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“Breaking Point: The Factors Behind Insanity”

Word Count:
560

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Insanity is one of those things that most psychological texts attempt to categorize, illustrate, and analyze, but never outright define. Indeed, from some standpoints, insanity and sanity are too relative to the individual and his circumstances to be given any single, all-encompassing definition. There are, however, several key factors to be noted among the various “forms” of insanity known to modern mental health experts.

mental health, stress, depression, stress and anxiety, social anxiety,

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What can drive someone to insanity? Certainly, insanity is something that is commonly understood (or misunderstood) and usually carries some sort of stigma in the popular consciousness. If you believe in modern psychology and psychiatry, there are literally thousands of forms of insanity that a person can end up developing over a lifetime. Some of them, like depression, are temporary, while others, like social anxiety, require more work for a person to get through. However, there appears to be some commonality as to what actually brings about most of the forms of insanity that people go through. Which brings the question to bear: is there a common, underlying trigger that compromises the stability of a person’s mental health?

Things like stress and anxiety are often cited, as most of the common (and several uncommon) mental health issues are triggered by one of the two. Continued exposure to stress can eventually push someone beyond their “breaking point,” with the form of insanity afterwards being affected by external factors. This is often a long, strenuous process because most people have some level of resistance to such things, allowing them to at least survive the stressful period with their sanity intact. Additionally, the process may not even really result in insanity, with most of the population serving as proof of this theory. Prolonged stress can affect a person’s behavior and outlook, but it is also known that several other factors can increase or reduce the impact of this. In some cases, stress and anxiety can merely even have the opposite effect, depending on the person’s personal outlook.

Emotions are also said to play a critical role in driving or pushing people into insanity, with feelings being so closely tied to mental health. A person’s emotional state can often be a reflection of a person’s relative state of mental stability, but may also become an effect of fractured sanity. There is no doubting that emotions can disrupt and affect a person’s thought processes and make them do things that they normally would not do. It has also been noted that extremely emotional situations and heavy emotional trauma can permanently affect a person’s mind, often resulting in a condition that requires therapy to eventually overcome. However, it is rather arguable that emotions are merely augmenting the effects of stress and pressure, not a factor in itself.

Trauma is also frequently cited as having drastic effects on a person’s sanity, particularly if it occurs during the formative years. The extreme psychological and emotional impact that trauma victims have to endure can often force some past the breaking point, having permanent effects on their mental health. However, it should be noted that trauma tends to be little more than a combination of stressful and emotional factors, usually mixed in with extreme circumstances. The vulnerability of the person’s psyche plays a larger role here than in other potential causes of insanity, which explains why trauma encountered later on in life does not have the same general effect as similar events encountered during childhood.

Ultimately, insanity is something that, like sanity, must be defined on an individual basis. What is sane for one person in a given society may not be considered such by a different person within the same society. Insanity is a matter of context in this case, which is the assumption that some psychological texts make.

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“Bodybuilding Sins” That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts: Part 2

Jesse Cannone, CFT, CPRS and Steve Hefferon, CMT
1452

Welcome to article number 2 in our series “Bodybuilding Sins That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts”. In this article we are going to talk about how bodybuilders tend to create massive muscle imbalances and what you can do to not be one of them.
If you missed the first article, you can read it by clicking on the link below.
Here’s a breakdown of the articles to look for:

Article #1 – Choosing The WRONG Exercises
Article #2 – Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results
Article #3 – Targeted Stretching
Article #4 – Targeted Exercises
Article #5 – Rest, Recovery, and Injury Prevention

