Do You Believe Smoking Is A Way To Stay Slim

By Ng Peng Hock

Smoking can help one stays slim.

Are you sure?

It does not sound convincing at all but unfortunately it is a common belief among teenage girls.

Besides the many healthy problems like heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, stroke, and many others that are associated with overweight, the other important issue for teenage girls is their body image.

Research conducted in the United Kingdom and Canada showed that 1/3 of girls view weight gain as a reason not to give up cigarette.

A female smoker shared her thoughts: “If I don’t smoke I tend to eat a lot, especially candy and chocolate, and things like that. The last time I tried cutting down on cigarettes I gained 2 or 3 kg in couple of weeks. To be honest, I don’t really worry about the health risks associated with smoking. They seem so distant. But I can see the link with my weight directly.”

Is there any proven link between smoking and weight control?

American researchers found that smokers are just as likely to put on weight as non-smokers. It tends to be those who are slightly overweight that smoke the most. Therefore, it is a wrong belief for young women to take up smoking hoping it will help them manage their weight. However, it is a tendency for people to gain weight when they quit smoking.

According to Dr Chris Steele, when giving up smoking, about 1/3 of people gain quite a lot of weight, 1/3 gain a small amount of weight, and the remaining 1/3 do not put on any weight at all. Dr Chris Steele is a British general practitioner who has run smokers’ clinics for more than 30 years.

Smoking increases the risk of contracting diseases such as heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and stroke. If there is a choice between stopping smoking and putting on a couple of kilos, you should stop smoking first to halt the worse impact on your overall health. After you have stopped smoking, you can then deal with any extra weight that may have crept on.

Although some people do gain weight after they give up cigarette, smoking itself does not cause weight loss. Therefore, taking up smoking will not help you stay slim. The best and safest way to control weight is to follow the tried-and-tested method: exercise and adopt a healthy diet.

People have intention to quit smoking but do not know how to do it can take a look at Dr Steele’s 10 Point Quit Smoking Plan and his Fat Farewell Weight Loss Plan for quitters who are worried about gain weight. Email writer of this article for his web address.

Feel free to use this article on your website or ezine as long as the following information about author/website is included.

Heart Disease Prevention - 8 Simple Ways You Can Do Immediately, Go to: www.howtopreventheartdisease.com

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How to Choose a Gym

By Dave Draper

It takes courage to seek out a gym and walk through the front door expecting a throng of obnoxiously confident and shapely bodies to evaluate your hips and biceps. Your nifty home gym in the garage, basement or bedroom becomes most attractive suddenly, limitations and all.

Gyms come in all shapes and sizes: squares, rectangles, L-shaped, U-shaped, upper level, two stories. Go to the cities and they’re on penthouse floors; go to the suburbs and they cover acres, with ball courts, pools, restaurants and golf facilities. Each gym has its own personality largely based on its ownership and operating team, the neighborhood in which it resides and, subsequently, the folks it attracts. Like a mate, there’s a gym for everybody.

Here’s a summary of determining factors to consider, and how they might suit your expectations:

Price
A usual first consideration, but how much it costs to get the most of what you want and need should not be at the top of the list. Hopefully you’ll recognize the imperative nature and true value of your training activity and decide that you’d easily pay more for a gym that inspires.

Location
The nearer to home, work or the center of your activities, the better. The world has become complicated and excuses fly when we’re on the wrong side of town. Time is money. Right? Truth is, there’s no excuse to put your health and well-being in second place to getting home or even going to the bank. Convenience is golden. However, don’t let it dictate joining a gym you find unlikable just because it’s at your offramp.

Hours
Here’s where 24-hour gyms shine. Just knowing you can go anytime you want has a great appeal. Where do you fit in? Try your best to set a time when your minutes in the gym are honored, unrushed and efficaciously applied. Smile. Be happy. Will you really train at 3a.m.?

