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Apr 30, 2012

5 Traits of Lazy People ... Are you one of them !


Lazy People Will Be Upset by This Article. Non-lazy People Will Recognize Any of the Lazy Traits They Have and Curb Them Quickly.


1. Blame game

The laziest trait of all, is never holding yourself responsible for your actions or the bad luck that happens to you. In life there are only a few true accidents, the rest of the bad luck this world suffers from can be honestly laid onto one or a group of people in any given situation. Most of the time if you would have done something differently, made the right choice instead of the wrong, did the ethical thing, asked for help, not lost your cool, or had showed up on time that thing that happened would not have. You show up to work 15 minutes late and the boss yells at you. Do you blame the traffic for being backed up, the wife for not having breakfast on the table, your dry cleaner for loosing your shirt? Or do you take responsibility and next time make a point of leaving early because you know traffic will be backed up, you get up a little earlier and help your wife make breakfast and you make sure to have a back up shirt for when the dry cleaner goofs.
2. Addictions
Have you ever taken a look at all the 'Support Groups' out there, alcoholics anonymous is one that everyone is aware of, as well as Narcotics anonymous. But did you know there is a 'Spenders' anonymous and a 'TV talk show watchers' anonymous? 'Addictions' are everywhere, you can be addicted to drinking, smoking, drugs, gambling, sex, chocolate, you can even be addicted to video games, the Internet, email. Some people are addicted to spending too much money, sitting on the sofa, hell even being lazy can be blamed on addiction. You know what all addictions have in common? "I'm addicted, I have no choice. I can't help myself. I'm not in control." Have you ever heard someone or even yourself accuse addiction for your behavior? This lazy trait is linked to the Blame Game lazy trait, it's blaming something other then yourself for the problems you face. Addictions is just going one step beyond the blame game, you actually get to name it. Now don't get me wrong there are some real dousers of addictions out there. Chemical addictions such as cigarettes, drugs, pain killers, alcohol, etc are a very serious matter and can be very difficult to stop.
3. Unethical
Cheating, lying, stealing are three separate actions but still fall under unethical. Whether it's coming up with next months rent by stealing, covering up something you did wrong with a lie or even cheating on your spouse because you 'just weren't getting your needs met at home'. All unethical practices, all ways to get out of making an effort, all pure laziness. Now days people are becoming more and more aware of body language, in order to tell if someone is hiding something, not telling the truth, etc. Body language is something that only the most skillful can fake, the majority of us would fail at.
4. Spoiled
Have you ever taken a close look at the neighbors spoiled kid, or that kid in the grocery store who's throwing a fit because they can't get what they want? When you see someone throw a tantrum, get upset when things don't go their way, the first word that usually comes to forethought is 'Spoiled'. In general if a person isn't spoiled they take responsibility for their actions, make an effort to get along with others as well as share their bounty. Being spoiled goes just as well for adults as for children. Next time you get upset when something doesn't go your way, picture yourself as a 6 year old and wonder how you would appear to others. Are you behaving like a spoiled brat? Lazy people don't like making an effort. It takes an effort to get along with others, it takes effort to hold yourself responsible, it takes effort to control your emotions.
5. MIA
Missing in action. Unpunctual, procrastination, slow, tardy are all words to describe lazy people. I'm sure you've noticed that co-worker who is always late, maybe a client, friend or family member tends to show up after they say they will if they even show up at all. There will always be a valid excuse, traffic was backed up, my car broke down, I didn't feel good, I forgot. Have you ever used one of those excuses? Yes. Everyone has used one or more of those excuses. Lazy people just tend to use those excuses even when they're not true. Unethical, they lie. In a lot of cases lazy will not be bothered to call to inform of the waiting party that they'll be late or will not be able to show up after all.




Apr 29, 2012

5 Great Reasons Why We Need to Exercise


Helps Strengthen Your Heart

Aerobic exercises benefit the circulation of your blood through your heart and blood vessels, that is, your cardiovascular system. They make our heart work harder, pump more blood, and reduce the risk of developing heart disease. With each beat of your heart, a surge of blood is pumped into your body's intricate web of blood vessels. The pressure exerted on your artery walls as blood passes through helps keep the blood flowing smoothly (what you know as 'blood pressure'). A build-up of plaques in your arteries, caused by cholesterol in your bloodstream can affect your blood flow and cause serious damage to your cardiovascular system.Want to consider some aerobic activities? Try swimming, basketball, rope skipping, jogging (or brisk walking), in-line skating, soccer, or biking.

