Words of Wisdom From Peoria

This morning I checked my email and an article caught my eye — one that had been forwarded by a member of my mailing list who lives in Peoria, Illinois. I had to laugh, even though I have never been anywhere near Peoria. The cause of my amusement was my memory of something one of my instructors from medical school used to say to one of my classmates way back when. “Bob, what will they think of this in Peoria?” Or, the alternate: “Bob, if you don’t watch out and start picking up speed, it’s quite possible you could end up with a practice in Peoria.

My instructor was a bit biased as to what cities were worth practicing in. In his mind, New York City and Boston were the only options, so Peoria certainly would have been out of the question.

I have a feeling that Bob knows that Peoria does actually have fully functional medical practices, and specialists as well.

For the first time ever, this year, the cardiologists from St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria held a Cardiology Cookout, which they are planning to hold each year from now on.

The cardiology staff members wanted to make a few points during this event: that cooking can be enjoyable and that food that tastes good does not have to be food that is unhealthy.

The event was a success, with over one hundred people attending. Each attendee was offered samples of heart-healthy foods to taste, and they given the opportunity to take home recipes that teach them how to prepare those healthy foods in their own kitchens or backyards.

To me, that idea is commendable.

The St. Francis cardiology staff had some excellent suggestions, and one in particular that I think is especially good.

People are always asking how many calories they should consume.

The way to figure that out is to multiply your weight by 15.

Say you weigh 170 pounds. You multiply that by 15, which equals 2550 calories. To maintain that weight, that’s how many calories you would consume daily.

For someone who wants to drop weight, they need to multiply their weight by 13 instead of 15. Using the 170 pound example, this totals 2210 calories. That equals a daily decrease of 340 calories. Two easy suggestions for dropping the daily calorie count: One, if you drink two sugar-filled sodas a day, make the change to plain tea, or water. This shaves off 220 calories right there. Two, try switching to mustard, instead of mayonnaise on your sandwich, and you will have pretty much taken care of the 340 calories that you are trying to take out of your daily diet. Follow those easy guidelines, and in one week you will have decreased your caloric intake by 2380, which pretty much equals a whole day of calorie consumption.

This doesn’t even take exercise into account.

Weight loss does occur without exercise, but doing both will speed up your success.

The St. Francis cardiology staff also advises taking fish oil supplements that contain omega 3 fatty acids. The best supplements are those that are made from fish that are low on the food chain, like sardines and anchovies. This way, there is less of a chance of contamination from environmental elements.

Now is something I know more than a little bit about, since I have an enteric-coated, pharmaceutical-grade essential fatty acid softgel of my own. The sofgels have the highest concentration of EPA/DHA that you can buy. The fish oil in the supplements comes from fish that live deep in the arctic waters of Norway, and are free of mercury, cholesterol, and PCBs. My softgels are exceptionally pure, meeting the high standards set both nationally and internationally.

A cardiologist from St. Francis, Kent Wise M.D. says, “We are not convinced that other supplements like vitamins E or C or folic acid actually have a positive impact on heart health.”

He goes on to say, “We are convinced that fish oil has an impact on lowering triglycerides, one of the detrimental fats found in the blood. Furthermore, some evidence has shown that fish oil can lower the risk of sudden death.

Additional advice:

Stay away from fast food (pack your own healthy lunch, instead).

Cut down on your salt consumption. This means avoiding foods like pretzels and chips and other packaged salty foods.

Eat plenty of fiber, including beans, barley, fruit and vegetables.

Whenever you can, visit your farmers’ market for fresh produce.

No matter if this advice comes from New York, Boston, or Peoria — it’s all good.

What’s The Fascination with Liquid Diets for Weight Loss

When it comes to food and trying to cut down on food, people struggle as they feel that they have no control over how much they eat and before they know it, hunger has ruled their better judgement and they’ve scoffed an entire fast food meal without thinking.