Article #2 – Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results
Bodybuilders are a stubborn bunch… almost as bad as runners! And they tend to follow the “HERD” doing whatever exercises and routines the “pros” are doing…
Now, if your goal is to be as big as possible and you are not at all concerned with your health and fitness, don’t even bother this article… this article is for bodybuilders who ARE concerned about their health and want to be big, strong, powerful, and agile… if that’s you, read on…
The reason so many bodybuilders suffer from so many different injuries is because there are several things the “pros” don’t tell you…
First off, the articles that you see in all the muscle mags aren’t even written by the “pros”… and the workout routines they recommend are always extreme and often not even used by the “pro” who supposedly wrote because their main goal is to sell magazines… not give you the real deal on bodybuilding.
If you are serious about bodybuilding and want to achieve your true peak, you need to stay injury free… and that’s just about impossible if you train they way most bodybuilders do.
There are several key strategies that you can use right now to not only eliminate any aches, pains and injuries you currently have, but also keep from creating more muscle imbalances in the future. For a more detailed article on muscle imbalances go to http://www.losethebackpain.com/achesandpainsarticle.html
Strategy #1 – Target the Weaklings!
No, we don’t mean the exercises you think your weak at, or even the muscles you think are underdeveloped… what we mean is the muscles that are weak in relation to the opposing muscle group.
For example, in the first article we talked about why the Leg Extension is not a great exercise and why it’s responsible for so many cases of knee, hip, and back pain… and the reason is, most people, especially bodybuilders, are already over developed and stronger in the quadriceps… and usually have a significant imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings.
Another reason bodybuilders tend to develop so many severe muscle imbalances is because they emphasize the front of the body more than the back… a great example of this is what we call “The T-shirt Muscle Workout” and it usually consists of dozens of sets of chest and biceps…
you know what we mean… in just one workout you do flat bench, incline, decline, pec deck, dumbbell fly, cable cross overs… and then for biceps you’ve got barbell curls, dumbbell curls, preacher curls, cable curls, machine curls, and the list goes on…
So instead of emphasizing the muscles that are already strong, why not really hit those weak and under worked muscles like: neck, upper back, shoulder rotators, hamstrings, glutes, hip rotators, lower abs, and shins.
These areas tend to be weak, tight, out of balance with their opposing muscles, prone to muscle strains and pulls and most importantly, these imbalances lead to major injuries and conditions like back pain, knee pain, rotator cuff tears, tendonitis and others.
All of these conditions are caused by muscle imbalances and will NOT go away unless you work towards correcting the imbalances… and the only way to know for sure which imbalances are causing your pain or injury is to do a series of physical assessments like the ones covered in our “Lose the Back Pain Video”.
Strategy #2 – Experiment!
Here’s a personal challenge for you: Replace at least 1 of your normal weekly workouts with something totally different like combat martial arts, kettle bell training, functional training, or even strongman style exercises.
For example, instead of doing your super heavy, 3 inch partial rep leg presses, try a single leg squat… and if that’s easy, try adding weight! Or instead dozens of sets of shoulder presses and lateral raises, see if you can do 1 handstand push-up.
Those are just a few examples… do yourself a favor and experiment with other types of exercises. You can find hundreds of different types of training styles by taking classes, reading books, watching videos, surfing the web, hire a personal trainer, etc.
We aren’t asking you to give up your traditional workouts… but just cross-train a bit so you not only work towards a balanced body but also towards a stronger, more powerful and usable strength. Again, what good is muscle if you can’t use it!
Strategy #3 – Switch It Up!
Another great way to minimize the number of missed workouts due to injuries is to vary the exercises that you do for each muscle group. For example, if you always do barbell squats try rotating in other exercises like single-leg leg presses, trap-bar dead-lifts, d-bell squats, etc.
Conclusion
Remember, the key to eliminating injuries and preventing future ones is to identify what areas you need to target. In the next two articles we’ll be discussing in detail, how to address various injuries like back, hip, knee, and shoulder pain with targeted exercises and stretches. In the meantime, be sure to read thru all of our detailed Articles and if you have questions, please post them in our Discussion Forum.
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“Bodybuilding Sins” That Cause Back Pain and Missed Workouts

Steve Hefferon, CMT and Jesse Cannone, CFT
1240

It’s one thing for someone who sits at a computer all day and never exercises to have back pain, but for a bodybuilder, someone who spends hours and hours each week pouring everything they’ve got into building muscle, it should be criminal!
The reason we say this is because, if you are going to spend so much time, money, and energy trying to build the “perfect body”, you have to make sure that you not only look good, but also feel good…
We’ve identified what we call “Bodybuilding Sins” that lead to back pain, sciatic pain, and other injuries… read em and take action now if you are serious about bodybuilding and are fed up with your back pain.
Because there is so much information to share with you, we’ve broken it down into a series of 5 articles, each covering a different component of how back pain affects bodybuilders.
Here’s a breakdown of the articles to look for:

