Things You Can Do Today To Boost Weight Loss

There are always little things we can do on a daily basis that add up to a larger result when it comes to weight loss or
enhancing our health.

Most people suffer from diseases and battle the bulge because they take their body for granted.

For example, if you want to buy an expensive luxury car, you will check your budget, try and get your finances together, 
prioritize expenses, contemplate if you should buy it in an economic slowdown, or wait for later,
and based on all of this you would decide whether you should buy it or not. This may because we value money,
we realize it's importance, it scares us to think of how it would be if we had less money/wealth.We ask ourselves is it
a need /want /desire and all this drives us to make the decision

When it comes to our eating habits, we tend to take our body for granted. We eat that extra pizza slice, smoke those extra cigarettes, 
because in most cases we'l wake up to a new day. We will console our minds and sub conscious that it's ok to eat wrong, because it
makes us feel better, and the oh so famous line ' Life is too short' we should enjoy it. We procrastinate working out or starting to eat healthy, 
because we have the gift of time and the possibility of the next day.
The process we use as described above to buy that luxury car, should be applied to our own health and our body.


Here are a few, simple and in-expensive things we can do today to enhance our health and lose fat.

1) Start your day with lemon water. Add a dash of cinnamon.

2) Fill up 3 bottles of water and make sure you finish them before bed time.

3) Keep your coffee and tea intake to not more than 2 cups and try replacing sugar with
jaggery or stevia or pure honey, or simply reduce the quantity of sugar added.

4) Serve yourself 1 tablespoon less of food at each meal. This adds up to a large amount of calories by the weekend and by end of month.
You can lose fat just y doing this.

5) Drink a glass of water before every meal so you do not confuse thirst with hunger.

6) Eat slow, shew your food, stop eating when you are full.

7) Keep your dinner extremely light and keep a gap of atleast 2.5 to 3 hours between dinner and sleep.

8) Avoid snacking post dinner

9) Don't drink aerated drinks.

10) if you eat junk, try and drink lemon water with cinnamon immediately post that, or even just lemon water.

11) 2-3 fruits a day plus raw or lightly steamed veggies will boost cellular health. Try juicing. Its a great way to get a lot of nutrition in one mug.

12) Practice gratitude. When you realize that you can do nothing in life without your health, you will begin to realize that you should invest in your health.
When you realize how miserable one feels when sick, you will then value your good health.

13) Don't let the weighing scale weigh you down emotionally.

14) Don't cave in with pressure from society.There are more important things in life than just your physique or figure. Your cellular health is one of them.
If you have friends that make you feel you are fat,and that ends up with you feeling
sad and depressed, they are not your friends, change them.

15) A 30 minute workout is just 2% of your day. If you can't find that 2%, you are doing it wrong. Organize your day better and prioritize your health.

16) Breathe deeply, stretch daily and exercise, even if it's just 20 minutes, its better than doing nothing.

Combats Obesity, Triglycerides, Prevents Cancer and Other Diseases

Korean researchers reviewed the last ten years of curcumin ( turmeric spice) science as it applies to supporting weight loss and preventing obesity-related disease. 

Their conclusion is, “The modulation of several cellular transduction pathways by curcumin has recently been extended to elucidate the molecular basis for obesity and obesity-related metabolic diseases.

 These findings might enable novel phytochemical treatment strategies as well as curcumin translation to the clinical practice for the treatment and prevention of obesity-related chronic diseases. 

Furthermore, the relatively low cost, safety and proven efficacy of curcumin make it advisable to include curcumin as part of healthy diet.” 

Most recently, high-profile and mainstream cancer researchers at the MD Anderson Cancer Center have explained the extreme benefit of curcumin to prevent cancer and to help treat cancer.

 This benefit applies especially to types of cancer that are resistant to chemotherapy drugs. One of the authors of the cancer study, Bharat B. Aggarwal, has published a second study on curcumin and weight loss, “Targeting inflammation-induced obesity and metabolic diseases by curcumin and other nutraceuticals.”

The theme of the MD Anderson article is reflected in the following: “Obesity and metabolic syndrome are considered to be major public health crises not only in the United States but also globally…Americans spent as much as $34 billion out of pocket on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in 2007…

Extensive research within the past two decades has revealed that obesity, a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, cancer, and other chronic diseases, is a proinflammatory disease…Curcumin-induced alterations [in inflamed, overweight people] reverse insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and other symptoms linked to obesity….

Curcumin and the other spices have favorable effects against obesity and insulin resistance as well as against various complications resulting from these diseases.”

