In recent years it seems like the stores have been flooded by the latest and greatest piece of equipment, meal replacement shake, protein powder, or other substance that is claiming that it will help propel you to your physical goals.

Some of the items that you might find might be an enigma, but its creator will stand behind the fact that it does work. There are things out there like those belts that shock your midsection to help get you those chiseled abs that you have been looking for.

If you are skeptical of equipment like that then there are various ab-rolling machines, rockers, twisters, and different regimen that all suggest that they can help burn off those love-handles.

The flip side of that coin is the pharmaceutical side of products that help to curb appetite, or products that help to ensure that you get enough protein, fiber, or daily vitamin intake all in an attempt to try and get you to lose weight.

All of these types of products make up the plethora of tools in your weight-loss tool box, but there is one tool that is often overlooked and is often taken for granted--food.

Today with the obesity epidemic spiraling out of control it seems like we are losing our minds trying to develop different tools and powders to help fix the problem when in all reality, the solution to the problem has been the same thing that is always has been, a good diet.

Even if you were to peel back the fine print on some of the labels of each of those products, even the different pieces of fitness equipment, they will always tell you that it works in accordance with a healthy diet.

It is an immutable fact of weight loss, you cannot out-train, or out-smart a poor diet. Just because you invest into a high-quality protein powder does not mean that it gives you the license to eat recklessly.

Each of these products that you find in the store will likely work for you if your diet is working for you.

This is the larger problem in the market place today. People just assume that if they go and buy the latest and greatest thing that it will turn things around for them when they have not even addressed the larger problem--your diet still needs work.

If you have not taken the time to change your eating habits then all of that money that you will spend on these dieting aids will be for nothing as each of them is hinged on the fact that you need to fix your diet before you do anything else.

                                  The Best Dieting Tool

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Quick Tip for Losing the Weight

I would like to let you in on a little secret to my success with losing weight so quickly. First of all you need to make a decision. The decision is that you are going to do this. You are going to follow the workout plan and you are going to change the food you place into your mouth. You are going to push play on your DVD player no matter what time of the day it is and what you have left to do for the day. In order to get this burning desire you need to discover why you want to do this.

This can be different for many people. For me it was my self-esteem, my son and my job. For you it maybe that beach vacation you are taking, a wedding, training for the military or a marathon or because your health is deteriorating. Next you need to decide what your fitness goal is going to be. Are you going to lose 5 lbs., 15 lbs, or 50 lbs. or more? How many inches would you like to lose on your waist? What size do you want to fit into? How fast do you want your mile run to be?

Next, WRITE IT DOWN! Write your goals down on a piece of paper and place it next to your bed. Read it before you go to sleep and when you get up in the morning. This will remind you of your goals and it has been proven to increase motivation. Then pick your workout program based on your physical ability. Beachbody has several different workout programs to choose from. Want fun music and cardio? Try Turbofire. Want a total body transformation? Try P90X. Do you have arthritis or a bad knee? Try Power 90. Whatever the choice just remember to read the manuals and follow the nutrition plans. Also ask your coach they are very knowledgeable on a plan that will work for you.

It has also been proven that if you join a workout group for support and motivation you will be a ton more likely to finish the program and reach your goals than someone going it along. This is why challenge groups are so effective and why my team, Team Hustle, was created. It is to assist others in eating healthy and achieving their weight loss goals.

Quick Tip for Losing the Weight

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Yoga for Weight Loss

When the majority of people think about yoga, the first thing that pops to mind is certainly not yoga for weight loss. The general view of yoga is that it's so slow and relaxing that the reason for the yoga mat, is so that you had something to fall asleep on mid position. The odd truth is that it is actually pretty effective for weight loss.

Now it's certainly possible to use yoga as a way to relax and many people do. It's also possible to use it to increase flexibility, tone and strengthen your core naturally. And while these things are great, if you make a few changes to your standard yoga set (namely speed it up and get that heart rate going) and you can do all of this and use your yoga session for some pretty effective weight loss.

Now I never promote any of these stupid gimmick weight loss products or methods. There are so many rubbish methods kicking around the bookshelves and internet these days. The beauty with using yoga for weight loss is that it comes with the additional benefits, it can cost nothing to do and it's also easier than a lot of methods out there.

Now before you start trying to do the splits I'd like to point out a few things before you get carried away with the idea of yoga for weight loss. Firstly it's no silver bullet for losing weight. You should combine it with other exercise techniques and (above all else) healthy eating. The best combination of getting fit and healthy for me personally was Ashtanga yoga and swimming.

