Slim Down Your Body With Yoga

Lose stubborn fat and tone up all over with this fast, easy plan
Yoga is a known stress buster, but it's also one of the most effective workouts for fighting stubborn fat stores, especially the ones that crop up after age 40. Yes, you can use yoga for weight loss. The reason: Studies show that yoga lowers levels of stress hormones and increases insulin sensitivity a signal to your body to burn food as fuel rather than store it as fat. The following yoga poses for weight loss will do just that while firming up your arms, legs, butt, and abs. Start now to see weight loss results in as little as 3 weeks.

Workout at a glance

What you need:  A yoga mat or carpeted space

How to do it: Follow this routine at least 3 times a week, holding each move 1 time for 3 to 5 deep breaths, unless otherwise noted. Start with the Main Move for each exercise. If it's too difficult, do the Make It Easier variation. If it's not challenging enough, try the Make It Harder option. For faster results: Hold each pose for 5 to 8 breaths and increase repetitions (where noted) by 2 or 3.

MAIN MOVE: Crescent [Firms abs, hips, and thighs]
Stand with feet together, toes forward, and arms at sides. Inhale and raise arms overhead, reaching fingertips toward ceiling. Exhale, and bend forward from hips, bringing hands to floor (it's okay to bend knees). Inhale, and as you exhale, step right leg back into a lunge (left knee bent about 90 degrees, knee over ankle; right leg extended and on ball of foot). Inhale and raise arms overhead; gaze forward. Hold, then return to standing and repeat, stepping left leg back.

Make it Harder: From end position, inhale and arch torso, arms, and head backward, gazing at fingertips.
Make it Easier: Lower right knee to touch floor as you step back into a lunge, and rest hands on left thigh.

MAIN MOVE: Willow [Firms sides of abs]
Stand with feet together, arms at sides. Place sole of left foot on inside of right thigh, knee bent to side. Touch palms in front of chest for 2 breaths. On third inhale, extend arms up, fingertips toward ceiling. Exhale, and on the inhale, bend torso to left. Inhale and straighten. Repeat 3 to 5 times, pressing foot into thigh; switch sides.

Make it Easier: Keep left foot on calf or touch toes to floor for balance.
Make it Harder: Close eyes as you balance and bend. 

6 Weird Ways Your Environment Affects How Much You Eat

Check out more strange things that can affect how much you eat without you even realizing it:

Where you're eating
Even if your food doesn't taste so good, you might continue choking down depending on your environment. A Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin study showed that people ate the same amount of popcorn in a movie theater, whether it was old and stale or fresh and just popped. "The results show just how powerful our environment can be in triggering unhealthy behavior," study researcher David Neal, a psychology professor at the University of Southern California, said in a statement. "Sometimes willpower and good intentions are not enough, and we need to trick our brains by controlling the environment instead."

What your friends are ordering
Are your friends getting the fries or the salad? It could have an impact on what you choose to order, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Agricultural and Applied Economic Association. Researchers found that peer pressure did seem to have an effect on what people ordered at a restaurant. "We want to fit in with the people we're dining with," study researcher Brenna Ellison, Ph.D., a food economist at the University of Illinois, said in the statement.

The size of your wine glass
To curb over pouring of alcohol, consider opting for a slimmer wine glass, according to a Iowa State and Cornell study. Researchers found that certain factors tend to increase the risk of over pouring, such as pouring into a glass held by a person (instead of when it's on a table), pouring into a wider glass, and pouring into a glass that doesn't match the color of the wine.

The ambience
Harsh lighting and loud music could be spurring you to eat more calories. Cornell researchers found in a Psychological Reports study that when lighting and music were made softer in restaurants, diners not only ate fewer calories, but also enjoyed their food more. "There are clear implications for restaurants wishing to help consumers slow down and enjoy their food. Yet there are also implications for consumers who want to eat less," the researchers wrote in the study.

What's visible in your kitchen shelvesYou're most likely to eat the first thing you see in your kitchen cupboards or fridges, according to another Cornell study. "It's not just where we place our food in the cupboards or in the refrigerator," Wansink, the author of this study, previously told HuffPost. "It's whether we have a cookie bowl sitting out instead of a fruit dish. It's all these factors, that we think we're too smart to be fooled by those end up being our demise."

Eating to Boost Energy

The major components of all foods like; carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are the nutrients provide calories and give the energy. The human body converts the carbohydrates to Glucose, its most important source of energy. This is the “blood sugar” that rises after eating carbohydrates. A rise in blood sugar triggers your pancreas to release insulin, hormone that helps glucose to enter the body cells. Once inside the cell, glucose supplies the energy to fuel your body. A certain amount of unused glucose is stored in muscles and lever as glycogen. Human body draws from these stores when ever blood sugar levels drops. Once glycogen store are full, excess glucose is converted to fat.

