Fat Loss 4 Idiots Secret

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

A Washington, DC Fitness Coach Can Help You Save Money

By Josef Brandenburg

The number of people that are concerned about their appearance is increasing and they are showing interest in getting in to shape. They are willing to spend any amount of money, when what they should be doing is finding a good Washington, DC fitness coach to invest in. A lot of people think that personal trainers can ensure better results from your workouts, which may not always be the case.

Be prudent and invest on a Washington DC fitness coach. Hiring a fitness coach will not only guarantee effective workouts but also help you in saving a lot of your money. No matter what your financial stability is or what the condition of present economy is, saving money is always a god thing since it can always be used for other purposes.

Just think how you might be wasting your money. Is a babysitter what you really need to help you get in shape? Do you really find someone who will stand by and count your reps, which you can do yourself, helpful? You don't need to hire people and pay them for all the things you could do for yourself. Instead why not get a Washington DC fitness coach and get help with things you really could use help with.

Instead of monitoring your activities for long hours, a fitness coach would develop a written plan which when executed correctly would produce stunning results. These plans have been proved to be successful and the Washington, DC fitness coach will also check on you from time to time. These checks will identify deviations from the plan if any.

You get some amount of one on one interaction with your fitness coach. You can also cut down on your cost as you do not have a supervisor round the clock to check on your workouts as it is in a semi private setting. This costs you less in comparison to hiring a personal trainer. The money thus saved by you can be used to fulfill some other requirements.

You still want to make sure that you are selecting just the right fitness coach for you. It needs to be someone who you feel comfortable with, who has a system that is proven to work. If you do not feel comfortable with the Washington, DC fitness coach or the program he or she has you following, you will not have a high likelihood of succeeding. You have to believe in everything in order to make it work for you.

Once you have started, you will notice some spectacular changes in yourself. The efficiency and effectiveness of a fitness coach is so much better than that of a personal trainer. The gap is so huge that you would be surprised to notice it. Within a short span of time you will realize that all your dreams have come true. You have nothing to lose but weight, so give it your best shot and look at its impact on your lifestyle. - 17274

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Low Glycemic Diets Improve Your Energy Level

By Kathryn Barry

Low Glycemic Diets are lower in sugar or carbohydrates and emphasize more foods that contain protein and healthy fats.

Why Watch Your Carbohydrate Intake?

Carbohydrates contain glucose which is a simple sugar. This sugar is used by your body and your brain for its energy.

Your brain relies on glucose for functions like learning and your muscles rely on glucose as its fuel to get you around.

Just because glucose is an important fuel, it is not such a good idea to consume too much. A little glucose is good and too much is bad for your brain and body.

Two Low Glycemic Diets I Personally Experienced

If given the choice, your body prefers to metabolize glucose over fat and will burn carbohydrates before it burns fat. This is why the Atkin's Diet limits the amount of carbohydrates in order to jump start your body's fat burning process.

Since your body's first choice for energy is glucose, which comes from carbohydrates in your diet, eating too much will create fat storage instead of burning fat.

This diet gave me the endurance to work 6 days a week while being a single mother and taking care of everyday chores like cooking.

Because I only needed about 6 hours of rest every night, this enabled me to get a lot done during this time period.

Taking really good natural-supplements helped this diet tremendously and I noticed when I stopped taking them the diet became harder to do.

My Favorite Low Glycemic Diet

Most of the foods found on the Atkin's Diet will also be found on the Primal Diet. There are a few important differences between these two diets.

Watching your carbohydrate intake is much easier on this diet because grains and legumes are not part of this raw food diet. Fruit is also not a big part and only small portions are suggested. Supplements are not required and mineral water is the only suggested water to drink.

Raw vegetable juices are used for your daily vitamins and minerals. The bulk of this diet is raw animal products such as raw milk and raw meats along with raw coconut cream.

Raw milk was my favorite part of this diet. It just had this very soothing and almost magical property. I noticed that my daughter had no dental cavities until I stopped giving her the raw milk.

I found raw eggs and raw meats very balancing. They really seemed to affect my stamina and energy levels in a good way.

