Are you tired of diet tips handed out by someone with apparently unlimited income and time? For some of us, it may just not be practical to spend half of our Sunday preparing carefully portioned meals for the rest of the week, or financially feasible to buy all our meals prepackaged in just the right portions. And there are those of us who cringe at the thought of weighing food to achieve ‘optimal portion sizes’. Here are ten real life diet tips for the rest of us.

1. Eating out? Restaurant portions tend to be enormous, and if it’s on the plate, we tend to eat it. If it’s possible, order from the kids menu, where portions are more reasonably sized.

2. Keep healthy snacks around and easily accessible. A bowl of fruit on the kitchen table, a container of celery or carrot sticks in the refrigerator, or a couple of pop-open cans of fruit salad in your desk at work will help you grab for something healthy when those first hunger pains begin. In other words, you’ll be more likely to grab something low-calorie and good for you if it’s easy to eat.

3. Substitute frozen vegetables for canned. Canned veggies tend to be high in sodium, which you don’t need, and low in real nutrition, which you do. Buy economy size bags with zip closures to make it easy to pour out a single serving for a meal.

4. Buy a vegetable steamer. Steaming is one of the healthiest ways to cook vegetables. The food retains nearly all of its natural nutrients instead of leaching it out into the cooking water. Even better, it makes your veggies taste great – which means you’ll be more likely to eat them instead of filling up on fatty foods that pack on weight.

5. Never eat standing up. One of the easiest ways to sabotage your diet is to ‘eat without thinking’. Treat eating with the respect that it deserves. Fix yourself a plate. Sit down and eat properly. You’ll be less likely to just pop food into your mouth without paying attention.

6. Spread your meals out. When you eat three meals a day, your body tends to store whatever it doesn’t need right that moment. By adopting a ‘grazing’ habit, you’ll keep your metabolism working throughout the day. Have a small breakfast, a piece of fruit with crackers or toast at mid-morning, a light lunch and an ‘after school snack’ mid-afternoon. Just remember that you’re breaking up the same amount of food into smaller meals, not ADDING more food into your daily diet.

7. Grab a fruit juice or flavored water instead of soda. Soda is nothing but empty calories. No nutrients, lots of sugar. Instead, grab a bottle of 100 fruit juice, or water flavored with a spritz of fruit.

8. Drink water. Even the FDA recommends at least 8 full 8 ounce glasses of water a day to keep your body working right. When you’re dieting, you should drink even more. It’s not just that full feeling – water helps your body digest foods properly and cleans out your system.

9. Can’t afford a gym membership? Make a pact with friends to exercise together. Make a date at least three times a week to play volleyball, take a walk or spend half an hour doing something active.

10. Skip the potato chips. Fatty snacks fried in hydrogenated oil like potato chips contribute fat and calories and not much else. Instead, grab a handful of dried fruit or a cup of yogurt for the same amount of calories and a lot more nutritional benefit.

Do you know anyone who can’t consume milk or milk-based products? The condition is not uncommon and these people are classified as lactose intolerant.

Lactose is the main carbohydrate or sugar found in milk, and in varying quantities in dairy products made from milk including yoghurt, ice cream, soft cheeses and butter. Lactose milk sugar intolerance results from an inability to digest lactose in the small intestine.

Back in the cave-days, the only time a person would ever ingest lactose would be when they were infants getting milk from their mothers. During their adult lives milk was never consumed. Only with the invention of agriculture has milk become readily available to adults. Lactose is unique in that only in milk does it exist as a free form, unattached to other molecules.

What causes lactose intolerance?

Lactose is digested in the small intestine by an enzyme called lactase. This enzyme allows the body to break down the lactose into two simple sugars, glucose and galactose. These are quickly absorbed by the intestine and provide energy for the body. The level of the lactase enzyme varies between individuals, as does the severity of the symptoms caused by lactose intolerance.

What are the symptoms of lactose intolerance?

Symptoms range from milk abdominal discomfort, bloating and excessive wind to sever abdominal cramps and diarrhoea.