Phone contact
Let your fingers do the walking for the first curious steps. If you dial a likely gym and the gym employee snaps, “What do you want?,” you might put a little question mark by that name and go on to the next facility on your list. If you ask price and the answer becomes a secret, put a check by that name and move on. Slick talk is not reserved for carnivals and used-car dealerships. We have to be sharp. Listen for honesty as you engage in conversation, whether professionally conveyed or offered through inexperienced youthfulness. Eventually you’ll want your answers made clear in a visit and a week’s worth of complimentary workouts.

Member volume
How crowded does your prospective gym get? This is a major consideration and can be determined only by visiting the facility at those hours when you’ll normally train. Hop on a stationary bike for a 15-minute cruise and assess your surroundings. What if this was your home training ground? A grand gym down the street with all the attractions and equipment is of no use at all if you can’t work out with focus and efficiency because there are too many bodies on the floor. In fact, the anxiety that ensues is a near crisis to the serious trainer. You want to move smoothly from exercise to exercise without mobs, glares or testy attitudes. Hey, is there parking?

Amenities
Don’t pay for a lap pool, giant sauna, lounge and aerobics room if you’re not going to use them. More is not necessarily better, and it might be necessarily more expensive. Larger gyms tend to be clubby. Is that what you’re looking for?

Equipment
The quality and condition of equipment and the choice of the tools of the trade are central to the final decision. Well-maintained, seasoned machinery—not fresh out of the crate—can be more useful and fun than the recent trick gadgetry turned out daily in this big-bucks industry by tacky, techy entrepreneurs. Enough equipment is enough; too much, poorly laid out, can be a setting for a factory and not an appealing, functional gym.

Atmosphere
Are you standing in a muscle-building gym or a scene where boy meets girl and they hang out like it was the mall? Do the babes cheer the big guys as they spear their Olympic bars across the floor and grunt? Do you think this is cool? No? Go to the next merchant of fitness on your list.

Management attitude
Look for respect, politeness, honest and direct answers, and an eagerness to show you around to discuss your needs and the gym’s attributes. Do you feel like a number, a dollar sign or a fellow iron-and-steel aficionado? It happens not infrequently that a good gym is the victim of the bad rap that comes from the bottom-line sharks uptown and several minutes of open conversation brings the dross to the surface.

Clientele
Who’s to your left, who’s to your right and can you stand them? Are they snobs; are they slobs? Do they yell, groan and bang the weights around? I’m bad. Do they tiptoe, wiggle and whimper? You want to feel comfortable, accepted, appreciated and encouraged where ever you are. You want to look forward to your time in the gym when you can focus, learn and grow. A good gym should be a refuge where you can lick your wounds, as well as a haven of energy for hard work and physical expression.

Cleanliness
Cleanliness and neatness are two outstanding qualities that define the ownership and membership. They are marks of order, responsibility and respect. Perfect is not possible where people by the hundreds work and play, but a unified effort to keep the corners clean is admirable, to say nothing of hygienic. Let’s put our weights away and pick up after ourselves, encouraged the merry ole muscle maker in a jolly voice.

Copyright 2006 Dave Draper

Dave Draper, former Mr. Universe, writes a weekly email newsletter — sign up for free at his website, davedraper.com, where you’ll also find workout routines and advice, an active discussion forum and, of course, a hefty instructional blog.

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Counting Cereal Points - with Low Points

I thought I would jot down a few of my thoughts about counting cereal points.

Generally, the nutritional information for cereals call for about 1-cup of cereal with 1/2 cup of milk, or skim milk. I prefer 2% milk, and that is 3 points per 1-cup. Also, 1 cup of cereal is like a really low bowl of cereal so I tend to overfill my bowl to make it overflowing. .. so, my first bowl is about 1-1/2 cups of cereal. I then put in about 3/4 cup of milk (otherwise the cereal will float out of the bowl and onto the table). And, when I finish my cereal, there is usually a little milk left in the bowl, so just pour in some more cereal in to utilize the rest of the milk in my bowl!