Protein can also be converted to energy but is a less efficient source than carbohydrates. While fats are the most concentrated source of calories, they are actually a less efficient source of energy that carbohydrates because they take longer to digest and metabolize.

Despite some extravagant claims, vitamins don’t provide energy. They are needed, however to power many of the metabolic processes that lead to energy production. A diet that includes an ample supply of vegetables, legumes, fruits, and wholegrain products will provide adequate vitamins and minerals. Some fruits also provide sugars that are quickly converted into energy.

Seven strategies for high-energy eating
There are simple easy steps that will put you on the right path, they are;

1.Eat Breakfast: This is the meal that sets you up for the day. It replenishes your body’s energy supply after nights fast and provides the energy needed to stay physically and mentally alert.

2.Eat enough iron-rich foods: Iron deficiency anemia is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies. Iron is essential for producing hemoglobin, the main component of the red blood cells. Hemoglobin carries oxygen to your body’s cells where it is used to produce energy and perform essential metabolic functions. If your iron stores are low, your red blood cells can’t supply as much oxygen to the cells. The consequences of iron deficiency are fatigue, low energy, and difficulty in concentrating. The best food sources are; red meats, organ meats, iron fortified cereal products and whole-grain products, dried fruits, green leafy vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds.

3.Focus on Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates found in breads, grains, cereals, fruits, vegetables, and sweets are digested and end up as the simple sugar glucose. It is this glucose that provides fuel for your brain, muscles and other body tissues. Complex carbohydrates in whole-grain breads and cereals, lentils, legumes and other starchy vegetables are the fuel of choice since they are digested gradually and serve as a steady fuel supply body and brain. In addition they provide many other vitamins, minerals, and plant chemicals to keep your body well nourished.

4.Think about simple sugars: Candy and sweets for example, might give you quick rise in energy but this is generally followed by a crash that leaves you even more tired than you before.

5.Eat small amount of food many times a day: Eating small meals or snacks throughout the day keeps your blood sugar steady. A low blood sugar is one of the common causes of afternoon fatigue. Smaller meals can also help stave off feeling of hunger. Eating midday lunch will refuel you for the afternoon. Snacks can be the same as small meals, so a sandwich, soup, cheese and crackers, mini pizzas, yogurt with fruit or bean dip and vegetables all make the nutritional grade. Just make sure to eat less at meal time if you are snacking between meals.

6.Stay hydrated: Everyone needs six to eight glasses of fluid per day to be properly hydrated. If you exercise you need more. Water regulates your body temperature, transports nutrients to your body and carries waste away. Fatigue is one symptom of mild dehydration. Unfortunately you cannot depend on thirst as an indicator of your fluid needs and you could be mildly dehydrated without knowing. You should get in the habit of consuming fluids regularly, even if you are not active. Fluids come from water, juice, sports drinks, lemonade, milk, soups or watery foods such as lettuce, cucumbers and fruit.

7.Go easy on caffeine: The proper amount of sleep is vital for feeling energetic. Caffeine is a stimulant that competes with adenosine a chemical that helps induce slumber. The more caffeine you drink the less adenosine is available for making you drowsy and your sleep may suffer.

Healthy Immune System

The immune system protects the body from attack by microorganisms, abnormal cells and chemicals. Its army includes macrophages, T cells and B cells. Most often the external threats are infections caused by invading bacteria, viruses, and fungi, while abnormal or cancerous cells pose the major internal threats. In addition, this complex system oversees the repair of tissues that are injured by wounds or disease.

Once in a while the immune system mistakes a harmless foreign substance for an enemy, resulting in an allergic reaction, such as hives, hay fever or asthma. Less commonly the immune system mistaking an internal signal attacks normal body tissue, leading to an autoimmune disease, such as type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or lupus.

The most remarkable characteristic of immune system is its “memory” for foreign substances and organisms. Confronted with a virus or other invading organism, the system creates an antibody that will recognize it and mount an attack against it at any future encounter. This mechanism called acquired immunity is what makes vaccinations to work.

Why immune system get failure? 
There is a lapse between the time an invading organism enters the body and the time the immune system conquers it. In the interim the invader can its mark, killing cells. How sick you depends largely on how strong a defense your immune system can launch. Infection, cancer and other illnesses develop when the immune system is weakened by any number of stressors, including viruses and other invading organisms, malnutrition and the consequences of ageing. Fortunately antibiotics and sulfa drugs can wipe out most bacterial infections in otherwise healthy people; progress is also made in the development of anti viral drugs. At times doctors purposely lower immunity to treat an autoimmune disease or to prevent rejection of donor organs.