Maintains Strong Bones and Muscles

I am sure most of us have tried doing push-ups, weight lifting in some form, or repeatedly used your muscles to counter some kind of resistance. These are called resistance exercises which the experts believe could strengthen our muscles; preserve bone mass, increase bone density. Regular resistance training can help prevent the bone-weakening disease, osteoporosis.Walking and jogging are also important activities that bear your body's weight and help build strong muscles and bones. Other resistance workout include pull-ups, running, biking, and rowing.

Helps Manage Your Weight

This benefit is well-known to all who are weight conscious or trying to lose the extra pounds.Your body needs a certain amount of calories every day just to function. If you eat more calories than your body needs, it may be stored as excess fat. For instance, if you have an excess of 10kg fat, and each gram has some 9 calories, then you have 90000 calories for your body to use!
Exercising helps you achieve or maintain a healthy weight by utilizing and burning the extra calories. And if you exercise, your body works harder and needs more fuel. Even after you stop exercising, your body continues to burn calories at a modestly increased rate for a few hours. The more intensely you workout, the more calories you burn. By burning more calories than you take in, you can reduce body fat, giving you a healthier body composition. Losing body fat can make you look and feel better and can reduce your risk of obesity.

Induces Quality Sleep at Night

Many people who have problems sleeping find doing moderate exercise at least three hours before bedtime help in relaxing and sleeping better at night. The recent Hibernation Diet Theory teaches that regular exercise could activate production of recovery hormones during sleep, increases our body's metabolic rate and promotes fat-burning. It makes a powerful association between poor sleep and obesity, a disease that has been rising dramatically in developed countries and has reached epidemic levels in the United States. While most of us would associate poor weight control with aging, low metabolism rate, and poor eating habits, many other research studies have also reported and pointed to the relationship between insufficient sleep and weight gain.So start today, get a good night's sleep, aim for eight hours a night if you can, and add resistance workouts will speed up your weight loss and the body will worker harder at night.


Puts You in a Better Mood

We all know that it definitely feels good to have a strong, flexible body that can do all the activities you enjoy and be able to move your arms and legs flexibly without feeling tightness or pain. But you may not know that exercising can actually put you in a better mood.Well, if you have not any form of physical training for a long while and find it a pain to do so, I suggest that you start doing it 2 times a week and slowly increasing to 3 and then 5 times or more a week. You can do 10 or 15 minutes bouts of workout each time to make up a 30 minutes session a day.

Is it safe to eat raw eggs?


While I realize that some websites disagree with me on this issue, I believe that it is not safe to eat raw eggs. The main issue regarding eating raw eggs is contamination with the Salmonella bacterium with the secondary issue involving the availability of the B-vitamin, biotin.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Salmonella contamination may be a problem with about 1 in every 30,000 eggs. Now, just because an egg contains Salmonella bacteria does not mean that you will get a Salmonella infection and eggs are not the only way that Salmonella infections can spread-so you might get a Salmonella infection even if you never eat a raw egg.

However, from my perspective, even a very small risk is not worth taking in this situation -and there is no way to avoid taking a very small risk when you eat a raw egg. Since bacteria enter the ovaries of healthy looking hens even before the shells are formed, you cannot tell from looking at eggs whether they are contaminated. This is why I feel it's important to properly handle and cook eggs to eliminate the risk of Salmonella infection.

Apr 28, 2012

How Much Water Should You Drink if You Consume Protein Powders

Protein powders are the preferred choice of muscle-building supplements for most bodybuilders and those who want to put on mass through exercise. These powders are made from whey, casein or soy and are mixed with milk or water to create a shake. You can use these protein powders to gain weight, as a food supplement and as a method to increase muscle mass, however, using them alone may cause some problems such as dehydration. It is therefore necessary to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and healthy while you are building muscles and increasing mass.

Importance of Protein
Building muscle mass depends on your intake of protein. Most protein comes from the foods you eat such as beef, chicken, legumes and dairy products; however to speed up muscle mass growth, you can add protein powders to your diet. Proteins are made up of 20 amino acids; however, only 12 of those amino acids are produced by your body. The other eight are introduced into your system by ingesting additional proteins. In addition to the protein foods you eat, protein powders provide some of those essential amino acids. Without an adequate amount of protein in your system, you won’t be able to make the proteins needed to create stronger and bigger muscles or support other essential functions in your body.
Protein powder
Athletes recovering from an injury often depend upon protein powder to assist them in rebuilding their muscles. Protein powder also aids in helping dieters and athletes maintain protein levels that may be depleted by too much exercise or not following a well-balanced diet plan. Too much protein powder may introduce heavy metals into your system, and can lead to health issues such as kidney problems, digestive issues and dehydration. Protein powders are mixed with liquids to help keep you hydrated. You need to include non-powdered proteins to maintain a healthy balance.
Hydration

Apr 27, 2012

Deadly truth about CHEESECAKES

There are many recipe variations, but the most common recipe for a cheesecake calls for three 8 oz. blocks of cream cheese plus eggs, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla in a graham cracker crust.

