Cardiovascular Disease and Weight Loss

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an umbrella term covering disorders of the heart and blood vessels. It includes coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis, and hypertension (high blood pressure). Overweight, lack of exercise, stress, and a high-fat diet are major contributing factors to all CVD.

Coronary artery disease: In order to supply the rest of the body with blood, the heart muscle needs oxygenated blood itself. It gets it from the coronary arteries located on the outside wall of the heart. When one or more of these arteries are narrowed, blood flow is restricted or may be halted altogether. The result is coronary artery disease, the major underlying cause of heart attack.

One sign that the heart muscle is not getting enough oxygen are the chest pains of angina. This type of chest pain usually occurs during activity and is relieved by rest.

Atherosclerosis: This is a condition in which fatty deposits build up on the inside of arterial walls. As the arteries narrow, they cannot carry sufficient blood to the tissues. To compensate, the heart pumps harder, blood pressure increases, and many parts of the body are damaged as a result. Everything from poor circulation in the limbs to heart attack and stroke can be blamed on atherosclerosis.

Some people are more prone to atherosclerosis than others, but there is no question that a highfat diet is a major contributor. People who are overweight, lead a sedentary lifestyle, and have high cholesterol levels are at much increased risk for developing atherosclerosis.

High blood pressure: Also called hypertension, high blood pressure is a condition in which the pressure exerted by blood as it is pumped through the arteries is consistently higher than normal. Normally, blood pressure at rest should not be greater than 120/80. Blood pressure is considered high if it is repeatedly and persistently higher than 140/90.

High blood pressure can damage the arteries, heart, and other organs, including the kidneys and the eyes. It increases the risk for heart attack, coronary artery disease, a stroke, kidney failure, and loss of sight due to damage to the retina. Hypertension is more common in men than women, and the incidence increases with age.

Being overweight is one of the most important risk factors for high blood pressure. People who are 20 percent overweight are eight times more likely to have high blood pressure than people of normal weight.

When your blood pressure is taken, the compression cuff on your arm causes a column of mercury to rise in a metered column. Two measurements are taken: the systolic reading is blood pressure at its highest, when the heart muscle contracts; the diastolic reading is blood pressure at its low point, when the heart muscle relaxes. In a blood pressure reading of 120/80, for example, the higher number (120) is systolic, the lower (80) is diastolic. Cardiovascular disease

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Weight Loss after Pregnancy

The elation a new mom feels soon after giving birth to a beautiful baby eventually and inevitably gives way to the despair she might feel when she looks in the mirror. Pregnancy, for many women, is a period of joy and delight; however, the downside can be experiencing excess body weight after birth. Often, a new mom is discouraged because she is not back in her pre-pregnancy clothes the day she brings her new baby home from the hospital. Unfortunately, this is just not realistic.

The average weight gain for a woman during her pregnancy is between 25-35 pounds. During and immediately following the birth, a new mom can expect to shed about 13 of those pounds. That leaves anywhere from 12-22 pounds of extra weight to lose. This can be a source of great frustration for her.

Weight loss after pregnancy is possible, but it requires some realism, patience, and a lot of work. It is reasonable to assume that it may take a new mom about 8 months to a year to get back into fighting form. This is losing a sensible 1-2 pounds per week. It would be wise to not lose any more weight than that, because it could be unhealthy. Losing the baby weight can take longer, because every body is different, so dont get discouraged if you are losing weight at a slower rate than other new moms you know.

Here are a few tips for getting rid of the excess weight after pregnancy:

• Dont diet for the first three months postpartum. Start out by just eating a well-balanced diet and moving your body. Once your menstrual cycle normalizes, you can follow a sensible weight-loss program if you feel that you need to.
• Start out slow with exercise. If you didnt exercise during your pregnancy, dont jump into a vigorous routine right away. Your body is still healing, and it needs time to adjust to the new movements. Start by taking walks around the block with your baby. Walking is an excellent (and low-impact) way to get your body primed for more vigorous exercise at a later date when your body can handle it.
• Eat several small, healthy meals a day. This keeps your energy up, especially if you are breastfeeding, as well as keeps your metabolism primed.
• Store healthy and fresh foods in your kitchen. Try to avoid highly processed and fatty foods. In other words, back away from the chips and dips! Eating plenty of fruits and veggies, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products will not only help you lose weight, but it will also stick with you longer.
• Be patient. Though it might seem like other new moms are able to lose their postpartum weight right away, keep in mind that every womans body is different. If you eat right and exercise regularly, the weight will come off!
• Most importantly, seek advice from your doctor before changing your diet or starting any new exercise program!

