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. . . Natural Choices for Good Health!
| While eating less and exercising more are generally useful, there's more to it than that! Here are some factors that are typically overlooked. Emotional issues can be critical, and the season and your blood type can both make a difference. Vitamin pills can make you hungry. A fat-free diet causes your body to store fat, and adding fat to your diet can make you lose weight! |
| Other Factors | Why "No Fat" makes No Sense | Ephedra-free Diet Aids |
Other FactorsSome people can just pick a diet and stick with it until they lose weight. But for most of us, especially women, it's a bit more complicated than that. (As a rule, it is harder for women to lose weight than men because we are biologically designed to put on a chunk of weight quickly and efficiently when we are pregnant, and to lose it slowly, gradually, when we are nursing a child.)I believe there are two main reasons, and several smaller ones, why dieting doesn't work for most people. First of all, you have to have a strong commitment and be emotionally ready to lose the weight. Why are the extra pounds there in the first place? There are often genetic tendencies, sometimes medical problems or medications, or maybe poor eating habits. But it is intimately affected by your entire life. If you have a major change in your life or give up an addiction like smoking, you may find yourself turning to food, usually junk food, for comfort. This may be extreme when giving up cigarettes, since they are filled with sugar! (That's one reason why they're so hard to quit--they are a double addiction: tobacco and sugar.) Giving up alcohol is much the same. Our bodies and our self images are so emotionally charged. Some people cannot lose weight until they improve their self-image, others until they take control of their lives. Some people hold onto weight in specific areas to psychologically protect that part, like the heart or the sex organs. That weight will not go away until they no longer feel so vulnerable. I've seen many people diet and diet, with little or no results. Then, all of a sudden, they lose weight. Invariably, something changed in their lives, either a change in lifestyle or a change in attitude. Secondly, no matter how strong your emotional commitment to losing weight, you can't stick with a diet that isn't right for your body. There is a huge movement towards eliminating much of our meat from our diets, and becoming mostly, or strictly vegetarian. So many people feel better, lose weight, and look better following some form of vegetarian diet. On the other hand, high-protein diets have become quite popular lately. So many people feel better, lose weight, and look better cutting way back on carbohydrates and eating nuts and seeds, eggs, fish, or meat at every meal. Which is "right", or better? That depends on your body, and quite possibly, your blood-type (see below). You may have an idea and are slowly moving that direction. Often it's wise to change your diet gently, and therefore more permanently, over a period of time. However, a quick test might be more useful, and save you years of a new diet only to discover it's not making you healthy! Before you gradually adjust to one of those extreme options, why not test it out? Try it 100% the way the experts recommend, no cheating at all, just for 2 or 3 days. See how you feel. If you are not sure, try taking the other one to the extreme, also for 2 or 3 days. It's a very short term commitment–you don't have to throw away all your favorite foods and buy new ones. You can try it during the week if you work and are less likely to cheat away from home, or you can try it over a weekend if you are concerned about adverse effects messing up your work, or your parenting. Of course, if you feel worse immediately, end the test right away. If you might feel a bit better, extend the test until you feel a measurable difference. Then, if you feel you ought to throw away all your favorite foods and buy new ones, it's much easier to be motivated to do so if you are feeling healthy and strong. In his "Eat Right 4 Your Type" book (see right column), Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo demonstrates that different blood types evolved at different times, and with different diets. His theory is that therefore each person feels healthiest, loses excess weight, and avoid many ailments by eating according to blood type. Although the complete diet recommended for each blood type is rather extreme, and terribly limited, I think the overall concept definitely has some merit. Another issue--once in a while a vitamin pill can make you feel hungry because it is out of proportion with the rest of your dietary intake. If you consider the balance in nature of vitamins and minerals versus proteins and carbohydrates, taking a high dosage of vitamin pills may make you feel hungry since the body is trying to get enough protein and carbohydrates to go with the vitamins. Even though I think we need more nutrients than we currently get in food from our rather depleted soil, I also have concerns about the concentration of vitamins, and often artificial ones, in pills. People react so differently to each type of pill, that if you take multiple vitamins, I recommend that you periodically rotate them, trying different brands until you find one, or preferably two, that suit you at this time in your life (it may change). Lastly, we are affected by the seasons. As much as we like to think