Holiday Myths Dispelled

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It's December, and you know what that means. For quite a few of us, it's a time to take some time to celebrate with friends and family. In this way, the holidays bring presents, food and all sorts of memorable times. However, along with these things come several myths that seem to have persisted over the years. I'm going to attempt to dispel some of the secular ones; we don't all celebrate the same things, and a list of Christmas-related myths would probably take weeks to write. Here are some of the myths I've personally heard, and the truth behind them. 

-Poinsettia plants are poisonous. While they are certainly not something you want your children and/or pets to eat, they don't have the poison properties they are thought to have. They have a sap that tastes terrible and can make a pet sick, but they would have to eat about 500+ leaves in order for them to have any long-lasting effect. If you're concerned, put the plants out of reach.

-Suicides are higher during the holidays than any other time of the year. This doesn't hold up to statistical scrutiny. It's certainly understandable that someone might be more prone to depression during the colder months when it gets dark early, and people who are alone might feel bad when seeing all the happiness and 'togetherness' others have. However, studies have shown that suicide rates are much more related to mental illness than they are to any other external factor. The 'blues' I mention above are simply not the same thing as the clinical depression or bipolar that are behind many suicides because these disorders have a medical cause-a chemical imbalance in the brain that affects emotions and actions. Even though some of the depressive episodes associated with bipolar may come in the winter (as they do with me), they could come at any time of the year. It's the disorders, not the time of year, that are at work here.

In fact, some studies from the National Center for Health Statistics have shown that suicide rates are actually lower during December, possibly because of all the 'togetherness'! The cause hasn't been verified, though.

-Eating later in the day makes you gain weight. Yes, there are a lot of holiday parties and dinners in the evenings that serve all kinds of decadent food. But will you gain more weight by eating these things at night than you would during the day? The answer is no. While it makes sense to think that daytime might give you more time to 'burn off' the calories, weight gain comes from consuming more calories than you burn. Period. It doesn't matter what time of day.

-If you go outside without a coat or with wet hair, you'll get sick. I must confess I am guilty of this-I don't like coats and will often put my wet hair up in a clip rather than using a hair dryer. I've never gotten sick this way, and neither has anyone else. They'll definitely make you feel cold, but they won't make you catch one. The runny nose you might get from cold air is a completely different condition called 'vasomotor rhinitis'.

-New Years' Eve is the most dangerous time to drive. This is partly true. This myth is understandable when we think of all the drunken ways people bring in the new year, but it's actually not the night with the most fatalities. According to AAA, it's the night with the most deaths related to drunk driving, but not the most deaths total. That 'honor' goes to July 4. Either way, be careful.

I hope I've managed to dispel at least a few of the myths associated with the December holidays. What other urban legends have you heard?

Looking Into Carbs, Proteins and Fats

The human body uses three specific types of energy sources; energy from carbohydrates, energy from proteins, and energy from fats. What is the difference in these energy sources and how can you ensure you are fueling your body correctly?

Carbohydrates are typically recommended to account for 40-45% of a healthy diet. Carbohydrates, because they break down so quickly, are your body’s main source for fuel and energy. Most carbohydrates digest in two hours or less so many nutritionists advise that ingested carbs be packed with fiber to slow the excretion of sugars into the blood stream. If you are consuming more carbs than you are burning, then carbohydrates will ultimately be stored in your body as fat. This is the reason there are condescending views on carbohydrates but if they are not eaten in excess, then they are actually a very healthy method of energy. On the contrary, if you are eating too little carbs, then your body will begin to steal energy from neighboring muscles causing detrimental muscle loss; and don’t forgot, your heart is also a muscle. Therefore, cutting out carbs completely can be really unhealthy for your heart, amongst other muscles within your body.

Proteins are the building blocks of your body’s muscle makeup. They should compensate for 25-30% of your daily intake, and most nutritionists will recommend lean meats as opposed to red, fatty meats. Portion sizes, especially in America, are often overgrown. An actual portion size of protein should be no larger than a deck or cards or an average sized fist. If you are an avid weightlifter, or if you do some type of physical activity where you are exerting large amounts of energy, you may want to consider adding a few more grams of protein to your diet each day. There are a plethora of healthy products out there, such as protein powder or protein shakes, to help you accomplish this mission. Children, especially very active children, should definitely be ingesting a higher amount of protein on a daily basis as well.

