Thank You For Visiting Our Blog, FEEL BETTER AND LIVE LONGER!

The purpose of our blog is to share what we have learned about nutrition, weight loss, fitness, and health, in order to help you find ways to feel better and live longer. It is amazing how much our diet and lifestyle affect our health and well-being.

Did you know that you can reduce your risk and even prevent many diseases and health conditions simply by making some changes to your diet? Check back often for valuable tips and information.


HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT & KEEP IT OFF:

For the first time in my life I have found weight loss success. During my adult life I have tried dozens and dozens of so-called "diets" and none of them worked over the long-haul. Oh, I was able to lose weight with some of them, but once I went off of the "diet" I quickly gained back all of my weight (plus some).

I have finally learned that losing weight has to be a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. Crash diets and all the other crazy diets will not only cause you to fail, they are harmful to your health. To lose weight and keep it off you must NOT go on a "diet." What? Why? Because we all consider a "diet" a temporary thing. For example, how many times have you said, "Oh, I will go on this low-fat diet until I lose 20 pounds." Okay, what happens after you lose the 20 pounds? Or you simply give up? You go back to your old habits and gain that 20 pounds back.

The only way you will ever be successful at losing weight, with the added benefit of improving your health, is to make healthy changes that you can live with for the rest of your life. Period. Not for a week, a month or 3 months, but for life. For me, my initial goal was to lower my cholesterol level. I had to have a blood test for my insurance coverage and my cholesterol level had to be lower than the previous year's levels or I would have to pay a much higher premium. Well, that was a pretty good incentive for me make some positive changes.

I sat down and figured out what I needed to do. I knew I had to change the way I ate and I knew I had to exercise in some form or other every day. So, I made a list and I stuck to it. It was difficult at first. To make matters worse, I am a compulsive eater. However, as the days went by, it became much easier because my body stopped craving sweets and processed foods. For the first time in my life, I was never tempted to binge because I never felt deprived.

Use the list below and make whatever changes you need to make in order for it to work for you. FYI, my cholesterol level dropped 65 points after 7 weeks, and my triglycerides dropped 70 points!
Another benefit that I hadn't planned on was that after being an insomniac since my teen-age years, I now sleep like a baby every night!

MY LIST FOR WEIGHT LOSS SUCESS:

1. Avoid "white" Foods & Processed Foods.
These foods have no nutritional value and are "empty" calories. Sweets, anything made with white flour,and anything that comes in a package with a long list of ingredients.
Always read the food labels. Stay away from those long lists of ingredients. The longer the list, the more chemicals and additives are present. These are extremely toxic to your body.


2. Drink Lots of
Water. Water keeps your body's organs hydrated and flushes out unhealthy toxins. It helps to fill you up and reduces your urge to over-eat.


3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast.
Instead of coffee and donuts, try fruit, yogurt, grains like oatmeal or whole grain toast, and lean protein. NEVER skip breakfast. By eating a large, healthy meal when you get up in the morning, your metabolism will "rev up" and you will not be hungry by mid-morning. If you skip breakfast, your
body will go into starvation mode and store calories in your body as FAT, yes FAT! So do yourself a big favor and eat breakfast.


4. Reduce Your Stress Level.
So many of us live with too much
stress. Stress lowers your immune system, making it easier to get sick. It also makes us lethargic, tired, and depressed. There are a lot of simple things you can do and a lot of ways to feel better about yourself and your life. Take a long, hot bath, read a book, listen to music, get a massage. Do something nice for yourself. Giving yourself something to look forward to is a tremendous mental incentive.


5. Move!
Oh my gosh! There are so many ways to incorporate movement into your day, even at work. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Get up every hour and walk around your floor, your hallway or your desk. Park your car in the farthest space from where you need to be. Walk or bike to work. Skate, dance, golf, jump rope, clean house, play tag. The best exercise you can do is to walk. Try to take a walk every day! The more you move, the more your metabolism will be your friend. (I walk 3 miles every day whether it is raining, snowing or freezing.)


Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia Nervosa is an illness that occurs primarily in teenage girls and young women but can occur in boys and adults. It is an eating disorder where people are obsessed with being thin and starve themselves because they are terrified of gaining weight.

What is the core cause of anorexia? No one really knows. Anorexia usually begins around the onset of puberty and can be a response to the pressures, real or imaginary, from parents, peers, cultural images and teachers. Extreme dieting can be a way to exert some control where they feel they have none.

Anorexia can be caused by feelings of self-hatred, imposing severe dieting as self-inflicted punishment. It is not just a problem with food, but a way to use food as a weapon to deal with emotional problems.

People with anorexia continue to think they are overweight even after they have become dangerously thin. They develop weird eating habits such as refusing to eat in front of anyone else or cooking large meals but not eating any of the food.

ANOREXIA SYMPTOMS

Long before someone begins showing physical signs of weight loss, there are opportunities for prevention by early diagnosis. If your child is experiencing emotional strain due to too much pressure from school, friends, and/or poor body image, pay close attention to the way your child handles the pressure.

There are many anorexia symptoms. The following are the most common:

*Skipped menstrual periods.

*Dry skin and thinning hair.

*Feeling of being cold all the time.

*Experience sickness a lot more than normal.

*Refusal to eat in public.

*Obsessive about calorie intake.

ANOREXIA TREATMENT

Treating someone with anorexia is extremely difficult because an anorexic does not believe there is anything wrong with them. Those who are in the early stages and who have not had significant weight loss yet can usually be successfully treated without hospitalization.

However, in order for any anorexia treatment to be successful, the patient must want to change and have the support of those closest to them. The constant love and support of family and friends is the most important factor in helping someone deal with anorexia.

An anorexic feels safe and secure because they feel like they are in control. Their biggest fear is gaining weight because that is seen as a loss of control. People with anorexia will lie, cheat, and beg to avoid eating and risk gaining weight. Family and friends should never give in to the pleading. It will only harm them.

The most successful approach to treating someone with anorexia is to educate them about exercise and proper nutrition. Helping them build up their strength and self-esteem, and dealing with issues of body image and food can help the anorexic deal with the root cause of the problem.

Other important factors that may contribute to developing anorexia are issues of control and/or abuse. These factors can be present in some with anorexia and not present in others. Successful treatments will deal with these issues, as well, if they are present.

Those who are suffering from severe anorexia need to be treated in an environment that specializes in treating people with anorexia and/or bulimia. Treatment involves much more than trying to change the patient’s eating habits.

An important part of the treatment is counseling with a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. Patients need counseling, usually for an extended period of time. Counseling focuses on the feelings that caused the illness to begin in the first place.

HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF ANOREXIA

The body suffers many long-term effects from anorexia. Some of those effects are shrunken bones, osteoporosis, mineral depletion, irregular heartbeat and loss of normal menstrual periods than can affect the ability to become pregnant.

The continued use of laxatives is also very harmful to the body. The over use of the bowel muscle causes it to decrease its function.

If you see any of the warning signs in your child, talk to her. Let her know you love and support her. Anorexia can be conquered with the proper treatment.

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