My experience from this diet brought me to a place that I had never been in my long history of diets. It was a very different type of energy and calmness that I experienced. Although I did this diet for approximately 3 years I never went 100% raw, I still was able to achieve quite a different level of health. - 17274

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On Your Way To Health With Your iPod

By Thom Yarborough

It may not make sense to you immediately, but it could be true that you iPhone could actually be your way to good health. iTunes has hundreds of apps from which you can learn to how to stay fit and healthy. While most of these apps provide hints on how to stay fit, some others are very useful and once you get the hang of it, you might start noticing some real difference in your lifestyle! So take a look at some of these apps.

iFitness:

You know you want that hot bod; the one that's fit with those oh so awesome abs and biceps. But the case is always, that you don't know what the right exercises are and trying random exercises isn't very advisable now is it? And to top that, hiring a personal trainer could be a bit too heavy on the pocket.

A free app on the iPhone can show you the way to fitness. iFitness provides images of people performing around 230 exercises based on the body region and muscle. Double tap the image to see clear instructions about the exercises and if it's a tough one, then you can single tap the video to see a video of how it is done!

Meditation Timer:

If you're keen about meditation and don't want to miss it even if you're not at your home, then download the Meditation Timer app for your iPhone. With the help of this timer, you can set the amount of time required for your daily sitting. This app is available in two gentle color sequences and there's also a recording which plays some soothing music. You can also set the phone to vibrate gently instead of ringing so that your meditation does not get unduly disturbed.

7 Day Detox:

Can you imagine losing weight and flushing out the toxins from your body with one perfect diet program? Well that is a possibility 7 Day Detox program for your iPhone. It is true that several diet programs can be found over the internet, but we never really know what exactly needs to be done. With this app downloaded on your phone, you get day to day instructions as to what to eat and at what intervals. - 17274

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Which is Better: Insanity vs. P90X?

By Yasir Y Khan

That is the classic question. Which is better, Tony Horton and his new P90X system, or Shaun T and his truly daunting INSANITY workout? Both are touted as very intense, only for old and conditioned athletes. Both the products give you exceptional results if you follow their guidelines closely and use them the way they should be used. But how should you choose between the products? Do you feel like going for Tony Hortons 90 day body transformation, or Shaun Ts 60 day cardio madness? Is one of them simply better than the other? The answer, as you might have had a sneaking suspicion, is that it totally depends on your own fitness goals. In this article well take a look at what each program provides, and see which style of exercise suits your own personalized needs. Because while each is truly a challenging workout, theyre tough for their own particular reasons, and its important to know why before making a choice.

Lets start the argument from the beginning. Before looking at both the products, you need to think a little about yourself. What do you really want to accomplish from those products? What do you think are your fitness goals? Is your primary goal related to losing weight, or bulking up with some muscle? Do you enjoy extreme cardio, or simply hate it? What about free weights and doing pull ups? Of course in an ideal world you would be able to accomplish every fitness goal you could put on paper, but here you have to be realistic. What is your number one goal?

That determined, lets look at the programs. Shaun Ts INSANITY is so called because he strives to keep you in your anaerobic zone for extended periods of time while giving you short short breaks inbetween. INSANITY is all gut wrenching cardio, where you use your own weight as the primary form of resistance. But lets be clear: the key word up there was anaerobic. Shaun T doesnt want you to cruise through his workout at 65% effort, but rather 85% +. When exercising this hard you wont be getting enough oxygen to comfortably break down fat for energy as you would over the course of a 45 minute leisurely jog"youre forced to break down your own body tissue to keep going once youve exhausted your supply of blood sugar. Then, over the course of the rest of the day and that night your body will repair itself, resulting in more lean muscle tissue, greater health and less weight. But its hard. For this to work, you need to operate at 85% + effort level, which few people can do for more than six minutes. Shaun T will ask you to do so for thirty minutes to an hour. Can you handle that kind of cardio?

Conversely, Tony Hortons P90X will challenge you in terms of strength training. While Tonys workout includes cardio and plyometrics (jump based routines), there is a strong focus on weight resistance training, from pull ups to free weights. Youll be breaking down the muscle tissue in the classic manner, which will not only help burn fat but result in muscle growth. You will not only fitter but stronger, and your appearance at the end of it will reflect that.

Finally you have to think about the time consideration. INSANITY takes around 60 days to have full-effect. P90X, on the other hand, takes around 90 days. How much are you willing to commit to one of these programs? Are you willing to go at it for the long haul, or do you want a shorter exercise period?

Extreme cardio versus strength training. Theres plenty of overlap, with both generating extreme body transformations if done correctly, but in the end its a matter of style and taste. Do you want to bulk up some while shedding weight and developing athletic potential? Then P90X is for you. Do you want to burn fat so fast it melts right off you, leaving you leaner and ripped as a result of tons of sweat drenching exercises? Then Shaun Ts INSANITY is just right for you. But remember: the most important part of this decision is not only knowing your own fitness goals, but undertaking either of these at-home workouts with utter dedication and awareness of your own bodys limits. If you do that, than both of them will give you the incredible results you desire. - 17274

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Women Gain Health Benefits From Coffee

By Kirsten Whittaker

Tea and coffee drinkers can finally shout with joy - Because there are health benefits to be had.

