Archive for September, 2008

I’m Using Self Hypnosis for Weight Loss Again – Successfully

So, everyone needs a little subconscious boost in their diet once in a while, right?   A little shot of willpower in the arm, a casual suggestion daily to the powerful subconscious mind that you must eat right and exercise to be the absolute best you that you can be?  Well, that’s exactly what I’ve needed lately and the time came for me to get myself back on track after a weekend of binge and fast food eating due to a power outage we had for a few days. 

We only ate out pretty much for three days and I didn’t exactly make the best choices because I was out of sorts and pretty much had zero willpower.  Amazing how something as little as not having electric power will twist you into thinking you can eat anything you want for a few days, that it won’t hurt.  Problem with that mentality is that it seems to never end after some bad days and you find that twenty pounds later, your “bad day” added up over time. 

With this in mind, and wanting to get back on track to ensure I didn’t put on anything more permanent than a little water weight, I pulled out my hypnotherapy for weight loss cd’s and listened to them daily again for the past few days.  Sure enough, I found that after even the first days of putting myself into a hypnotic, relaxed state and listening to the powerful suggestions, I didn’t actually want crappy, bad for me food, and I actually looked forward to working out instead of dragging myself to the gym at work this week. 

All in all, I’d have to say that either self hypnosis for weight loss works because you really truly believe it works, or there really is something to be said for the power of your deepest mind centers as far as how what you believe controls your life and your destiny. I’d prefer to believe it’s a little of both. 

Regardless of the mechanisms that make self hypnosis work for people for all sorts of things, there is no denying it’s effectiveness on so many in losing weight, quitting smoking and doing so many other things that otherwise would be extremely hard without willpower coupled with true desire. 

Adderall a Hollywood Weight Loss Dark Secret?

Well, this was certainly a shocker, but Hollywood has apparently been a beacon for misusing certain drugs meant for other things to lose weight – it’s a shock that this mecca of looks and size zeros would do that, I know, but apparently the latest drug that is being abused for the sake of increased energy and appetite suppression is Adderall, which in my opinion is a very dangerous drug to begin with, much more so when it is not used for it’s intended purpose, which is for ADD and ADHD.

Adderall burst onto the scene several years ago now as a miracle drugs for kids with ADD, or Attention Deficit Disorder, to help them focus and concentrate and help the kids that had hyperactivity and ADD to calm down and be able to concentrate in school.  Adderall is actually an amphetamine.  That’s right, it’s somewhat akin to methamphetamine, a street drug that is snorted and used as a speed and is extremely dangerous to the brain and kills brain cells not to mention ruins lives.

However, Adderall is claimed to be much safer when taken in the right dosages, for the prescribed reason (not as a dangerous appetite suppressant), which is ADD, and when it is not abused.  But the abuse of Adderall seems to be fairly prevalent.  Many doctors apparently notice that thin women will come in and request Adderall specifically, and refuse other drugs for ADHD (the adult version of ADD), since they know that Adderall specifically is the drug that curbs their appetites well.

Apparently the Adderall phenomena is well known in the likes of Hollywood and the buzz begins around women who have lost lots of weight for no apparent reason that they may be taking Adderall to accomplish that weight loss.  Adderall also has qualities that can induce euphoria which adds to its addictive nature, and certainly doesn’t help the fact that it is abused and misused for weight loss instead of for ADD.

I remember when Tom Cruise had his famous rant (part of his subsequent downfall) with Matt Lauer about how Adderall and Ritalin are essentally street drugs that are legal because they are prescribed.  I feel bad because I guess he was right and no one really listened. 

Could 5htp Act as a Mild Appetite Suppressant?

I have just recently ordered a few bottles of the natural supplement called 5htp.  5htp is a component of tryptophan, which is the natural chemical that makes you feel sleepy after you indulge in one too many slices of that holiday turkey.  This is the relaxing component of the product, but the more important action of 5htp is that it acts as a natural precursor to the very important hormone called seratonin.

You’ve heard of seratonin because it is a buzzword in the world of depression and anxiety control, and that is why 5htp has become a fairly popular supplement for depression and anxiety.  Seratonin also behaves as a patrol for your appetite, making you feel fuller faster, and may explain why bulimics eat too much and then vomit, because they are deficient in seratonin.

I am going to try this natural appetite suppressant out and review it for you as an appetite suppressant which is actually it’s secondary use and has not really been proven yet.  I have bought it to help deal with depression and anxiety, so we’ll see if it works for either one. 

Subway Offers Lower Calorie Alternatives to Fast Food

Subway didn’t really used to be my favorite restaurant for a quick bite to eat, but as I increasingly try their lighter selections, I am concinced that one can live just fine and actually maybe lose weight if they have Subway fairly often, as long as they are making the right sub sandwich selections when eating there and are not loading up on condiments and adding cheese to their sandwiches.

