Weight Loss for Longevity

How Weight Loss Can Make You Successful in Life

2009-09-12T02:56:00.000-07:00

Everybody knows that obesity is not synonymous with longevity. Overweight can cause all sorts of health problems, from high blood pressure to high cholesterol; obesity is an underlying cause of many diseases and disorders, such as heart disease and diabetes, among others.

There is another reason why you want to lose weight: to enhance your body image.

Body weight determines your body shape, which defines your body image. The importance of body image is evidenced by the fact that Americans are spending billions of dollars each year just to keep them in good shape. Like everybody else, you want to feel good about yourself, because your body image is an important component of self-esteem and self-confidence, without which it would be difficult for you to achieve any endeavor in life. Self image defines who you are. In life, success is the benchmark of how good you are - or how good you feel about yourself.

To lose pounds and to maintain body weight is a difficult endeavor, requiring knowledge, planning, discipline, and perseverance.

1. You need to be knowledgeable about weight loss. Knowledge is empowering in your effort to lose weight: you need to know all the basics of food, muscle gaining secrets, weight gain and weight management. Don't hop from one fad diet to another, and don't listen to the hype spun out by the billion-dollar weight loss industry. Knowledge will help you discern the truths from the myths.

2. You need to plan your weight loss. There is no success without setting goals. But goal setting has to be achievable and realistic, and that is where good planning comes into place.

3. Discipline is strengthening the weaknesses in your character through repetition and adjustment in order to achieve your weight loss goals.

4. As with any endeavor in life, there will be ups and downs, and you need perseverance, which is founded on your passion for success.

Success in weight loss is a reflection of how you perceive yourself in your pursuit of success. Success in life comes in many forms and shapes: career success, financial success, and creativity success - just to name a few. They all have one thing in common: success entails sacrifice and stress. Success in losing weight requires sacrifice, and the process can be stressful and intimidating too.

If you really want to lose pounds, you can do it! The question is: Do you want to do it?

Body image is a health-oriented incentive. In the past, men were more concerned about how their body functioned and women were concerned about how they looked. Today, both sexes paid attention to their body image.

What would happen if an individual fails to maintain his or her body image? Anger, frustration, guilt, self-denial are all self-destructive negative emotions, which may culminate in eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia. The mental and psychological impact of repeated failures in weight loss attempts can be devastating.

If you want to be successful in life, start with Combat the Fat to lose weight and maintain body image.

Get a FREE copy of my 134-page e-book ALL-ROUND WEIGHT LOSS; click here for your free download.

Also, visit my websites: The Seven Pillars of Wisdom and Are You Healthy?

Stephen Lau

Daily Wisdom on Weight Loss

2009-06-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

Weight loss is more than just about focusing on what to eat and what not to eat. Oprah Winfrey hit the nail on the head when she said: "My greatest failure was in believing that weight issue was just about weight."

There are many things you can do everyday to help you with your weight loss. This daily wisdom may not have anything to do with what to eat or what not to eat.

1. Brush your teeth as often as possible. Always carry a travel-size tooth brush with mint-flavor tooth paste. Brushing teeth more often not only saves you dental cost but also changes the flavor in your mouth (yes, this may also change your food craving).

2. Add spices, instead of sugar, to your food, even desserts. Eating curry or hot chili pepper causes you to drink more water, and thus giving you a feeling of satiety.

3. Resist the temptation of trying different flavors or versions of the same type of food. If you like chips, just stick to one flavor. Trying one flavor after another only makes you eat more and gain more.

4. Always prepare your meals ahead of time, such as preparing in advance 2-3 meals instead of just one, to avoid last-minute rush for processed foods or TV dinners.

5. When you do your supermarket shopping, always get a list of what you need to buy. Do not be distracted by unhealthy food items on check-out lanes. Never shop when you are hungry.

Daily wisdom on eating and shopping helps you not only to lose weight but also to live healthy for longevity.

For more information, go to my web page: Health Longevity.

Stephen Lau

How Free Radicals May Affect Your Weight Loss

2009-06-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

Free radicals occur naturally as byproducts of oxidation, such as breathing and eating.

It is normal for free radicals to be present in your body in small numbers. However, when they accumulate, they may affect the normal functioning of your body, including your body's metabolism. In addition, free radicals increase the toxicity in your body. Toxins in your body affect the health of your cells, specifically the acid-and-alkaline level (pH level) of your body chemistry. Excess acidity impairs cellular health, creating food cravings and high sugar levels.

