Archive for December, 2009
Extreme Herbalife Weight Loss Challenge
To lose weight is indeed a great challenge especially if for the past few years of your life; you have been accustomed to gain and gain pounds. The weight loss challenge is one of the challenges that not too many people have succeeded. This is because there are too 
many factors that contribute to the weight of the person. In fact, through time, there has not been a consensus of an all-in-one dietary plan that people can engage in order to make out a successful weight loss program. One of the most extreme fitness challenges that inspired many is the Herbalife Weight Loss Challenge. Many heeded the challenge to make great changes in their lifestyle and be able to live healthier and fitter body throughout their lifetime. Among those who successfully hurdled the challenge are the winners of the challenge.
Celeste Momin was one of the many who explored the Herbalife Weight Loss Challenge who started the challenge with a weight of 327 pounds for a height of 5 feet and 4 inches. Celeste won the championship with a whooping 202 pounds all in all of loss after the challenge. Celeste was determined to take the challenge to lose pounds and during the last stage of the challenge, she was 156 pounds in October and she lose 31 pounds in November of 2005 achieving the weight of 125 at the end of the challenge. As Celeste mentioned, the road to winning the trophy was never that easy, she had an emergency surgery which prevented her to exercise for five weeks. Nonetheless, Celeste ha proven that the determination to lose weight is one of the values that you should keep in order to successfully get rid of those unwanted weights in your body.
The second runner up winner weighs 260 pounds during the start of the challenge and was at size 24. She mentioned how embarrassed she was then to appear in public with her obese structure. She started with the ultimate protein plus program and her first result was a 20-pound reduction in her weight. She started to regain her self confidence and she ended with a total of 85 pounds reduction or a size 12 dress size.
Another beautiful story of one of those who took the challenge was that of a pretty 22-year old girl who had a weight of 192 pounds and had her obesity as the only obstacle for her to join beauty contests. Many of her attempts to lose weight failed and for the challenge she lost 62 pounds and was able to join and win the Miss Fotogenia in a 130-pound structure.
Alternative Sweeteners for Sugar Free Desserts
Do you have a sweet tooth? Do you crave sweet desserts? Have you ever felt like a sugar addict? Most desserts are packed full of sugar, and yet there is plenty of evidence that sugary desserts are not healthy foods. 
You may decide to cut your sugar intake for a number of reasons:
- To eat a more natural diet – sugar is a highly processed food, and our hunter gatherer ancestors did not evolve to eat such a concentrated source of ‘empty calories’.
- To assist in the control of your blood sugar – research shows that low sugar diets do help to control your blood sugar levels.
So how can you satisfy your sweet tooth without sugar? There are a number of strategies:
- Create desserts from fresh, unprocessed fruit, with no sweeteners added. Sugar free fruit salad is a classic example of this approach. There are a number of classic desserts that can be served in a version based on this theme, such as Ambrosia, Balsamic Berries and Minted Melon.
- Cut out desserts, or only serve dessert as a very occasional treat. Believe it or not, even the strongest and most demanding sweet tooth will eventually quiet down, if your sugar addiction is not being fed.
Natural sweeteners include honey, and Stevia.
- Honey is still a very concentrated food, and should be used very sparingly, if at all, if your goal is to control blood sugar or to lose weight. However, honey, in very small quantities, does still have its place in a natural foods diet.
Artificial sweeteners include saccharine, aspartame and Splenda. It worth bearing in mind that some people are sensitive to one or more artificial sweeteners, and report headaches and other side effects. Whether or not you use them is ultimately your decision. Many people have decided that when the only drinks available are artificially sweetened diet drinks or sugary drinks, that for them, the artificial sweetener is the lesser of the two evils.
Lifefone: a Must Have Medical Alert Service for Active Senior Citizens
Everyone wants to be independent and today’s senior citizens are no exception to that rule. However, when a fall or another injury happens, it’s hard to go back to living life alone. Even when an elderly loved one is healthy, we often worry about their safety and question the benefits of them living on their own. For some, living with family is an option that they find pleasant. for others, living independent is really “the only way to fly” for them. Fortunately, technology today is available to make this decision less of an either or type and more of a solid compromise. Meet lifefone, the 24 hour monitoring service aimed directly at today’s senior citizens that desire living at home by themselves instead of having to live with family. The service is made of two parts: the medical alert bracelets that are worn around the wrist that connects wirelessly to a base station which in turn connects to a centralized monitoring company. This allows an elderly loved one to live on their own without fear of not being able to get medical help if required. The service doesn’t just connect to an emergency operator in case of injury or send out a medical alert — the service can also be configured to allow family to be notified of other non-critical but still serious injuries. One of the benefits that sets the lifefone service ahead of other products is that the pendant is completely waterproof, so it truly can be worn everywhere — you’ll never have to be without a life line again! Speaking of travel, the lifefone monitoring service isn’t just active around the wearer’s home — they can be configured for other locations with a simple phone call. Overall, those living out their golden years can do that independently without family about if they so desire — lifefone is more than happy to help them do just that!
Emotional Eating – Time to Get Moving
So what are YOU eating tonight?
You know how it is. Full of good intentions, you plan your day/week/monthly menus, fill the house with good food and have the best of intentions for healthy eating.
That’s Monday.
And you chop, slice, sauté, cook and produce a great meal.
Tuesday too.
Wednesday you have an evening meeting, various offspring need to be picked up or dropped off for soccer/tuba lessons/knitting marathons and you are, frankly, exhausted. So you go for a quick easy meal.
Thursday it’s a freezer meal and Friday it’s takeaway.
There is a reason for this.
You are NOT a failure, an unhousewifely slob, or a bad mother.
You ARE busy, living an interesting life and have family/friends/pets with interesting lives. And that takes your time AND your energy.
So this week I’m going to say to you, relax, take it easy and loosen the dietary corsets. If you’re not sticking to whatever rules you’ve set yourself why beat yourself up about it?
And try, longer term, to set yourself up for success. You can’t in the middle of a busy weekday evening, grapple with a new recipe or an unfamiliar food. Do that when you are more relaxed and have more time. If you learn how to competently prepare one new healthy meal each month that’s 12 in a year, which means by the end of the year you have almost two week’s worth of good meals you can do.
