Because the body uses up more energy to burn a single protein molecule, the body requires more calories per day, thus, I’m able to sneak in my favorite cheat foods (i.e. a cookie, a slice of cake, or a low calorie donut) without any worry of going over my total calories needed per day. Grape fruit has become one of my favorite snack substitutes as well, because not only is it tasty, but it helps to control your blood sugar levels, which in turn prevents obesity.

Let’s take weight loss and body maintenance into our own hands! Here’s some further information you should read in regards to the benefits of grape fruit and adopting a high protein eating pattern:

Books

Protein Power: The High-Protein/Low-Carbohydrate Way to Lose Weight, Feel Fit, and Boost Your Health–In Just Weeks!

Sites

• How protein-rich diets stunt the appetite
• Protein
• Eating Grapefruit Really Does Help Weight Loss

With the recent devastation of Port Au Prince, Haiti, and other nations across the globe, volunteering to help rebuild has escalated amongst humanitarians, philanthropists, and those seeking fulfillment in their lives. Regular, everyday working people with knowledge and skills in medicine, construction, and organizational planning are greatly in demand. If you browse the various blogs and forums on the internet, you will come across countless people asking about free flights to Haiti so they can make a difference. The thing is, based off of the volunteer sites that I’ve come across, i.e. abroaderview.org, volunteerabroad.com, etc…, it seems to me that people are trying to cash in on people’s yearn to be helpful. One web site noted that to fly to Chile, South America and volunteer for 1 week, it would cost you $895, or for 2 weeks, $980. There is no such thing as flying for free, unless you’ve joined the Peace Corp and signed a commitment form, or you happen to know prestigious people like Brad Pitt and Bill Gates who can afford to send countless teams of professionals to Haiti to aid in the relief. Everything costs money, from the flying, to the room and board, and food. If all the rich people of the world got together and formed organizations that sent regular, everyday working professionals around the globe to help for free then I believe we would have an upsurge in economical advancement all over; the rich could call it another form of charity.

If you don’t mind paying for volunteerism, then refer to the sites I mentioned earlier, because they seem to be the cheapest out of most of the web sites I’ve visited. If you’re interested in organizing your own volunteer trip, you can refer to this article: 6 Steps to Organizing your own Volunteer Trip. For those interested in volunteering locally, refer to this book title: The Busy Family’s Guide to Volunteering: Doing Good Together

Earlier today, I came across an article on CNN.com, titled “Do You Think You Could Spot a Killer?” by Abbie Boudreau. The article used Steven Kazmierczak as a reference, since he was the culprit behind the mass shooting at The Northern Illinois University campus on February 14, 2008, leaving six dead and eighteen injured. According to the article, Steven Kazmierczak was a one time sociology major at The Northern Illinois University who later went to study social work as a graduate student at The University of Illinois. As referenced from the article, “He was surrounded by professors who studied criminology and were experts in criminal behavior. His friends were also counselors-in-training.” Some of the people closest to Steven Kazmierczak were asked if prior to the shooting, did they think he was capable of mass murder, and they said “they never saw it coming”; however, two of the people closest to him, a college friend and professor, revealed their knowledge of his obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiousness, and fixation with anti-depressants. Abbie Boudreau, the author of the CNN.com article, went on to pose this question, “It makes me think that if a group of criminologists and counselors in training didn’t pick up on what some people would call “warning signs”, then what luck would an average person have at detecting strange behavior?”

About a year after the murderous incident, police records revealed that Steven Kazmierczak had a history of attempted suicides, had been temporarily treated for mental illness in 1998, and per Wikipedia, as reported by his girlfriend, his behavior became more erratic in the weeks leading up to the shooting, as he discontinued his prescription drugs, i.e. Prozac, etc…

After reading about Steven Kazmierczak and pondering about the question Abbie Boudreau posed in her article, “Do You Think You Could Spot a Killer?”, I ask, “Do you think you could spot a person capable of abuse? Do you think you could spot a pedophile? Do you think you could spot anyone with any sinister intent?”. Most of the time, we are so bogged down with our own personal ventures and issues that we tend to overlook obvious psychological personality disorders in others (i.e. schizoid personality disorder, paranoid personality disorder, obsessive compulsive personality disorder, antisocial disorder, etc…), especially in those close to us; and when we do recognize the signs and summon up the bravery to do something about it, like report your worries to law enforcement, you’re usually turned away, because it seems it takes “a person to act, before you react”.

