Month: April 2011

Take to Heart Some Colon Cleanse Reviews

People who know the benefits of body cleansing and of detoxifying the liver, kidneys and colon, seek to understand how various colon cleansing products work to determine which ones to try. But it’s become an arduous task to sort through the colon cleanse reviews offered online because websites / forums offering what appears to be “unbiased” colon cleanse reviews often have a particular product for sale on the same website. So while information may be given abut a variety of products, the best testimonials / reviews are usually reserved for the product that’s being promoted. Hardly unbiased.

One way to decide which colon cleansing product reviews can be trusted is to read comments on websites that don’t sell cleansing kits and aren’t promoting any supplements. But the best way is to forget about reading reviews of pre-packaged “products” and investigate single / combined ingredients that are most effective in detoxifying / cleaning colonic build-up. It’s possible to use available colon cleanse reviews offered by patients of wellness centers to see what ingredients are being used. In my case, after reading what experts say about how to detox, cleanse the colon and even lose weight in two weeks or a month at international clinics, I discovered that it’s easy to make an effective colon cleanse without buying pre-packaged products.

By reading what experts recommend and how patients reacted and then analyzing what packaged cleanse kits provided (for people who want to not just cleanse but also lose weight in 2 weeks or less), I found basic ingredients repeating themselves continually. Fresh ground flax seed is an effective colon cleanser all on its own. A blend of psyllium husk, oat bran and flax seed is another effective mix. Senna tea is part of many detox programs, and drinking of water and freshly extracted vegetable juices. These few basic things are the basis for the best colon cleansing programs – and most ingredients are sold at local supermarkets and health food stores.

Fad Diet Does Not Mean Mean Fad Weight Loss

In America today, fad diets are a growing trend.  Celebrities act as the trendsetters.  Gossip magazines use celebrities and their diets as an advertising technique.  When you go to a store, take a look at the magazine stands.  Almost every issue that pertains to women contains a cover story having to do with another weight loss solution.  Truth is, most fad diets do not work.  They require a person to make extreme changes to their diet and lifestyle to lose weight quickly.

Fad diets can have devastating effects on one’s body.  First of all, most of them cause people to under consume calories.  Yes, you do need to limit your intake of calories when trying to lose weight.  But calories are required for energy and when you aren’t consuming enough, your metabolism slows down and your body cannot carry on its normal functions.  Every person’s calorie limit differs and you can easily calculate how many you need to consume to lose weight.

Most fad diets necessitate the need to decrease consumption of a nutrient such as carbohydrates and fat.  In order to maintain proper health, you need to ingest a proper amount of every nutrient daily.  Although overconsumption of carbohydrates and fat can lead to weight gain, they are needed to produce energy in the body.  Weight gain will not be a problem if the macronutrients are obtained from the right foods.  If any diet you hear of requires you to eliminate a nutrient, decide against it.

Another reason why extreme diets are unhealthy is because most of the pounds you lose at first are from water.  One will think that they lost weight quickly and will continue the diet, leading themselves to even more problems.  After a few weeks on a low calorie diet, your body goes into starvation mode.  The basal metabolic rate, which is the rate at which the body burns calories, decreases.  Your muscle mass will decrease because your body steals energy from them since it is not getting enough from food.  The smaller your muscle mass, the fewer calories you burn.  It is harder to gain back muscle than it is to gain back water and fat because you have to work harder for it, so think about that next time you consider going on a fad diet.

Most individuals who use fad diets for weight loss are “yo-yo” dieters, meaning that they go on a diet for a week, stop for another, and try another diet the next week.  This causes their weight to fluctuate, sometimes at extreme levels.  Over time, the body loses its ability to burn fat efficiently so the person will eventually gain more weight when they are not on the diets.

It is likely that people who partake in fad diets fail.  This is because many of them basically cause a person to eat the same thing over and over again or deprive themselves of food that their body needs.  Since they usually require very low calorie intakes, fad dieters gain their weight right back when they go back to eating normally.