Regular, Cream Cheese-Based Cheesecake:
Total calories from a cheesecake using regular cream cheese is approximately 4,100 calories per cake and 683 calories per a 1/6 slice. Each 8 oz. block of regular cream cheese provides approximately 800 of those calories.

Low-Fat Cream Cheese-Based Cheesecake:

Total calories from a cheesecake using low-fat cream cheese is approximately 3,400 calories per cake and 567 calories per 1/6 slice. Each 8 oz. block of low-fat cream cheese provides approximately 560 of those calories.

Non-Fat, Cream Cheese-Based Cheesecake:
Total calories from a cheesecake using non-fat cream cheese is approximately 2,400 calorie per cake and 400 calories per 1/6 slice. Each 8 oz. block of non-fat cream cheese provides approximately 240 of those calories.

THE BEST CALF EXERCISES FOR WOMEN

The calf is composed of two major muscles: the gastrocnemius, a large muscle located near the top of the calf, and the soleus, a smaller muscle on the inside of the calf. Most women want these muscles to be toned so they can have shapely, attractive calves. Fortunately, there are some effective calf exercises that can help tone your calves. It is important to do these exercises safely. Always warm up thoroughly first by walking or jogging slowly for at least 10 minutes, use proper form and stay focused on what you are doing at all times. It's also best to do only one of these exercises each day to avoid soreness and injury.

Sprint 
Basic running will tone your entire leg. To work your calves more, add sprints once a week. After you are warmed up and have run for at least 20 minutes, sprint for 30 to 60 seconds. Recover by walking or slowly jogging for 30 to 60 seconds. Repeat the sprint-recovery cycle four to eight times

Barefoot Running
Find a smooth stretch on the beach, golf course or football field. After you have warmed up by running for at least 10 to 20 minutes, take off your shoes and run barefoot for 10 to 20 minutes. You will be surprised at the workout your calves get when you run barefoot.

Jump Rope
Jumping rope forces you to stay on your toes, which works the calf muscles. Jump rope for 1 or 2 minutes as a warm-up before your daily workout of running, biking or swimming. Build up to 5 to 10 minutes of jumping.

Leg Press
The leg press machine is mainly used to work the quadriceps, but with a simple tweak, it can work your calves too. Sit on the machine and put the balls of your feet at the bottom of the push plate, where your heels would normally be. Now push the plate using only your toes and the balls of your feet. You will most likely need a lighter weight, because your calves are doing most of the work, not your quadriceps. Repeat 10 to 12 times on each foot and build up to three sets.

Calf Raises
With your toes on the edge of a step, block or large book, rise up onto your toes and the balls of your feet. Then slowly lower yourself back down and drop your heel below the edge. Repeat 10 to 12 times on each foot and build up to three sets. Keep your posture straight and use a handrail for balance if needed.

Bloating Causes and Cures

A: There could be many reasons why you feel bloated and so it’s difficult to give you specific advice. I’d start by making sure that you’re not frequently constipated as this is one of the most common causes of bloating and discomfort. If constipation is a problem, gradually increase the amount of fibre-rich foods you eat such as fruit, veg, wholegrain cereals and bread, wholewheat pasta, brown rice and beans. These high-fibre foods also have the added benefit of preventing hunger from kicking in, which is important if you want to lose weight. And always drink up to eight glasses of water a day, as a lack of fluid can make constipation worse, especially if you’re eating lots of fibre.


Some foods are also known to cause bloating so you might want to eat fewer of these. Typical culprits include beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, sprouts, onions and garlic – however, remember these are good sources of fibre and you should eat five portions of fruit and veg a day.


Swallowing too much air can also give you a bloated tummy and surprisingly, there are several habits that can result in this. Simple things such as talking while eating, using a straw or sports bottle, chewing gum, eating when you’re on the move, drinking from a water fountain and eating when you’re upset are all common culprits so try and eliminate as many of these things as possible.
You may also find it helpful to cut out fizzy drinks, including sparkling water. Many slimmers fill up on these types of drinks, but the gas they contain simply ends up in your stomach. It’s also worthwhile avoiding too many ‘diet’, ‘sugar-free’ or ‘low-carb’ products that contain sorbitol, mannitol or maltitol. These sweeteners, which are used in place of sugar, have a laxative effect which can leave you feeling uncomfortable and full of wind.