Steven Kazmierczak

For further reading on personality disorders, refer to this book:
Family Treatment of Personality Disorders: Advances in Clinical Practice (paperback), by MacFarlane, Malcolm M. (Author)

For the past few months, while I’ve been juggling work, family time, and volunteering for local group projects, one of my biggest struggles has been trying to maintain a healthy ideal weight. Sometimes, all the health information in the world can’t stop a person from overconsumption, especially if the person surrounds themselves with people who are unwilling to adopt positive eating and fitness habits as well. “You only live once” is the motto I tend to live by when I find myself overindulging, but in truth, we need to understand that the dangers of fat and obesity are real. Excess body fat has been linked to heart disease, cancer and diabetes, which are the leading causes of most deaths in America. Let’s ask ourselves every time we give in to binge eating or drinking, how much do I want to live?

Today, as I was pinching some of the fat on my body that I still want to lose, I became curious of what body fat actually looks like. Imagine the fat under our skin as the same fat we see on chicken legs or thighs before they’re cleaned and cooked. Here’s a picture I came across of what actual body fat looks like:

For the past few days, I’ve been suffering from what I presume to be a mild case of the flu and tonsillitis. It seems like every year around the same time, these two illnesses find a way of digging their claws into me, literally speaking. I’ve been confined to the bed with an achy body, sore throat, runny nose, chills and the feeling that I’m in a room where the temperature is blistery cold. With a pandemic fear of the Swine flu, you can imagine the frenzy I’m in.

Since I’m the type who would rather seek alternative means before opting for medical treatment, I have been taking daily dosages of Vitamin C 2,000 mg, drinking plenty of water, getting an enormous amount of bed rest, and adopting a V8 mixed with Living Fuel liquid diet. The logic behind my self-prescribed treatment, which has worked for me in the past, is that in order to help your body fight against these mild illnesses, you have to help boost your body’s immune system, a network of cell-forming tissues that protects the body from pathogens and other foreign substances, destroys infected and malignant cells, and removes cellular debris.

Everyday when we breathe in polluted air or drink that alcoholic beverage that we tend to crave at the end of a long week, we contribute to the suppression of our immune system. Like a predator, the toxicity of our environment and bad food and beverage choices eats away at our livers and inhibits our bodies from utilizing vitamins and minerals. Whether it’s preventing or treating illnesses, we should be replenishing our bodies daily with fresh vegetables, fruits, vitamins, Green tea and all things similar that contain anti-oxidants.

If you are like me and you occasionally indulge in alcohol, here’s an interesting article I would love to share. If you’re not living a healthy way of life, this is an article that should cause you to “Renew Your Mind” and motivate you to make subtle changes in your life.

How Drugs and Alcohol Affect Vitamin Absorption

by TC Yeap

Both alcohol and drugs (whether legal or illegal) all have an effect on how your body absorbs and utilizes vitamins. Drugs and alcohol both have an influence on how your body functions and they have an influence on how the vitamins in your body actually functions.

Although those people who enjoy an occasional beer or wine will lose the benefit of many of the vitamins in their system, they won’t completely hinder their body from working properly. However, those people who are chronic alcoholics and who regularly exceed a reasonable amount of alcohol will in fact see the damaging effects of alcohol.

Alcohol interferes with a person’s nutritional process. Vitamins are essential in maintaining the functions of the body, as well as a normal metabolism. Chronic drinking impairs the body’s ability to absorb vitamins and causes a person to become deficient in many of the critical vitamins that the body requires. This is because chronic alcoholics do not eat much. So, not only are they inhibiting their absorption with alcohol, but they are also simply not ingesting the proper amounts of vitamins.