If you wish to lose weight, do it healthfully.  Make it a “in with the new and out with the old” process by eliminating self-defeating behavior as well as considering the use of a body cleansing/organ detoxification product.  Don’t listen to the media—usually they are just trying to sell products when they advertise weight loss solutions.  Lose weight gradually because it will be easier on your body and you will be likely to keep it off in the long run.  Be sure to follow a balanced, nutritious diet that consists of a variety of foods.  Exercise regularly and do not be afraid of gaining muscle weight.  The larger your muscle mass, the more calories you burn.  If you wish to try out a fad diet, be cautious and stop if you begin to feel the negative effects on your body.

 

Brianna Elliott is a dietetics major, and attends UW-Stout in Menomonie, WI.  She is a regular contributor at ProbioticSmart.com and PSCLife.com – leading health and nutrition websites.

Related articles

Exercise Bike Reviews and the York C102 Cycle – Great for Helping With a Weight Loss Program

I recently decided to buy an exercise bike to help me lose weight and burn the extra calories I seemed to have accumulated around the Christmas period.  All that good food and sitting around had taken its toll!  The reason I decided to use an exercise bike was because I have joined gyms in the past, and have usually ended up wasting my monthly membership fees as I struggle to motivate myself to actually go.

There are many exercise bike reviews on the web that pointed me towards using an upright stationary exercise bike.  Upright versions tend to help you not only do your lower half, but also works your upper body a lot better than recumbent exercise bikes do.

Why I chose the York Fitness C102 cycle

I ended up choosing a York C102 exercise bike as it was affordable and very compact.  I don’t have huge amounts of room at home as I live in an apartment.  I have managed to store it in a cupboard so it doesn’t get in the way.  As far as cheap spinning bikes go this has really good reviews and feedback online which helped me to select it.

I love using it though, and one of the best features is the LCD Computer display over the handlebars.  This lets me see how many calories I have burnt off plus the distance and speed I have travelled.

Helps me to motivate myself to lose weight

For someone not great at motivating myself, having this data at my fingertip has helped as I now set myself daily targets to beat, which encourages me to get back in the saddle. I am now managing to churn out 10 miles a day on my York C102 cycle.

You might think this would be boring, but York Fitness put a small magazine holder above the handlebars.  I tend to cycle when I get home from work and either watch television as I go or put my latest book in the holder and read that instead.  I now know that exercise doesn’t have to be boring.

In terms of resistance – in other words how hard you have to pedal – there are eight difficulty levels.  So I can start off with a leisurely cycle, and then after a bit of time pretend I am attacking a steep hill.  It’s really painful – but they do say “no pain no gain” and using my exercise bike is proof of that!

Have I managed to lose any weight?

It’s taken me two months, but in that time I’ve lost nearly twelve pounds.  The great thing is, it has been fun doing it and I’ve been able to use my exercise bike in the privacy of my own home and at my own pace.  There’s not much effective exercise that tends to be that straight forward so I would thoroughly recommend you do the same.  Try out an exercise bike and see if it can help you.

Related articles

Effective Weight Loss Foods

Nearly all people are aware that a proper diet has a big role in losing weight. However, many of them are not aware that there are actually weight loss foods that will speed up their weight loss.

Most such foods function by giving the feeling of fullness or by hastening the body’s fat-burning rate, or both. A number of the most excellent diet foods to consume are high-fiber foods, dairy products, and green tea.

Amongst the numerous foods to lose weight include those high in fiber which is actually a nutrient needed to encourage healthy digestion. More so, this nutrient aids in having regular bowel movements that will also get rid of the body’s excess toxins and materials which promote weight gain. Also, high-fiber food items help in preventing blood sugar spikes which boost hunger pangs. Some of such foods are the grains, beans, cereals, fruits, and vegetables.

Meanwhile, except if a certain dieter is on a rigid vegan diet or is lactose-intolerant, he or she must ensure that there are three servings, at the minimum, of dairy products. Wonderfully, dairy products assist the body in burning more fat, and in a more effective way. The best kinds to have are those low in fat like low-fat cottage cheese, skim milk, and yogurt.

