Healthy Diet Mistakes

Trying to eat healthier? Great. Just avoid these 9 common diet mistakes.
One of the happiest days of my life was when I found out that chocolate (yes, chocolate!) was actually good for me. The rich, creamy candy I'd been surreptitiously snacking on since I was a kid was packed with heart-healthy antioxidants.
I gleefully loaded up my shopping cart with bars and bags of chocolate -- dark, of course -- and gorged myself silly.
Then I came to another realization. Dark chocolate, though undoubtedly healthy in small quantities, happens to also be loaded with sugar and fat. I owed my thighs a sincere apology.
The problem is, there is no quick fix when it comes to healthy eating.
"A healthy diet relies on a lifelong commitment to eating the right foods and eating the right way," says Sari Greaves, RD, nutrition director at Step Ahead Weight Loss Center in Bedminster, N.J., and an American Dietetic Association (ADA) spokeswoman.
Even if you already knew that, you may still go astray when you try to eat healthier.
Here are a few of the most glaring diet mistakes people make, and how to fix them before they derail your healthy eating plan.
One diet promises that you can lose 10 pounds in a week by eating as much as you want -- as long as what you're eating is cabbage soup. Or grapefruit. Or cookies.
Bad idea.
If you go on an extreme, short-term diet, "you're setting yourself up to be very hungry and then bingeing," says Marjorie Nolan, MS, RD, CDN, CPT, a registered dietitian in New York and national ADA spokeswoman.
By cutting out entire food groups, you're also prone to nutritional shortfalls and boredom. Eventually, you're going to crave the foods you're missing.
"Even when the diet works...it doesn't teach you how to maintain your weight loss. It's just a gimmick to restrict calories," Nolan says.
Some of the one-food diets can also have unpleasant side effects. Grapefruit acts as a diuretic, which can lead to dehydration, Nolan says. It can also make you gassy and can interact with some drugs, such as those that treat high blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythms.
Fix It: "The bottom line is, if a product or diet sounds too good to be true, it probably is," Greaves says. She advises steering clear of any diet that promises fast results.
"Weight loss should be a gradual process in which you lose no more than half a pound to 1 pound a week by eating a well-rounded diet," Greaves says.

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Health and Wellness Products for a Healthy Lifestyle

Health and wellness products are aimed to promote a healthy lifestyle by catering to the physical, as well as mental and emotional aspects of health.

Health and wellness products are used to take care of the body and mind by managing stress, aiding healthy eating habits, as well as maintaining a safe environment.

When someone speaks of wellness, they are referring to what is called "alternative medicine," which deals with the state of being healthy and health-conscious.

Well Being

When determining the well being of a person, many factors are taken into consideration. Some of these factors include nutrition, disease prevention, environmental influences, as well as public health issues.

There are health and wellness products on the market that explore and achieve this sense of well-being which alternative medicine offers.

Health and wellness products are based upon the idea and practice that the body as a whole should be taken care of after the basic living necessities are in order. This concept of wellness was developed into a popular concern during the late 19th century. This came at a time when the public began to place emphasis on self-improvement.

Many early health and wellness products were considered simple items like toothpaste, mouthwash and certain cereals, which were marketed as such at that time.

Blood pressure machines, cholesterol tests and glucose meters can also be considered a health and wellness product because they monitor some of the body's overall state of health. Other health and wellness products include vitamins or items which avoid certain food elements that have been proven to lower a person's well being.

Preventive Health Care

There are some people who wish to follow a variety of preventive health care methods, including homeopathy, as well as herbal medicine, which provides an array of different health and wellness product options. These practices are considered alternative because there is no concrete scientific evidence to prove whether these methods are effective.

Jewelry

Some health and wellness products can come in the form of jewelry, such as BalanceBracelets, which are supposed to decrease pain, as well as increase energy.

To ease joint pain, some will turn to the use of copper bracelets, rings and anklets for treating the discomfort caused by arthritis and tendonitis.

Another health and wellness product utilizes magnetic therapy, which can be found in the form of bracelets, rings, necklaces, bangles, as well as magnetic wraps.

