Addiction in the Family by David Congreave

It would be a mistake to think that identifying an addict is a straightforward process. When it involves a close friend or family member, it can be all too easy to turn a blind eye to the problem. The good news is that, by recognising the symptoms, you can be of assistance.

There are two fundamental ways to spot an addict. When someone becomes compulsive, dependant and reliant on their addiction there are certain physical and psychological signs that become apparent. Although not exactly the same for every addict, it is likely that they will adopt at least some of the behaviour described in this article.

When recognising addiction you need to keep an eye out for secrecy. This is one of the dominant behaviours that all addicts adopt. It doesn't matter if they are using drugs, gambling or shopping, an addict will always become increasingly secretive the more they immerse themselves in their addiction.

For someone addicted to drugs, this may involve isolating themselves in their room and being secretive about their actions. A compulsive shopper will go to great lengths to keep their money seeking activities a secret from their families, and will hide the things that they buy. A gambler on the other hand will become quiet about the loss, or sudden windfall of money that they get.

Addiction comes in all shapes and sizes. Physically, addicts are always up-tight, anxious and on the move, constantly seeking their next window of opportunity. Though the different addictions have their more distinct signs, all addicts hide a sense of shame about their addiction.

This causes them to be agitated, moody and often quite defensive about where they are going and what they are doing. Psychologically the effects are more subtle but just as apparent. Recognising addiction this way will help you to prevent a growing problem in the future.

Emotionally the addict will feel strung-out, stressed and pushed to the limit. Paranoia is a very common side effect of addiction as the addict's natural secretive tendencies become their worst nightmare. Convinced that people are watching their every move, they are forced to become even more secretive and very touchy when questioned.

Withdrawing from family and friends is also a sign of addiction. This happens because of the enormous paranoia. Instead of leaving it to chance, the addict will want to be alone with their addiction so that they can enjoy it and feel relief from their constant suspicion.

Often there will be a change in friendship groups, as the addict tries to fit their addiction into their lives by surrounding themselves with like minded people. Heroin addicts, for example, will make friends with other heroin users; gamblers will become friends with other gamblers.

Finally they will withdraw completely from society as the addiction consumes them and they can think about nothing else. Identifying addiction now becomes relatively simple. Addicts that become consumed to this level can no longer hide their need to feed their addiction.

If you think you or someone you know is experiencing some of these tell-tale symptoms then kindly encourage them to seek help as soon as possible. It's important to be patient and not to try and bully them into getting treatment - this step must be taken by the addict and you cannot enter treatment on their behalf. Show the addict the treatment options that are available and give them time to think about it; be aware that many addicts will initially be terrified by the idea of seeking professional help. Occasional reminders of your initial discussion are ok, but if you push too hard then you may drive them away. You may also find it helpful to obtain some information they can read and consider in there own time.

Waiting for an addiction to get worse will make recovery harder, longer and more painful. There are a lot of treatment centres, support groups and rehabilitation clinics that can help you with free advice.

Pregnant Stretch Marks - Simple Tips To Help To Prevent Stretch Marks During Pregnancy by Steve Barker

Almost every new or expectant mother may worry about the appearance of stretch marks, this is very common among pregnant women. Pregnant stretch marks, however, can become a source of embarrassment for you, especially if they are highly noticeable after your child has been born. Even though this is such a common thing, there are ways to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy that are worth looking into for any mother-to-be.

The first way to avoid getting these pregnant stretch marks is to keep yourself in relatively good shape throughout your pregnancy. You must be taking in enough nutrients for both yourself and the baby so there will be some weight gain, it is very important to keep things within reason.

Ppregnancy is often used by moms-to-be as an excuse to eat whatever they want, whenever they want and these same women get upset about about stretch marks later on. The first thing that you must do if you want to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy is follow a proper diet throughout your pregnancy and keep yourself fit.

Even though following a good diet will go a long way in preventing pregnant stretch marks, you will also have to do a few other things to avoid them or at least minimise them.

Stretch marks appear because your skin gets dried out as it stretches. So, keeping your skin moisturized can go a long way towards prevention. To prevent stretch marks during pregnancy, cocoa butter or a special moisturizing cream has been found useful. Moisturising creams can help minimize the amount of stretch damage to your skin as your pregnancy progresses.

In addition to your healthy diet, make sure that vitamin E becomes psrt of your prevention plans concerning stretchmarks. You need to get enough as this can go a long way in preventing these pregnant stretch marks. Keeping your vitamin E intake up around its recommended levels is quite easy, many of the lotions or creams that you might use have Vitamina E added to them. As with any creams you should try small amounts first to ensure you do not have an allergic reaction to them. Your doctor may also recommend a supplement if he or she feels it is needed.

Are You Drinking Enough Water?

You will be consuming a great deal of water while you are pregnant, you should make sure that you drink at least eight 12 ounce glasses per day, even more if you exercise or if the weather is hot or dry. It is important for you and your baby that you are well hydrated. This will allow you to repair any damage that is done to your skin quickly and will help you prevent stretch marks during pregnancy.

Finally, if you can already see the stretch marks on your skin, there are products that can reduce their visibility. These products must be applied soon after your child has been born to be effective.

So have a healthy diet, keep fit and drink plenty of water, these are some of the ways to help prevent pregnant stretch marks.

Tennis Elbow or Golfer's Elbow - Tips on Getting Elbow Pain Relief by Chris Imamshah

Despite its name,"tennis elbow" can affect anyone who does any activity that has repetitive motions of the wrist or forearm. You could even call it Golfer's Elbow for that matter as it very well could affect golfers too.

It is a very painful condition that is described as inflammation and pain on the outside part of your upper arm near your elbow. In more severe cases there could also be tendon damage as in torn tendons which connect your muscle to your bone. Ouch!!

So, now that we know what it is, lets look at some of the symptoms of tennis elbow or golfer's elbow and some tips on how to get elbow pain relief.

Some of the more common symptoms of this condition are;

1) pain when you try to lift something eg. A coffee mug,

2) pain coming from the outside of the elbow to the forearm and back of the hand when you try to grasp or twist anything and

3) pain that continues to get worse rather than better.

Your doctor would not typically suggest an x-ray as this would show everything as normal and not detect the problem. He/she might apply pressure on the tendon in the area to see if that is where the issue is.

The body can heal itself on this one depending on the severity of the injury, but there are ways that you can help it along the process. You want to take this route first and avoid having surgery if possible right? I thought so.

Here are some steps that you can take to heal and get rid of the painful symptoms of tennis elbow:

1. Limit Use of the affected arm - some actually put their arm in a splint for a few weeks in an effort to limit the activity for that arm to allow the healing process to take place.

2. Heat Therapy - using heat pads applied to the area helps the blood to circulate more in that area which promotes healing.

3. Cold Therapy - you can actually alternate hot and cold therapy as well as use them in sync with each other. In other words, first apply the hot, then the cold, then the hot again and so on for maybe a half hour every day. This boosts the blood circulation in the area.

4. Massage - get a professional masseusse who knows how to do massage for this type of injury or you may be sorry that you opted for this therapy.

5. Rest - rest allows the body to get back in balance so avoid strenuous activities

6. Physical Therapy - this can also be very helpful for this condition. There are particular tennis elbow exercises you will be instructed to do.

Expect that the healing process will take a few months so stock up on your patience. Many who get impatient and try resuming certain activities actually make matters worse to the point where surgery becomes their only option so be careful with this condition.

Always look for the natural solutions to any condition that affects you or your loved ones as they are always available and usually have little to no side effects contrary to prescription drugs. Stay well.

Help! How to Get Rid of Vaginal Discharge Fishy Odor by Shawn Chris Michaels

Are you very much frustrated to have the vaginal discharge fishy odor? Are you really searching for the good medication and treatment procedure to give up the stinking fishy smell which continuously bothers you? Does it plug you all the time? Now, let me explain few points clearly so that you will come to know about the different steps of curing the bacterial Vaginosis. In actuality vaginal discharge fishy odor emits from the vaginal surface due to the severe infection of the bacterial Vaginosis or BV.

This strong odor will last for several hours if you are not eager to take the proper steps in time. You can feel free to go to the doctor’s chamber to collect the advice and his vital feedbacks to know in details about the removal of the vaginal discharge fishy odor by undergoing the effective treatment. Doctor will check you up and he will tell you what sort of sexual disease causes this type of vaginal discharge fishy odor.

There may be different reasons and you may wait for different clinical tests for getting the effective medication and potion to get rid of the vaginal discharge fishy odor. Ok, now it will take time. Your gynecologist will first confirm whether you are under the attack of BV or bacterial Vaginosis or other STD related diseases. However, you can find other natural home based therapies and treatments to rescue yourself from this bad odor.

How will you exempt yourself from such bad and stinking smell? At home, you can do lot of things to bring some relief to your life. To avoid the stinking fishy odor coming from your vagina, you can place a piece of garlic into your pussy. The strong smell of the garlic will reduce the odor to some extent. In addition, you may also drench your whole pussy with good quality mixture of fresh water and vinegar. This medicated mixture will remove the odor from your pussy. There are other shortcut methods to get rid of such suffocating odor which emerges from your vagina.

Do one thing please. You need to opt for the competent and qualitative tampon which will have to be dipped into yogurt. It will perform excellently to bring back the pH level to normalcy in your body and you will get chance to remove the bad fishy odor of your infected vagina. You must make proper utilization of this yogurt for the betterment of your vagina. Take nutritious food and vitamin supplements to revitalize yourself. Especially, Vitamin C is required to reduce the severity of the vaginal fishy odor. Take good Vitamin C supplements. You can collect it from different sources of fresh green vegetables and fruits.