Finally you could try drinking chamomile or peppermint tea. It might not be your usual cuppa but drinks like these are good for the digestive system and can help to ease that bloaty feeling.

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/advice/bloating.htm

TEN WAYS TO BURN 1 SLICE OF PIZZA 200 CALORIES



Sure, a slice of Domino's cheese pizza may taste pretty good, but do you know what it takes to burn off those 200 calories? At the very least, you're looking at 20 serious minutes of jump rope. And, maybe it's worth it to you, maybe it's not . . . you be the judge.
For a simple chart of how long it takes the average 130 pound person to burn 200 calories, just read more.


ActivityDuration
Backpacking30 Minutes
Walking (3-4 mph)60 Minutes
Boxing (punching bag)20 Minutes
Hiking35 Minutes
Jogging on Treadmill30 Minutes
Swimming (vigorous)20 Minutes
Dance Aerobics35 Minutes
Jumping Rope20 Minutes
Stationary Bike40 Minutes
Circuit Training25 Minutes

And it doesn't end here. Your options are endless for burning calories, you've just got to get moving.




Apr 25, 2012

DISC PAIN AND EXERCISES

Your lumbar spine is made up of five vertebrae separated by discs. When the discs rupture or herniate, you may experience symptoms such as back and leg pain, sciatica, muscle spasms or cramping. Poor posture, sitting for long hours in front of your computer, inactivity, twisting and turning motions and the aging process contribute to lumbar disc herniation. Exercise may be beneficial for reducing pain and increasing your range of motion.




Low back pain and exercise

When you suffer from lumbar disc pain, you might think the best thing to do is stop with your regular activities and rest in bed. While bed rest and stopping certain activities may help in the beginning, you should resume your normal activities as soon as possible. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, exercise is one of the most beneficial ways of treating and helping recovery from lower back pain. Certain stretching and mobility exercises can help encourage flexibility and improve your range of motion.

Benefits of exercise


Exercise is beneficial for lumbar disc pain for a number of reasons. When you exercise, your brain produces natural pain-killing chemicals known as endorphins, which can help alleviate lower back pain and may help reduce depressive symptoms related to your pain. According to psychiatrist Daniel K. Hall-Flavin of MayoClinic.com, depression can be a cause of chronic pain and chronic pain can also cause depression. Exercise enables you to take charge of your pain and helps you to feel better about yourself. The physical benefits of exercise include strengthening your abdominal and lower back muscles, which can help prevent or reduce pain, increase your flexibility through certain stretching exercises like yoga, and help you develop better posture. In an article for BackCare, author Keith Tippey points out that exercise can also improve circulation to spinal joints and help your muscles stay flexible and supple, reducing the likelihood of back spasms.

Exercises


Walking is one of the most beneficial forms of exercise for back pain. Walking is a low-impact activity that places little strain on your joints, can be performed almost anywhere and, aside from purchasing suitable walking shoes, is a low-cost form of exercise. Yoga, Pilates and tai chi are also helpful for lumbar back pain, because specific exercises and postures encourage range of motion, help to gently stretch your muscles and ligaments and increase circulation to your lower back. According to Spine Health, these exercises can improve your quality of life and alleviate pain. Many yoga studios, gyms and community centers offer specific classes tailored to back pain patients.

Contraindicated Exercises


Certain exercises are not recommended if you suffer from lumbar disc pain. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, exercises that strain your lumbar spine, such as leg lifts performed in a face-down position, straight leg pushups and leg curl exercises using an exercise apparatus should be avoided. If you're uncertain as to whether a specific exercise will exacerbate your symptoms, consult your doctor or a physical therapist.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/427082-lumbar-disc-pain-and-exercises/

Apr 24, 2012

How to Tighten Loose Skin After Weight Loss

Why Skin Gets Loose After Weight Loss Since it has to stretch as we move, grow, and--as in the case of weight loss-- shrink, skin is an incredibly elastic living organ. Yes, that’s right, skin is not just one big piece of rubber that covers the entire body, but is instead an organ, and just like all the other organs in your body, it is comprised of cells.

What Happens to Your Skin When You Lose Weight?

