Search Weight Loss Topics:

Page 1,527«..1020..1,5261,5271,5281,529..1,5401,550..»

Home » Page 1527

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) People across the world made New Years resolutions to get into better shape, or just get healthier.

KMVT talked with Nate Silvester, a personal trainer at Golds Gym, about how to keep that goal and live a healthier, happier life.

Typically about March. Most people will make the resolution December, January, and they'll stick with it until about March or so, and we kind of see that taper off a little bit, Silvester said.

He also said it's all about perspective, when setting those fitness goals.

Breaking down your goals into monthly, weekly and daily goals would help you better track the progress you're making, Silvester said. "You take it day by and you say like you said, 'I'm going to go to the gym today,' and 'Im going to do resistance training for 45 minutes and then cardio for 30 minutes.' And if you can accomplish that goal daily, consistently over the course of weeks and months that will definitely help you reach that yearly goal.

It comes down to healthy eating and moderation.

It's important to preplan your meals and prep those meals in advance. Because when you do that, you know exactly the amount of calories and the amount of nutrients that are in those meals, Silvester said.

Silvester suggests being patient.

You see people, they'll have a weak moment. And they say, Well, I ruined it, you know, I ate this and now I feel guilty, and I ruined my progress, so I'm going to keep bingeing and keep indulging,'" he said. "You're going to have those little moments of failure, little setbacks. It's going to happen, it happens to everybody. So it's important to say OK, I did that, but now I'm going to get back on track, I'm going to stick with my healthy habits, or get back into my healthy habits.'"

Read the original:
Personal trainer: Create a plan, be patient to keep New Year's fitness goals - KMVT

Read More..

Bowflex

Every year you no doubt make a resolution to get in shape, lose some weight, tone up or dedicate some time each day to fitness. And every year, you probably put it off till spring, then summer, then decide you should wait until after the next season of whatever's hot on HBO. This year, finally engage your fitness goals head-on: Bowflex has a handful of one-day-only deals today only, New Year's Eve, that'll save you some cash while you upgrade to the equipment you need for your daily workout.

Ready to pump it up? Bowflex is offering discounts up to $250 on select models in the Bowflex Max lineup, and throwing in free shipping and a kettlebell to boot. Remember, though: These are valid today only -- from midnight Dec. 31 till the ball drops at midnight on Jan. 1, 2020.

The Bowflex Max Total is the top-of-the-line model in the Bowflex Max family. It's equipped with a touchscreen with access to personalized workouts as well as streaming video services like Netflix and Hulu. You can save $200 plus get a free kettlebell and free shipping when you use discount code SAVEBIG at checkout. This offer is valid on Dec. 31 only.

The M8 features dual-mode LCD/LED screens, multigrip dynamic handles, aerobars, 20 resistance levels and a premium media rack. The burn rate display is designed to motivate you by setting targets to help you achieve your goals -- short bursts of effort followed by longer periods of rest. You can get the M8 for $250 off, along with a free kettlebell and free shipping when you enter the discount code SAVEBIGat checkout. This offer is valid on Dec. 31 only.

An upgrade to the older Max Trainer M5, the Bowflex Max Trainer M6 also uses the popular Bowflex JRNY app. It features 16 levels of resistance and its burn rate display motivates you by setting targets to help you achieve your goals. You can get the M6 for $150 off, along with a free kettlebell and free shipping when you enter the discount codeSAVEBIGat checkout. This offer is valid on Dec. 31 only.

Now playing: Watch this: Bowflex Max Intelligence coaches you through your workout

1:22

CNET's Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on tech products and much more. For the latest deals and updates, follow the Cheapskateon FacebookandTwitter. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page, and find more great buys on the CNET Deals page.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

See the original post:
Keep your fitness resolution with today's New Year's Eve-only Bowflex deals - CNET

Read More..

It's tempting to try the latest diet fad to lose weight, but it turns out sticking with the basics remains the best way for a healthier 2020.

For the third year in a row, the Mediterranean diet is the No. 1 overall diet according to U.S. News & World Report 2020 Best Diets. It also ranked highly in several other categories, including easiest diets to follow, best diets for healthy eating, best diets for diabetes and best plant-based diets.

There are really no surprises, Angela Haupt, managing editor of health at U.S. News & World Report told, TODAY. We can fully expect that the same diets that perform well traditionally to perform well again this year and those are the diets that are safe, sensible, backed by sound science.