Diets To Lose Fat: What Is Unsaturated Fat And How It Fits Into Your Diet? by David Putulan

Many people find it hard to lose weight through diet plans. The reason is because not many find it easy to break free from the idea of eating out and from foodstuff like sweets that they love very much. Unfortunately, despite the difficulty dieting is something that is extremely important in weight loss.. Through a diet plan, you can manipulate your calorie intake and eat your way to better health generally. Many people are aware of its importance and are always in search for the fastest weight loss diet programs.

There are many diet plans out there and if you have been doing some research, you know how difficult it is to tell if a program is the best for you. With so many programs all claiming to be the fastest weight loss diet, one can easy fall prey to sales pages. So how can you be able to tell if a program will work for you?

The key thing to remember is that no program can claim to be the fastest weight loss diet plan from the others in the market. Diet plans works differently for different people with different health conditions, abnormalities, disorders and physical state. As long you understand the basic principles and consume not only the right type but the quantity of food type than any diet plan will be effective for you. The following recommendations will help you develop a workable diet plan:

First and foremost, consult your doctor and explain your weight loss goals and get additional suggestions. Ask for advice on how you can do this safely and more rapidly.

Keep a daily record of what you eat and the amount you have eaten. The information should contain information that can enable you to calculate the amount of calories you take daily. If you over eat, find a workable plan to get back on track.

Remember, the food we eat decides or overall health so to decide on the type of food to eat avoid sweet food, fatty food and processed food. Processed food are usually high in calories and many have been associated with many other health problems. Heart and liver diseases are becoming common because of this.

Consume more fruits and vegetables as they are low in calories and have many other vital nutrients for your overall health. Some fruits and vegetables also have chemicals that prevent storage of fat and encourage burning of fat. If you think of desserts, have some bananas or apples.

There are many expert tips but the above tips should be able to get you going on the right track to your weight loss goals. Do not be fooled by all the sales materials that promise the fastest weight loss diet. Seek expert advice and any diet will work for you.

You Think Fat Makes You Fat? by Robert D. Franklin

Well, there are fats that enhance weight loss and there are terrible fats that just make you gain more unhealthy weight.

Fats to Avoid:

Hydrogenated Oils

You have probably already heard in the media or just about anywhere that hydrogenated oils are detrimental to your health so to avoid them at all costs. But what exactly are they?

Hydrogenation is a chemical process used to make fat more shelf stable. This hydrogenation method completely alters the liquid oil’s molecular structure so that it no longer resembles a natural fat. Because your body does not recognize the transformed molecule as a natural fat, it cannot process it and treats it as a toxin. This “toxin” has been linked to cancer, birth defects, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain and obesity.

Fats You Must Eat:

Your body cannot survive without fat – specifically essential fatty acids. Your brain, hormones, immune system, and digestion are all dependant on this healthy fat (which is why people who go on very extreme low fat diets often suffer many health problems).

Omega 3 Fats

Omega 3 Fats are essential to human health but cannot be produced by the body which is why it is essential that we get these great fats from food. Foods high in Omega 3 fats are leafy green vegetables, flax seeds, salmon, sardines, raw walnuts, organic eggs and grass fed beef.

Extensive research indicates that omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and help prevent risk factors associated with chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. These essential fatty acids are highly concentrated in the brain and appear to be particularly important for cognitive (brain memory and performance) and behavioral function.

Cooking Oil

The only oil that is suitable for high heat cooking (and one of the healthiest oils you can consume) is raw, organic, unrefined coconut oil. Coconut oil has been proven to be one of the healthiest oils available for the human body and increases the body’s metabolic rate (helping in weight loss)

Oils best Raw

Olive oil and flax seed oil are two wonderful oils to use for salad dressing or on cooked or raw veggies. These oils have a lower melting point and are more stable (and healthier) when kept raw.

All you need to know about fat and fat consumption:

1. Avoid all products containing hydrogenated oil and partially hydrogenated oil

2. Consume foods high in Omega 3’s such as salmon, flax seeds, walnuts and organic eggs

3. Cook with Organic, Unrefined Coconut Oil

4. Use Olive Oil and Flaxseed oil raw for salads and veggies. Also include avocados as a healthy source of fat into your meal plans.

With proper use of the good fats, it can be a great way to keep you and your family at optimum health!

Grief Counselor by Michael Logan

I am not a grief counselor by education, however, my clients, no matter what the presenting issue, have at some point demonstrated grief, sadness, even intense crying, about a loss which has impacted their lives, so I made it a point to learn something about grief and the grieving process.

The men who come to my domestic violence program are like most men in our culture, who were not given permission to grieve, nor have they been taught anything about the normal course of grief, so when they feel sadness, the emotion they show to the world is anger or contempt, or they report on what they are thinking.

In my domestic violence group last night, one man discussed how hard it was to spend the weekend with his 2 year old son and have a great deal of fun together and then watch as his son was taken to his grandparents house, where the child has to live until the court is no longer involved. Both father and son suffer in that moment, and this particular man has lost another son to SIDS.

Another father has signed over his joint custody rights to his 11 year old son who will be moving with his mother to another state. This father believes that his choice, as painful as it is for him, reflects what is best for his son.

Another man has a heart monitor on, and is looking at a serious medical involvement for the rest of his life, and he cannot hold his infant son because the child pulls off his heart monitor cables.

The loss of lifestyle is something Robert is still grieving.

Another father is slowly reconciling with his ex-fiance, but is very suspicious of the risk, and is struggling with thoughts about risk and his feeling of love. If he decides not to go back to his relationship, he stays safe but loses the love. And he will need to grieve that.

As I look back over the time I have been alive, I am awed by the changes that have happened and I often wonder about the people I knew as a young man, who touched my life, and I feel nostalgic for a different time, a time of the 1950's for example. They aren't coming back, and I feel sad as I make peace with some of the poor decisions I have made over the course of my life, and amazement at some of the good decisions.

So we all have grief, and it can be felt in 1/18th second, if a loss happens or we are reminded of a loss, and we move right into one of the stages of grieving, and as a counselor, my job is to help people recognize the road map of grief, and to let them know it serves a very important purpose, and if we ignore it, we do so at our own risk.

Ungrieved pain, in my estimation, makes future intimacy more difficult.

The model I like to teach is the Kubler-Ross model, because it illustrates how easily we can move from sadness into anger and back, and I think it makes it clear in the last stage, acceptance, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

The Kubler-Ross model also helps folks to understand that the stages of grief are not linear stages. I can move around in that model, experiencing any of the stages at any moment of the more accute grieving.

The entire process usually takes a couple of years for the loss of an important person in your life.

And even after the most emotional part of the process is done, an anniversary or a picture or a recording can cue the process again, for another brief foray into the emotions.

I know that while I miss my parents, who passed when I was very young, I also remember them fondly now.

There are many tools that a grief counselor and client can use to explore the process of grief, including art, music, dance, movement, and ritual.

When grief comes up in a group situation for example, we always had some black cloth that we could use as a shroud, or as a symbol of the loss, to concretize the ritual for the client.

In fact, I had one client burn a picture symbolizing his ending marriage, and bury the ashes in dirt if a flower pot in my office, and that simple ritual helped him to let go much faster than ever before.

The Stages of the Kubler-Ross Model

1. Denial

2. Bargaining

3. Anger

4. Sorrow, tears, melancholy, depression, ect.

5. Acceptance

The grief counseling I am talking about is for uncomplicated grief. Complicated grief may require the services of an specialist.

I think it is important for a counselor to able to speak knowledgeably about grief counseling, because you are going to see it in your practice.

I know my clients are grateful to get a sense that there is a rhyme and reason to grieving, and that it has a somewhat discreet beginning and end.

Should You Be Using Prescription Weight Loss? by Jeff Schuman

Prescription weight loss is something that many people have tried or have thought of trying. If you are one of the people that are considering this weight loss option then you need to know some important information about it to help you decide if this is the right weight loss solution for you.

The first thing you need to understand is that prescription pills are always regulated due to the fact that they are more potent than the over the counter pills you can get. Since these pills are stronger there is more of a chance for them to cause harm to anyone using them.

That is why your first step before deciding to use these pills is to consult with your doctor. They are the ones that will be able to prescribe them to you but they will also want to keep an eye on you and your results to ensure they are working effectively and that you are not dealing with any problems from the pills.

Anyone that is going to use prescription pills to lose weight has to get them from a doctor which just makes it a smart weight loss option because then you can have a professional ensuring that you are safe during the use of them.

Another thing to understand is that you will have to know your BMI which stands for body mass index. You can figure this out on your own or the doctor can do this for you. The way to figure it on your own is to divide your weight by your height and then multiply that number by 705.

A BMI that is 25 to 29.9 is considered to be overweight but a BMI of 30 and above is considered to be obese. Your BMI is important to know because only the people that have a BMI of 27 or above will be given prescription pills to use for weight loss.

The reason for this is because anyone that has a BMI of 27 or higher is at a higher risk for a number of different health problems. Some of these health problems include:

- Heart disease

- Diabetes

- Hypertension

The prescription pills will help you start to lose weight so your chance of health problems will decrease.

Knowing this important information will help you make the smart choice for you on whether or not prescription weight loss is your best solution. Just be sure to talk to your doctor before making your choice and do your homework about it so you can be sure that it will be effective for you.

A Helping Hand – Top Rules for Doctors Locums by Brendan Hannigan

Becoming a doctor's locum is a pretty well accepted and commonplace way to broaden one’s employment opportunities in the UK medical profession. Done properly, locum positions offer excellent solutions both to understaffed hospitals and surgeries and to itinerant doctors in need of work. With several high profile cases making recent news, whereby doctors locums have perhaps been introduced to a job or qualified position they were not best fitted for, an attention to correct procedure is paramount in order for patients and surgery/hospital alike to get the best out of their locums. Accordingly, best practice dictates that all locations, employment bodies and, of course, itinerant staff, follow these rules for doctors locums.

