The Wonderful Benefits of Yoga
May 11, 2009 by Gail Grannum
Filed under Yoga Poses Beginner
Irrespective of religion, country, sex, and age, anyone and everyone can enjoy the benefits of yoga. Yoga is a Sanskrit word which means “union” and originated in ancient India. According to ancient Sanskrit texts, there are actually 8 limbs of yoga which relate to the different aspects of an individual’s life and are essential for leading a healthy and fulfilling life.
Its focus on the overall development of an individual is the reason why it has become so popular throughout the world. There are probably hundreds of benefits of yoga which are know to us at present and many might still be revealed in the future. But here are a few of the benefits that you can expect with a regular practice of yoga.
Benefits of Yoga for Your Body
Most people usually take to yoga for its numerous physiological benefits.
- Yoga poses or asanas are designed to stretch and strengthen your muscles, joints, ligaments, and tendons.
- Combined with the right breathing practice, they work to make you supple, flexible, and fit. Regular practice of yoga helps build immunity, improve the quality of your sleep, helps you lose or gain weight, and improves eye-hand coordination and dexterity skills. And that’s not all.
- Yoga stabilizes the different functions of you body. So, you can expect yoga to normalize your hormonal imbalances, your gastrointestinal and excretory functions, improve your respiratory and cardiovascular functions, and also stabilize your nervous system.
Benefits of Yoga for Your Beauty
A beautiful and ageless skin is one of the benefits of yoga which attracts people. The regular practice of the many inverted yoga poses reduces the wrinkles on the face. Better circulation to the face, calmness of the body and mind, and better sleep provides a natural glow to the complexion of an individual which can never be achieved with the various products available in the market. Yoga also does wonders for your hair. It increases the blood supply to your scalp and thus delays the graying of hair and helps you get thicker, shiny, and beautiful hair. And of course, the improved posture which results from the regular practice of yoga also adds to your beauty.
Benefits of Yoga for Your Mind
Although there are many physical benefits of yoga, it is considered to be one practice which provides more psychological benefits than any other form of exercising.
- The different yoga poses, breathing exercises, and regular meditative practices which are important parts of a regular yoga session improve concentration and memory, makes learning and retention easier, reduces depression and anxiety, improves mood, reduces tension, and promotes mind-body harmony.
Other Benefits of Yoga
Yoga also provides other benefits for an individual.
- The person becomes more self-aware. A positive self-esteem and a clarity of mind helps you deal with people and situations in a more effective and positive way. Calmness of mind and respect for yourself and others helps in better relationships. In this way, yoga provides benefits in each and every aspect of your life.
A yoga session involves many yoga poses and for a yoga beginner some of them may be instantly relaxing whereas some may take a few days to get used to. But there is one thing for sure. The above-mentioned benefits of yoga are not the only ones. Only when you practice yoga regularly will you be able to actually realize and experience the many wonderful benefits of yoga. Click Here to take survey
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Popularity: 11% [?]
Review: Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss and Picture Perfect Weight Loss 30 Day Plan
May 6, 2009 by Gail Grannum
Filed under Healthy Eating Nutrition
Dr. Howard M. Shapiro is the founder and director of Howard M. Shapiro Medical Associates. It is a private multidisciplinary medical office in New York City, which specializes in nutrition counseling, weight control, and life management. His pioneering work in bariatric medicine gained him international recognition in 1981. He was able to establish a comprehensive weight control method which expanded to include psychological services. Dr. Shapiro has authored Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss: The Visual Program for Permanent Weight Loss
Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss: The Visual Program for Permanent Weight Loss (Amazon affiliate link) 
Comparisons in pictures give clear illustrations that, while an individual can make a choice of eating food with low calories, he/she can still have a large portion that is enjoyable to one’s palate. The pictures get readers to think about their food choices. This book is a visual aid to some people who prefer large portions but still want to lose weight. Most people need to ‘see’ and not just ‘hear’ or ‘read about’ it.
This book is straightforward and easy to read. For many readers, this is not a “diet” book.
- It illustrates that losing weight can be easy. It teaches how to satisfy one’s hunger by actually eating more, provided you eat the right foods.
- It allows you free choice, you can control what you eat but you will not feel deprived. It is a realistic system. This is a better alternative to low-carb diets which are harder to maintain and puts one’s heart at risk.
Another plus is the discussion on emotional eating where examples are cited on how “real people” can modify their eating selections.
While the book may be the best diet plan to many of Dr. Shapiro’s readers, there are some flaws in this book:
- Dr. Shapiro discourages milk and instead encourages an increase in intake of fortified soy products.
- This book leans toward vegetarianism but many people still prefer to have some meat in their diets as their protein source. Some people can only eat so much tofu. Soy products are also quite expensive and not available in some places.