Subway offers several good subs that are 400 calories or less, which is much better than the typical fast food meal of cheeseburgers and french fries which often add up to double that, and more – you could essentially consume up to a thousand calories in one meal if you eat at a typical fast food restaurant and don’t have the salad, while at Subway you can certainly choose the more fattening subs, but there are more healthy choices than there are at most other places to grab a bite.

My favorite is the turkey breast sub.  Another good thing about Subway is that they don’t load on the meat.  This may be a complaint for some, but you should never eat more than 3 oz. of meat at one meal anyways, and their subs definitely don’t go over that.  What I always do to keep it healthy and filling is order the wheat or honey oat bread which is loaded with dietary fiber, and I load up on the veggies too, adding spinach leaves, cucumbers, pickles, tomatoes and onions to mine.  All that fiver acts as a natural appetite suppressant long after you’re done, making sure you don’t pig out on snacks the rest of the day. 

Loading up on the veggies makes your sub even higher in fiber and makes it so that you feel fuller for longer.  You can even order an all veggie sub which is comprised of all veggies and bread.  Cheese adds about an extra one hundred calories to any sub, so try to refrain from the cheese.  Some of their other lower calorie subs are the roast beef, the ham and turkey, the sweet onion chicken sub, and also the cold cut combo which I believe combines several cold cuts. 

If you want a low fat side, you can choose either baked Lay’s chips which are a little over a hundred calories, or you can choose sliced apples or yogurt as well, adding up to a healthy satisfying meal that’s not deep fried and bogged down with fat.  You may actually get an energy boost instead of falling asleep at your desk after lunch

Genetic Variation May Make You Gain Weight Easier

Well, it’s just like the human race to jump at forces of nature beyond their control, like genetic makeup, as the reason for their problems, and the latest is a research study that seems to have proven that genetics are partly to blame for your tendency to gain weight, or tendency to be thing.  More specifically I’m talking about the tendency to gain weight though, which apparently about 30% of those with a European heritage possess.

The trait they possess which makes them more susceptible to tipping the scales is actually a variant of a common gene.  Researchers found though, that if these people were to get three to four hours of moderate, activity that helps result in fat loss and burning per day, the gene variants power over the body to make it gain weight more easily disappears.  In other words, several hours of moderate activity per day would make those with the gene variant just like those without it – less likely to pack on the pounds.

Getting three to four hours may not sound too bad, or it may sound totally unattainable to others.  Keep in mind, this does not mean you have to work out on a treadmill or elliptical 3-4 hours per day, they are talking about getting moderate activity in, and this could mean brisk walking, strenuous household tasks, and moving around at a moderate pace.  So say you have a job waiting tables – you’re probably fine, since this job entails moving around a lot, and somewhat strenuously at many times.

But what about those that have an office job and have this gene variant?  Well they are the ones who would need to be more vigilant about getting their moderate activity in so they can negate the effects of this powerful genetic variant.  I, for example, am likely to have this variant since I am of European heritage, and I may be at risk because I do have a desk job, and find myself sitting at my computer at home a lot to do things like type this and work on other side projects after work. 

I make it a point to get up and move at work whenever possible.  I also happen to work out for almost a full hour at work on my lunch hour, which helps me get that activity in with no hassles or worries. 

Thinking Makes You Eat More

We all know that increased physical activity makes us hungry, heck I just posted a little while ago about how swimming all day at the beach or in a pool as a kid, which happens to be one of the highest calorie-burning exercises you can do, would turn me into a ravenous animal when it came to dinner time, so we know for sure that exercise, especially the strenuous type, makes us eat more.

But what about activity that goes on within us, where it is not obvious that we are using resources from the outside, but oh yeah, there’s a heckuva lot going on inside the body.  What I’m talking about is thinking, concentrating – using your noodle in other words.  Using your brain power actually induces you to eat more, as proven in recent studies that set out to either prove or disprove that those that are actively thinking, problem solving and intellectually prosthelytizing are actually consuming more food because of this mental stimulation.

They found that it is true that we eat more when we are thinking, which means that you may be more incline to pick up that sandwich or that bag of chips if you have a day ahead of you that requires a lot of complex thought.  The study wasn’t that big though unfortunately so a bigger study would need to be done to absolutely come to the conclusion that thinking makes you eat more food.

A small group of students was divided up and made to do different things from being sedentary (sitting down and not really thinking or doing anything physical either), and using the computer and having to use the brain and it was found that those that were actively using their brains actually ate more food than those whose minds were at rest. 

