Since I spend a lot of time talking to friends, family and the occasional stranger at the grocery store or waiting room about healthy eating, I can tell you most of the reasons so many people are not enjoying the immeasurable benefits of a healthy diet. While all of these excuses have some validity, nothing trumps the way you will feel and the improved health you will enjoy if you make eating healthy a priority.
Here is the top ten list of excuses along with some tips on how to overcome them:
Excuse #1 - "Healthy food! Yuck! I don't even like tofu (whatever that is) or bran muffins!"
There is a myth out there that if a food is healthy, it won't taste good. When you consider all of the wonderful fruits, vegetables, lean meats, beans, whole grains, etc., it's difficult to imagine that there aren't a number of foods in these groups that would taste good. If you don't like tofu or bran muffins, don't eat them! But find some healthy foods you do like. If you have accustomed yourself to junk food, you may have to retrain your palate and your thinking a bit, but you may find that healthy foods become your new favorite foods!
Excuse #2 - "I can't afford to buy healthy food!"
While it is true that some fresh foods are more expensive than some junk foods, this is not always the case. Fast food is generally more expensive than buying groceries. In addition, you will get more nutrition for your food dollars when you buy fresh, whole foods, as opposed to empty calorie soft drinks and snacks. If you have a tight food budget, do the best you can by choosing the best foods you can get for your money. You may also try getting some of your fresh foods locally through a co-op or farmer's market. When you consider the rising cost of health care, what you really can't afford is to not eat healthy.
Excuse #3 - "I take vitamins, so I don't need to eat healthy."
Many health experts do recommend that you supplement your diet with a good quality vitamin/mineral product. However, keep in mind that supplements cannot take the place of eating good quality, nutritious foods. Fresh, whole foods have components that simply cannot be isolated and put into a pill. There is also much we still don't know about what your body needs for optimum health, except that fresh, whole foods seem to help provide it. Supplements should live up to their name by merely supplementing the healthy foods you eat.
Excuse #4 - "Are you kidding? With my job and my kids, I don't have time to prepare healthy foods! Macaroni and cheese or Hamburger Helper is about my limit!"
Eating healthy may be more time consuming than picking up fast food for dinner, but with a little imagination and planning, you can do it. One idea is to plan some time on the weekend, or whenever you can fit it in, and do some food preparation for the whole week. You can make soup or other healthy recipes and freeze some for later use. You can chop up vegetables for salads and store them in crispers for easy salads and snacks during the week. If you have fresh fruit, nuts, seeds and hard-boiled eggs on hand, there will be nutritious snack foods ready and waiting. You can even substitute more nutritious ingredients in your favorite dishes. Macaroni and cheese made with whole grain noodles and real cheese is not difficult to make and a great replacement for the more processed versions. Take time to be healthy, and think of all the time you will save not going to the doctor!
Excuse #5 - "I don't have time to shop for healthy foods. Reading labels and choosing healthy foods takes too long! I'm overwhelmed as it is!"
Although it may take a longer to be an informed shopper, once you become label savvy and are accustomed to where the healthy foods are located, it will be just as quick as shopping for convenience foods. You may want to take a little time to plan and make a list, so that you don't waste time trying to figure out what to buy. Then start reading labels and learn which foods you can rely on to be healthy. With very few exceptions, stay on the perimeter of the grocery store, where all the fresh foods are located. If you don't waste time strolling past the snack foods section, you won't be tempted to buy, and you will have more time to devote to the rest of your overwhelming life!
Excuse #6 - "My children won't eat healthy food. I can't let them starve to death!"
This is a tough one! If children have been accustomed to eating junk food and processed food, it may take some effort to get them to enjoy more healthy choices. Try to find some fun ways to present healthy foods. Make healthy pancakes in fun shapes, or let the children get involved in the process by making healthy eating into a family project. Suggest one new healthy food a week that everyone will try. Get some recipes for healthier versions of cookies, etc. and start introducing them to your kids. Give positive reinforcement for choosing healthy foods. Most importantly, model healthy eating to your kids and help them associate it with feeling well. You don't have to do it all at once, but every time your child makes a healthy food choice, you are further down the road to that child becoming a healthy adult.
Excuse #7 - "So, what's not healthy about a cheeseburger, fries and chocolate milkshake?"
For some, it is simply a case of not knowing what is good for them. Take a little time to learn about basic nutrition. Educate yourself about the food supply and the difference between whole and processed foods. A simple place to begin is to eat a variety of fresh, colorful foods each day, including some protein foods, such as meat, fish, beans, peanut butter, nuts, seeds whole grains and dairy products. Eat several servings of fruits or vegetables with each meal, and limit your intake of added sugar and fats.
Excuse #8 - "Healthy food is not any fun!"
For most people, eating is one of life's pleasures and many of us associate happy times with certain kinds of foods. The goods news is that healthy food can also be part of a good time. Food that is beautifully prepared and presented can be healthy and delicious and provide an enjoyable experience for all. Make a point to look for foods that are both fun and healthy. Dark chocolate, for instance, if not eaten in excess has some good qualities and may enhance your mood! Keep in mind that as long as you are making healthy choices most of the time, an occasional piece of birthday cake or holiday treat will not be an issue for you.
Excuse #9 - "I would like to eat healthy, but I don't have any will power. The devil made me do it!"
Even if your will power is weak, you can make small steps towards a healthy eating lifestyle. Don't beat yourself up if you make a bad choice, since that may lead to more bad choices. Each time you make a change in your eating habits for the better, you are closer to feeling great and having vibrant good health. Fill your refrigerator and cupboards with healthy foods that you like to eat, and leave the processed and empty calorie foods at the store. It takes less will power, if the temptation is out of sight. And don't use your kids as an excuse to buy junk food. It's not good for them and it's not good for you either!
Excuse #10 - "Experts can't even agree on what's healthy! Every day I hear conflicting information about what's good for you and what isn't. For all I know, hot fudge sundaes are health food!"
My friends will tell you that this is the one excuse out of all of them that makes my eyes flash and my teeth clench! I am appalled at all the junk science and junk journalism that is out there causing confusion and mayhem in the culinary world! Some have a vested interest in promoting a certain food or ingredient, and it's not your good health! On the other hand, most of us know, generally, what foods are healthy. Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, legumes, nuts, and dairy products-in other words real foods! So, use common sense and don't make bad science and poor journalism an excuse to give up on healthy eating!
If any of these excuses is keeping you from enjoying the matchless benefits of healthy eating, I hope you will decide to make a change for the better. You can't control many of the factors that affect your life, but you can choose to make eating choices that will ensure that you are doing all you can to feel well and be healthy. No excuses.
I am convinced that what we eat and how we eat plays a major role in how we feel and particularly, how well we are. For this reason, I would like as many people as possible to become more aware of what healthy eating involves, and of the extreme benefits that can be found in being conscious of what and how we eat.
Eat and be healthy with my warmest regards,
Suzy Staywell
http://healthy-eating-support.org
http://www.healthy-eating-support.org/healthy-eating-nutrition.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Suzy_Staywell
Monday, 29 March 2010
Monday, 22 March 2010
Healthy Restaurant Choices - Eating Nutritious Meals While Dining Out
Healthy restaurant dining has become an explosively popular trend over the past few years. As health care costs continue to spiral out of control, a growing number of people are looking for ways to trim a few pounds and shed their excess weight. The Fast Food Nation is aggressively searching for an alternative to the grease-laden and calorie-filled entrees to which they've grown accustomed. As a result, there are more opportunities than ever for eating smart at a healthy restaurant.
Below, you'll discover how to find a healthy restaurant in your city that matches your style and culinary tastes, including gourmet foods and fine dining restaurants. We'll explain how to make the most of your experience dining there as well as the virtues of enjoying healthy takeout foods.
How to Find a Healthy Restaurant
Dining out is a challenge if you'd like to stay fit and healthy. Restaurant dishes that seem wholesome on the surface sometimes hide hundreds of calories. For example, wraps were once considered light and nourishing, but often contain over 1,000 calories and more than their share of fat grams. It's far more effective to dine at a healthy restaurant that specializes in dishes that are good for your heart and figure. The challenge is finding them.
If you have friends or family members who are actively pursuing a healthful lifestyle, ask them for recommendations. Chances are, they'll have a small list of favorite places they can share with you. Otherwise, look for reviews online. There are websites that review healthy restaurants that are located throughout the country. These sites will not only direct you to restaurants with free wireless and healthy takeout in your city, but they'll also provide a personal review of the foods offered there.
The Virtues of Healthy Takeout
A lot of people would prefer to avoid dining in and instead, take their meals home with them. Unfortunately, many of them cut corners and opt for fast food, rationalizing that the sacrifice to their health is temporary. You can enjoy a better alternative. There are a growing number of restaurants that offer delicious healthy takeout for their customers. They realize that a dining experience isn't always desired, but also understand that their customers still crave wholesome meals. To fulfill that need, they go to great lengths to provide healthy takeout that is both tasty and nutritious.
Choosing a Healthy Restaurant Begins At Home
There is likely at least one healthy restaurant in your area. Whether you're looking for a fine dining experience or healthy takeout choices to enjoy at home, look in your town. If you live in a larger city, search online for high-quality restaurant reviews that provide insight about the experience you can expect to enjoy. Reading personal reviews is one of the best ways to find a local healthy restaurant that suits your preferences. They can detail certain meals, their nutritional value, and even which dishes to avoid. What's more, you can search for these reviews from the comfort of your home.
Tips for Eating At a Healthy Restaurant
It's important to be aware of the factors that add unnecessarily to the calorie and fat count of your meals, even when dining at a healthy restaurant. Don't be afraid to special-order dishes without mayonnaise or heavy salad dressings. Consider drinking water rather than sodas and other sugared beverages. Limit the salt content and watch your portions; even a "light" meal can contain 500 calories. You'll find some healthy restaurants that will even offer deep-friend or battered foods, often to attract new diners who are wary of the unknown. Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or looking for an alternative to the fast food lifestyle, search for healthy restaurant reviews onlineand you may be surprised to find healthy restaurant choices which also include gourmet foods and fine dining too.
Healthy Restaurant Reviews for Healthy Takeout and Gourmet Foods Online, Restaurant Wired has revealed secret restaurant recipes and discounts on gourmet food gifts. Find restaurants with free wireless access, free café wifi, wireless hotspots, healthy restaurants, healthy restaurants reviews , restaurant gift certificates, gourmet gifts, and gourmet foods online at http://www.RestaurantWired.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brandi_LeBlanc
Below, you'll discover how to find a healthy restaurant in your city that matches your style and culinary tastes, including gourmet foods and fine dining restaurants. We'll explain how to make the most of your experience dining there as well as the virtues of enjoying healthy takeout foods.
How to Find a Healthy Restaurant
Dining out is a challenge if you'd like to stay fit and healthy. Restaurant dishes that seem wholesome on the surface sometimes hide hundreds of calories. For example, wraps were once considered light and nourishing, but often contain over 1,000 calories and more than their share of fat grams. It's far more effective to dine at a healthy restaurant that specializes in dishes that are good for your heart and figure. The challenge is finding them.
If you have friends or family members who are actively pursuing a healthful lifestyle, ask them for recommendations. Chances are, they'll have a small list of favorite places they can share with you. Otherwise, look for reviews online. There are websites that review healthy restaurants that are located throughout the country. These sites will not only direct you to restaurants with free wireless and healthy takeout in your city, but they'll also provide a personal review of the foods offered there.
The Virtues of Healthy Takeout
A lot of people would prefer to avoid dining in and instead, take their meals home with them. Unfortunately, many of them cut corners and opt for fast food, rationalizing that the sacrifice to their health is temporary. You can enjoy a better alternative. There are a growing number of restaurants that offer delicious healthy takeout for their customers. They realize that a dining experience isn't always desired, but also understand that their customers still crave wholesome meals. To fulfill that need, they go to great lengths to provide healthy takeout that is both tasty and nutritious.
Choosing a Healthy Restaurant Begins At Home
There is likely at least one healthy restaurant in your area. Whether you're looking for a fine dining experience or healthy takeout choices to enjoy at home, look in your town. If you live in a larger city, search online for high-quality restaurant reviews that provide insight about the experience you can expect to enjoy. Reading personal reviews is one of the best ways to find a local healthy restaurant that suits your preferences. They can detail certain meals, their nutritional value, and even which dishes to avoid. What's more, you can search for these reviews from the comfort of your home.