Substitutes for lactose-containing foods

Lactose intolerance generally isn’t serious and can be controlled by some simple changes in your diet. The dietary changes for lactose intolerance should include the exclusion of those foods highest in lactose. There is now a wide range of fresh soy milks, yoghurts and ice creams which are lactose free and calcium enriched. Many dairy foods actually have little or no lactose so you can continue to enjoy them.

The power of soy protein

Soy-based products are on the rise for very healthy reasons. The humble soybean boasts some extraordinary benefits. Lactose-free, soy protein is a “complete protein” which contains all 9 essential amino acids in the right balance to meet your body’s needs. Soy protein is the only plant protein that is complete. This makes it a great substitute for many meats, allowing you to eliminate more saturated fat and cholesterol from your diet.

While soybeans have much to offer from a protein perspective, it is because they contain so many nutrients, such as isoflavones, that they are now the centre of so much attention. Soy protein enhances the body’s ability to retain and better absorb calcium into the bones. Soy isoflavones help by slowing bone loss and inhibiting bone breakdown.

Lactose-Free Soy Recipes

There are an abundance of wonderful soy recipes that enable you to get all the benefits of soy….without the traditional soy flavour. Further information available at the link below.

We hear it all the timelose weight for your health. Few people however, realize the extent to which this is critical to their physical well-being and ultimately their life expectancy.

In January 2003, the Journal of the American Medical Association featured a study finding that obesity appears to lessen life expectancy, especially among young adults. The researchers compared Body-Mass Index BMI to longevity and found a correlation between premature death and higher BMIs. For example, a 20-year-old white male, 510 weighing 288 pounds with a BMI of greater than 40 was estimated to lose 13 years of his life as a result of obesity.Jamie McManus, M.D., F.A.A.F.P. and author of Your Personal Guide to Wellness notes that while this study referenced extreme levels of obesity, there are still millions of overweight people in developed countries with a life expectancy rate that is three to five years less than their healthy-weight counterparts. She also estimates that there are 600,000 obesity related deaths each year in America.

Just how does obesity shorten our lifespan? The answer to this question is complex, yet there is a clear link between obesity and the development of cancer. An extensive study conducted by the American Cancer Institute involving 750,000 people showed that obesity significantly increased the risk of cancer developing in the following organs breast, colon, ovaries, uterus, pancreas, kidneys and gallbladder.

Michael Thun, MD, vice-president of epidemiology and surveillance research for the American Cancer Society ACS says one reason obesity may raise cancer risk is because fat cells produce a form of estrogen called estradiol that promotes rapid division of cells, increasing chances of a random genetic error while cells are replicating, which can lead to cancer. In addition, fat centered around the abdomen may increase insulin and insulin-like growth factors in the blood, which may increase cancer risk.

“Women who are obese after menopause have a 50 higher relative risk of breast cancer,” notes Thun, “and obese men have a 40 higher relative risk of colon cancer. Gallbladder and endometrial cancer risks are five times higher for obese individuals.There is evidence that cancer rates in developed countries are increasing at 5 to 15 times faster than developing countries. A major contributor to this alarming reality has proven to be diet. In populations where the diet consists mostly of fresh fruit and vegetables and whole grains in contrast to the typical Western diet of fatty meats, refined flours, oils and sugars the risk of cancer is much lower.

The interaction of diet and the development of cancer is an active field of research and Dr David Heber, M.D., Ph.D. and author of What Color is Your Diet, says It appears that diet has its most significant effects after the cancer has already formed, acting to inhibit or stimulate the growth of that cancer. At the risk of oversimplifying a complex set of interactions, the typical Western diet that leads to obesity may actually act to stimulate the growth of cancer cells.It is never too late to improve your health through healthful eating and adopting a more health-giving lifestyle. Here are simple steps to follow which can make an immediate improvement to your health and vitality.

1. Check your Body Mass Index BMI to determine if weight has become health risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 60 of Americans are overweight, defined as having a BMI a ratio of height to weight over 25. Of those, nearly half 27 qualify as obese, with a body mass index of 30 or more. In 1980, just 15 of Americans were considered obese. You can check your BMI at the website below.

2. Match your diet to your bodys requirements. If you eat and drink more calories than your body requires you will put on weight. Learn to control calories and portion sizes, make recipes leaner, and eat infrequently from fast food restaurants. Also learn how to snack with healthful choices.

