Metabolism And Weight

Metabolism And Weight
Rates of overweight have reached epidemic proportions, and
this is especially true in the United States. Depending on
the statistics, an astonishing sixty-six percent of adults
in the United States are overweight. Put another way, two
of every three adults in the US is overweight. It's a
remarkable reality. With so many overweight people in the
United States, it's a certainty that a lot of emphasis
would be placed on prospective weight loss methods.

One word that gets thrown about a lot when talking about
weight loss is metabolism. Metabolism has become a generic
term to a degree, but the guess here is that most people
aren't genuinely aware of what metabolism refers to: only
that it plays a role in body weight. Metabolism is actually
a set of chemical reactions that occur within living cells.
Metabolism in fact allows cells to grow and reproduce.
Referring to the term metabolism when talking about body
weight regulation is overly broad. What actually affects
body weight is calories, and more specifically, how many
calories are consumed versus how many calories are burned
in energy consumption.

A calorie measures how much energy a food source provides
to the body. The more calories a food source has, the more
energy that food source provides to the body. More is not
necessarily better however in the case of calories. If more
calories are taken in than are needed to fuel the body, the
calories are stored by the body, often as fat. The
significant issue for body weight then is how much calorie
fuel a particular body uses. The answer obviously varies.
An infant will need less calorie fuel than an adult will.
But averaging things out, calorie fuel usage is determined
by how much energy a person expends. Energy typically takes
the form of physical exertion. The more physically active a
person is, the more calorie energy they tend to burn.

Where metabolism comes into the equation in body weight is
through what's known as basal metabolic rate. What basal
metabolic rate basically boils down to is how much calorie
energy a person burns while they're at rest. This is
influenced again by how physically active a person is on
average. The more active a person is generally, the higher
their basal metabolic rate. The term metabolism then is not
entirely accurate when discussing body weight issues. The
more proper reference would be basal metabolic rate. Still,
the general notion that more exercise equals more energy
burned is correct, and more energy burned typically equals
a healthier body weight.

----------------------------------------------------
Zinn Jeremiah is a freelance writer. To find weight loss
resources visit http://www.hubonline.biz/lose-now.htm or
http://www.hubonline.biz/get-fit.htm .

What's The Focus Of Your Holidays?

What's The Focus Of Your Holidays?
When you think of the holidays, what comes to your mind?
Visions of stuffing, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, globs of
mashed potatoes, candied yams, decorated cookies, egg nog,
and other holiday treats? As you lose weight, food becomes
less the center of your life. The holidays take on an
entirely new meaning for you.

Are the holidays really about food? You no longer have to
spend your holidays filled with what you get to eat, what
you want to eat, avoid eating or dieting on January 1st.
That is so joyous and wonderful! Your holidays take on an
entire new perspective without the primary focus being
around food. You've changed your lifestyle and priorities
since embracing a healthy lifestyle. Spend the holidays
with people you love, and allow your relationships with
those people be the center of your holiday and not food.

Create new traditions in your family. One of my favorites
is when you pass out holiday gifts, take a few moments to
express your appreciation for that person and tell them the
impact they have on your life. It's a wonderful tradition
that will carry on in your family for years. Guess
what....that tradition isn't about food at all.

Instead of giving baked goodies or food items as gifts,
replace with a non-food item as your gift. Give a
beautiful scented candle, lotion, a certificate for
babysitting or car washing. Again, no food focus for your
gifts.

When you drive through neighborhoods enjoying the holiday
lights and displays, park your car and walk it. You'll get
a better view, be able to enjoy a certain display as long
as you want without cars honking behind you, and the best
part of all is getting in a walk by spending quality time
with your family and friends.

Purposefully, decide what the holiday season means to YOU.
Pause for a moment and look inside yourself. Define the
holidays in the way that is meaningful to you. As you lose
weight and find a different way of living your life, you'll
fill your life with other things than food. Create your
own traditions that reflect your values and priorities in
your life. The holidays can be spent without focusing on
food. The temporary satisfaction of eating holiday treats
doesn't compare with the true, deep satisfaction of
spending the holidays with those you love.

Put the focus on you, enjoy the gift of your health, and
your relationships with family and friends. That's the
very best and most long-lasting holiday celebration of all.

----------------------------------------------------
Cathy Wilson is a weight loss life coach. Cathy lost 147
pounds six years ago. Her passion is helping clients
achieve their weight loss and life goals. Cathy works with
clients to create a weight loss life plan that is
customized to each client. Cathy is a member of the
International Coaching Federation, International
Association of Coaches, and Obesity Action Coalition.
Visit Cathy's website:
http://www.LoseWeightFindLife.com

How to Avoid the High Cost of Healthcare

How to Avoid the High Cost of Healthcare
There is a storm brewing in America. It has the power to
ruin lives directly and indirectly. The storm will wreak
more havoc than any natural disaster in history. The name
of the storm is not a common name like Katrina. This
storm's name is called "America's Health Care Crisis." The
early signs are already here. Just consider these facts:

* Every 30 seconds, someone in the United States files
bankruptcy due to a serious health problem.

* According to a Harvard University study, 50 percent of
all bankruptcy filings in the United States are the direct
result of medical expenses.

* Health care spending in the U.S. is more than $1.8
TRILLION!

* In 2003, the U.S. spent 15.3% of its Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) on health care.

* Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance in the
U.S. have risen five times faster than workers' earnings
since 2000.

