Well, finally there’s a solution that:

• pulls toxins in the body (thereby freeing up the fat for dissolution and disposal),
• provides a balanced ratio of macronutrients (proteins, fats, carbs),
• includes significant natural sources of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals),
• contains fiber, anti-oxidants, and greens
• stabilizes insulin release for less fat storage (and more fat burning!),
• tastes good, and most importantly
• works effectively so you see results in the first 10 days!

Introducing…

Clean, Burn, Shape

~Video~

~Plan~

Here’s how the program works and what you’ll be doing during the first 10 days, and following 30, 60 or 90 days: Clean, Burn, Shape PDF. Plus you get on-going support, coaching, accountability, and a team of people that have been there or are going through it with you.

~My Success~

In the first 10 days, I lost 7lbs (almost 5% of my body weight)! In that time, I also lost 1/2 inch off my waist, and 3/4 inch off my butt-thigh area.  Now moving into the 30-day part of the program, I working on a slower rate of weight loss, while solidifying  healthier eating habits and adding exercise back in. ~ yours truly, Toffler

~Ingredients~

Clean Ingredients (for getting out the toxins)
Burn Ingredients (hint, its green coffee extract)
Shape Ingredients (fiber, macro & micro nutrients, protein, greens)

~Buy~

Here are the purchasing options in a PDF.
Then buy Clean Burn Shape online.
Alternatively, contact me.

Known in the English-speaking world as bitter gourd, bitter melon, or Momordica Charantia, the ampalaya is getting its place in the sun. Ampalaya has done wonders to me, a diabetic. This wonder vegetable has been part of traditional and herbal medicine in the Philippines. Ampalaya is a vegetable that has graced the dining tables of Filipinos and it has been elevated to cult status. I was intrigued by the fact that even the Health Department of the Philippines has acknowledged the healing properties of this bitter vegetable. Science or no science, still the wonders of the Ampalaya are legendary and I am a living witness to its efficacy.

The sweet life

Just like any other person who is genetically predisposed to type 2 diabetes, doctors would often recommend synthetic medicines. Physicians also advice diabetics, like me, to do insulin therapy to help ease the symptoms and help bring normal blood sugar levels. We have to appreciate that it is a sweet life until diabetes symptoms strike. Insulin is great against diabetes but it is too cumbersome since due to the frequent injections. Other synthetic medicines are not without side effects and could often lead to more problems than they cure. That is why it makes a lot of sense to find alternatives that are more convenient and less harmful to the body. Here now comes the use of ampalaya as herbal remedy against diabetes.

The seal of approval

Ampalaya has been used by traditional medicine in the Philippines for centuries to enhance the immune system and even to fight intestinal worms; its anti-bacterial properties are well-known.

My own experience with ampalaya came by accident as I was finding ways to alleviate the inconvenience of treating my chronic disease. In fact, I was already showing symptoms of anxiety knowing that Western medicine’s answer to diabetes are periodic injections and medicines that have the potential to create yet greater health problems.

When the Health Department finally gave its seal of approval to ampalaya as part of its list of tested and potent herbal medicines, I jumped on the bandwagon right away.

The tradition of ampalaya

Traditional Chinese medicine has been using ampalaya for centuries. I figured that history has been silent about diabetes. It could be a result of two possible reasons. First, there are no cases since it is a modern disease and second, the herbal medicines have been able to stop diabetes. I would believe that it is plausible that herbal medicine has a hand in keeping blood sugars in check for centuries.

The ampalaya experience

It is not hard to find an ampalaya preparation for diabetics nowadays. The Filipino government has approved the sale of some ampalaya concentrate as food supplements. One can easily buy over-the-counter ampalaya capsules and teas for diabetics.

Before I started full ampalaya therapy, I would often buy the leaves and roots. The good thing about that was the leaves and roots were pennies. Now they cost something, but compared to mainstream medications, they are still far cheaper. Coupled with exercise and diet, ampalaya has brought down the symptoms and has pushed my blood sugar to acceptable levels.

The dwindling pressure

Aside from lower blood sugar, ampalaya can help people suffering from hypertension. I used to be borderline hypertensive and the ampalaya has helped me cope with the chronic disease better. Needless to say, I have stabilized my blood pressure with the help of a low-sodium diet.

The triple threat

Recently, I found two other herbs indigenous to the Philippines, namely Banaba and yellow ginger. Banaba is known as a diuretic and could help diabetics lose weight. Yellow ginger has powerful anti-oxidants and could even help people with certain kinds of cancers. It can also fight inflammation and help point to a cure for anxiety.

