Almost 108 million Americans were overweight or obese in 1999. Until now, obesity continues to
be a serious problem and is predicted to reach epidemic levels by the year 2020.
One way to prevent this scenario is to make people aware of the risks of being overweight or
obese.
Here are some diseases that you are putting yourself in risk of if you are carrying a lot of extra pounds:
1. heart disease
2. stroke
3. diabetes
4. cancer
5. arthritis
6. hypertension
Losing weight helps to prevent and control these diseases.
The quick weight loss methods which have spread like fire these days do not provide lasting
results. More often than not, dieting methods which involve dietary drinks, foods and supplement
or pills do not work. If they do, the results are just temporary.
It is better to rely on a healthy weight loss option which will provide lifetime results. You have to set realistic goals and not expect to lose a lot of pounds in a short span of time.
Here are some tips on how you can lose those unwanted pounds the healthy way:
1. Do not starve your self.
The key to a healthier way of losing weight is: Do not diet.
You may seem happy and feel that you are losing those unwanted flabs on your belly and thighs by
skipping meals. But remember that this would not last long. Your body cannot tolerate having
insufficient food to fuel the energy that you use up everyday.
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If you get used to skipping one or two meals a day, your stored calories will be used up instead of the energy that should have been provided by your meals. So if you just eat one huge sandwich in
one day, it will end up straight to your problem area (i.e. highs, buttocks, hips).
2. Start your day right.
Mothers always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Have a healthy meal in
the morning to jump-start your metabolism.
Your food intake after you wake up will be used to burn fat all day long.
3. Eat small, healthy meals frequently.
Five small-serving snacks per day is better than three hearty meals. Eating more frequently, and in small servings, can prevent over-eating. This will also increase your metabolism and make calories burn faster.
4. Decide on how much weight you want to lose.
Keep your goals realistic. In the long run, it is virtually impossible for you to lose 40 pounds in 2
weeks. Have a mindset that you want to eat healthy to stay healthy for the rest of your life.
Once you have decided on a weight loss plan or program, stick to it and make sure that you follow
your own set of dieting rules.
5. Drink lots of water.
Your body needs sufficient water to burn fat and keep your cells hydrated and healthy.
6. Avoid too much sugar.
Plan your meals around lots of fruits and vegetables, some bread, rice or pasta for that carbo fix that you need, plus lean meat and protein rich-foods. Sweets, sodas and pastries should be once-in-a-while indulgences only.
7. Watch your fat intake.
Fat is not the culprit to being overweight. You need this to keep your weight at the proper level.
There is such a thing as healthy fats. Olive, peanuts and canola oil have them. Tuna, salmon and
mackerel have omega-3 fats which is good for the heart.
8. Exercise.
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Leave your car if you are only going a few blocks from home, take the stairs instead of the
elevator, jog, cycle or skate. Use these activites and other home chores if you are too lazy to go to the gym and take exercise classes. Make sure that you do this regularly and you will not even
notice that you are already shedding pounds with these mundane activities.
It does not matter how much weight you plan or need to lose. What is important is that you set
realistic goals for yourself.
Go slow. If you have already lost 5 or 6 pounds, give yourself a break then try to lose the next 5
pounds.
Eat healthy, drink lots of water, have enough sleep and exercise. This will give you a higher chance of losing weight and improving your health, which would result to a new, healthier you.
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Losing Weight? - Go Herbal
These days, there is a great need for overweight Americans to lose those excess pounds. Being
healthy would not only lead them to have a healthier lifestyle but it will also literally lighten their load, and improve their overall well-being.
There is a long list of dieting options available. There are exercise programs, exercise machines, dietary supplements, dietary food and drinks, diet pills - there are even soaps which claim to help you lose pounds while you bathe.
One other available option to shed off those unwanted pounds is to go herbal.
Herbal weight loss products have been in great demand for people who want to lose weight the
natural way. However, when you take herbal supplements to lose weight, you would have to wait
for a longer time for the results because of the more subtle effects of medicines which came from
plants and natural herbs.
Here are some herbal weight loss options that you might want to consider:
1. Herbal weight loss products
There are a lot of herbal weight loss products available in the market now. You can check out the
Internet and you will find a lot of herbal weight loss pills and products.
Be careful, however, as there are some products which claim to be safe and natural because they
are herbal, but some actually have side effects because of non-extensive research on the effects
of these products.
Here are some ingredients and chemicals which make up some herbal weight loss products that
you should watch out for, as they might have harmful effects to your health:
> Senna. This is an herbal laxative. Senna is a main ingredient in weight loss teas, and it works by stimulation the colon. The downside effect of this herb is dehydration. It can also lead to colon
problems and can become addictive. Some people, when addicted, are unable to perform bowel
movements without it, so watch out.