It is important for consumers to understand that the FDA is trying to help the failing pharmaceutical industry have marketing rights to high-quality curcumin that is currently available in dietary supplements. They want to take the exact same compound that is proven to be safe and effective and make it into a drug. I further explain this scheme in my article “The FDA’s Scheme to Reclassify Nutrients as Drugs.”

It is also worth noting that the MD Anderson Cancer Center does not publish “surface level” data. The information in their study on curcumin, which you can read in full by clicking on the above link, is detailed and accurate gene science showing curcumin’s influence on the precise molecular and genetic pathways, combating obesity and related diseases. 

Curcumin influences key hormones, supports major body organs, and regulates inflammatory signaling all in ways that help correct or prevent metabolic problems.

Curcumin helps lower inappropriately high levels of leptin (reducing leptin resistance) while boosting the all-important levels of the adiponectin (which lowers insulin resistance).

Curcumin helps activate the fat-burning gene signal PPAR gamma, which also helps to make more new, metabolically-fit fat cells.

Curcumin directly reduces major inflammatory events from occurring inside white adipose tissue (tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-6, and monocyte chemotactic protein-1). 

When these inflammatory signals are excessively activated in white adipose tissue they keep sending “911” messages to immune cells around your body to come to the white adipose tissue and join in the inflammatory party (like immune cells causing the swelling of a sprained ankle—in this case, sprained fat). By lowering such inflammation, the source of overweight-induced disease is stopped.

Curcumin acts directly on liver cells to help prevent them from becoming fatty. And it works directly on pancreatic beta cells to help them produce insulin normally. By helping the liver and the pancreas, curcumin is taking stress off the two most important organs whose function declines before the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Curcumin helps to lower triglycerides and dangerous small particle LDL cholesterol.

Curcumin lowers the core inflammatory gene signal, NF-kappaB , resulting in a beneficial domino effect throughout the body. One benefit of this domino effect is a direct reduction in the risk of cancer from overweight-induced inflammation.

If any drug on the market did any one of the above in a safe way, it would be a multi-billion dollar blockbuster. This study shows at least seven powerful ways that curcumin can help weight loss and prevent disease—without dangerous side effects. It is little wonder why the pharmaceutical industry wants control of this nutrient.

credits: Byron J. Richards, 

Board Certified Clinical Nutritionist

Are you Fat or just Bloated - Fight the Bloat

Ever stopped to figure out if you are fat or just bloated?
Struggling to fit into those skinny jeans or that new body hugging dress?

Disheartened cause you think you may never have that body to flaunt on the beach?

What if your not fat, and just bloated?

There's a huge difference between the two.

If you think your fat, and you are actually just bloated,you would probably be working out harder, 
getting onto diet plans and worrying crazy about how your clothes don't fit you.

Fat is accumulation of fat cells in your body, caused by improper diet, lack of physical activity, high stress
levels and insufficient sleep.

Bloating is caused by the accumulation of gasses in your small intestine and abdominal area.
Bloating is NOT water retention. Water retention happens in the feet, ankles, fingers and face.
The most common causes of bloating are -

Eating too fast.

Not chewing food.

Wrong food combinations.

Eating at different hours and keeping long gaps between meals.

If you are constipated.( extremely important point)

Allergies to wheat and lactose.

Junk and high sugar foods ( especially artificial sweeteners)

Lack of exercise

Excessive alcohol and combining alcohol with oil foods or foods rich in sodium.

Smoking

Low water intake

Weak digestive system

If your food does not digest well, bacteria in the small intestines produce gasses that can bloat you up like a balloon and
make you feel extremely uncomfortable.
Here are some easy to do remedies to fight the bloat and some foods that naturally help eliminate excess gas.

Bananas and potassium rich foods

Nuts - Unsalted almonds and pistachios

Asparagus

Mango

Do not chew gum or drink liquids quickly, as you take in a lot of air which also causes bloating

Do not talk while eating. You don't want to take in excess air.

If you tend to get bloated before and after your periods, take a 1000 - 1200mg calcium before and after for 2-3 days.

No aerated drinks.

Do not over eat or eat fast.

Low sodium diet. Chinese foods and packaged foods rich in sodium cause heavy bloating.( consume lemon water
post a heavy meal if you couldn't resist it)

Consume low fat yogurt or a probiotic to ease the bloat.

Exercise. A 30 minute walk will make you feel better for sure.

Sip on peppermint tea or even better, fresh ginger tea.

Freshly squeezed lemon water with a dash of pure cinnamon powder

Foods like kidney beans ( rajma) channa/garbanzo beans, lima, pinto beans are usually avoided by people, because
it makes them feel gassy.

