THE CAUSES OF EXCESSIVE WEIGHT

If you eat more nutrients containing energy than you need for your daily activities, for the internal processes of your body, and for the burning process that maintains the body temperature, the excessive nutrients can be transformed to fat and stored in the fat depots in your body. The causes of this occururing, and thus of overweight, are one or more of these factors

1. Consuming too much fat Fat is the most energy-rich nutrient, and over-consume will cause the eccessive fat consumed to be deposited in the body.

2. Consuming too much sugar, starch or other carbohydrates Carbohydrats are also important energy sources. Over-consume of carbohydrates will cause the eccess to be converted to fat and stored in the body.

3 Consuming too much alchohol Also this substance contains energy, and eccessive consume results in fat stored in your body.

4 Consuming too much of preprocessed products with added, and often hidden fat or sugar, like sweet beverages, cakes, ice-cream, fast food and snacks.

5. Eating too much alltogeather Perhaps your food is not fat- or sugar-laden, but you simply eat too much alltogeather. Also protein will be converted to fat if it is overconsumed.

6. Irregular eating, like eating much at one time, little at another time, wait long between some meals, cunsuming huge doses of sugar at some times, no sugar at other times If you eat irregularly, you can get an uncontrollable appetite, a swinging blood sugar level, and an abnormal physiology that makes you deposit fat in your body.

7. A still sitting life with little exercise so that you burn little fat and sugar.

8. Boredom in your daily life If you do not have much hobbies, or leasure activities, or isolate yourself from other people, you may suffer form boredom, and eccessive eating may be your way of getting entertainment.

9. The body has some capacity of burning some extra amount of sugar or fat. This capacity may be decreased because of lack of vitamins and minerals, and because of an unsound diet.

10. An abnormal appetite that urges you to eat far more than you need This abnormal appetite may originate from psychological causes, an onsound diet or lack of exercise.

AANALYZE YOUR OBESITY PROBLEMS

Before beginning your weight reduction program, go through every possible obesity causing factor listed above, to find out what factors contribute to your over-weight problem. Go down to details. For example If you find you consume too much sugar, find out the exact food types contributing to your eccessive sugar consume. Write everything down.

MAKE A PLAN

With the performed analysis in hand, make a plan for your weigh reduction. Decide a goal for your weight. Decide one or more measures for each component contributing to your problem. Write down your plan.

HOW TO REDUCE WEIGHT

In order to successfully loose weight, you must attack every component you have found to be a causing factor of your obesity problem. Here are the concrete mesures you can use, and put into your plan

1. Eat less fat

If you eat much fat, you must reduce the daily intake of fat, to do so

Choose fat poor fish, fat poor meatbeef, chicken, turkey, mushrooms and other food sources with law fat content as the main components for dishes.

Cut away visible fat from meat or other food sources.

Do not add much margarine, butter or oil to your food.

When you fry something, try to use as little fatty smear in the pan as possible.

2. Eat less sugar

If you eat much sugar, reduce your daily inntake of free sugar, or bounded sugar as in flour, potatoes and the like

Do not add much sugar to your food.

You may also need to consume less bread, potatoes, peas and beens, if you eat very much of it, but do not stop eating these kinds of food, since they contain valuable nutrients. However, use bread made of full corn.

3. Avoid eccessive alcohol consume

Alcohol contains energy, and will be transformed to fat, if you consume too much of it.

4. Avoid preprocessed food with added and often hidden fat or sugar

Some food contains a great amount of hidden fat or sugar, espesially fast food, snacks or preprocessed food.

Therefore you should avoid eating much of products like cakes, sweet drinks, snacks, choclate, icecream or fast-food.

You should also buy all the food you use in a natural form, and make your dishes yourself. Then you achieve an absolute controle over the amount of fat and suger in your dishes

5. Eat less alltogeather, but do not starve yourself

Having reduced the amount of sugar and fat from your diet, you may fall to the temptation of eating more than before, beacuse the new composition of your food does not satisfy your hunger. You should be aware of, and avoid this trap.

When trying to loose weight, you should reduce the total amount of the food you eat.

However, you should not starve yourself. To starve will only make you tired and sick, and then make you interrupt your efforts to get slim.

6. Eat regularly

Regular eating habits will give you a stable blood sugar level, help you control your appetite and normalize your fat burning physiology.

You should eat three or four meals each day.

Each meal should contain the same moderate amount of sugar and fat.

Each meal should contain some protein sources like fish, meat, eggs, mushrooms or proteine-rich seeds, and in every means be as nutritionally complete as possible.