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> Chromium picolinate. This is a synthetic compound found in herbal weight loss products.
Chromium is a nutrient which helps regulate blood-sugar level. However, this ingredient, when
taken in high doses, may cause damage in the chromosomes. It can also lead to dehydration.
> St. John's wort. This supplement increases the production of a chemical in the brain. If not used properly, it may cause eye and skin sensitivity, mild gastrointestinal distress, fatigue and itching.
Although a lot of herbal products claim to be safe and natural, it is better to scrutinize the
ingredients and research about the effects of the product itself before going for these herbal
dietary pills.
2. Organic food.
In Wichita, Kansas, organic food has found its way to more homes and restaurants. Organic food
devotees believe that consuming organic goodies help their bodies as well as the environment.
A person who buys organically raised eggs and vegetables claim to be healthier, and they are not
spending money on doctors and prescriptions as these keep them healthier and away from the
hospital. This could also be an option for weight watchers, as organic food is known to be kinder to your weight than chemically-processed food products.
3. Green Tea.
Studies show that intake of green tea, or green tea extracts burns extra calories. Also, green tea with caffeine can increase fat burning by up to 40% thereby reducing fat.
This is one good option for those who want to lose weight. In a study done, people who took
green tea were found to lose 2 to 3 times more weight than those who did not drink green tea.
These results show that green tea is a natural product for the treatment of obesity. Thus, it also makes for a healthier dietary option, not to mention the good effects that it has on the body as
compared to caffeine. A cup of tea gives an emmediate energy lift without the side effects of
caffeine.
3. Caffeine.
Coffee provides an energy boost to increase fat burning. Caffeine also provides a likelihood to be active, which in turn increases your rate of calorie burn.
4. Immortality Herb
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This herb, whose scientific name is Gymnostemna Pentaphyllum, is known to have the following
benefits:
> increases healthy blood flow
> reduces artery blocks
> aids healthy blood pressure
> increases the rate of fat burning
5. Apple Cider Vinegar
There are pills and food supplements whose main ingredient is apple cider vinegar. Here are the
benefits of taking this herbal option:
> weight loss
> improved cholesterol level
> improved high blood pressure
> helps prevent rheumatoid arthritis
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Hypnosis Weight Loss: Some Ways to Stop the Weighting
Controlling your weight and avoiding weight gain as you get older are important ways to prevent a
host of weight-related health problems.
Indeed, if you are more than 20 pounds over your ideal weight, you are at greater risk for a
rogues’ gallery of potentially deadly conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, endometrial cancer, obstructive sleep apnea, and breast cancer.
What’s more, most people who are overweight tend to avoid exercise, and that avoidance just
adds to the toll paid for extra pounds.
If you have a sedentary lifestyle and are overweight, you are at a higher risk of cardiovascular
disease and other health problems. And, if you already have a medical condition such as high
cholesterol, being overweight puts you at higher risk for complications.
The good news is that even modest amounts of weight loss can improve your health significantly.
Loss of 10% of body weight can reduce blood pressure, high cholesterol, triglyceride, and high
blood sugar levels.
Today, there are many procedures that can contribute and help people loss weight effectively.
One of the known procedure in losing weight is through hypnosis.
However, many misconceptions have come up with regards to the application of hypnosis in losing
eight. And because it does not involve drugs or any kinds of medications and surgery, many people
tend to think that losing weight through hypnosis seems to be one of the safest weight loss
program.
To know more about hypnosis and its effects on losing weight, here is a list of some facts that will give you an insight about what it can do to your body weight.
1. Hypnosis can be an imminently risky if not done properly and not utilize by people who are
highly trained with the real concept of hypnosis.
Even if many people tend to think that hypnosis will not pose imminent danger to their health,
still, it is important to know that the person who will do the procedure is skilled enough and that he or she knows what factors to consider before doing the procedures.
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2. Hypnosis alone cannot eliminate excess fat from the body and, therefore, make somebody lose
weight.
Most health experts contend that hypnosis should only be a part of a whole assimilated process. It should never be used as the sole weight loss procedure.
Moreover, one session of hypnosis will only have very minimal results on an individual’s weight.
When losing weight, hypnosis matched with psychotherapy will be more effective than hypnosis
alone. This is because hypnosis is only a state of deeply relaxing the mind, in which one can still be in control of his or her own body.
3. Hypnosis is one way of getting into the subliminal state of a person. When a person is on the
“hypnotic stage,” the body is more responsive to suggestibility because of its intensified state of concentration.