Fats, despite their bad reputation, are actually recommended to makeup approximately 30-35% of your daily intake. That is more than your protein intake! There are three types of fats. The worst type of fats will increase your LDL, lipoprotein cholesterol, which is unhealthy cholesterol. Foods that increase LDL will be listed as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated. The second worst type of fats are saturated fats. They may take up to 10% of your daily fat intake and can be found in most fatty meats and dairy products. Lastly, there are the good fats; good fats are normally derived from naturally oily substances such as olive oil, nuts, avocados, and grape seeds. If you are going to be consuming fats, the best way to do it is with these healthy fats. They are, in moderation, good for heart health and circulation.

Diets in general are always about balance. If you use moderation when consuming your meals, you will be able to ensure that you will not ingest too much of one food energy source!

Can You Eat This Holiday Season and Not Gain Weight?

Is it actually conceivable to get through the holiday season without gaining ten pounds? It does seem virtually impossible doesn't it? The cookies, the gravy, the meats, the breads the list goes on and on. Your family members will be stuffing you every second of the week this holiday season and it is your responsibility to eat with caution!

Being that I have worked in a gym in my past, people always ask me questions on how to stay fit during the holidays. It seems to be one of those things that people just gain weight and put up with it versus actually aiming to prevent it from happening in the first place. So it is possible to have an enjoyable holiday season and not gain? Yes, it actually can happen. The first tip I like to share with people is to watch what you are consuming the week of your big holiday feast. If you know you will be eating very heavy on a Friday, then perhaps on Wednesday through Thursday you can make some very light food choices. Have a salad for lunch, cereal for breakfast and baked chicken for dinner, things like this. That way, your body is already going down the scale before the big feasting day arrives, working with you not against you. I know, it seems like a challenge with all the Christmas cookies spread about your home and even inside your work office, but you can do it just for one or two days to really enjoy that big meal you have been craving!

That same week leading up to your meal, watch what you consume in drinks. I cannot stress this enough, people do not realize how many calories they are consuming each day on drinks. That fancy coffee you love at Starbucks...probably a cool three to four hundred calories. Sodas, even fruit juices can be very high in caloric content. Drink water instead as much as possible and brewed teas, or light soft drinks with zero calories. It is worth the sacrifice and you will feel even more energized after the second day of not having your body consume so much sugar and caffeine. Always get smaller portions the day of the big feast, you do not need a fist full portion of gravy, taste in smaller increments then you can more! Do not eat the skin if you can enjoy it without it. Turkeys and such tend to have fatty skins on them, this can help avoid excess calories. Have a healthy snack before you leave your house. Sounds silly, but a handful of carrots or a bowl of cold cereal can help you maintain your weight during the holidays.

3 Key Elements To Losing Weight

Anytime you are looking to lose weight, whether you are in the market for losing ten pounds or one hundred pounds, you must fully comprehend how the body operates when it needs to lose weight. You must have three key principals to any great weight loss outline. Determination is first, without it you are going to be faced with temptations and not follow through with your goals. Second is a successful diet plan, and third is an exercise routine.

Determination must be addressed, as many people fail to be fully committed before they jump head first into their weight loss plan. Determination not just to steer clear of those fattening food temptations, but to push yourself to make smart decisions in your fitness and diet plan on a daily basis. Food is nothing but an emotional crutch that millions of people suffer from. They either eat too often, or they do not eat enough. Both examples of people are destroying their bodies from inside out. When you eat too much you do much more damage than gain a few extra pounds you may not have wanted. Your joints suffer and so does your energy level. Not eating enough is dangerous in that it can potentially starve your body of healthy nutrients it craves each day.

The diet plan is an important key as you truly are what you eat. If you are feeding your body healthy proteins and whole grains, it will result in a strong and lean physique. When you constantly eat junk foods, your immunity becomes much weaker and you lose out on having plenty of energy to last all day long. Building muscle is crucial, it does not necessarily have to be huge muscle growth as in a bodybuilder, but every person needs to have enough muscle to provide strength to lessen the need to strain your joints as well as to burn fat. The more muscle you possess on your frame, the quicker your body burns fat. One easy rule is to look up how many calories your body will need when you get to your goal weight. If you weigh 150lbs currently, and you wish to eventually weigh 130lbs, then you must eat the calories for that person at 130 pounds. If you can create some form of deficit with your caloric intake each day, you will most definitely lose the weight.