At first glance, it’s not too easy to find a standardised or official set of rules, codes of conduct and so on for doctors locums in the UK. In part, that’s because there isn’t one. There are different rules for locum doctors coming in from outside of the EU and those coming into the UK from within the EU: which means, as a whole, that the structure of requirements for doctors locums are asked to meet is not standardised. That, in turn, means that best practice tends to govern the way EU doctors locums are accepted into individual bodies (buildings, hospitals, surgeries and employment agencies) across the British Isles. With no set rules for doctors locums governing incoming EU medics, the only way an establishment can be sure that a doctor or nurse is suited for the work they want to give them, is to run their own tests.

Currently, a doctors locums coming to work in Britain from outside the EU is required to pass a series of stringent tests, both with regards to their ability to understand and communicate in the English language, and their actual fitness to perform the medical jobs for which they are applying. These tests include severe exams, both written and practical, held at the GMC (General Medical Council) headquarters in the UK. Here, the rules for doctors locums entering UK practice from outside the EU are hard and fast. Pass all the tests, theoretical and practical, or be denied the opportunity to practice.

EU medics, on the other hand, are required only to possess what is seen as equivalent qualifications. Medical degrees and certificates that allow EU doctors to practice in their own country, are allied to “equivalent” qualifications in UK medicine – so an EU doctor may not have to prove his or her actual practical ability to use medicine according to UK standards.

That said, organisations like MPP Locums, a UK based recruitment and training agency for overseas doctors, have developed their own standards, by which doctors who otherwise might have slipped through the examinations net can be graded. These are, in effect, the best rules for doctors locums coming from within the EU that the UK has: whilst unofficial, they have been set up specifically to avoid the unfortunate occurrences that have made the news in recent months. As such, they are in some ways even more stringent than the nationalised tests for non EU doctors – the good locums organisations don’t want to be caught out, and so their in house rules are as tough as they can make them.

Overall, a message is slowly coming clear. There might not be EU standard rules for doctors locums coming into the UK – but British organisations who deal with EU locums are going to make sure they are tested correctly anyway.

Healthy Vegetarian Weight Loss Tips by Laura Ng

Truly healthy vegetarian weight loss tips should not only help you lose fat but also help you gain energy and stay healthy. Check out these do's and don'ts that hundreds of overweight vegetarians have followed and got amazing results. You too, can effectively shed fats and get more power when you apply them in your daily life.

Healthy Vegetarian Weight Loss Tips on Drinking

Avoid alcohol - Alcohol packs a wallop of calories. If you add it in your diet, you can easily stock up excess calories in your fat tissues. What's more, as it contains toxic substance, your liver needs to work hard to purge the toxins, draining unnecessary energy from your body. So, avoid it totally if you want to lose fat more easily.

Avoid caffeinated drinks like tea, coffee, soda pop - These beverages drain energy by flooding your body with stress hormones such as cortisol, which wears down your brain as well as other crucial organs and body systems.

Drink only water - No beverages works better than water when it comes to losing fat since water carries zero calories yet stimulates your metabolism. But make sure you drink just enough for proper hydration. Excessive water consumption can lead to water poisoning (hyponatremia). Bear in mind.

Healthy Vegetarian Weight Loss Tips on Eating

Eat nutrient-dense balanced diet - When you feed your body with essential nutrients, it'll work optimally to manage your weight automatically. So, eat a variety of vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, seaweed, fruits and many other whole natural foods. Cut back on your processed vegetarian food.

Macronutrient composition - Your fat : carb : protein ratio should be 1 : 4 : 2, which means your carb intake should be 4 times more than fat intake, and 2 times more than your protein intake. You can change the ratio to 1 : 4 : 3 or 1 : 3 : 3. In any case, your meal should carry relatively low fat and high carb. Note: If you ingest whole foods, the carb you absorb will all be good carbs (complex-carbohydrate) which benefit your health and provide unlimited energy to fuel your bodily functions and physical activities.

Never skip breakfast - Whether you feel hungry or not, take your breakfast. If you're not so hungry in the morning, eat a smaller portion then. The key is, you must eat breakfast to jumpstart your day.

Eat small regular meals and snacks - Doing so can prevent hunger and keep up your energy levels throughout the day.

Other Healthy Vegetarian Weight Loss Tips

Get enough rest - Failure to sleep enough can lead to metabolic disorder and hormonal imbalance. In most cases, you'll store more calories than you expend. So, sleep well and enough.

Exercise - Keeping a regular exercise routine not only improves your overall well-being, but also helps you burn the excess fat off your belly, thighs and buttocks, thereby sculpting your body the way you want it to be.

When you take all these necessary healthy vegetarian weight loss tips to lose fat, remember not to lose grip on your cravings for junk food and high-calorie beverages, or you can easily end up undoing all the hard work.

Potassium Facts You Did Not Know by Shelby Conques

Potassium supplements have been found to decrease the incidence of strokes by up to 60%. They also help to regulate blood pressure levels and the functioning of the heart. It is beneficial for both those who are experiencing hypertension and those that are looking to keep their blood pressure in check.

As an electrolyte mineral, Potassium helps to maintain the fluid levels in your body. It restores alkaline salts to the bloodstream and neutralizes acids. Metabolic processes and the transferring of nutrients to the cells are assisted by this mineral supplement. It works along with sodium to restore or maintain membrane potentials of the cells, including those at the nerve synapses. This mineral is critical to the nervous and cardiovascular functioning.

The water balance in the body is regulated by potassium. Rheumatic and arthritic conditions are aided when potassium causes the acids to leave the joints. This results in the stiffness being eased and wastes are eliminated. As a natural pain desensitizer, which also helps to control headaches, migraines and convulsions. It promotes healing of injuries such as bruises and cuts. Although there is no scientific evidence of the effectiveness thereof, body builders often make use of a potassium load to energize the muscles.

Potassium supplements are almost always found in a compound form, ie potassium attached to other molecules. The human body is not able to sufficiently break down compound minerals. Therefore, the potassium that is used is a small percentage of what is consumed. This applies to many of the capsules, pills and powders on the market, which have an absorption rate of between twenty to forty-five percent. Liquid ionic mineral supplements, on the contrary, have an absorption rate of close to one hundred percent. In order to be utilized, the elemental form, or free ionic form of Potassium is required. The molecules have to be small enough to be absorbed into each cell. Potassium must therefore be water soluble, which means that that it cannot build up within the body. This ensures that the mineral will not reach levels of toxicity.

The body requires approximately 3,500 mg of Potassium daily. Good sources include apricots, dried dates, orange juice and bananas.

Most multivitamins contain only 99 mg of potassium in a compound form. Compounds (pills and powders) contain potassium that is bound up or attached to other molecules lowering their absorption rate. Ionic minerals on the other hand are more easily absorbed, as the minerals bond with the molecules. Therefore, water-soluble, ionic minerals are more the best choice for supplementation.

Plants take minerals from the ground. The human body is unable to use minerals in this form, but the plants are able to transform them into ionic minerals, which are more easily absorbed into the cells. It is not possible to create particles as small as these by any machine or other means are. A very technical process is applied to extracting the minerals, resulting in a simple water-soluble Potassium supplement.

Potassium is recommended for use during emotionally stressful periods and at the change of seasons. It increases performance in humans as well as in plants and animals. It also improves the bioavailability of nutrients that are consumed. Along with the detoxification benefits and the increase in energy, it also balances the pH (acidity) levels in the body.

Most people do not realize the importance of minerals. The body requires in excess of eighty minerals for optimum nutrition. Each cell is dependent on minerals for electrical conductivity, structure and proper functioning. Liquid ionic minerals are more beneficial than colloidal and other compound forms of minerals, as the cells more easily absorb them. These minerals are not readily available from the average diet, hence the requirement for a good quality Potassium supplements.

Hair Topical Treatments and Laser Hair Therapy for Baldness by Anagen Hair Clinic

According to studies, there are 3 types of baldness or hair loss. The most common type of hair loss is the Androgenetic Alopecia or the so-called Male Pattern Baldness (M.P.B.) or Female Pattern Baldness (F.P.B.). Hair loss can be seen on most top parts of the scalp. For men, receding hair line is the most visible sign of androgentic alopecia.

The second type of hair loss is called Telogen Effluvium (TE). This type of alopecia is commonly related to severe or sudden stress that causes the hair to shed. Although it happens to men and women, the latter are more generally affected by it due to certain events that only they can experience such as childbirth, discontinued intake of oral contraceptives, and miscarriage. In most cases, TE is a temporary phase of hair loss and hair will soon grow back when the person has already recovered from stress.

The last type is Alopecia Areata. This type of hair loss can be first encountered during childhood. Like the two mentioned types of alopecia, it also affects both men and women. The first sign of Alopecia Areata is the patchy hair loss usually happens on the scalp. Alopecia Areata sufferers may also undergo severe baldness causing all of the scalp hair to shed. There are also some cases of Alopecia Areata where one does not only experience scalp hair loss but loss of all body hair.

The physical and emotional effects of baldness are something to be taken seriously. Women who have experienced severe cases of hair loss do undergo emotional struggles related to self-esteem and self-perception. Fortunately, there are now numerous hair loss treatments for men and women dealing with baldness.