These highly nutritious protein and fiber rich foods are great weight loss foods and it's true that they do cause gas,
but you can eliminate the same by soaking it in warm water and then cold for 24 hours and cooking the beans with some spice,
that negates the effect of gas formation ( hing, pepper, cumin, nutmeg, etc)

Do a deep dive into yourself and figure out if your lifestyle is the reason behind the bloat, and make appropriate changes

If you want that flat and toned tummy, you want to have a smooth and great digestive system running inside of you.

Why You Should Eat Dark Chocolate

We think of chocolate and we think of weight and fat. Maybe it's just
the opposite when this wonder food is eaten in moderation and used wisely
in a daily food plan.



Chocolate is made from plants, which means it contains many of the health
benefits of dark vegetables. These benefits are from flavonoids, which act
as antioxidants.


Antioxidants protect the body from aging caused by free radicals, which can
cause damage that leads to heart and other disease. Dark chocolate contains a large
number of antioxidants (nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries).
Flavonoids also help relax blood pressure through the production of nitric
oxide, and balance certain hormones in the body.


Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate:


Dark chocolate is good for your heart. A small bar of it everyday can help
keep your heart and cardiovascular system running well.



Lower Blood Pressure:


Studies have shown that consuming a small bar of dark chocolate everyday
can reduce blood pressure in individuals with high blood pressure.
Lower Cholesterol:


Dark chocolate has also been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad
cholesterol) by up to 10 percent.
it tastes good
it stimulates endorphin production, which gives a feeling of pleasure
it contains serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant
it contains theobromine, caffeine and other substances which are
stimulants.


According to Mayo Clinic.com, “When you eat enticing foods , such as dark
chocolate, your body releases trace amounts of mood and satisfaction
elevating hormones.”


Chocolate Tip 1 - Balance the Calories:


This information doesn't mean that you should eat a pound of chocolate a
day. Chocolate is still a high-calorie, high-fat food. Most of the studies
done used no more than 100 grams, or about 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate a
day to get the benefits. One bar of dark chocolate has around 400 calories.
If you eat half a bar of chocolate a day, you must balance those 200
calories by eating less of something else. Cut out other sweets or snacks
and replace them with chocolate to keep your total calories the same.


Chocolate Tip 2 - Taste the Chocolate:


Chocolate is a complex food with over 300 compounds and chemicals in each
bite. To really enjoy and appreciate chocolate, take the time to taste it.Eat it slow
and you will not over eat. We usually over eat when we eat fast.

\



Chocolate Tip 3 - Go for Dark Chocolate:


Dark chocolate has far more antioxidants than milk or white chocolate.
These other two chocolates cannot make any health claims. Dark chocolate
has 65 percent or higher cocoa content.


Chocolate Tip 4 - Skip the Nougat:


You should look for pure dark chocolate or dark chocolate with nuts, orange
peel or other flavorings. Avoid anything with caramel, nougat or other
fillings. These fillings are just adding sugar and fat which erase many of
the benefits you get from eating the chocolate.


Chocolate Tip 5 - Avoid Milk:


It may taste good but some research shows that washing your chocolate down
with a glass of milk could prevent the antioxidants being absorbed or used
by your body. (Sources: Chocolate Manufacturers Association; Journal of the
American Medical Association. )


There you go. You now have an idea for a healthy dessert at night. I would
recommend eating a piece of dark before bedtime, to keep your metabolism
working thru your sleep.


The higher the percentage of dark, the better it is for you. (64% and
above).


The next time you need to reach out for a comfort food ( emotional eating),
reach out for a piece or two of dark.

What To Do When You Over- Ate

It happens to the best of us. It's not uncommon to hear people say ' I ate too much', ' I'm stuffed', ( hints - to a friend who actually abuses after overeating)
and spiral down into an abyss of guilt and self blame.
When we over - eat we make our digestive system work in overdrive and the human body is not designed
to do that too often.

When we eat too fast, and don't chew our food, large chunks of food reach the stomach instead of getting broken
down in the mouth with our teeth.

Digestive systems struggle to break this down, giving rise to gas, excess air, discomfort and fat storage.

Mostly all fast eaters always eat more than their body requires. It's true that the stomach sends a signal to the brain 
when we are full, but that takes time, and fast eaters are usually done with their meal before that signal/hormone ( leptin)
reaches the brain.

Either ways, if this happens to you, or you found yourself piling up on food at that wedding/party/buffet, here are a few things you 
can do to make you feel better.

Hydrate:  Drink water. Better still, add some lemon to it. Excess food will make your body produce more acid, and you want to help your
body stay alkaline. Lemon water would do the trick or some salad sticks like cucumber, bell pepper, carrot.