However, this does not necessarily mean that through hypnosis, one can already “reprogram” the
mind of an individual.
In reality, hypnosis can only run the range from trouble-free relaxation condition to proper
initiation managed by a professional hypnotists. Hence, it should not be considered paranormal
and magical in its upshots.
Boiled down, people should be more aware that hypnosis is not a sole effective process in losing
weight. It is more of a facilitator of various treatment techniques.
Therefore, it should be combined with other weight loss management program to be effective in
making people lose excess weight. In this manner, people will be able to lose more weight with a
more relaxed and refreshed state of mind.
As they say, a healthy mind is a healthy body.
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Dangers of Using Laxatives For Weight Loss
One popular weight loss supplements available in the market today take the form of tea. Stores all over sell slimming tea, dieter's tea and others but all of them are actually the same. They may
appear to be effective, but what is not seen may actually harm you.
One of the effects of drinking dieter's tea is frequent bowel movement. This gives people the
feeling of body cleansing. These people may get toxins out of their body but it isn't exactly the only thing that slimming tea actually does to the body. Slimming tea contains herbs which are natural
laxatives. These include aloe, senna, rhubarb root, cascara, buckthorn and castor oil. These are
products which are derived from plants and are used since the ancient times because of their
potency in treating constipation and to inducing bowel movement.
Cascara, castor oil and senna are substances which are recognized as laxatives available over the
counter and are also regulated as drugs. Scientific studies show that diarrhea induced by laxatives does not absorb significant amounts of calories taken in the body.
The reason for this is that laxatives do not act on the small intesines where most of the calories are absorbed. Instead, they work on the large intestines. If taken in large amounts for prolonged
periods, it can affect fat absorption of the body. This may lead to greasy diarrhea and loss of
weight. Abuse of laxatives is common practice among people who suffer from bulimia and
anorexia nervosa.
While weight loss can be guaranteed by overdosing on laxatives, it may also cause permanent
damage to the gastrointesitinal tract and the weakening and softening of the bones, a condition
known as osteomalacia. Drinkers of slimming teas may actually patronize the product because
they are less axpensive and taste better than other laxatives sold in the market. Other people,
such as those with eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia nervosa drink dieter's tea because
they work fast and produce watery stool and having loose consistency.
Women may even be more susceptible to the effects of slimming teas. Although they may are not
known to interfer directly with the woman's menstrual cycle and fertility, they should watch out if
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drinking them causes them to rapidly shed off weight. It is also not safe for pregnant women to be taking in laxatives of any kind. Wise and reponsible herbalists also discourage the use of senna and other herbal products with laxative properties for pregnant women and women who are trying to
conceive.
One should be wary about these findings because the labeling of slimming teas in the market
today can be absolutely misleading. For instance, they commonly refer to the laxative qualities as
"natural bowel cleansing properties" and not specifically use the word "laxative".Some even use the term "low-calorie" on their labelling. These products in fact, contain essentially no calories nor nutrients whatsoever; unless of course, if they are sweetened.
Adverse effects of misusing laxatives in the form of slimming tea generally occur when taken in
more than or longer than recommended. These include nausea, stomach cramps, vomiting,
diarrhea, fainting, rectal bleeding,electrolyte disorder and dehydration as well as injury and worse, death. It was also reported that excess use of stimulant laxatives cause severe constipation and
pain for long periods (as much as for decades) due to the colon losing its function. It eventually led to surgery removing the colon altogether.
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Natural Weight Loss: When you do not have to Go Over
Eat right, keep moving.
You just have read all that you need to know about how to prevent being overweight. That simple
set of instructions should be easy to follow, but not for 35% of Americans who are unable to
prevent being overweight.
Of course, once we are overweight, we usually want to trim down for a whole lot of reasons, some
related to health, others having to do with looks.
In addition, it is never too late to lose weight. But the fact is, it is a whole lot easier to prevent putting on pounds than to try losing them later on. And if there is one thing we all know, it is that weight gain is likely to happen if we do not take forward-looking steps to stop it.
Health experts say that most people who are into losing weight usually stray. They tend to go back to their old eating habits even after they learn to enjoy low-fat eating. They tend to return to
sedentary ways even though they enjoy exercising.
But despite the momentum toward weight gain, you can stop it from happening, experts say. And
there are plenty of good reasons to avoid excess pounds, reasons that go beyond vanity or social
acceptance.
In fact, some health experts contend that the significance of excess weight is more than cosmetic.
They say that it takes a huge toll on people’s physical health.