Tips for Eating At a Healthy Restaurant
It's important to be aware of the factors that add unnecessarily to the calorie and fat count of your meals, even when dining at a healthy restaurant. Don't be afraid to special-order dishes without mayonnaise or heavy salad dressings. Consider drinking water rather than sodas and other sugared beverages. Limit the salt content and watch your portions; even a "light" meal can contain 500 calories. You'll find some healthy restaurants that will even offer deep-friend or battered foods, often to attract new diners who are wary of the unknown. Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or looking for an alternative to the fast food lifestyle, search for healthy restaurant reviews onlineand you may be surprised to find healthy restaurant choices which also include gourmet foods and fine dining too.
Healthy Restaurant Reviews for Healthy Takeout and Gourmet Foods Online, Restaurant Wired has revealed secret restaurant recipes and discounts on gourmet food gifts. Find restaurants with free wireless access, free café wifi, wireless hotspots, healthy restaurants, healthy restaurants reviews , restaurant gift certificates, gourmet gifts, and gourmet foods online at http://www.RestaurantWired.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brandi_LeBlanc
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Healthy Intestines From Healthy Eating
I wrote this page because of problems I once had, resolved, and I hope to research on this further.
I once heard of a case where doctors had performed an autopsy on someone and found his intestines to be plugged with a cake-hard substance having the smallest pinhole for the faeces to get through. I guess the guy must have had the worst case of the runs during the latter part of his life, and I'd assume that this condition must have been a large reason to do with his death.
I've also heard of an Australian Olympic athlete who died shortly before competing, and when they did an autopsy on her, they found her intestines plugged with cheese. She apparently absolutely LOVED cheese pizza.
For me, if you want to hear my gruesome problem, first of all I developed hemorrhoids after riding for 40km a bike I borrowed one day, on a hard bicycle seat and after not riding the bike for well over a decade. I was bleeding in my stool and I guess it took me a while to find and approach the problem with a solution, as it tended to linger for many years (I generally avoid surgery and medication at all costs). For years I would have a bad case of diarrhea and sometimes a scary amount of blood in my stool. One possible reason for this is the bad way in which I terminated one of my fasting periods, leading to an ultimate burning ring of fire. I've been eating hot chilies and food all my life, and the way people see me eat they have often commented that I must have "guts of steel". But I guess with the way I damaged or abused them from two points of attack like this might have weakened them to where they were bleeding so much. On one of my fasts I also regularly did the colon flush, which I was later informed could weaken my intestines. By excessively cleaning it and leaving it empty for a longer period of time (my longest fast was 19.5 days), I might have weakened them, and I later read that it takes a while to heal intestines in general.
I hear of people who have the case of severe diarrhea, or constipation, and for which they might take various medication, but I have found that by proper eating and proper release one can bring their intestines back to a healthy condition, even if this may take a longer time.
If your intestines have become weaker like mine have, then you simply have to be kind to them for a longer period of time until they come back to health. For me, and probably for anyone, this simply meant holding back on the hot stuff until my stool looked regularly healthy. It is always good to examine your poo, and to note the aroma as well. If it really stinks something unhealthy, you should consider the diet you are eating. If it smells really unhealthy and toxic, imagine how many hours and days such unhealthy toxic substances are lying dormant in your intestines.
If you are not relieving yourself properly (taking proper and thorough poos), this toxic and possibly poisonous gunk will probably be seeping through your intestinal walls, into your blood stream and polluting your body. If you eat unhealthy food (possibly laced with dangerous chemicals), your liver (your body's filter) will try to remove and process the poison, as well as your kidney, your stomach will pass it on while trying to extract only the healthy stuff. The rest then oozes its way slowly through your long (I believe around 25 feet) intestines, and if you are not emptying yourself properly, it will sit there dormant, eating away at and destroying your intestinal walls, weakening them, with the very poisons all the previous organs have worked hard to get rid of to pass out of the system now seeping uncontrollably and directly into your blood stream! A very bad scenario.
Many times I see how people stuff their faces, gorging on anything that suits their fancy (visual and taste of tongue stimulation) without giving any thought to the possible consequences, somehow assuming that their body is expendable, or a wonderful machine that will correctly deal with the garbage they are feeding it. Surviving on plastic covered hot dogs without really investigating what those plastic sleeves are stuffed with - perhaps the guts and entrails and remains from a chicken factory, mixed with some healthy meat, food colouring and chemicals. Yuck.
On the other hand, the same people could spend an immense amount of attention washing and waxing their cars on Sundays. Perhaps buy better quality oil and gas for their beloved cars. Or when they cook, they correctly pour grease from the pan into an emptied pickle jar and not down the drain. For they know that the grease will clog their drain and they will have to clean it, by pouring into it some super toxic chemical which will find its way into nature and our water supply, and possibly pumping their piping with a toilet plunger.
But their kitchen sink piping is made out of thick metal and it can handle this abuse and pressure. Your intestines certainly are not. Yet the same people practically pour grease down their throats with the stuff they eat. Grease and fat is apparently addictive, which is why fast food joints go out of their way to stuff their foods with it. And look at the state of the average American. That immensely obese animal which survives on such fast food more than any other nation.
Changing your diet away from this poison and towards leaner meat, vegetables, and generally healthy food will go a long way towards extending your life and helping you maintain a lean and healthy body. Not to mention of clogged arteries and greatly increasing the chance of cardiac arrest (heart attack) due to such greasy unhealthy eating, especially if you combine that with smoking cigarettes and a stagnant lifestyle without any exercise. What an immense abuse of the body, pounding it with such poisons for a long period of time. When you are young, your body is more able to handle such abuse. But as you get older your metabolism decreases (especially if you do not exercise), and your body simply is not able to process all this toxic waste like it used to. So it is not able to get rid of it properly, and begins to stuff it in this corner and that, swept under the carpet here and there, and you begin to bulge out in a most unhealthy way. Just take your clothes off one day and take a long hard look at yourself in a standup mirror. You can practically see all that unhealthy food bulging out of you, your poor body not able to process the sheer volume of it.
And yet people can think that this is some natural state. Perhaps they don't care at all, or have resigned to it as the way of life.
Not at all my friends. If you think logically and with simple common sense, simply by putting in healthier food and helping your body a bit, you can reverse this trend, and over the years your body will be able to catch up and slowly get rid of all this junk you were feeding it too fast for it to get rid of.
There are several things you will have to do.
First of all, the more exercise the better. I know, a horrible word and you've heard it a thousand times until it's making you sick just thinking about it. But it really does not have to be painful. The important point is movement. You don't have to go to the weight room, but walk when you can. Your thighs are your body's biggest muscles, and exercising them forces your body to pump a lot of blood.
When you increase your blood circulation like this, you are exercising your heart (very good for you), and the increased circulation and higher metabolism means that your body can process any junk within it at a faster pace. Don't force yourself to do some horribly painful jog, and get all sweaty to the point that you hate the idea and cant possibly motivate yourself to repeat it the next day, or never. But increase your daily activity slowly and at a leisurely pace. If you get off the bus two stops early on the way to work, walk through a nice park, and find yourself panting once you get to your destination, well, keep it to two blocks then, or cut back to one block. But if you do this every day or two, within a week you will not find yourself panting after such a short walk.
Which is when you can increase the distance with ease, until you might get to my point where I like to run up escalators, initially two steps at a time, then walking two steps at a time, to end up at the top (some escalators can be long indeed) walking one step at a time but with both my thighs burning nicely, a very slight film of sweat produced, and my heart pounding a bit. With little quick exercises like this you can keep your body in fairly good shape. I almost never take the elevator. I walk almost everywhere, or jog there, always finding on a map a nice route through tree-lined residential areas or parks, so it is quite a pleasant experience. Many times I will get somewhere walking faster than by public transportation, when you count the time from door to door (average time waiting at the stop, walking to the stop etc.). I can do a half jog, walking intermittently, always to the point before I start to sweat, so that I can arrive at my destination faster than the public transportation system and with almost no sweat at all.
So you can think of ways how to exercise, multi task so to speak, in such a way that it will not consume any extra time during your day, and not be a painful and regretful experience for you. This will increase your body's metabolism to the point that it will be much better able to process any junk you might eat.
And try to shift your diet away from such junk, for God's sake. Sure, I like to go to McDonald's once in a while, or eat an unhealthy hotdog, or a bag of chips with coke etc., but I'm always conscious of whatever I put in my mouth. I read the package. You know, it is not that difficult to find a bag of chips (or snacks - such as a granola bar) that is more healthy.
Once again, if you make a slow transition in this department as well, your shift will not be a painful and torturous experience. The important point is not to go overboard to the point that you abandon your intentions. Go as slow as you need, but be resolute in your shift. And you will find that your tastebuds will change accordingly. When I decided I wanted to go vegetarian, at first I craved for meat, but over time my body almost became repulsed at the idea of meat and looked forward with salivation at the prospect of eating a delicious salad-only dinner. On my pages you will find some simple healthy recipes which work for me. It really is not difficult to eat healthy, cheaply, and it can be a joy to cook and eat such healthy food.
Now if you take care of these two points you will go a long way towards a healthy body, and healthy intestines. It does not really make sense for me to go into great detail about healthy intestines if you are regularly pounding your system with garbage, and if you are inactive.
Once you have attained the above state to some degree, we can proceed to focus on your intestines (although you can certainly focus on everything at the same time).
Your intestines, in a healthy state, apparently maintains some bacterial balance. Like a swamp which helps keep a lake clean. Full of certain types of bugs which eat the bad stuff. In India they are designing swamps which process, in a natural way, a large city's entire human waste.
Your intestines are similar, and if it is coming out as hard as a brick or as runny as Niagara, it is a sign to you that you are doing something wrong. One way you can regulate the bacteria is by drinking Kefir every day. I think it is supposed to be similar to buttermilk. It introduces a certain bacteria into your system to help maintain your intestinal ecology the way it should be. I bought mine flavoured with strawberries, found it delicious, and enjoyed drinking two small cartons a day.
You should also regulate your faeces. I know, sounds pretty funny doesn't it? But it makes total sense to examine what comes out. If my faeces smells bad, I always think back to what I ate that day or the day before, and decide to try and avoid it. I also pay attention to how my stomach feels and my body in general after eating unhealthy food. So I gauge my body this way, watching what I put into it, paying attention to how I feel afterwards, and examining what comes out.
Okay, I got some weird friends, and you don't have to go their extreme by relieving yourselves in the bathtub so that you can rub your faeces between your fingers, examine it close up and smell it. Or perhaps you are not blessed with the toilets they make in the Czech Republic: a little platform which is later washed into a smaller hole. A platform where you can feel the heat of your faeces warming your butt cheeks as you sit, the aroma filling up the entire cabin to the point of tears, and you can examine it as thoroughly as you want to afterwards. Someone told me that they designed those toilets at a time when people had problems with worms in their stool - to give them an opportunity to examine their faeces in greater detail.
Anyway, it's only your poo, and it is a product of what you eat, so there is no great reason to get all weasy and "ooh, that's SO gross!" about it. Really, it's just left-over food that your body did not want, plus dead red blood cells. No great trauma. Unless of course you gorge out regularly on unhealthy food, such that the product coming out the other end is toxic stinky and mighty disgusting looking. I can promise you that my poop practically smells like flowers and has a nice texture, and I do not consider it disgusting to look at.
So do not treat your poo with such disgust. Not as some sort of bad evidence you want to conceal and flush out of your sight as quickly as possible, but as something that you can examine and use to regulate your body and what you put into it.
I've been told that pork and beef are generally bad, because, in different ways, they help clog your intestines. So try to cut down those, try to eat only the lean and healthy stuff, and in between it eat stuff that helps flush out your system. Like for example Spinach salad. With a healthy dose of olive oil (very healthy for you), some good vinegar, squeezed lemon, a bit of spice, perhaps grated cheese, maybe even diced apples, and you have a rather delicious and very healthy meal which you can whip up in no time flat. Or use Romaine lettuce. Apparently Boston or Ice salad does not have much nutritional value. Go to your local health food shop and start asking lots of questions. Eat long grain brown rice rather than white processed rice. Sure, it might take 40 to 50 minutes to cook, but if you do it properly it requires no maintenance. Just throw it on the stove, during which time you can do lots of other stuff. I live in a caravan truck and do not have a convenient kitchen at all, yet I eat very healthily. So you have no excuse! Oh yes, and I like to throw sesame seeds on practically everything (soup, salad). There are very easy ways to eat healthy and not spend hours and a thick wallet doing it.