New studies confirms your clever choice of beverage!

It seems that women who drink a few cups of tea or coffee every day might have a lower risk of endometrial cancer, a cancer of the reproductive organs that's unfortunately quite common.

In 2008, the American Cancer Society estimates, just over 40,000 women would be diagnosed; and around 7400 died from it.

The elements that increase the risk of this cancer are well understood.

Being overweight, getting older and being exposed to higher levels of estrogen, like estrogen therapy, late menopause, erratic periods and considered as risk factors.

Diet may also play a role, the risks though are less clear. This research found solutions to the role popular beverages might play in cancer risk.

The hospital based, case controlled research involved a survey of nearly 1,100 women; 541 subjects diagnosed with endometrial cancer.

Subjects who drank black tea or coffee had a lower risk of this types of cancer.

Women who drank 4 cups of tea of coffee/day had only half the chance as those who didn't drink these drinks to have endometrial cancer.

Those that drank over 2 cups of tea had a 44% reduced risk of the disease. The reduced chance was for those who just consumed coffee (over 2 cups/day), at just 29%, though this figure was not considered statistically significant in terms of research.

The benefits for people who were overweight were less pronounced.

Subjects included decaffeinated coffee as one of the drinks they drank, there was no reduction in risk.

Lab work has shown that caffeine induces some enzymes that help to neutralize potential cancer causing substances.

If the caffeine is not the main compound that effects the risk, then it could be one of the other helpful compounds. Both coffee and tea have antioxidants, flavonoids, catechins and isoflavonoids that can help reduce the risk of cancer.

Your choice of beverage is certainly not a guarantee of protection despite the coffee health benefits and and should never take the place of proper diet and medical care, a wholesome diet and other careful lifestyle choices. - 17274

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Whats Better " Good Form, or More Reps?

By Yasir Khan

We have all been in that situation. Whether its in the squat cage or lying down to bench, or even standing and doing bicep curls, weve all reached the point where the exercise has become too hard to do right. Sweat popping on your brow, teeth gritted, you have to suddenly make a decision. Do you muscle through, force out those last three reps, even if your form suffers, and complete the set, or do you set down the weights, take a breath, and admit that you were trying for too much? Next time youre in the gym, take a look around. Odds are youll see most people taking the first choice, wobbling as they squat or swinging their free weights up during bicep curls. Sure theyre completing their sets. But is this the right way to go?

The answer is no. Its not. There are a whole host of reasons why sacrificing form for greater reps at a higher weight is an incredibly bad idea. The first and most important is that by sacrificing good form, you open yourself up to a host of injuries. As you lift increasingly heavier loads of weight, you place your body under greater and greater stress and tension. If everything is locked correctly in place, your body will be prepared to handle the load. If not? Muscles, tendons, and joints will suffer, resulting in potential strains or tears. Are you willing to lose months of working out for a quick moment of pride?

Health aside, youre messing up the very routine youre trying to perform. One of the key reasons people allow their form to slip is because the targeted muscles have become exhausted, and the person is trying to harness the strength of ancillary muscles to compensate. But are you supposed to rely on muscles that should only indirectly be involved? Does it make any sense to exercise those side muscles instead of the main group youre supposed to be hitting? Of course not. If youre jacking up your military press by thrusting with your hips, then quit pretending to work out your shoulders and go squat.

Conversely, if youre doing the exercise right, you can lift more weight. If everything is aligned, if youre hitting the right muscles, and youre breathing correctly, youll be able to do more. More reps, more weights. Because youll be engaging the muscles in the purest, most direct manner, allowing for the greatest output. By observing correct form, youll be increasing their functional capability, which will translate into greater results in a shorter period of time.

Notice I mentioned breathing in the last paragraph. Breathing is essential to good form. If youre exercising correctly, your breathing will be synched to your reps, exhaling and inhaling with each extension and contraction. Breathing correctly helps you generate more force and reduces the risks of heart problems and high blood pressure. Youll avoid getting dizzy and light headed, will maintain smooth, rhythmic control of the weights, and feel much better at the end of your workout. And the best way to ensure this will happen? Observe correct form.