Alcohol also inhibits fat absorption, which means that they do not get the fat-soluble vitamins that they need. Alcoholics are often deficient in vitamins A, D, E, C and K. All of these vitamins are needed for wound healing as well as cell maintenance and this means that alcoholics are more likely to bruise and not heal as quickly.

Drugs also have an effect on the body. Marijuana has been shown to cause many unwanted side effects on nutrition. A recent study has shown us that marijuana users are actually at a greater risk for cancer and heart disease. This is because the drug itself influences negative lifestyle changes, such as a poor diet, increased cigarette smoking and increased drinking. In particular, the body suffers the most from a lack of a well-balanced meal, as marijuana users are notorious for getting the “munchies,” but what they tend to munch on is not fruits or vegetables.

Stimulant use, such as the use of methamphetamine, cocaine and crack, causes a person to have a decreased appetite and significant weight loss. Many of these individuals go for days without eating and often suffer from dehydration as well. This means that they are significantly lacking in the vitamins and minerals that they need.

All individuals need to be taking a daily multivitamin supplement, but users of alcohol and drugs in particular need to be certain that they are meeting their nutritional requirements and utilizing a multivitamin supplement on a regular basis as well.

TC Yeap is CEO of Singaporean company Sainhall Nutrihealth. Founded in 1990, Sainhall Nutrihealth is a leading distributor for health products in SouthEast Asia.

Vitamin.sg is an E-Commerce portal created by Sainhall Nutrihealth to offer a whole range of nutritional products and supplements. Visit Vitamin.sg today for exclusive rates! Because staying healthy doesn’t have to be expensive!

Article Source: How Drugs and Alcohol Affect Vitamin Absorption

It’s Sunday and from the weariness of my body, I feel like sleeping the entire day away. Yesterday I ran and walked around the track 8 times, with intervals of 1 minute of walking and 30 seconds of sprinting. I can feel the difference in my shins when I run outside on hard concrete vs the treadmill. I need to find a stretching exercise that will stretch shins, because they hurt! Nevertheless, interval training is working for me; it’s toning up my thighs and buttocks substantially. My lungs feel clear and my breathes seem deeper.

Here’s another article on “interval training” that I wanted to share:

Interval Training For Weight Loss – How to Get Leaner, Faster
By Zack William

Interval training for weight loss has, in recent years, completely superseded old fashioned, long, slow aerobic cardio as the training method of choice. Why is this method favoured above others? how can you start using it today to see fast weight loss?and is there still a place for old school aerobic training? In this article I’ll answer these questions and even give you a sample interval training program. Sorry folks, but pretty soon you’ll have no excuse! you’ll just have to start losing weight today.

What is interval training?
First things first, interval training simply means varying the intensity of your effort throughout your cardio session. In other words, instead of hopping on a treadmill and running at 5 miles per hour for 30 minutes, you would walk at an easy pace for a few minutes as a warm up, before sprinting hard for a short period, then taking the speed down and recovering again. This would constitute one interval. An interval training session therefore will be made up of numerous individual intervals. The amount of time spent sprinting versus resting will vary depending on your goals and fitness level, and can be performed on any piece of equipment.

Why is interval training for fat loss so effective?
Although there are some theories about why interval training is more effective for fat loss than steady state cardio, the truth is nobody is 100% sure why it works so much better. The most widely accepted theory is that interval training causes a greater “afterburn” effect, elevating your metabolic rate and causing you to burn extra calories for hours after you have finished training. With steady state training on the other hand, you are only burning additional fat while you are actually exercising. So, which sounds more efficient to you? burning fat for just an hour or two a week while you are pounding a treadmill, or putting in a couple of 20 minute interval sessions and burning fat while you sleep?
So this is why we think interval training for fat loss is so effective. But really, while it’s nice to know the “why” behind the method, all I really care about is if it really does work or not.

So, does it actually work?
In a word; yes! A study in 1994 comparing interval training over 15 weeks to endurance training over 20 weeks concluded that the interval training group lost 9 times the amount of fat than the endurance training group! That’s 9 times the results in 5 weeks less than the other group, pretty spectacular. I would add to this that I have used interval training for weight loss with hundreds of clients over the years and my clients routinely lose up to 20lbs in their first month. Bottom line; interval training gets the job done!