You can also try the intestinal flush once in a while. Like plugging your garden hose into an outdoor faucet and turning it on full blast. Really clean out all the dead leaves accumulated over the winter. Your body works on the same principle as your car and your kitchen sink. So just give it an equal amount of attention, and you will find yourself getting much healthier in ways you might not have dreamed of. Which will allow you to enjoy life much more, and that blasted car, if you really need it.
On my pages I have prepared the stuff I generally like to eat and find easy to make. I don't have hours to kill a day on cooking either. Living in a truck, I generally like to reserve cooking for the weekends. I'll allow myself fast food occasionally during the week, but I make an effort to find healthy fast food (not that difficult), and in between that I have my healthy food. And now I can enjoy practically all the hot peppers I want (great joy). My intestines have become healthy again, no more blood, and great texture. For example, for a few years I'd always have painful diarrhea the next morning after eating only a few hot peppers. I guess my diet of beer, hot peppers, bread and sardines wasn't a healthy combination. But there was not that much else available in the area I was in at the time. The important point is that I noted the problem and experimented with my diet until I found what the problem was and determined a solution. If I get constipated, the next day I'll eat more green leafy salad stuff. If I get the runs too much, I'll have some chicken. Just experiment and gauge your poo until you find a good diet that works for you. But think about it and pay attention. And this way you should become a healthy and happy person.
I'm 42 years old and people keep guessing I'm between 24 and 30, so I must be doing something right!
Healthy intestines and healthy eating
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karel_Kosman
I once heard of a case where doctors had performed an autopsy on someone and found his intestines to be plugged with a cake-hard substance having the smallest pinhole for the faeces to get through. I guess the guy must have had the worst case of the runs during the latter part of his life, and I'd assume that this condition must have been a large reason to do with his death.
I've also heard of an Australian Olympic athlete who died shortly before competing, and when they did an autopsy on her, they found her intestines plugged with cheese. She apparently absolutely LOVED cheese pizza.
For me, if you want to hear my gruesome problem, first of all I developed hemorrhoids after riding for 40km a bike I borrowed one day, on a hard bicycle seat and after not riding the bike for well over a decade. I was bleeding in my stool and I guess it took me a while to find and approach the problem with a solution, as it tended to linger for many years (I generally avoid surgery and medication at all costs). For years I would have a bad case of diarrhea and sometimes a scary amount of blood in my stool. One possible reason for this is the bad way in which I terminated one of my fasting periods, leading to an ultimate burning ring of fire. I've been eating hot chilies and food all my life, and the way people see me eat they have often commented that I must have "guts of steel". But I guess with the way I damaged or abused them from two points of attack like this might have weakened them to where they were bleeding so much. On one of my fasts I also regularly did the colon flush, which I was later informed could weaken my intestines. By excessively cleaning it and leaving it empty for a longer period of time (my longest fast was 19.5 days), I might have weakened them, and I later read that it takes a while to heal intestines in general.
I hear of people who have the case of severe diarrhea, or constipation, and for which they might take various medication, but I have found that by proper eating and proper release one can bring their intestines back to a healthy condition, even if this may take a longer time.
If your intestines have become weaker like mine have, then you simply have to be kind to them for a longer period of time until they come back to health. For me, and probably for anyone, this simply meant holding back on the hot stuff until my stool looked regularly healthy. It is always good to examine your poo, and to note the aroma as well. If it really stinks something unhealthy, you should consider the diet you are eating. If it smells really unhealthy and toxic, imagine how many hours and days such unhealthy toxic substances are lying dormant in your intestines.
If you are not relieving yourself properly (taking proper and thorough poos), this toxic and possibly poisonous gunk will probably be seeping through your intestinal walls, into your blood stream and polluting your body. If you eat unhealthy food (possibly laced with dangerous chemicals), your liver (your body's filter) will try to remove and process the poison, as well as your kidney, your stomach will pass it on while trying to extract only the healthy stuff. The rest then oozes its way slowly through your long (I believe around 25 feet) intestines, and if you are not emptying yourself properly, it will sit there dormant, eating away at and destroying your intestinal walls, weakening them, with the very poisons all the previous organs have worked hard to get rid of to pass out of the system now seeping uncontrollably and directly into your blood stream! A very bad scenario.
Many times I see how people stuff their faces, gorging on anything that suits their fancy (visual and taste of tongue stimulation) without giving any thought to the possible consequences, somehow assuming that their body is expendable, or a wonderful machine that will correctly deal with the garbage they are feeding it. Surviving on plastic covered hot dogs without really investigating what those plastic sleeves are stuffed with - perhaps the guts and entrails and remains from a chicken factory, mixed with some healthy meat, food colouring and chemicals. Yuck.
On the other hand, the same people could spend an immense amount of attention washing and waxing their cars on Sundays. Perhaps buy better quality oil and gas for their beloved cars. Or when they cook, they correctly pour grease from the pan into an emptied pickle jar and not down the drain. For they know that the grease will clog their drain and they will have to clean it, by pouring into it some super toxic chemical which will find its way into nature and our water supply, and possibly pumping their piping with a toilet plunger.
But their kitchen sink piping is made out of thick metal and it can handle this abuse and pressure. Your intestines certainly are not. Yet the same people practically pour grease down their throats with the stuff they eat. Grease and fat is apparently addictive, which is why fast food joints go out of their way to stuff their foods with it. And look at the state of the average American. That immensely obese animal which survives on such fast food more than any other nation.
Changing your diet away from this poison and towards leaner meat, vegetables, and generally healthy food will go a long way towards extending your life and helping you maintain a lean and healthy body. Not to mention of clogged arteries and greatly increasing the chance of cardiac arrest (heart attack) due to such greasy unhealthy eating, especially if you combine that with smoking cigarettes and a stagnant lifestyle without any exercise. What an immense abuse of the body, pounding it with such poisons for a long period of time. When you are young, your body is more able to handle such abuse. But as you get older your metabolism decreases (especially if you do not exercise), and your body simply is not able to process all this toxic waste like it used to. So it is not able to get rid of it properly, and begins to stuff it in this corner and that, swept under the carpet here and there, and you begin to bulge out in a most unhealthy way. Just take your clothes off one day and take a long hard look at yourself in a standup mirror. You can practically see all that unhealthy food bulging out of you, your poor body not able to process the sheer volume of it.
And yet people can think that this is some natural state. Perhaps they don't care at all, or have resigned to it as the way of life.
Not at all my friends. If you think logically and with simple common sense, simply by putting in healthier food and helping your body a bit, you can reverse this trend, and over the years your body will be able to catch up and slowly get rid of all this junk you were feeding it too fast for it to get rid of.
There are several things you will have to do.
First of all, the more exercise the better. I know, a horrible word and you've heard it a thousand times until it's making you sick just thinking about it. But it really does not have to be painful. The important point is movement. You don't have to go to the weight room, but walk when you can. Your thighs are your body's biggest muscles, and exercising them forces your body to pump a lot of blood.
When you increase your blood circulation like this, you are exercising your heart (very good for you), and the increased circulation and higher metabolism means that your body can process any junk within it at a faster pace. Don't force yourself to do some horribly painful jog, and get all sweaty to the point that you hate the idea and cant possibly motivate yourself to repeat it the next day, or never. But increase your daily activity slowly and at a leisurely pace. If you get off the bus two stops early on the way to work, walk through a nice park, and find yourself panting once you get to your destination, well, keep it to two blocks then, or cut back to one block. But if you do this every day or two, within a week you will not find yourself panting after such a short walk.
Which is when you can increase the distance with ease, until you might get to my point where I like to run up escalators, initially two steps at a time, then walking two steps at a time, to end up at the top (some escalators can be long indeed) walking one step at a time but with both my thighs burning nicely, a very slight film of sweat produced, and my heart pounding a bit. With little quick exercises like this you can keep your body in fairly good shape. I almost never take the elevator. I walk almost everywhere, or jog there, always finding on a map a nice route through tree-lined residential areas or parks, so it is quite a pleasant experience. Many times I will get somewhere walking faster than by public transportation, when you count the time from door to door (average time waiting at the stop, walking to the stop etc.). I can do a half jog, walking intermittently, always to the point before I start to sweat, so that I can arrive at my destination faster than the public transportation system and with almost no sweat at all.
So you can think of ways how to exercise, multi task so to speak, in such a way that it will not consume any extra time during your day, and not be a painful and regretful experience for you. This will increase your body's metabolism to the point that it will be much better able to process any junk you might eat.
And try to shift your diet away from such junk, for God's sake. Sure, I like to go to McDonald's once in a while, or eat an unhealthy hotdog, or a bag of chips with coke etc., but I'm always conscious of whatever I put in my mouth. I read the package. You know, it is not that difficult to find a bag of chips (or snacks - such as a granola bar) that is more healthy.
Once again, if you make a slow transition in this department as well, your shift will not be a painful and torturous experience. The important point is not to go overboard to the point that you abandon your intentions. Go as slow as you need, but be resolute in your shift. And you will find that your tastebuds will change accordingly. When I decided I wanted to go vegetarian, at first I craved for meat, but over time my body almost became repulsed at the idea of meat and looked forward with salivation at the prospect of eating a delicious salad-only dinner. On my pages you will find some simple healthy recipes which work for me. It really is not difficult to eat healthy, cheaply, and it can be a joy to cook and eat such healthy food.
Now if you take care of these two points you will go a long way towards a healthy body, and healthy intestines. It does not really make sense for me to go into great detail about healthy intestines if you are regularly pounding your system with garbage, and if you are inactive.
Once you have attained the above state to some degree, we can proceed to focus on your intestines (although you can certainly focus on everything at the same time).
Your intestines, in a healthy state, apparently maintains some bacterial balance. Like a swamp which helps keep a lake clean. Full of certain types of bugs which eat the bad stuff. In India they are designing swamps which process, in a natural way, a large city's entire human waste.
Your intestines are similar, and if it is coming out as hard as a brick or as runny as Niagara, it is a sign to you that you are doing something wrong. One way you can regulate the bacteria is by drinking Kefir every day. I think it is supposed to be similar to buttermilk. It introduces a certain bacteria into your system to help maintain your intestinal ecology the way it should be. I bought mine flavoured with strawberries, found it delicious, and enjoyed drinking two small cartons a day.
You should also regulate your faeces. I know, sounds pretty funny doesn't it? But it makes total sense to examine what comes out. If my faeces smells bad, I always think back to what I ate that day or the day before, and decide to try and avoid it. I also pay attention to how my stomach feels and my body in general after eating unhealthy food. So I gauge my body this way, watching what I put into it, paying attention to how I feel afterwards, and examining what comes out.
Okay, I got some weird friends, and you don't have to go their extreme by relieving yourselves in the bathtub so that you can rub your faeces between your fingers, examine it close up and smell it. Or perhaps you are not blessed with the toilets they make in the Czech Republic: a little platform which is later washed into a smaller hole. A platform where you can feel the heat of your faeces warming your butt cheeks as you sit, the aroma filling up the entire cabin to the point of tears, and you can examine it as thoroughly as you want to afterwards. Someone told me that they designed those toilets at a time when people had problems with worms in their stool - to give them an opportunity to examine their faeces in greater detail.
Anyway, it's only your poo, and it is a product of what you eat, so there is no great reason to get all weasy and "ooh, that's SO gross!" about it. Really, it's just left-over food that your body did not want, plus dead red blood cells. No great trauma. Unless of course you gorge out regularly on unhealthy food, such that the product coming out the other end is toxic stinky and mighty disgusting looking. I can promise you that my poop practically smells like flowers and has a nice texture, and I do not consider it disgusting to look at.
So do not treat your poo with such disgust. Not as some sort of bad evidence you want to conceal and flush out of your sight as quickly as possible, but as something that you can examine and use to regulate your body and what you put into it.
I've been told that pork and beef are generally bad, because, in different ways, they help clog your intestines. So try to cut down those, try to eat only the lean and healthy stuff, and in between it eat stuff that helps flush out your system. Like for example Spinach salad. With a healthy dose of olive oil (very healthy for you), some good vinegar, squeezed lemon, a bit of spice, perhaps grated cheese, maybe even diced apples, and you have a rather delicious and very healthy meal which you can whip up in no time flat. Or use Romaine lettuce. Apparently Boston or Ice salad does not have much nutritional value. Go to your local health food shop and start asking lots of questions. Eat long grain brown rice rather than white processed rice. Sure, it might take 40 to 50 minutes to cook, but if you do it properly it requires no maintenance. Just throw it on the stove, during which time you can do lots of other stuff. I live in a caravan truck and do not have a convenient kitchen at all, yet I eat very healthily. So you have no excuse! Oh yes, and I like to throw sesame seeds on practically everything (soup, salad). There are very easy ways to eat healthy and not spend hours and a thick wallet doing it.