You also need to pace yourself when learning yoga. Many instructors and guides will show you how to scale down positions until you are ready. You can cause some surprising damage to yourself if you overstretch your abilities to early. Learning yoga for weight loss still requires you to learn yoga properly to start with. Yes, this is slower but it's that or you'll tear something and do you really want that trip to the doctors?

There are loads of yoga for weight loss DvD sets around the internet not to mention guides and books lining the place, To be honest you don't need to do too much to get started, it's not one of these lose weight quick scams that wants all your money. Get yourself a few video guides to get the idea and make some space on the living room floor.

If you have the time and money I would highly suggest you join a yoga class, you should easily be able to find one in your area. Once you have the basic idea and you've increased your flexibility you can start to speed up your sessions and hold your positions longer with less breaks. That's all it really takes to convert a normal relaxing yoga session into a yoga for weight loss workout.

If it sounds like something you'd like to learn more about, whether you have previous experience with yoga or you're new to the idea of yoga for weight loss then I'd suggest taking a look at [ http://tinyurl.com/paam6ql ] for loads of guides (including some great video guides!).

Yoga for Weight Loss

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The Age Erasing Diet

Food does much more than satisfy your taste buds and silence your growling belly — the right eats can help you look great, feel fantastic, and stay sexy for decades to come. Eat to stay young by following these five commandments of long-lasting health and beauty. 


Age-Erasing Law No. 1 Shop For Color 

Antioxidants are those chemicals in foods that give tomatoes their bright red sheen, broccoli that lush green color, blueberries their range of blues, and eggplant its deep purple skin. More important, they're the compounds that keep lines from creeping onto your face and cholesterol from clogging your arteries. And they take the prize when it comes to stiff-arming the aging process. These nutritional superheroes neutralize cell-damaging free radicals, which have been linked to everything from wrinkles and age spots to cancer and heart disease. "In addition to staving off the visible signs of getting older, antioxidants can go as far as to actually reverse age-related cell damage," says Bonnie Taub-Dix, R. D., a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. What's more, research also points to a compelling connection between eating foods that are loaded with antioxidants and living a longer, healthier life. 

Because different antioxidants tackle different aging concerns, your best bet is to get a variety of them. The easiest way to accomplish that is to eat fruits and vegetables of many colors, as each hue signifies a separate health benefit. For example, the antioxidants in berries help maintain cognitive and motor functioning, those found in pomegranates have been found to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, and broccoli and brussels sprouts contain compounds that help prevent breast cancer. 


Age-Erasing Law No. 2 Fatten Up 

Monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, fish, nuts, and seeds have been shown to lower the risk of a host of age-related diseases: arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and even Alzheimer's. So if you still have an aversion to the 'F' word, it's time to get over it. Your appearance will benefit, too: The more omega-3's (mostly found in fatty fish like wild salmon) you consume, the more you reduce your risk of age-related skin damage. 


Age-Erasing Law No. 3 Sip Red Wine 

Drink one glass of red vino (preferably with a meal, so your body absorbs it more slowly) four to five days a week. The habit has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attack, diabetes, and other life-threatening illnesses. Part of the credit goes to the alcohol, which helps soothe inflamed arteries, but red wine — especially pinot noir — is also full of flavonoids, another class of powerful antioxidants that come from the skin of red grapes. Not a big wine fan? Pour yourself a glass of Concord grape juice. 


Age-Erasing Law No. 4 Drink Green Tea 

Packed with potent antioxidants called catechins, green tea may be the single best age-defying substance you can put in your mug. Sipping just one cup a day will decrease your chances of developing high blood pressure by 46 percent; drink more and you'll reduce your risk by 65 percent. What's the best of the best? A study in the Journal of Food Science discovered that of the 77 U. S. brands tested, Stash Darjeeling organic green tea is the winner, delivering 100 catechins per gram. 


Age-Erasing Law No. 5 Eat Less 

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have discovered that women who stayed closest throughout adulthood to what they weighed at 18 had a 66 percent lower risk of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and gallstones than women who had put on 11 to 22 pounds by middle age. 

Unfortunately, as you age it gets harder to keep those extra pounds off. "If you keep the physical activity and the food the same, you will put on a pound or two per year," says Walter Willett, Ph. D., chair of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and one of the lead researchers of the study. Despite your best efforts, a hormone that helps maintain muscle mass is depleted as you get older; that's why the scale still creeps up, even when you do the same kick-ass workout you were doing five years ago. 