Herbal medicine could help a lot of people especially those who can’t afford expensive medicines. Ampalaya, also known as bitter gourd has proven its ability to help people suffering from diabetes and weight problems. If I did not open my mind and accept the possibility of ampalaya making an improvement in my health, I could still be puncturing myself and possibly suffering from the resulting side effects.

About the Author:

Ryan Rivera is a writer who focuses mainly on topics that help people find relief from their anxiety-related health issues. You may contact him through his Calm Clinic Google + account.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the owner of this site.  This post is informational and not meant to imply or suggest an herbal cure for diabetes.

And Make Exercise Fun!

The word ‘exercise’ is enough to make the average person groan! We all know we should be doing more of it but unless you are a fitness freak you’ll know how hard it is to motivate yourself to get off your backside! Life is busy enough as it is without finding the time for a workout. However, the benefits of exercise are mind-blowing. Your body will be far more efficient, your overall wellbeing and health will go through the roof and you will find yourself with far more energy. So, how do we incorporate more exercise into our life without becoming fanatical about it?

The key is to make it fun! Exercise doesn’t have to be dull; you just need to think about creative ways to make it more interesting so you’re more inclined to do it. Here are some great tips on making your workout work for you.

Entertainment

You will find that you can run and cycle for a lot longer if you distract your brain with some entertainment. So either load up a personal stereo with some of your favorite (upbeat!) tunes, or download a talking book to get stuck into a novel. Any sort of distraction is great and will mean you can exercise for a lot longer. Gyms have TVs installed these days so never forget your earphones when heading for a workout.

Make it Sociable

Exercising with friends is a great way to keep up motivation. Team games are great for keeping your spirits high – there’s nothing like a potential win to spur you on! A competitive element is excellent for any sport – it takes your mind off the pain if you have a goal in sight! And the celebrations and social elements are great for making new friends too. Running with a friend is a good way of making sure you are both spurred on.

Keep it Varied

Nobody likes doing the same thing over and over again. Combine trips to the gym with other sporting pursuits such as football or squash. There are so many forms of exercise available and they all have their benefits. Of course it doesn’t have to be aerobic either – stretching exercises such as yoga and Pilates are brilliant not only for elongating muscles but also for your mental health.

Incorporate it Into Your Day

Walking or cycling to work instead of driving or taking a bus is a great way of bringing exercise into your life. It makes far more sense to ‘have somewhere to go’ rather than aimlessly running in a big circle. Whenever you have to go anywhere, ask yourself if you could exercise your way there instead. We are all guilty of laziness, particularly if we have a car – but don’t make this your only form of transport!

We promise that if you make exercise a vital part of your day you will reap so many benefits. The more you do, the better you will feel. The first step is to find ways of exercising that appeal to you and fit in with your lifestyle.

Images (CC License): Flickr & Flickr source

Luke Cooper is a renowned fitness expert. According to him, the factors to be considered when buying a treadmill vary according to its uses, like weight-loss, walking or running. He spends his free time blogging about the changing trends in the fitness world.

I’m sure we all know someone super skinny who can wolf down a whole pizza, a footlong sub, and more everyday and not gain an ounce.

And many of us have also probably met someone, perhaps even our self who consumes barely 500 calories a day, exercises, and still gains weight.  Perhaps then to add another 500-1000 calories per day and find the weight comes off much easier.

Clearly this is faulty logic: Calories In > Out = Weight Gain, while Calories In < Out = Weight Loss.

So what gives?

A number of things come into play here, including digestion, set point, ‘starvation’ mode–as in the example above, sleep quantity and quality, type of fitness, stress, and the three biggies:

• hormones,
• toxins, and
• carbohydrates.

Hormones

The thyroid plays a huge role in metabolic rate, oftentimes dictating whether someone is overweight or underweight. The thyroid is controlled by hormones secreted by the pituitary-hypothalamus connection.

Too much estrogen can also lead to weight gain and a body composition overly skewed toward fat. This is true in men and women.  Men tend to shift muscle to fat with too much estrogen, while women just pack on the fat.

So get your hormones in line first, if you want to lose weight.

Toxins

The body protects the vital organs by surrounding toxins with fat cells.  It creates an insular cushion, packing on the fat as toxins accumulate.  Its a protection or self-preservation method.  And it works well, to a point.  Then the fat becomes as harmful or more so than the toxins (think heart disease).