Do not go straight to sleep: You want to sit upright for a while or be active to help your body digest effectively.

The Morning after:  Nope, it's not a pill, its what you need to do. Wake up to a glass or 2 of lemon water and try finishing a liter over the next 15 minutes.
This helps your body flush out toxins and boost your metabolism.

Be aware: What made you over eat. had you skipped meals and snacks through the day? Were you stressed? identifying a trigger will help you
better manage these bouts in the future.

Fennel seeds/sauf: Munch on a tablespoon of these magical seeds. It helps with digestion

Ginger tea: make yourself a warm cup of ginger tea. This never fails to soothe the digestive system

Calories:  Eat light and easy the next day. let your digestive system relax a bit post the night of onslaught. Have a lot of liquids, fresh fruits and vegetable.Stay low
on spicy food intake and eat every 3 hours.

Guilt: Don't beat yourself up too hard. Guilt produces stress and stress makes your body store fat. Regain control of yourself by accepting what you have already eaten and make the next choice a sensible one

Exercise/ Move:  You must exercise the next day or the same day to burn the extra calories and improve oxygen flow to your cells.

Lose Belly Fat -3 Natural Ways

Why the hype around belly fat?

Nature has this ingenious way of sending us signs when something is wrong with our health. If we pay attention and are aware, we know when we are about to fall sick, or develop a fever.

When you develop belly fat, your body is trying to tell you something.

 

• I have no more cells to store the extra fat that you are eating.
• I am unable to effectively break down fat
• I am getting resistant to insulin, hence the collection of fat around your belly
• My liver is toxic. I cannot perform my primary function of breaking down fat
• I am about to suffer from diabetes, cardio vascular disease, sleep apnea, obesity, high blood pressure, thyroid-ism, breathing problems, decrease in immunity
• I am too stressed
• You don’t give me sufficient sleep.
• You don’t feed me nutritious food.
• I can’t be stuffed anymore with food. Please eat less.
• I don’t get sufficient exercise.
• I’ve had enough of processed, packaged and sweet food.

Belly fat takes months and years to accumulate. Without discipline, a strong goal and will power, there is no way you can melt it off in a few weeks.

It requires a lifestyle shift, motivation from your family and friends and commitment from you.

Here are the only natural ways to melt off belly fat and keep it off for good.

Type of exercise
 Aerobics is essential and is the most important exercise system to knock off fat. Weights help to some extent, but it’s cardio that will do the trick. Intervals walking, running, swimming, kick boxing, calisthenics, Pilate's, power yoga that keeps the heart rate up for at least 30 minutes is good enough to get your body to burn fat. 6 out of 7 days consistently is what needs to be done.

 

- Processed and packaged food:  You want to stay of white sugar. Your fat cells thrive on sugar and soaks it up like a sponge, developing more fat cells and making you fatter.Packaged and processed foods contain high amounts of sugar and unhealthy fats. You need to be careful of the ‘low fat foods’ as well.These are high in sugar. I am a huge fan of going sugar free for 10 days once in a way, as you see the change in your body and fat % levels when you starve your body of sugar. Use jaggery,organic honey and snack on dry fruits to overcome sugar cravings. Increase your intake of complex carbs, fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes and lentils. Low carb diets fail to work and reduce belly fat. You want to eat smart carbs at the right time. At dinner, stay low card, because your body really doesn’t need carbs at night.

 - Managing Stress: When the body gets stressed a hormone called cortisol is produced. This hormone is one of the main contributors to belly fat and it also breaks down lean muscle mass resulting in a lower metabolism. Easier said than done, but you need to find ways to manage your stress. Deep breathing every 2 hours for 5 to 10 counts produces immediate results. Exercising, meditation, prayer, practicing gratitude, giving back to the community, taking one day at a time, knowing that nothing lasts forever, spending time with people that matter, planning and organizing your day, are some of the simplest ways to manage stress. Less than 7 hours of sleep is a negative stress on the body whether you feel it or not.

 - Overeating: We become fat and develop belly fat when we eat more than our body requires. Eat slowly and stop when full. When you are stressed, breathe deep instead of reaching out for comfort food. Practice this daily and over time it will become a part of you. By even serving you 1 tbsp less of food during mealtimes, will help burn belly fat.

Eat every 3 hours.
Dinners to be light
Minimum 2 hour gap between dinner and bed time
Drink water thru the day
Lemon is a natural detox food and makes the body alkaline. Use it daily.

Surround yourself with people who motivate you and support you to reach your goal.