It can be terribly frustrating knowing what to put into your bodies, how much to put into your bodies, and when to put it in your body. These are the type of people that opt for liquid diets for their weight loss control. Whilst these kind of extreme diets do have their plus points, it is very unhealthy to stick to a diet of this kind for any sustained length of time and is highly advised against by all the professionals.

One thing to look out for with liquid diets for weight loss is that you are consuming all your essential vitamins and nutrients. Any doctor or nutritionist will tell you the same so there is no doubt that this advice must be adhered to.

Health is of paramount importance and should always come before superficial aspects of life like how much you way and what you look like when you’re naked or on the beach this summer.

Being skinny but unhealthy is certainly not the goal and you should always keep that in mind.

Crushing the Liquid Diets for Weight Loss Myths

There’s no getting away from the fact that liquid diets for weight loss are extreme diets. You get fast results as your are starving your body of carbs. Such extreme deficits of carbs for any length of time, even a few weeks, can put dire strains on your body and energy levels. So you need to take a visit to your doctors to see what they have to say.

Seriously listen to what your doctor has to say about the pros and cons about the particular diet that you are thinking about starting. This could help you in making adjustments to it to make it healthier for you.

You doctor will have a good sense of your medical history, and the medical history of your family. So he or she will know whether your body can cope with such extremes. You can also ask about side affects from liquid diets for weight loss consisting of lack of energy or dry skin. Your doctor will also explain to you the type of exercise your body will need to prevent atrophy from your muscles.

You may have thought that you wouldn’t have to exercise on these kind of liquid diets for weight loss. But the truth is that you will have to come off this extreme diet after a couple weeks or so, and you don’t want the weight to pile back on like is usually does after you finish a diet program. By maintaining your exercise regime once you return to solid foods you will keep the weight off.

There is no sense in going through a liquid diet weight loss program if you are not going to keep the weight off.

How Important Are Calories To Weight Loss Programs?

Consuming a huge amount of calories on a daily basis can be one of the causes of your overweight condition. How can you possibly lose weight when you are taking in far more calories on a daily basis than what you are burning off with activity.

Don’t get all worried, I’m not suggesting that you need to count calories and get out that little food weight scale to measure everything you eat in ounces. That’s the last thing I would want to do as well.

However there is a real difference between counting calories and knowing the calorie counts for the foods you are eating. Not being aware of what you are eating and the amount of calories you consume on a daily basis, is just asking for trouble. Most of us are overweight because we had no idea of the extremely high calorie intake we were consuming each day. Not being aware of the calories in the foods we eat each day is like setting ourselves up for failure no matter what weight loss plan we are following.

A lot of people have absolutely no idea what type of foods they should be eating to lose weight and how many calories they should have each day to be able to lose weight. Different food groups have different calories, with fruits and vegetables being in the lower calorie food group.

When you learn that fruits and vegetables are much better for you it will be easy for you to plan nutritious meals. I for one would always choose the pizza over a balanced meal anytime. My choices were obviously all wrong, because I spent many years of my life being overweight.

Being aware of calories, is a big deal, if you want to lose weight you have to take in less calories than what you normally do. I know for myself I would rather have a banana split than a flavored yogurt for dessert, but just look at the difference in calories. I could have had 2 nutritious meals for the same amount of calories I ate in the banana split.

I understand what you are going through, not long ago I would choose spaghetti and meatballs over a balanced meal of meat, vegetables potato and salad. Now I prefer the balanced meals and rewarding myself. Being 30 pounds lighter has really inspired me to succeed in reaching my goal weight.

I have never had to deprive myself of eating anything during my weight loss program Eating sensibly has worked wonders for me.

Exercises That Can Help You Burn More Calories

Health experts say that not all exercises we are familiar of right now are created equal. There are some exercises created to help in muscle building but there are also some exercises created to help complete fitness regimen and at the same time to help in burning calories.

