Couples Diet – Easier Way To Lose Weight

Going on a couples diet with your partner is an easier way to lose weight together.  A couples diet can also be a fun experience instead of something you just have to do to lose weight.

Going on a diet with your boyfriend, husband of friend will not expose you to temptation to break the diet. It can be difficult to stick to a diet if you see your partner eating a slice of chocolate cake in front of you. When you have fun doing something, you won’t even notice that you are trying to do something that most people consider unpleasant.

A couples diet does not have to be an unpleasant experience. There are ways to spice up a diet which can actually even spice up your relationship. Here are some ways to make a  diet routine more bearable and even fun:

1. Get a commitment – If you think that you and your partner should lose weight together, talk to your better half and see if he will be receptive to the idea of a couples diet. If you are both committed to losing weight then maybe it is time to consider a diet for two. Doing things as a partnership takes commitment, cooperation, and support from each other.

Couple biking

2. Use a journal – Get a journal and write your goals, target weight for each of you, and steps to achieve this plan to lose weight together. In your journal, you can write your weekly menu and other notes like healthy restaurants to go to and food you will buy and not buy at the supermarket. Take your weight each week and write it in your journal. You can monitor your progress with this handy tool.

3. Get rid of the junk food – Clear your kitchen of junk food, sweets, potato chips, and other fattening food and beverages. Take a box and place all the food you are getting rid of in the carton. You don’t have to throw away food. Give the box to a nearby soup kitchen or to a charity. You don’t just help yourselves lose weight together, you help other people too.

4. Do groceries together – Make a list of food, drinks, and cooking ingredients. Create a menu for the week. Do this with your partner so that he gets to choose healthy food he likes too. A couples diet will be more effective if you both like what you are eating. Go to the supermarket together, it will be easier to coordinate and decide about what healthy food and beverages to buy. Do this together till you know each other’s preferences.

Get creative with a picnic on weekends

5. Sports for two – One way to make a couples diet fun is to do sports together. Start playing tennis or racquetball. Focus on sports and physical activities for two. If you start to get bored playing the same sport week after week, switch to another activity like running or biking together. You can also sign up at the gym as a couple and probably get a discount if you pay for a package for two.

6. Bring in the romance – Turn your dining room into a fine dining restaurant one Friday night. Bring out the candle sticks, fine China, and use them. Turn on some music while you dine and have a little wine with your meal. On weekends, plan a picnic at a place neither one of you has been to before.

7. Be adventurous – This is an ideal time to try exotic recipes. There are some foreign foods that are very healthy that use a lot of fish and seafood or vegetables. Surf the net for Japanese recipes, spicy Thai dishes, healthy Greek salads, etc. Make sure your salad dressing is non-fat. Diet food doesn’t have to be boring or taste bad.

Japanese tuna sashimi

8. Dining out – Eating out is one of the reasons some people gain a lot of weight. Avoid fast food places. If it will be difficult for you to cook exotic dishes at home, then dine out at a Japanese restaurant or other ethnic restaurants  that serve healthy food. When you eat out, cut down on portions or split an order with your partner. Take note of how the dishes were cooked and if the ingredients are not fattening.

Be a bit creative to make a couples diet fun. You won’t just lose weight together but also enjoy the diet experience. Avoid depriving yourself of food. Starving yourself is not an effective way to lose weight. Waiting till you are too hungry might make you binge on food. Drink lots of water to stave off hunger between meals. Make incentives for each other if you see your partner start to slack off. Going on a diet doesn’t have to be an ordeal.

Meditation – Then and Now

Many people meditate to relax their mind and body. You may have come across this experience if you are into yoga. Some people meditate on their own to relieve tension from the daily hustle and bustle of a busy career life and you may have wondered at some point how meditation started, or who actually invented it.

Meditation started as an ancient practice among Asian cultures that spread to the rest of the modern world. The methods and purpose of meditation have evolved along the way but the basic principles are still intact. Meditation describes a calm state of mind free from thoughts and distractions. If done correctly meditation produces more awareness of self and detachment from the surroundings that cause pain, stress and conflict.