Enough talk- Give me an example!
Okay then here we go. These workouts can be done on any piece of equipment. If you are just getting started I would not recommend the treadmill however due to the amount of impact it involves. Better choices would be the stationary bike, rower or stepmill. Advanced trainees might try skipping, outdoor sprinting or even punching a heavy bag. In the sample workout we will use the stationary bike.

Sample four week interval training for fat loss workout:

Warm up – 5-8 minutes cycling at an easy pace. You should have a light sweat by the end but not be very out of breath.

Week 1- 1 minute at 9 out of 10 intensity (ie cycle VERY HARD!) followed by 2 minutes of easy cycling at lower resistance. This is one interval. Perform 6 intervals. Do this two to three times a week separated by at least one day’s rest.

Week 2- 1 minute at 9 out of 10 intensity, followed by 1 minute and 50 seconds of easy cycling. Perform 6 rounds, do two to three times a week separated by at least one day’s rest.

Week 3- 1 minute at 9 out of 10 intensity followed by 1 minute and 40 seconds of easy cycling. Perform 6 rounds, do three times a week separated by at least one day’s rest.

Week 4- 1 minute at 9 out of 10 intensity followed by 1 minute and 40 seconds of easy cycling. Perform 7 rounds, do three times a week separated by at least one day’s rest.

As you can see, the rest is lowered progressively and the number of intervals increase. Try this for 4 weeks coupled with an effective metabolic weight training program for best results.

Zack William is a Personal Trainer and expert in fast fat loss for busy professionals. For everything you need to lose weight and look good naked go to http://www.fatbodyslim.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Zack_William
http://EzineArticles.com/?Interval-Training-For-Weight-Loss—How-to-Get-Leaner,-Faster&id=2306689

My experience at the gym today was undeniably exhausting! After recent bouts of fasting, changing my diet, jogging and engaging in Pilates and Yoga, I find that although I have lost a moderate amount of weight, I am still not as toned as I want to be; therefore, I have taken up ”interval training” . No longer am I walking or jogging for 30 – 60 minutes on a treadmill or in the park, when I can easily burn the same amount of calories in 15 – 20 minutes via interval training. I am amazed at the budding transformation of my body after only 2 days of training.

For those who are not familiar with the specifics of interval training, here is an article that you should read:

Interval Training Workout to Lose Belly Fat

By Craig Ballantyne

If a trainer tells you there’s a best way to do interval training, they are lying.

Research shows that intervals are powerful for fat loss, but there’s never been a “head-to-head” study comparing different lengths of interval workouts.

But that’s good news. It means that all types of interval training workouts will work to help you burn your belly fat.

In addition, for distance runners, intervals of 2-5 minutes are very helpful for improving performance. But for fat loss workouts, I tend to use a nice simple 30 second interval length for fat burning benefits.

Plus, if you do intervals on a cardio machine, its very easy to stick to a 30 second interval timing, followed by a 60-90 second recovery at a much slower pace. If the intervals were any shorter, it would be tough to change the settings on the machine fast enough.

Any type of this interval training for fat loss is likely better than slow cardio, and allows for faster workouts.

Despite what you may read on the Internet, no one has proven that one type of interval is best for fat loss. That is why I use different Intervals for different phases of a fat loss program.

For example, if you have been doing 30 second intervals for the last 2 months, you might kick-start your results by moving to 1-minute intervals or even, gasp, 2-minute intervals.

As you change the interval length, you change the way your body responds to the training.

- It is recommended that the stationary cycle be used for interval training because it allows for an easy transition between work and recovery.

- Finish each interval workout with stretching for the tight muscle groups only.

- Perform the interval sessions 3 times per week.

- Use a different interval duration in each 4-week phase of the TT programs.

- Each set-up provides a different stimulus to your body, so you might identify one that works the best for you.

- You may also use a different interval duration in each workout. For example, short intervals in Workout A and longer intervals after Workout B.

- Here is a sample interval workout.