Dietary influence 
The right diet is critical to a strong immune system. The following are the building blocks you need to keep your defenses strong. Its best to get them from food. Supplements are usually not necessary unless you are taking therapeutic doses for a specific condition.

• Proteins are central to the proper functioning of the immune system 
• Omega-3 and Omegea-6 fatty acids help in immune function 
• Vitamin E is a T cell enhancer 
• Vitamin C to fortify 
• Vitamin A is Key for immune system 
• Zinc is trace mineral with many important functions, including supporting immunity 
• Selenium is a trace mineral essential for a strong immune system 
• Iron is an absolute must 
• Antioxidants to protect against free radicals 

Immune boosters
1. Garlic and Onions
2. Moderate exercise
3. Shiitake mushrooms
4. Fermented milk products (Yogurt and Kefir)
5. Blueberries, Blackberries and Grapes

10 tips to lose weight safely and permanently

People try the latest fad diets when it stops working and eventually try another one and so on. Don’t be one of those people. Instead, follow the basic tips for losing weight safely, naturally, and permanently.

Eat breakfast don’t skip meals: Eat more often to avoid a completely empty stomach, which can make you overeat at your next meal.

Choose your carbohydrates carefully: despite what the popular media you might have believing, you don’t need to avoid all carbohydrates in order to lose weight. But you should shy away from simple carbohydrates such as sugar, white bread, white pasta, and white rice. These foods are quickly turned into glucose by the body, and influx of glucose causes a rapid rise in the hormone insulin, whose job it is to escort glucose out of the blood stream and into cells. A surge of insulin is followed by a glucose “crash”, which leaves you hungry in no time.

Eat lower on the glycemic index: the glycemic index (GI) indicates the rate at which carbohydrate-rich foods are digested. Foods that are quickly digested faster are quickly converted into glucose, leaving you hungry again. Foods with a low GI score include brown rice, lentils, yams, and apples. Those with high GI number, in other words foods to avoid if you are trying to lose weight—include corn flakes, white rice mashed potatoes.

Choose bulky foods: Foods that don’t leave you hungry are higher in bulk and lower in calories. Any food that contains plenty of fiber, water or air is a bulky or high volume food. These include high-fiber fruits and vegetables as well as beans. Instead of eating handful of raisins, choose water-dense grapes. Instead of a glass of orange juice, have an orange which is far less calorie dense and contains fiber that juice lacks. If you are making chili, add more beans to bulk it up without adding a lot of calories. Instead of French fries try whipping up some winter squash with skim milk. Studies show that people who start a meal with soup eat less at that meal and later in the day.

Watch out for low fat foods: Some low-fat foods such as low-fat dairy products are a real boon to dieters. But food manufacturers often remove fat from cookies and other treats only to replace that fat with sugar. So check the label before you indulge with abandon; a serving probably contains just as many calories as the higher-fat original version.

Down size your portions: if your fast food restaurant offers super size or value meals, think twice about where those extra calories will end up. When eating at home check the portions and size of food you enjoy. If your pasta portion has grown to two cups, cut it back to one and half and your waistline will start to use a bread plate instead of a dinner plate.

Drink plenty of fluids especially water: Drink water and lots of it. Seltzer, mineral water, and diet sodas are all good choices. Fluids quench your thirst and reduce your appetite as well. Fruit juice is healthy, but adds calories without fiber. Coffee or Tea is fine. If you take it with sugar or milk, select skim milk or a nondairy (low-calorie) creamer, and an artificial sweetener.

Don’t deprive yourself: Let yourself have small portions of your favorite high calorie foods once in a while so that you don’t get frustrated and end up in binging.

Keep you eye on mirror: Most people on diet want to see a lower weight reflected on the bathroom scale. But remember, while you are losing fat, if you’re exercising you may be adding muscle, so your weight may remain the same for a while. Instead of relaying totally on scale, check your reflection in the mirror, your clothing size, your energy level and the notches on your belt.

Never Fast: Fasting, even when plenty of water is consumed, can be very dangerous; it may lead to lowered blood pressure and heart failure. Also weight loss gained by fasting is rarely sustained once eating is resumed.

Healthy Diet to Lose the Weight

The secret to lose weight is burn more calories than you eat. When the body uses more energy than it takes in (food equals to energy), it depletes its fat store. To say eat less and your body burns more fat for energy.
Any weight loss plan needs to center on foods you can keep eating for a life time it helps you to protect from cancer and other diseases. A diet that is high in meat and low in fruits (Atkins) may lead to short term weight loss, but it is not in keeping with current nutritional knowledge. Excessive meat consumption has been linked with a variety of diseases and a high fruit diet protects against cancer. Fruits, vegetables, whole grain foods, low fat dairy products, and lean protein are the cornerstone of healthy eating. The foods that your body can easily do without—which happen to be the ones packed with calories—are the ones to cut back on. That means cakes, cookies, fatty meats, whole milk, cream sauces, and fast foods etc.