Exercise is vital for losing weight, you have to move your body to get rid of those pounds. Do you have to go join a gym tomorrow and go every single day for the rest of your life? Absolutely not, in fact there are endless exercises you can do right at home and for free. Finding activities that you enjoy doing is very important to sticking with your fitness plan. If you continue on a path of fitness at least three times per week, consume a healthy diet and stick with your initial determination you had when you began the weight loss journey, you will see result and much faster than you ever expected.

How Healthy Watermelon Can Be

Are all fruits the same? Do they not all provide good nutrition and help keep your body healthy? Certainly all fruits are better choices to consume over snack foods or fatty ones, but some are certainly more superior than others. Nutrition is watermelon for example should be looked into if you are seeking a delicious food to aide in your weight loss journey.

Watermelon is a very popular choice for fruit salads and barbeque foods around the world as well as a common favorite among children. What some people do not know is that it is also a very smart option for anyone trying to lose weight. It is fulfilling and most importantly it keeps you busy while you are eating it. One of the best tricks to staying trim is to always eat foods that take you awhile to eat or ones that have the ability to hold your attention for longer periods of time. When you eat pretzels for example it takes awhile to eat them, you must chew them up for minutes just to digest them and the longer you take to eat your foods the longer you take to digest them allowing your stomach to get full by consuming less amounts of food.

The nutrition of watermelon is pretty good compared to other foods. It contains no fat which is great and is a great source of Vitamins A and C. Watermelon also contains fiber and carbohydrates which your body needs to use a main fuel source for energy during the day. It does contain sugar in each slice of watermelon, but the sugar that is consumed in fruits is a more natural form of sugar and if consumed sparingly you will not fall off your dieting at all. In fact, watermelon is so useful when dieting because it actually works as a diuretic and helps aide in better digestion and helps keep your bowels on a more regular schedule as well. For a great breakfast, you can indulge in a few slices of watermelon and some cottage cheese to receive a good source of protein and carbohydrates that you need each day to keep you going strong. At lunchtime you can combine your nutritional watermelon along with a sandwich or yogurt for a fulfilling lunch that is very low in calories. It is very affordable to enjoy watermelon and in most cities you can find it all spring and summer long when it is ripe and in season. There is nothing easier than enjoying foods you love when they are providing a healthy additive to your life. use watermelon all year round if you can locate it in your local grocery store as a fresh snack.

Weight Loss Programs?

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If you're like a lot of women in America today, you are looking for a way to lose weight. Some of us are looking to lose a quick ten to slip into a fancy dress for a party next Saturday, while others are trying to get back to the weight we were in high school. Some are seeking to lose the twenty pounds they gained with their last pregnancy, while still others have a significantly larger amount of weight to lose. Whether you're trying to lose weight for the sake of your looks or for the sake of your health, it's not an easy thing to do. It helps to choose a program that is flexible to fit your particular needs, but also has a high success rate. I was trying to find something I could keep to without having to spend a lot of money. A good friend pointed me toward this helpful review:

Medifast

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I used to work at an independent weight loss clinic. The program worked for people who did everything right, but it wasn't easy at all. Of course, not many effective weight loss plans are, but some fit more easily into our daily lives than others. It also cost quite a bit more than Medifast does. Jenny Craig works for some people, but you can only buy the meals at Jenny Craig centers. The fact that you can order Medifast's meals online and have them delivered to your door is very convenient, especially for those of us who are always busy.

A big part of any weight loss program is caloric intake and portion control. Being from the South, I was taught to 'clean my plate' before leaving the table. When you're at Grandma's house and she serves huge helpings of everything, portion control can be a problem.

To be effective, a weight loss plan needs to be able to be adapted to fit a person's daily life during and after the program's use. This is why products such as Slim-Fast and the various 'diet shakes' I see advertised on TV don't work well; in order to be able to lose weight and keep it off, you need to make changes to your lifestyle and eating patterns over a long period of time. Otherwise, you're just going to go back to your old habits and gain back everything you lost. Medifast has a good maintenance program that can help you implement the changes necessary to keep the weight off after you transition from the meals the program gives you to 'normal food'.

