More Choices, More Chances

By Julia Hanf | June 5, 2008

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by Julia Hanf

Diabetes in various forms affects up to 5percent of the world population with 12 million diabetics in Western Europe alone. Of the different ways in which diabetes presents, noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is probably the most commonly encountered genetic disease. NIDDM or Type II diabetes is multifactorial, depending also on environmental factors including obesity, sedentary lifestyles and nutritional imbalances.

At the Yoga Biomedical Trust, founded by biochemist Dr. Robin Monro in conjunction with the Indian Yoga Research Foundation, studies were conducted to measure the effects of yoga practice on diabetic participants. What they found was that practicing yoga for just 30 minutes a day helps reduce blood sugar levels and alleviate stress. It was expected to find the blood sugar level reduction because exercise can greatly impact the conversion of sugar to energy and insulin sensitivity. However, what was discovered regarding stress, the diabetic and yoga,was just as beneficial.

In the study, two groups were formed. A control group of diabetics and a yoga practice group. The control group underwent no changes in routine or diet. The yoga group attended a 90 minute yoga session once or twice a week. In addition, each yoga group participant was asked to practice 30 minutes per day at their convenience. At the end of the study, all yoga group participants had lowered blood sugar levels. Three participants were able to reduce the required amount of medication needed to control their diabetes. Interestingly, participants’ stress levels decreased, while feelings of well being increased. How would that influence diabetes?

The yoga patients took part in one or two 90-minute sessions a week and were asked to practice at home. The classes included the specific yoga exercises of the spinal twist, the bow and abdominal breathing.

At the end of the 12 weeks blood sugar levels fell significantly in all patients in the group and were slightly raised in a control group which had not joined in the yoga sessions. Three yoga students managed to reduce their medication, including one man who had not changed his drug regime for 20 years.

After twelve weeks, blood sugar levels in the yoga group participants, as recorded throughout the study, dropped significantly. The control group’s blood sugar levels remained the same or slightly increased in comparison to the yoga study group. The yoga participants were successful in managing their diabetes through the use of yoga. Three participants reduced medication dosage, including a male who had been taking the same dose for twenty years.

In the past, diabetics confronted with the disease may have been given the impression that strenuous, rigorous exercise was the only way to combat their rising blood sugar levels. Now, the opportunity to practice a gentle, mindful form of exercise has risen and been proven to help diabetics. Maintaining healthy respiratory, circulatory and endocrinal systems are important for everyone’s health. Yoga helps restore balance, inside and out.

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How To Lose The Fat With A Food Weight Loss Journal

By Kelvin Wemout | June 5, 2008

by Kelvin Wemout

Are you putting on weight due to your food intake? If you are, you need to own a weight loss journal to help control your food intake. A weight loss journal is basically a tool that helps you monitor and manage your own weight loss program and you can use it to track your food habits. However, most people have a craving for food and changing their food intake pattern can be a real challenge for them.

Weight loss requires that you face up to reality and to begin, you really need to know your eating habits so that you can make improvements to them. Your weight loss journal will help you in this aspect.

Do not fall into the trap of thinking that keeping a journal is monotonous and a waste of time. Keeping a weight loss journal need not be all that. If you have already set out your purpose or reason for losing weight clearly before you begin, it is not difficult to keep to the momentum of keeping a record of what you eat. Before you know it, it will become second nature to you. Below are some benefits of keeping a weight loss journal to give you the push.

One of the key benefits of having a journal like this is that you can to put your thoughts and actions into words. That has a powerful impact on helping you to analyze your strengths and weaknesses. If there are certain warning signs that appear, you can stop and control them before they get out of hand.

Let’s say that you have a habit of snacking between mealtimes and you have that recorded. Upon reflection, you may realize that you snack because you get hungry easily between meals. In this case, you may want to consider having more smaller meals spread throughout the day instead of the usual regular ones. Studies have found that this strategy can help to reduce hunger pangs and make you eat less.