The truth of the matter is that weight loss is not just eating less. It is about the type of food you eat. The main sources of acidification is your diet. Avoid animal proteins (they are more difficult for digestion and assimilation, and hence creating toxins), cereals, and sugars. Lifestyle changes are required, such as drinking (alcohol and caffeinated drinks) and smoking. Also, stress may change your brain chemistry, creating food cravings and eating disorders.

Foods that fight free radicals include: chlorella (an alga containing high levels of chlorophyll) and garlic. Go on an acid-alkaline diet.

Therefore, weight loss has to do with your body's toxicity and its pH level, not just the amount of food consumed.

Always eat super foods. Preferably, go organic, or you may even start your own organic garden to eliminate as much toxin as possible from your diet.

For more information on healthy eating and healthy living, go to my web page: The 7 Pillars of Health Wisdom.

Stephen Lau

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The Hunger Hormones - How They Mess Up Your Body Weight

2009-05-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

Your Creator has give you body hunger hormones to tell you when to eat and when not to eat.

Leptin is the anti-hunger hormone that makes you sleep throughout the night without any desire for food. Ghrelin is the hunger hormone that makes you want to eat to get the nutrients your body needs.

Those who are obese have developed resistance to the anti-hunger leptin hormone, such that they may feel hunger despite having plenty of fat reserves and head towards the fridge for a midnight snack.

In ordinary individuals, the ghrelin hormone will be switched off once their stomachs are full. However, this is not the case with those who are obese. They have a problem switching off their ghrelin hunger hormone.

Why is that so?

The reason is that their hunger hormones have been messed up. There are many reasons for that:

1. They may have switched from one fad diet to another, and in the process have repeatedly messed up their body's metabolism.

2. They may have been on starvation mode for some time. As a result, they have neither the calories nor the nutrients that their body needs.

3. They may have under stress for an extended period of time, and stress can play havoc with their hormone imbalance.

4. They may have emotional problems, which can impair their hormonal functioning. In addition, hormonal change associated with premenstrual syndrome may also be the culprit.

5. Their eating habits may have also played a part, such as eating too fast, or drinking too much fluid during meals. A dysfunctional gastrointestinal tract can upset their body's hormones.

6. An unhealthy diet is a source of body toxins. Eating too much sugar, processed food, or a diet high in animal fat can create toxicity in the body that may impair hormonal functioning.

Weight loss is a very complex matter. Once the body's metabolism is messed up, it is not so easy to fix it. Eating Right is important.

Stephen Lau

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Body Detox for Longevity

2009-05-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

A sea salt bath is excellent for body detoxification: it cleanses your skin and improves your blood circulation.

1. Get 1 to 2 cups of sea salt (not the table salt obtainable at the supermarket).

2. With some warm water, make the salt into a thick paste.

3. Use small, circular movements to massage your body, beginning with your neck, shoulders, and down to the rest of your body.

4. Then take a hot bath, and let your body soak for 10 minutes.

5. Rub dry your body, and go to bed.

If you are hard pressed for time, take your sea salt bath on weekends to refresh as well as to detoxify your body.

A detox bath is excellent for body detoxification and stress relief.

For more information, go to my web page: Health Longevity.

Stephen Lau

All About Stephen Lau

Mindful Meditation for Body Detox to Lose Weight

2009-05-20T06:13:00.000-07:00

Body detox is the foundation of weight loss. Ultimate weight loss occurs only after body cleansing.

Mindful meditation is the most natural detox of the body and the mind. Mindful meditation is both breathing meditation and relaxation meditation for weight loss detox.

Here is how you begin your mindful meditation:

1. Set aside 10 minutes or so.

2. Sit comfortably with both feet on the floor.

3. Good posture brings stability, which is right mindfulness for mindful meditation. Align your spine with your head and neck to allow your breaths to flow freely. Rest your hands on your lap or on your knees.

4. Start with 3 deep, cleansing breaths. Breathing meditation requires you to breathe naturally. Be mindful of areas in your body that have tension, such as your neck, shoulders, or lower back. Send your breaths to these areas. This is relaxation meditation.

5. If your mind wanders, notice your breath. If you are aware of any sound around you, notice it, but without consciously hearing it. If you are aware of the temperature in the room, again notice it. Whenever you become less aware of your sensations, return to your breaths. Notice how you inhale and exhale, or hold your breath.

Mindful meditation is breathing meditation and relaxation meditation for body detox. Mindfulness is the most natural weight loss detox.

Learn more about optimal breathing for natural detox.