The first recorded history of meditation are in Cave paintings showing men and women lying on the ground in a trance-like state, probably calling on the God’s or spirits to help them face some kind of crisis. Meditation eventually spread to different cultures and evolved into several variants such as Indian Meditation, Zen meditation, Buddhism meditation, and the modern western form of meditation. India recorded writings about meditation as early as 5000 years ago in sacred scriptures known as the Vedas or Book of Knowledge.

Buddhism began in the 6th century when a Hindu Priest Siddharta Gautama discovered new found knowledge after 7 days of looking into his inner thoughts under a tree with his legs folded. Gautama then became known as Buddha, and Buddhism was born. Buddha sharpened his skill of meditation by concentrating on clearing his mind. His form of meditation eventually reached China and Tibet. The Tibetan style of meditation evolved further by turning negative thoughts into something positive by integrating teachings of wisdom and visualization.

Zen meditation combines Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism. It also requires sitting in a relaxed state and clearing the mind of distractions from the past and future, placing your mind in a present peaceful state. Most people who practice Zen meditation also refrain from drinking alcohol and eating meat. Zen meditation spread from Asia to the west and became quite popular in the US and Europe.

In the 1960’s meditation became a hot trend in the United States, popularized even more by the Beatles who practiced Transcendental meditation after training with Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Americans experimented with various types of meditation in the decades that followed. Modern meditation is a mixture of various principles of meditation from different countries. These days, meditation is used to relieve oneself of stress from a busy lifestyle rather than as a religious experience.

You can practice modern meditation by finding a comfortable quite place in your home or office where you won’t be disturbed for about 20 minutes. Begin by sitting on a comfortable chair with your back straight against the backrest. Try to relax your mind and body by focusing on one thing that brings you pleasure and calms you down. Think of your golf game this weekend, a fishing trip you plan to take with your son, or visualize what you want your new garden to look like.

Remove all traces of negative thoughts and think of only positive things. You can have your eyes either open or closed while doing this. You don’t have to do a full 20 minutes on your first session, but try to do it in the same place as the last time so that you grow accustomed to the surroundings. It also helps to play some Zen meditation music in the background to make you calm down.

How Far Will the Experiments Go?

Just like a scene out of a movie such as X-men, Splice, or The Island of Doctor Moreau, scientists are now creating animal hybrids, para-humans and chimeras. Chimeras are mythical creatures in Greek legends that are part goat, serpent and lion. Scientifically, chimeras are living creatures that contain more than one set of genes. The practice of creating chimeras started with plants when botanists mixed genes of different species to create a unique plant or flower.

After several years we now see animal chimeras such as domestic cats and wild cat hybrids that are sold as exotic pets for thousands of dollars. Today, some adventurous scientists are blurring the line between proper ethics and creating human-animal hybrids known as para-humans. Human body parts are now commonly grown in animals. In 2003, Chinese scientists mixed human cells and rabbit eggs on a petri dish. They allowed it to grow for several days before destroying it and harvesting the stem cells.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts grew an ear on a mouse’s back that is an exact replica of a human ear including cartilages and tissue. Scientists in Nevada are growing human hearts and livers inside sheep. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic are experimenting on pigs that can produce human blood. In one occasion human brain cells were integrated into the brains of mice.

Scientists and doctors justify these experiments as a way to find medical solutions for us humans. Body parts such as ears, fingers, and organs can soon be available for patients who need transplants. Patients won’t have to die waiting for a liver, kidney or heart. Blood supply will be readily available without the need for blood donors. Other reasons are for commercial purposes, such as to provide a prototype that is closer to the human make-up for drug and product testing. Others create para-humans in laboratories to be able to harvest stem cells for research.