The postpartum period for a new mom is rough on many levels. You are exhausted, excited, and exasperated. Concentrate on your new baby, but dont neglect yourself. Weight loss after pregnancy is possible if you eat healthy foods, get sufficient exercise, and take a few moments for yourself when you can. Dont give up hope, you can do it!

Wayne Mcgregor has a degree in nutrition and dietetics, a diploma in fitness training, and a wealth of experience in helping people to lose weight and build muscle. His website provides hundreds of free weight loss articles, sample diets, tools and charts of calorie content of different foods.

http://www.weightlossforall.com/eating-during-pregnancy-x.htm

Fast Easy Ways To Lose Weight Without Starving Yourself

When you take on a weight loss plan, you want fast easy ways to lose weight. You want to see results as soon as reasonably possible or you'll end up frustrated about something you feel is beyond reach. This shouldn't be the case! Find helpful food tips below that promote fast easy ways to lose weight. When you're done reading that, I'll show you another surefire way to slim down real quick.

Eat smaller portions but more meals. Forget eating large portions of the usual three-a-day meals. Eat smaller ones of five to six meals spread out through the day. Listen to your body, you'll find that it needs nourishment every three hours or so. Feeding yourself at the right intervals will prevent you from overeating.

Fill up on H2O. Eight to ten glasses is all it takes but more is even better. It nourishes, makes your skin supple and cleanses your insides, taking out what wastes you can live without.

Quality over quantity. With regards to eating, it's just as beneficial to select what to eat as to how small you eat. You'll need good, healthy doses of carbohydrates, some fiber and protein. Don't reach for that pizza slice yet! Doesn't it have all three? Yeah, along with everything fat. Very detrimental if you want fast easy ways to lose weight.

Put color on your plate. Make eating fun so you won't think you're dieting. Eat different varieties of healthy carbohydrates and a lot of fruits and vegetables. For protein, avoid red meat! Go for some fish and lean meat instead.

Mind the midnight munching. Avoid snacking in the middle of the night, or before bedtime. Eating something close to the time you go to bed will mean a slowdown in the digestion process. If you must satisfy the food cravings at night, prepare something light.

Food is our friend and a good diet does not promote a no-eating policy. If you think you shouldn't eat to make the weight drop, you'll find that it will be much harder shed off the pounds. Whoever said crash diets worked long term? Stick to the tips I mentioned and find out how fast easy ways to lose weight will work for you.

Corey is a self proclaimed Weight Lost expert. You can view a surefire secret method to losing weight at his blog http://www.fatlosshelpplan.blogspot.com and get a in dept detailed weight loss guide on fast easy ways to lose weight today!

Your Body Shape and What it Means for Weight Loss

Your body shape and what it means for weight loss

The areas where you store your body fat show the influence of the subtle hormonal balance within the body. This fact can be used to predict which foods will more likely cause weight gain and diminish your health.

Fat storage patterns

Different people store their body fat in different areas. It may be that you store your fat on your stomach only, just below your waist or maybe all over your body, your hands,face included. Take a look at yourself, then have a look at the next few people you see and notice the different ways they store their fat.

In general there are four major fat storage patterns in women and three in men. This is caused by the dominance of the endocrine glands within the body; Thyroid, adrenal, pituitary or ovaries (women only). Each person has one gland that is more dominant than the others. This gland influences the main areas where you store fat

The broad patterns of fat storage are unique, see if you can spot someone who holds their fat mostly on the stomach and hips only, others who store it all over their body, some just below the waist only and finally people who store it on their back, chest stomach and hips. These patterns relate to the dominance of the thyroid, pituitary, ovaries and adrenals respectively.