The Way to Losing Weight…Naturally
The nuts and bolts of eating right maintaining a healthy weight is not all that complicated. In fact, it is a good bet that most people know pretty well what is best. Hence, losing weight the natural
way should not be a problem at all.
Consequently, a reasonable approach for losing weight naturally is to stick to a diet that is high in complex carbohydrates, high in fiber, moderate in protein, and low in fat.
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A complex carbohydrate is a baked potato. Fat is the sour cream and butter you should not put on
it. Fiber is vegetables. Fat is the oil you should not fry them in. Protein is a lean cut of meat. Fat is the gravy you should not pour over it.
Moreover, health experts say that dietary fat promotes weight gain because it is a very dense
source of calories. Also, when you consume excess calories from dietary fat, you store those
calories as body fat more efficiently than excess calories from other sources.
On the other hand, it can also help you lose weight naturally if you will not fall into the so-called
“fat-free” trap. Manufacturers keep coming out with low-fat or fat-free versions of their best-
selling foods, but Americans keep getting fatter anyway.
One of the greatest delusions of the 1990s is that “no fat” means “non-fattening.” The truth is, you are often getting just as many calories from the no-fat version, even if the calories are not coming from fat.
The term fat-free can be a trap if you start to believe that you can eat any amount of the foods
that are advertised that way.
What’s more, it is best to respond to hunger with healthful snacks. Health experts say it would be better to try eating every three to four hours, which may mean a nutritious low-fat snack between
lunch and dinner.
When you feel the urge for food coming on, snacking on something healthy such as a slice of
whole-grain toasted bread is a better alternative. Never skip a meal and eat snacks instead
because that is the worst thing you can do if you are trying to control your eating habits and
weight.
Remember, if you want to lose weight naturally, you have to keep track of every food you eat and
of every activity that you do. When you say natural weight loss means that you do not have to use
some accessories or helpful aids just to lose weight.
Losing weight naturally is a process and not a fad. Hence, it would take a lot of dogged
determination, self-control, and discipline just to achieve your ideal weight.
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The “Quick Weight Loss Diet” Trend Disadvantage
If you wear a size 14 and you blow a bundle on designer size 8 dresses as motivation, you will
probably end up feeling guilty, frustrated, and angry if you are not slinking around in it a month later.
In reality, you will do much better setting smaller, achievable targets for yourself. If you must try the new-clothes strategy, go down a size at a time, and do not buy anything you have to take out a second mortgage to pay for.
Because, if you continue to remorse on losing weight fast, you will end up incorporating fad diets or those that offer quick weight loss.
For most people who are not aware of this fact, there are no such things as quick weight loss diets and there is no nippy weight loss for people who want to be slimmer than what their body can
provide.
The problem with most people is that they tend to opt for nippy fixes wherein fact these things are not effective at all.
What Does Not Work
Today, there are plenty of weight-loss strategies that are guaranteed to backfire. This is because these nippy fixes instilled on certain diet plans are, in reality, not efficient because it does not employ the right principle and the right attitude in losing weight.
These quick weight loss diet plans are known as fad diets because that is exactly what they are,
just a fad. In time, when fashion is over and popularity wanes down, people will realize that the
diet they have depended on is not reliable at all.
To know more about these fad diets that are selling like hotcakes in the market today, here is a list of some telltale signs that would tell you not to try it even once.
Here they are:
1. Skipping meals
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Does your diet plan require you to skip meals? If it does, then, it is a fad diet.
Abstain from food completely is not a healthy habit. It may even cause some serious complications
or problems especially for people who are sick with diabetes.
Skipping meals will only cause a hypoglycemia, or the condition wherein your blood sugar is really low, and will probably only be effective in making you eat twice as much at the next meal.
2. Dieting without exercise, or vice versa
Exercise is crucial to the human body. It is important in the proper blood circulation and other
activities of the human body system.
Therefore, diet plans that do not require you to exercise are nuisances. People are born to move.
But then again, exercise alone is not sufficient. Hence, it would be better if diet and exercise will go hand-in-hand.
3. Continuous dawdling
There is no better time to start losing weight. If you want to really lose those excess fats, you have to lose weight now.
Delaying tactics will not get you anywhere and will only make the problem worse. So, if your diet
plan suggests a certain timeframe for you start losing weight, chances are, you are following the
trend of fad diets.
Boiled down, it is best to rely more on the way you feel than the tale of the tape. This means that if the weighing scale tells you that you are losing weight even if it is slower than you would like, but you are feeling energetic and positive about your weight-loss efforts, then, you are just doing fine.
As mentioned and is worth mentioning all over again, weight loss is not a quick process.
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