Diet and Health

A few years ago several of my close friends decided to get breast implants.  I had been naturally endowed and did not need the procedure.  As it turns out they all admitted that they had been jealous over the years of boobs and wanted large ones of there own.

It did not matter how petite they were, all wanted to go for the biggest ones the doctor could squeeze in.  Preferably a D cup.  All were willing to go through the pain and the high cost of the procedure.  No one could be talked out of it.  They all thought that they would be able to breast feed later on when they had kids. 

All were given two options for the procedure, either through the nipple or through the navel.  All three chose through the navel.  Luckily for them the complications were minimal. 

Now years later all three regret the decision.  As it turns out the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.  Their biggest complaint is that men no longer look at their beautiful faces or lovely smile.  Men only look at their boobs now.  Sure they get a lot more attention, but unfortunately it is not the attention that they had wanted.

Unfortunately a celebrity Chimp named Travis went crazy over the weekend and attacked a woman.  It is thought that he was suffering from Lyme Disease.  There is no known test for Lyme Disease and it can have a variety of symptoms.  Lyme Disease can get worse if left untreated. 

The monkey who has starred in many television ads including some from Old Navy, was thought to be a very well behaved domestic pet.  He even dressed himself, drank wine and got along well with others until now.

The victim is said to have “life changing” injuries.

Unfortunately, Travis had to be shot and killed by police to stop his rampage.

Many people may not realize that they are not breathing deep enough.  Shallow breathing does not allow enough oxygen into the lungs.  There are even clubs were you can go just to get extra oxygen.  Many people rave about these establishments and say that they have never felt better in their lives.

It is not necessary for you to breathe deeply every time to breathe, but you can set aside some time each day to take a few deep breaths.  I would recommend about 10 minutes per day. 

Sit in a comfortable position with your feet flat on the floor.  Breathe in through your nose to the count of seven.  Hold your breath for the count of four.   Exhale your breath to the count of eight.  Make sure you get all of the air out of your lungs and then repeat.

Getting extra oxygen will help you feel better, give you more energy and make you healthier.

Everyday we are faced with things that we must do that are difficult.  Sometimes we choose not to to them because it is so tough and then we must live with the consequences.  To do the right thing we need to motivate ourselves to do what needs to be done.  Motivation is difficult but we can all do it.

First we must decide what it is that we need to do.  Define it clearly so that there is no difficulty understanding what must be done.  Plan out the steps as far out as you can.

Next tell yourself that you have the control over what happens.  You can take control or you can let it go and suffer the consequences.  Once you have decided to take control it will be easier to do what you need to do.

Create a mantra for yourself.  Give yourself the “I can do it” power punch. 

Do not allow negative feelings or issues hold you back.  Clear them from your mind.  Use a visualization technique to erase them from your brain.  Pretend like your brain is a write on wipe off board.  Whenever bad or negative thoughts enter your brain and try to slow you down, just erase them.

You can do it, I know you can!

Do you find yourself stressing out way to often.  Stress is very bad for your entire body.  And it is not worth it.  Stressing out does not help anything.  Often times it makes matters worse. 

When you find yourself stressing out the first thing you need to do is stop yourself.  And then count to ten.  Take ten deep breaths.  Think about how you can create a different outcome for the situation you are in.  May be smiling and laughing will relieve the tension.

You can also use visualization techniques.  Visualize the stress leaving your body.  You can imagine that it is a cleansing or other act.  You can concentrate on the stress leaving every part of your body.

You are almost there.  There is just one more thing and not everyone will need to do it, only those of us that have bad habits.  You must stop all of your bad habits.  Now you do not need to stop all of your bad habits at one time.  Just one step at a time.  Also, you do not want to tell yourself that you can never do these things again.  You need to maintain mental control over yourself.  Tell yourself that you can do them, but you just do not want to do them today.

Bad habits that should be quit are:  smoking of any kind - smoking is a death sentence for you and your loved ones, junk food such as soda and donuts - cause obesity which leads to death, dwelling on negative things - stress is also a killer, eating fast food - once again a killer.

You can do it, I know you can.  Diet and weight loss are easy tasks to take on to save your life.  It is much easier to diet and lose weight than it is to have surgery or worse die and leave your loved ones without you.

 Take your health seriously, save your life today.

Congratulations!  If you have come this far you are now eating healthier and exercising on a regular basis.  Keep up the good work.  Now it the time for you to keep up a positive mental attitude.  Don’t be discouraged if you miss a day exercising or eat too much at a party.  Just get right back on the wagon and keep going.  Come up with a positive, motivating mantra for yourself such as “I know I can” or “Just keep moving”.  Use this mantra to keep your mind clear of negative thoughts. 

To help keep your mind positive avoid talking about your diet or weight loss plans with negative individuals.  The last thing you need is someone raining on your parade.  Just allow them to see the results.  Soon they will see you lean and strong and they will ask you how you got that way.  People that are naysayers could thwart your entire progress.  Avoid them!

If negative thoughts about problems or issues you have in your life keep popping up in your mind.  Erase them.   Visualize that your mind is a large chalk board and the negative thoughts are written on the chalk board.  Now imagine yourself with an eraser, erasing all of the negative thoughts.  Do this everytime the negative thoughts pop into your head.  There is no need for you to dwell on anything, it never helps and it can actually hurt you.  Stress kills and it ruins your motivation for continuing with your new healthy lifestyle.  Hakuna Matata! No worries!