7. Increase your daily physical activity

Physical activity increases fat burning and will help you control your appetite.

Do some daily exercises of a kind that increases energy consumption Jogging, cycling, swimming, ball play, skiing, and so on.

Do also som exercises to increase your muscular volume, since muscles will burn fat, for example weight lifting.

8. Find some new hobby or interest

If you find yourself some new hobby or leasure activity, you will avoid boredom and the temptation to over-eat because you are bored. Try also to do interesting activities together with other people. The new activities will also give you less time to only sit eating.

9. Eat healthy food to increase your fat burning capacity

It is not possible to loose weight without sticking to the above mentioned basic fat reduction principles, but you will also benefit from applying some measures that will increase your ability to passivly burn fat

Eat as natural food as possible, avoid food that has been heavily cooked, heavily fried or chemically processed. Natural food has its content of protein, vitamines minerals and anti-oxydants intact, and these are necessary for the fat burning abilities.

Eat some raw fruit and vegatables to each meal, since these contain vitamins, minerals and anti-oxydants you need.

You may benefit from supplements of vitamins, minerals, herbs, anti-oxydants, as these will make your body more capable of burning fat.

The little fat you use in your diet, should come from sources like olive, peanuts, canola, fish, nuts, sun-flower, etc. Then you will get a good balance between mono-unsaturated fat olive, canola, peanuts, poly-unsaturated fat of the omaga-3-type fish and poly-unsaturated fat of the omega-6-type sunflower.

Consume whole cereals or bread made from whole unrefined cereals.

There are also natural products on the market you can use to increase your break down and burning of fat.

10. Bring your appetite under controle

Many of the measures allready listed, will also help you to controle your appetite. If this still is difficult, this problem may be attacked by specific means

You can use some medicines to reduce appetite for some time or to reduce the uptake of fat or carbohydrates in your inestines. There are both natural medicines based on herbs, vitamins and minerals and pharmachological products to achieve this.

Daily meditation can help to relaxe your mind and gain controle.

Psychological counseling may be necessary.

11. The ratio between fat and sugar in your diet

The total mount of fat and carbohydrates combined, is a key factor in causing obesity, not fat alone or carbohydrates alone. In some weight loosing regimes, one eats very little carbohydrates, and fairly much fat. In others one eats fairly much carbohydrates, and very little fat. The proponents of each type of regime claim that their approach helps the body to burn fat better.

Probably people are different, and react differently when trying to manipulate the diet in these ways. As a first approach, it is probably not wise to try such extreme approaches. However, if you have brought your eating habits under controle, and still not achieved a satisfactory result, you can try to manipulate the fatcarbohydrate ratio to see if this will help. But do not stop consuming fat alltogeather. You will allways need some essential fatty acids in your diet.

CARRYING OUT YOUR PLAN

Having made your plan for your weight reduction, the time has come to carry it out. After each week, go through the points in your plan, and evaluate how well you did. Also check your weight. Write down for every point in your plan how well you did.

The following are questions that Yoga teachers still need to answer, despite overwhelming evidence that Yoga is the mother of all health maintenance systems. Mainstream thought is finally catching up, with the progress Yoga is making, but it has taken 5,000 years for us to get this far.

Seriously, How Can Yoga Make You Lose Weight?

Finally, some of the Yoga and Weight Loss studies have come in, and even, a little bit of Yoga is much better, than none, for weight control, but there are a number of reasons why. Yoga is a lifestyle change that includes a safe diet; exercise, adjusting posture, breathing, and a whole lot more. Most of the
Yoga practitioners, I know, consume more water, eat more moderately, and take more care of their bodies, in comparison to the many who dont want to leave the couch.

Arent you supposed to jump up and down for at least a half-hour per day to exercise enough to lose weight?

Maybe the masses have been brain washed into thinking that you have to feel the pain, suffer, starve, and have a near death experience, to lose weight. Depending upon your size, the average person, in a moderate Hatha yoga class, is burning in the neighborhood of 200 calories per hour. There are Vinyasa Yoga classes, that will burn more calories, with much more flowing and active movement. Just remember, that your safety is top priority, and you will be fine.

There are also Yoga classes where you can feel the pain, heat, and suffer.
This is great for those who feel the need to pay for their sins. Maybe this is considered penance, for years of consuming excessive pizza, burgers, and buffets. If you feel you must suffer, you may even find a Yoga teacher who missed his or her calling as an interrogator.

If you search hard enough, you will find a Yoga class for every niche. More moderate Yoga classes look easy on the outside of the class, but I have seen many people find them to be a challenge, on the inside of the class. The real benefit of steady Yoga practice is training for longevity. Long-term practice will yield optimum health benefits in mind, body, and spirit.