You need to recognize that our eating habits are no more than routines that we have gotten used to. By making adjustment to healthier choices and keeping to them for a while, your body will automatically adjust itself and soon you will enjoy the whole process.

The second advantage to keeping a food weight loss journal is that you can also record your weight statistics such as your actual weight plus your waistline measurements and other measurements. This way you can routinely check these statistics and see the progress that you are making with your weight loss. I can tell you it can be very inspiring and motivating to see the improvements as time passes.

Last but not least, having this journal can record the exercises that you did or did not do for the day. If you have already a planned exercise routine for the week, writing them down and putting the time you need and help ensure that exercise becomes part of your daily routine.

In conclusion, keeping a written weight loss journal will help you to focus on your goals as well as being able to see the progress that you are making. Having these things in writing can really help to stick with your weight loss program, so if you have not started a weight loss journal yet then it is time that you did!

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How Being Overweight Causes Sleep Apnea

By Christian Goodman | June 5, 2008

by Christian Goodman

Sleep Apnea is a medical condition characterized by interrupted breathing patterns during sleep. A sufferer of sleep apnea, who most likely snores very loudly, may stop breathing for 10-20 seconds while asleep, then resumes breathing with a gasp, choke, or loud snort.

The frequency can be from five to thirty times an hour, and this can be life threatening because of the decreasing amount of oxygen in the blood.

Sleep apnea affects one in about every 25 adults, but 90% of all sleep apnea cases aren’t reported.

Most sufferers do not wake up during these episodes of non-breathing, and are not aware of the medical condition, hence it is not being reported.

It’s often the sufferer’s bed partner or roommate who initially notices the symptoms.

Obesity is known to cause sleep apnea due to the additional fat around the neck that pushes against the airways. What is unknown is that sleep apnea in turn causes obesity. This happens because when the amount of oxygen in the blood decreases, it causes the body to store more fat to replace the decreased energy reserves.

The vicious cycle will continue unless it is treated.

You may be suffering from sleep apnea if you have these symptoms - overweight, sore/dry throats and headaches in the morning, and feeling of tiredness during the day.

Most doctors claim that even a 10% reduction in weight will prevent sleep apnea and help you sleep better. Losing weight may be a helpful advice, but it is easier said than done.

With my Snoring Program, you don’t need to do that.

No harsh exercises are used in my Snoring Program. Hundreds of people who used my program have been satisfied with it. It has cured their sleep apnea and has given them a good night’s sleep.

By religiously doing the steps in my Snoring Program, you will condition your body to avoid going into “panic mode” during sleep, and the increased energy that you will get from sleep will in turn make it easy for you to maintain a healthy body weight. Two birds with one stone.

But hitting three birds with one stone is even better, right?

For sleep apnea sufferers, they can also use my new Weight Loss Program to solve the underlying causes of this condition, as well as other problems caused by being overweight.

The exercises in my new Weight Loss Program aren’t even workout exercises - in fact, you’ve probably never heard of exercises like these before.

Check out my Snoring Program and Weight Loss Program to help you finally cure your sleep apnea and have a better life.

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Weight Loss: Picture Yourself Being A Lean Slim Person

By Wendy D Hearn | June 5, 2008

by Wendy D Hearn

“You are what you eat.” Well, this statement is quite true if you do not take it literally, of course. After all, I eat cucumbers and I am not, I repeat that I am NOT, a cucumber. Really, I am not! Nor am I the chocolate covered marzipan I ate last week or the bottled water I am ingesting right now. You get the picture, right?

Figuratively speaking, “you are what you eat” means that if you make smart choices about your food and eat healthy you are well on your way to acquiring a healthy body and a smart lifestyle. Conversely, if you consume lots of fatty foods you are eating your way toward gaining weight and all the health problems that accompany obesity.

There are a few other truisms that I would like you to consider, contemplate and analyze: “you are what you think,” “every action begins with a thought” and “every action has a consequence.”