Article #1 – Choosing The WRONG Exercises (below)
Article #2 – Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results
Article #3 – Targeted Stretching
Article #4 – Targeted Exercises
Article #5 – Rest, Recovery, and Injury Prevention

Article #1 – Choosing the WRONG Exercises
Get ready, this is gonna hurt! The exercises most bodybuilders focus on the most, are the ones that cause the most problems… hopefully, you’re different J
But before we share with you what those exercise are, let’s talk real quickly about what bodybuilding is…
The goal of bodybuilding isn’t to get as big as you can, or at least to us it isn’t and shouldn’t be, but to build a balanced body that is as strong as possible in every way. For example, while being freakishly big may get people’s attention, it serves you no purpose at all…
while on the other hand, what if you were not only big, but also extremely strong and powerful, lightning fast, flexible, and agile enough to kick ass if needed?
So many bodybuilders build massive amounts of muscle yet are so unbelievably weak and inflexible… for example, we know a guy who can bench press over 350 lbs but can’t do a measly 50 push-ups!
The point is, the exercises you choose and how you perform them not only determine how big, strong, and flexible you are, but also affect how your body functions and whether or not you suffer from aches, pains, and injuries like back pain and sciatic pain.
Ok, here they are… the exercises that create the most problems and are most likely to lead to back pain:

Bench Press
Leg Extension

So, any of your favorites on this list?
While there are others, these are the two that cause the most damage.
There are several reasons why these exercises made our list of the “worst bodybuilding exercises”. First, all of them target areas that already tend to get worked a lot in everyday life and often times are overdeveloped…
and by focusing so much on these exercises you end up creating muscle imbalances, or worsening existing muscle imbalances, which pull your bones and joints out of their normal position…
and this leads to uneven pressure and wear and tear on your muscle, ligaments, tendons, bones, and joints and will sooner or later lead a break down or injury.
For example, chronic overuse of the bench press, coupled with little or no exercises targeting the upper back, leads to an overdevelopment of the chest and a lack of strength and development in the upper back…
This all too common combination leads to what we call “Turtle Back”. You know what we’re talking about, when the shoulders are pulled so far forward, lats are as wide as barn, and from behind, their back looks like a giant sea turtle shell!
This “Turtle Back” posture can create neck, upper back, and shoulder pain and injuries faster than you can pop an Advil!
Plus, how many times during your day are you forced to lie on your back and push up a bar loaded with weights? There are so many better exercises for chest development that not only stimulate more muscle, but also build more usable strength.
Now let’s talk about the fabulous thigh builder, the leg extension…
Not only does it place an unbelievable amount of strain on the knee joint, but it also will quickly overdevelop the quads, which are already getting far more work than their counterpart, the hamstrings.
An imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings, which is also extremely common in bodybuilders, is a key contributor to back pain. This imbalance is easily identifiable by what people often call “Bubble Butt” or “Ghetto Booty”.
So hopefully you can see how important it is to choose your exercises wisely. We strongly recommend you cut out these exercises, or at least cut back on using them and add in targeted exercises for the opposing muscle groups and targeted stretches for those tight, overdeveloped muscles.
The key to eliminating back pain, or any other ache, pain or injury for that matter, is to bring your body closer to balance…
What good is muscle if you can’t use it? How many more workouts are you going to miss because of back, neck, or shoulder pain? How much bigger and stronger could you be if back pain and other injuries weren’t ruining your training?
Just imagine how bad things will be 10, 20, or 30 years from now if you don’t make changes to your training now… but don’t take our word for it, ask some of the older bodybuilders who are paying the price now… you can spot them easily at the gym because they limp around trying to find something they CAN do.
Look for the next article, “Training Variations for Pain Relief and Maximum Results” very soon and in the mean time, if you are suffering from back pain or sciatic pain, here’s what you need to do…
Head on over to our website http://www.losethebackpain.com now to find out exactly what’s causing your back pain and the specific steps you need to take to get relief fast and get back to training at 100%.
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“Banking Calories”: Eat Less Now To Pig Out Later???