When it comes to best overall diets, the Flexitarian and DASH diets tied for second. DASH which was developed by the National Institutes of Health to lower blood pressure had ranked in the top spot in previous years because of its focus on vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy.

The Flexitarian diet also emphasizes eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains with less meat, though it doesnt advocate completely giving up meat like vegetarian or vegan diets. The Mediterranean diet relies on similar foods as the DASH diet, but encourages the consumption of healthy fats, such as olive or vegetable oils, and permits occasional alcoholic beverages.

We were excited to see that the Flexitarian diet tied for No. 2 for best diets overall for the first time, Haupt said. The experts (liked) its flexibility about the idea that more plant-based eating is better.

When it comes to commercial diets, WW, formerly Weight Watchers, ranks No. 1 followed by Jenny Craig and Nutritarian. The ketogenic diet, a moderate protein, high-fat, low-carb diet, remains very popular, but it only ranked well in one category: best fast weight-loss diet.

Trending stories,celebrity news and all the best of TODAY.

Our experts say, Yes, it works for fast weight loss. You will drop pounds in the short term if that is your goal, Haupt said. However, that doesn't translate to healthiness. Losing weight quickly does not mean you were doing it in a healthy manner and it certainly doesn't mean you can expect to keep those pounds off.

Regimens that provided benefits in addition to weight loss and maintenance ranked higher than those that did not. Research has shown the Mediterranean diet, for example, can add years to ones life and reduces the likelihood of developing some illnesses. The DASH diet helps lower blood pressure and the MIND diet, which tied for third in the easiest diets to follow, might bolster brain health.

The best diets may also have some other things going for them. They are easier to follow and incorporate some healthy eating habits and are value-added, Leslie Bonci, a nutritionist and owner of Active Eating Advice, told TODAY. Theyre helping us to live longer or for our brains to be healthier.

Well regarded diets also include foods rather than exclude them.

The Mediterranean diet is a really good example of the fact that dieting can taste good it doesn't have to mean bland or pre-packaged food, Haupt said. You're getting all those fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains and spices and herbs and olive oil.

Diets that eliminate a lot of food, such as the Dukan diet, keto and Whole 30, rank poorly in 35, 34 and 33 place, respectively overall. People struggle to adhere to so many rules.

(Restrictive diets are) difficult to follow, especially if they're cutting out an entire group of food, like no dairy, no wheat or to completely eliminate meat, Sarah Van Riet, a registered dietitian at University of Wisconsin Health, told TODAY.

Avoiding foods can cause health problems and bad behaviors, such as binge eating, she said.

The research shows that any sort of restrictive diets, Van Riet said, do not work and they actually cause harm.

Diets that rank highly are less of a quick fix and more of a lifestyle change.

Common sense is starting to prevail over nonsense, Bonci said. Consumers are starting to understand we want (eating habits) to last for the long haul.

Van Riet said that while the high ranking diets do include holistic modifications, a list may not help people understand truly how to eat.

I'm not sure that they're actually telling the average person much about healthy lifestyle, she said.

Still, she believes the list can provide somewhere to start for those who do not have access to a dietitian.

It's interesting to look at qualities of these different guidelines that overlap and learn a bit more about different dietary patterns, she noted.

View post:
What is the best diet for 2020? Mediterranean, Flexitarian and DASH top list - TODAY

Read More..

Diets are funny things. They arent just a way to lose or gain weight a diet is part of your life.

Eating is one of the fundamental human recreational activities, which means that food is family, food is friends, food is sharing, culture and life no matter where you go.

What this means is that we are often really passionate about what we eat. This goes doubly for diets. Nothing starts an online argument more quickly than saying a diet any diet isnt the best of them all.

Which brings us to intermittent fasting. And why it probably isnt any better than most other diets, even if it is a bit more popular.

Hopefully we all escape the comments section alive.

Intermittent fasting describes a range of diets that all follow the same basic idea you eat as much as you want in a certain time period, but spend some portion of your life fasting by either eating very few calories or nothing at all. Some examples are the popular 5:2 diet, where you eat normally 5 days a week and restrict yourself to very little food on the other 2, or the various time-restricted fasts like the 10:14 or 16:8, where you only eat during a set number of hours a day.