“You are what you think” - Regardless of how you look at the moment and how much you weigh, train your mind to think of yourself as being beautifully slim and healthfully fit. Visualize yourself inside the thin and trim body of your dreams. Focus on these thoughts and visions as hard as you can and do not ever allow yourself to be dissuaded from them. Believe what your mind is telling you and your unwavering faith will also seep into your subconscious thought processes.

To help you along this process you might want to adopt a mantra such as “I am slim and healthy” and repeat it often.

“Every action begins with a thought” - every choice we make and each deed we perform is propelled by a thought or a series of thoughts. We are consciously aware of many of these thoughts yet some of them are subconscious. In either case or whether we recognize them or not, thoughts are the driving forces that precede each and every one of our actions.

“Every action has a consequence” - each of our actions leads to an end result and a consequence. Good and positive actions lead to good and positive results while bad actions end with bad results. It never fails regardless of our intent.

Now let us combine the three truisms that we defined above and examine their application to the subject at hand: “Picture Yourself as a Lean, Slim Person.”

Think of yourself as being slim and lean and believe it with all your heart. Your focus on the slim and lean you will encourage you to take actions to support being slim and lean. Actions that supports being slim and lean ultimately result in an actual and true-to-life slim and lean you.

I encourage you to focus on the picture in your mind of being slim, lean and healthy.

Stop Dieting and Struggling!

Are you fed up of battling to lose weight?

You have probably felt like this for a long time - you keep trying diets but they don’t work. They’re full of empty promises and disappointing results.

Let me share with you . . .

Losing weight doesn’t have to be hard work, eating foods you don’t enjoy and boring exercise. Restrictive diets aren’t the way to successful weight loss.

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Topics: Weight Loss | No Comments »

Weight Loss: Stop Searching For The Perfect Diet And Just Do It

By Wendy D Hearn | June 5, 2008

by Wendy D Hearn

There are so many different diets available today people often have no idea where to start or even what to try. If you’ve been researching diets to decide what you want to try, you’re going to be reading up on stuff for a while. There are so many aspects to consider that you’re often left overwhelmed and unsure which is the perfect plan for you. Most diets are difficult for people to stick to and some can be harmful or unhealthy. The quest to find the perfect diet plan often mean that you put off getting started with eating healthily.

You can read up on diets until you’re blue in the face. The real trick to losing weight is to get started with some healthy changes. There is no diet that is perfect. The only way forward is to discover for yourself which healthier eating options suit you personally and that you know you can stick to for good.

Decide today to stop searching for the perfect diet plan and actually start working on making your own healthy choices. It can be little changes, such as eating smaller meal portions or by drinking more water. Instead of snacking on chips, eat vegetable sticks or a piece of fruit. As you become accustomed to these changes, then make some more. Over time these changes will add up and you’ll have found a healthy way of eating that suits you.

Another way you can start to lose weight is by getting up and exercising. Even if you are only making some small changes to your eating habits, exercising will help start to burn calories. Instead of sitting and watching television, get out and take a walk. Take a Pilates class. Do some aerobics.

And another thing. Waiting to find the perfect exercise routine is just as bad as researching the perfect diet. Once again, there is no perfect exercise routine and this has more to do with a person’s taste in exercising that anything else. Not everyone will enjoy lifting free weights or are they physically able to walk or jog miles and miles. If there is something you enjoy, such as swimming or playing racquetball, do it. Don’t take on an exercise routine that you will hate. That’s just as bad as trying a diet you hate. Do something that you will enjoy. Combine this exercise with eating healthier, drinking plenty of water, and getting plenty of rest, and you’ve started the journey to successful weight loss.

Stop Dieting and Struggling!

Are you fed up of battling to lose weight?

You have probably felt like this for a long time - you keep trying diets but they don’t work. They’re full of empty promises and disappointing results.

Let me share with you . . .

Losing weight doesn’t have to be hard work, eating foods you don’t enjoy and boring exercise. Restrictive diets aren’t the way to successful weight loss.

About the Author:

Topics: Weight Loss | No Comments »

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