Jeremy Rifkin, a biotechnologist, says these experiments can be applied on a computer model instead of using chimeras. David Magnus of Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics is alarmed with this emerging technology and wonders how far the experiments will go. He’s worried that scientists will soon create animal-human hybrids and allow them to mature. Are creating $2,000 domestic Bengal cats not enough?

Resveratrol Doesn’t Just Improve Health, it Fights Cancer Too

Resvératrol is a compound that’s known to prevent and cure several serious illnesses like heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, diabetes and cancer. It is capable of doing a pretty good job preventing strokes by naturally eliminating bad cholesterol and blot clots that can get stuck in our arteries and veins. Aside from that it even stimulates the production of good cholesterol in our body. There have been studies made in laboratories that prove Resvératrol can also kill cancer cells in tumors in a process called apoptosis. Apoptosis is sort of like cell suicide when the cancerous cell self destructs and then replaced by good healthy cells.

I think Resvératrol is more than a good solution to many illnesses because it not only cures or prevents sickness; it also replaces the bad with good by replacing damaged or injured cells with good healthy ones. Anti cholesterol medicines can get rid of bad cholesterol but I don’t think it can produce good cholesterol. Chemotherapy and radiation are notorious for killing both bad cancerous cells as well as healthy cancer-free cells. Because of this, many cancer patients die from the cancer treatment rather than the cancer itself. I’ve heard that some oncologists recommend traditional cancer treatment and Resvératrol therapy at the same time to boost the chances of their patient’s recovery.

Like I mentioned earlier Resvératrol also helps in the treatment of diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer’s and even aids in weight loss. It is such a boon to medical science and a precious gift for us. We owe this discovery to the Japanese and Chinese who first discovered the benefits of Resvératrol. Back in 1940 they gathered roots from pants that contain Resvératrol. They dried and used them to treat a variety of ailments like skin problems and athlete’s foot. Athlete’s foot is usually caused by fungi. If I remember correctly, the red wine grape vines produce Resveratrol naturally to fight fungi, infection and bacteria that attack them.

In the 70s researchers found Resvératrol in red grapes. For the longest time, scientists and doctors were baffled by what it was in red wine that makes it an anti-cancer drink, restores youth and makes the heart healthy. This is evident in what is called the French Paradox. Doctors could not explain why the French lived long healthy lives despite a diet full of saturated fat. Normally that would raise the percentage of French getting strokes and heart disease. On the contrary they lived long and rarely exhibited signs of heart problems or incidents of stroke. Wine is like water for the French, even their children drink wine at an early age. Of course we can’t justify this as a reason to binge on red wine because the French gradually build up Resvératrol in their bodies by drinking red wine in small portions over several years. We can’t compete with that by drinking hundreds of bottles of red wine in a short span of time.

A few years ago Resveratrol captured the headlines after 60 minutes and other talk shows featured it on International TV. Since then many supplement manufacturers have tried to cash in on this product. Some companies and people abused its good name by distributing diluted and impure Resvératrol in the market. If I were you, I’d be very cautious about buying these supplements from just anywhere. See, the supplements aren’t approved by the FDA as other herbal or natural health supplements. It isn’t a pharmaceutical product so it is not for the FDA to approve or license.

I have heard news that major pharmaceutical companies are interested in mass producing it. Well, I hope that when and if they do, these pharmaceutical companies won’t become greedy but make it affordable for most people. I don’t think they can price it too high; people might get turned off the pill version and switch to grape juice, eating whole grapes or drinking red wine. Today, more in-depth Resvératrol studies are being conducted by highly reputable institutions like Harvard, the Mayo Clinic, MIT and several other medical organizations and hospitals. Further trials are ongoing to solidify what we already know is true. That Resveratrol is a miracle cure from nature.

Chiropractor in San Antonio Offers Therapy for Vehicular Accident Victims

If you were injured in a car accident, you’ll know that it is a traumatizing incident that also requires medical attention. The experience can become worse if you sustain injuries in the crash. If you hurt your neck or back, consider seeing a San Antonio chiropractor after you receive emergency attention.