If you’re pouring in or rubbing on your skin a lot of toxic products, the body tries to process them out through the liver, but even the liver gets overwhelmed and can’t keep up. And the fat piles on along with the toxins.  So detoxify!

As you lose weight, your body sheds the fat releasing the toxins freely into your body, so you better plan to have a damn good detoxification program to go with your weight loss plan. <–Check out “Clean”

Carbohydrates

Too many carbs, particularly the ‘wrong’ carbs–those that are high on the Glycemic Index but low on nutrient density–are going to spike blood sugar.  When blood sugar is spiked, insulin spikes, glycogen stores get full, and the body doesn’t know what to do with all this extra glucose (sugar in the blood) so it converts it to F-A-T.

Likewise, it works in reverse too: eat a carb-restricted diet, don’t spike blood sugar, begin to deplete stored glycogen, your body will turn fat–ie its stored fuel–and convert fat into energy via a process known as ketosis. This is why the Atkins and Dukan diets have been so popular and effective.

Recent double-blind placebo-controlled studies have indicated green coffee extract slows the rise of blood sugar, slows the release of insulin, and encourages the fat stored in the liver to be burned as fuel. (For green coffee extract, click the link, then look at “Burn.”)

And there ya have it, folks.  Three key issues to remember and examine when you’re trying to lose weight.  For more on the sticking points of weight loss, check out my previous post: 10 Reasons You Can’t Lose Weight.

Photo credit: Flickr user  zoonabar

“with sensible diet and moderate exercise.”

What if it’s possible to lose weight by changes in diet alone?

First, the good news for those who hate exercising: In fact, it is!

A number of research studies have examined this.  One such study found that reduced energy intake alone (ie less calories) produced a loss of 7.8kg, while the exercise group lost 4.6kg. A second study found that diet changes and exercise produced roughly equal weight loss of 7.5kg.

To get a broader sample, let’s look at a meta analysis, which complied and summarized the results of all such comparison studies over 25 years: dieters lost 10.7kg, while exercisers lost 2.9kg.

Now, the bad news for the exercise haters, that meta analysis showed that diet + exercise produced the greatest weight loss (11kg), and, more importantly, had the bet chance of maintaining that most of that loss (8.6kg) over the following year.

So there you have it, folks, YES! It is possible to lose weight without exercise.  But your lost tonnage will be more significant and easier to keep off if you include exercise.

Health and nutrition ‘gurus’ frequently argue the 80-20 principle: 80% of weight loss is diet and 20% is exercise.  So choose your battles, and choose them wisely.

Or don’t battle at all, make weight loss easier, snack less, and shrink your appetite by including some Belight weight control tea in your routine.

And in the second half of the interview we moved on to the happier part, outlining my 5 principles to a healthier, happier life. Unfortunately, this section got a bit rushed.

Overall, it was a great discussion. And we even managed to answer a listener’s question on-air, so hopefully people got something out of it.

Hop on and listen. I’d love to hear feedback: what you liked, didn’t like, anything that didn’t make sense or you have questions on. I’m especially interested to know if the 5 principles to a healthier happier life speak to you. Are those correctly delineated? How might I shift them around?

Go listen and leave comments below!  Thanks. Smiles and gratitude.

Many people practice yoga to improve their sense of well-being. With the postures, breathing exercises and meditation (all part of yoga), relaxation can be achieved, which brings with it benefits to the mind and body.

The reduction in stress and anxiety levels  is widely appreciated, but not as many people realize that yoga can have a positive impact on a number of medical problems. From chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple sclerosis to asthma and allergies, yoga is undertaken to help manage these conditions.

Here we take a look at three of health issues that affect millions of Americans which can benefit from regular yoga participation: this includes the evidence that clinical benefit can be obtained. With so many classes run across the United States, it is likely there will be one in your neighborhood. Please do let your teacher know about your pre-existing health problems before you start. However, if there isn’t one nearby or you cannot attend, with a wealth of useful yoga information online, it is easy to get started, particularly with the help of pictures and videos of the various stretches and postures.

Chronic low back pain

Low back pain is one of the commonest health complaints affecting adults in the United States. While most people will experience the condition at some point in their lives, for some it becomes a chronic problem. While that doesn’t necessarily mean significant discomfort, it can impact everyday life and is associated with low mood.