* Experts predict retiring elderly couples will need a
conservative $200,000 to pay for basic medical services and
most experts agree that the number is probably closer to
$300,000.

With the cost of services going up, the demand for those
services is also increasing. Consider the following:

* Cancer rates have exploded from 1 death in 20 in 1910 to
1 death in 3 in 2006.

* Diabetes Type 2 (adult onset) has exploded by 600% in
just the last generation.

* Heart Disease deaths went from obscurity in the early
1900's to the #2 killer in America.

* Stroke moved from obscurity to the #3 killer and the #1
cause of disability in the US.

* Auto-immune disorders like Chronic Fatigue and
Fibromyalgia have become commonplace.

Why is this happening? What could be the common link?
Many experts believe it is what we eat. Not just the types
of food and how they are prepared, but the actual
nutritional content. Over a 10-year period, the potassium
level in oats and buckwheat dropped by two-thirds. That
means you need to eat three bowls of oatmeal to get the
same potassium as one bowl gave you just ten years ago.
Think about you and your children - over the last ten years
you and they have eaten the same amounts of food but with
much less nutritional content. In the fifty years between
the 1940s and the 1990s, nutrient values for protein,
calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin, and ascorbic acid
declined in at least 43 garden crops.

What's the answer? What can we do to add nutrition back
into our diets and our bodies? What can we do to keep from
spending all our savings on medical bills? How can we
continue to enjoy an active lifestyle well into our senior
years?

The answer is simple: Supplement.

Even the FDA, along with a growing number of nutritionists
and medical experts agree that nutritional supplementation
is the key to leading a healthy and fit life. Read why
more and more people are being proactive about improving
their health and at the same time they are fighting the
effects of aging. I encourage you to examine the
nutritional content of your current diet. You can
definitely look and feel better with proper nutrition.

As we get older, many of us start taking more and more
medications. Consider that while Americans comprise only
five percent of the entire world's population, we consume
ONE-HALF OF ALL the prescription drugs manufactured WORLD
WIDE! That is more than 3 billion prescriptions each year.
Prescription drug expenses are the fastest growing health
care costs increasing by more than 15% each year since 1998.

The pharmaceutical industry has done a great job at
convincing people that drugs are intended to cure disease.
But if prescription drugs were the answer to health, why
aren't we the healthiest nation on Earth? In spite of all
the drugs, the physicians, and the hospitals, Americans are
getting heavier; the rate of diabetes, heart disease, and
cancer are rising; and we have one of the highest infant
death rates in the world.

We need to transition from our over-reliance on drugs and
believing that taking a pill is the 'solution' to finding
and treating what caused the disease in the first place.
It is certainly fair to say that traditional medicine can
do amazing things - especially in treating trauma and
infectious disease. But for promoting health, traditional
medicine is ineffective and extraordinarily expensive.

Many in the wellness industry work very hard spreading the
word that it is much better (and cheaper!) to prevent
disease than to treat it after it occurs. Preventing
disease and fighting the effects of aging are two of the
primary reasons why many people take supplements and how
they become proactive about improving their health. By
putting yourself into a state of optimal health, you feel
better, have more energy, and increase the quality of your
life.

----------------------------------------------------
Ronald Godlewski has successfully founded and run several
businesses and is currently working with Life Force
International. You can obtain more information on the
nutritional value of vitamin supplements and receive your
FREE 15-day supply of a leading vitamin supplement at
http://www.pillfreesupplements.com/specialoffers.htm or
call him toll free at 1-888-LFI-CUST (1-888-534-2878).

How to destroy fat using just bodyweight exercises at home

How to destroy fat using just bodyweight exercises at home
It seems most people today are uninformed when it comes to
exercising and still seem to be slogging it out at gyms and
getting little back in return. Exercising correctly for fat
loss isn't difficult and certainly doesn't require hours at
a gym or elaborate and expensive equipment. In fact, you
can achieve much quicker results using no equipment at all
and just exercising at home using just your own bodyweight.
Here's why you should change you thinking when it comes to
reaching for the nearest piece of exercise equipment:

Bodyweight exercises get quicker results

Training using just your bodyweight is more demanding than
you may think and forces your body to naturally stabilise
itself utilising more muscles. Using more muscles means
that you burn more calories as each individual muscle
requires energy to work. Why spend time exercising just a
few muscles when you can hit over 600 of them at a time?

Moreover, if bodyweight exercises are performed at the
correct intensity you can create lots of EPOC (Excess
Post-exercise Oxygen Consumpion) leading to fat burning for
up to 48 hours after exercise. With only so many hours in
the day and limited amounts of workout time the more
calories you can burn after exercise the better. If
performed at the correct times it is possible to raise your
metabolism and be burning calories constantly throughout
the week whilst only training 3 times for 20 minutes.

Bodyweight exercises are natural & safe

From the first few months that we are born we start
learning how to control and use our own bodyweight, this
includes rolling over, moving around on all fours standing
up, balancing on one leg, walking, running, climbing etc.
During all these times of evolution we never once use
external resistance to get stronger; it is only in later
life that we look for alternatives or short cuts to
improving our health.

Development through pure bodyweight exercise is the most
natural form of exercise that you can do and your body will
reward you for it. You will improve your balance, strength,
burn unwanted fat and energise yourself all without risk of
injury because it is natural. Being able to control,
balance, and move your own bodyweight is the most natural
thing that you can do. Anybody that cannot take control of
their own bodyweight has no right even considering lifting
a weight, whether that's a dumbbell, barbell, ankle weight,
medicine ball or kettlebell!