The basic idea is that fasting causes any number of changes in your body, and that doing this regularly doesnt just help you restrict calories but actually modifies how your body works to make you healthier. Theres some research in mice and rats supporting this, showing that intermittent fasting can have impacts beyond the fact that youre eating a bit less, although other studies have sometimes failed to replicate these results.

If we can say nothing else definitive about intermittent fasting diets, its that they are incredibly popular. Celebrities endorse them, online testimonials praise them, and intermittent fasting is in the news as least once a month as the miracle diet that will solve your weight problems forever. Most recently, a study supposedly showed that moderate intermittent fasting regimens can have massive benefits for your life!

Sadly, the reality seems to be a bit less positive than the optimistic headlines.

While these stories sound fantastic on paper, when you look at the evidence as a whole intermittent fasting doesnt seem to do much better than any other diet. Most individual studies on intermittent fasting are quite small, but if you do whats known as a systematic review and meta-analysis combining the results of every study out there in a systematic way the whole picture becomes a bit clearer.

In review after review, looking at a wide range of studies on the topic we get the same picture: intermittent fasting makes people lose weight, sure, but not more than any other diet. Some studies have found very modest benefits for other potential health hazards, like high cholesterol and blood pressure, but these results are very preliminary and not universal across trials. Theres currently no good, consistent evidence that intermittent fasting is better than bog-standard low-calorie diets for heart disease, diabetes or a range of health conditions. Its possible that intermittent fasting is better, but so far the evidence just isnt there.

Some of this is probably because intermittent fasting is such a blanket term. The 5:2 diet isnt really that similar to the 16:8 one, but theyre lumped in together for convenience, and because they rely on the same basic theory. Its possible that weve simply yet to discover the best way to fast, especially considering that these diets are rarely tested directly against one another.

It seems that intermittent fasting works it makes you lose weight, improves blood pressure, and can even help with diabetes. The flipside is that it doesnt work any better than any other diet you can either restrict calories by cutting out a meal a day, or just making all of your meals smaller, for example. Theres also some evidence that intermittent eating patterns are associated with the development of eating disorders, although its not clear if this is just an association or whether the fasting might be causing psychological issues.

It can also be pretty hard to follow an intermittent fasting diet, because as I said food is more than just fuel. Skipping food entirely is easy until its your childs birthday party, or a religious festival, or theres a pop-up food event prominently featuring Korean fried chicken and luxury gelato.

Ultimately, intermittent fasting may seem like a silver bullet, but the evidence indicates that its really just one of many potentially effective dietary options.

As Ive said before, the best diet is usually the one that works for you.

Read more from the original source:
Intermittent fasting is incredibly popular. But is it any better than other diets? - The Guardian

Read More..

A new study in rats suggests that caffeine may offset some of the negative effects of an obesogenic diet by reducing the storage of lipids in fat cells and limiting weight gain and the production of triglycerides.

Rats that consumed the caffeine extracted from mate tea gained 16% less weight and accumulated 22% less body fat than rats that consumed decaffeinated mate tea, scientists at the University of Illinois found in a new study.

The effects were similar with both synthetic caffeine and that extracted from coffee.

Considering the findings, mate tea and caffeine can be considered anti-obesity agents.

Mate tea is an herbal beverage rich in phytochemicals, flavonoids and amino acids thats consumed as a stimulant by people in southeastern Latin American countries. The amount of caffeine per serving in mate tea ranges from 65-130 milligrams, compared with 30-300 milligrams of caffeine in a cup of brewed coffee, according to the study.

For four weeks, the rats in the study ate a diet that contained 40% fat, 45% carbohydrate and 15% protein. They also ingested one of the forms of caffeine in an amount equivalent to that of a human who drinks four cups of coffee daily.

At the end of the four-week period, the percentage of lean body mass in the various groups of rats differed significantly. The rats that ingested caffeine from mate tea, coffee or synthetic sources accumulated less body fat than rats in the other groups.

In a study of rats, University of Illinois scientists found that caffeine limited weight gain and cholesterol production, despite a diet that was high in fat and sugar. Co-authors of the study included, from left, nutritional sciences professor Manabu T. Nakamura; Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia, director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences; and animal sciences professor Jan E. Novakofski. Credit: Fred Zwicky

The study, published recently in the Journal of Functional Foods, adds to a growing body of research that suggests mate tea may help fight obesity in addition to providing other beneficial health effects associated with the phenolic compounds, vitamins, and flavonoids it contains.