Although back pain can be managed through medication, for those seeking a more natural approach, physical therapy is often prescribed and indeed there is scientific evidence that shows yoga can benefit the condition. A study conducted by the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine involving 90 participants with long-term low back pain found that after six months those participating in Iyengar yoga had less severe pain, disability and depression. Another piece of research by the institute from 2011, where the benefits of yoga was compared with more typical stretching exercises or use of self-care information in 228 adults with chronic back pain, showed both forms of stretching aided symptom relief and improved function more than using of a self-care book. Finally, a UK study of 313 adults with persistent or recurring back pain demonstrated that participation in yoga for 12 weeks resulted in better function than when standard medical care was followed.

Heart disease

It remains the leading cause of death in the United States and many other industrialized countries, so the fact that yoga appears to have a positive impact on heart disease is promising, providing a natural treatment to be used alongside more conventional approaches.

Through participation in yoga, the feelings of calm can help to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, two of the main risk factors in coronary heart disease. This has been substantiated through a number of scientific studies. For instance, a study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine last year demonstrated that the 67 subjects who practiced Sahaja yoga experienced a considerable reduction in both anxiety and blood pressure compared to controls. Another from 2008 found that of 49 post-menopausal women, those participating in Raja yoga had significantly lower levels of total and LDL cholesterol. A reduction in heart failure symptoms and improved outcomes from cardiac rehabilitation has also been demonstrated in those who take part in yoga.

Osteoporosis

Around 10 million people in the United States have osteoporosis and another 18 million are at risk of developing this bone thinning disease. Those with the condition are more vulnerable to fractures that are debilitating and impair quality of life, not to mention shorten life expectancy.

While weight-bearing poses in yoga can help to reduce further losses of bone density, stretching can help to strengthen muscles, improve balance, increase agility and the range of movements of joints. The latter points are especially important for anyone unsteady on their feet, as seeing improvements in these areas can reduce their risk of falls and therefore osteoporotic fractures.

Yoga is mentioned as one of the muscle strengthening exercises that older adults should participate in at least twice weekly in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans from 2008 for this reason. While the benefits of yoga for osteoporosis have not been widely researched, there is still some evidence to support its use. A study from 2009 where 19 post-menopausal women attended weight-bearing yoga classes three times weekly for three months found that their rate of bone loss had slowed at the end of the study compared to the control group. In 2010, the European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine found that among other positive effects, yoga significantly improved balance in the 26 women with osteoporosis who took part.

Although yoga should not replace the medical advice of a qualified practitioner  this complementary therapy has the potential to improve your health outcome and quality of life.

Answers to all these questions, and more in this video presentation…  By, YOURS TRULY.  Don’t diss the cinematography skills or critique the presentation too harshly. PLEASE.  Yes, I know there’s a waiter who keeps walking through and yes I did stumble over a few words. I’m not offering a blockbuster here, people.  Just an educational presentation on one of the core components of my business.

Just watch and learn.

Further information, including a longer video and product info can be found on the Orenda page.

Every now and then, there comes that one dark phase in everyone’s life where the dreaded monsters of stress and fatigue take over. That moment when the endless pile of fungus gathering dishes in the sink, the impenetrable pile of dirty laundry, seem too insignificant to give a damn, but just blatant enough to throw you into stress-hit dander. It’s only a matter of time before you find yourself in a strait-jacket. Feeling more stressed than relieved? Don’t hyperventilate just yet. Help is right here, armed with an amazingly simple yet surprisingly helpful ways to help you grab stress by its tail and send it right out the window.

1)   Seek help

Cry for it, if you have to; just rope in some help. In hindsight, you will be extremely grateful at your little show of misery. As much as being stressed may mean turning into a precarious volcano, it is also about letting someone who cares about you know that you have a problem you can’t handle. Save your ego and strong feeling of self-reliance for whatever future valiant battles you may have to wage to save the mankind. This one time, let someone know what you’re dealing with. For all you know, a helping hand could be just the solution you’re looking for.

2)   Compartmentalize

Problems look smaller and less intimidating when you break them down into small fragments and analyse each bit individually. Stress is rarely caused by just one factor. It takes its time to build up with the help of a number of causes and triggers, till it appears to you like one giant looming monster. This needs to be dealt step by step, with patience. It is very easy to get distracted. But ask yourself this question- “Do I want to get out of this royal mess or not?” Start by sorting the easiest of jobs. Say, your house is in a complete mess, start by cleaning it up. As impossible to believe as it may seem, the dull monotony of mundane chores has a way of soothing the mind.