Bodyweight workouts are less time consuming

Let's be honest who wants to be make their way to a gym,
find parking, get changed, deal with all the distractions,
sort out lockers etc. Bodyweight training requires no
equipment and can be done at home or during your lunch
break or whilst on holiday in only 20 minutes. This not
only means that it is less time consuming but also you are
less likely to make up excuses as to why you can't workout
that day. With bodyweight training there are no excuses, no
matter where you are!! You have a training program for
life!!

----------------------------------------------------
Greg is a leading health and fitness professional and
author of "the no gear workout" based in Hampstead, North
London. He achieves fantastic results for his clients by
using his indepth knowledge and the most up to date
techniques. For the most effective bodyweight exercises
visit my website
http://www.gbpersonaltraining.com

Don't Pick the "Skip Meals to Lose Weight" Diet

Don't Pick the "Skip Meals to Lose Weight" Diet
The holidays are here, and then they'll be gone, and you
may feel like you're left with an addition 5 pounds, and
I'm not talking about presents. First of all, while you
may believe the contrary, it isn't that easy to put on 5
pounds of fat over a 2 week period (each pound of fat is
worth 3500 calories, in case you were wondering). You
would have eat an additional 17500 calories, along with
your regular calorie intake, in order to put on five pounds.

But--that's not my point for now. My point is that around
the time you are feeling like you've gained a ton of
weight, you are also thinking about the new diets, new
strategies you want to try in order to lose that weight.
And I'll bet you want to lose it in a hurry, right?

Is one of those strategies skipping meals?

Do you think that skipping breakfast will help you lose
weight faster than if you ate the meal? Or that skipping
lunch and just having breakfast and dinner will help you
lose the weight you put on so you can wear the clothes you
got for presents? The ones you think don't fit because you
were afraid to try them on? So you think that cutting back
on calories by cutting out meals will take the weight off
quickly, right?

The answer is no, and let me tell you why.

When you skip a meal, your body doesn't know if you are in
San Diego or the Sudan, Boston or Biafra. Your body doesn't
know whether this fast is voluntary or involuntary, and it
will act to conserve every calorie it gets. This is
because your body doesn't know when the next meal is
coming, or if it is ever going to get here. The idea is
survival, to provide your brain and central nervous system
with whatever nutrients it needs in order to keep you
alive. In order to survive, then, your metabolic rate (the
rate at which you burn calories) will slow down. As a
result of this slowing down, your body will burn calories
at a much slower rate, enabling your brain and central
nervous system to keep functioning.

But you know, the other problem is that when you skip a
meal, you unconsciously set yourself up to overeat later.
Let's face it, 6-8 hours is a long time to go without
eating (even longer if it's breakfast you skipped). What
happens is that by the time you "allow" yourself to eat,
you subconsciously are thinking, "I didn't eat lunch, so I
saved all sorts of calories, and I can eat more." Instead
of having a 4 ounce steak, with a potato and salad, you
order the 12 ounce steak, mashed potatoes with butter and a
salad with creamy dressing. Why not? You haven't eaten
all day, right?

Wrong.

Save yourself from wreaking havoc with your metabolism-do
what your mother always said-Eat your meals (and chew with
your mouth shut-your friends will thank you).

----------------------------------------------------
For free tips to becoming At Peace With Food, articles, and
links to nutritional resource websites, visit=>
http://www.AtPeaceWithFood.com/freetips.html

HOW TO GET SUPER HEALTHY by DRAWING A REAL VITAMIN

HOW TO GET SUPER HEALTHY by DRAWING A REAL VITAMIN
The human race walks a common road but once in awhile there
is a revelation so profound that it changes the journey and
all observations. It is then not possible to return
unaffected and compliant with old beliefs, but begin to
embrace a vision of wholeness and balance in all of
Nature's cycles. It is a return to the bounty of what
Nature has provided immemorially for total health; thereby,
redressing our shopping habits, dinner tables and dietary
supplements.

This exercise is guaranteed to make you never look at a
vegetable or fruit in the same way again. Nature's plant
foods are intrinsic to our body's structure and function.
As importantly, when we choose our supplements, it is
Nature's whole plants that best meet the needs of the
internal pharmacist inside us.

A couple years ago I was walking in similar shoes as most
people believing several commonalities. Clearly, there is a
direct link between the food we eat and the structure and
function of our cells. Clearly, it is wise to eat several
servings of fruits and vegetables daily highly recommended
by many organizations, but often not substantially
followed. Commonly, we understand that modern agricultural
and food manufacturing processes have depleted and
denutriented our natural plants of many of the essential
elements Subsequently, we are informed to do the next best
thing ...SUPPLEMENT...SUPPLEMENT... SUPPLEMENT

Now there are whole volumes that deal with vitamins, their
role in health, best sources and more. But without a lot of
training, most of us go to a store and decide to buy but
based on what criteria. And on store shelves we are
accosted by every kind of fancy labeling, claims, pills,
capsules, powders, potions ...and for some of us, the
cheaper the better buy, right? And once in awhile there
appears a new buzzword of something vital for your body,
accredited by a doctor or two, and so we have to purchase
that, too. Often, to make sure we were getting a full
spectrum of essential nutrients, we end up swallowing a
handful of pills. Sound familiar? The latest advertising
images of various vitamins are shown as brightly colored
blocks with human bodies jostling each other to try and
rank importance. What insulting balderdash, in my opinion.