Don’t succumb to peer and societal pressure to make unhealthy choices. People usually want you to indulge in their bad habits; because it makes them feel better that someone else is doing the same.

Stay strong and you get lean.

Take one day at a time. You fail today, you still have tomorrow. The trick is getting back on track the next day or the next meal.

Natural foods that turn your body into a natural fat burning machine:

Egg white

Beans: Black beans, kidney beans, broad beans. Include these in salads or in vegetable preparations or just boil them and eat them as a snack. You may feel a little gassy, but that’s just its natural digestion.

Oatmeal: You are already having this in your shake, so that’s good, you can even have an oat upma in the evening .Homemade oat cookies are also great fat burning snacks.

Olive oil: Carry this simple salad to office as a snack or have it at a mealtime. Tomato wedges with 1 tbsp of olive oil ( you may add any other salad leaves and vegetables too)

Whole grains

Brown rice: This is so much better than brown pasta. Have it with curries or even do lightly grilled fried rice with lots of veggies.

Peanut butter: Pure peanut butter with multi grain toast will turn your body into a fat burning furnace. Have up to a tablespoon of peanut butter a day, you can have two on work out days.

Nuts: Almonds, walnuts, peanuts, upto a handful a day will burn belly fat. Make sure they are unsalted.

Sunflower seeds: Add a tablespoon to your daily food plan. It is rich in Vitamin E and fires up the metabolism.

Spices and Herbal green tea brews

Breast Cancer And Mammograms - The Truth and Evil

These statistics can be scary when you read them.

It may drive you to make : 

Precautionary moves and changes in your lifestyle.

Rush to the nearest hospital and enroll yourself in a screening test ( which would probably be the worst decision that you could ever make in regards to your health)

Learn, understand, reason and share this knowledge with several others who may be at the risk of making the wrong decision.

According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, 200,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed each year in the US, making it three times more common than other gynecological cancers.

Breast cancer will claim the lives of over 40,000 people this year.
 

Even more disturbing is the speed at which breast cancer rates have risen over the past 5 decades.

In 1960, one in 20 women was diagnosed—but today, it is one in seven.

The following are some important facts about this type of cancer:

• Breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women age 40 to 55.
• 15 percent of all breast cancers occur in women under age 45; in this age group, breast cancers are more aggressive and have lower recovery rates.
• 80 percent of breast lumps are NON-cancerous.
• 70 percent of breast cancers are found through breast self-exams.
• About 80 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of breast cancer.
• 
  
• The Institute of Medicine is finally acknowledging the toxic effects of mammogram radiation as a significant factor in the development of breast cancer; just one mammogram can expose you to the radiation equivalent of 1,000 chest x-rays

•  Mammograms also carry an unacceptably high rate of false positives—up to six percent—which can lead to repeat screenings that expose you to even more radiation, as well as unnecessary medical procedures, including biopsies, surgery, and chemotherapy
•  
• A new study in the British Medical Journal highlights losses in quality of life related to the high rates of false positives and unnecessary treatment associated with breast cancer screening
•  
• Mammograms have been scientifically proven not to save women’s lives, and do not improve breast cancer survival rates over annual physical examination alone
•  
• Your immune system is your greatest weapon against breast cancer; research now shows that 30 percent of breast tumors go away on their own, because a healthy immune system is so adept at eradicating cancer

• Another concern is that mammograms carry an unacceptably high rate of false positives—up to six percent. False positives can lead to expensive repeat screenings, exposing you to even more radiation, and can sometimes result in unnecessary invasive procedures such as biopsies, surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. In fact, if you undergo breast screenings, you have a 35 percent increased risk of having surgery.If a mammogram detects an abnormal spot in your breast, the next step is typically a biopsy.So beware.

This involves taking a small amount of tissue from your breast, which is then looked at by a pathologist under a microscope to determine if cancer is present. These biopsies are notoriously inaccurate, often leading to misdiagnosis and unnecessary treatments, not to mention undue emotional stress.

Just thinking you may have breast cancer, when you really do not, focuses your mind on fear and the disease, and the stress is actually enough to trigger the illness.

In the next newsletter i will discuss some startling facts about cancer and how we can prevent it or heal better.

Till then, don't jump on the bandwagon for all these multiple packages offered by hospitals for cancer screenings and mammograms.

If you are making the right investment in your health and making a positive change in your lifestyle, just have faith, and everything will be ok. Worry and stress cause unnecessary problems and illness.

Always ask questions to your doctors. Do NOT do or opt for some procedure/treatment that does not make sense to you or does not offer logic to you, or is done because everyone else is doing it.

The human body is capable of cure and regeneration if you do the the right things for it.