Research has also found that certain foods stimulate these glands, for example caffeine, fruit, chocolate amongst others stimulates the thyroid gland. Over time you learn that the foods that stimulate your dominant gland will produce a temporary uplift in energy. The result is you learn to crave these foods when you are low on energy to give you a pick up . Over time relying on your dominating gland can wear it out resulting in a drop in metabolic rate and subsequent fat accumulation. The idea is to minimize these foods and replace them with a non dominant gland stimulating substitute. This will allow the gland a rest and allow it to recharge over time and thus let the body lose fat.

The cause of your cravings

The need for you to rely on the foods that stimulate your dominant gland arises because you are giving inadequate nutrients in the right amount for your body. The result is inefficient energy production and the desire to fall back on your favorite foods that will give you an uplift

This explains why when many people cut out cakes, sugars, starches and caffeine (Thyroid type foods, a common dominance in white western people) they never stick to it. As many people replace these foods with other food sources that are not appropriate for their metabolic type. The result is the body sends out signals for more energy, this gives the food craving for.you guessed it!..... the cakes, sugars, starches or caffeine they cut out. This opens up a game of will power which will inevitably be won by the food.

Know your type before cutting out these foods.

The simple solution to avoid the above cycle is to discover your metabolic type first, then fine tune the meal ratios before minimizing these glandular foods. The process of eating in accordance with your metabolic type will almost serve to completely reduce the food craving.

Persistent food cravings with an emotional basis can of course be treated with emotional freedom technique (EFT). In combination, this will relieve the biochemical and behavioral need for certain foods and thus produce the desired weight loss.

This is why my courses comes money back guaranteed, we are tackling the issues from all angles and right at the source of the problem.

Ben WIlson BSc (Hons) CSCS NSCA-CPT CMTA Dip
One2one nutrition
Rugby fitness training.com

Weight Loss and the Law of Attraction

Depending on the circles that you run in, you may or may not have heard about a very powerful force in your life that is called the Law of Attraction. Its powers are literally limitless and utilizing those powers is absolutely free of charge!

Who doesnt want Unlimited Cosmic Power without even having to bust open their wallet?

I will start with a brief introduction to the Law of Attraction, and then I will get right into how you can use this universal power for something that a lot of people care about losing weight!

In simple terms, the Law of Attraction basically states that like attracts like. Whatever thoughts and feelings that you focus on the most will literally determine your future.

In fact, the Law of Attraction has already been working for you and every other life form in our universe since the beginning of time. However, only recently has education about its incredible power become readily available to the general public.

So how is it that the Law of Attraction can help you to lose weight? Simple you just need to think about it! Sounds easy enough, right?

Well, it actually is just that easy, but an explanation of exactly how you are supposed to think will help you to understand this process better. You can then take that knowledge and use it to help you with your weight loss or fitness goals.

Earlier I said that the Law of Attraction has been working for all life since the beginning of time, which begs the question, Then why havent I lost any weight yet?. In fact, that same question could be asked about pretty much any other goal that anyone has ever had. If all we have to do is think about something in order to bring it into our lives, then why arent we all rich, perfectly healthy, and living happily ever after?

The simple answer is that most people without even knowing it dont really think about what they want. They think about the fact that they DONT have it. Now, if youll go back briefly to the definition of the Law of Attraction like attracts like then you will see that the reason why people dont have the things that they want is because all they ever do is think about NOT having those things.

This same concept applies to weight loss and health just as efficiently as it applies to everything else. A lot of people want to lose weight, but rather than think about how wonderful their life will be once they have lost the weight, they instead think about how miserable they are because they HAVENT lost the weight!

Think about it. If you need to lose weight, which of the following statements describes your thoughts/feelings when you walk in front of a mirror without any clothes on:

a) I am so sexy since I have my weight under control, and I have an unlimited amount of confidence. I can date anyone that I please and my biggest problem is deciding which little tiny piece of clothing to wear to the beach or the swimming pool.

b) I am so FAT! I cant even stand to look at myself in the mirror, so how can I expect anyone else to want to look at me? Ill be lucky if I dont have to take my clothing size up another notch or two at the rate Im going.