But how much do we truly understand what constitutes a
vitamin ? Here's an interesting exercise... Can you draw
the elements of a vitamin (in the same way that you can
draw the descriptive details of a cat, a dog, an apple or
any other basic concrete object) I've asked this question
many times and am not surprised by the responses. In truth,
a couple years ago, I would have responded in like fashion
with a simple sketch of a pill or capsule form speckled
with dots to show different vitamins. A vitamin is not a
dot, or speckle, a pill, a habit or a label. A vitamin
cannot be manufactured by the body and must be obtained
from our diet (or supplements). A vitamin is a biochemical
catalyst for growth, maintenance and reproduction of all
cells in the body. It is an integral part of hormones,
genes, amino acids, minerals, enzymes and immune components.

We need vitamins and minerals to help fill in the gaps in
our modern food supply to benefit from total nutrition and
who doesn't want that. Your choice of dietary supplement
is one of the most important choices you can make for long
term health for you and your family. The question is which
kind of supplement? We better get the right source and
validation. Undoubtedly, the most important drawing you'll
ever do is to see the real components of a vitamin. So take
a few minutes now and draw what you understand to be a
vitamin. Don't worry about different kinds (B, C, D, A,
etc.) because they all have three common features.

Don't read ahead until you have actually drawn something
because you'll be amazed at the picture of what constitutes
a vitamin. It is the revelation that transfigured my
perception of what Nature's provision is all about.

So what are the features of a vitamin?

A vitamin is an organic compound composed of three
elements: carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

Different vitamins have different combinations of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen, some more a complex than others. A
drawing of a vitamin is a series of Carbon atoms linked
with Hydrogen atoms linked with Oxygen atoms...all
interconnected. For example, Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
shows a fixed matrix with 2 Carbon molecules, 7 Hydrogen
molecules, and 6 Oxygen molecules

You can check out the actual configurations for different
vitamins by google searching 'vitamin structures.' Some
structures are impressively complex which further asks how
best to replicate them or keep them as natural forms found
in plants already.

Furthermore, an antioxidant is also a series of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen molecules...

A phytonutrient, or natural phytochemical, found in plants
is a set of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen molecules...

An amino protein is a combination of carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen with a Nitrogen element...

A fatty acid is a long chain combination of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen.

Our natural whole plants are also composed of carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen molecules with the extra elements of
minerals drawn from the soil. Make sure your mineral
supplements also come from plants, not ground up rock or
metals that can actually accumulate in the body's tissues.

A natural question is to find out how many different
configurations are found in plant foods. The answer is a
second revelation. Fruits and vegetables contain hundreds
of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, trace minerals,
anti-oxidants, phytochemicals, enzymes, other co -factors
and fiber. For example, if an apple is "labeled" correctly
there would be over 600 nutritional elements that
scientists can identify. Just imagine, if Mother Nature in
the spirit of fair advantage, could also label the
nutrients found in fruits and vegetables, their lists would
be very long and very impressive! A bottle of manufactured
supplement pills with 20 or 30 elements could never compare
with Mother Nature's nutritional powerhouses.

This is such a simple revelation in a market of information
overload. Dietary supplementation is huge garnering about
17 billion dollars a year. There are least 29,000
supplement products made by at least 500 manufacturers,
many with ingredients from the same supplier (some of which
are pharmaceutical subsidiaries selling chemically derived,
isolated vitamins and minerals). Strangely enough, some
forms of chronic diseases have not changed and even
increased. In my opinion, in the same way that refined
foods are robbed of essential nutrients, so I believe
"refined" or processed pill formulations also cause
imbalances, especially if taken at high levels over a long
time.

This personal revelation finally led to a crossroads...how
to best supplement...increase our portions of whole foods,
supplement with whole food extracts, or take manufactured
pills with "fractions" of natural plants.

In making the decision, a few principles stand strong.
First, the body functions properly with proper "fuel"
(food) a synergy of at least 100 nutrients. Second, the
body is designed to draw nutrients from a natural food
supply all working synergistically. Third, be aware that
our genetic paleolithic blueprint hasn't changed and that
for thousands of years "ethnobotany" was the basis for
healing. Fourth, was the choice to focus preventatively on
natural whole foods to treat any prevailing unhealthy
condition, rather than on the disease itself hoping for a
chemical cure.

I decided to put my faith and trust in omniscient Nature
rather than sifting and sorting through a huge number of
products made in laboratories on conveyor belts. I decided
to align with the natural environment believing that the
"whole food best treats the whole body". I chose a whole
food supplement that comes from the ocean because of its
natural mineral formulation as well as many other vital
ingredients, including the essential fatty acids. I can
now drink all my essential nutrients as a delicious nectar.
Just try and reproduce a bottle of sea water in a
laboratory.