There is no mention of alternatives to seafood in this book. This is a problem to people who are allergic to seafood. The discussion on exercise, as part of a balanced health regimen, lacked depth.
Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss: The Visual Program for Permanent Weight Loss (Amazon affiliate link)
is one of the best approaches to weight control. It is simple and easy to understand. It helps many people to lose weight in a doable, enjoyable way. In the end of it all, it is one’s choice whether he will make use of this book to improve his life.
Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss 30 Day Plan (Amazon affiliate link)
Just like its predecessor, Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss 30 Day Plan (Amazon affiliate link) 
In this book, there is nutritional information targeted at specific age groups (e.g. kids, teens and seniors).
There is a section addressing eating disorders like bulimia which is affects many young people. Unlike the first book, the 30 day plan book is more specific. As the title suggests, it’s a 30-day eating plan. For many people who are too busy to figure out the portions that they should eat, this book is a big help. However, like the first book, this is also a diet-focused book. Losing weight should also involve exercise.
While this is a one of the best weight control programs written, an exercise regimen would also greatly benefit the readers.
As with all other diet plans, there is one basic thing to remember. If you do not stick to this plan, you will easily regain all the weight that you lost. While this program was designed to be simple and easy to follow and understand, it still takes commitment on one’s part to do this regimen diligently to stay healthy.
Popularity: 16% [?]
3 Ways to Maintain or Improve Your Energy Levels When You Are Dieting
May 2, 2009 by Gail Grannum
Filed under Blog
Dieting is not an effective weight loss tool. In fact, dieting will actually make weight loss next to impossible. The premise behind dieting is that the individual will limit their caloric intake enough to lose one to two pounds a week. But more often than not, the person who is desperate to lose those pounds today is likely to try to limit the calorie intake even more.
A pound of weight is equal to 3500 calories. That means in order to lose a pound of fat you have to either burn off another 3500 calories a week and maintain the food intake you are enjoying now or cut the calorie intake or a combination of both. So if you are a woman who normally eats around 2000 calories a day and she wants to lose a pound to two a week she must cut the calorie intake to 1500 and increase the amount of exercise she does.
The question becomes can she continue to maintain the calorie count on a daily basis for the long-term to maintain her weight loss or will she eventually feel tired, weak, fatigued and deprived of the foods she enjoys?
And to increase the likelihood of failure decreasing calorie intake and feeling tired and weak will also decrease the metabolic rate and slow the anticipated weight loss. Without weight loss what’s the point of cutting the calories?
The goal is to increase the metabolic rate and burn more calories. And in order to do that you actually have to eat.
1 Eat six small meals every day. It may sound like a lot but six small meals will provide your body with as much calories as it needs but spread out over a period of time so there are no gaps in the day when the body is without energy. If you eat only three large meals a day then you are more likely to eat junk food when you’re hungry. But eating six meals means you won’t feel hungry, your metabolism will stay high and you’ll never go more than a couple of hours without eating.
Split your three large meals into six smaller ones. Incorporate less processed foods and more raw material such as fruits and vegetables – both of which you can eat as much as you want.
2 Drink a lot of water. The added water is now available to help the extra toxins and waste products from the body making metabolism easier for the body. 
It also keeps you feeling full, plumps your skin cells so you look younger, keeps the metabolic rate moving and keeps your kidneys healthy.
The standard number of ounces of water that is recommended is 64 or 8 – 8 ounce glasses. But if you are trying to lose weight and increase your metabolic rate then it’s better to drink 10 -12 glasses per day. Spread them out over the daytime and begin to cut off the drinking by 7 or 8 pm (depending upon what time you go to bed). This will save you from getting up all night to go to the bathroom.
Popularity: 14% [?]
How You Should Evaluate A Weight Loss Program
May 2, 2009 by Gail Grannum
Filed under Healthy Eating Nutrition
The average person living in a Western country is now obese. The secondary effects of this weight gain ranges from a decreased ability to be active with family and friends to diseases and illnesses that can be directly attributed to the body’s decreased ability to remain healthy at an increased weight. The causes of this weight gain can be credited to several different factors which range from the Standard Western diet high in fat and processed foods, decreased exercise, more desk jobs and increased stress in the lives of people.
No matter what the reasons weight loss and increased exercise is the solution. And because of the increased number of people suffering there are also a plethora of weight loss programs available to meet almost every need you can imagine. But among those weight loss programs that are legitimate are also those that are unreasonable.
People who are desperate to achieve their goal are often at a higher risk of falling prey to those who would want to take their money without delivering on the promise. There are some specific criteria to evaluate before you join a weight loss program or determine to follow a particular plan. Let’s look at those criteria now.