So what are some of the classic mistakes to watch out for? Youve seen them a million times. The guy who uses momentum to hike up his weights during bicep curls, swinging them like mad pendulums. Dont! If you have to sit down on a bench, or press your back against the wall. Another one: arching your back during military press. Dont do it! Lock in your core, tuck your tail bone under and squeeze those glutes. By maintaining a straight alignment youll be able to breath better and generate more force. Final tip: align your knees over your toes while squatting! Failing to do this can cause serious knee injuries, limit the amount of weight you can squat, and make you look wobblier than a man made of jello. Watch your toes in a mirror if you have to, and only go as far down as youre comfortable going.

So remember, like any good coach such as Tony Horton always says, if you have to take a break, stand down, catch your breath, relax. Dont push so hard that you become light headed, risk injury, or sacrifice form. Even in such challenging workouts as the P90X youre encouraged to always, always observe good form, because when you lose that, your health is mostly likely the next thing to go. - 17274

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The Nutrisystem Diet and Who Created It?

By Jesse Regan

With all the diet programs and weight loss trends that are abundant in the market today, how do you know which one to choose? After doing research, you see that the Nutrisystem diet is just one of them. If you want something that is simple and if you do not have the time and energy to count calories, plan the meals, shop for the food, cook it and size the portions before you eat them, then the NutriSystem Diet is the perfect choice for you.

How does it work? The NutriSystem Program gives you a list of a variety of food available to choose from, suited for even the most discriminating palate. Once you have picked your choices, they deliver a month's worth of the food in ready-to-cook pouches. You just pop them in the microwave and in a snap you are good to go. Each delicious meal is pre-portioned and the calories calculated according to the system that will enable you to lose the specific amount of weight you want. You get all this with no bother on your part.

So who is the genius that came up with this system? Well, a Horsham, Pennsylvania-based company called NutriSystem, Inc. is actually responsible. Founded in 1972, NutriSystem, Inc. started out by developing a liquid protein diet program. After a barrage of similar products hit the market, NutriSystem, Inc. decided to stop the program and develop something else. They did a lot of trial and error before they decided to open up a chain of weight loss centers wherein the customers would come in, be weighed in and then prescribed pre-packaged portion-controlled meals to bring home.

The company filed for bankruptcy in the early nineties. But come 1999, they reopened their doors, shifting their program to become an online meal delivery service. They hit pay dirt with this program, which they then developed in the NutriSystem Diet. They expanded the program further in the early 2000s and made it possible for customers to do their ordering over the phone instead of just online.

NutriSystem Inc.s next brainchild was to extend their key demographics to include male and older customers. This caused the program to boom, as it acquired more customers. In the year 2008, NutriSystem Inc. renamed the program to NutriSystem Advanced. They then created a partnership with the popular television-marketing program that airs its 90-minute infomercials, QVC.

What sets this company apart from the others is that in its advertising and marketing strategies, they made a point not to hire celebrity endorsers. Instead, they focused on real women living normal lives. This made its consumers " who are mostly women " have more realistic model and inspiration to continue with the program and losing weight. For someone who is too lazy or even unable to really take time to exercise, and for those who think that depriving themselves in order to lose weight is a really bad idea, enrolling in the NutriSystem Advanced Diet Program is the best way to lose all that extra weight, with no hassle at all.

Find out more information about 6 packs ab diet online from a beachbody coach site. - 17274

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Awesome Stomach Exercises

By James Statham

Are you ready to find out some of the most effective stomach exercises? I bet you didn't know that most abs exercises are actually terrible for you if you want to get a six pack! In the article, I'm going to show you what exercises to stay away from, and what exercises are going to get you ripped quick. By the end of this article, you'll know what you have to do.

Now what do I mean by traditional stomach exercises? You know what I'm on about! I bet you've been doing these exercises at some point in your quest to get visible abs. Crunches, leg lifts, sit ups and the like. If you ask someone on the street what they think are the best abs exercises, they'll probably tell you to do lots of crunches. What you need to know, though, is that to get cut abs, you must aim to lower body fat levels, and raise your bodies metabolism. There are certain exercises that help to do this, and crunches are not going to help you!

So what stomach exercises are going to get you rock solid, visible abs? Ah yes, the million dollar question! Well, certainly not crunches! Before I knew what it takes to get ripped, I used to have a routine, where I would perform dozens of crunches at a time, twice a day. I did this routine for several months, and got next to no results. I then did some research, and found out the types of exercises you should be doing. These are what's known as compound exercises.