----------------------------------------------------
Anne-Marie Berukoff is a certified Nutritional Supplement
Distributor. She took early retirement from a 24 year
teaching career to pursue her interest in WELLNESS based on
using natural whole foods for preventative health. She has
compiled two workshops with CD's and an e-booklet: 101
Reasons to Plug Into Powerful Phytonutrients for Powerful
Health. Currently, she is an independent distributor for
The Limu Company. She welcomes all questions and comments
annemarie7@telus.net
1 866 866 3611

http://www.4healthlimu.com

Understanding Hearing Aid Terms

Understanding Hearing Aid Terms
You finally get up the nerve to go to the hearing aid
office and get your hearing tested. They break the news
that you need a hearing aid. Your mind is swimming with
visions of having to wear that huge thing on your ear. How
could this have happened! Why me! And then they start
telling you about hearing aids. All that terminology just
goes right over your head. Don't they know your in shock!
How on earth can you make a decision when you don't even
know what they're talking about!

There are hundreds of different hearing aids. It is a
complicated world of technological terms that those that
work with hearing aids forget sound like a foreign language
to you. To make matters worse, the manufacturers like to
call things different names, so they sound like something
different. No wonder there's so much confusion!

I am going to try to unravel some of the mystery for you.
When you get down to it, there are really only a few terms
you need to understand. These are the features that really
matter and the style or model of the hearing aid.

There are seven primary styles of hearing aids: ITE, Half
Shell, ITC, Mini Canal, CIC, BTE, and Open Ear.

In the Ear (ITE) ITE hearing aids are the largest custom
style of hearing aid, filling the bowl of your ear, and can
have the most power and features available for in the ear
hearing aids.

Half Shell (HS) The Half Shell is a custom hearing aid that
only fills about half the bowl of your ear. They are able
to have a good deal of power and features, use a smaller
battery, but are more cosmetically appealing.

In the Canal (ITC) The next smallest size is the custom ITC
hearing aid. Harder to see than the larger hearing aids,
but also not able to have as much power or as many
features.

Mini Canal (MC) Smaller than the ITC hearing aid, the
custom mini canal uses a smaller battery and has even less
power available. Features are more limited as well.

Completely in the Canal (CIC) The CIC is the smallest
custom in the ear hearing aid and very popular due to its
cosmetic appeal and ease of use. There are usually no
manual controls on a CIC, telephone usage is often better
because they are less likely to whistle. Lack of power is
the main reason people cannot use this style of hearing
aid, though a small ear canal may keep you from being able
to wear one also.

Behind the Ear (BTE) A BTE hearing aid sits behind your ear
and is connected to your ear by a tube with an earmold
attached. BTE hearing aids have the most power and
features available.

Open Ear (OE) and Receiver in Canal (RIC) This hearing aid
is a fairly new style of BTE made available in recent years
and are much smaller then a traditional BTE. They are
meant primarily for high frequency hearing loss. The
hearing aid is connected to your ear by a very thin tube or
wire with a small earbud on the tip. They are called Open
Ear because they leave the ear canal less blocked than
other styles of hearing aid.

Important Features:

Directional Microphones - These are available on most
BTE, OE, ITE, Half Shell, and ITC styles of hearing aids.
They are the best feature you can have on your hearing aid
for hearing in noisy places, such as restaurants. (They
reduce sounds from behind, so that it does not interfere
with the sound in front of you) Directional microphones
can be automatic, your hearing aid turns them on when the
sound level in the room gets too loud. Some are also be
adaptive, which means they can follow moving sounds, or
reduce several different sounds at the same time.

Noise Reduction - Noise reduction doesn't really reduce
noise, it reduces amplification in the frequencies where
there is noise and no speech. If there is a fan running in
the background, the hearing aid will not amplify it as much
as it will speech. When the hearing aid finds both speech
and noise at a frequency, you still get both. More
advanced the hearing aids manage noise better by breaking
the frequencies up into smaller pieces.

Memories - There are two types of memories available on a
hearing aid, manual and automatic. Many hearing aids have
a push button that allows you to have different settings
(memories) for different situations such as quiet places,
noisy places, and music or telephone. The hearing aid
beeps when you push the button to let you know which memory
you are using. A more advanced hearing aid may have
automatic memories. Instead of pushing a button, the
hearing aid does it for you! Some hearing aids have a
combination of both.

Feedback Cancellation - Feedback, that terrible high pitch
squeal, is the number one complaint people have about their
hearing aid. Most hearing aid wearers experience feedback
when they put their hand over their ear, or use the phone.
Feedback cancellation reduces the amount of feedback you
experience.

Bands / Channels - Bands are what we use to adjust the
volume in a hearing aid. More bands means more control
when we program the hearing aid to your hearing loss.

Channels are used to adjust the part of the hearing aid
that keeps the sound from getting too loud. Channels can
also refer to the hearing aid noise reduction system. For
noise reduction, more channels is definitely better because
the hearing aid can break the sound up into smaller pieces
and isolate noise from speech.

These are the main things you need to understand about your
hearing aid. If you really want the best hearing aid for
you I recommend you focus on telling the hearing
professional what benefits you want from your hearing aid.
Tell them what frustrates you most and give them a better
picture of how they can help you. Their goal is to help
you hear better, and when that happens, everyone wins.

----------------------------------------------------
Kelly C. Calkins is a doctor of audiology and owns her own
practice in Atlanta, GA. For more information about
hearing aids or to find a professional near you, call us
today at 877-777-1710 or visit our website at
http://www.aidright.com

A Health Plan That Will Save You Thousands

A Health Plan That Will Save You Thousands
Are you living your best life possible? Are you limiting
yourself in anyway, with the current lifestyle you have?
With your habits, your daily actions, how about your level
of fitness.