Tom Venuto
3679

Suppose you’re on a diet and you have a banquet or a holiday party coming up. You’re expecting a big meal to be served for dinner, and there will be open bar with lots and lots of “party snacks.” You’re not sure if there will be any healthy food there, but you are sure that you’re going to be in a festive, partying mood! What should you do? Should you cut back on your food earlier in the day to make room for the big feast?
What I’ve just described is commonly known as “banking calories,” which is analogous to saving calories like money because you’re going to consume more later, and it’s a very common practice among dieters. If you’re really serious about your diet and fitness goals however, then the answer is no, you should NOT “bank calories! Here’s why and here’s what you should do instead:
First of all, if you’re being really honest with yourself, you have to agree that there’s almost always something healthy to eat at any gathering. You know those tables you see at holiday parties that are covered with yards of chips, dips, pretzels, cookies, salami, candies, cheese, punch, liquor, and a seemingly endless assortment of other goodies? Well, did you also notice that there’s usually a tray full of carrot sticks, cauliflower, celery, fruit, turkey breast and other healthy snacks too?
No matter where you are, you always have options, so make the best choice you can based on whatever your options are. If nothing else, you can choose to eat a small portion of “party foods” rather than a huge portion.
If you skip meals or eat less earlier in the day to bank calories for a big feast at night, you are thinking only in terms of calories, but yo’re depriving yourself of the valuable nutrition you need all day long in terms of protein (amino acids), carbohydrates, essential fats, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that come from healthy food, as well as the small frequent meals required to stoke the furnace of your metabolism.
Not only that, but eating less early in the day in anticipation for overeating later is more likely to increase your appetite, causing you to binge or eat much more than you thought you would at night when the banquet does arrive.
Eating healthy food earlier in the day is likely to fill you up and you’ll be less likely to overeat in the evening. High fiber foods, healthy fats and especially lean protein, tend to suppress your appetite the most.
I don’t like the concept of “banking calories.” Your body just doesn’t work that way – it tends to seek equilibrium by adjusting your appetite to the point where you consume the same total amount of calories in the end anyway.
Even if it worked the way you wanted it to, why would you eat less (starve) in an attempt to burn more fat, then overeat (binge) and put the fat right back on? Why allow yourself to put on fat in the first place?
A starving and bingeing pattern will almost certainly cause more damage than an occasional oversize meal. Some dieticians might even say that this kind of behavior borders on disordered eating.
A better approach is to stay on your regular menu of healthy foods and small meals through the entire day – business as usual – and then go ahead and treat yourself to a “cheat meal,” but sure to keep your portions small.
It should be a big relief to know that on special occasions, whether it’s a party, restaurant meal, banquet or holiday dinner, you can eat whatever you want with little or no ill effect on body composition, as long as you respect the law of calorie balance. However, you CANNOT starve and binge and expect not to reap negative consequences.
To burn fat and be healthy, you don’t have to be a “party pooper” or completely deny yourself of foods you enjoy, but you do need to have the discipline to stick with your regular meal plan most of the time and control your portion sizes all of the time.
Copyright 2005 Tom Venuto
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“B” Vitamins, Unleash The Beast Inside You

Word Count:
400

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This is another vitamin article that I have written, but the only difference is that this one goes into more detail about specific vitamins. My previous articles do not do that. Those articles were more of a short introduction into vitamins, their role and their best food . I’ll start with 2 water Soluble Vitamins and 1 fat soluble vitamins.
Water Soluble Vitamins: These are water-soluble vitamins that are not stored in the body and must be replaced each day. These vitamins are Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, Folic Aid, Pantothenic Acid, Biotin and vitamin C.
Lets start with the b vitamins: Vitamin B1 is needed to process carbs, fats, and proteins. Vitamin b1 is required by everybody to form the fuel the body runs on. Every nerve cell requires vitamin b1 to function properly. Wheat germ, peas, beans, enriched flour, fish, peanuts, and meat are all excellent s of vitamin b1. People with advancing age, a poor diet and too much alcohol consumption may result in vitamin b1 deficiency. The suggested RDA for vitamin b1 is unclear but The amount found in most multivitamin supplements is more than enough. Vitamin b1 works hand in hand with vitamin b2 and vitamin b3.
Vitamin b2:

Helps release energy from foods. Essential for healthy eyes, skin, nails and hair. Their s are: Whole grains, brewer’s yeast, torula yeast, wheat germ, almonds, sunflower seeds,cooked leafy vegetables. The suggested RDA for vitamin b2 is unclear but The amount found in most multivitamin supplements is more than enough.
Please note, be aware that vitamin b3 or Niacin, as its commonly known as, may cause a reaction in some people. Itching and or burning are two of the symptoms. The author of this article found that out the hard way. Fat-soluble vitamins: Theses vitamins are A, D, E and K. These vitamins are dissolved in fat and stored, therefore they are not needed every day in the diet. Over consumption of fat soluble vitamins may pose a risk of toxicity.
Vitamin A: Vitamin a is a fat soluble vitamin and as mentioned before, should not be consumed in excess. For the maintenance of skin, mucous membranes, bones, teeth, and hair; eye sight. Their s are: green vegetables, melon, squash, tomatoes.
Well that’s it for this article.

Look for more of my vitamin articles coming soon.
The information presented in this article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to diagnose, treat or cure any disease or condition. This article is not a substitute for a health care professional. Please consult a medical professional before beginning any vitamin program.
Copyright 2005 Andy Casasanta

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Acne Scar Solution

Word Count:
400

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After deciding visiting a dermatologist, you may wonder whether prescription drugs are effective for the prevention of acne as well. Experts say that all standard dermatological treatments for adult acne should also be used for prevention.
If topical combination therapy of traditional medicine is unsuccessful, then your dermatologists may suggest that you begin taking oral antibiotics such as tetracycline, erythromycin, or minocycline while using topical creams. They may also suggest that you undergo some laser treatments just to get rid of those acne scars.
Fortunately, there are other ways to do it naturally. There are skin care products these days that have natural ingredients and biological substances that are effective in treating acne scars as well.

However, these acne scar treatments will be useless if you fail to identify the causes of acne. Chances are, it will only re-occur and get back to being a problem once again. So, it’s always better to identify its causes before you treat the acne and get rid of the scar.
Some experts explain acne breakouts based on a psychological dilemma. They say that a persistent skin symptom can be a message from your inner self. Stress and an imbalanced diet may be triggering this skin problem.
Avoid stress as it can trigger the accumulation of acne. Try saying no more often, it’s just like when your plate is full, don’t put more on it. Instead, practice finding some quiet time for yourself and try to rest more on weekends.
Indeed, there are no nippy fixes in treating acne and acne scars. It may involve a lot of processes and products which may vary depending on how you will utilize them or what your doctor will prescribe.
However, the best part of treating them is to stay on the natural side. Use skin care products that contain biological substances and try to maintain a no stressed life. In this way, you will surely obtain that wonderful skin you had before.
Bio Skin Care cream is a natural treatment for Acne scars due to its natural components. Clinical trials have shown that the best skin renewal and skin repair results are achieved when exfoliation of damaged cells is combined with SKIN REGENERATING ACTIVATORS. That’s why this cream will resolve your skin problems.

Other reasons:
1. This cream also contains natural antibiotics that fights infection
2. It has natural skin regenerating ingredients that eliminates, if not eradicate, dark or red spots which causes the ugly appearance of scars.
3. It has glycolic acid that facilitates skin renewal.
4. It has vitamins that curbs swelling and irritation.
5. It promotes the elaboration of the two most important ingredients that facilitate skin renewal: elastin and collagen. These two are the one responsible in maintaining the moisture in the skin at the same time preserving its elasticity as the skin is on its healing process.
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A Better You” Your 7 days program to self-improvement

Word Count:
693

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I seem to lost count on how many times I’ve read and heard of celebrity marriages failing almost left and right. Not that I care (and personally I don’t), it seems strange that we often see movie and TV stars as flawless people, living the fairytale life of riches and glamour. I suppose we all have to stop sticking our heads in the clouds and face reality.

There are many ways to lose your sense of self-esteem despite of how trivial it could get. But whatever happens, we should all try not to lose our own sense of self.

So what does it take to be a cut above the rest? Here are some of the things you can think and improve on that should be enough for a week.

1. Know your purpose
Are you wandering through life with little direction – hoping that you’ll find happiness, health and prosperity? Identify your life purpose or mission statement and you will have your own unique compass that will lead you to your truth north every time.

This may seem tricky at first when you see yourself to be in a tight or even dead end. But there’s always that little loophole to turn things around and you can make a big difference to yourself.