Of course if you are into a weight loss venture, the exercises you must be more familiar of are those that help complete fitness regimen and at the same time help in burning calories. These exercises will target your cardio area and muscles which is really essential in keeping you fit and free from any excess fats. These exercises actually include walking, squats and lunges.

Walking is the simplest form of exercise you can have in your program. You can do this anytime, anywhere and with no equipment at all. Walking is a very effective exercise. With walking, you won’t only get a healthy heart but also get good, reasonable weight. With walking you can burn a lot of calories with less effort. In fact, according to a one health expert, a brisk walk can burn up to 500 calories an hour.

Squats on the other hand are believed by some health experts to be a must-have in any program which goal is to keep body fit. Mainly, doing several squats a day can help strengthen muscles which later can be essential in keeping body fit through burning of calories. From a health expert’s point of view, the stronger your muscles will be, the better capacity you have to burn calories. Thus, including some squats a day in your program is significant.

Finally, lunges like squats work mainly on the muscles. Specifically, lunges work on the lower part of the body. Like doing several squats a day, doing several lunges a day can help strengthen muscles which can be essential in keeping body fit through burning of calories. However, doing several lunges a day can be a bit complicated as lunges are more advanced version of squats. But then with doing some lunges a day, you will not only stay fit but you will also get the chance to improve your balance by which is really a good thing.

Easy Ways to Fuel Your Metabolism

Burning calories really seems to be one of the buzzwords, at least with people who wish to lose some weight. Critically though, people must understand that losing calories entirely depends on the rate of metabolism.

Some people may lose the calories faster than others. And in the whole deal, you will find age being a crucial factor. When you come to think of it, there are certain things you cannot do much about when you wish to burn calories. For example, can you do anything about your age or genetics?

Did you know that your body could burn 6 calories even while you are resting daily? May not sound like a lot at this point, but remember, you are burning calories for doing absolutely nothing.

While you are just resting and not doing anything, you could end up burning 6 calories daily. Maybe small, but when you add these up, it counts to something big.

Some studies have revealed that drinking 8 glasses of water has helped a lot of people keep track of their metabolic activities.

Never eat large meals with huge gaps between them. This is never ideal, especially when you consider the fact that in doing so, you run the risk of slowing your metabolic activities down.

People think that by eating less, they can lose weight. This may be true to a certain extent, but if you eat more of fruits and vegetables, which are full of fluids, you would find losing weight being an easy deal. The fluids intake to the body allows you to burn more calories.

Add some spice to your food. Well, adding a lot of it may not be good for your appetite, but small quantities of spices in your diet may not harm you at all. For starters, it could boost your metabolic activities by about 23%. At best, the effects of eating spicy food could be temporary, but in the long run, it could add up to a big deal.

If you really wish to have a quick spurt in the metabolic activities, then you would be better off spicing up your pasta. At other times, you would be better off eating protein rich food, because these foods help you burn calories faster than normal.

The one advice you would possibly get from all quarters of the medical fraternity is to consume as many proteins as possible. Proteins, as opposed to carbs and fats, can be digested rather easily, and in fact help the body burn more calories. Foods like eggs, liver, fish etc should constitute a major element of your diet.

Well, this is not true, because if you wish to have a good rate of metabolism, all you have to do is build up a good muscle and stay active.

Regular exercising is just the way you can ensure that metabolic activities can be maintained well.

Calories Can Really Make a Difference to Any Weight Loss Plan

I bet your thinking, oh no, here we go again another diet where I have to count calories. I hate counting calories, just about as much as I hate weighing all my food portions.

Reducing calorie consumption is key to losing weight and the quickest way to do that is to become more aware of the calorie counts in the foods that you choose to eat each day. Counting calories and weighing food is really not a lot of fun, neither is being overweight.

However the difference between having to count calories and just being aware of your calorie counts, is doable and can easily be accomplished.

Educating yourself on the different food groups and getting to know the calories that are in each food group, will help you to keep within your daily calorie limit in order to lose weight.

