Living a Healthy Life!
Nettie Mae

People are obsessed with dieting and weight loss! Don’t believe me? Just tune-in to any source of advertising…you’re instantly bombarded with the latest diet schemes and “Hollywood” food fads.

Here in America, we have built a thriving industry trying to control our weight and treat the consequences of over-indulgence. The cost of weight loss and obesity related health care treatments is staggering…Americans alone spend around $114 billion every year! And even with all this interest in losing weight, we continue to pack on the pounds like never before…

– A whopping 64 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese…up about eight percent from earlier estimates.

– Among children and teens ages 6-19, 15 percent or almost nine million are overweight…triple the rate in 1980!

– Nearly one-third of all adults are now classified as obese.

For Americans, modern life may be getting TOO easy. Our cushy lifestyle means we expend less energy and consequently need fewer calories to sustain our normal body weight.

Think about it for a moment…

Entertainment no longer requires energy expenditure. In fact, it’s usually quite the opposite. We now entertain ourselves in the comfort of our own home while watching TV and munching on our favorite snack. Whether it’s television, computers, remote controls, or automobiles, we are moving less and burning fewer calories. Common activities that were once a part of our normal routine have disappeared…activities like climbing stairs, pushing a lawn mower or walking to get somewhere.

And please do not misunderstand me…I appreciate comfortable living just as much as the next person. But, here is the problem…

With all of our modern day conveniences and “cushy” style of living we have not adjusted our caloric intake to compensate for our decreased caloric expenditure. We consume more calorie rich and nutrient deficient foods than ever before. Consider a few of the following examples comparing what we eat “today” vs the 1970’s (U.S. Department of Agriculture survey):

– We are currently eating more grain products, but almost all of them are refined grains (white bread, etc.). Grain consumption has jumped 45 percent since the 1970’s, from 138 pounds of grains per person per year to 200 pounds! Only 2 percent of the wheat flour is consumed as whole wheat.

– Our consumption of fruits and vegetables has increased, but only because French fries and potato chips are included as vegetables. Potato products account for almost a third of our “produce” choices.

– We’re drinking less milk, but we’ve more than doubled our cheese intake. Cheese now outranks meat as the number one source of saturated fat in our diets.

– We’ve cut back on red meat, but have more than made up for the loss by increasing our intake of chicken (battered and fried), so that overall, we’re eating 13 pounds more meat today than we did back in the 1970’s.

– We’re drinking three times more carbonated soft drinks than milk, compared to the 1970’s, when milk consumption was twice that of pop.

– We use 25 percent less butter, but pour twice as much vegetable oil on our food and salads, so our total added fat intake has increased 32 percent.

– Sugar consumption has been another cause of our expanding waistlines. Sugar intake is simply off the charts. People are consuming roughly twice the amount of sugar they need each day, about 20 teaspoons on a 2000 calorie/day diet. The added sugar is found mostly in junk foods, such as pop, cake, and cookies. In 1978, the government found that sugars constituted only 11 percent of the average person’s calories. Now, this number has ballooned to 16 percent for the average American adult and as much as 20 percent for American teenagers!

Unfortunately, it would seem that the days of wholesome and nutritious family dinners are being replaced by fast food and eating on-the-run. We have gradually come to accept that it’s “OK” to sacrifice healthy foods for the sake of convenience and that larger serving portions equate to better value.

It’s time recognize that we are consuming too many calories and time to start doing something about it! Each of us can decide TODAY that healthy eating and exercise habits WILL become a normal part of our life!

We can begin by exploring our values, thoughts and habits… slowly and deliberately weed-out the unhealthy habits and activities and start living a more productive and rewarding life. And remember, it has taken a long time to develop bad habits, so be patient as you work toward your goal!
About the Author

Sick and tired of being Sick and Tired, Nettie Mae quit her 3rd shift factory job. To see what keeps her going, visit http://www.frutavida4u.com/nettiemae/.

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Tired of doing all the thinking on how you can solve your teen’s weight problem? Why make it hard if you could send them to weight loss camp?

It is not an easy task to see your teen child is struggling with the psychological stigma of being overweight. If you collected all the books, had taken all the measures in getting involved with the disciplinary moves just to help in the management, and still can’t find the satisfactory result, then it is time to step out. There are healthy solutions even for the most impossible obstacles of a child’s social problem. One of the good options is weight loss camp for teens.