Couldnt you just invent a Yoga pill?

This has been the ultimate dream of couch potatoes, but every time a weight loss pill comes out, there is a down side. Just look at the health problems that resulted from fen phen and ephedra. This should wake people up, but someone will always put their life at risk, no matter how many warning labels are printed.

In summary, the benefits of Yoga practice have always existed, through steady and safe practice. Seek out a safe teacher and go from there. Never push yourself to the point of strain. Moderation is key, so it is wise to avoid extremes.

In comparison to many forms of exercise, the benefits of Chair Yoga far outweigh the risks. The therapeutic exercises work the body, from head to toes, to the best of any clients ability.

Therefore, the method used, addresses the whole body in a single routine.
This is an amazing feat, for a low-impact exercise program, where the average session lasts 45 to 60 minutes. The following information will highlight some of the many benefits of regular participation in a Chair Yoga
class.

Increased circulation is a result of movement and every body part that can move is used in a typical Chair Yoga class. For many of us, we think of cardiovascular heath first, and this is right fully so, but Chair Yoga helps many other forms of circulation, within the body, as well.

To sit still for days on end, we invite diseases of many kinds. Diabetics need movement to keep sugar levels in tolerance zones. Chair Yoga also has routines for the feet, toes, hands, and fingers, so there is no part of the body left out. Due to this whole body approach, the immune system is also stimulated by regularly attending Chair Yoga classes.

The many movements, bending, and twisting, in a regular Chair Yoga session, stimulate the elimination of toxins, within the body. Every time you bend the waist in one direction or another, the stomach aids in digestion and the lower back is gently stimulated.

Now, back to cardiovascular benefits – There seems to be a lot of confusion about what is classified as aerobic exercise. One of the definitions for aerobic exercise is Any exercise that would increase circulatory and respiratory ability. When the heart and lungs have to work harder to keep up with the body’s need for oxygen that is aerobic.

In fact, gardening and housework are also aerobic exercise that most seniors routinely do. This is not to say that gardening and housework are complete health maintenance systems, but they do burn over 200 calories per hour, for the average person, and meet the aerobic definition.

Much of this mentality stems from the No pain No gain era. Most of the original advocates of this theory are now nursing their own wounds and practicing gentler forms of exercise. After all, none of us are immortal, and the body can only take so much abuse over time.

May I remind anyone, who is left standing, from the No pain No gain era, that walking is also classified as aerobic exercise. So, whether you walk or run a mile, aerobic benefits are gained and significant calories are burned.

We have all heard the saying, Rome wasnt built in a day. Those words are extremely profound, when thinking about correcting poor posture and alignment. It takes years to create poor alignment.

Therefore, poor posture cannot be corrected in a single day. A more appropriate saying, when thinking about posture and alignment might be, The leaning tower of Pisa cannot become straight in a week.

However, improvements to posture can be made through Chair Yoga exercises and through daily posture awareness. In my classes, I refer to posture awareness as homework. It usually draws a chuckle from students, but they also know that class time is the time to learn and practice Chair Yoga together.

Time away from the Yoga class is when you put the principles you have learned, in motion, and adapt them into your lifestyle. I cannot promise Chair
Yoga is a cure all, but you will see improvements in every aspect of your life. However, practicing your homework separates the fantastic success stories from those who see some modest improvement.

So, what is posture awareness? This is taking the time to be aware of your posture, on a daily basis. The first thing you want to do in order to open your awareness is look at your side profile in a mirror and any photographs of yourself. At this point, look at your spine from top to bottom.

Do you see slumping, forward tilting of the neck, or extra large curves? Your spine should be aligned so that it is fairly straight at all times. During a number of daily activities such as Standing, walking, reading, eating, sitting, lying, typing, and more, you should make a conscious effort, to keep your head and back straight.

Now, we can all remember a schoolteacher who preached, Keep your back straight, but now we know that he or she was absolutely correct. Take the time to adjust your spinal alignment, from this moment on, and every time you can remember to do so.

If possible, you should also attend any workshops about Chiropractic and
Orthopedic medicine. Educate yourself about your body, your spine, and your choices. You can usually find these workshops and many more valuable meetings at your local senior center. These workshops are usually free, you are under no obligation, and it makes for a good Fact finding mission.

The alignment and posture principles, you learn in a Chair Yoga class, can be as simple as, Pain or no pain.

Chakra awakening is highly a debatable topic, with two distinctly different schools of thought. The answer could be, Yes or No, depending upon which school of thought you are trained in.