3)   Work it out

I can almost hear all the couch potatoes scoff. Happiness and comfort is in food, you say? Talk to me when you’re 100 pounds heavier and nowhere close to a feasible solution. If you haven’t realized so already, a good workout session helps the body to release endorphins- the feel-good hormone. And feel-good is just what you need to bounce back with renewed vigor. A good workout also serves as a good distraction and an excellent outlet to positively channel all your energy. In addition, when you start working out, you start treating your body with newfound respect, irrespective of the stress, which in turn makes you feel extremely good about yourself. And needless to say, a healthy body translates into a healthy mind.

4)   Holiday

Every now and then, it is perfectly okay to leave everything behind and just backpack to a random place on the map. A good break can, in ways more than one, help you gain new insights on old things and most importantly, give perspective. It helps you see more clearly what you have been doing wrong all this while. If a holiday to an exotic destination is a bit too much, don’t fret. Just go visit that dear old long distance friend. As long as there’s change in scenery, anything goes.

5)   Laugh

When in doubt, failure, sadness or stress, LAUGH. Laughter is that little thing that manages to fade out all the worries. Every now and then you come across something so stupidly hilarious on the internet, or in the papers, it not only threatens to give you six pack abs of laughter, but also manages to help you de-stress, ever so momentarily.

6)   Detoxify

The therapeutic fragrance of aromatic oils, the nimble and effective touch of the spa therapist, the feeling of absolute peace; DO NOT tell me you don’t feel relaxed just by thinking of it. Take a day off, go to a day spa, and let therapy heal, renew and rejuvenate you. Once your body seems relaxed, no problem can be intimidating enough.

CC Licensed images from Flickr: finsec, flickr user, flickr user.

Jim Tandler owns a day spa in Melbourne. He finds a lot of people stressed out due to their hectic lifestyles. A spa session, according to him is the best anitdote to stress. He also writes about various health issues on numerous blogs.

Do you feel like this after eating? Try considering how you’re eating.

There is so much discussion of what to eat, what not to eat, what’s healthy, what we should be eating more of or less of.  Then there are the vegetarians and vegans, paleo people, low-carb advocates, gluten-free, lactose intolerant, and on and on. Everyone’s trying to find and advocate for the ‘perfect healthy diet.’

But what if the real question is not ‘what should I be eating?’ but rather ‘how should I be eating?’

Perhaps the bigger issue for our digestive systems is not the perfect diet, but rather a better way to approach food.

Truth be told, this may be the case for me.  I’ve tried gluten-free, dairy-free, wheat-free, grain-free, raw, paleo, etc and while sometimes I feel better, for the most part, none of those make much of a difference for my stomach.  What I’m beginning to learn is, how I eat: mindset, distractions, speed, enjoyment, stress, sitting/standing/driving, rushed, quantity, etc is far more important than what I’m eating. How I eat determines how my stomach reacts and feels during and after eating, namely if its comfortable, bloated, upset, gassy, etc.

I’ve talked about this before on my blog:

• Stress and distracted thinking can cause indigestion
• Emotional connection in Chinese medicine where overthinking affects spleen/digestive function
• Stress can cause digestive disorders

But what’s more striking is, me + my blog, or even just TCM, are not the only ones looking at this.  Nadya over at SpinachandYoga.com talks about eating and mindfulness; Maya Nahra has a whole coaching program on a behavioral approach to nutrition: no more emotional eating, yo-yo dieting and eating the right amount, not just the right foods.

The goal is to reduce digestive discomfort–bloating, nausea, indigestion, constipation, acid reflux, ulcers, diarrhea, overeating, under-eating, lethargy, and more–by addressing HOW we eat.

Maybe this is where the key discussions and real focus needs to be: how to eat in relaxed state, enjoy every bite, slow down to actually taste the food, recognize true hunger, eat to only 70% full, and be aware and conscious of how what we put in our mouth feels and how it affects our body.  Maybe then we can stop worrying about whether something is within our self-prescribed diet.

Try this: before you put the next thing in your mouth, Pause. Sit down (not in a car) and take 5 long inhales and slow, smooth exhales. As you do this, feel inside your body: are you actually hungry? If so, what for? How would it taste? How would you eat it? Hot/cold? With a spoon/fork/chopsticks/hands?  Proceed from there. Repeat before each meal.

What do you think?