If you really hate counting calories and weighing food portions, then make a real effort to have smaller portions of food every time you eat, no matter what it is you eat. Choose items first from a nutritional food guide, and then if you have to treat yourself, make it a reward that you would get once a week only if you have made a real effort to cut down and lose weight.

Now with minimal effort I eat balanced nutritious meals and reward myself with pizza and treats once a week. Pounds just seem to melt off me now and that’s making me very happy.

Learning to eat sensibly doesn’t have to mean that you are deprived of anything. It simply means making better food choices for your body and when you find yourself not being able to make a healthy choice calorie wise, you will need to adjust your diet the next day few days to compensate for it.

It’s not really that hard to do once you get used to recognizing the amount of calories in your food selections. Adjust your calories to the amount of weight you want to lose and how quickly you want to lose it.

What Does Weight Loss Mean?

Losing weight is a challenge that almost everyone has faced at one point or another. It seems like in our civilization it is turning into a progressively frequent challenge that people have to face . There is not a set method to accomplish weight loss.

Actually , it is a multimillion-dollar business with no a true concrete answer of which method is the most excellent. Scientifically , there has been various invention that will improve you in your Weight Loss journey .

The simplest way to explain how to lose weight is that you need to ingest fewer calories per day than you spend on energy. If you are exerting a lot of physical energy and not eating too many calories then you will be sure to lose weight.

There are many different types of weight loss plans out there that feature different theories on how to accomplish your goals. The challenge is to wade through all of the different plans to find the best one for you.

One point that you will require to confirm is that whatever method you take is beneficial. As you are on a weight loss plan, you will need to lose around 1-2 pounds per week typically per month. If keep to that weight loss pace then you will be doing a healthy adjustment to your body that you will be more likely to maintain .

Free Techniques For Weight Loss

What’s the trick to lose weight for free? Is it a mystery beyond the pyramids, UFO’s, ghostly apparitions, or the single sock? But it’s no mystery when people see themselves in the mirror. They’re over weight. But it’s pretty uncomplicated. Here are some ideas.

Catch a virus. No really, get sick. Serious illness is a great way to lose weight, provided there’s a recovery. People lose weight while in the hospice. That’s as ludicrous as it seems. So let’s get to some real weight loss tips.

Losing weight is as easy as 1-2-3 if you severely cut calories. So what does it mean to you, it means you need to burn more calories than you are eating. Drink nothing but water to force your body to draw on fat reserves. If you have the staying power to do this for weeks or months at a time, even better. Seriously, though, eating less than you use is the way to go. It can’t be only water, but substituting soda and juice with water will drop out 90,000 calories, or 25 pounds, each year. Smaller portions, less soda and juice That’s the simple key.

Exercise as if the slave master will punish you if you stop moving. Keep up physical activity for hours and hours a day, seven days a week. Remember those Moses movies? Did you ever see a fat slave working on those pyramids? We don’t build pyramids any more but we can exercise, in moderation. It doesn’t have to be hours and hours each day, but 30 minutes of aerobic exercise seven days a week is great. If you can’t make seven days a week then six is better than five and five is better than four and even one is better than none.

Bigger muscles mean a faster metabolism and more calorie burning. So strap yourself to the car and pull it for 10 miles a day, with a fat person riding in it. Become the world’s strongest person. Ok, so really just weight train in moderation. Keep off the weight y doing some muscle training or aerobic exercise at least three days a week. Muscle does mean a higher metabolism, and in the long run it means less work because you’re burning more calories even while standing still.

You don’t need miracle pills or fad diets to lose weight. Your budget can even be 0. Lose weight for free through aerobic workouts and healthy eating and living. Eat less calories than you use.

Weight Loss Programs and the Importance of Calories

Calories are very significant to any weight loss program. Not many people realize that their weight problem is likely due to a massive consumption of calories on a daily basis. How can we begin to be successful at any weight loss program when we are not willing to give up those foods that cause us to gain weight.