3. Color your diet with a large variety of colorful, cancer-fighting fruit and vegetables. There are seven different color ranges of both fruit and vegetables and by choosing between 5 to 9 daily serves from a wide range of fruit and vegetables, we are extending our consumption of cancer and other disease fighting nutrients.

4. Eat lean protein with every meal. Protein provides a powerful signal to the brain providing a longer sense of fullness. The right source of protein is essential to controlling your hunger with fewer calories and necessary to maintain your lean muscle mass. Choices of protein should be flavored soy shakes with fruit; the white meat of chicken and turkey, seafood such as shrimps, prawns scallops and lobster and ocean fish or vegetarians may prefer soy based meat substitutes.

5. Rev up your metabolism with activity. If you want to enjoy a lifetime of well-being, exercise is a key ingredient. Colleen Doyle, MS, RD, director of nutrition and physical activity for the American Cancer Society ACS, says adults should do something for 30 minutes each day that takes as much effort as a brisk walk. Children should be active for an hour each day. We are more likely to develop habits around things we enjoy, so seek activities which you enjoy doing. It is also helpful to build physical activity into your daily routine use the stairs instead of the escalator or lift at work, park your car in the parking bay furthest from the super marketing and dont use the remote control to change TV channels.

6. Get support to ensure you develop a healthful eating plan and reach your goal weight. Whilst a small percentage of people possess the discipline to lose weight, many obese people have developed strong thoughts and habits concerning the food they eat. In order to establish new habits, most people respond well to some form of consistent encouragement and coaching. A study, Effects of Internet Behavioral Counseling on Weight Loss in Adults at Risk of Type 2 Diabetes shows that participants who had the support of weight loss coaching lost more weight than those who didnt. The study concluded that the support of a weight loss coach can significantly improve weight loss results.

Being overweight or obese has been identified next to smoking, as the most preventable major risk to developing cancer. Even small weight losses have been shown to have beneficial health effects. So its never to late to start and you can never be too young or too old to be concerned about your health and do something about achieving a more healthy weight.

c 2003 Kim Beardsmore

Thousands of patient records had been reviewed and yielded an alarming discovery about a previously unknown risk associated with a popular weight loss operation Suicide in bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery is a complex surgical procedure concerned with causes, prevention and treatment of severe overweight known as obesity. Bariatric operations are major gastrointestinal procedures which alter the capacity andor the anatomy of the digestive system. In simple terms, the stomach is made smaller so as to speed up weight loss. Some bariatric procedures are performed using general anesthesia via a midline abdominal incision. Another method is to use laparoscopic surgical techniques, involving smaller instruments connected to cameras through which they view the operational site.
There are two types of bariatric surgeries
1.Restrictive – This type of surgical procedure simply reduces the size of the stomach, using staples andor a band, resulting in a drastic reduction in the quantity of food it can ingest.
2.Combined Restrictive and Malabsorptive This type of surgical procedure reduces stomach capacity and bypassing the upper part of the small intestine, causing a reduction in the number of calories and nutrients which the body absorbs.
In bariatric surgery, most studies show that the risk of dying is about 1, and complications strike up to 40 of obese patients. Aside from being overweight, these patients usually have health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease, that’s why it’s no wonder they also have higher death rates from natural causes.
However, nearly 17,000 weight-loss surgeries performed in Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2004 had been reviewed and the findings were startling. Out of the 440 deaths in the group, 16 were due to suicide or drug overdose, according to the University of Pittsburgh researchers who reviewed the data. About three cases of suicides should have occurred in the group based on the suicide rate in the general population, the study authors say. Even more disturbing is the fact that another 14 of the drug overdose cases that were reported are likely to include some suicides, suggesting that the real suicide rate was even higher. There is a substantial excess of suicide deaths, even excluding those listed only as drug overdose,’ the researchers noted.
The New England Journal of Medicine reported last August 2007 about a review of nearly 10,000 bariatric surgery patients by Utah researchers, who compared them to a control group of obese people who had applied for a state drivers license. Although these surgery patients had a 50 lower risk of dying from disease compared to obese people who hadnt undergone surgery, their risk of dying in an accident or suicide was 11.1 per 10,000 people. That statistics is 58 higher than the 6.4 per 10,000 rate in the obese group. The study revealed that the suicide risk was twice as high for surgery patients than for those who had not had surgery, though the finding wasnt statistically meaningful.
Experts are clueless as to why bariatric surgery patients seem to be at higher risk for killing themselves. Some research suggests a connection between obesity and depression, that is why the typical surgery patient may already be at higher risk for depression and suicide even before the operation. There is a great possibility that depressive symptoms may worsen in patients who have unrealistic expectations about the results of surgery, or who struggle not to regain weight after the procedure.
The Pennsylvania case review reveals that there is already a 7 percent death rate from suicide and drug overdose signals the need for better mental health follow-up for patients who have undergone weight-loss surgery. Although many weight-loss surgery programs require psychological evaluation prior to the procedure, most doctors seem lenient about making follow-ups after the surgery, as well as patients who prefer to disregard follow-up counseling.