The thought is that the big difference between those that were sedentary and not required to think and those that were thinking is that the brain requires glucose to think, and that this means it actively seeks out replacement for the fuel that it is burning through thinking, so it needs more food (energy) to replace what was being burned. 

Increased Weight with Age : Is It Your Destiny?

Most people you talk to feel a sense of helplessness when it comes to two things that everyone seems to thing go hand in hand : aging and gaining weight with age.  We all know that as we get older our metabolism starts to slow, but we really can’t have the attitude that it’s just something that happens to everyone, because it doesn’t happen to everyone, that is, not everyone who actually does the things necessary to prevent this part of aging. 

As we age, not only does our metbolism slow down, hence the comments you hear that as you get older it’s harder and harder to lose some weight you’ve put on, and everything seems to “stick to your thighs”, but you also lose muscle mass with each passing year as you age past a certain point, and unless you work out and lift weights, it will keep declining steadily.  Muscle mass is directly related to the metabolism, so any time your muscle mass decreases, your metabolism follows suit and it decreases as well.

The places that we typically put on more poundage as we age is different for men and women.  Men tend to pack the pounds on around their midsection, and women start off later in life packing on weight around their thighs and buttocks area, but then later add more to their midsections.  Excess weight around the abdomen is one of the largest contributing factors to increasing the risk of heart disease, so it’s important that we keep our waistlines slim and trim, especially as we get older and it’s easier to have problems with circulation, another heart risk.

This is all part of the reason why it’s extremely important to stay active and keep lifting weights and doing weight bearing exercises into our later life.  Experts say not to go to easy on yourself as you age – keep up the pace of your workouts so your body doesn’t get used to them and you still get maximum fat reducing and muscle sculpting gains out of it. 

They say that cardio is important, but often overlooked is the fact that weight bearing exercise helps to keep the bones strong (a barrier against osteoporosis, something very important for women), and will also help keep your muscles toned and active, and growing so that your metabolism can still keep pace with burning calories and slimming you. 

What is the Slow Food Movement?

When I first read about the slow food movement, I thought it might be referring to slow burning carbs or something like that, an advocation of the low carb, high protein diet, which means that if you eat slow burning foods (proteins, whole rich grains, good fats etc. vs. fast burning foods such as simple sugars and also white breads and pastas for example), you will experience fullness longer and also will eat less and maintain more energy than if you went the fast burning route.

However, it’s really something entirely different, although this movement’s implications in weight loss and weight management can end up meeting the same goals in the end, since of course slow foods are something that is healthy and should be strived for since it is not processed, and is sort of the dubbed “anti fast food” movement that many associate with hippie style areas and organic foods growth regions.

Apparently though, the slow foods movement is gaining momentum beyond just the regions in say California and Oregon where the organic and whole foods movement is pretty much the standard.  Proponents of the slow food movement are advocating a change back to simplicity in foods, focusing on natural and all organic fruits and veggies, and a minimalist approach when it comes to cooking and preparing so that all the foods nutrients and natural beneficial enzymes stay intact and can help us fight disease and stave off aging better.

Slow foods has become more of an accepted movement since more and more people want to focus on eating healthier and the obesity epidemic is a national concern, which the slow food movement can target and eliminate if everyone was able to partake in this movement.  You know it’s gaining in popularity when you start to see organic offerings in the regular grocery stores and even Wal-mart is starting to carry more and more natural offerings that are advertised to be simpler offerings at a better price. 

The biggest advocates of the slow food movement seem to want to target this movement to not only the upper crust, but also everyone who wasn’t previously a devotee, saying that the movement does not have boundaries, nor does it mean you need to be a certain income level to enjoy the benefits of simple foods. 

Is Cinnamon Really a Natural Appetite Suppressant?

I may have written about this before because I’m very interested in anything that claims to be a natural appetite suppressant since my own appetite tends to go awry quite often (I chock it up to hormone swings), so when I heard that cinnamon may be a natural appetite suppressant, naturally I tried it pretty quickly. Well, that and the fact that I had tons of cinnamon in my cupboard that was unused since I rarely cook with it, made this test pretty easy. I’m writing this now because I tried it again just now since it’s only a little after eleven o’clock and I’m already starving for lunch.

Junk Food Bad for Concentration, IQ?

Well I think that this statement is unfortunately more of a common sense statement these days, the more and more we learn about how “junk” or processed, highly sugary, fatty and salty, not to mention chemical-y, the less shocking it is that it affects our brains and our bodies detrimentally. In fact, the latest bit of evidence that junk foods should be tossed out the window, especially if you have kids, is that children who eat a lot of junk food, up until later stages of childhood, have a harder time concentrating, and actually have been shown to have less brain power.