2. Know your values
What do you value most? Make a list of your top 5 values. Some examples are security, freedom, family, spiritual development, learning. As you set your goals for 2005 – check your goals against your values. If the goal doesn’t align with any of your top five values – you may want to reconsider it or revise it.

The number shouldn’t discourage you, instead it should motivate you to do more than you can ever dreamed of.

3. Know your needs
Unmet needs can keep you from living authentically. Take care of yourself. Do you have a need to be acknowledged, to be right, to be in control, to be loved? There are so many people who lived their lives without realizing their dreams and most of them end up being stressed or even depressed for that matter. List your top four needs and get them met before it’s too late!

4. Know your passions
You know who you are and what you truly enjoy in life. Obstacles like doubt and lack of enthusiasm will only hinder you, but will not derail your chance to become the person you ought to be. Express yourself and honor the people who has inspired you to become the very person you wanted to be.

5. Live from the inside out
Increase your awareness of your inner wisdom by regularly reflecting in silence. Commune with nature. Breathe deeply to quiet your distracted mind. For most of us city slickers it’s hard to even find the peace and quiet we want even in our own home. In my case I often just sit in a dimly lit room and play some classical music. There’s sound, yes, but music does soothe the savage beast.

6. Honor your strengths
What are your positive traits? What special talents do you have? List three – if you get stuck, ask those closest to you to help identify these. Are you imaginative, witty, good with your hands? Find ways to express your authentic self through your strengths. You can increase your self-confidence when you can share what you know to others.

7. Serve others
When you live authentically, you may find that you develop an interconnected sense of being. When you are true to who you are, living your purpose and giving of your talents to the world around you, you give back in service what you came to share with others -your spirit – your essence. The rewards for sharing your gift with those close to you is indeed rewarding, much more if it were to be the eyes of a stranger who can appreciate what you have done to them.

Self-improvement is indeed one type of work that is worth it. It shouldn’t always be within the confines of an office building, or maybe in the four corners of your own room. The difference lies within ourselves and how much we want to change for the better.

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7 Simple Tips to Help Fulfill Your Weight Loss Resolutions

Word Count:
400

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“Goals……and resolutions.”

Yes, it’s that time of the year again.
Why is it that every time Jan 1st comes around, everyone starts to think about their new resolutions for the year? Or perhaps “new” isn’t the correct word — perhaps “recycled” is more apt? After all, isn’t it true that for most people, “resolutions are made to be broken?”
Goals are a wonderful way to inspire us towards getting the things in life that we want, but more often than not, they simply end up unattained and we get frustrated (again) at the end of the year.
But it doesn’t have to be so.
Really.

You can attain your goals or resolutions, but only IF you know how to go about setting them up correctly in the first place. And I’ll give you a few useful pointers to help you get started on the right track…
– Begin with the end in mind. What’s the end result you want to achieve? Do you want to lose weight? Or do you want to drop 1 dress size instead?
– Get specific and be realistic. It’s not enough to just say “I want to lose weight.” How much do you want to lose _exactly_? By when? A better goal is to say “I want to lose 11 pounds in 3 months.” And make sure your goal is realistic. If you want to drop 27 pounds, it’s not realistic to say you want to do that within the next 7 days, not to mention that it’s not healthy to do that! Or if you’ve been putting on the weight slowly over the last 10 years, it’s not quite realistic to say you want to go back to your weight 10 years ago within a month.
– Break it down into smaller and easier “baby steps.” Let’s say you want to lose 20 pounds. That seems like an insurmountable task, but it becomes easier to manage if you look at it as losing an average of 1 pound per week, over a course of 20 weeks. Now’s that manageable! For you to lose a pound a week, you only need to create a calorie deficit of about 500 calories per day by controlling your diet and increasing your amount of exercises.
– Okay, now for the big “secret” — the missing key to achieving your goals: Write down your “Why” i.e. what are you doing this for? Most people skip this step, and it’s a primary reason why they never seem to achieve their goals. It’s absolutely critical for you to write down the reasons why you want to achieve each specific goal. For example, if the goal is to “lose 20 pounds in 6 months,” write down why you want to lose that weight. And here’s another tip: Make it “personal and emotional.” The more “emotional” the reason, the more likely you’ll be driven towards the goal. So, let’s say you’ve got kids. An example of a good “reason why” is “I know being overweight is a leading cause of many health problems — I will lose the 20 pounds and get healthier so that I will not be a burden to my children, and be able to stay healthy long enough to attend my daughter’s wedding and be there to carry my grandchildren.” A ssuming all these things are important to you, of course. 🙂 But I’m sure you get the picture.