Do you truly want to know the best health plan?

A quick story, being very overweight as a child and up into
high school, I realized I wasn't living my best life
possible. The limitations that were set upon me, not only
from my own opinion of myself, but from other's views and
opinions placed on me as well.

Luckily I got into sports and lost quite a bit of weight.

After losing some weight, I realized how much of a boost of
confidence and energy it gives you. How it affects nearly
every area of your life. From your career to how much fun
you have.

That really is the best health plan. Taking care of your
body and your health to quite literally save thousands on
any medical bills that you'll completely avoid.

That's really how I got into fitness. I want to help other
people save money, save time, save headaches, save
heartaches and really live a better life to their full
potential, without any limits.

Are you limiting yourself on purpose? The problem with a
health plan is that you are always focusing on chasing
problems rather than preventing them.

You may say Zach, that sounds great, but I have a
legitimate excuse. My family has always been heavy, I'm in
the same boat, I have a slow metabolism, it's not really my
fault.

This is probably the biggest obstacle when it comes to
fitness, the ability to make excuses. Put simply you are in
control of your life and your fitness, there's no need to
have the victim mentality.

Excuses are abundant and they're everywhere. Most people
prefer a good excuse as opposed to a good opportunity.
Whether the excuse is you don't know what to do to get in
shape or you don't have the time, you don't like to sweat,
or whatever it is. They're all obstacles yes, not dead
ends, you get around these obstacles with thought and
planning.

Let's take one of the most popular excuses. It's in my
genetics, I just don't have a choice. I do agree genetics
has an influence on your weight, but it certainly isn't the
only factor. Sometimes people say they have tried
everything they've tried all the diets, and nothing seems
to work for them. Why is that?

Simply put, diets don't work. Diets are a flawed approach.
Regardless of which one, all of these quick fix solutions
are temporary, and temporary means just that, temporary.

Really the best Health plan is a lifestyle of fitness. And
being in shape is the result of that lifestyle what you
always do, not some crash diet or those various creams,
potions, or pills promising to just melt the fat off.

Let's get this clear, fat does not melt off. Unless you use
a strategy involving a blow torch, which I don't recommend,
it's not gonna melt off.

There are some worthwhile supplements out there, but they
should be in addition to a base of good nutrition and
exercise. If you have an urge to go spend your money on all
the latest supplements you see, take out the money you
would spend, set half of it on fire, put the other half
back in your pocket. The result will be the same, but
you'll still have half of your money.

Take control of your fitness life, and live your best life
possible without limits.

I assure you a lifelong Health plan is taking care of your
body, your health, and your future. It is possible to get
in great shape and feel great, regardless of what's
happened or where you're at right now.

You just have to do something. Think about it this way, if
you keep doing what you've always done, you'll get what
you've always got. Something has to change and be initiated
to make a difference in your life.

With fitness that means getting in gear and exercising and
making healthy eating a priority in your life. As you do
the benefits will be multiplied and rewarding with a much
better quality of life. Discover how a Health Insurance is
about what you do not what plan you have.

----------------------------------------------------
Zach Hunt is the head Spokane Health Coach of Physzique. a
personal fitness coaching service in Spokane, WA. He helps
his clients to quickly and permanently drop unwanted fat to
look and feel their best. Go now to:
http://www.spokanefitnesscoach.com/articles/spokane-health-i
n-spokane.html for more health tips. Or go to
http://www.spokanefitnesscoach.com/ for a free health and
fitness report.

What Kind Of Bra Should I Buy After My Breast Augmentation?

What Kind Of Bra Should I Buy After My Breast Augmentation?
Buying your first bra after your breast augmentation
surgery is exciting, and it should be! You finally made the
decision to get the larger, fuller breasts you were
dreaming about. For some women, they wanted more than just
a little bit off fullness, they wanted huge breast
implants. Regardless of which breast implant size you
chose, every woman needs to have the correct fitting bra.

The women with larger than average breast implants and
smaller than average frames report that the novelty of bra
shopping really wears off--fast. If you are small-boned
and are getting medium to large implants you may find that
bra shopping can becomefrustrating.Although, it is a lot
easier now that bra companies are realizing that they need
bigger cups and smaller band sizes due to the popularity of
the number of women choosing large breast implants.

Important: choosing a proper fitting Bra.

It is very important that you wear a proper fitting bra.
Many believe in formulas which determine your exact bra
size, and while this can help and be the right place to
start, each woman and her breasts, are different. It
doesn't take long wearing a certain bra for you to figure
out if it does or does not fit you right

Finding the perfect bra isn't impossible after your breast
enhancement procedure, it just may be a little more
difficult. It is very important to find one which properly
fits your frame and supports your breasts.

Tips for finding the perfect bra:

*If your bra band is riding up in the back and if you find
your self trying to lift your breasts by shortening your
shoulder straps you are only doing your breasts a
disservice.

*Also very important, when buying a new bra it should fit
snugly on the last setting (the loosest hook set) this way
when your bra stretches with wear you can fasten it tighter
if needed on the next two settings.

*If you find post-operatively that your bras bag at the
nipple area, try purchasing a bra with Lycra in it which
will conform to the breasts.

*If you have that horrible look, where your breasts have
been split in two and spilling over and out of your bra,
you may need a larger cup size.

*Do your breasts fall out when you bend over? You may need
more coverage.