Considering the findings, mate tea and caffeine can be considered anti-obesity agents, said Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia, a co-author of the study and director of the division of nutritional sciences at the University of Illinois. The results of this research could be scaled to humans to understand the roles of mate tea and caffeine as potential strategies to prevent overweight and obesity, as well as the subsequent metabolic disorders associated with these conditions.

In the rats, the accumulation of lipids in the adipocytes was significantly associated with greater body weight gain and increased body fat, according to the study.

The consumption of caffeine from mate or from other sources alleviated the negative impact of a high-fat, high-sucrose diet on body composition due to the modulation of certain lipogenic enzymes in both adipose tissue and the liver.

To determine the mechanism of action, the scientists performed cell culture studies in which they exposed adipose cells from mice to synthetic caffeine or the coffee or mate caffeine extracts. They found that regardless of its source, caffeine decreased the accumulation of lipids in adipose cells by 20%-41%.

The scientists also tracked the expression of several genes associated with obesity and lipid metabolism. These included the fatty acid synthase gene (Fasn), an enzyme compound involved in the synthesis of fatty acids from glucose; and the lipoprotein lipase gene (Lpl), which codes for an enzyme that breaks down triglycerides.

All of the caffeine treatments, regardless of origin, significantly downregulated the expression of both Fasn and Lpl. In the cell cultures, Fasn expression diminished by 31%-39%, while Lpl expression decreased by 51%-69% among cells treated with synthetic caffeine or the caffeine from mate tea or coffee, they found.

In the rats that consumed the mate tea caffeine, expression of Fasn decreased by 39% in their fat tissue and by 37% in their livers, the researchers found.

The decreased expression of Fasn and two other genes in the liver evoked lower production of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides in the liver as well, according to the study.

The consumption of caffeine from mate or from other sources alleviated the negative impact of a high-fat, high-sucrose diet on body composition due to the modulation of certain lipogenic enzymes in both adipose tissue and the liver, de Mejia said. The decreased expression of Fasn and Lpl brought about lower synthesis and accumulation of triglycerides in the adipose tissue.

Reference: Caffeine, but not other phytochemicals, in mate tea (Ilex paraguariensis St. Hilaire) attenuates high-fat-high-sucrose-diet-driven lipogenesis and body fat accumulation by Fatima J. Zapata, Miguel Rebollo-Hernanz, Jan E. Novakofski, Manabu T. Nakamura and Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia, 1 November 2019, Journal of Functional Foods.DOI: 10.1016/j.jff.2019.103646

Then-graduate student Fatima J. Zapata was the lead author of the study, which was co-written by graduate student Miguel Rebollo-Hernanz, animal sciences professor Jan E. Novakofski and nutritional sciences professor Manabu T. Nakamura.

The work was funded by the University of Illinois Division of Nutritional Sciences.

More:
Caffeine May Be the Way to Offset Health Risks of High in Fat, Sugar Diets - SciTechDaily

Read More..

It's a matter of debate for both researchers and advocates of diets that ostensibly echo the meal plans of our ancestors: When did humans start eating starchy carbs?

Charred remains of roasted rhizomes, found in a cave in South Africa, suggest it was at least 50,000 years earlier than previous archaeological evidence indicated.

Today, plant-derived carbs account for more than half of the modern human diet worldwide. There are genetic clues that suggest this shift to a starchier diet happened around 300,000 years ago. That's when models show an uptick in genes that make digesting starch easier.

But archaeological evidence to support that hypothesis has been sparse. (Let's face it: if you hunt, kill and eat an animal, you're going to leave bones and other easily preserved bits behind. If your meal was a potato, not so much.)

Just last May, researchers working at a site along South Africa's southern coast announced the discovery of charred remains of a tuber dating to about 120,000 years ago. At the time, it was the oldest evidence of humans cooking starchy plants.

Now, however, a separate team, working in the country's northeast, has described post-cookout remnants of rhizomes that are at least 170,000 years old. Examples of modern rhizomes that may be part of your diet include ginger and turmeric. Like tubers and other plants broadly known as geophytes, rhizomes store starch in swollen underground organs.