Firstly, let’s cover the side that would say, Yes to helping you share the experience of Chakra awakening. There is no shortage of detailed information, made available by enlightened Yoga enthusiasts like Anodea Judith.

Anodea Judith has made a Chakra balancing kit available, which gives a tour of the seven main Chakra system, detailed exercises, meditations, a workbook, and the path to Chakra awakening. She also has more books available, confers with other enlightened Yoga enthusiasts, and teaches workshops on this very subject.

There are many other books and CD’s on this subject by a variety of knowledgeable authors and enlightened Yoga practitioners. All of this information is easy for the public to “get their hands on.” So, here is a school of thought that believes this information should be shared and has gone out of its way to mass produce this information.

On the other hand, some Yoga teachers do not want the negative and positive qualities, within each Chakra, to be casually explored by students, without a competent Yoga teacher present. This is with the student’s safety in mind.

Furthermore, the amount of previous Yoga experience a student has is a factor in being able to control emotions, such as fear, lust, anger, and depression that can come boiling to the surface as a result of a Chakra awakening.

When, or if, a student is ready for Chakra awakening, should be determined by the teacher; this is not for every student. Some students put pressure on themselves, which may lead to anxiety, causing negative qualities of the Chakras to surface, during an awakening.

In summary One of the results of steady Yoga training is that we can get a better handle on our emotions than most. We also realize that we are not enlightened or perfect all the time. If you want to experience Chakra awakening with an enlightened Yoga enthusiast, you should seek out a competent Yoga teacher, who is willing to help you.

You could also get similar guidance from a Reiki teacher or Reiki master. Reiki teachers are very familiar with the Chakra system and very helpful. If it is not possible to work with a Reiki master, and you have been regularly practicing Yoga for at least two years, the Chakra balancing kit, I mentioned above, gives you step-by-step guidance toward awakening the Chakras.

Lastly, this is not a race, and please don’t put pressure on yourself toward self-perfection.

From the word go, the Football season seems provide a plethora of reasons to eat badly. It starts near Labor Day, and goes right on past to New Years. Typically during this time of year our eating habits include foods and drinks that are so delicious, yet carry negative effects.
So I thought how could someone have a fun football holiday for the Ms. season, and still fit in their clothes that they wore during pre-season. Below are 10 that could possibly help you reach that goal they may seem like no brainers, but if you take heed you will survive another year without moving to the next waist size. Enjoy the season.

1. First things first, dont even think about dieting during the holiday season. That is, dont start a new diet. Your biggest goal during our most favorite season is to maintain your weight. This way you can partake in your favorite beverage and snacks without any guilt.
2. Another good way to avoid packin on the pudge is to stay seated, and far away from the food table.
3. Something simple and delicious. I would recommend bringing a light dip with either multigrain or wheat bread, so you have something that is somewhat healthy to munch on. There is a company I think it has the title of chef in its name that sells dips and breads that anyone can make, and are a healthy alternative to normal snacks. Just ask your wife, girlfriend, or any woman where you can find a beer bread mix.
4. The beverages tend to favorites for many during this time of year, so be wise in your selection. If you must have a mixed drink, try something like a clear liquor and diet soda, a light or ultra light beer, or a nice glass of wine. I know wine doesnt scream manly, but it is an alternative. Remember this shouldnt be painful, just well thought-out.
5. Good or bad, football games tend to be lengthy, use this to your advantage, and take part in the eating and drinking at a slow pace. The slower your intake, the better chance you will fit in those size 38s come spring time.
6. Chase the kids, or take a walk, whatever it is, make sure you keep up on some type of activity other than couch coaching, and channel surfing. Winter time is hard enough for many people with the cold and darkness, so some activity will help you gain or maintain physical and mental acuity.
7. Eat at home before you head to the football stadium, or over a buddies house. This should help prevent a complete submersion in to the food and drinks. Believe me when I tell you, you will feel much better knowing you dont have to drive home with your pants unbuttoned, either because of pressure or an untimely stomach pain.
8. Eat some chicken wings, not the entire chicken. I think thats clear, and best of all it applies to all food! And anyway, who wants to get stains all over their new Dallas Terrell Owens jersey.
9. If you have the chance to host a football game, stack the odds on your side by putting veggies, and light snacks out rather than the pizza and wings. I mean really, do we as men pay any attention to what we eat while we are watching a game. So long as the drinks are cold, and our food crunches, we are in heaven.
10. This rule applies all year long. Stay far and away from fast food joints. It may seem like a good idea while youre on your way to the game, but we all know its not filling, and its to exit.

Nanook
www.imaman.com