Healing Energy

Plenty of health and wellness products can be found on the Internet that embraces the concept of Reiki healing energy. There are items include transformational beeswax ear candles, which are made up of herbs, flower essences and crystals. Some people use this form of alternative medicine to increase the strength of their aura.

Other health and wellness products that are available include:

· Light Therapy Products, such as portable desk lamps that offer a person 10,000 lux of diffused light that can be used to treat seasonal conditions.

· Herbal Supplements, including kava, ginseng, noni juice and energy drinks.

· Gemstone Therapy Products, including jewelry and crystals for the purpose of healing, as well as psychic enhancement purposes.

· Colloidal Silver and Zinc, which comes in the form of a pill, is used as an immune booster.

More health and wellness information and FREE exclusive diet and health magazines, are available on our web site: http://www.net-planet.org

"The Way to Wellness" It's time to start a Healthy life: your 7 days program

How many times have you gone to sleep at night, swearing you'll go to the gym in the morning, and then changing your mind just eight hours later because when you get up, you don't feel like exercising?

While this can happen to the best of us, it doesn't mean you should drop the ball altogether when it comes to staying fit. What people need to realize is that staying active and eating right are critical for long-term health and wellness -- and that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The more you know about how your body responds to your lifestyle choices, the better you can customize a nutrition and exercise plan that is right for you. When you eat well, increase your level of physical activity, and exercise at the proper intensity, you are informing your body that you want to burn a substantial amount of fuel. This translates to burning fat more efficiently for energy.

In other words, proper eating habits plus exercise equals fast metabolism, which, in turn gives you more energy throughout the day and allows you to do more physical work with less effort.

The true purpose of exercise is to send a repetitive message to the body asking for improvement in metabolism, strength, aerobic capacity and overall fitness and health. Each time you exercise, your body responds by upgrading its capabilities to burn fat throughout the day and night, Exercise doesn't have to be intense to work for you, but it does need to be consistent.

I recommend engaging in regular cardiovascular exercise four times per week for 20 to 30 minutes per session, and resistance training four times per week for 20 to 25 minutes per session. This balanced approach provides a one-two punch, incorporating aerobic exercise to burn fat and deliver more oxygen, and resistance training to increase lean body mass and burn more calories around the block.

Here's a sample exercise program that may work for you:

* Warm Up -- seven to eight minutes of light aerobic activity intended to increase blood flow and lubricate and warm-up your tendons and joints.

* Resistance Training -- Train all major muscle groups. One to two sets of each exercise. Rest 45 seconds between sets.

* Aerobic Exercise -- Pick two favorite activities, they could be jogging, rowing, biking or cross-country skiing, whatever fits your lifestyle. Perform 12 to 15 minutes of the first activity and continue with 10 minutes of the second activity. Cool down during the last five minutes.

* Stretching -- Wrap up your exercise session by stretching, breathing deeply, relaxing and meditating.

When starting an exercise program, it is important to have realistic expectations. Depending on your initial fitness level, you should expect the following changes early on.

* From one to eight weeks -- Feel better and have more energy.

* From two to six months -- Lose size and inches while becoming leaner. Clothes begin to fit more loosely. You are gaining muscle and losing fat.

* After six months -- Start losing weight quite rapidly.

Once you make the commitment to exercise several times a week, don't stop there. You should also change your diet and/or eating habits,' says Zwiefel. Counting calories or calculating grams and percentages for certain nutrients is impractical. Instead, I suggest these easy-to-follow guidelines:

* Eat several small meals (optimally four) and a couple of small snacks throughout the day

* Make sure every meal is balanced -- incorporate palm-sized proteins like lean meats, fish, egg whites and dairy products, fist-sized portions of complex carbohydrates like whole-wheat bread and pasta, wild rice, multigrain cereal and potatoes, and fist-sized portions of vegetable and fruits

* Limit your fat intake to only what's necessary for adequate flavor

* Drink at least eight 8-oz. glasses of water throughout the day

* I also recommend that you take a multi-vitamin each day to ensure you are getting all the vitamins and minerals your body needs.

I suppose that's all I can think of for now. I should extend my thanks to a doctor friend of mine. Without him, I wouldn't be able to write this article, or keep my sanity.

Enjoy life, we all deserve it.