Some geophytes are edible raw, though others can be toxic or virtually undigestible. Roasting and other cooking methods improve just about all of them, even the non-toxic varieties, by boosting general digestibility and glucose availability (for energy). Cooking them also makes peeling and chewing them easier.

Roasting rhizomes and other starchy plant material also makes finding evidence of them, tens of thousands of years later, much more likely.

Authors of the new research note that, had the plants been eaten raw, it's unlikely any sign of them would have been preserved in the archaeological record. Something to keep in mind when you hear claims that ancient humans skipped eating starchy plants.

The multiple specimens found in the ancient hearth appear to belong to the genus Hypoxis, flowering plants that include H. hemerocallidea, also known as the African potato. Researchers believe the ancient rhizomes they analyzed may belong to H. angustifolia, a species found today in much of sub-Saharan Africa and also the southern Arabian Peninsula.

According to the authors, H. angustifolia would have been a reliable, year-round food source for hunter-gatherer groups moving across the ancient Southern African landscape. The rhizome provides about 120 calories per 3.5 ounces and, note the researchers, the relative ease of digging them up could have provided an entire day's caloric needs in about two hours.

The roasted rhizome research appears today in Science.

Follow this link:
Humans Roasted Starchy Carbs 170000 Years Ago - Discover Magazine

Read More..

The quest to lead a long and fulfilling life essentially involves finding ways to fend off the threat of developing chronic complications. Heart disease and obesity are major killers in the UK so taking measures to reduce your risk of falling into these unhealthy traps is essential to longevity. Diet plays a key role in protecting you against life-threatening complications and certain diets offer a host of health benefits.

Evidence shows that the vegan diet, for example, can help to counter the threat of deadly diseases.

As the NHS explains, a vegan diet contains only plant-based products such as vegetables, grains, nuts and fruits, and excludes foods that come from animals, including dairy products and eggs.

According to a large-scale analysis, one of the primary health benefits of sticking a plant-based diet is that it boosts heart health and lowers your risk of dying from a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular disease.

The findings, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, was based on an analysis of food intake information from more than 10,000 middle-aged U.S. adults who were monitored from 1987 through 2016 and did not have cardiovascular disease at the start of the study.

READ MORE:How to live longer: Five diet tips to prevent disease and boost life expectancy

The research, presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, suggested that a 16-week vegan diet can boost the gut microbes that are related to improvements in body weight, body composition and blood sugar control.

Gut microbiota play an important role in weight regulation, the development of metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes.

Commenting on their findings, the authors said: "A 16-week low-fat vegan dietary intervention induced changes in gut microbiota that were related to changes in weight, body composition and insulin sensitivity in overweight adults."

However, the authors acknowledge that further work is needed to isolate the effects of the vegan diet itself from that of the reduced calories.

The benefits of eating a vegan diet may extend to improved psychological wellbeing too, according to findings published in the BMJ.

To uncover the link, researchers analysed available evidence and found 11 relevant English language clinical trials, published between 1999 and 2017, comparing plant-based diets with other types of diet, and involved a total of 433 people in their mid-50s, on average.

Eight of the trials assessed the impact of a vegan diet and six included patients being given information on optimal nutrition to help them better understand the benefits of a plant based diet.

The results of a systematic analysis showed that quality of both physical and emotional health improved only in those patients on a plant based/vegan diet.

Similarly, depressive symptoms improved significantly only in these groups.

Exercising regularly can also ward off the threat posed by obesity and its associated risks.

As the NHS explains, having a healthy weight reduces your chances of developing high blood pressure - a precursor to life-threatening complications.

The health added: Regular exercise will make your heart and blood circulatory system more efficient, lower your cholesterol level, and also keep your blood pressure at a healthy level.

More here:
How to live longer: The popular diet proven to increase your longevity - Express

Read More..

January marks new beginnings. We make resolutions, start diets and vow to maintain exercise regimens. Its when we pull our lives together. But what to do when you have to kick your team into gear too? If you ask chef Kristen Thibeault, you start with what fuels them. Food.

What we do is really focused on health, says Thibeault. Its balanced with all your micros and brings you what you need on a daily basis. Thibeault founded Nybll, a food service company that caters healthy plant-based foods to CEOs and athletes, in 2015. The likes of Amazon and the San Francisco Giants hire Nybll to feed their people, which in turn makes them happier, healthier and more focused.