I very carefully measured out my cereal eating habits one day, and feel comfortable that in most situations, I end up eating about 2 cups of cereal with 1 cup of milk. I figure - when I’m desparate that none of my eating habits is helping me lose weight, this is one portion control I will get a better handle on to reduce my intake.

I prefer to eat General Mills brands of Cheerios and other types of cereals that will be no more counting 2 points per cup. At Superstore, they have the bigger boxes of Cheerios and I seem to rotate between Honey Nut Cheerios and Apples and Cinnamon Cheerios. For some reasons, my two papillon dogs Maxxie and Sophie don’t like the apples and cinnamon Cheerios, but love the honey nut Cheerios. I myself, prefer the Lucky Charms cereal, which is also 2 points per cup .. but I tend to eat cereal more than one sitting in a day!

But - if you are looking to have the biggest bang for your buck of cereal - or rather, have the most cereal for the least amount of points .. this is what I would suggest …. my wife stocks up on it regularly, and I only eat it when I run out of Cheerios.

FLAX Cereal

The nutritional information calculates that 3/4 of a cup of Flax cereal is 1 point .. but, if you do the math and extrapolate in up to 3 cups of cereal - it calculates to be 3 points! So - I’ve been just calculating it to be 1 cup = 1 point for ease of remembering.

It’s pretty tasty .. if you like Corn Flakes and those type of cereals that get mushy if you leave it too long

               

What If Your Doctor Said You’re Obese?

By Bentley Thompson

If you were told by your doctor that you are significantly overweight, would it have been surprizing to you? Most certainly not; you already would (or should) have known. You have been ignoring reality all this time.

In fact, if I am obese and my doctor said otherwise I would have known he/she was telling me a fat lie.

So, by now you would have been noticing the gradual inflation of your health every time you go to your wardrobe or to the department store to choose your clothes. Your mirror would have been screaming at you for months or years, but you always kept on doing what you’re doing.

Well now, if you are obese, overweight, or are on the road to becoming, consider this simple argument…

What does it mean to be obese?

It means…

* You’re carrying around too much load, and you are not getting any younger.
* You need a bigger, stronger heart since you have now significantly increased the workload for your heart. You can only increase the power of your heart by exercising - which you (most likely) have not been doing.
* Your body mass index (BMI) is 30+
* Maybe your belly jiggles when you laugh. But this is no laughing matter! Why?
* You are three times more likely to suffer from heart disease,
* You are four times more likely to suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure)
* You are also five times more likely to develop diabetes, and
* You have increased risk of developing cancer.

Obesity shortens your life. Scientists have estimated that for every extra pound you put on you tend to shorten your lifespan by one month. So if you are 30 lbs over weight, there goes 2½ glorious years!

What can you do?

Don’t think you have to do anything big. Just think long-term.

That’s right. You might be hearing sounds like, “lose 30 lbs in as many days!” Hey, how long did it take you to put on that much weight? Much longer.

Take it easy. Do it right. Do it for the right reasons. Do it for the health of it. Do it the healthy way. What is that?

Change all the unhealthy practices to healthy ones - like

* increasing the rate at which you burn calories. Regular exercise. This also builds and strengthens muscles, which means increased calorie-burning capacity.
* Eat more fruits, nuts, grains, and vegetables and less of the fatty, sugary foods.
* Don’t skip breakfast, and do not snack

Those are just a few of the very important and surefire ways to have a normal body weight.

That’s not any where nearly as difficult or costly as gastric bypass or liposuction. And it works.

REFERENCES:
Wyatt S.B., Winters K.P., Dubbert P.M., Overweight and obesity: Prevalence, Consequences, and Causes of a Growing Public Health Problem; American J. Med Sci. 2006 Apr; 331(4):166-174. Luddington, A., Diehl, H., Health Power, 2002

Copyright © 2006 by Bentley Thompson

Bentley writes about lifestyle-related conditions such as diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular diseases. He advocates the anti-diabetes diet which he describes on his website. You may visit his website and blog using the following URLs: www.anti-diabetes-diet-supplements.com/ and choosehealthtoday.blogspot.com

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How To Count Points For Pizza - On Weight Watchers

Last Saturday, my wife and I went out to dinner with a couple of friends to a semi-fancy italian restaurant here in Winnipeg. The lights were dimmed inside the restaurant, and it was packed! I felt uncomfortable pulling out my camera and taking a picture of my supper and try to work out the points for W/W. My wife had this delicious looking stuffed chicken marbalized with some Almond and hazelnut sauce and the other couple were more into the ‘Italian’ type of dinner selections.