– “Write it down and put it up!” It’s usually not good enough to just think of the goals in your head. You need to write down all your specific goals and the “reasons why,” and then paste it up where you will look at it every day. Don’t write it down on a notebook and chuck that inside the drawer. Instead, paste it up on your dressing table mirror, or anywhere else that is in plain sight. Remember, “out of sight, out of mind!”
– Do not be too ambitious. Aim for a loss of 1-2 pounds per week, at the max! Losing more than that amount is bad for you. And it’ll most probably be caused by a loss of water and/or muscle, rather than your unwanted excess body fat.
– Be realistic and “go with the flow.” The pounds didn’t come on overnight, so don’t expect them to disappear in a jiffy too. And sometimes the weight loss isn’t as fast (or as much) as planned. But don’t get stressed out, because stress will only add on the pounds. It’s important that you don’t think of the weight loss process as “all or nothing.” Instead, think of it as “slowly but surely.” The weight may go up a little sometimes, but if you stick to your plan, you’ll still be delighted at the end of the year!
Use these simple steps and make a positive difference to your life this year! Best of luck!
Copyright 2006 Tracy Lee

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Online Pilates

.Preparing For Pregnancy

Word Count:
563

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”
How childbirth is happiness for the parents; preparation for childbirth; change in lifestyle, diet, fitness regime; information on health background of the couple; information on stress, disorders, and anxiety in pregnancy.

pregnancy, anxiety

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Almost every woman is blessed with the capacity to bear a child at least once in her lifetime. It is considered to be one of the greatest gifts that a woman can give her husband. Bearing a child would make the couple more closer together, and at this certain point in their lives they can actually call themselves a family. Upon learning that the woman is pregnant, most couples enthusiastically start planning for her pregnancy and eventual childbirth.

When talking about pregnancy, it is important to know about preconception issues regarding on giving birth. A check up with the physician or midwife would be advisable for the woman in order to face facts on childbirth. Physical preparation is needed for giving birth, since this could really change the normal function of the woman’s body. A caregiver would be helpful in preparing the woman’s body in conceiving, and also impart information concerning potential problems in pregnancy. Anxiety is felt at this point, since the woman would really have to follow certain precautions in order to conceive a healthy baby. By seeking advice regarding on preconception, safety, lifestyle changes, prenatal vitamins, and the importance of folic acid, the woman could really prepare for giving birth.

In preparing for pregnancy, a change in the woman’s lifestyle is needed. Smoking cigarettes is a definite no-no, and also the consumption of alcohol. These addictions can affect the health of both the woman and her unborn baby. A woman might need to lose or gain weight, according to her present weight relative to her height and build. Being too fat or too thin might bring complications for both the woman and the baby. A good start in preparing for childbirth would be to establish a fitness regime for the period of the pregnancy. Asking the physician about nutrition and working out would be recommended for possible questions regarding exercise and food intake.

Learning more about the woman’s body while on the early stages of giving birth is essential for proper knowledge of the situation. Various parts of a woman’s body have specific roles when it comes to pregnancy. Certain disorders from both prospective parents should be discussed with the physician for additional health background information. Anxiety and stress is also felt by the couple since this is a very critical stage for the woman. Preconception stress is normal in women about to give birth, considering factors such as scheduling, sexuality, and self esteem, among many others.

When preparing for pregnancy, the couple should be confident enough to know how to handle a child. Knowledge of early pregnancy symptoms are also important since these are signs that giving birth would happen in due time. When the couple feels that they are ready, then a visit to the Obstetrician/Gynecologist (OBGYN) would help in gleaning more information on pregnancy. At this point, the couple can make use of a pregnancy calendar in order to follow the due course of giving birth.
Anxiety is often felt by women when they know that they are pregnant. Feelings of worry and tension are usual signs that shows her being anxious about giving birth. But by spending time with your husband, regular visits to the OBGYN, finding time to relax and unwind, with good exercise, anxiety should not be a problem at all. All you have to worry about is what to name the baby?