*Bra Care: It is best to either, hand-wash and line dry
your bras, or machine wash inside of a lingerie bag and
line dry to extend the life of your bras. High heat will
weaken elastic and ruin your bras.

Be sure to re-measure yourself in the event of weight gain
or loss, even if 7 to 10 lb, pregnancy, or simply as time
goes by. Measurements can vary over the years. Getting the
advice of a professional bra fitter is important in the
long term appearance of your breasts.

----------------------------------------------------
The Avalon Clinic for Cosmetic Surgery is located in
Lakewood and Olympia, Washington. Each of our surgeons is
Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery
and has over 20 years of experience. Patient safety and
satisfaction is our #1 goal. Our art is to help patients'
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know that It Is Possible! Contact us at
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Key Strategies to Help Avoid Weight Gain over the Holidays

Key Strategies to Help Avoid Weight Gain over the Holidays
Are you one of the average Americans that experiences a
holiday weight gain of 7 pounds between the Thanksgiving
and Christmas Holidays, and then goes on to attempt to lose
as much of the excess as possible over the next several
weeks? Usually, the weight is not all lost and then the
cycle is repeated the next year and so on until a
significant overall weight gain has occurred. It is
certainly better during the holidays to not put the weight
on in the first place, rather than fight an uphill battle
to repair damage done during such a short period of time
year after year.

It is absolutely possible to avoid weight gain during the
holidays, but it definitely takes a focused approach and
some discipline. This includes both holiday exercise and
food intake plans, and the need for exercise during the
holidays is critical to keeping the weight off. Here are
some basic strategies to keeping excess weight off the body
during those festive holiday months.

Let's combine some initial ideas here into some food intake
strategies that can help you feel full and avoid the
temptation to overeat. They include, getting plenty of
water intake and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Water is the most important nutrient in the body, and being
well hydrated year round is certainly important, as the
body burns more fat when it is well hydrated. Water also
helps keep the stomach felling full and naturally
suppresses the appetite as a result. Cold water requires
the body to warm it up, which naturally raises the
metabolism slightly.

The same benefits apply to taking in a lot of fruits and
veggies, which usually are a part of the party scene on a
tray somewhere along with dips and a lot of other tempting
finger foods nearby. Fruits and veggies have a lot of
fiber and are naturally low in calories, especially
vegetables, so the feeling of being full is so effective at
curbing the appetite away from the really potentially
damaging foods that can easily be overeaten if care is not
taken.

The next very important thing that is a strategy is to make
sure that you eat 5 small meals a day during the holidays.
This keep you from going to a party starving and eaeting
far too much of rich foods until you are full. If less
than 5 small meals a day are eaten, the metabolism tends to
slow, and the appetite once you get to a party tends to be
at its highest. This is a recipe for an overeating
disaster. Low metabolism from skipping meals plus
overeating rich foods because you are hungry from not
eating equals a lot of weight gain. If you eat frequently
during the day, your appetite will be lower and easier to
control and your metabolism will be at its highest, the
perfect solution for not gaining weight. This also allows
you to feel more satisfied on only one dessert serving,
instead of the huge variety that usually populate the trays
of holiday parties and tables everywhere.

Alcohol consumption is a huge potential contributor to
weight gain because of the large number of calories present
in alcoholic drinks. These calories are stored immediately
as fat and need to be burned off later by the body, so it
is vital to drink alcohol in moderation.

And finally, the exercise component: getting regular cardio
and strength training in provides the benefit it always
has: keeping our metabolism active and burning fat like a
well oiled machine.

All these things add up to keeping your body at its leanest
during the holidays, and are strategies that would be
effective no matter the fitness level or age. Have fun and
stay lean this holiday season.

----------------------------------------------------
About The Author: Charles Carter, BS in Exercise Science is
President of LIVE, llc of http://www.liveleantoday.com -
visit the website for more information on weight loss, core
fitness programs, optimal diets, and online personal
trainer and dietician services. For more information on
products go to http://shop.liveleantoday.com .

Get A Workout Playing With Cards

Get A Workout Playing With Cards
If you have a deck of cards then you have the perfect means
to get a wicked fat burning workout while you are on the
road or in the field. This is a workout I use with my
fitness-orientated clients that want a change of pace. It's
perfect for the people that don't want massive muscles but
want to burn fat and stay athletic and trim. My clients
find that after a couple weeks of this style routine, they
are able to climb, snowboard or keep up a high energy pace
all day long.

In my army days, this was a great one to do while on
exercise in the field because it required no equipment and
the cards could be used for less physical fun later!

If you do MMA, you can also get great results with this
routine. All that changes is the exercises in order to
better mimic actual fighting movements. For example the
Burpees would turn into more of a sprawl. The jumping jacks
and step ups could be replaced with specified reps of
combinations on the heavy bag.

It's simple yet so effective, just keep flipping cards.
Give this a shot and maybe keep a bucket handy if you are
really going to give a good go.

Start off with one minute each of the exercises below. Go
through the whole list before taking a break:

Jumping Jacks

Bodyweight Squats

Sit-ups

Pushups

Now onto the good stuff. Assign each suit in the deck with
an exercise. Here is what I usually pick for the beginner
level:

Clubs - Burpees on bench or floor

Spades - Walkouts

Hearts - Sit-ups

Diamonds - Pushups

This is the easiest assignment. Whatever number card you
pick, you do the number of the card with the exercise for
that suit. For example if you turn the Jack of clubs, that
means you would do 10 Burpees. All face cards are 10. Aces
thank goodness are only one! Black jokers are 100
bodyweight squats in under 4 minutes. Red jokers are 75
sit-ups where every five you flip to do a pushup in 4
minutes. I have a "special" deck that a couple extra jokers
sneaked into somehow. You do ten cards nonstop and then
take a 30 second break if you are new to this type of
training.