Visit my web page on Meditation Techniques, and Chinese Health and Healing.

Stephen Lau

All About Stephen Lau

Body Awareness for Weight Loss

2009-05-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

Body awareness is your relationship with your body. Your body awareness is important to weight loss.

Many dieters are concerned with what they see on the bathroom scale, or with the body shape they see reflected on the mirror.

Body awareness helps you to optimize your breathing, which facilitates the removal of toxins, and a toxic body is an impediment to weight loss.

Body awareness is more than mindfulness of your breathing. Body awareness is adapting your lifestyle to help your body to get what it needs. For example, body awareness is mindfulness of how eating makes you feel:

* Be aware of the taste of the food: how it feels in your mouth.

* Be aware of how you feel as you eat the food, especially after have eaten it.

You can further enhance your body awareness by the following:

1. Lie on your back on the floor, wearing no clothes.

2. Be aware of your body, how it feels against the floor, especially your spine.

3. Start focusing on your feet - how do your toes feel?

4. Then, slowly shift your focus up your body - from your legs to the upper parts of your body until you come to your head. Are you aware of any tension? Do you feel relaxed?

Practicing body awareness on a daily basis will fine tune your body and awaken an internal awareness that will help you in your food choices. Remember, you should eat what you want to eat, and let your body tell you what you want to eat. There are times you want to eat certain food (what you call "forbidden" food), but you eventually decide against it, or at least you end up eating much less than you originally intended to - this is your body awareness working for you. Surprisingly, freedom of choices in food may help you overcome your food cravings, leading to weight gain or failure in weight loss.

For more information, go to my web page: Weight Loss for Longevity.

Stephen Lau

All About Stephen Lau

The Art of Optimal Breathing

2009-05-16T19:31:00.001-07:00

Breathing is more than a natural process for living: it is an art for weight loss. Optimal breathing puts you in touch with your body. Optimal breathing is a must for optimal health, especially weight loss. The following is the art of optimal breathing:

1. Lie comfortably on the floor. Bring your feet close in to your bottoms with your soles together. Place your hands gently on your stomach.

2. Breathe in slowly. Then exhale your breath slowly. Repeat the process.

3. Bring your knees together. Stretch out your legs. Relax for a few minutes before you get up.

Breathing is a simple, natural process by which you take in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. You can turn this simple process into an art if you are mindful of it. Optimal breathing means you are totally aware of what breathing is doing to your body.

You can also breathe to detoxify your body of toxins, thereby strengthening and toning your body system. This is how you can breathe to detoxify for weight loss:

1. Inhale slowly and deeply.

2. Exhale briskly, like sneezing, by tightening and flattening your stomach.

Accumulated toxins are stumbling blocks to weight loss. Optimal Breathing shows you how to breathe right for wellness and weight loss.

For more information on weight loss, visit my web page: Weight Loss for Longevity. You can also get a FREE copy of my 143-page e-book All-Round Weight Loss.

Stephen Lau

All About Stephen Lau

Weight Loss for Longevity

2009-05-11T15:34:00.001-07:00

If you wish to live longer, lose some of your belly fat. Obesity is the culprit of many degenerative diseases, and a host of many disorders. No centenarians are overweight. So, longevity requires weight control and weight management.

Americans love to eat, as evidenced by the Standard American Diet (SAD), which is loaded with saturated fat and calories. But Americans also want to lose weight too, as indicated by the billions of dollars spent on gym and dieting. Hence, many of us find ourselves in a dilemma. We want to eat our cake and have it, too.

The drug industry and the weight loss industry have explored every avenue to come up with a magic bullet that can solve our weight problem.

ALLI is the first FDA-approved over-the-counter weight loss drug. But many consumers have become disappointed and disillusioned because ALLI is no magic bullet. A registered dietitian and consultant for the drug manufacturer announced: "This isn't a pill, it's a plan." The drug is efficacious in guiding and preparing you to lose weight gradually by eating smaller portions, following a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet, and becoming more physically active. If this is the best the drug can offer, then why do we need to take the drug? A drug is a drug - a chemical. All drugs are toxic. Overweight is often a sign of toxicity of the body system. Why should we add insult to injury by making our bodies more toxic?

If you want to know how to lose weight, remove toxins from your body. This is a prerequisite of weight loss. Any attempt at weight loss when the body is toxic is like washing dishes in a sink of dirty water - it simply won't work!

Detoxify your body with Master Cleanse.

For more information, go to my web page: Weight Loss for Longevity.

Stephen Lau

All About Stephen Lau