You can also try the intestinal flush once in a while. Like plugging your garden hose into an outdoor faucet and turning it on full blast. Really clean out all the dead leaves accumulated over the winter. Your body works on the same principle as your car and your kitchen sink. So just give it an equal amount of attention, and you will find yourself getting much healthier in ways you might not have dreamed of. Which will allow you to enjoy life much more, and that blasted car, if you really need it.
On my pages I have prepared the stuff I generally like to eat and find easy to make. I don't have hours to kill a day on cooking either. Living in a truck, I generally like to reserve cooking for the weekends. I'll allow myself fast food occasionally during the week, but I make an effort to find healthy fast food (not that difficult), and in between that I have my healthy food. And now I can enjoy practically all the hot peppers I want (great joy). My intestines have become healthy again, no more blood, and great texture. For example, for a few years I'd always have painful diarrhea the next morning after eating only a few hot peppers. I guess my diet of beer, hot peppers, bread and sardines wasn't a healthy combination. But there was not that much else available in the area I was in at the time. The important point is that I noted the problem and experimented with my diet until I found what the problem was and determined a solution. If I get constipated, the next day I'll eat more green leafy salad stuff. If I get the runs too much, I'll have some chicken. Just experiment and gauge your poo until you find a good diet that works for you. But think about it and pay attention. And this way you should become a healthy and happy person.
I'm 42 years old and people keep guessing I'm between 24 and 30, so I must be doing something right!
Healthy intestines and healthy eating
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karel_Kosman
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Healthy Skin, Hair and Teeth - Benefits of a Healthy Diet
Healthy Skin
The skin is the largest organ in the body, and the most exposed. Most people don't take proper care of their skin - either due to hectic work or due to pure ignorance.
Vitamins A, C, E, selenium, and zinc are especially important to maintain beautiful and healthy skin. Foods that are rich in these vitamins and minerals include:
Apricots
Cantalope
Carrots
Eggs
Broccoli
Citrus fruits
Tomatoes
Papaya
Almonds
Avocado
Olive oil
Walnuts
Sunflower seeds
Cabbage
Chicken
Liver
Onions
Seafood
Oats
Tuna
Cauliflower
This is just a partial list of foods rich in the vitamins and minerals you need for healthy skin. Foods and drinks you need to eliminate or reduce your consumption of include alcohol, sugar, and saturated fat. Coffee and tea should be limited to two cups a day.
Since the skin often mirrors the health of the whole body, eating a healthy diet provides you a healthy body and as an extra benefit, healthy skin.
Healthy Hair
Healthy hair depends on eating foods high in protein and certain vitamins and minerals. Inadequate protein intake over a lengthy period can force hair into the resting phase with shedding a few months later. Five amino acids are of particular relevance to hair growth - cystine, cysteine, methionine, arginine and lysine.
There a number of different specific hair vitamins and minerals that can play a major role in helping a person have a healthy head of hair. Vitamins necessary for healthy hair include vitamins A, B6, biotin, inositol, and folic acid. Minerals needed to good hair growth are magnesium, sulphur, silica and zinc.
Extra hair vitamins are likely to be needed if a person is generally unwell or is undernourished as their hair will show damage and may even stop growing. For example, brittle hair is an indication of iron deficiency while prolonged and severe hair loss can mean inefficient functioning of the liver or the thyroid.
Healthy Teeth
The health of your teeth and gums, the lack of plaque and debris, and the freshness of your breath can be a constant reminder of the status of your overall health. A healthy body generally means healthy teeth as well.
As with promoting healthy skin and healthy hair, eating healthy foods (such as lots of fresh fruits and vegetables) also helps encourage healthy teeth. These foods tend to help scrub the plaque off of our teeth before it can turn into tartar. It is tartar that can cause pockets in the gums where bacteria can take root and cause decay.
Vitamin C deficiencies can result in bleeding gums and loose teeth as well as mouth sores The Vitamin B complex is also essential to a healthy mouth as deficiencies can cause cracking and bleeding of the lips as well as open sores and lesions on both the inside and outside of the mouth.
Calcium is the super nutrient that keeps bones and teeth strong. Vitamin D is another important factor in keeping our teeth and bones healthy. Spending a total of about one hour each week in the sun will normally provide you all the vitamin D you need.
Besides causing other problems with our health, too much fluoride can cause permanent staining of our child's teeth. It can also cause brain degeneration and certain cancers. So be very careful to rinse completely after brushing your teeth with fluoride toothpaste and after a fluoride treatment at the dentist.
Conclusion
There's no way around it. The only way to have healthy skin, healthy hair and healthy teeth is to give your body the vitamins, minerals and protein it needs by heating a healthy and well-rounded diet.
Get some great healthy recipes and health tips at http://www.healthyrecipesandmore.com where you can find information on what your body needs to stay healthy and young. Carol and her sister Barbara have developed this Web site to provide the resources that you need to discover how to take care of your own health and that of your family.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carol_Stack
The skin is the largest organ in the body, and the most exposed. Most people don't take proper care of their skin - either due to hectic work or due to pure ignorance.
Vitamins A, C, E, selenium, and zinc are especially important to maintain beautiful and healthy skin. Foods that are rich in these vitamins and minerals include:
Apricots
Cantalope
Carrots
Eggs
Broccoli
Citrus fruits
Tomatoes
Papaya
Almonds
Avocado
Olive oil
Walnuts
Sunflower seeds
Cabbage
Chicken
Liver
Onions
Seafood
Oats
Tuna
Cauliflower
This is just a partial list of foods rich in the vitamins and minerals you need for healthy skin. Foods and drinks you need to eliminate or reduce your consumption of include alcohol, sugar, and saturated fat. Coffee and tea should be limited to two cups a day.
Since the skin often mirrors the health of the whole body, eating a healthy diet provides you a healthy body and as an extra benefit, healthy skin.
Healthy Hair
Healthy hair depends on eating foods high in protein and certain vitamins and minerals. Inadequate protein intake over a lengthy period can force hair into the resting phase with shedding a few months later. Five amino acids are of particular relevance to hair growth - cystine, cysteine, methionine, arginine and lysine.
There a number of different specific hair vitamins and minerals that can play a major role in helping a person have a healthy head of hair. Vitamins necessary for healthy hair include vitamins A, B6, biotin, inositol, and folic acid. Minerals needed to good hair growth are magnesium, sulphur, silica and zinc.
Extra hair vitamins are likely to be needed if a person is generally unwell or is undernourished as their hair will show damage and may even stop growing. For example, brittle hair is an indication of iron deficiency while prolonged and severe hair loss can mean inefficient functioning of the liver or the thyroid.
Healthy Teeth
The health of your teeth and gums, the lack of plaque and debris, and the freshness of your breath can be a constant reminder of the status of your overall health. A healthy body generally means healthy teeth as well.
As with promoting healthy skin and healthy hair, eating healthy foods (such as lots of fresh fruits and vegetables) also helps encourage healthy teeth. These foods tend to help scrub the plaque off of our teeth before it can turn into tartar. It is tartar that can cause pockets in the gums where bacteria can take root and cause decay.
Vitamin C deficiencies can result in bleeding gums and loose teeth as well as mouth sores The Vitamin B complex is also essential to a healthy mouth as deficiencies can cause cracking and bleeding of the lips as well as open sores and lesions on both the inside and outside of the mouth.
Calcium is the super nutrient that keeps bones and teeth strong. Vitamin D is another important factor in keeping our teeth and bones healthy. Spending a total of about one hour each week in the sun will normally provide you all the vitamin D you need.
Besides causing other problems with our health, too much fluoride can cause permanent staining of our child's teeth. It can also cause brain degeneration and certain cancers. So be very careful to rinse completely after brushing your teeth with fluoride toothpaste and after a fluoride treatment at the dentist.
Conclusion
There's no way around it. The only way to have healthy skin, healthy hair and healthy teeth is to give your body the vitamins, minerals and protein it needs by heating a healthy and well-rounded diet.
Get some great healthy recipes and health tips at http://www.healthyrecipesandmore.com where you can find information on what your body needs to stay healthy and young. Carol and her sister Barbara have developed this Web site to provide the resources that you need to discover how to take care of your own health and that of your family.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carol_Stack
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Get Healthy And Give Healthy: A New Trend In Gift Baskets
Eating foods that are "nutritious and delicious"--as many slogans declare--is great for health conscious people, and by giving healthy gifts you can help encourage good eating habits.
It only makes sense that healthy gifts are becoming more and more popular. There seems to be a health kick of sorts going on right now for many Americans.
Believe it or not, if you have ever looked at a food chart indicating the portions of the different kinds of foods to eat daily, you will see fruits and vegetables at the top of the list. Recommended by doctors and nutritionists, fruits and vegetables are the foods we should be eating the most.
Unfortunately, many Americans eat less fruits and vegetables than they do any other type of foods on the food chart pyramid. This is another reason that healthy gifts are a good idea, because you can encourage friends and family to develop better, more nutritious eating habits.
When you get a healthy gift or gift basket for someone you know, fruits and vegetables are great to include, but there are also very healthy kinds of foods to choose from. Many healthy gift baskets contain granola bars or other snacks with essential grains and nuts for energy.
Especially people who are very active will appreciate such gift items as trail mix or, as I mentioned before, granola bars, energy bars and dried fruits and nuts.
The greatest thing about healthy gifts is that if you frequently purchase fruit baskets you are already giving away healthy gifts. But there are many more options for specific kinds of healthy gifts you can choose from as well. You can find the very best selections of healthy gifts online if you just know where to look for them.
And, of course, healthy gifts can also include healthy items that are not for eating.
For example:
You can get a kid healthy gift baskets with some sweet fruits to eat, but maybe some toys that will encourage him or her to exercise more. These items such as jump ropes, hopscotch games, a soccer ball or basketball, even kits for games like capture the flag.
Children have tons of energy to burn, and yet, they are exercising less and less. Playing sports and other games are not only ways to stay healthy and fit, but they are also extremely fun. Kids do not realize, as they are zoning out on the sofa, all the fun they are missing out on.
You can also purchase healthy gift baskets for your adult friends with exercise tapes and accessories, nutrition guides and so on. So just because you are getting someone a healthy gift--that does not always mean to get them healthy foods--even recipes are included with some healthy gift baskets.
Therefore, healthy gift baskets are suitable for anyone and everyone. When you purchase healthy gift baskets as presents for any occasion, you are contributing to the improvement of health concerns all over the country. If you give away healthy gift baskets you will not be sorry you did.
Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on nutrition and health please visit Healthy Gifts or visit Gifts for Health.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Clarke
It only makes sense that healthy gifts are becoming more and more popular. There seems to be a health kick of sorts going on right now for many Americans.
Believe it or not, if you have ever looked at a food chart indicating the portions of the different kinds of foods to eat daily, you will see fruits and vegetables at the top of the list. Recommended by doctors and nutritionists, fruits and vegetables are the foods we should be eating the most.
Unfortunately, many Americans eat less fruits and vegetables than they do any other type of foods on the food chart pyramid. This is another reason that healthy gifts are a good idea, because you can encourage friends and family to develop better, more nutritious eating habits.
When you get a healthy gift or gift basket for someone you know, fruits and vegetables are great to include, but there are also very healthy kinds of foods to choose from. Many healthy gift baskets contain granola bars or other snacks with essential grains and nuts for energy.
Especially people who are very active will appreciate such gift items as trail mix or, as I mentioned before, granola bars, energy bars and dried fruits and nuts.
The greatest thing about healthy gifts is that if you frequently purchase fruit baskets you are already giving away healthy gifts. But there are many more options for specific kinds of healthy gifts you can choose from as well. You can find the very best selections of healthy gifts online if you just know where to look for them.
And, of course, healthy gifts can also include healthy items that are not for eating.
For example:
You can get a kid healthy gift baskets with some sweet fruits to eat, but maybe some toys that will encourage him or her to exercise more. These items such as jump ropes, hopscotch games, a soccer ball or basketball, even kits for games like capture the flag.