of ourselves as somehow above being affected by our environment like the rest of the creatures on earth, our bodies are genetically pre-disposed to respond somewhat to the change in seasons. So don't be too hard on yourself if you put on a few extra pounds around the holidays--your body will tend to naturally put on some extra weight at that time. You will tend to lose weight more easily in the spring or early summer, so plan an aggressive weight loss program then, and either avoid dieting in the fall/early winter, or take it very slowly and be patient with yourself. Why "No Fat" makes No SenseWe are not static, nor are we containers, we are dynamic systems.In a container, the number of grams of fat that you put in is the amount that you now have. But the amount of fat you put in your body does not equal the amount of fat that remains, or at least it should not. Our bodies are designed to utilize the fat, not just store it. However, if you eat a mostly fat-free diet, your body becomes so starved for fat that it will probably hold onto every bit that comes in, and you will probably crave it all the time. Some fat is necessary for life. Healthy Fats Essential Fatty Acids are just that, acids in fats that are essential for life and health. Healthy fats are critical for proper brain functioning, to lubricate your joints, and to keep you warm in cold weather, among other things. These fats are not processed or hydrogenated. Ideally, your fats should have both Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, which act as a checks and balances system. Omega 6 is necessary when you are cut, causing your blood to clot so you don't bleed to death. Omega 3 reduces harmful clotting and the risk of heart disease. A hundred years ago, the livestock industry changed their feed and the vegetable oil industry began to hydrogenate the oils, both of which reduced the Omega 3s in our American diet. With more Omega 6s than Omega 3s, we have more heart disease. So, we need to include in our diets fats from either fish, many beans (like Northern, kidney, soy and navy), or to supplementing with oils like flaxseed. You can even buy products like Total EFA that have a good balance of the Omegas. These oils should not be used in high temperatures, like frying, but can be used for baking, or mixed in soups, salads, cooked cereal, etc. (If you use them instead of butter in hot cereal, I like to add a dash of salt.) Because these healthy fats are well utilized by the body, they are less fattening than other fats, and can even help you lose weight. Hydrogenated Oils Hydrogen molecules are bonded with an oil to give it a more butter-like texture. Because it is altered, many bodies are not able to utilize the oil for the critical functions that fats play in the body. And even though margarine has less fat than butter, they've finally proved that since less fat is utilized and more is stored, the end result is that margarine is more fattening. And what about the extra hydrogen in our digestive system? I don't know for certain if it harms the body, but I do know that what we don't know would fill a lot more books than what we do know. Ephedra-free Diet AidsIdeally, having a healthy diet and lifestyle should be enough, but sometimes we need a little extra help. That's where all the diet pills come in. I'm not a big fan of pills, especially if they make you feel artificially full or mask the hunger sensations--I think that type of tricking the body or tuning out its signals is part of what got us overweight in the first place. It seems best to me to to work with the body, not against it.Here is a line of products that supports your whole body, improving digestion and elimination, aiding in fat utilization, and improving your energy and sense of well-being. Click here for GlycoLEAN Lean Body System Please support this site and buy from our links. |
 You Can Heal Your Life
"New York Times Bestseller! As featured on "Oprah" and "Donahue!" Over 3 Million copies sold worldwide! Louise L. Hay, bestselling author, is an internationally known leader in the self-help field. Her key message is: "If we are willing to do the mental work, almost anything can be healed." The author has a great deal of experience and firsthand information to share about healing, including how she cured herself after being diagnosed with cancer."
One of my all-time favorite books, she looks at food from every angle: physical, chemical, social, even spiritual. She offers surprising insights into the benefits and failings of most food philosophies, including the Standard American Diet. She gives you the tools to adjust your food for your body's needs at any given time, and to heal many imbalances that create illness.
I recommend this book for it's fascinating concept of diet relating to blood type, but read it with a huge grain of salt. I think the main concept has a lot of merit, But, in my opinion, he gets carried away with labeling each and every food good or bad for each type.
"The American public has been brainwashed with a great big fat lie...that, in my opinion, has resulted in widespread harm to the overall health of our nation... Contrary to what most of us have been taught to believe (that eating fat will make you fat), dietary supplementation with an essential fatty acid has actually demonstrated significant reduction in body weight and fat by stimulating the oxidation of fat." This book documents what so many health practitioners have been discovering! |
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