I thought I would just go with what I know - PIZZA .. because I have an easy way to count points for all pizza.

>> We went to Bellisimo’s Restaurant and I had:
9″ Sicilian style homemade pizza, with chicken, pepperoni, beef, roasted pepper and chicken - taking 27 points

And how did I calculate that 27 points? It’s easier than you think.

KNOW YOUR BASIC PIZZA

Dotties Weight Loss Zone Pizza-Pizza page is a great start to find the basic pizza that you seem to like. For me, when I first started with Weight Watchers back in 2005, I meticulously calculated how many points my favorite type of pizza would be (like above ingredients) and found that most of my Pizza choices were similar to the Sicilian Pizza. Yes .. I know my pizza above is nowhere near a Sicilian Pizza , but I’m in belief that the 5.5 points per 1/6 of a 10″ pizza is equivalent to my desired 5-topping pizza above, point-wise.

According to Dottie .. 1/6th of a 10″ pizza is 5.5 points .. remember this figure!

FIND THE TOTAL AREA OF YOUR PIZZA

According to the above calculation, if 1/6th of a 10″ pizza is 5.5 points .. it’s safe to say that an entire pizza is calculated to be: 6pcs x 5.5pts = 33 points.

The total area of a pizza is calculated in either these two ways .. If you are a geek or math genius you may use the first method, although I would recommend the second:

* [1] RADIUS(squared) X PI = AREA

In this case, the radius is half the pizza size .. 5″. If you go on the internet and find the value of PI .. it’s 3.14159265358979 .. So, the area would be calculated as follows: 5″ x 5″ x 3.14159265358979 = 78.54

* [2] DIAMETER(squared) X 0.7854 = AREA

In this case, the diameter is .. 10″. So this calculation is much easier: 10 x 10 x 0.7854 = 78.54

CALCULATE A UNIT POINT PER PIZZA AMOUNT

In this ongoing case, my usual type of pizza - with an area of 78.54 - is 33 points.

For every point .. in my case .. I can have: 78.54 / 33 = 2.38 area of pizza

HOW I GOT 27 POINTS FOR MY PIZZA

Okay .. I had a 9 inch pizza, and I calculated it to be 1 point for every 2.38 area.

Calculation: 9″ x 9″ x 0.7854 = 63.62 area divided by 2.38 = 26.73

I rounded up to 27 points!

               

Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

A couple of good reads this morning …

* Unhappy Meals - by Michael Pollan - New York Times

By MICHAEL POLLAN
Published: January 28, 2007
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

That, more or less, is the short answer to the supposedly incredibly complicated and confusing question of what we humans should eat in order to be maximally healthy. I hate to give away the game right here at the beginning of a long essay, and I confess that I’m tempted to complicate matters in the interest of keeping things going for a few thousand more words. I’ll try to resist but will go ahead and add a couple more details to flesh out the advice. Like: A little meat won’t kill you, though it’s better approached as a side dish than as a main. And you’re much better off eating whole fresh foods than processed food products. That’s what I mean by the recommendation to eat “food.”

* Eat Like Grandma, Live Longer - by David Bradley - on Sciencebase

According to an article in the New York Times magazine recently, there are nine golden rules of nutrition that in these days of overweight obesics, rising sugar levels, and general all-round fitness collapse, we could all do well to follow. Or, could we?

I’ll list the rules, as compiled by article author Michael Pollan, and re-compiled by Jess3 and then discuss briefly whether the concept is valid or not.