In the past decade, plant-based diets have risen in popularity. The lifestyle extends beyond models and health nuts. Its gone mainstream. Athletes have embraced it big time. Tom Brady popularized it with his teammates in New England, and in November 2019, Justin Coleman told Sports Illustrated that he credits his vegan diet for fewer injuries and quicker healing. Thibeault, who is also a cancer survivor, is an advocate.

Shes helped David Ortiz overhaul his pantry. The baseball star wanted to lose weight and go vegan. I got lucky and I got to cook for him, recalls Thibeault. She was already cooking for more than 20 clients on a regular basis, all plant-based. Then I went to culinary school to make it legit, she says. At the same time I studied nutrition. So I became a sports nutritionist, and now I just recently completed Stanfords nutritional science program to augment everything. When Four Seasons San Francisco wanted the brands first plant-focused restaurant in 2012, they contacted Thibeault.

The blond mother of two boys enjoys changing perceptions about plant-based eating. Her vegan sweetbreads are succulent seitan protein encrusted with crispy porcini mushrooms that double as a gateway dish. The night before we met, Thibeault had converted a burly crowd of Anaheim Ducks hockey players and their fans with her vegan sweetbreads at a tasting benefit. The dish also impressed the meat eaters when she won San Pellegrinos Almost Famous Chef Competition in Napa.

Everything is plant-based including all the butters and sauces we use, she says. Nyblls dishes consist of flavorful offerings such as Moroccan-style Japanese eggplant stuffed with ground soy sausage. A vegan roulade with wild rice and mushrooms served with broccoli rabe and a celeriac pure with truffle oil tastes like the best parts of Thanksgiving.

Understanding where and how our food is cultivated is important to Thibeault. I get the rice from a family friend in Minnesota, she says. And the morels come from someone who hand forages for me.

Nowadays, Thibeault, who recently moved to South County, is seeking a more balanced life with her husband, Keven, and sons Zander and Zacheo, along with their Italian mastiff, Lola. We belong to Monarch Beach Club and my boys love surfing, and thats where youll find me most sunny days, she says.

But she still leads a busy life. With Nybll offices in Oakland and Anaheim, she continues to heal communities with food. She formed The Patra Project, a 501(c)(3) that has served over 100,000 meals to families in need. The mission is to provide access to healthy food for underserved families in food deserts. Meaning, all the food waste from Nybll and other catering jobs are converted into nutritious meals for children at risk of going hungry. This is one way Thibeault plans to address our countrys serious food waste problem. Its another way to share the love and feed the soul. Couldnt we all use a second helping of that?

MY NEIGHBORHOOD: Capistrano Beach/Dana Point and Montclair in the Oakland Hills. (I divide my time managing businesses in L.A. and the Bay Area.)

MY SANCTUARY: My beach house.

WHERE ID LIKE TO MEET FOR LUNCH: Eve in Encinitas. A bit of a drive but well worth every mile. Their Truffle Shuffle Burger puts all other vegan burgers to shame. Seriously otherworldly.

RED OR WHITE? White. My latest obsession is no residual sugar vineyards like cult brand Scribes Chardonnay or Riesling. They consider it chuggable and so do I.

FAVORITE SHOW TO BINGE WATCH: With two energetic little boys, a growing business and a non profit to run, I honestly never watch TV. If I did, Id pick Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee or another Netflix comedy show.

WORST ADVICE: Stay in your lane. A professional kitchen is no place for a woman.

THE BOOK THAT CHANGED MY LIFE: As a Man Thinketh by James Allen.

ON MY NIGHTSTAND: Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by JoeDispenza.

PET PEEVE: Chefs bizarre obsession with pork belly.

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND I WOULD find every child in foster care a forever home.

THE THING I HOPE I NEVER FORGET: My Google password.

NO ONE KNOWS THAT I am a closet Korean karaoke diva.

MY MOTTO: Everything you want is on the other side of your comfort zone.

Here is the original post:
Up Close: Get to know the Nybll founder, chef and cancer survivor who promotes healing through plant-based diet - OCRegister

Read More..

Latest Prevention & Wellness News

Source: MedicineNet Health News

New Year's resolutions - which statistics show are overwhelmingly about improving health - are famously difficult to keep.