Children have tons of energy to burn, and yet, they are exercising less and less. Playing sports and other games are not only ways to stay healthy and fit, but they are also extremely fun. Kids do not realize, as they are zoning out on the sofa, all the fun they are missing out on.
You can also purchase healthy gift baskets for your adult friends with exercise tapes and accessories, nutrition guides and so on. So just because you are getting someone a healthy gift--that does not always mean to get them healthy foods--even recipes are included with some healthy gift baskets.
Therefore, healthy gift baskets are suitable for anyone and everyone. When you purchase healthy gift baskets as presents for any occasion, you are contributing to the improvement of health concerns all over the country. If you give away healthy gift baskets you will not be sorry you did.
Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on nutrition and health please visit Healthy Gifts or visit Gifts for Health.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Clarke
Why Aren't You Enjoying the Benefits of Healthy Eating?
Since I spend a lot of time talking to friends, family and the occasional stranger at the grocery store or waiting room about healthy eating, I can tell you most of the reasons so many people are not enjoying the immeasurable benefits of a healthy diet. While all of these excuses have some validity, nothing trumps the way you will feel and the improved health you will enjoy if you make eating healthy a priority.
Here is the top ten list of excuses along with some tips on how to overcome them:
Excuse #1 - "Healthy food! Yuck! I don't even like tofu (whatever that is) or bran muffins!"
There is a myth out there that if a food is healthy, it won't taste good. When you consider all of the wonderful fruits, vegetables, lean meats, beans, whole grains, etc., it's difficult to imagine that there aren't a number of foods in these groups that would taste good. If you don't like tofu or bran muffins, don't eat them! But find some healthy foods you do like. If you have accustomed yourself to junk food, you may have to retrain your palate and your thinking a bit, but you may find that healthy foods become your new favorite foods!
Excuse #2 - "I can't afford to buy healthy food!"
While it is true that some fresh foods are more expensive than some junk foods, this is not always the case. Fast food is generally more expensive than buying groceries. In addition, you will get more nutrition for your food dollars when you buy fresh, whole foods, as opposed to empty calorie soft drinks and snacks. If you have a tight food budget, do the best you can by choosing the best foods you can get for your money. You may also try getting some of your fresh foods locally through a co-op or farmer's market. When you consider the rising cost of health care, what you really can't afford is to not eat healthy.
Excuse #3 - "I take vitamins, so I don't need to eat healthy."
Many health experts do recommend that you supplement your diet with a good quality vitamin/mineral product. However, keep in mind that supplements cannot take the place of eating good quality, nutritious foods. Fresh, whole foods have components that simply cannot be isolated and put into a pill. There is also much we still don't know about what your body needs for optimum health, except that fresh, whole foods seem to help provide it. Supplements should live up to their name by merely supplementing the healthy foods you eat.
Excuse #4 - "Are you kidding? With my job and my kids, I don't have time to prepare healthy foods! Macaroni and cheese or Hamburger Helper is about my limit!"
Eating healthy may be more time consuming than picking up fast food for dinner, but with a little imagination and planning, you can do it. One idea is to plan some time on the weekend, or whenever you can fit it in, and do some food preparation for the whole week. You can make soup or other healthy recipes and freeze some for later use. You can chop up vegetables for salads and store them in crispers for easy salads and snacks during the week. If you have fresh fruit, nuts, seeds and hard-boiled eggs on hand, there will be nutritious snack foods ready and waiting. You can even substitute more nutritious ingredients in your favorite dishes. Macaroni and cheese made with whole grain noodles and real cheese is not difficult to make and a great replacement for the more processed versions. Take time to be healthy, and think of all the time you will save not going to the doctor!
Excuse #5 - "I don't have time to shop for healthy foods. Reading labels and choosing healthy foods takes too long! I'm overwhelmed as it is!"
Although it may take a longer to be an informed shopper, once you become label savvy and are accustomed to where the healthy foods are located, it will be just as quick as shopping for convenience foods. You may want to take a little time to plan and make a list, so that you don't waste time trying to figure out what to buy. Then start reading labels and learn which foods you can rely on to be healthy. With very few exceptions, stay on the perimeter of the grocery store, where all the fresh foods are located. If you don't waste time strolling past the snack foods section, you won't be tempted to buy, and you will have more time to devote to the rest of your overwhelming life!
Excuse #6 - "My children won't eat healthy food. I can't let them starve to death!"
This is a tough one! If children have been accustomed to eating junk food and processed food, it may take some effort to get them to enjoy more healthy choices. Try to find some fun ways to present healthy foods. Make healthy pancakes in fun shapes, or let the children get involved in the process by making healthy eating into a family project. Suggest one new healthy food a week that everyone will try. Get some recipes for healthier versions of cookies, etc. and start introducing them to your kids. Give positive reinforcement for choosing healthy foods. Most importantly, model healthy eating to your kids and help them associate it with feeling well. You don't have to do it all at once, but every time your child makes a healthy food choice, you are further down the road to that child becoming a healthy adult.
Excuse #7 - "So, what's not healthy about a cheeseburger, fries and chocolate milkshake?"
For some, it is simply a case of not knowing what is good for them. Take a little time to learn about basic nutrition. Educate yourself about the food supply and the difference between whole and processed foods. A simple place to begin is to eat a variety of fresh, colorful foods each day, including some protein foods, such as meat, fish, beans, peanut butter, nuts, seeds whole grains and dairy products. Eat several servings of fruits or vegetables with each meal, and limit your intake of added sugar and fats.
Excuse #8 - "Healthy food is not any fun!"
For most people, eating is one of life's pleasures and many of us associate happy times with certain kinds of foods. The goods news is that healthy food can also be part of a good time. Food that is beautifully prepared and presented can be healthy and delicious and provide an enjoyable experience for all. Make a point to look for foods that are both fun and healthy. Dark chocolate, for instance, if not eaten in excess has some good qualities and may enhance your mood! Keep in mind that as long as you are making healthy choices most of the time, an occasional piece of birthday cake or holiday treat will not be an issue for you.
Excuse #9 - "I would like to eat healthy, but I don't have any will power. The devil made me do it!"
Even if your will power is weak, you can make small steps towards a healthy eating lifestyle. Don't beat yourself up if you make a bad choice, since that may lead to more bad choices. Each time you make a change in your eating habits for the better, you are closer to feeling great and having vibrant good health. Fill your refrigerator and cupboards with healthy foods that you like to eat, and leave the processed and empty calorie foods at the store. It takes less will power, if the temptation is out of sight. And don't use your kids as an excuse to buy junk food. It's not good for them and it's not good for you either!
Excuse #10 - "Experts can't even agree on what's healthy! Every day I hear conflicting information about what's good for you and what isn't. For all I know, hot fudge sundaes are health food!"
My friends will tell you that this is the one excuse out of all of them that makes my eyes flash and my teeth clench! I am appalled at all the junk science and junk journalism that is out there causing confusion and mayhem in the culinary world! Some have a vested interest in promoting a certain food or ingredient, and it's not your good health! On the other hand, most of us know, generally, what foods are healthy. Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, legumes, nuts, and dairy products-in other words real foods! So, use common sense and don't make bad science and poor journalism an excuse to give up on healthy eating!
If any of these excuses is keeping you from enjoying the matchless benefits of healthy eating, I hope you will decide to make a change for the better. You can't control many of the factors that affect your life, but you can choose to make eating choices that will ensure that you are doing all you can to feel well and be healthy. No excuses.
I am convinced that what we eat and how we eat plays a major role in how we feel and particularly, how well we are. For this reason, I would like as many people as possible to become more aware of what healthy eating involves, and of the extreme benefits that can be found in being conscious of what and how we eat.
Eat and be healthy with my warmest regards,
Suzy Staywell
http://healthy-eating-support.org
http://www.healthy-eating-support.org/healthy-eating-nutrition.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Suzy_Staywell
Here is the top ten list of excuses along with some tips on how to overcome them:
Excuse #1 - "Healthy food! Yuck! I don't even like tofu (whatever that is) or bran muffins!"
There is a myth out there that if a food is healthy, it won't taste good. When you consider all of the wonderful fruits, vegetables, lean meats, beans, whole grains, etc., it's difficult to imagine that there aren't a number of foods in these groups that would taste good. If you don't like tofu or bran muffins, don't eat them! But find some healthy foods you do like. If you have accustomed yourself to junk food, you may have to retrain your palate and your thinking a bit, but you may find that healthy foods become your new favorite foods!
Excuse #2 - "I can't afford to buy healthy food!"
While it is true that some fresh foods are more expensive than some junk foods, this is not always the case. Fast food is generally more expensive than buying groceries. In addition, you will get more nutrition for your food dollars when you buy fresh, whole foods, as opposed to empty calorie soft drinks and snacks. If you have a tight food budget, do the best you can by choosing the best foods you can get for your money. You may also try getting some of your fresh foods locally through a co-op or farmer's market. When you consider the rising cost of health care, what you really can't afford is to not eat healthy.
Excuse #3 - "I take vitamins, so I don't need to eat healthy."
Many health experts do recommend that you supplement your diet with a good quality vitamin/mineral product. However, keep in mind that supplements cannot take the place of eating good quality, nutritious foods. Fresh, whole foods have components that simply cannot be isolated and put into a pill. There is also much we still don't know about what your body needs for optimum health, except that fresh, whole foods seem to help provide it. Supplements should live up to their name by merely supplementing the healthy foods you eat.
Excuse #4 - "Are you kidding? With my job and my kids, I don't have time to prepare healthy foods! Macaroni and cheese or Hamburger Helper is about my limit!"
Eating healthy may be more time consuming than picking up fast food for dinner, but with a little imagination and planning, you can do it. One idea is to plan some time on the weekend, or whenever you can fit it in, and do some food preparation for the whole week. You can make soup or other healthy recipes and freeze some for later use. You can chop up vegetables for salads and store them in crispers for easy salads and snacks during the week. If you have fresh fruit, nuts, seeds and hard-boiled eggs on hand, there will be nutritious snack foods ready and waiting. You can even substitute more nutritious ingredients in your favorite dishes. Macaroni and cheese made with whole grain noodles and real cheese is not difficult to make and a great replacement for the more processed versions. Take time to be healthy, and think of all the time you will save not going to the doctor!
Excuse #5 - "I don't have time to shop for healthy foods. Reading labels and choosing healthy foods takes too long! I'm overwhelmed as it is!"
Although it may take a longer to be an informed shopper, once you become label savvy and are accustomed to where the healthy foods are located, it will be just as quick as shopping for convenience foods. You may want to take a little time to plan and make a list, so that you don't waste time trying to figure out what to buy. Then start reading labels and learn which foods you can rely on to be healthy. With very few exceptions, stay on the perimeter of the grocery store, where all the fresh foods are located. If you don't waste time strolling past the snack foods section, you won't be tempted to buy, and you will have more time to devote to the rest of your overwhelming life!
Excuse #6 - "My children won't eat healthy food. I can't let them starve to death!"
This is a tough one! If children have been accustomed to eating junk food and processed food, it may take some effort to get them to enjoy more healthy choices. Try to find some fun ways to present healthy foods. Make healthy pancakes in fun shapes, or let the children get involved in the process by making healthy eating into a family project. Suggest one new healthy food a week that everyone will try. Get some recipes for healthier versions of cookies, etc. and start introducing them to your kids. Give positive reinforcement for choosing healthy foods. Most importantly, model healthy eating to your kids and help them associate it with feeling well. You don't have to do it all at once, but every time your child makes a healthy food choice, you are further down the road to that child becoming a healthy adult.
Excuse #7 - "So, what's not healthy about a cheeseburger, fries and chocolate milkshake?"
For some, it is simply a case of not knowing what is good for them. Take a little time to learn about basic nutrition. Educate yourself about the food supply and the difference between whole and processed foods. A simple place to begin is to eat a variety of fresh, colorful foods each day, including some protein foods, such as meat, fish, beans, peanut butter, nuts, seeds whole grains and dairy products. Eat several servings of fruits or vegetables with each meal, and limit your intake of added sugar and fats.
Excuse #8 - "Healthy food is not any fun!"
For most people, eating is one of life's pleasures and many of us associate happy times with certain kinds of foods. The goods news is that healthy food can also be part of a good time. Food that is beautifully prepared and presented can be healthy and delicious and provide an enjoyable experience for all. Make a point to look for foods that are both fun and healthy. Dark chocolate, for instance, if not eaten in excess has some good qualities and may enhance your mood! Keep in mind that as long as you are making healthy choices most of the time, an occasional piece of birthday cake or holiday treat will not be an issue for you.