Reducing calorie consumption is key to losing weight and the quickest way to do that is to become more aware of the calorie counts in the foods that you choose to eat each day. Counting calories and weighing food is really not a lot of fun, neither is being overweight.

However the difference between having to count calories and just being aware of your calorie counts, is doable and can easily be accomplished.

A banana has 105 calories approximately, an apple has 71 calories approximately, and an orange has 61 calories approximately. Even though fruits don’t have a huge calorie count you would not want to eat a banana daily, when you could choose something with less calories.

Losing weight is all about calories…even fruits and vegetables in the lower calorie food group have different calorie values. Did you know that a medium banana is approximately 105 calories, a medium apple is approximately 71 calories and a medium orange is approximately 61 calories? I know your thinking, big deal.

People are clueless to the fact that even fruits and vegetables vary in the amount of calories they have. Did you know that a banana has the most calories coming in at 105 approximately for a medium size, an apple 71 calories for a medium size and an orange approximately 61 calories for a medium size? This comparison shows that even when it comes to fruits and vegetables you have to pick your foods wisely if you are wanting to lose weight.

I understand what you are going through, not long ago I would choose spaghetti and meatballs over a balanced meal of meat, vegetables potato and salad. Now I prefer the balanced meals and rewarding myself. Being 30 pounds lighter has really inspired me to succeed in reaching my goal weight.

It’s not really that hard to do once you get used to recognizing the amount of calories in your food selections. Adjust your calories to the amount of weight you want to lose and how quickly you want to lose it.

Dieting With A Healthy Attitude

You would be astounded to discover just how many individuals think that the best way to slim down is by going hungry and while this does work in the short run, you will not find one physician that would ever advocate this severe course of action. Health weight loss diets are only ever advocated since such radical measures only leave the body weak with an even weaker immune system. Most of the better healthy weight loss diets advocate providing the person the required amount of calorific intake which is considered to be just right, and the diet should contain all the necessary nutrients required by the body.

Many people forget just how important it is to have a decent night’s rest for good health and body maintenance and it is just as essential as exercising to burning off the excess calories that we tend to carry around with us. Womens’ magazines can tend to be the instigator to some of these radical dieting plans and with no real scientific backup or trials, they can quite easily convince there readers that this is quite a healthy option to lose weight. For example: consume only boiled vegetables with chicken, fruits and salads, and while the fundamental starting idea is quite alright, a truly healthy weight loss diet needs to include other nutrients as well, that are not present in boiled vegetables for instance. For the majority of people to follow this sort of diet plan will initially work and as the weight is lost you will feel better but due to eating the same food every day, it will become very mundane and the interest in weight loss will fade away and so will the diet.

If you desire to be on the right track for your healthy weight loss diet, all you need to remember is not to consume foods with a high calorific value, keep up the daily physical exercise, even if it is walking for thirty minutes, and make sure you sleep well. Rest is an astonishingly important part of our lives - something which medical science is only just starting to understand but it is common amongst individuals with weight problems to feast during the night, often not remembering they have done it.

If you are someone who does get up in the night to eat, you are doing nothing but damage your body and will be wasting all the efforts that you have made, following a healthy weight loss diet program with exercise, to burn off calories. The result of following a healthy weight loss plan does not take too long to show up as you feel lighter, happier, energetic and you rest better and all these things mean that your chances of falling sick will also decrease.

Another aspect of a healthy weight loss diet is personal interest and self-impression about the ongoing transformation, for example: being too critical and demanding of yourself, could sometimes do more bad than good. We must be patient with the way we exercise as our bodies respond in different ways. Those that are have a lot of weight to lose can tend to become desperate and try to overcome this by increasing their physical exercise.

Any healthy weight loss program involves regular physical exercise, but some overweight individuals go overboard with this part, forgetting that your intensity level should be mild to moderate in the beginning with swimming or jogging and when you feel up to it, and then join a gym later. More to the point is that physical exercise should start slowly at first and then gradually increasing the level of exercise so that you feel good.

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