In 2019, 80% of survey respondents had failed to keep their resolutions even beyond Jan. 31, and just 8% reported they adhered to their resolutions all year, according to the consumer data clearinghouse Statista.

So how do you make it into that coveted 8% of lean, fit, non-smoking resolution keepers?

Experts at Harvard Medical School and the American Psychological Association (APA) said for the best chance of success, make your resolutions ambitious, but manageable. If you want to change a health behavior - and 6 of the top 12 resolutions nationwide have to do with diet, exercise, smoking or alcohol use - you should pick one bad habit at a time.

"Unhealthy behaviors develop over the course of time," states an APA article. "Thus, replacing unhealthy behaviors with healthy ones requires time. Don't get overwhelmed and think that you have to reassess everything in your life. Instead, work toward changing one thing at a time."

You can take those ambitious goals and break them down into smaller, manageable steps. The following are tips from our MedicineNet doctors to help you on your way to improved health in 2020.

Medical science has established that eating proper foods can influence health for all age groups, according to MedicineNet author Jerry R. Balentine, DO, FACEP. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's current dietary guidelines state the following:

Scientists have made major strides in understanding obesity and in improving the medication treatment of this important disease, Dr. Balentine said. In time, better, safer, and more effective obesity medications will be available.

But currently there is still no "magic cure" for obesity. The best and safest way to lose fat and keep it off, according to Dr. Balentine, is through a commitment to a lifelong process of proper diet and regular exercise. Medications should be considered helpful adjuncts to diet and exercise for patients whose health risk from obesity clearly outweigh the potential side effects of the medications.

Almost any of the commercial weight-loss programs can work, but only if they motivate you sufficiently to decrease the amount of calories you eat or increase the amount of calories you burn each day (or both).

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD and MedicineNet author, acknowledges adding exercise can be tough when you have a busy life. But five of the most popular and effective exercises can be done for free anywhere, without buying expensive gym memberships or bulky home equipment. Consistency is the real key.

"People can do all of these at home, at work, on vacation, or almost anywhere without any elaborate equipment, except for a good pair of gym shoes and a consistent will to reach your goals," he said.

Dr. Davis said to make sure you consult with your doctor before starting any exercise routine, especially if you have health conditions, are on medication, or have little experience with exercising.

Although smoking is a serious addiction, people can quit smoking. The following are facts and tips about smoking cessation to help you stub out that final butt, according to MedicineNet author Melissa Conrad Stppler, MD:

View post:
Experts: Successful New Year's Resolutions Should Be Ambitious, But Realistic - MedicineNet

Read More..

You want to lose weight. Learn to meditate. Get out of debt. Eat more leafy greens. Call your mom more often.

But youre afraid to really try, because of all the times youve tried before and failed. I meet plenty of people who refuse to make New Years resolutions for this reason: New Years resolutions can be a source of failure, year after year.

Research suggests that 88 percent of people have failed to stick to their resolutions to change. Frankly, that number seems low to me. Hasnt everyone failed to keep a resolution before? My guess is that the only people who havent failed at a New Years resolution havent tried.

We fail to change our habits because our human brains crave routine and resist change. But its very discouraging to try to do things differently, only to find ourselves falling back into old patterns.

Having failed in the past is stressfuland its even more stressful when we opt for self-flagellation in the face of our setbacks or lapses. We think that if were really hard on ourselves, well be less likely to make the same mistake again, or that well motivate ourselves towards better performance in the future. Admitting our failings does not need to come with commensurate self-criticism, however.

Why? Because self-criticism doesnt work. It doesnt actually motivate us. Instead, self-criticism is associated with reduced motivation and diminished future improvement.

Self-compassionbeing warm and supportive towards ourselves, and actively soothing ourselvesdoes help when we fall short of our intentions or our goals. It leads to less anxiety, less depression, and greater peace of mind. Most importantly, it makes us feel more motivated to make the improvements we need. Here are three steps to achieve your resolutions for change.

The first step to making lasting change is to forgive yourself for having failed in the past. Its okay; its normal, even. You did the best you could with the skills you had. Take a deep breath and soothe yourself like you might a good friend: Use kind, reassuring words to ease yourself out of a stress response. Remind yourself that few people are successful the first time they try to change their routines. Explain to your good-friend-self that feeling bad about your behavior will not increase your future success.

Why do we so often fail at our attempts to change?