Anybody can lose weight; its no big deal. You only have to be careful about the food you eat and to make more effort than you usually do. Dieting doesnt have to mean food deprivation and money spent on gym subscriptions. You can keep your body in shape with simple exercises that do not require gym equipment or professional advice and supervision. If youre also using a dietary supplement like ProShaperx, losing weight will be the simplest thing in the world.

A simple exercise that anybody can perform at home or the park is called Stair Sprinting. The name is pretty self explanatory. All you have to do is run up and down the stairs between several floors; the more floors, the better off youll be.

Its a good idea to start small, even if youre in a good physical condition. Run up and down four floors two times. First timers and overweight people are unlikely to manage more than two reps anyway. However, its no big deal if you cant do more than two reps in the beginning. Resistance to effort is built in time. Do the two reps every other day for two weeks.

After two weeks increase the number of reps to either three or four, depending on how you feel. If you can take four reps up and down four flights of stairs, then by all means do so. If you cant, then stick to three reps. As the weeks go by, you can add even more reps to your routine in order to increase your endurance and to really put the muscles to work.

This exercise is perfect for the legs and ass. Ladies and gents looking to build shapely asses and strong thighs ought to try stair sprinting. Having to carry your own weight up the stairs instead of flat terrain puts more stress on the muscles and helps the feet gain more endurance. However, be very careful when doing this exercise. Running up and down the stairs makes it very easy to trip or miss a step and splay an ankle. Even more serious injuries might happen if youre not careful enough.

For women to recover their health and fitness workout is the answer. If you feel that you are overweight or obese in this case there is no need to feel inferior by comparing with other as there are several women who have the similar crisis concerned to their weight. Numerous prefer to depend on diets to come in proper shape but they not succeed to consider that they are required to work on strength as well. There are numerous women who struggle with a range of diets devoid of attempting any exercise, and then these women guess why they are yet out of shape and cant appear to trim down any calories. It is noteworthy that one understands that at the moment is the exact time to start functioning on your health and fitness and also keep in mind that it doesnt have to be a tough one.

Being weighty is not a big deal there are different ways that one can start doing out workout. Yes, it is true that one cant conquer the ambition in the single day but it is possible to achieve it slow and steadily by moving towards it consistently. It is better to do something than not doing anything. And therefore some quantity of work out is healthier than not doing work out at all. Therefore start consulting your specific practitioner and let him recognize that you are in fact sincere about improving health and would like to be proceed in shape as soon as possible.

You will get the help from your general practitioner who will direct you to the right routine and exercises for you. He will suggest you with a number of diet suggestion in addition enthusiasm that will help improving you with your eating lifestyle. In spite of this, as an substitute of just distressing about your diet, you in actual fact require to focus on getting healthy and fit. This is one of the most fundamental decisions that a women will ever make when it comes to her health and fitness.

After consulting the trainer if a woman can come up with a excellent quality exercise program and if she is strictly following the program for at least 4 months, Without any doubt she will see some enormous betterments in her general health and fitness. By varying her eating habits or diet she can also improve her health as well. If one works on scheduled work out for at least three hours each week and plan to gobble only when badly hungry, she will discover that her cholesterol and her blood pressure levels will both get improved.
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