Now, be honest. Which one of those statements do you think comes closer to the way that people who need to lose weight think of themselves?

Once again referring back to the Law of Attraction If you think miserable, sad, guilty, or low self-esteem powered thoughts, then the Law of Attraction will dutifully bring you more things to be miserable about. In fact, the more miserable you are about any particular subject say, weight loss the more powerfully you will attract more of the same since that is your primary focus.

So, the answer to utilizing the power of the Law of Attraction for weight loss is to simply stop thinking about your situation in such a negative manner! Start thinking positive thoughts, confident thoughts, and thoughts of happiness, smaller clothing sizes, and showing more skin at the beach.

When you successfully do those things, the Law of Attraction will start to move around the chess pieces that affect your life, and before you know it, you will have whatever it is that you need in order to finally get in shape.

It may come in the form of a free gym membership, a workout partner, a piece of home exercise equipment that you actually want to use, a new motivation to get involved in some sort of physical activity, or any number of other things that will put you on the path to weight loss.

Heres the rub, though You cant sit around and get hung up on the details. Mike Dooley said it best in the movie The Secret The Hows are the domain of the Universe!

You dont need to worry about HOW it is going to happen, you just have to feel the positive, confident emotions that will MAKE it happen. The Universe will then step in and show you the path!

Aaron Potts offers free self empowerment teachings at http://www.todayisthatday.com/blog/ and is the author of the Law of Attraction eBook 'Mental Meltdown: Weight Loss Begins in the Mind'. Get his free newsletter or grab your copy of the empowering eBook at http://www.todayisthatday.com

Fast and Safe Detox Diet

Besides just looking at yourself in the mirror and being unhappy with what you see, do something to change it. It isn't as hard as you think it might be. If I brought up that there might happen to be a simpler way for you to not only lose weight, but to also get an improved complexion, make better the process of digesting the food you eat and decrease some symptoms you might have with arthritis or diabetes, would you do it?

A detoxification diet, or detox diet, is the correct response. Safe detox diets function by helping your body naturally do what it does, only with better results. That's getting rid of the bad toxins that we happen to accumulate in our bodies everyday out of the body. If you could see all the toxins that enter your body in a day, you would probably want to wrap yourself in bubble. We get toxins in our bodies through the air we breathe, the food we consume, the drinks we have. Toxins are everywhere, and while there isn't a way to get them completely out of the environment, you CAN clean your body of them.

Unlike a normal trend diet that is all over the media that put your body through undue stress just to end up a couple of pounds lighter, the detoxification/detox diet promotes health. The safe detox diet will assist your body to use amino acids that you take in effectively and with more efficiency Maybe you suffer from constipation, Irritable Bowel Syndrome or indigestion? A good detox diet can help lower problems you might have regarding those not-so-rare ailments.

There really are alot of safe detox diets available to everyone, that all seem to contain just about the same ingredients. The main focus is to limit unhealthy elements for just the right amount of time. The predetermined time can go anywhere from only a few days to several weeks. Consuming more of raw and organic foods can help flush the body and help you absorb the good amino acids that you need. Most diets seem to go on and on because they are said to be more effective. Because an at home detox diet isn't drawn out, doesn't necessarily mean that it's not more efficient. With just about any safe detox diet you'll feel different within 48 hours. What if the 48 hrs. just mentioned was all it took to receive a fast, safe, and effectual full body detox?

There is a great 2 day safe detox diet available that will help you not only burn fat and boost your energy and stamina levels, decrease your cravings for unhealthy food, and brighten eyes and skin. That's the 2 Day Slim Down. While staring into the mirror, what about, in 2 days, you could shed 12 pounds and feel cleaner from the inside out? It's now time to make the next step and start making some differences. The 2 Day Slim Down detoxification/detox diet is here to assist you achieve your health goals.