One reason is that we tend to set goals and pick resolutions that are inherently unrewarding. The goals we pick necessitate relentless hard work, or remind us of our mortality in a way that makes us feel small instead of grateful.

The second step, therefore, is to set the right resolution, whether thats a big audacious goal, a new habit youd like to get into, or a bad habit youd like to break.

To begin, lets start with your desired outcome. Its okay to be a little vague here; well get more specific as we proceed. For example, you might want to:

Its important to figure out WHY you want to do this thing that you havent been doing so far. You might have a whole laundry list of reasons for wanting to do what you want to do, and thats great. But right now, I want you to think of the single most compelling way that youll benefit from achieving your goal.

Chances are, youve come up with a super logical reason for, say, losing weight or exercising, like that it will lower your blood pressure.

Heres the thing: Even though we all like to think of ourselves as rational people, logic doesnt motivate us nearly as much as our emotions do. Why? Because we approach what feels good and avoid what feels bad.

This means that we tend to stick with behavior changes for longer when we aim for something that feels good. Doing something because we feel like we should do it doesnt feel good. It feels like were being forced. Its stressful, and stress makes us seek comfort, often in the very form of behavior that we are trying to avoid (think potato chips and Netflix binges).

So, ask yourself how, in your heart of hearts, do you want to feel? Identify a WHY for your resolution that will motivate you over the long haul.

Lets think this through together.

Maybe you want to lose weight, for example, and so you plan to cut baked goods out of your diet, which happen to be your favorite foods. How will that make you feel?

At first, you might feel great, because youve just made a healthy decision for yourself. But if you dont cheat on your diet, youll likely soon feel deprived. And if you do begin to cheat on your diet, youll probably feel anxious and guilty. Both of these feeling states are unmotivating and uncomfortable, which will make it easy for you to ditch your diet.

But maybe the reason that you want to lose weight is so that you feel healthy and strong. Feeling stronger and healthier are very motivating feeling states, which will make it much easier for you to keep your new habit.

With this in mind, rethink your goal or resolution: Restate it for yourself in terms of how you want to feel. For example:

What actions and behaviors have led you to feel what you want to feel in the past?

Maybe you tend to feel well-rested and energetic when you go to bed before 10 p.m. Perhaps you tend to feel healthy and strong when you go for a hike. Maybe you feel loving and connected when you spend time one-on-one with your sister.

The important thing here is that it is something that you already have experience with; we human beings tend to be truly terrible at predicting how something will make us feel. But we do well to use our own experience to predict how well feel in the future.

Heres an example of how we frequently go wrong: Say Id like to feel stronger this upcoming year. This calls for a get-in-shape habit. So, what would be a good way for me to get in shape? Lets seeI could train for a marathon! Fun! Ambitious! But before I start researching destination marathons (because why not make it a vacation, too?), Id do well to stop myself and ask: How do I feel when Im training for a long run? Heres my own honest answer: I tend to feel burdened by the time commitment. And arthritic in my left hip. And soul-sinking dread before each run.

Can we make a pact right now that we wont make New Years resolutions that are going to make us feel burdened, arthritic, and filled with dread? On the other hand, I can think of two activities that DO make me feel stronger:

Your why for your goal needs to be a rewarding feeling that you experience when you are doing your resolution or, at the very least, immediately after you do it. A daily hike must genuinely make you feel energized, for example, if that is the feeling you are after.

From here, refine your resolution one more time. Make sure that your resolution reflects a really specific behavior, so that you know if you are succeeding or not. For example, resolve to take three hikes per week after work on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays instead of resolving to go for more hikes.

Finally, do a little reality check. Setting unrealistic resolutions is a sure path to failure. If its just not realistic for you to, say, leave work an hour early on Tuesdays and Thursdays so that you can do your hike, please dont make that your resolution. Or if you live in Maine and you know that it just isnt realistic to hike in a snowstorm, please go back and find another behavior that reliably makes you feel the way you want to feel.

Thats it! If you are now aiming for a target that is specific, realistic, and inherently rewarding (because you know it is going to make you feel good), you are good to go!

Here is the original post:
How to Make New Year's Resolutions That Feel Good - Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley

Read More..

Contact Us Today

Page 1,527«..1020..1,5261,5271,5281,529..1,5401,550..»

Home » Page 1527