Excuse #9 - "I would like to eat healthy, but I don't have any will power. The devil made me do it!"
Even if your will power is weak, you can make small steps towards a healthy eating lifestyle. Don't beat yourself up if you make a bad choice, since that may lead to more bad choices. Each time you make a change in your eating habits for the better, you are closer to feeling great and having vibrant good health. Fill your refrigerator and cupboards with healthy foods that you like to eat, and leave the processed and empty calorie foods at the store. It takes less will power, if the temptation is out of sight. And don't use your kids as an excuse to buy junk food. It's not good for them and it's not good for you either!
Excuse #10 - "Experts can't even agree on what's healthy! Every day I hear conflicting information about what's good for you and what isn't. For all I know, hot fudge sundaes are health food!"
My friends will tell you that this is the one excuse out of all of them that makes my eyes flash and my teeth clench! I am appalled at all the junk science and junk journalism that is out there causing confusion and mayhem in the culinary world! Some have a vested interest in promoting a certain food or ingredient, and it's not your good health! On the other hand, most of us know, generally, what foods are healthy. Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, legumes, nuts, and dairy products-in other words real foods! So, use common sense and don't make bad science and poor journalism an excuse to give up on healthy eating!
If any of these excuses is keeping you from enjoying the matchless benefits of healthy eating, I hope you will decide to make a change for the better. You can't control many of the factors that affect your life, but you can choose to make eating choices that will ensure that you are doing all you can to feel well and be healthy. No excuses.
I am convinced that what we eat and how we eat plays a major role in how we feel and particularly, how well we are. For this reason, I would like as many people as possible to become more aware of what healthy eating involves, and of the extreme benefits that can be found in being conscious of what and how we eat.
Eat and be healthy with my warmest regards,
Suzy Staywell
http://healthy-eating-support.org
http://www.healthy-eating-support.org/healthy-eating-nutrition.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Suzy_Staywell
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Healthy Dinner Recipes For a Healthier You
We know we should eat healthy. We want what is best for our family. So why don't we eat the way we are supposed to eat? Let's take a look at some of the reasons why we tend to make unhealthy choices along with some helpful suggestions for healthy dinner recipes.
No Time to Make and Eat a Healthy Dinner
In today's society, we are always on the go - working, running errands, driving our children to and from school and extracurricular activities; the list is endless. Grocery stores are turning into food malls. With all the aisles and selections to navigate, we may feel we don't have time to go grocery shopping.
Because most people only have a few minutes to get dinner, they usually choose fast food, which is a convenient, albeit unhealthy choice. As a nation, the U.S. is getting fatter and unhealthier. What we need to combat this dilemma are healthy dinner recipe choices that can be prepared fast.
Quick and Healthy Dinner Choices
There are literally thousands of cookbooks on the market and many of them have exactly what we need: quick and healthy dinner recipes. But if you absolutely can't find the time to make a healthy dinner at home; go to the grocery store. Most supermarkets have an area where they sell roasted chicken and deli meats such as sliced turkey. Both these options can be part of a healthy dinner. Grab a loaf of healthy whole grain bread, a bag of apples, and a gallon of milk and you have something much better for you than a quarter pound hamburger with greasy fries.
Healthy Dinners Save You Money
So you've decided that fast food isn't the way to go. What about a sit-down restaurant? The food looks mouth-watering good! At only $12 a meal, you can have enough to satisfy you for hours. They serve steak, potatoes, pastas... and the desserts are to die for! When you look at their fantastic dinner menu you may want to think about what all the sugar, cholesterol and fat will do to your body.
As far as cost goes: It doesn't cost $12 a person to eat at home. In fact, it doesn't have to cost $12 for an entire meal for 5! What is more, you don't save time this way. How long does it take to drive to the restaurant, wait for a table, wait for the food to be prepared, eat and drive home? In that amount of time you could have made an inexpensive, healthy dinner and eaten it at home.
How to Pick a Healthy Dinner Recipe
- Use recipes that contain low-fat ingredients like fresh vegetables, fruits, lean meat, whole grains and skim milk.
- Choose the freshest ingredients possible.
- Organic foods are grown without the use of pesticides and hormones and are the best food for your body.
It is all about having the best ingredients on hand at home to select and prepare a healthy dinner recipe for your loved ones.
Preparing dinner at home benefits you in more than time, money and health. It allows you priceless, quality time with your family. Sharing a nutritious meal around the family table is one of the many ways of enjoying healthy dinner choices.
Deborah is a fitness enthusiast and runner. She publishes the website Get In Shape, which focuses on health and fitness for women. You can find out more about healthy dinners on her web page Healthy Dinner Recipes. Download a copy of the the free ebook 'Everyday Tips To Lose Weight' from her website.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Deborah_Prosser
No Time to Make and Eat a Healthy Dinner
In today's society, we are always on the go - working, running errands, driving our children to and from school and extracurricular activities; the list is endless. Grocery stores are turning into food malls. With all the aisles and selections to navigate, we may feel we don't have time to go grocery shopping.
Because most people only have a few minutes to get dinner, they usually choose fast food, which is a convenient, albeit unhealthy choice. As a nation, the U.S. is getting fatter and unhealthier. What we need to combat this dilemma are healthy dinner recipe choices that can be prepared fast.
Quick and Healthy Dinner Choices
There are literally thousands of cookbooks on the market and many of them have exactly what we need: quick and healthy dinner recipes. But if you absolutely can't find the time to make a healthy dinner at home; go to the grocery store. Most supermarkets have an area where they sell roasted chicken and deli meats such as sliced turkey. Both these options can be part of a healthy dinner. Grab a loaf of healthy whole grain bread, a bag of apples, and a gallon of milk and you have something much better for you than a quarter pound hamburger with greasy fries.
Healthy Dinners Save You Money
So you've decided that fast food isn't the way to go. What about a sit-down restaurant? The food looks mouth-watering good! At only $12 a meal, you can have enough to satisfy you for hours. They serve steak, potatoes, pastas... and the desserts are to die for! When you look at their fantastic dinner menu you may want to think about what all the sugar, cholesterol and fat will do to your body.
As far as cost goes: It doesn't cost $12 a person to eat at home. In fact, it doesn't have to cost $12 for an entire meal for 5! What is more, you don't save time this way. How long does it take to drive to the restaurant, wait for a table, wait for the food to be prepared, eat and drive home? In that amount of time you could have made an inexpensive, healthy dinner and eaten it at home.
How to Pick a Healthy Dinner Recipe
- Use recipes that contain low-fat ingredients like fresh vegetables, fruits, lean meat, whole grains and skim milk.
- Choose the freshest ingredients possible.
- Organic foods are grown without the use of pesticides and hormones and are the best food for your body.
It is all about having the best ingredients on hand at home to select and prepare a healthy dinner recipe for your loved ones.
Preparing dinner at home benefits you in more than time, money and health. It allows you priceless, quality time with your family. Sharing a nutritious meal around the family table is one of the many ways of enjoying healthy dinner choices.
Deborah is a fitness enthusiast and runner. She publishes the website Get In Shape, which focuses on health and fitness for women. You can find out more about healthy dinners on her web page Healthy Dinner Recipes. Download a copy of the the free ebook 'Everyday Tips To Lose Weight' from her website.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Deborah_Prosser
9 Steps To A Healthy Weight Loss Program
So who cares about healthy weight loss? Well, if the information below means anything there is a large portion of society which should care.
Over 65% of adults 20 years or older can be classified as obese. Additionally, 17% of adolescents of ages 12-19 years are overweight and 19% of children age 6-11 years. Obesity is and will continue to be a serious problem in the future. In fact, it is predicted that obesity will reach epidemic levels by the year 2020.
While everyone understands that being overweight, or obese, is "not good for you", many people do not understand the risks they and their loved ones face if they fall into this category.
Obese or overweight people are at increased risk for some or all of the following conditions:
1. Various forms of heart disease
2. Strokes
3. Diabetes
4. Cancer
5. Arthritis
6. Respiratory problems
7. Psychological disorders
6. High blood pressure or hypertension
It is estimated that 300,000 deaths in the U. S. each year are associated with obesity, and the economic cost of obesity in the United States was about $117 billion in 2000. Economic costs include the out-of-pocket expenditures of the individuals involved, the costs of the institutions and organizations which help provide services, and the costs born by every member of society whether they are in this group or not.
A healthy weight loss program could do much to help individuals avoid the personal and financial risks associated with being overweight while helping them achieve longer, happier, more productive lives more years of healthy enjoyment once they leave the work place behind them.
Unfortunately these days, one is more likely to hear of a "fast" weight loss program than a healthy weight loss program, and it is next to impossible to include both terms in the same sentence. The fast weight loss programs which are so prevalent are short term, temporary "fixes" when they fix anything at all. These programs, which commonly involve drinks, supplements, pills, or exotic exercise equipment, simply do not work, at least not for permanent, healthy weight loss.
Worse, many of these fast weight loss programs may actually contribute to further weight gain, decreased enjoyment of life, diminished health, and, in extreme cases, even death.
Fortunately, there are healthy weight loss programs, plans, systems, and options which can provide, or contribute not only to healthy weight loss, but a lifetime of healthy weight management.
While a full program would take a book to explain all the possible actions you can take for healthy weight loss, here are a few tips that can help anyone get started on a lifelong program for health and fitness.
Here are some tips on how you can lose those unwanted pounds the healthy way:
1. Start moving. One of the most effective weight loss strategies around is exercise. Sadly, many people have no idea how much or which exercise they should do. Many do not even realize that simple, enjoyable activities such as gardening, swimming, or playing tag with the kids can be part of an exercise program. Exercise is such a diverse topic that anyone serious about losing weight should do a little research on the types of activities that may possibly be a part of their weight loss program.
2. Eat smart. There is a lot you can do to improve what and how you eat, but some of it takes training and knowledge most people do not have. It also involves all sorts of convoluted decision making, sometimes based on charts and lists, good carbs, bad carbs, high glycemic index foods and low glycemic index foods. If you are able to learn all that great, but just use come common sense in the meantime. Eat lots of veggies and fruits, have some protein, but not a ton, and stay away from stuff with sugar. Teach yourself to use artificial sweeteners instead of sugar, and start looking at labels.
3. Eat small. Eat small, healthy meals and snacks several times a day. One failure mechanism built in to a diet is the denial of food. It is not just the denial of pleasure of food and eating, but your body also reacts one way when food is denied, and another when it is regularly supplied daily with small healthy meals and snacks.
4. Team up. Get together with a friend who has much the same goals as you. Take a walk with them every day. Meet them for lunch. They won't make faces when you order something for your health rather than for the fun of it. In fact, why not get a group together? That way, if one person is not available, maybe someone else will be. Plus the social interaction is good for you. People who "go on diets" tend to start avoiding people, and that often is at least a part of the reason they fall off the diet wagon.
5. Think health. Don't try to lose weight. Instead, try to get healthy. First of all, a positive goal is easier to work towards than a negative one. Second, doing things to make yourself healthy is easier to sell to yourself and to others than "trying to lose weight". Also, there will be setbacks along the way. These are normal. If you fail to lose weight as fast as you think you ought to, or if you gain weight, in your mind you will have "failed". If however you eat a second piece of pie, you have slowed down on your path to health, but you can get back on track within minutes simply by going for a walk or remembering to use sweetener in your drink rather than sugar.
6. Get rest. When your body is tired, certain chemical changes take place and substances are released that contribute to weight gain or slow weight loss. It is easier to get involved in activity when you are rested.
7. Have fun. Two of the reasons you want to lose weight is so that you can feel good, and feel good about yourself. You want to enjoy life. It works both ways. If you lose weight and feel healthy, you will want to enjoy life, and you will feel good about yourself. If you go out of your way to enjoy life, you will probably be more active, and this, combined with other beneficial effects related to weight gain and weight loss will help your healthy weight loss program.
8. Drink water. Many times we interpret the body's signals as hunger when they are actually thirst. Often, a glass of water will satisfy what we believe are hunger pangs. Keeping the body properly hydrated helps it process toxins and perform a myriad of functions more efficiently.