The other half of the equation is to put less on your plate: Studies have shown that rats following a calorie-restricted diet live 30 percent longer than rats that eat normally. Reducing the amount you eat may help you live longer and prevent the problems related to extra weight — heart disease, high blood pressure, physical limitations — that are also associated with getting older. Low-cal living also keeps you away from the dangers of yo-yo dieting, especially the skin stretching that can make you look years older (think jowls — definitely not cute). Of course, noshing on less doesn't mean depriving yourself of delicious foods. So eat right and stay young! 

The Age Erasing Diet

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Fad Diets

According to the United States Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health,fad diets include "the promotion for profit of special foods, products, processes, or appliances with false or misleading health or therapeutic claims."

Fad diets are generally used by consumers to shed a great amount of weight in a short period of time. They are usually based on the erroneous belief that a particular food or food component can cause rapid weight loss or cure a disease. Another tenet of fad diets is that certain foods are harmful and therefore should be avoided completely.

Fad diets usually result in a short-term weight loss—but most people gain the weight back after discontinuing the diet. The American Dietetic Association (ADA) has established a few guidelines to help evaluate the reliability of fad diets. They suggest that consumers avoid diets that claim weight loss can be achieved in a very short period of time; that imply that weight can be lost without any physical activity; or that rely on undocumented studies.

The most reliable way to lose weight safely and maintain weight loss is by eating a variety of foods and exercising consistently. Dieters who follow the guidelines set by the ADA, which include eating a variety of foods, balancing food intake withexercise, choosing a variety of fruits and vegetables, limiting saturated fat andcholesterol, and keeping total fat intake to a moderate level will have a healthy lifestyle—which when adhered to will ultimately aid in weight management. Many fad diets, for example, counsel dieters to eliminate certain foods or to eat one specific food for a long period of time. This approach does not promote healthy eating habits, nor does it augur well for permanent weight loss.

Fad Diets

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Steps to a Gluten-Free Diet for Improved Mental Health

For people with gluten intolerance, good physical and mental health requires a complete diet change. At first it can seem impossible because so many foods contain gluten.

But the popularity of the gluten-free diet is now making life just a little simpler for people with celiac disease and gluten sensitivities.

The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness website includes a plethora of information about gluten-free foods. They even have some recipes for people who can’t consume gluten, ranging from coconut chicken soup to spinach pesto, to chicken and asparagus pizza.

The website celiac.com also has a “safe gluten-free food list,” which includes items like corn, eggs, fruit and milk. Some oats are acceptable to eat, but it depends on whether or not they’ve been contaminated with gluten in processing.

For people who don’t know if they’re gluten intolerant or not, it might be time to try a trial gluten-elimination diet.

“Eliminate it from your diet for no less than four weeks and then reintroduce it,” said Heather Schrock, a nutritional therapy practitioner.

“If your symptoms return, you are sensitive. It is very important that you completely eliminate it though and that is where the difficulty may lie. Gluten is hidden in thousands of food and personal care products. That's right, even gluten in your lotion can affect someone with gluten sensitivity.”

Marie-Nathalie Beaudoin, a training director at Bay Area Family Therapy & Training Associates, said in an email that there are numerous gluten-free grains that people can consume as part of a healthy diet.

For example, in order to bake bread, cookies, cakes and pizzas, people can use gluten-free flour such as tapioca, coconut, rice and corn. She added that people can now choose from some gluten-free noodles now as well.

“Changing diet may seem like a daunting task, but really, everything is out there ready to be used as substitute,” Beaudoin said.

“The main challenge is the first step: figuring out what you’ll eat at every meal. Once that transition is accomplished, the dietary change can be completely enjoyable and easy to follow.”

She also said that in order to find out if you’re intolerant to gluten, you can take a test, but you have to be eating gluten at the time so the blood test shows your body’s reaction to gluten. Or you can try the elimination diet and go off of the potential reduction of negative symptoms.

Dr. Wendie Trubow, the quality director of Visions HealthCare who has celiac disease, said in an email that sometimes people who eliminate gluten from their diets will have a “washout period” where they feel worse during the elimination time period.

However, she said it’s best for people to stick with a gluten-free diet for at least two weeks, and then reintroduce gluten for two days at every meal to see if they are really tolerant or not.

She added that people on a gluten-free diet still have plenty of food options, such as an assortment of rices like jasmine, brown, basmati and wild rice. Buckwheat, quinoa and millet are also grains that are gluten-free. She suggests putting them in a rice cooker to save time in food preparation.

There are a potpourri of websites and resources that contain gluten-free foods, recipes, and even lists of gluten-free (or gluten-free friendly) restaurants.

What are your favorite gluten-free resources, and what are some gluten-free foods you enjoy eating? Do you have any special gluten-free recipes you like using?

Steps to a Gluten-Free Diet for Improved Mental Health

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