Weight loss camp for teens is a haven for those who have the problem with weight. It is combined rapport handled by a trainer to groups of participants suffering from losing weight in particular. They could motivate each other as a group and promote positive result. They could share each other’s background and weaknesses, and in the end accept the mistakes and change in time. Of course, it is not a kind of rehabilitation where people can just cry their angst on some guilty indulgence. Weight loss camps offer variety of activities like sports, exercise, lectures and relevant discussions to promote effective solutions.

Weight loss camp is not necessarily for fat people only. Other people enroll just to find the balance in between hectic schedules and for the sake of having a good break. Summers are usually the best time to join a weight loss camp. The weather is just perfect for most outdoor and fun activities to sweat all excess fats.

The main essence of weight loss camp is not all about dreading to be trim. It is built around strong motivation for people to keep an active life, release stress and simply find means to healthy lifestyle. The group can establish good camaraderie where every activity is geared to healthy relating.

A teen can indulge spending summers in weight loss camps, instead of hanging around nowhere on binge gimmicks. Fast foods play roles in the increase of obesity around the world in the modern age since the last decade of the century. While teens are aware, they can’t avoid the convenience.

Staying at weight loss camp will keep your teen focused on his or her goal. If the family can accommodate the budget, they can also join the child in the program. It could be the best support possible while at the same time spending for a fruitful vacation. Actually, the sessions in the camp have to be taken for fun and not as formal training and stressful objective.

After the time spent on the weight loss camp, it is important to maintain the values learned. Make sure the bad habits have been ruled out to avoid feeling worse in the onset of more weight gain. It means the exercises should be given ample time.

The process of weight loss does not get accomplished over night. It is a combination of frustration and shed amounts of budget from pocket. Entering paid programs must come with discretion, unless it is the last resort. The solutions vary from person to person. Some did it easily without cost, while others spend a fortune. Which way is applicable to you? It will take discipline to answer that.

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There are gazillion ways in the internet and on television shows that tell of successful diet plans. True enough. The problem often is that what works for a group of persons may not work for another, but more on that later.

The Human Factor
Most diet programs leave tell you to stick to the diet program and given a few weeks you would have lost so vastly weight. Ideally that works. The truth is the temptation to exceed the required calories is sometimes too strong to resist that there are occasions when the person ends up indulging more than the prescribed caloric comprehend. When that happens ( and often it does ) the person doing the weight loss program end evolving feeling guilty and thinks that the program is over for them. If ever, they would repeat the same procedure from the start. Wrong. We are people. Just like anybody else, we fall to temptation. When we do and if we do, all it takes is to jump to the saddle again with resolve. If we nosedive again, saddle up again. The weight gained previously by a hasty indulgence often does not add up much if the resolve is there.

The Quick Fixes
If it sounds too super to be true, physical probably is not. Yet it is everywhere. What makes it tempting is that work is out of the equation. The truth is that does not work that way. Juices, concoctions, pills, tablets, preparation, exotic fruits etc. that reduces several pounds of physique weight consequence a few weeks or days are not just true. Hunger suppressant maybe, but when the frame cries out for the nutrient that it needs, the weight kicks back with a vengeance.

Again there are drugs advertised to make the body slim, fast. These are often very expensive against the benefit that the person gets. The most proven drug that blocks calorie from getting into the system of the habit is still Orlistat. However, you do it with motion and diet to get the most benefit which is at best modest. Since Orlistat is the only drug that have proven fine ( grease conjunction with other weight loss activity ) to reduce calorie in the diet, any claim beyond that is halcyon under study at best. To make the diet work for you, exercise must accompany the program. Besides, there is purely nothing better than sweating it out.

Exercisers
The old – fashioned running and brisk walking are tired exercise methods that always work. The exercisers sold on TV may work and if you are convinced of the gadget remember only that the models selling them did not trim their body on those exercisers.

Different people have different metabolic rates. There are also other hidden causes that may hinder the affectivity of the weight loss program subscribed. The best way to do this ( almost everybody know this although not always adhered to ) is to check with your physician opening. Get a confirmation whether the alternative diet, exercise programs, weight reducing methods, etc. will work well for you or at least will not conflict with your current health status and age. Because often, testimonies are good and true, but they always provide generic approaches also solutions. So take your health into your hands. Successful diet plans are those that you fault realistically follow. No matter how agreeable the methods are, check it out smuggle the doctor first. You may belong to a different class hole up a different set of dieting needs.

24 Hour Fitness
http://www.www.24-hr-fitness.com

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