Hair topical treatment is the most common and least invasive type of hair restoration therapy in the market. There are two popular hair topical treatment drugs today. Propecia (finasteride) is the treatment of choice for many because of its high success rate. It is a powerful drug that inhibits the formation of DHT in the system, eventually to a level that is sufficiently low to encourage a normal growth cycle. The second hair topical treatment drug is Rogaine (minoxidil). It acts differently by stimulating hair growth for both men and women by overriding the prevailing hair loss symptoms. These drugs can be used either on their own or in combination. However, women should seek professional medical advice before using Propecia.

Research on another hair treatment for baldness is slowly gaining more popularity—laser hair therapy (LHT). The LHT procedure makes use of therapeutic soft low-light level lasers (LLLL). These laser lights were primarily invented in Europe for the purpose of promoting healing in skin wounds. However, recent developments showed that such light lasers can also be used in treating hair loss and other skin diseases that usually occurs on the scalp. When a person undergoes a cold laser hair therapy, the dermatologist will use multiple laser devices that are attached to a rotating head. This rotating head is attached to a hood that is positioned just above the patient’s balding section. During the process, the hood is lowered so the laser light can be directed to the bald spot on the patient’s head. Usually, the hood is placed just 2cm away from the scalp.

Experts note that LHT is quite effective in treating people who have hair loss conditions, specifically androgenetic alopecia and TE. Based on recent statistics, eighty percent of androgenetic alopecia patients that are treated with this hair therapy experienced “increased hair density” just after the few months of the treatment. As for those who had TE, complete cessation of shedding has been observed.

There are also temporary hair loss treatments like weaves and wigs. But if you’re looking for something more permanent, you might want to try the abovementioned hair therapy options.

Anagen Hair Clinic
3601 W Kennedy Blvd, Ste H
Tampa, FL 33609
Phone: (800) 262-4366
Email:anagenhair1@aol.com
Website:http://www.laserhairtherapyoftampa.com

Vegetarian Weight Loss Meal Plan by Laura Ng

Setting up a vegetarian weight loss meal plan is not simply about what to eat in a day. You should create the meal plan according to how heavy you are and how long you need to achieve your weight loss goal.

For example, you're only 10 pounds overweight, so you should develop a 3-week vegetarian weight loss meal plan to help you achieve that 10-pound loss healthily over 3 weeks. If you're overweight by 40 pounds, then you probably need at least a 12-week (90-day) meal plan for healthy vegetarian weight loss.

You can speed up your fat loss with a shorter vegetarian weight loss meal plan, but not advisable. Why? If you're overweight by 40 pounds or more, and if you lose weight too rapidly, your skin may not retract in pace to the rate of your weight loss, and you could end up having loose, saggy skin, which happens to quite a number of obese vegetarians and non-vegetarians post rapid weight loss.

Rapid weight loss can lead to heart problem, impact your kidney and deteriorate your overall bodily functions. That's the worst you can get. On top of that, you may need to spend thousands of dollars going under the knife to get those loose skin removed. It'll take you months to recover from the painful post-operation. Hence, I suggest that you fix a vegetarian weight loss meal plan in a healthy manner.

Let me show you a sample vegetarian weight loss meal plan so you'll know roughly what yours should look like, and create one for your specific needs.

Your vegetarian weight loss meal plan should contain 5 meals a day - breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner. Your snack should fit nicely in between your main meals. For example, you take your breakfast at 7 A.M. and you know your lunch is going to be at 12 P.M., your snack should go somewhere at 9:30 A.M.

Also, each of your main meals should render you 70% fullness while the snack should give you a 30 - 40% satiety level only. Your main meals should contain about 40 - 60% of fiber (soluble + insoluble). To be exact, you need to plan about 30 - 35 grams of fiber intake per day in your vegetarian weight loss meal plan. As for your snack, any natural foods like mixed nuts and grains, or mixed fruits will do the trick.

Such arrangement of vegetarian weight loss meal plan carries these benefits:

1. Fiber provides the bulk to keep you full over longer period of time. Fiber also slows down digestion so that you won't crave for supper or additional snack after dinner and the meal will last you till the following morning.

2. Your won't spike your insulin level and your blood flow to aid in your digestion won't appear to be in large amount, resulting in less oxygen reaching your brain, causing you to feel sleepy after lunch. That's what happens to most people who eat a hefty lunch.

3. The snacks will boost your metabolism to burn more fat.

The whole idea of an effective vegetarian weight loss meal plan is you should never starve yourself and eat too full. These can trigger a metabolic disorder, causing more fat gain than fat loss. Coupling with appropriate water intake, quality sleep and a regular exercise, only then can you reap the most of your vegetarian weight loss.

How to Lose Fat as Vegetarian by Laura Ng

It pains me to see vegetarians going back to their old meat-eating lifestyle again after they failed to lose fat as a vegetarian. In fact, you don't have to take away your vegetarian lifestyle and worse, sacrificing your health for meat-laden weight loss once you find out about these effective vegetarian fat loss tips.

1. Lose Fat as Vegetarian by Restoring Your Fat-Burning Engine's Function

Many vegetarians never realize the importance of eating nutrient-dense vegetarian diet. They thought it's meant just for maintaining the overall well-being of a body. More than that actually.

Look, when you provide your body with all key nutrients it needs, it'll help you take care of your weight automatically. You probably overload your body with too much vegetarian food high in sodium, sugar and saturated fat, which then deprive your body of other essential nutrients, causing it to run haywire. That's why you gain weight.

I know those foods taste great. But great food should not only taste good, but provides high nutritional values. You sure can find such nutrient-packed vegetarian foods without giving up on the texture and flavor, which brings us to the next tip.

2. Lose Fat as Vegetarian by Making Nutritious Yet Delicious Veggie Meals

Sound impossible? It was, but not anymore. Go find some good vegetarian weight loss recipes that show you how to whip up fat loss veggie meals rich in nutrients and yet make your mouth water. Good recipes should also show you how to prepare "portable" weight loss meals in minutes so you can always eat healthily to lose fat even on the go.

The advantages of making tasty veggie meals are:

-- It'll make you forget all about going back to eating meat

-- You know exactly what you put inside your mouth and you can preserve as much nutrients in your meal since you're in total control.

3. Lose Fat as Vegetarian by Holding Regular Discussions

Form a group among your fellow overweight vegetarian buddies to discuss on ways and means to lose fat healthily, and not turn to meat-laden or other veggie-version crash diets for help.

4. Lose Fat as Vegetarian by Listening to Your Body

None of us bear the same body constitutions. Some vegetarians will lose fat and keep it off without exercising, while some may need to add workouts to get the same fat loss effect. If you belong to the latter, just do it.

Most of us were not born vegetarians, I'm no exception. So, if I can lose fat the vegetarian way, why can't you? Getting back to meat option is just an excuse for some people who actually crave for it.

What are you actually looking for? Just fat loss? Or both fat loss and permanent health? As "spiderman" in the movie "Spiderman 3" says, "We always have a choice." What's yours?

How to Lose Weight with Vegetarian Snacks by Laura Ng

Vegetarian snacks are as important as the main vegetarian meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) in a vegetarian weight loss diet. You can prepare a healthy vegetarian diet for weight loss, but if you're eating junk snacks, they may easily undo all your hard work for weight loss in a day. Hence, you need to choose your vegetarian snacks carefully to help you lose weight effectively.

Please note that snacks are not your main meals, so you should prepare a handful of snacks that should only fill your stomach to about 30 - 40%. You should include them in between the main meals so that you'll have sufficient energy to help you stay productive throughout the day.

For example, if you normally take your breakfast at 7:30 A.M. and lunch at 12 P.M., your morning snack should fit nicely at about 9:30 A.M. - 10 A.M. depending on how long your breakfast can last you. Ideally, you should maintain a 2 - 3 hour interval between your main meal and snack.

What Vegetarian Snacks to Help Lose Weight

Keep in mind to reduce processed vegetarian snacks as far as possible. These snacks contain chemical additives, high sodium, high sugar and high fat that can ruin your goal to lose weight as vegetarian. These are my suggestions on the type of snacks you can safely eat for weight loss:

Snack A - An apple + 2 bananas.

Snack B - Organic instant oatmeal sprinkled with dried apricots, dried cranberries and some nuts and seeds.

Snack C - Yogurt added with ground flaxseed, raisins and honey dew cubes.

Snack D - Mini pita bread stuffed with alfalfa, cherry tomatoes, baby cucumbers, sesame seeds added with 1 tsp lemon juice.

Snack E - Mixed fruits containing dragon fruit, pomegranate and pear.

Snack F - Mixture of dried cranberries, cashew nuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, macadamia nuts and almond nuts.

Snack G - Wholegrain sandwich stuffed with vegan cheese, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and shredded beetroot.

I can go on and on with the list of natural vegetarian snacks you can eat to lose weight. The whole idea is, change your snacks every day to avoid getting bored with the same old stuff. More importantly, this helps you absorb various nutrients from different plant sources.

Losing weight with vegetarian snacks is not as difficult as most people may think. All you need is some creativity and the willingness to make your own healthy snacks for vegetarian weight loss.

Vegetarian Weight Loss - How to Speed Up Metabolism for Vegetarians to Burn More Fat by Laura Ng

How to lose weight as a vegetarian? Unfortunately, you've become one overweight vegetarian who has fallen prey to the modern heavily-processed vegetarian diets. So obviously, you just need to change your junk diet into a truly healthy vegetarian weight loss diet for fat loss. But is this effective enough? It is, but you can burn more fat faster when you apply these 7 tips that help to speed up your metabolism.

1. Water Blocks Extra Calorie Intake

Losing weight doesn't come as a consequence of burning more calories, but also to be able to stop excess calories from pouring in. You might mistake dehydration for hunger. So when you feel hungry, pick up a glass of water first, then wait for 10 - 20 minutes for your stomach to "tell" your brain if it's really hungry or not. If no, then you've just saved yourself from scooping in more calories you don't need.