If all is going well and you want to up the ante some, then
try this assignment. It will work the muscles with higher
resistance movements with focus on the lower body.

Clubs - Burpees off the floor with a jump.

Spades - Dive Bombers or Hindu Pushups. This is a killer
effective when done right.

Hearts - Do a sit-up on the floor, then standup and do two
punches (jab, straight) and two front kicks (left and
right).

Diamonds - Jumping three way lunges

Start fast and attempt to complete all the cards and jokers
by the end of 60 minutes. If you start to fade on the high
impact exercises, throw in an active rest. You do this by
automatically adding the equal amount of jumping jacks
followed by step-ups as the previous card had you doing.
For example: An eight of hearts would mean 8 sit-ups, 8
jumping jacks and 8 step-ups, then flip the next card.

When you do finish the deck in under an hour, then you
start to race the clock. Keep track of how long it takes to
complete the deck and race to beat that time at your next
session.

This method has given my clients and myself many hours of
"pleasure"! Give it a try when you want to do something
different for a workout, want extra conditioning for MMA,
sports or have little weight training equipment available.

----------------------------------------------------
Ray Burton is the owner of BuildingBodies Personal Training
and author of the Fat To Fit Diet And Workout Program. Ray
teaches you how to lose fat and increase your metabolism
using the little-known secrets of the world's best athletes
and military personnel at his free fitness information
website http://www.buildingbodies.ca

Here is a Method Helping Women Burn Belly Fat and Reduce Stomach Fat

Here is a Method Helping Women Burn Belly Fat and Reduce Stomach Fat
First you need to stop the calorie counting if you want to
burn belly fat. Calorie counting leads to frustration and
failure because it is too time consuming and you won't ever
reduce your stomach fat. All that happens is you end up
eating more than you should out of frustration.

For those that have tried to do calorie counting does this
sound familiar? The food doesn't have a label for you to
know how many calories you are eating, you don't have your
notebook to right down what you ate or you try at night to
remember everything you had that day to add up your
calories only to find you can't remember or you went over
your calorie allotment.

What if there was a way to eat foods without having to
count calories yet still not only lose weight, but lose
more weight than the average dieter?

Well, some researchers have proven that there is a better
way than calorie counting. This doesn't involve any
special program or fancy method of determining calories.
It involves choosing the proper foods at the proper times.
If you eat the right nutrients at the right times you not
only feel full on less calories, but you maximize your fat
furning potential and reduce stomach fat at the same time.

Pennsylvania State University researchers divided up 71
obese women into two groups. Both ate a reduced fat diet,
but one group ate predominately fruits, vegetables, and
lean meats. These are foods that are high in water
content. Six months later the group eating the fruits,
vegetables and lean meats lost an extra 5 pounds more than
then the other group.

They also ate more food by weight and felt less hungry
throughout the day. These water rich foods allow you to
eat good size portions while still providing fewer calories
so that you can reduce stomach fat. Eating foods such as
lean meats also provide a high thermic effect which helps
you burn belly fat faster than eating other foods.
Another reason why these foods works is because they are
foods that help you feel fuller longer. Protein is a great
nutrient to help fill you up without a lot of calories and
fruits and vegetables contain fiber, which also provides
that fullness. All keys to reducing stomach fat.

Provided are some examples of lean protein and water rich
fruits and vegetables to help you burn belly fat.

Lean Protein:

Chicken or turkey (white meat)
Tuna fish (canned, in water)
Lean beef
Egg whites
Non-fat cottage cheese
Fish (shark, salmon, flounder, etc.)
Shellfish

Water Rich Fruits and Vegetables

Broccoli
Salad (lettuce, romaine, etc.); use non-fat dressing.
Cabbage
Green beans
Spinach
Zucchini
Squash
Red or green pepper
Asparagus
Carrots
Tomatoes
Cauliflower
Mushrooms
Artichoke hearts
Raspberries
Strawberries
Blackberries
Apple
Pear
Prunes
Orange

If you want to burn belly fat fast then make sure that at
every feeding opportunity you incorporate a lean protein
choice and at least 1 fruit or vegetable into your meal
plan. To reduce stomach fat consistency is the key along
with the proper fat burning foods. The foods listed above
meet those guidelines to burn belly fat.

Do away with calorie counting forever and start enjoying
life again. There is no need to diet to burn belly fat and
quite frankly it doesn't work that well. Instead eat
frequently and eat the right foods and not only will you
not have to diet, but you will burn belly fat at an
alarmingly fast rate. No more trying to remember what you
ate for breakfast or if you had a snack at 10am and how
many calories it was.

----------------------------------------------------
If you are serious about how to burn belly fat go to
http://dress-size-reduction-blog.com for a free special
report on how to lose 20 pounds fast. Jayson Hunter, RD,
CSCS is the creator of the "Dramatic Dress Size Reduction
Diet." As a registered dietitian Jayson knows the secrets
to helping any woman drop dress sizes and inches fast, so
they can look their best for any special occasion.