9. Don't quit. When you are on a healthy weight loss program, your weight loss will be slow. Many people are disheartened when they think of only losing one or two pounds a week on average. However, that would be a weight loss of 52 to 104 pounds in a year and 104 to 208 pounds in two years! To put that in proportion, I had a friend who had a gastric bypass. She was told that even with surgery, she would probably only lose about 75 pounds in her first year, and the weight loss would slow down in the second year! Many people could accomplish similar results just by building up to a daily 20 to 30 minute walk and by cutting a few empty calories out of their diet.
By the way, if you have not been exercising and begin exercising as part of a healthy weight loss program, it is highly likely that you will actually GAIN weight at first. Don't let this dishearten you. It is entirely normal and can actually be considered part of the body's preparation to lose weight and live a healthier life!
Be happy with your results. If you are living in a healthy manner, you will lose weight. Certainly, how much weight you lose will depend on a lot of factors, and, if you are walking 20 minutes a day and haven't lost what you would like to lose, you can walk 30 minutes a day, or 15 minutes twice a day. Adapt and move on. However, do not expect to be the man or woman you were in high school or college. You might never fit into your old prom dress or army uniform again. I don't, and I exercise regularly and try to eat right. I feel great and am in excellent health, but my old army uniform is just a memory hanging in my closet now.
Go on. Have some fun. Do what you can. Reward yourself for your gains and forgive yourself for non-gains. I refuse to call them failures. There is no failure until you give up completely.
Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer. A graduate of the University Of West Florida (1973) with a BA in accounting, he is a member of Mensa and has held several managerial positions. After retiring from the U. S. Army in 1995, he became interested in internet marketing and developed various online businesses. He has been writing poetry, articles, and essays for over 40 years, and now frequently publishes articles on his own websites and for use by other webmasters. He has a blog on weight loss, and a website where he reviews weight loss products [http://nodiet4me.net/weightlossproducts/]. He also provides affordable health care benefits [http://realworldbenefits.com] to individuals, households, and businesses.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donovan_Baldwin
Over 65% of adults 20 years or older can be classified as obese. Additionally, 17% of adolescents of ages 12-19 years are overweight and 19% of children age 6-11 years. Obesity is and will continue to be a serious problem in the future. In fact, it is predicted that obesity will reach epidemic levels by the year 2020.
While everyone understands that being overweight, or obese, is "not good for you", many people do not understand the risks they and their loved ones face if they fall into this category.
Obese or overweight people are at increased risk for some or all of the following conditions:
1. Various forms of heart disease
2. Strokes
3. Diabetes
4. Cancer
5. Arthritis
6. Respiratory problems
7. Psychological disorders
6. High blood pressure or hypertension
It is estimated that 300,000 deaths in the U. S. each year are associated with obesity, and the economic cost of obesity in the United States was about $117 billion in 2000. Economic costs include the out-of-pocket expenditures of the individuals involved, the costs of the institutions and organizations which help provide services, and the costs born by every member of society whether they are in this group or not.
A healthy weight loss program could do much to help individuals avoid the personal and financial risks associated with being overweight while helping them achieve longer, happier, more productive lives more years of healthy enjoyment once they leave the work place behind them.
Unfortunately these days, one is more likely to hear of a "fast" weight loss program than a healthy weight loss program, and it is next to impossible to include both terms in the same sentence. The fast weight loss programs which are so prevalent are short term, temporary "fixes" when they fix anything at all. These programs, which commonly involve drinks, supplements, pills, or exotic exercise equipment, simply do not work, at least not for permanent, healthy weight loss.
Worse, many of these fast weight loss programs may actually contribute to further weight gain, decreased enjoyment of life, diminished health, and, in extreme cases, even death.
Fortunately, there are healthy weight loss programs, plans, systems, and options which can provide, or contribute not only to healthy weight loss, but a lifetime of healthy weight management.
While a full program would take a book to explain all the possible actions you can take for healthy weight loss, here are a few tips that can help anyone get started on a lifelong program for health and fitness.
Here are some tips on how you can lose those unwanted pounds the healthy way:
1. Start moving. One of the most effective weight loss strategies around is exercise. Sadly, many people have no idea how much or which exercise they should do. Many do not even realize that simple, enjoyable activities such as gardening, swimming, or playing tag with the kids can be part of an exercise program. Exercise is such a diverse topic that anyone serious about losing weight should do a little research on the types of activities that may possibly be a part of their weight loss program.
2. Eat smart. There is a lot you can do to improve what and how you eat, but some of it takes training and knowledge most people do not have. It also involves all sorts of convoluted decision making, sometimes based on charts and lists, good carbs, bad carbs, high glycemic index foods and low glycemic index foods. If you are able to learn all that great, but just use come common sense in the meantime. Eat lots of veggies and fruits, have some protein, but not a ton, and stay away from stuff with sugar. Teach yourself to use artificial sweeteners instead of sugar, and start looking at labels.
3. Eat small. Eat small, healthy meals and snacks several times a day. One failure mechanism built in to a diet is the denial of food. It is not just the denial of pleasure of food and eating, but your body also reacts one way when food is denied, and another when it is regularly supplied daily with small healthy meals and snacks.
4. Team up. Get together with a friend who has much the same goals as you. Take a walk with them every day. Meet them for lunch. They won't make faces when you order something for your health rather than for the fun of it. In fact, why not get a group together? That way, if one person is not available, maybe someone else will be. Plus the social interaction is good for you. People who "go on diets" tend to start avoiding people, and that often is at least a part of the reason they fall off the diet wagon.
5. Think health. Don't try to lose weight. Instead, try to get healthy. First of all, a positive goal is easier to work towards than a negative one. Second, doing things to make yourself healthy is easier to sell to yourself and to others than "trying to lose weight". Also, there will be setbacks along the way. These are normal. If you fail to lose weight as fast as you think you ought to, or if you gain weight, in your mind you will have "failed". If however you eat a second piece of pie, you have slowed down on your path to health, but you can get back on track within minutes simply by going for a walk or remembering to use sweetener in your drink rather than sugar.
6. Get rest. When your body is tired, certain chemical changes take place and substances are released that contribute to weight gain or slow weight loss. It is easier to get involved in activity when you are rested.
7. Have fun. Two of the reasons you want to lose weight is so that you can feel good, and feel good about yourself. You want to enjoy life. It works both ways. If you lose weight and feel healthy, you will want to enjoy life, and you will feel good about yourself. If you go out of your way to enjoy life, you will probably be more active, and this, combined with other beneficial effects related to weight gain and weight loss will help your healthy weight loss program.
8. Drink water. Many times we interpret the body's signals as hunger when they are actually thirst. Often, a glass of water will satisfy what we believe are hunger pangs. Keeping the body properly hydrated helps it process toxins and perform a myriad of functions more efficiently.
9. Don't quit. When you are on a healthy weight loss program, your weight loss will be slow. Many people are disheartened when they think of only losing one or two pounds a week on average. However, that would be a weight loss of 52 to 104 pounds in a year and 104 to 208 pounds in two years! To put that in proportion, I had a friend who had a gastric bypass. She was told that even with surgery, she would probably only lose about 75 pounds in her first year, and the weight loss would slow down in the second year! Many people could accomplish similar results just by building up to a daily 20 to 30 minute walk and by cutting a few empty calories out of their diet.
By the way, if you have not been exercising and begin exercising as part of a healthy weight loss program, it is highly likely that you will actually GAIN weight at first. Don't let this dishearten you. It is entirely normal and can actually be considered part of the body's preparation to lose weight and live a healthier life!
Be happy with your results. If you are living in a healthy manner, you will lose weight. Certainly, how much weight you lose will depend on a lot of factors, and, if you are walking 20 minutes a day and haven't lost what you would like to lose, you can walk 30 minutes a day, or 15 minutes twice a day. Adapt and move on. However, do not expect to be the man or woman you were in high school or college. You might never fit into your old prom dress or army uniform again. I don't, and I exercise regularly and try to eat right. I feel great and am in excellent health, but my old army uniform is just a memory hanging in my closet now.
Go on. Have some fun. Do what you can. Reward yourself for your gains and forgive yourself for non-gains. I refuse to call them failures. There is no failure until you give up completely.
Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer. A graduate of the University Of West Florida (1973) with a BA in accounting, he is a member of Mensa and has held several managerial positions. After retiring from the U. S. Army in 1995, he became interested in internet marketing and developed various online businesses. He has been writing poetry, articles, and essays for over 40 years, and now frequently publishes articles on his own websites and for use by other webmasters. He has a blog on weight loss, and a website where he reviews weight loss products [http://nodiet4me.net/weightlossproducts/]. He also provides affordable health care benefits [http://realworldbenefits.com] to individuals, households, and businesses.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donovan_Baldwin
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Healthy Weight Loss Solution
Most of the adult population has been or currently is on some type of diet. Diets are everywhere! Every place you turn, someone is talking about a new diet. A diet that is unlike any other that came before. A diet that will change your life forever and you won't even have to exercise! The truth is there is no such thing as an easy diet. There is no such thing as a life-changing diet. If I was to be completely honest with you, I would even go so far as to tell you that there is no such thing as a healthy diet! There is a large variety of diets out there, and they all have many different aspects of how to lose weight. However, they all have one thing in common; as soon as you lose the weight and step off of the diet, (poof!) the weight comes back, sometimes leaving you with even more weight than you had before the diet! This is called the yo-yo effect, and it is true with any diet. The point I am trying to make is simply this: A diet is not a healthy weight loss solution.
There are many different ways to lose weight, but there is only one way to keep the weight from coming back. Now that we know a diet is not a healthy weight loss solution, we can move on to what is a healthy solution. The only antidote to losing weight and keeping it off while staying healthy is for you to make a change in your lifestyle. It's not as hard as it sounds, and those who choose to make a lifestyle change, actually find it quite easy after the first couple of hurdles are passed, and they don't even look back.
There are three important keys to making a lifestyle change, and they are:
You must have a balanced and healthy dietary plan.
You must adhere to a good, healthy physical activity plan.
You must have a change in your behavior or attitude.
All three of these things are crucial to living a healthy and long life. If you want to lose the weight and keep it off, making a lifestyle change is the only way to do it effectively. A lifestyle change is a healthy weight loss solution
Let us start with number one: having a balanced and healthy diet. Take a good, honest look at the foods you eat on a regular basis, and the amount of it that you eat. Most of us would have to answer that we are eating a lot of the wrong foods, and not in moderation! Fast foods, salty foods and baked goods are all okay - in moderation. When we are eating them everyday or several times a week however, they are not okay. Probably the most important key to learn in having healthy weight loss is moderation. Most things are okay and healthy in moderation, but everything, when turned into an extremity, is certainly not okay, and not healthy to the body, the mind or the spirit! Moderation is a must when it comes to healthy weight loss.
When your stomach starts telling you that it is time to eat, carefully consider your choices. Make sure you surround yourself with good and healthy foods that are low in calories and high in vitamins and protein. When it comes time for a snack, have some veggies and dip or an apple instead of that bag of chips. Or snack on some cheese and crackers in the place of that chocolate bar. Making these kinds of choices is the first step to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Also, make sure your meals aren't left out when it comes to making those good choices. Instead of ordering a pizza or going out for a burger and fries, cook a balanced meal. If you find it hard to do this, I suggest making a meal plan at the beginning of week. That way, half of the work is already done for you. Yes, usually half of the work in preparing a meal is deciding what to prepare! Remember, cook and eat in moderation, and you are well on your way to a healthy weight loss solution.
For those whose main reason in making a lifestyle change is to lose weight, there are some options open to you that there never were a few years ago. One of these options is Proactol. This healthy and clinically proven weight loss pill is not a miracle worker, but it is certainly one of the most beneficial tools for healthy weight loss in the world today. Proactol not only helps the body lose weight, but it also maintains other health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. This doctor recommended medication has also been proven to increase joint flexibility, lessen aches and pains and improve concentration and energy levels. Proactol helps with healthy weight loss by lowering the body's food cravings and decreasing your appetite, making it easier to control your food intake. This also helps you in the learning to eat with moderation. Take Proactol after each meal and you will find that it greatly helps with achieving a healthy lifestyle.