2. More Meals Rev Up Your Metabolism

Insert snack in between your breakfast, lunch and dinner. Doing so will first speed up your metabolism and then maintain it at fat-burning level throughout the day. Remember, never skip any meal. And since you're taking more meals, you should take your breakfast, lunch and dinner in smaller portions. An extremely effective technique to help vegetarians lose weight easily.

3. "Spice Up" Your Metabolism

Ever felt the burning sensation in your body after taking spicy food? That is not just a sensation, but a chemical reaction caused by capsaicin in the chili in boosting your metabolism. It also helps to suppress your appetite and craving for sweet food, so you won't gain weight easily. But overdose can irritate your stomach and trigger acid reflux, which can cause you to lose sleep. Moderation is the key.

4. Rope in Calcium for an Extra Metabolic Boost

Food rich in calcium can raise your body heat and speed up your metabolism. But don't take calcium supplements as they contain only small fraction of elemental calcium that your body can absorb, together with other funny chemicals like carbonate, citrate, lactate or gluconate. You know them? Never mind, that's not important.

Just remember, consume calcium the natural way via soy milk, rice milk, cornmeal, cereal, collards, rhubarb, spinach etc. (In fact, dairy milk contains the highest amount of calcium, but I encourage vegetarians to avoid dairy products since dairy animals are not treated fairly in the process of obtaining the milk. What's more, dairy milk is not as naturally healthy as before as those animals are being fed hormone-laced diet.)

5. Move Right to Lose More

Put down your cardio and pick up interval training today. Numerous studies and researches have proven that interval training can boost your metabolism all day long, even hours post exercise. Cardio will only keep your fat burning during the exercise bout. Once you stop exercising, your fat stops burning. As a vegetarian, you shouldn't ignore this super weight loss tip.

6. The Early You Move, The More You Lose

An experiment conducted in Australia shows that working out in the morning burns more fat than doing it in the afternoon and evening due to an easier increase in metabolism in the morning. But if you find hard to work out in the morning due to shift work or odd working hours, then any time in the day works fine.

7. Get More Cells Repaired

Getting enough rest and sleep is one of the most vital keys to speeding up metabolism. But sadly, most people (vegetarians or non-vegetarians) don't realize that. When you improve your sleep quality, more cells in your body will get repaired. Since it is your cells that metabolize the calories consumed, the more healthy cells you got, the greater your metabolism will be.

Thus, stop being a night owl and start flopping into your bed early at night. Turning in before 11 P.M. is the best time since our body repairs cells and tissues at its peak between 11 P.M. and 2 A.M.

In short, increasing your metabolism is the key to effective fat loss. But you must couple with an effective vegetarian weight loss diet to achieve maximum fat loss faster and easier.

Government Support to Boost UAE Healthcare Sector by Shushmul Maheshwari

According to our new research report “UAE Healthcare Sector Forecast to 2012”, the UAE healthcare sector has been witnessing an uptrend for the past few years on account of growing population, high prevalence of chronic diseases and increasing healthcare expenditure by public and private players. Healthcare expenditure in the UAE is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 13% during 2007-2012.

The UAE government has extended major support to the healthcare industry by investing substantially and promoting innovative approaches to improve medical facilities in the country. In 2007, the public spending accounted for approximately 70% of the total healthcare expenditure, indicating that government support is one of the major boosters for the sector. Moreover, the government offers incentives and lands to enhance the private sector participation in the healthcare sector.

The report provides an in-depth and prudent analysis of the UAE healthcare sector and covers a wide range of aspects related to industry. Different segments like medical devices, pharmaceutical and hospital services are covered thoroughly in the report. The report describes market trends and current market situation in these segments with special emphasis on future outlook. Moreover, it analyses the sub-segments and characteristic like their proportion, growth and past statistics. Regulatory environment for the segments has also been defined and analyzed.

Our report offers the overall market overview and broadly defines the factors stimulating growth in the UAE healthcare sector. It also covers sections like market attractions and key players.

“UAE Healthcare Sector Forecast to 2012” provides the clear picture of the UAE healthcare sector and analyses each topic in a concrete manner. The report completes the analysis after forecasting healthcare market scenario. Forecast for the sections like medical devices, healthcare spending and pharmaceutical will provide clients with future growth projections that could be used for taking effective and better investment decisions.

For FREE SAMPLE of this report visit: http://www.rncos.com/Report/IM224.htm

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Does Weight Loss Hypnosis Really Work? by Jeff Schuman

Weight loss hypnosis is being used more and more these days to help many people achieve their weight loss goals. Some people are skeptical about whether hypnosis can really work or not and you should be. The best way to decide if this is something you want to try is to know essential information that will help you make an informed decision.

Hypnosis for losing weight has been found to be a very effective method for helping many people lose weight but it is not the right solution for everyone. The key to using this method effectively is to use it in conjunction with other behavioral programs because these things combined will help to change your eating pattern.

Now as for hypnosis not being right for everyone; this type of weight loss option has been discovered to be effective for people that want to lose a small amount of weight and for maintaining and controlling your weight once you lose it.

If you have a lot of weight to lose then you will want to use other weight loss options in conjunction with this one once you have lost some of the weight. This option will definitely change anyone's eating habits but it can't help everyone lose a lot of weight.

Hard work and determination from you will be needed to lose weight also but this solution can be used at some point in your path to getting to your ideal weight to help you achieve your final weight and then keep your weight where you want it.

The way that this method works is to increase your receptiveness to suggestions that are presented to help reinforce weight loss. This process is done by leading an individual into a state of heightened relaxation and suggestibility.

This has been found to help create healthy eating patterns for long term weight loss success in many different people.

One last important thing to understand is that the hypnosis method will be done over an extended period of time and will require substantial effort. Don't let anyone tell you that this can be done over a short period of time and create miraculous results quickly.

If someone tells you that then you want to steer clear of them because this will not happen if you want the hypnosis to be an effective weight loss tool.

This important information about weight loss hypnosis can help you make a smart decision for you about whether to try it or not. Just remember that this option is best used with other weight loss options because it works the most effectively that way.

Tips to Help Vegetarians Lose Weight by Laura Ng

Without further ado, let's get down to the tried-and-true tips to help vegetarians lose weight. There are essentially 2 parts in these vegetarian weight loss tips - dieting and exercising. Sounds familiar? Believe me. You might not have heard of these dieting and exercising tips to help vegetarians lose weight before. So sit tight and listen carefully, and follow them to the letter, where possible. This will ensure you get a combined winning formula to help you melt away the unwanted pounds.

Dieting Tips to Help Vegetarians Lose Weight

It's not simply about eating a vegetarian weight loss diet and you'll lose weight with it. You need some tips to complement the diet for a true effective fat loss.

5 Meals a Day - Break your 3 larger main meals into 5 smaller meals, namely, breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner. This 5-meal plan will ensure you get enough food to generate adequate energy to support your daily tasks. It'll boost your metabolism along the way. You need an active metabolism to burn fat.

70 / 30 Rule - You should only fill your stomach to 70% full when eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, while 30% full through each of your snacks. Eating too full will make you feel tired easily and reluctant to move. 70% has been proven to be just the right satiety level for optimal metabolic boost.

Fiber - Fiber makes you feel full easily so you won't heap on excess calories. Fiber also helps your body to detox. Hence, include more natural fibrous foods in your vegetarian weight loss diet.

Protein - When you do not consume enough protein, your body will break down your muscle tissue. Muscle accelerates metabolism to burn fat. When you lose your lean muscle mass, it means, your metabolism will slow down. Therefore, remember to eat a reasonable amount of protein to avoid muscle loss.

Hydration - Water carries zero calories and boosts metabolism. Drink adequate supply of water. Eliminate all sugared or high-calorie beverages.

Last but not least, keep your vegetarian weight loss diet free of processed ingredients as far as possible. Whole foods help vegetarians lose weight more effectively.

Exercising Tips to Help Vegetarians Lose Weight

I just told you that muscle burns fat, right? Exercising helps to build up your lean muscle mass which results in an increased metabolism. But how to exercise to achieve greater fat loss?

Time to Exercise - Morning has been proven to be the best time to burn more fat. Try to work out before 7 A.M, where possible.

What to Exercise - High-intensity interval training burns relatively more fat and keeps your metabolism active up to 24 hours. Cardio only burns fat during the exercise bout. But if you feel cardio works best for you due to your age or other reasons, it'll do just as fine to burn fat, albeit slower and lesser.

These tips are not comprehensive, but they should suffice to help vegetarians lose weight as a start. At the very least, you should apply the dieting tips. However, I still strongly recommend that you begin with some simple exercises to help you build your momentum for upcoming fat loss workouts. This is the winning formula to effective vegetarian weight loss.

Health Benefits of Olive Oil by Laura Ng

Besides coconut oil that protects you with its medium-chain lauric acid and flaxseed oil that supply you with plenty of omega-3 essential fatty acid (EFA) to balance up your body's EFAs ratio, the next good oil that provides health benefits is olive oil.

How olive oil benefits your health? It helps you:

1. Reduce coronary heart disease and stroke by preventing plaque built-up which in turn leads to hardening of arteries (i.e. atherosclerosis).

2. Regulate blood pressure levels.

3. Lower blood cholesterol levels.

4. Lower blood sugar levels.

5. Prevent brain damage and failure of your adrenal glands.

6. Displace omega-6 fats without impacting the quantity of omega-3 fats so as to keep the ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 in balance.

But what's inside olive oil that provides such powerful health benefits? Antioxidants such as vitamin E, carotenoids and oleuropein (a phytochemical that prevents LDL particles from oxidizing) contain in olive oil's monounsaturated fat (oleic acid - aka omega-9) are what protect you from the aforementioned health issues.