I also like that Medifast has several specialized programs. One of my friends is a vegetarian and had a hard time finding a program that would accommodate her. Some of the other specialized programs are for nursing mothers, diabetics, people with gout, and people who have had weight-loss surgery.

I hope you find a weight-loss plan that works well and helps you make healthy food choices in the long run. Good luck!

How Junk Food Is Effecting Your Health

What you eat can quickly transform your health in a negative or positive manner. You can choose to consume only foods that are healthy for you and the end result will be a more improved you with less excess weight on your frame and a happier body image of yourself as well. If you elect to consume the junk foods, you will be neglecting your body of crucial nutrients and vitamins that it needs on a daily basis to survive.

Eating junk foods can seriously harm your health by making your bones weaker and causing you to gain weight among other things. Your bones require calcium and protein to stat strong and same theory applies to your joints as well. Eating junk foods will result in more injuries and it will also result in losing your mobility much faster than if you were to consume healthy foods. By choosing to put foods into your body that are considered junk in that they would contain higher amounts of sugar and fat, you are instantly asking to have a slew of health problems. Weight gain would be the first that you would notice and following suit would be poor blood circulation. When you have poor blood circulation due to a bad choice in diet you will develop high cholesterol and even diabetes.

Anytime you are consuming foods that are high in sugar you can develop diabetes by combining those eating habits with a lack of exercise and once you enter your forties and up, you are running an increased chance of developing the ailment. High cholesterol comes into play by not engaging in exercise as well, but it is mostly an ailment that targets people who do not have the best eating habits. This may be in the form of eating foods that are higher in fat versus ones that are higher in sugar, but both can definitely result in high cholesterol. Once you have the high cholesterol you must be placed on medications or and change your diet drastically until you get your cholesterol levels at a safer number. Your heart does not enjoy when you consume junk foods and your organs in the stomach area do not either. Your pancreas and liver are not fond of junk foods and will simply begin to not work as well as they once did after a repetitive schedule of not eating healthy. They must work twice as hard to break down those junk foods to digest them and you can end up having to endure some form of corrective surgery down the road such as removing your gull bladder or having any complications with your liver, kidneys or pancreas. Instead, begin to change the way you eat by exchanging all of those late night junk foods and replacing them with healthy options such as fruits and vegetables. This will begin to reverse some of those damages already done to your body and get you feeling better with increased energy just within the first few days!

Keep A Food Journal For Weight Loss

Are you looking to lose weight, but aren't sure of how to begin? Have you had problems losing weight in the past? One thing that can help tremendously in losing weight is keeping a food journal. Yes, writing down everything you eat might seem tedious at first, but you will see very quickly that it is worth the effort.

First, start making the food journal *before* you start your weight loss plan.  Not only does it make you more aware of exactly what it is you are putting in your body, it gives you a 'visual' to help you decide what changes to make as time goes on. If you utilize the food journal correctly you will write down every snack, drink and meal that you consume each day for about one week. By doing this you can then begin to create your weight loss plan going forward. Take the week that you worth down all of your foods and add the calories up for each day. Next, go onto to free calorie weight chart and see how close you were to the amount of calories you need to maintain your current weight. If you are way over that amount then you know what you need to do to lose the weight. If you are under then look closely at the foods you were eating. Were they high in fat or sugar? How many servings of vegetables and fruits did you consume during the week? Look closely at the food choices you were making and in most cases you will notice there are many poor food choices that you will need to change.

Next, you must begin your new weight loss food plan and map out the entire week or weeks ahead of you with which meals and snacks you will be eating. Track your progress in your food journal and write everything down, even the times when you may cheat off of your diet and they can be very crucial. When you write it all down you are not only receiving the benefits of learning exactly how many calories you are consuming each day, but you are also noticing a pattern as far as which times of the day you are more prone to stray from your diet and when you need to play close attention to having the right foods in the house to avoid those occurrences in the near future. You will continue the food entries into your journal for quite some time after you have reached your weight loss goals to track your progression and to also look into any changes you may need make for the future. You will also receive other benefits by keeping a food journal such as which foods may be making you sick and which foods result in giving you more energy during the day and which ones make you tired as well.