-Warm-up for 5 minutes.

- Work at an 8/10 level of intensity for 60 seconds.

- (A 10/10 intensity is running for your life, so adjust accordingly).

- Your heart rate should be near maximal by the end of the interval.

- Follow that with active rest for 60 seconds at a 3/10 level of intensity.

- Active rest means walking or pedaling at a very slow rate.

- Repeat for 6 intervals.

- Finish with 5 minutes of cool-down exercise at 3/10 level of intensity.

Discover how to immediately put interval workouts to work for you, so that you lose fat and gain muscle in less workout time than ever before with the interval training program.

You should do interval training 3 times per week, no more. Get rid of the marathon cardio mentality when it comes to fat loss and building a better body. You want to focus on fewer, shorter, more intense workouts to get ripped abs and burn your belly fat.

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training for Fat Loss have helped thousands of men and women with weight loss and fat burning in less than 45 minutes three times per week. Turbulence Training for Fat Loss workouts help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment. Craig’s bodyweight workouts for fat loss help you lose fat without any equipment at all.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_Ballantyne
http://EzineArticles.com/?Interval-Training-Workout-to-Lose-Belly-Fat&id=1170817

I was driving to the mall the other day on I-95 with two of my girlfriends at a speed of 60 mph when suddenly, a middle aged guy seated in a blue Honda Accord begins to tailgate us. He tailgates us for about 4 miles until we finally reach our exit. And then, upon returning home, a few other cars happen to do the same the thing “tailgate”. Meanwhile, I’m alternating between speeds of 60 mph to 70 mph and the whole time, I’m thinking, what do these people want, for me to go 100mph? This is a crisis, because let’s say that I’m driving down the highway at a speed of 60mph with my kid in the backseat, while some prick is driving right on my tail, and suddenly, I abruptly press on my brakes because a deer races across the road in front me, then where would that lead us? Not only would my kid and I be thrown through the window because of the large impact from behind despite the fastening of our seatbelts, but the guy or gal behind me would have been injured or rather crushed by the back of my car. It’s pure ignorance that is driving many people to do the stupidest things. It seems like humans are becoming more intelligent each day when it comes to the innovative discoveries of technology and science but when it comes to using logic for the simple things in life, many people fail tremendously.

Ironically, I use to be one of those people who tailgated others. For years, I tailgated people thinking that it would make them either drive faster or move to the next lane so I could pass, but one day the blinders came off and I saw the light. I was tailgating a man who was simultaneously driving and talking on his cell phone. He suddenly slammed on his brakes for no apparent reason and I came crashing into the rear of his car. The front of my car was crushed and glass from the windshield flew towards my face. If I had not been tailgating him, I would have had enough time to hit my brakes and spare myself the anguish of going to the hospital, filing a police report and having my car insurance pay for his repairs, which ended up increasing my six month premium.

Just think, how would you feel if it were your mother, father, husband, son or daughter in the car and by unfortunate circumstance, they didn’t make it out of the car accident alive? It’s time for many of us to stop being egotistical and think about the affect of our actions on others. One of the ways that we can start sparing our children and family members’ lives is to stop tailgating!

While browsing the internet on the latest health findings, I came across this great article that defines what “Proteins” are and what occurs when we are lacking them in our diet. This information is especially important to those coming off the Master Cleanse Diet trying to adopt a better eating lifestyle.

What Happens When You Get Too Little Protein in Your Diet

Author: Charles Carter

Copyright (c) 2008 Charles Carter

Proteins are composed of long chain like forms of amino acids. Amino acids are basic and fundamental to life. As a chemical compound, it is made of amine and carbonyl functional groups. To put it simply, they are made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen and on some rare occasions, sulfur. These four or five materials build themselves into various chain-like structures and form different types of protein. Protein is the life line of human health.

Human cells, muscle tissue, and the organs of the body are made up of protein. Long chains of amino acids are structured to make different types of proteins. There are 22 types of amino acids and the human body needs all of them to be healthy.

Different types of proteins in our body execute different body functions. Our body’s strength, its flexibility and elasticity are taken care of by a protein called collagen, and our hair and skin are composed of the same protein.