After you have cleaned out your kitchen and started eating healthy, the next thing you will want to do is add exercise.  You will need to exercise a minimum of three days a week.  Optimally you would want to exercise five days per week, but you can work up to that amount.

SLOW START PROGRAM - If you are not in shape, you can start slowly.  You may want to consult a doctor before starting any exercise program.  Start by walking just five minutes per day, three days per week.  Slowly increase until you are walking 45-60 minutes per day, five days per week.

REGULAR START PLAN - If you are in reasonable shape and have recently spoken with your doctor about starting and exercise plan, you should be able to walk 30 minutes per day, three days per week, gradually increasing until you are walking 60 minutes per day, five days per week.

Next you will want to add some weight training.  There are things that you can do even if you do not have access to weights, you can do lunges, squats and crunches.  If you do have dumbells, you can learn various arm exercises.  Slowly increase your weight training until you are weight training for at least 30 minutes, three days per week.

To change your lifestyle, feel better and live longer you will need to start some new habits.  To set yourself up for success you will need to learn some new recipes.

Find recipes for all of the new healthy products you wil be eating such as barley, wholegrain pasta, brown rice, etc.  Add healthy fish, such as salmon and plenty of fruits and vegetables. 

You do not need to stress yourself out by telling yourself that you cannot have the things you used to eat.  Just slowly cut them out of your diet.  If you are eating healty 90% of the time and you slip in a donut every once in a while, you will still be doing better that you were before.  It is all about having mental control over yourself.  When you tell yourself you can’t have something, your brain starts to work overtime to manipulate you into having that item.  Tell yourself you can have anything you want, but you are just choosing not to have it today. 

Eventually you and your body will get used to your new diet and appreciate what it is doing for your health.  You will then not want or desire junk food any longer.

Make sure you always have plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds handy for snacking so that you are not tempted by chips and junk food.  Sunflower seeds are much tastier than any kind of chip on the market.

If you have decided to get healthy, feel better and live longer, you should start today.

You will need to prepare your home for your new lifestyle.  You can set yourself up for success by cleaning out the unhealthy foods and filling your refrigerator and pantry with healthy foods and snacks.

 You can start by removing all items that have high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils out of your refrigerator and cupboards.  These items are so unhealthy they should be thrown away.  High fructose corn syrup leads to high blood sugars, diabetes and obesity.  Hydrogenated oils leads to plaque build up in the arteries, heart disease and eventually death.

You should also stop buying all white flour products and switch to whole grains.  If you have white flour breads, white rice, instant or rolled oatmeal and white pasta, you can finish what you have in your cupboards but do not buy anymore.  You should only be eating whole grains and steel cut oats or groats.

Whole grains are healthier for your body because they help your body to process foods better.  They keep things like your blood sugar properly balanced.

Whole grain items take longer to cook.  Pasta cooks in about the same amound of time, but brown rice takes about 50 minutes to cook and steel cut oats or groats take about 30 minutes to cook.  If you are cooking your rice or oats in a shorter amount of time they are probably not healthy rice and oats.

Bread - White flour, enriched wheat flour and the likes are not healthy breads.  You need to buy a wholegrain bread.  The best are whole wheat berries or ezekiel bread.  Most likely you will not be able to find a healthy bread in the bread section of your grocery store.  You will need to buy your bread in the health food section or natural food section of the grocery store.  (I find it hilarious that only one small section of the grocery store is called the “health food” section.  Shouldn’t it all be health food?).

Rice - Sorry but, minute rice, parboiled rice or white rice is not healthy.  You should be eating brown rice.  It takes longer to make but you will quickly get used to starting it ahead of time when you are making a meal.  You can also make a large pot at the beginning of the week and serve it with many meals.  It come in long and short grain and both are healthy.

Pasta - White pasta is not healthy.  Whole grain pasta is now available in the regular pasta section of the grocery store.  You can get it in the healthfood section as well.  You can also buy pasta made of kamut or rice which are both very healthy.

Oatmeal - If you are eating instant oats or rolled oats they are not healthy.  Rolled oats are processed over and over again.  They are steamed and rolled and steamed and rolled.  All of the goodness is processed right out of them.  Steel cut oats, which are just sliced whole oats and groats, which are whole oats are the healthiest and what you should be consuming.  They take longer to make up it is worth it.  You can make a large pot at the beginning of the week.

Cereals are generally not healthy and should only be consumed in small portions.  Do not fall for the hype that Cheerios or Heart Smart or the like will lower your cholesterol.  Heart Smart has High Fructose Corn Syrup in it. (Heart Smart originally had both HFCS and partially hydrogenated oils, but they remove the oils after consumers complained.)  If you want to lower your cholesterol eat steel cut oats or groats every day.

Juices are generally not very healthy either.  It is healthier to eat a piece of fruit and drink a glass of water.  Drink juices in moderation.

Fill your refrigerator with healthy foods such as wild caught fish, fruits and vegetables and wholegrains. 

Buy fruits and vegetables in easy to snack sizes so that you are encouraged to eat them and they are always available.  Such as baby carrots, blueberries, strawberries, cherry tomatoes, etc.

Good luck!  Start today for a lifetime of healthy eating.