Lastly, green tea is very much advisable due to its many health benefits that include weight loss. Related studies have revealed that people who drink green tea, at least four cups, on a daily basis shed off more pounds than people who do not. This is because green tea, efficient in the promotion of weight loss, stimulates the cells that burn fat. Moreover, there has been research performed that states green tea may aid in fighting cancer and heart disease.

It is also best to avoid fad diets, but if you can’t resist going on a liquid protein diet, just read the precautions to avoid getting hurt. The ab cruncher is also great for getting a workout in in from of the TV.

Related articles

How to lose stubborn belly fat – what you need to know

Many of us commit what’s called “cognitive dissonance” when it comes to our expanding girth.  We’ve spent most of a lifetime steadily becoming overweight and even obese, yet many of us are searching for the miracle diet plan that will take those pounds away in a matter of weeks.  And many of us think that modern technology should be on the verge of figuring out a magic solution that allows us to lose weight without modifying any of the lifestyle habits that we’ve come to love, such as our high-carbohydrate, high-sugar diet and our sedentary jobs and recreation such as channel-surfing.  That’s just not going to happen.

Fortunately, it turns out that the only effective way to learn how to reduce weight and fat levels is also very quick.  It comes from diet changes, not exercise (which is surprising, I know), though I should warn you in advance:  this is not news you’re going to enjoy.

If you’re one of the obese or overweight 1/3 of Americans, your problem is inevitably caused by hyperinsulinism.  As the name implies, this the chronic state of having too much insulin floating around in your bloodstream on a regular basis.  Insulin is triggered by certain foods, and instructs the cells in your muscles and organs to utilize glucose (blood sugar) for energy instead of the fatty acids that they’d prefer to utilize for energy.  Insulin also commands your fat cells to store fatty acids in the form of triglycerides, which become the bulge around your midsection.

If you’re trying to learn how to how to lose stubborn belly fat, you shouldn’t try to discriminate just against your belly fat.  You should just figure out how to lose excess fat in general, and let your body take care of the distribution.  You can’t spot-reduce, but you can easily lower your overall fat amount.

Here comes the difficult part: in order to reduce blood insulin levels, you’re going to have to stop consuming sugar and starch.  Sorry, but there is no other way to lose fat.  Say adios to bread, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, potato chips, cereals, pastas, and grains – even those “healthy” whole grains, which are not healthy in the least. Sugar (“white death”) also has to go.

Related articles

Two Tips to Help You Lose Weight and Still Eat Out

One of the biggest stumbling blocks that people run into when they try to lose weight is how to eat in a restaurant. Sure, you may know the answer to, “How many calories should I eat a day to lose weight?” but it isn’t solve the problem of applying that knowledge to a difficult setting. It is unrealistic to expect you to never eat another meal in a restaurant, so it is important that you learn how to eat out and still eat healthy. In order to help maximize your weight loss efforts, the following tips have been provided.

Instead of choosing a traditional side order of potatoes, rice, or pasta, ask for extra vegetables instead. The simple carbohydrates found in these sides are the bane of any serious weight loss effort, as the body very easily converts them to fat. When found in a restaurant, they will also usually be filled with butter and salt, which makes them taste great, but also makes them even more unhealthy. In order to provide you with a contrast, a large serving of steamed vegetables may contain less than a hundred calories.

As soon as you receive your meal, as for a box or doggie bag. Before you take even a single bite, pack away half of your meal and put it away. The conditioning to clean our plates can be quite strong, no matter how much food has been piled onto it. Restaurant portions also tend to be quite large, so this is a guaranteed formula for overeating. Eating portions that are far too large is the single most common reason why eating out creates problems for people who are trying to lose weight.

You don’t have to give up on losing weight just because you have to eat in a restaurant. While it is certainly more difficult, there are many different things you can do to cut down on your calories and still eat a healthy diet. Diets that work need to take everything into account, and will not work for long if they require you to consume all of your food at home.

Related articles