Jack Shaark is a fitness consultant and a strong believer for all natural treatments. He truly believes in a strong, healthy, and sanitary body, and the importance of digestive health. He only pushes for proven, purely natural treatments because he understands these are the most favorable treatments for the body. If you're interested in learning brand new technology, purely natural safe detox diet, please visit http://www.2dayslim-down.com

Healing Foods For Super Weight Loss

Anyone who has ever been on a diet will tell you that the main reason that they fail is because the person is always hungry. However, experts claim that this does not have to happen. There are two categories of foods that allow you to eat as much as you want without any fat or calories; fruits and vegetables. These to superfoods allow you to eat as much of the as you want without gaining the weight that you do not want. The greatest nutrients in fruits and vegetables are fiber and protein. Fiber assists your body in keeping the weight off, and protein curbs your appetite and you do not feel hungry. Protein can also boost your metabolism, however experts advise that you limit your intake of protein because like everything good, moderation is necessary for good health.

Research has indicated that certain foods are low calorie and can assist you in achieving your weight loss goals.

Green Tea - Researchers suspect that the catechins found in green tea may activate weight loss by motivating the body to burn calories, which in turn burns fat.

Soups- A big bowl of hot soup may reduce your hunger and allow you to consume less food during a meal.

Green salads - A garden salad is the perfect lunch for anyone who is dieting. Choosing a low calorie dressing will add to the taste of your salad without adding a lot of calories. Croutons are great on top of a salad, however not when you are dieting. When you choose to add a salad before the main course, you are most likely to eat less of the main course. It may also curb your need for a snack in the middle of the afternoon.

Yogurt - dairy products have a number of different vitamins and nutrients that your body needs especially when you diet. It is important that you include dairy as part of your menu choices. Low fat or light yogurt is a wonderful way to keep dairy in your diet and can stave off the hunger pains in the late afternoon.

Beans - contain the fiber and protein that your body needs when you diet. Beans can make you less hungry for longer periods of time thereby avoiding the temptations that have made diet fail in the past.

Water - This is perhaps the most important part of your diet. Water is important because it keeps you hydrated, however, it also flushes toxins out of your body allowing you to achieve your weight loss goals. Drinking a glass of water before meals and snacks will help you to feel full and you will not eat as much.

High-Fiber, Whole-Grain Cereal - it has always been said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and with good reason. Studies have indicated that when you eat breakfast, you will eat less during the day because you are giving yourself a good start. Whole grain, high fiber cereals contain the vitamins, minerals, and fiber that your body needs for continued good health.

Gaetane Ross is a Certified Natural Health Consultant who has spent over 4 years focusing on Nutrition and Health. She also specializes in Alternative Medicine, Spiritual Healing and Healthy Lifestyle. Gaetane's mission is to positively transform the lives of everyone she meets by providing advice on Healthy Living.

Please visit Gaetane's website for Professional Health Advice or Nutritional information at:

http://Live-O-Natural.com

http://therightdiet4u.live-o-natural.com

Drink Water To Lose Weight?

so can you really drink water to lose weight? Well in short the simple answer is yes. You can indeed drink water to lose weight for a few reasons. Water acts to suppress your hunger and it can also raise your metabolism a little. Combined with a low fat diet its simple to see that you should increase your water intake.

Drinking water throughout the day can actually act to suppress your hunger. Another thing is sometimes you mistake your hunger for thirst. I know this sounds crazy but its actually true. So I can already hear a lot of you out there saying "hey I can tell the difference between when I'm hungry and thirsty!"

This may be true to a certain extent, we all obviously know we are hungry when we have not had anything to eat all day right? Its much harder to tell sometimes though when we are just a little hungry, and your body can actually make you think your hungry when your actually thirsty.this is why you should drink water to lose weight.

Another reason water works to help your weight loss efforts is because it can actually raise your metabolism a little. Your stomach has something in it so it gets to working, but nothing major. Its certainly better then having an empty stomach though, plus it can act as a filler just because sometimes in your stomach. So drink water to lose weight and you will be one step closer to your weight loss goals!

John is a self proclaimed Weight Loss Enthusiast. Hurry and you can get a step by step weight loss ebook and see a powerful weight loss method at his site at his site http://www.weightlossrocket.com and even more info on why you should Drink Water To Lose Weight