What's more, some people even lose weight with regular consumption of olive oil. Although it's not been clear why it promotes weight loss, some scientists speculate that it could be the monounsaturated fat that makes you feel satisfied easily which in turn suppress your appetite, especially your cravings for more high-sugar junk food.

Speaking of the weight loss effect of this liquid gold, how should you eat to maximize olive oil's health benefits?

Due to its unsaturated fat structure, olive oil can easily degrade in its nutritional values and health benefits when expose to light and heat. Having said that, you shouldn't use olive oil (especially extra-virgin olive oil) in cooking. You should choose its refined grade that is able to withstand higher temperature for cooking if you prefer olive oil to other vegetable oils.

But refined oil doesn't provide as much weight loss and health benefits as its best graded extra-virgin olive oil. This is something you need to take note of.

For my case, I certainly use only extra-virgin olive oil mixing with virgin coconut oil as salad dressings. I don't go with any refined or hydrogenated oils. That's because I want to get the most nutritional and health benefits out of these healthful foods. What about you? If you're like me who's health-conscious and definitely will go all out to improve your health and overall well-being, don't save on quality. Not worth.

Oh, just to share with you before I wrap this up. I use extra-virgin olive oil as an important ingredient in uncooked or chilled food, but when it comes to cooking, I use coconut oil since coconut oil doesn't "freak out" as easily as olive oil when expose to heat and light.

How is Olive Oil Made by Laura Ng

Not all olive oils are made equal - their quality is in essence, graded based on production method, acidity level and flavor.

Although different grades of olive oil can mix together to create other grades and types, there are 3 principal types of olive oil purposely made to benefit your health more than others, which you ought to know. Let's run through their production processes briefly to help you get some basic ideas and make a better decision on which one you should go with for best health benefits.

How is Olive Oil Made - the Actual Manufacturing Process

Harvested olives will first go through grinding and pressing using heavy granite millstones or modern stainless steel rollers to extract the oil. At this point, they never add any chemical so as to preserve its nutrients, aroma and flavor. In essence, the full nutritional values and health benefits of olive oil retain.

You need to use "cold pressing" to make top quality olive oil. It means the frictional heat emitted during pressing and grinding should not exceed 86 degrees F (i.e. 30 degrees C). Exposing the oil to temperature above 86 degrees F can run the risk of losing its nutritional values too.

Such "cold pressing" extraction method yields grades of extra virgin olive oil or virgin olive oil depending on its acidity level. The lower the acidity level, the better the quality and type, and thus, the greater nutritional benefits for your health.

Manufacturers further process some virgin olive oils after first chemical-free pressing, especially when they bear poor flavor and an acidity level of more than 3% (i.e. not fit for human consumption anymore). They then send the acidic oil for refining to reduce its acidity level so that it can be re-used for consumption again.

But because this type of refined olive oil is produced in presence of high temperature, chemicals, and filtration, their quality will drop dramatically in terms of flavor and nutritional value.

Refined oil usually bears no color, odor and flavor, thus they're often blended with virgin or extra virgin oil to make it look and taste better. This mixture forms another grade called pure olive oil in some places.

This pure olive oil can also be further chemically processed to form another 2 types called olive-pomace oil and lampante oil. But we're not interested in them here since they don't benefit your health much, especially lampante oil, which is totally inedible.

Now you know how olive is made, and this will help you choose the right type of olive oil for your health benefits and dietary needs. I personally go with extra-virgin olive oil and add it to salad, smoothies or any meals without heating because as just mentioned, heating can degrade the oil's quality and its nutritional values.

But if you prefer to serve your hot food with olive oil, I suggest that you only add the oil just before you're ready to eat the food so as to preserve its nutritional benefits for good health.

Coconut Oil Uses & Benefits by Laura Ng

You don't just benefit from eating coconut oil to achieve good health, weight loss and gain more energy etc. In fact, you can also use this super food in various ways. Let's go check out on how coconut oil benefits you with its various other uses.

Stress - Apply virgin coconut oil to the side of your head and massage gently in a circular motion. The natural aroma of coconut can calm your nerves naturally thus helping to lower your stress level.

Scrapes and Cuts - Applying coconut oil on the wound forms a thin, protective layer which prevents outside dust, bacteria and virus from breaking into the wound. Even if some bacteria and virus enter before your application, the oil's anti-viral and anti-bacteria compounds will penetrate and destroy the bacteria and virus on the spot.

Yeast Infection - Soak an organic tampon in virgin coconut oil for 15 minutes and inserting it overnight will clear up the infection. For best effect, continue with 3 more days until you're sure the infection is totally gone.

Bladder Infection - Knock out your bladder infection in just a few hours with coconut oil consumption.

Toe Fungus - Rub the oil on your feet and its anti-fungal properties will clear up the fungus for you. No more athlete's foot.

Body Odor - You can use coconut oil as a deodorant. But you'll get even more fabulous result when combined with cornstarch / arrowroot powder and baking soda.

Protein Loss in Hair - Though the oil in itself doesn't contain protein, it provides an effective coating to prevent protein loss in your hair. You want your hair to look shiny and radiant, applying just a dab will do the trick. Too much can make your hair too greasy for comfort and can easily have dust sticking on it.

Keep Your Hair in Shape - You want to preserve the curls and keep your hair in line? Use coconut oil.

Remove Your Makeup - Apply a small amount of coconut oil on the cotton swab and clean up your makeup. Unlike other makeup removers, this oil keeps your skin moisturized at the same time right after.

Natural Protection at Beach - You can use coconut oil as a natural sunscreen to keep sunburn at bay.

Dry, Cracked Skin - Apply a dab of coconut oil, rub and massage the dry area for about 5 minutes, the oil will penetrate and moisturizes your skin. It works wonders on cracked heels too. I suggest that you apply the oil every night before bed to totally cut off the relapse.

Dry or Cracked Lips - Many lip balms contain coconut oil as a staple ingredient. But you can make your own portable lip balm by pouring coconut oil over to a small, clean bottle. It keeps your lips smooth, silky, and shiny. And it heals any cracks in your lips too.

After-Bath Skin Conditioner - You don't have to use coconut oil only for treatment. Apply on your skin right after bath. It makes your skin super soft.

I can go on and on and the benefits of coconut oil don't seem to end. Try it yourself and I believe you could very well discover more benefits in your daily usage.

Virgin Coconut Oil Health Benefits by Laura Ng

No other types of coconut oil can match the health benefits of virgin coconut oil. Let me explain. Virgin (unrefined) coconut oil is extracted via cold pressed (very low temperature) method with zero chemicals added, which retain its full nutritional values for maximum health benefits.

Moreover, due to its completely unaltered (natural) fatty acid structure, unrefined or virgin oil penetrates your skin well and does not clog your skin pores if you use it topically. Refined oil (such as RBD, hydrogenated etc) will clog your pores by contrast.

On top of that, as we're being exposed to free radicals all day long through breathing, interacting and eating etc, we need antioxidants to help keep us free from the attack of free radicals. Free radicals are very tiny particles in the air (invisible to the eyes) that when entered the body, can cause deterioration of immune system which further leads to host of health problems such as speed ageing, triggering of cancers or other degenerative diseases.

Virgin coconut oil contains high level of antioxidants, which are particularly useful in fighting free-radicals, as it is unrefined and hasn't been stripped of any of its natural components through the refining process. Also, virgin oil by nature does not easily cause allergic reaction (i.e. it ii is hypoallergenic), so you can safely use it in your diet or topically. But it's best to apply a small amount on your skin and see if any adverse reaction takes place if you're a first time user.

Refined oil is never as superior as its unrefined counterpart. But for commercial companies, they'd prefer refined coconut oil since it can withstand higher heat before it melts, which makes it possible for them to make ice-cream, chocolate and other foods to maintain the shape of the food for a longer duration.

But for your personal skin and health benefits, go with virgin coconut oil always, if you're ok with the mild natural aromatic coconut flavor in the oil (which are pleasing to most people).

By the way, in case you encounter some companies labeling their oil as Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, actually, it means the same as virgin coconut oil. They name it in such a way probably to "inform" consumers of their premium quality oil than any other brands out there. In other words, only olive oil comes with its distinctive classification of 'extra virgin' and 'virgin', but not coconut oil.

So, whether 'extra virgin coconut oil' or simply 'virgin coconut oil', there's no difference, essentially in their health benefits. The only difference lies in your personal preference.

Vegetarian Fat Loss Diet by Laura Ng

If you want to lose fat as a vegetarian the healthy way, then you should create a healthy vegetarian fat loss diet with these 3 ingredients in mind - natural, nutritious and delicious.

Natural vegetarian fat loss diet helps to reduce your toxic intake from processed vegetarian food. A toxic-free body will lose fat more effectively and efficiently. Feeding your body with all essential nutrients can help your body perform at its optimal condition to take care of your weight automatically. Making it delicious can motivate you to lose fat with the diet using half the effort.

Now you know why those 3 ingredients are so important in the making of healthy vegetarian fat loss diet. Let's get down to seeing what's inside the diet now.

Breakfast - Protein smoothie made from blending baby spinach, strawberries, blueberries, organic protein powder (GMO-free), whole wheat bread and virgin coconut oil.

Lunch - Veggie burger made from sandwiching pan-seared Portobello mushroom with wholegrain breads. Add alfalfa sprouts, butterhead lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers under the mushroom and then top the mushroom with vegan basil pesto sauce.

Dinner - Rainbow salad made from mixing fresh spinach leaves, sunflower seeds, shredded carrot, shredded beet, shredded apple, dried cranberries and dried apricots with virgin coconut oil plus olive oil as dressing.