If you hurt your spine or neck in a road accident, make sure that you still get emergency help at the nearest hospital ER. If you feel dizzy, vomit or experience pain, get an x-ray immediately and have a doctor or radiologist analyze your x-ray results. Have open wounds cleaned and disinfected.

Apply an ice pack to your injured body part. Avoid using warm compress just yet as this can make the injury and pain worse. Use cold ice packs for the first 72 hours. You may have to take an anti-inflammatory to reduce swelling and antibiotics to fight infections.

Take a lot of bed rest and avoid lifting heavy weights. Take a few days off from work and try to eat healthy and get as much sleep as possible. Your body and injuries will need time and rest to get better. Although you should get rest, you should also stretch your muscles to prevent stiffness.

After your initial medical attention, it may be time to seek chiropractic care for pain relief. Your chiropractor may suggest therapeutic massages to relieve discomfort. Muscle spasms are common problems experienced by car accident victims. Massages can lessen the severity of spasms that are probably caused by whiplash.

If your spinal cord was injured or if you acquired whiplash, your San Antonio chiropractor might also recommend spinal decompression or a manual spinal manipulation. These will realign any discs in your spine that may have been dislodged. Follow your chiropractor’s orders so you can recover faster.

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How Roids Can Help People And Also Be Dangerous

Anabolic steroids or Roids, as they are commonly called, are notorious for some negative side effects but are also used for many beneficial purposes. Steroids can treat medical conditions like kidney problems, asthma, and cancer. Although these drugs are often helpful and a medical necessity in some cases, they have earned a bad rap for being abused. Like all abused drugs, steroids can cause some nasty side effects like heart, liver, and kidney damage among other things.

When used properly and in limited amounts, these types of medicines and supplements can benefit people with serious diseases. It can be an effective treatment for people with Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, Bell’s palsy, kidney problems and hormonal imbalance. In the form of Corticosteroids, Roids can act as an anti-inflammatory drug that imitate hormones released by our adrenal gland. This will result in better immunity, faster recovery from illness, and decreased inflammation.

It can also control metabolism and blood electrolyte levels. It is a common treatment for leukemia and tumors. Roids can also have a positive effect when it improves muscle growth, energy, strength and sexual drive. Steroids can produce a euphoric feeling and reducing pain. Your muscles develop faster by promoting muscle tissue growth and also increase bone growth. It boosts confidence and produces positive psychological benefits when you look and feel good.

When used with weight training, your muscles increase fastest making you look sculpted and fit in a shorter amount of time. It increased weight due to the increase of muscle, not fat. Steroid hormones in women come in the form of estrogen which enhance secondary sex characteristics helping women prepare for pregnancy. Estrogen also helps to maintain regular menstrual cycle. In men, testosterone and androgen hormones help increase healthy sperm production.

One of the reasons why Roids are very popular today is the advantage it present when used to heighten  athletic abilities. Steroids can make athletes perform without getting tired because it reduces fatigue. It strengthens the body to perform physical activities beyond normal conditions. Olympic athletes are tested for steroid use and so are other professional athletes in different fields. Runners often take it to make them run faster and longer.

Steroids can also make one more aggressive in competition. It is an unfair advantage for competitors both physically and psychologically. Steroid use to enhance athletic abilities are becoming more common for younger athletes in high school and college. This presents a health problem when abused. Some young athletes end up sick or dead from heart problems. Roids can increase blood pressure and cause a heart attack during a game when the heart is further pushed to its limits.

In teens, uncontrolled use of Roids can also lead to depression, irritability, upset stomach, hostility, suicidal thoughts, aching joints, high blood pressure, and other physical symptoms such as breast enlargement, hair loss, and swollen extremities. When you see symptoms of steroid abuse in your teen, take him or her to a doctor immediately. Anabolic steroids can be beneficial in many ways but can also be dangerous when abused.

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