When people want to lose weight, they usually want instant results. Most people who go on crash diets usually end up putting it back on just as quickly—and often put back more than before. Experts suggest a goal of losing about 1lb (0.45 kg) a week. There are 3500 calories in 1lb (0.45 kg) of stored fat, so you will have to reduce your food intake by 500 calories a day to get there. Or you can reduce eating 250 fewer calories and burn 250 more through regular exercise.

Healthy tips to slowdown ageing clock

A person’s body composition changes with age as muscle mass decreases, often due to disuse and fatty tissue increases. Because of body metabolism slows down, fewer calories required, expert’s estimate that the average person should consume 10% fewer calories for every decade after his/her age of 50. Therefore, 50 year old needs 1800 calories a day will require 1440 calories are needed at the age of 70, and perhaps even fewer if he is sedentary. People who fail to cut back on food intake are likely to gain weight, increasing the risk of heart decease, diabetes, and osteoarthritis.

While increasing age the human body less efficient in absorbing and using some nutrients; osteoporosis and other medical conditions common in older people also change nutritional needs. Consequently, an older person is likely to need extra amounts of essential nutrients like below:

1. Calcium—Prevent osteoporosis and maintain healthy bones.

2. Vitamin D – Which the body needs in order to absorb the calcium.

3. Vitamin B12 – To build red blood cells and to maintain healthy nerves.

4. Zinc – To help compensate for lowered immunity due to ageing.

5. Potassium – In the presence of high blood pressure or the use of diuretic drugs.

6. Folic Acid (Vitamin B) – The body uses to make DNA and red blood cells, it may also help to lower blood levels of homocysteine, a compound in the blood that has been associated with an increased risk of heart decease.

7. Fiber – To prevent constipation.

Supplements that are needed
A recent medical study shows that seniors may face the risk of vitamin deficiencies even if they are eating well. Some doctors recommend a daily vitamin and mineral supplement to ensure that an older person takes in 100% Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs). A multivitamin can not take the place of healthy food because food contains some additional components such as fiber, plant chemicals and fatty acids. High dose supplements should be avoided unless recommended by physician or dietitian as they can lead to nutritional imbalances.

Drink more water
Consume six to eight glasses water everyday. It is an essential nutrient just like vitamins and minerals because human body cannot make enough of it to meet daily requirements. It helps to regulate body temperature, transports nutrients to body’s cells. Because sensitivity to thirst diminishes with age, older adults are susceptible to dehydration, which can cause confusion, fatigue, Headache and more.

Cholesterol

Most people know that high level of blood cholesterol can lead to blocked arteries. If an artery that supplies blood to your heart becomes blocked, a heart attack may occur. If an artery that supplies blood to your brain becomes blocked, a stroke could occur. Still, confusion abounds over the role of diet in effecting cholesterol.

Although often portrayed as a dietary evil, cholesterol is essential to life. The body needs it to make sex hormones, bile, vitamin D, cell membranes and nerve sheaths. These and other functions fall to serum cholesterol, a waxy, fat like compound, termed a “lupid”, which circulates in the blood stream. The liver manufactures about a gram each day, which is all the body requires.

Dietary cholesterol found only in animal products. The body does not need this cholesterol, but anyone other than a strict vegetarian who excludes all animal products will consume varying amounts of it. Many factors exercise, genetics, gender and other components of the diet influence how the human body processes dietary cholesterol; some people can consume large amounts but have normal blood levels, while others eat very little but have high blood cholesterol. Diet appears to account for about 20% of the cholesterol in the body, with the remaining 80% produced by the liver.


Foods that may raise cholesterol

• Hard margarine and vegetable shortening, which are high in saturated fats and trans fatty acids.
• Cookies, cakes, pastries and chocolates, especially those made with saturated tropical oils or partially hydro-genated oils.
• Full-fat dairy products, such as cream, cheese and butter all are high in saturated fats.
• Fatty meats and meat products, such as marbled beef, pork and lamb chops, hamburgers, bacon, frankfurters, salamis, and other cold cuts.

Foods that may lower cholesterol

• Whole-wheat, pumpernickel, rye, and multigrain breads and rolls.
• Oatmeal and breakfast cereals that contain oat or rice bran, as well as tofu and other soya products.
• Nonhydrogenated soft margarine, Olive oil and canola oil, safflower, sunflower, cottonseed and soy bean oils.
• Vegetables such as sweet corn, onions, garlic lima beans, kidney beans and other legumes.
• Fruits such as orange, apples, pears, bananas, and such dried fruits as apricots, figs and prunes.
• Nuts such as almonds, walnuts, pecans; seeds such as sesame and sunflower seeds.