These 3 are your regular healthy fat loss meals and carry the most weight in your vegetarian fat loss diet. That's why they contain the most nutrients, fiber and long lasting energy to keep you metabolically active throughout the day. Make sure you prepare them at the portion size that feeds your stomach to only 70% full. Keeping at this satiety level is optimum, from my personal eating experience.

That's not all. An effective vegetarian fat loss diet should also include 2 snacks where you'll insert one in between breakfast and lunch, the other in between lunch and dinner. Each of them should only make you feel 30 - 40% full. They are there to provide you with additional energy to boost your metabolism for continuous burning of fat. Hunger will slow down metabolism which can wreck your fat loss plan.

The snack can be as simple as a handful of mixed nuts, grains and seeds. Or you can eat mixed fruits of your favorite. Or mini pita bread stuffed with peanut butter and natural fruit jam. Let your creative juices flow.

What else can you do to make your vegetarian fat loss diet burn even more fat for you? Exercise. Relying solely on diet can take on a slow pace. Factoring in exercises will speed up your fat loss.

Vegetarian Weight Loss Diet Plan for 18 to 50-Year-Old by Laura Ng

Overweight vegetarians are almost unheard of some 20 years ago. Now? Thousands of them spreading throughout the globe. "Thanks" to the modern vegetarian diet infusing with sugar, sodium and unhealthy fat. Unfortunately, you happen to be one of them. But all is not lost, and you're not alone. I've helped hundreds of them to effectively lose weight the vegetarian way thus far.

Here's the overall strategy to help you lose weight as a vegetarian - whatever you do - dieting or exercising, your primary weight loss goal is to make your body use the fat stores to provide the energy it needs while removing excess calories through your dietary consumption.

To achieve this, you need to either consume less calories or expend more calories than you need, or best, consume less AND expend more at the same time! How to do that? Here's a specific vegetarian weight loss diet plan for a day which includes both diet and exercise to maximize fat loss.

6:50 A.M. - Take up a 10-minute high-intensity bodyweight exercises like jumping jacks, pushups, spider climbs etc. After every minute you'll rest for 30 seconds and continue with the workouts. This high-intensity interval training is crucial in an effective vegetarian weight loss diet plan.

7:30 A.M. - (Breakfast) 3 - 4 slices of whole grain bread spread with peanut butter or any nut butter spread, or rolled oats sprinkled with berries (your favorite berries), unsweetened apple juice, cashew nuts and black sesame seeds. Complete your power meal with a veggie smoothie made from 2 handfuls of spinach, a pear and tomatoes.

9: 30 A.M. - (Snack) Perk up with a glass of refreshing smoothie blended from bananas, strawberries, carrots, lettuce, ground flax, virgin coconut oil.

12 P.M. - (Lunch) Pita bread stuffed with alfafa sprouts, chopped cucumbers and juicy cherry tomatoes, laced it with vegan mayonnaise or vegan basil pesto or curried lentils sauce. You can prepare these ingredients in advance the night before or in the morning before leaving for work. Just store them separately in air-tight containers and do the stuffing when you're ready to eat. Pair it up nicely with a glass of unsweetened almond or soy milk.

3:30 P.M. - (Snack) Handful of mixed nuts or your favorite fruits like 2 small bananas, an apple, an orange or a mango.

6:30 P.M. - (Dinner) Make rainbow salad from mixing spinach, sunflower seeds, raisins, shredded apple, shredded beets, firm tofu and your favorite pasta cooked al dente. For dressing, mix 2 tbsp virgin coconut oil with 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil and 1 tbsp lemon juice.

9 P.M. - Unwind from your hard day's work. Relax and prepare your body for a good night's sleep.

I set this vegetarian weight loss diet plan to give you a picture of what you should do in a day.

A high-intensity exercise in the morning will help you burn more fat compared to a work-out in the afternoon or evening (as proven by numerous studies). Having 5 vegetarian meals spreading out in a 2 - 3 hour interval will keep your body metabolically active and help you stay productive throughout the day.

Contrary to the common belief, adding olive oil and coconut oil at dinner won't make you fat as these oils are actually effective in burning fat, especially coconut oil which can produce a thermogenic (fat-burning) effect of up to 24 hours.

Tofu will help you repair and regenerate new cells and tissues that you might have torn (unknowingly) during your day's work. More generation of new cells actually increase metabolism which boost weight loss. The dinner is low-caloric but filling (keep at 70% satiety level) for you so that you won't crave for supper. The quantity should last you till the following morning.

I suggest that you change your vegetarian weight loss diet every 2 - 3 days to avoid hitting a weight loss plateau. If you can fix different varieties of vegetarian foods every day in your vegetarian weight loss diet plan, that'd be even more effective to boost your metabolism for maximum fat loss.

Coconut Cream & Health Benefits by Laura Ng

People generally use coconut cream in curries, desserts and cakes. That's because it enhances the aroma and tastes of the dishes and you can obtain it easily and cheaply from your nearby supermarket or grocery store. However, few people ever realize how coconut cream benefits their health greatly which leads to many avoiding it like a plague due to its high saturated fat content. Especially for those who want to lose weight.

But do you know that coconut cream actually carries good saturated fat that benefits your health and weight loss by easily converting to energy as soon as your body absorbs it, just like what your body does on carbohydrate? In other words, it doesn't transform into bad cholesterol which clogs up your arteries and triggers heart problems and stroke. Most importantly, it doesn't cause weight gain as easily as what most people think.

Its lauric acid content (which scientists and researchers found in human breast milk) also helps you fight intrusive viruses, bacteria, promote normal brain development and contribute to healthy bones. And its anti-carcinogenic and anti-pathogenic properties can keep cancer at bay too. So, how can anyone deny coconut cream's health benefits when it actually gives you so much powerful protection?

But don't get me wrong. I'm not asking you to indulge in this healthful yummy cream. You take too much of it, like any other health foods, you'll still heap on excess calories and gain weight as a result. So it's alright to consume in moderation in order to reap its health benefits without getting its disadvantages.

Speaking of disadvantages, coconut cream / milk turns sour easily, so make sure you refrigerate it once opened and right after use. Try to finish up the cream / milk within a few days in less than a week - best, used it asap. The longer it stays unused though in the fridge, it'll still turn rancid.

Although freezing may not necessarily curdle the cream / milk (depending on the quality), I advise you to avoid freezing it as far as possible because if it does curdle, cooking with it will give whatever dishes an unappealing, curdled appearance.

I always go with advices and methods to reap coconut cream's health benefits as best as I can without compromising its flavor and appearance on the dishes. If you can't make your dishes look appealing, you simply won't have the appetite to eat it, let alone absorbing whatever health benefits coconut cream can bring you, agree?

Healthy Vegetarian Weight Loss - Tips to Help Overweight Vegetarians Lose Weight & Gain Health by Laura Ng

Losing weight doesn't mean you'll have to sacrifice your health unless you use crash diets, pills, surgeries or other risky weight loss methods. In fact, you can lose fat and gain health at the same time. No special secrets to achieve that. Just do these 4 things right in your daily vegetarian lifestyle, and you'll lose your stubborn belly fat, trim down your cushioned buttock, and remove your thunder thighs naturally as a vegetarian. More importantly, you restore your health and extend your life.

Vegetarian Weight Loss Tip #1 - Eat to Lose Weight

Did you experience this most of the time - you don't really feel full while eating, but when you're done you feel stuffed? That's because it takes your stomach about 10 - 20 minutes to tell your brain whether it's full or not. So, when you eat fast, by the time your brain receives the "full" signal from your stomach, you've already eaten too much, thereby over-consuming calories.

Thus, slowing down your eating speed gives your stomach ample time to register satiety with your brain, so you won't heap on excess calories. I suggest that you take 20 - 30 minutes to savor your meal.

Next, instead of taking 3 big-portion meals a day, break them into 5 smaller meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus 2 snacks slotting in between the main meals. Eating this way will keep your body metabolically active throughout the day in order to burn fat continuously.

Effective vegetarian weight loss begins with eating vegetarian diet the healthy way.

Vegetarian Weight Loss Tip #2 - Drink to Lose Weight

In cold weather, you don't sweat much, hence your body retains water easily. If you still drink 8 glasses of water (as parroted by most people), your body's water mass may shoot up to cause an imbalance in your sodium (and other electrolytes) level, resulting in water poisoning (hyponatremia) that triggers seizures, brain damage and even death.

Besides, your fiber intake and other liquid intakes (like soup, fruit juice, etc) also contribute to your body's hydration condition. More fiber intake will make you feel thirsty easily as fiber absorbs water for smooth excretion. So you may need to drink more water for that reason. On the other hand, you may not need to if you had already ingested lots of soup or juices for the day.

So, drink the amount of water your body actually needs for proper hydration and your metabolism will run properly to burn fat and help you lose weight.

Vegetarian Weight Loss Tip #3 - Exercise to Lose Weight

Want to take less time to burn more fat? Choose interval training over cardio.

Interval training is a short burst workout routine such that you raise your workout intensity by 10% and do it for a minute, then drop all the way down to recovery state for another minute, followed by another burst of exercise for a minute and so on.

And the best time to get better fat burning response is before your breakfast. But if you can't make it in the morning due to your shift work, other timings work as well, albeit will burn less fat.

Vegetarian Weight Loss Tip #4 - Sleep to Lose Weight

Honestly, there's no hard-and-fast rules on how many hours you should sleep. But just make sure you turn in before 11 P.M. as studies show that our bodies work optimally between 11 P.M. and 2 A.M. at repairing body cells and tissues.