Compound exercises don't target specific areas, they involve lots of muscle groups. This is because when you exercise, you can't target certain areas in which you want to burn fat from. You burn fat, in equal proportions, from all over your body. If you're only doing crunches, you're only working out that muscle group. Abs are a small muscle group. Whereas compound exercises involve working out large muscle groups, and therefore will burn away lots more fat!

You can't think that just because you know some of the best stomach exercises, that you'll instantly get a six pack. What you need to understand is that your diet is the single most important factor in you getting cut abs. However, what you should stay away from is the low carb diet. This gets lots of praise, from some quarters, because less carbs means less calories your body has to burn. However, a low carb diet can have the opposite effect that you desire! Less carbs will force your body to produce more sugar, which could add to the layer of fat you currently have.

Remember to keep you workouts under an hour. If your workouts are going over 75 minutes, then you won't get the best muscle burn, because a long workout is no way near as intense enough as a short, sharp workout. - 17274

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IBS Nausea - How To Eliminate This Symptom Of IBS

By Alison Harris

What if you could get rid of the painful and uncomfortable feeling of nausea that comes with irritable bowel syndrome? How differently would you live from day to day knowing that you never have to deal with the IBS again? This article will reveal some simple strategies that will make living ibs free a reality.

The truth is finding the exact cause of nausea in IBS sufferers can be a very difficult task because each person seems to have his or her own individual triggers. The result is that what triggers the nausea in person A is not likely to be what triggers the symptom in person B.

It is therefore very important that if you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome that you know the foods that trigger your symptoms. One of the best ways to achieve this is to keep a food diary.

You simply note down everything you eat on a daily basis for about two to four weeks and also note what symptoms you get and when you get them.

But what is IBS? It is as a functional disorder of the digestive system. This means that the digestive system of the sufferer is not functioning normally as it should but there are no identifiable physical causes or reasons to explain why.

So if you were to take a peek inside the digestive system of a sufferer it would look perfectly normal.

Apart from IBS nausea, other common symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome include bloating, flatulence, constipation or/and diarrhea, abdominal pain and spastic contractions of the colon.

We mentioned earlier it was important for you to know what triggers your symptoms because prescription drugs such as anticholinergics only mask the symptoms of the ailment. Once you stop taking the drugs, the symptoms return and usually with a vengeance.

The second thing you can do to eliminate your IBS Nausea is to use pure peppermint oil. Peppermint is known to have anti-spasmodic action and analgesic (pain-killing) properties to help soothe your digestive tract, ease any tightness relieve abdominal pain, and stop you from feeling nauseous. - 17274

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Ten Steps to Prevent Bruising, Step 6 - Getting Your Necessary Nutrients!

By Carolyn Cooper

Aging may bring a tendency for bruising easily, but this condition doesn't mean that you have to accept this situation as hopeless. If you really desire to prevent bruising easily, you will need to explore the variety of supplements that may be able to help you. Knowing which supplements will work for you the best is somewhat tricky; however, for many people, bioflavonoids and bilberry supplements offer a great deal of promise in helping you to control your easy bruising.

Since easy bruising can be a tendency that develops as you age, we should examine the particular causes. Some people's skin becomes more fragile and contains less collagen as they grow older, while other people have to deal with the fact that their capillary walls are thinner and more frail than they were before and thus more likely to sustain breakage. Once you have determined why you may be bruising so often, you'll be able to seek the particular supplement that provides you with the best results.

With such a mouthful for a name, you might be wondering what bioflavonoids really are. They are essentially plant pigments that can be dissolved in water, and there are about 4,000 of them that have been identified to date. They can be found in everything from grape seeds to teas to apples to grains to nuts and more, and when you decide to fit them into your diet, you are taking positive steps toward getting healthier.

Bioflavonoids have inherent antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antihistamine properties. These properties can help keep you healthier, and the anti-inflammatory properties can greatly enhance the efficiency of your circulatory system which will aid you in becoming less prone to conditions that decrease your healing ability. Reducing bruising and limiting muscle sprains are other beneficial qualities of bioflavonoids.

Besides citrus fruits, another great source of bioflavonoids comes from bilberries, a fruit bearing, shrub-like plant. Not only are bilberries typically delicious, they are often used in treatments for everything from certain forms of illness and inflammation. Bilberry helps prevent hardening of the arteries, which then helps make it easier for you properly control your blood pressure.

When you are evaluating using bilberry to help reduce bruising easily, you can obtain it in a number of different forms, but keep in mind that supplements are usually the best form to use unless you can consistently obtain them fresh. Fresh bilberries can be hard to find consistently, so just head to your local health food store and see what they can get provide you.