Proteins we consume through food are broken down into amino acids in the process of digestion and absorbed by the body only to be rebuilt into different types of proteins that are the requirement of the body. There are twenty two kinds of amino acids essential for the human body. And in that 14 are produced by the body and the remaining 8 are to be obtained though food.

Complete and incomplete Proteins

A protein that can be obtained through one food source like a meat or dairy product is called a complete protein. A complete protein is obtained generally though meat, dairy products, eggs, fish and poultry. Vegetables, fruits and nuts do not contain all the essential proteins in one food items and so it is termed as incomplete.

Importance of Proteins

For proper growth, sustenance and repair of body cells, for the health of muscles, tissues, organs and for body function like metabolism, digestion, transportation of nutrients and oxygen through blood circulation, proteins are imperative.

Apart from that more importantly for the production of antibodies, or in other words, antibodies are little soldiers who fight any infection that invades into our body and fights diseases and makes us healthy. The healthy skin and shining hair of which we are proud of is due to the proteins.

Too little Protein means ill health

Like our grand mothers say often, ‘anything too much or too little is harmful’ is absolute truth in case of protein. Too much protein intake leads to many uncomfortable physical complications just as too little of protein intake can lead to complications.

Protein is needed to repair and create new cells, tissues, hormones, enzymes and muscles and lack of protein would impair these important body functions leading to grave situations. Many foods which supply protein do contain certain other minerals and vitamins like iron, a lack of which creates an eternal tiredness and fatigue. The person who lacks iron feels weak and becomes listless with lack of energy.

Physical activities consume protein daily, and so it is essential to give regular supply of protein to the body daily. And too little protein can cause severe skin ailments and would make you look lusterless and pale.

Children need a lot of protein as they are in the phase of growing and insufficient protein in children hampers their growth very much.

For a period of time if the body fails to get sufficient amount of protein through food, it starts breaking the muscles which contain large amount of protein to fulfill its need. This means eroding of the muscle and it is generally known as muscle wasting. And prolonged such situation leads to a vicious cycle of protein energy malnutrition where in when the body does not get any other source of energy, body’s muscles and organs a re broken down for energy. The digestive system suffers with the loss of cell lining which is important for absorption of nutrients from the digested food. Thus a vicious cycle of poor diet and insufficient absorption of nutrients from food lead to severe body wasting.

So, too little protein intake is dangerous and very harmful to health.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/what-happens-when-you-get-too-little-protein-in-your-diet-616905.html

About the Author:
Liveleantoday.com offers low prices on protein bars , low carb protein , and more.

It’s been four days since I completed the Master Cleanse Diet and once again, I feel great! My thought processes are clearer and I am able to tackle problems in my personal life with more ease and patience. There’s an inner peace that one tends to acquire when the colon and organs have been partially cleansed from toxins.

In following the diet’s procedures, for the first 2 days after the Master Cleanse Diet, I drank nothing but freshly squeezed orange juice and vegetable broth. The freshly squeezed orange juice and vegetable broth prepares the digestive system to once again break down food and absorb nutrients.

On the 3rd day, I continued the consumption of freshly squeezed orange juice and vegetable broth; however, I added vegetables such as Parsley and Scallions to the broth.

Finally on the 4th day, in addition to the freshly squeezed orange juice and vegetable broth with vegetables, I consumed fruits such as grapefruit and strawberries, along with seeds and nuts. Later for dinner, I ate a Caesar salad minus salad dressing.

The objective for the 5th day is that you begin to adopt a high protein eating style, excluding coffee, white flour, white rice, junk food and anything with a high glycemic level. On this day, many people experiencing this diet have complained about gas or other digestive distress. The remedy for that is to repeat days 2, 3, and 4 after the diet, until your digestive system is back to normal.

The idea of this diet / fast is to reduce damage in the body brought about by our polluted environment and poor eating habits. After the diet, our aim should be to maintain our weight by making wise food choices, and to focus on becoming more active, engaging in positive things to keep our mind in a state of tranquility or serenity.