Having more healthy cells and tissues will definitely improve your metabolism since it is your cells and tissues that metabolize your calories to fuel your bodily functions, after all.

Bonus Tip for Effective Vegetarian Weight Loss

When you apply the aforementioned weight loss techniques, you should naturally visit toilet at least once a day for "big" business. That's good. But sometimes your stressful workload might hinder your call of nature. Leaving waste in your body for too long will intoxicate your body and impair your fat burning capability. Hence, block out 30 - 45 minutes a day to calm yourself down to help improve your bowel movement. A well cleansed and detoxified body will lose weight at its peak, particularly when you're a vegetarian.

Corporate Fitness: Are Your Staff Under - Performing? by Anders N W Lindgreen

Top 5 Money Generating Reasons Why Your Company Would Benefit From a Corporate Wellness Program.

1. Connect Individuals.

Forge Teams! An all-star football team is not world class because the players are all individual top performers, no, it's because they work well together to compliment each other's strengths and weaknesses. As the saying goes; "There is no I in TEAM". And your company should be no different. A Corporate Fitness Program will not only teach your team how to handle physically and psychologically demanding tasks on their own but as a solid unit as well.

2. Increase Staff Health & Retention

It is common knowledge that it's cheaper to retain both staff and customers, than it is to find new people all the time. If you are not aware of the staff health in your company, you may be unaware of the dangers threatening your staff retention over the short and the long-term. Don't expect that everyone can cope with stress as well as you do nor that they will be completely honest about how they feel. Corporate Wellness Programs are designed to work on both their body and their mind.

3. Improve Work Performances

In a hypothetical situation, how would you perform if you didn't feel at home in your workplace, were tired all the time, couldn't cope well with stress and so forth. How would it affect your performance at work and in all other parts of your life? Now imagine what effect that would have on your business ............ leaving your staff health and wellbeing to chance has a significant impact on your business bottom line!

4. Strengthen Your Brand

Wherever you go, you are representing your brand, and so does your staff. Are you and them everything you want your company to portray? Can you honestly say that most people working with you are the spitting image of what you are trying to achieve in business? If you are not, it may be indirectly damaging your brand. A Corporate Fitness Program is aimed to forge a team representing your company's core values in everything they do, and not because they have to, but because it comes natural to them.

5. Build Company Morale, Loyalty and Responsibility

When you pay attention to your staff's health and wellness you are not only looking after the success and annual turnover of your business, but you are also building morale, loyalty and responsibility into your team. What goes around comes around.

Before undertaking any Corporate Fitness Program you should do some research, but don't use it as an excuse to procrastinate. A reputable company should have proof of previous achievements, ways to measure improvements and estimate the return on your investment and a money-back guarantee for good measure.

Vegetarian Weight Loss - 1 Tip for Overweight Vegetarians to Break Weight Loss Plateau by Laura Ng

Are you one vegetarian getting stuck at a weight loss plateau? You're not alone; many other vegetarians do face the same thing. Imagine you have switched from the fattening processed vegetarian food to vegetarian weight loss diet. You lost some pounds initially but then it stopped and no more pound loss. You still got some belly fat to lose. Obviously, you're not achieving effective vegetarian weight loss. What has actually gone wrong?

Why Can't Overweight Vegetarians Lose More Weight?

Before we get down to why vegetarians can't lose weight, I think we should first take a quick look at what causes weight gain. Becoming a vegetarian doesn't guarantee you'll lose weight. When you eat more refined, processed vegetarian foods, you gain pounds due to their high-sugar, high-salt and high-fat content, of course, plus other chemical additives (added to enhance color and flavor) that impair your body and trigger metabolic disorder.

Upon learning that, you turn smart and start switching to whole natural vegetarian foods for good health and of course, to help you lose weight. Yes, it works. But after losing some inches on your belly and shedding as many as 40 pounds, your fat-burning engine stops all of a sudden. Hey, you still got some stomach fat to burn. Not forgetting your thighs and buttocks too. But it stops losing fat? Why?

After some information exchange with these overweight vegetarians who can't wait to lose more weight, I discover the one issue that has been bugging them since they were young, and even becoming a vegetarian didn't seem to change much. That is, they don't like to eat vegetables.

What has eating less vegetable got to do with weight loss plateau? Listen, vegetables can effectively purge toxins out of your body. These toxins may have been amassed during those times when you were still happily enjoying your "tasty" prepackaged processed food. Your body requires a broad spectrum of nutrients to wash out the toxins completely, before your fat-burning engine can start running at full tank. So, leaving veggies out from your weight loss diet or eating less of it can skew your vegetarian weight loss plan.

Simple Solution to Break Weight Loss Plateau

By the way, what makes you cringe at eating vegetables? Their taste, green smell or you simply don't like the green leafy color or the way they look? Whatever your reasons may be, you want to lose weight as a vegetarian and break weight loss plateau, you must try to increase you veggie intake. Here I show you a tip to achieve that yet avoiding triggering your dislike for vegetables at the same time.

Blend veggies into your fruit smoothie in a (fruit to vegetable) 4:2 ratio. This way you won't have to put up with the "green" smell or flavor but yet get to savor the goodness of Mother Nature's weight loss foods. Here's a sample recipe to help you start off:

Vegetarian Weight Loss Smoothie

- 2 cups of butterhead lettuce

- 1 carrot

- 2 bananas

- 1 mango

- 1 cup of strawberries

- 1 cup of water

Now, this recipe is very filling because of its high dietary fiber. You can eat it as a whole meal for your breakfast or dinner. And you should change the ingredients every day and gradually up the ratio to 3:2 so you'll get a balance of various nutrients from different mixture of food. Ta-da, a simple tip to help any vegetarian who doesn't eat much vegetable to break weight loss plateau. Now, is losing weight as a vegetarian difficult? Not if you know the tricks.

Fat Burning Exercise: What is the Fat Burning Zone? by Anders N W Lindgreen

The Fat Burning Zone is a misunderstood concept used to promote several fitness classes, weight loss routines and magazines. It is the perfect example of only using certain parts of a study either because you didn't bother to read the whole thing or didn't understand how to use the information within - or option three where you knew exactly what you were doing but twisted the words for your benefit. But let's imagine that no one would do such a thing, what is the go with fat burning exercise and the magical fat burning zone?

The Truth

The Fat Burning Zone is when you work to 55-65% of your maximum capacity (e.g. 110-130 beat per minute if you max heart rate is 200 beats per minute), which leaves your body burning 65% of the energy from fat and 35% from carbohydrates. This is called low intensity exercise. The other end of the spectrum is working at 80-90% of your capacity but now you only burn 50% of the energy from fat and 50% from carbohydrates. This is called high intensity exercise.

Well, so far it looks like low intensity exercise burns more fat than high intensity exercise and this is also where most people stopped reading. What they didn't read is that when you work at a higher capacity your burn more energy over the same period of time, even if the percentage of fat is less. So what does this mean?

High intensity Burns More Fat Overall (and then some!)

Let's say for arguments sake that 30 minutes of low intensity exercise for a given activity would 250 calories, 162.5 of them would come from fat (65%). Working at 80-90% will many times almost double your energy consumption and 30 minutes would burn off 500 kcal, where 250 comes from fat. In reality, high intensity exercise burns more energy overall AND more fat. But it doesn't stop there.

High intensity exercise creates something called an oxygen deficit in our bodies, which can boost our fat burning capabilities for up to 36h. That is during rest AND activity. But that is not all. Burning through your carbohydrates is by no means a waste of time, because when you run out of your stores your body goes straight for the fat. So burning through your carbohydrate stores faster will also have you burning more fat.

Try It For Yourself

Even though I've used nice and round numbers to make it easier to understand you can Google for a site called "Calories Per Hour", choose your activity, put your own numbers in and see the difference for yourself. But hopefully you can now see that staying in the fat burning zone doesn't necessarily burn more fat.

Fitness Training: Celebrate Your Body (And Get Results Faster) by Anders N W Lindgreen

Yes, being unhappy with your appearance makes celebrating your body difficult. But if a great body was all it took, how come celebrities and supermodels have insecurities about their shape and looks while they remain “perfect” in our eyes? It’s because it is all in our heads. The difference is in attitude and perception, because confidence comes in all shapes and sizes. And the best thing is that your subconscious cannot understand logic, only repetition and impact. So, if you can start to think more encouraging thoughts, accepting yourself for who you are (even though you may feel like you are tricking yourself) - your subconscious will eventually believe it. But right now, you internal dialogue may be a more negative one and because that’s what your emotional centre hears, sees and feels most of the time, that’s what it will hold true.

So, do what you need to change that mindset and love your body for what it is TODAY. You can achieve this by writing down each negative thought the moment you have it and write down two positive affirmations next to it. It will feel silly, but it will also WORK – if you keep doing it. But don’t expect a 24-h turnaround. You can also take help of bluntly honest mates or a personal shopping assistant and update your wardrobe and style to be more flattering to your shape and enhance your strong points. Everyone has them. Just because you are large doesn’t mean you should dress in huge Hawaiian shirts or balloon dresses that look more like table cloth or bed linen. If you are a big man, slap on suit and get the body guard look, what girl wouldn’t want a man that can protect her? If you are a large girl, chances are you have great curves. Everyone is different, so expert advice is what you need here. What you don’t need are mates who agree with everything you try on, just to be n!

ice and accommodating. Get your blunt fashionista or metro mates out or visit any (at least slightly) up-market stores, ask for a shop assistant and invest in your self-image and self-confidence! Not only will you feel great about yourself when you do, but your fitness training and lifestyle transformation will go down a treat with all that self-belief. In fact, I don’t think there is anything you cannot do in this state of mind – not – one – single – thing!