The next step to changing your lifestyle is making a good physical activity plan and sticking to it. This goes hand in hand with one part of the third step, which is setting achievable goals. Too many people want to reach the stars right away when it comes to exercising and losing weight. However, like we have already talked about, everything must be in moderation. Exercise is good, but when it is turned into an extreme, it is not good. Pace yourself. Start off slow, and work your way up from there. Rome wasn't built in a day, and if the builders had had the attitude that most people have towards exercise, Rome would never have been finished! Achieving healthy weight loss is not done too quickly either, or it is not beneficial to the body. Make a reasonable exercise plan for yourself, and try to include someone else as well. Studies have shown that when we exercise with other people. We are much more likely to stick with it, than if we exercised by ourselves. Encouragement is the key to getting into a good physical activity habit. Surround yourself with people that will encourage you and hold you accountable to your lifestyle change. Try out a few different fitness programs and see which one fits your life the best.
The third and last step to improving your lifestyle and reaching a healthy weight loss solution is a behavior or attitude change. We have already talked about setting achievable goals, and the next part of this step is education. Instead of eating all of the wrong foods and then feeling awful about what you are doing to your body, educate yourself with information such as the energy value of the foods you eat and what kind of nutrients they possess. Making a lifestyle change is more than just choosing the right kinds of foods. You must also change your mind. This simply means that you have to change the way you think when it comes to food, your health, and your lifestyle. Sometimes this also means that you have to figure out why you eat, what you eat, and when you eat. Keeping a journal is a great way to do this. Write down everything pertaining to eating. Keep a track of what foods you eat at what times, but also write about why you ate those foods at those times. Sometimes it may be just because you were hungry, but many people eat when they're stressed or emotional, and discovering this about yourself is the first step to changing how you deal with stress and other problems in your life. Change your mind. Change how you eat, when you eat, and what you eat. Change how stress affects your life, and learn how to deal with it more effectively. Eating doesn't make any problem go away permanently.
One more key to changing your lifestyle and maintaining your goal of healthy weight loss is to conduct regular self "check-ups." By this I don't mean the kind of check-up that a doctor would give, but a check-up of lost weight, periodical BMI checks, and of how much you body itself has shrunk since making these changes. Some people like to take measurements of themselves in the areas like the waist, hips and thighs, on a continual basis, such as weekly or monthly. One of the best encouragements is progress. When you see how far you've come already, it is a wonderful boost of confidence and motivation to keep you going. It won't all be a bed of roses however, but when you find yourself feeling down, remind yourself why you are doing it, and how much you have already done. Remember, once your lifestyle change is complete, you will be well on your way to reaching healthy weight loss.
A webmaster of Proactol Weight Management Through Dietary Fat Binding website. http://proven-fat-binders.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nahar_Efendy_Noordin
There are many different ways to lose weight, but there is only one way to keep the weight from coming back. Now that we know a diet is not a healthy weight loss solution, we can move on to what is a healthy solution. The only antidote to losing weight and keeping it off while staying healthy is for you to make a change in your lifestyle. It's not as hard as it sounds, and those who choose to make a lifestyle change, actually find it quite easy after the first couple of hurdles are passed, and they don't even look back.
There are three important keys to making a lifestyle change, and they are:
You must have a balanced and healthy dietary plan.
You must adhere to a good, healthy physical activity plan.
You must have a change in your behavior or attitude.
All three of these things are crucial to living a healthy and long life. If you want to lose the weight and keep it off, making a lifestyle change is the only way to do it effectively. A lifestyle change is a healthy weight loss solution
Let us start with number one: having a balanced and healthy diet. Take a good, honest look at the foods you eat on a regular basis, and the amount of it that you eat. Most of us would have to answer that we are eating a lot of the wrong foods, and not in moderation! Fast foods, salty foods and baked goods are all okay - in moderation. When we are eating them everyday or several times a week however, they are not okay. Probably the most important key to learn in having healthy weight loss is moderation. Most things are okay and healthy in moderation, but everything, when turned into an extremity, is certainly not okay, and not healthy to the body, the mind or the spirit! Moderation is a must when it comes to healthy weight loss.
When your stomach starts telling you that it is time to eat, carefully consider your choices. Make sure you surround yourself with good and healthy foods that are low in calories and high in vitamins and protein. When it comes time for a snack, have some veggies and dip or an apple instead of that bag of chips. Or snack on some cheese and crackers in the place of that chocolate bar. Making these kinds of choices is the first step to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Also, make sure your meals aren't left out when it comes to making those good choices. Instead of ordering a pizza or going out for a burger and fries, cook a balanced meal. If you find it hard to do this, I suggest making a meal plan at the beginning of week. That way, half of the work is already done for you. Yes, usually half of the work in preparing a meal is deciding what to prepare! Remember, cook and eat in moderation, and you are well on your way to a healthy weight loss solution.
For those whose main reason in making a lifestyle change is to lose weight, there are some options open to you that there never were a few years ago. One of these options is Proactol. This healthy and clinically proven weight loss pill is not a miracle worker, but it is certainly one of the most beneficial tools for healthy weight loss in the world today. Proactol not only helps the body lose weight, but it also maintains other health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. This doctor recommended medication has also been proven to increase joint flexibility, lessen aches and pains and improve concentration and energy levels. Proactol helps with healthy weight loss by lowering the body's food cravings and decreasing your appetite, making it easier to control your food intake. This also helps you in the learning to eat with moderation. Take Proactol after each meal and you will find that it greatly helps with achieving a healthy lifestyle.
The next step to changing your lifestyle is making a good physical activity plan and sticking to it. This goes hand in hand with one part of the third step, which is setting achievable goals. Too many people want to reach the stars right away when it comes to exercising and losing weight. However, like we have already talked about, everything must be in moderation. Exercise is good, but when it is turned into an extreme, it is not good. Pace yourself. Start off slow, and work your way up from there. Rome wasn't built in a day, and if the builders had had the attitude that most people have towards exercise, Rome would never have been finished! Achieving healthy weight loss is not done too quickly either, or it is not beneficial to the body. Make a reasonable exercise plan for yourself, and try to include someone else as well. Studies have shown that when we exercise with other people. We are much more likely to stick with it, than if we exercised by ourselves. Encouragement is the key to getting into a good physical activity habit. Surround yourself with people that will encourage you and hold you accountable to your lifestyle change. Try out a few different fitness programs and see which one fits your life the best.
The third and last step to improving your lifestyle and reaching a healthy weight loss solution is a behavior or attitude change. We have already talked about setting achievable goals, and the next part of this step is education. Instead of eating all of the wrong foods and then feeling awful about what you are doing to your body, educate yourself with information such as the energy value of the foods you eat and what kind of nutrients they possess. Making a lifestyle change is more than just choosing the right kinds of foods. You must also change your mind. This simply means that you have to change the way you think when it comes to food, your health, and your lifestyle. Sometimes this also means that you have to figure out why you eat, what you eat, and when you eat. Keeping a journal is a great way to do this. Write down everything pertaining to eating. Keep a track of what foods you eat at what times, but also write about why you ate those foods at those times. Sometimes it may be just because you were hungry, but many people eat when they're stressed or emotional, and discovering this about yourself is the first step to changing how you deal with stress and other problems in your life. Change your mind. Change how you eat, when you eat, and what you eat. Change how stress affects your life, and learn how to deal with it more effectively. Eating doesn't make any problem go away permanently.
One more key to changing your lifestyle and maintaining your goal of healthy weight loss is to conduct regular self "check-ups." By this I don't mean the kind of check-up that a doctor would give, but a check-up of lost weight, periodical BMI checks, and of how much you body itself has shrunk since making these changes. Some people like to take measurements of themselves in the areas like the waist, hips and thighs, on a continual basis, such as weekly or monthly. One of the best encouragements is progress. When you see how far you've come already, it is a wonderful boost of confidence and motivation to keep you going. It won't all be a bed of roses however, but when you find yourself feeling down, remind yourself why you are doing it, and how much you have already done. Remember, once your lifestyle change is complete, you will be well on your way to reaching healthy weight loss.
A webmaster of Proactol Weight Management Through Dietary Fat Binding website. http://proven-fat-binders.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nahar_Efendy_Noordin
Monday, 15 March 2010
Get Healthy And Give Healthy: A New Trend In Gift Baskets
Eating foods that are "nutritious and delicious"--as many slogans declare--is great for health conscious people, and by giving healthy gifts you can help encourage good eating habits.
It only makes sense that healthy gifts are becoming more and more popular. There seems to be a health kick of sorts going on right now for many Americans.
Believe it or not, if you have ever looked at a food chart indicating the portions of the different kinds of foods to eat daily, you will see fruits and vegetables at the top of the list. Recommended by doctors and nutritionists, fruits and vegetables are the foods we should be eating the most.
Unfortunately, many Americans eat less fruits and vegetables than they do any other type of foods on the food chart pyramid. This is another reason that healthy gifts are a good idea, because you can encourage friends and family to develop better, more nutritious eating habits.
When you get a healthy gift or gift basket for someone you know, fruits and vegetables are great to include, but there are also very healthy kinds of foods to choose from. Many healthy gift baskets contain granola bars or other snacks with essential grains and nuts for energy.
Especially people who are very active will appreciate such gift items as trail mix or, as I mentioned before, granola bars, energy bars and dried fruits and nuts.
The greatest thing about healthy gifts is that if you frequently purchase fruit baskets you are already giving away healthy gifts. But there are many more options for specific kinds of healthy gifts you can choose from as well. You can find the very best selections of healthy gifts online if you just know where to look for them.
And, of course, healthy gifts can also include healthy items that are not for eating.
For example:
You can get a kid healthy gift baskets with some sweet fruits to eat, but maybe some toys that will encourage him or her to exercise more. These items such as jump ropes, hopscotch games, a soccer ball or basketball, even kits for games like capture the flag.
Children have tons of energy to burn, and yet, they are exercising less and less. Playing sports and other games are not only ways to stay healthy and fit, but they are also extremely fun. Kids do not realize, as they are zoning out on the sofa, all the fun they are missing out on.
You can also purchase healthy gift baskets for your adult friends with exercise tapes and accessories, nutrition guides and so on. So just because you are getting someone a healthy gift--that does not always mean to get them healthy foods--even recipes are included with some healthy gift baskets.
Therefore, healthy gift baskets are suitable for anyone and everyone. When you purchase healthy gift baskets as presents for any occasion, you are contributing to the improvement of health concerns all over the country. If you give away healthy gift baskets you will not be sorry you did.
Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on nutrition and health please visit Healthy Gifts or visit Gifts for Health.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Clarke
It only makes sense that healthy gifts are becoming more and more popular. There seems to be a health kick of sorts going on right now for many Americans.
Believe it or not, if you have ever looked at a food chart indicating the portions of the different kinds of foods to eat daily, you will see fruits and vegetables at the top of the list. Recommended by doctors and nutritionists, fruits and vegetables are the foods we should be eating the most.
Unfortunately, many Americans eat less fruits and vegetables than they do any other type of foods on the food chart pyramid. This is another reason that healthy gifts are a good idea, because you can encourage friends and family to develop better, more nutritious eating habits.
When you get a healthy gift or gift basket for someone you know, fruits and vegetables are great to include, but there are also very healthy kinds of foods to choose from. Many healthy gift baskets contain granola bars or other snacks with essential grains and nuts for energy.
Especially people who are very active will appreciate such gift items as trail mix or, as I mentioned before, granola bars, energy bars and dried fruits and nuts.
The greatest thing about healthy gifts is that if you frequently purchase fruit baskets you are already giving away healthy gifts. But there are many more options for specific kinds of healthy gifts you can choose from as well. You can find the very best selections of healthy gifts online if you just know where to look for them.
And, of course, healthy gifts can also include healthy items that are not for eating.
For example:
You can get a kid healthy gift baskets with some sweet fruits to eat, but maybe some toys that will encourage him or her to exercise more. These items such as jump ropes, hopscotch games, a soccer ball or basketball, even kits for games like capture the flag.
Children have tons of energy to burn, and yet, they are exercising less and less. Playing sports and other games are not only ways to stay healthy and fit, but they are also extremely fun. Kids do not realize, as they are zoning out on the sofa, all the fun they are missing out on.
You can also purchase healthy gift baskets for your adult friends with exercise tapes and accessories, nutrition guides and so on. So just because you are getting someone a healthy gift--that does not always mean to get them healthy foods--even recipes are included with some healthy gift baskets.
Therefore, healthy gift baskets are suitable for anyone and everyone. When you purchase healthy gift baskets as presents for any occasion, you are contributing to the improvement of health concerns all over the country. If you give away healthy gift baskets you will not be sorry you did.
Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on nutrition and health please visit Healthy Gifts or visit Gifts for Health.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Clarke
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