People do not have to simply accept easy bruising as they age as an incurable condition. By using the proper information that is available to them, they can overcome their bruising easily condition and change it to a fading memory.

Prepare a plan on how you are going to use bilberry and bioflavonoids properly to help overcome your easy bruising. Instead of trying to formulate the proper quantities of these two nutrients consider adding a unique daily supplement program like Bruises Be Banned which contains the proper amounts of bilberry and bioflavonoids along with other essential vitamins and minerals so that you can finally really reduce bruising altogether. - 17274

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Are You Looking For Ways To Lose Weight And Keep It Off Permanently?

By Caitlyn Sierra

Chances are you have been looking for ways to lose weight; the best part is that you just landed on an article that will be able to change your life. You will notice that 2009 comes to an end more and more people are going to be looking for ways to lose weight and reach their new goals that they set for themselves.

As we all know that in today's society the most popular new year's resolutions that people want to make a reality is the ability to lose those unnecessary pounds. However statistics show that several of those people will not be able to shed those unwanted pounds. One of the main reasons that people are unable to lose those excess pounds is because they are not willing to do what it really takes to lose that unwanted weight.

You already know that our society is one of the most overweight and unhealthiest of all. This is one of the main reasons that the weight loss industry is one of the wealthiest; people seem willing to pay almost any amount of money to get the next big fad that is on the market.

The truth is that if you really want to lose weight; you do not have to pay a lot of money to begin learning how to lose weight. There are several ways to lose weight; but the only way that is actually going to work is if you are willing to learn how to eat the right types of foods and get off your butt.

The truth is that most people are not going to be willing to put forth the effort to do what it really takes to lose those excess pounds. It seems that we are all willing to set those new year's resolutions; however many people will quit working towards them by the beginning of April.

Do you find yourself tired of trying to learn how to lose weight? As a society there are several people who are suffering from this problem; in fact several people have found themselves searching the internet for ways to lose weight. You definitely should stop by the site below to find out what you need to do to finally reach your goals.

We have taken the time to reveal some proven techniques that you can begin using that will help you get back into the shape that you will love to be in. Yes people everywhere have learned how to shed weight; however thousands of people have been suffering from their weight coming back is this your problem? - 17274

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Understand Proper Nutrition For Pregnancy 101

By Henry Poperfield

There are many things a woman can do to grow a healthy, full-term baby. Eating a healthful, well-balanced diet is the most important of them all. Proper nutrition helps you avoid a premature birth, preeclampsia, eclampsia, or gestational diabetes. Diligence in this will pay off with an easier pregnancy, an easier delivery, and a healthy, happy baby. If you can't afford to follow a good diet, apply for the WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program, which is available nation-wide. These coupons can be used at all grocery stores and many farmers markets.

What should you eat? It's really pretty simple. Imagine your dinner plate. Divide it in half. One half should be filled with vegetables of assorted colors: green, yellow, red, white. Things like peas, broccoli, green beans, dark, leafy greens, and asparagus are green. Corn, sweet potatoes, and yams are yellow. Bell peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant are red. Cauliflower, mushrooms, and potatoes are white. Technically, some of these things are not vegetables, but for our purposes, this is the category they go in.

The other half of your plate is divided in half again. In one section, you put your protein. This can be chicken, beef, pork, lamb, and other meats, seafood, or vegetarian options such as tofu, cheese, or beans. For the most part, be careful to choose lean cuts of meat, or low-fat versions of cheese.

The final quarter of your plate will be filled with a starch. This can include items from the vegetable category, such as the potatoes and yams, or beans, which are also a protein. Other items are rice, bread, pasta, and other grains. The most important thing - and this is really important - is that you choose whole grains. Your breads should be made with whole grain flour (it will say so on the label), your rice should be brown. Other excellent grains are quinoa (also high in protein), kasha, wheat berries, and whole grain cornmeal. Steel cut oatmeal is practically the best thing you can eat for breakfast.

Every day, be sure to drink a quart of milk or eat milk products, such as cheese or yogurt. Have two eggs every day. Include a serving or two of fruit. Eat small amounts - three meals, and a snack between each meal and before you go to bed. Salt your food to taste, and drink eight glasses of water or other liquid each day. It also helps to know what should not be included in the pregnant woman's diet. This includes the obvious, such as alcohol, to the not-so-obvious, such as caffeine, sugar, and junk food, to the disputed, such as processed food. Do your best to avoid refined foods of any kind. - 17274

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