1. Does the program promise quick, rapid, easy and painless weight loss? Most legitimate weight loss programs won’t make a promise that you will lose weight rapidly because they know that such a thing isn’t possible. The only promise they may make is that they’ll help you lose it as fast as medically possible. So if you find a program that promises you’ll be in that bikini in 2 months – don’t walk away – run!
2. Does the program recommend the use of supplements to jump start or maintain weight loss? Many weight loss programs will recommend using a multi-vitamin because in the process of cutting calories many people may also cut out the necessary vitamins needed to help maintain the functioning of the body. However, if the program relies on a supplement as the basis of the program then it’s probably not something that you can maintain for any length of time. And before considering any supplement consider the side effects, the long-term effects and any interactions with medications you may already be taking – such as blood pressure medication and any of the over-the-counter medications you may take for headaches, allergies or pain relief.
3. Does the weight loss program address the mental aspect of losing weight? However good the program may be if you aren’t prepared for the lifestyle changes and the weight loss then the program won’t help you! If the program appears to be legitimate and doesn’t make big claims about what you can accomplish but doesn’t have a support mechanism built in you may want to find your own support mechanism to use the program. 
4. Does the program advocate incorporating exercise into your daily routine as well as dietary changes? Research is clear about the health benefits of both. Those who use both a dietary change and exercise will have better results than those who just cut calories.
Before joining any weight loss program it’s important to evaluate the criteria that make the program healthy and successful. Those programs that encourage people to make drastic changes to their diet or exercise hours each day, are more than likely not going to be successful because of the amount of will power it would take to maintain the program in the first place.
Take a strong look at how the program will also affect your body and your health. We are given one body to last this lifetime. When we take good care of it – it will take good care of us.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Kick Start Your Metabolism and Weight Loss
April 13, 2009 by Gail Grannum
Filed under Metabolism
You decide it’s time to lose weight. And now, like everything else in life, you want it to happen right NOW. We live in a society that thrives on immediate gratification. There is fast food, fast cars, fast service and buying everything on the Internet so you don’t have to stand in line. We want our weight loss the same way – fast.
But there are some basic tenets of weight loss that must be observed, even when you want to lose the weight fast. You have to forget about dieting and learn to concentrate on healthy eating habits. Cutting back on calories alone doesn’t give your body the nutrition it needs to maintain a fast metabolism and keep your energy high.
On the other hand, by eating food dense in nutrition and low in calories you aren’t hungry, you give your body the vitamins and minerals it needs and you have the energy to walk past the donut table in the middle of the afternoon. And finding these foods isn’t as difficult as you might believe. Did you know you can eat as much raw fruits and vegetables as you want without fear?
Exercise is another important factor in losing weight, getting healthy and having more energy. As much as you may think you hate exercise it doesn’t have to be the workout you dread. Remember that you aren’t aiming to compete in the Olympics. Instead you are just trying to increase your metabolism and burn a few extra calories.
There is no denying the benefits of exercise. Exercise will increase your energy, improve your muscle tone, increase your metabolism and increase the number of calories you burn each day, even when you are at rest! Cardiovascular and weight workouts are best to meet these goals. Change up the exercises you do each month. Don’t do weight workouts more than 3 times a week and allow 48 hours between workouts with weights to allow the muscles to repair and become stronger.
And remember to rest! Many of us are busy from the time we get up until the moment we go to bed. Sometimes finding the time to eat or exercise can be a challenge. But cutting back on sleep will only sabotage your efforts to lose weight.
Shoot for 7-8 hours a night. Some people believe they can make do on less and although you’ll be awake studies have shown that you’ll grab more snacks in an effort to jump start your brain and keep yourself awake. Lack of sleep also adds to your stress level which releases hormones known to pack on the pounds. It is nature’s way of protecting the body.
Drinking Natural Weight Loss Drinks to Maintain a Fast Metabolism
The first natural weight loss drink is apple cider vinegar! It is true that it tastes awful, but Apple Cider Vinegar is one of the most powerful, natural appetite suppressants available. When you are trying to lose weight, hunger is your biggest enemy. In order to defeat this enemy, you need to take the help of some sort of appetite suppressants. Instead of relying on prescription drugs that come with harmful side effects, why not try out Apple Cider Vinegar? It is 100% natural and safe to take!
Just add three tablespoonfuls of Apple Cider Vinegar juice with eight ounces of water, and drink the juice just before having your meal. Apple Cider Vinegar will also boost your metabolic rate and keep you energetic throughout the day!
The second drink that now comes in gum form is Green Tea. You might have already heard about the great health benefits of green tea, especially with regards to weight loss. It is no wonder that most of the weight loss supplements available out there contain green tea. Green tea helps you burn fat by accelerating your metabolic rate. You can drink green tea on its own or mixed with lemon juice and honey.
Popularity: 13% [?]