Healthy Grocery Shopping

When trying to shop for the most nutrition-intense foods, the very best place to look at your supermarket is along the perimeter of the aisles. If you do a lap around your grocery, and buy foods from only the outsides of the aisles, you will have no choice but to select the best options! The freshest foods, from fruits, to meats, to vegetables, to dairy, to grains, can typically be found there.

As you enter the supermarket, the first thing you will typically see are the fruits and veggies section. Far too many Americans zip past this section without giving it appropriate attention. Fruits and vegetables actually contain essential vitamins and minerals that your body requires on a daily basis. These vitamins and minerals will not only keep your body sustained healthy for short-term purposes, they also help protect your body from serious chronic illnesses such as heart disease, strokes, and even cancer. Mother even made it easy on you to give your body the best array of nutrients from fruits and veggies by assigning different colors to all of her delicious natural treats! It is said that you will get the best combination of these nutrients by choosing fruits and vegetables of different colors. Mother nature sure did her part in making it easy to try and keep you healthy!

After your cart is glowing with all of the fresh colors of nature, you begin to continue your grocery shopping, still along the perimeter of the grocery store. Next up, you stumble upon the meat section. The meat section includes seafood, fish, chicken, and beef. All of these foods supply a very healthy amount of protein into your daily diet. These foods are fresh; they are not packaged meat that are bubble-wrapped and infused with preservatives to have a longer shelf-life, nor are they infused with extreme amounts of sodium to keep their taste appealing. Fresh cut meat will have the best taste and the best healthy benefits because their nutrients haven’t been lost in the processing process.

After you add your favorite cuts of meat to your cart, you keep walking until you hit the dairy section. Here, you stock up on calcium infusing products, like milk, yogurt, cheese, eggs, etc. Eggs are quite possibly the most important purchase you make and they are also the best bang for your buck! An 18 pack of eggs will typically run at $1 per carton. Who would of thought eating healthy could be so cheap? Sure, egg yolks may cause some issues if you have cholesterol problems, but if you remove the yolks and eat the egg whites, you’re looking at numerous healthy meals for just $1!

Grains are typically found close to your dairy section. These include your whole grain breads, your corn tortillas, and specialty breads. Grains are a great source of carbohydrates which just so happens to be your body’s #1 energy source. So don’t skimp out on the grains to follow all of the “low-carb” fads. They are actually your body’s favorite form of energy!

Is It Possible To Achieve A Great Body Naturally?

While the focus continues to remain on millions of people men and women, young and old trying to achieve a perfect body image, the issue to obtain that look naturally can be the biggest challenge. Many men and women are turning to performance enhancing drugs and to over the counter diet drugs to stay in tip top shape. While some of these may be safe alternatives to give you that boost that mother nature simply did not, some of them can be very dangerous.

Everyone now knows the dangers using steroids can have on the body and on the mind, so there is no need to get into that subject, but what about all of the other pills and supplement drinks that many think are completely safe when they actually are not at all. Women fall prey to taking water weight reduction pills, they take diet pills and they tend ot have very dangerous eating habits that can seriously harm them. The question remains, can you actually build muscle and get a great fit and trim body naturally? The answer to this is an astounding yes! There are three components to getting that perfect body you are looking for naturally and they are getting enough rest, eating the proper foods and getting enough exercise. It is really that simple, the first is one of the most important which is getting enough sleep. When you lack in sleep, your workouts to follow the next day will be less productive and you also have a tendency to eat more calories after you have not slept well. Eating the right foods, you will need to drink enough water each day and always have a healthy diet of proteins and healthy carbohydrate choices to get the body that you want. When you eat junk foods your body simply does not know what to do with them, it takes longer to digest them and of course, they result in putting weight on your body. What you need to possess is enough self discipline to actually continue to eat the right foods on a regular basis and also to continue pushing yourself to get in those workouts. Once you begin to make the choices for meals and snacks that are great for getting into shape such as lean meats and good side options such as brown rice and fresh vegetables, your body will fall right into place with your workouts and the muscles crave that kind of food. Make exercise a weekly activity, use weight training as well as cardio exercises to get the most out of your fitness plans. The results will come much quicker if you incorporate all three components of good rest, good diet and plenty of exercise to get to your fitness goals and once you get there it will be much easier to maintain your figure from that point on. Stick to your plans, and realize that the goal can be obtained naturally with some determination and encouragement to have that body you always wanted.