When you lose weight, and especially when you lose weight very quickly, these elastic components of your skin not only lose the layers of fat that keep them stretched out over your body, but they also don’t have much time for their elasticity to adapt to your new shape.In addition to weight loss, age, poor nutrition, dehydration, excessive sun exposure, and smoking can all affect the elasticity of the skin and give you that elephant-like appearance you probably don’t want. How to Tighten Loose Skin After Weight Loss As you lose fat and your loose skin begins to appear, the first rule is: don’t panic! Because it is a living organ, your skin will slowly return to a shape that fits your new body. But since that process can take up to two years, here are steps you can take to make your skin tighten more quickly:


Tip #1: Don’t Lose Weight Too Quickly In addition to weight loss, age, poor nutrition, dehydration, excessive sun exposure, and smoking can all affect the elasticity of the skin. Crash diets and excessive amounts of time spent exercising can rapidly shed both muscle and fat, resulting in a double-whammy on your skin--the supportive underlying muscular structure that holds skin against your body is lost, as is the fat that keeps the skin stretched out. Quick and dirty tip for not losing weight too quickly:

Aim for 1-2 pounds of fat loss per week, and make sure your weight loss program includes weight lifting so that you do not lose lean muscle.



 Tip #2: Stay Hydrated Attend to your hydration needs. Water is a crucial component of maintaining skin elasticity. From both food and drink, you should be taking in at least two liters of water each day. A wonderful resource for learning more about proper hydration is this article from Nutrition Diva: How Much Water Should I Drink?

 Tip #3: Eat Properly Two necessary ingredients that keep skin plump and elastic are collagen and elastin. Protein-rich foods such as cottage cheese, milk, legumes, tofu, beans, seeds, nuts, and fish all contain collagen and elastin forming components, as well as oils to help maintain healthy skin. Quick and dirty protein tip: For optimum absorption, squeeze 100-200 calories of these protein sources in immediately after your workout. For more on what to eat when working out, see my article on what to eat before and after exercising.

 Tip #4: Take Care of Your Skin Nourish and care for your skin. Daily exfoliation can help to remove dead skin cells and increase skin circulation. A hot bath with sea salts and minerals can improve skin tone. Skin tightening creams with herbal formulas and ingredients such as aloe vera, hyaluronic acid, yeast extract, soy protein, vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin A can help to hydrate and increase collagen and elastin formation in skin.limit your sun exposure and stay away from tanning booths, and limit your exposure to hot and chlorinated water—all of these things will decrease skin elasticity. Quick and dirty tip: If you swim for fitness, use soap and shampoos that are specially designed to remove chlorine.

Bottom Line As mentioned earlier, elasticity of your skin will naturally decrease with age. Though you can address issues such as not losing weight too quickly, staying properly hydrated, eating the right foods, and caring for your skin, you simply have no control over your age!

Quick and dirty tip: Rather than letting age stress you out, you should focus on the things over which you have control—like exercising and eating right—and you’ll find that you always look good.

Apr 23, 2012

Benefits of Drinking Water on an Empty Stomach

It is popular in Japan today to drink water immediately after waking up every morning. Furthermore, scientific tests have proven its value. We publish below a description of use of water for our readers. For old and serious diseases as well as modern illnesses the water treatment had been found successful by a Japanese medical society as a 100% cure for the following diseases:

Headache, body ache, heart system, arthritis, fast heart beat, epilepsy, excess fatness, bronchitis asthma, TB, meningitis, kidney and urine diseases, vomiting, gastritis, diarrhea, piles, diabetes, constipation, all eye diseases, womb, cancer and menstrual disorders, ear nose and throat diseases.

METHOD OF TREATMENT

1. As you wake up in the morning before brushing teeth, drink 4 x 160ml glasses of water
2. Brush and clean the mouth but do not eat or drink anything for 45 minute
3. After 45 minutes you may eat and drink as normal.
4. After 15 minutes of breakfast, lunch and dinner do not eat or drink anything for 2 hours
5. Those who are old or sick and are unable to drink 4 glasses of water at the beginning may commence by taking little water and gradually increase it to 4 glasses per day.
6. The above method of treatment will cure diseases of the sick and others can enjoy a healthy life.

The following list gives the number of days of treatment required to cure/control/reduce main diseases:

1. High Blood Pressure (30 days)
2. Gastric (10 days)
3. Diabetes (30 days)
4. Constipation (10 days)
5. Cancer (180 days)
6. TB (90 days)
7. Arthritis patients should follow the above treatment only for 3 days in the 1st week, and from 2nd week onwards – daily.

This treatment method has no side effects, however at the commencement of treatment you may have to urinate a few times.It is better if we continue this and make this procedure as a routine work in our life. Drink Water and Stay healthy and Active.

STEAK: RARE, MEDIUM, OR WELL DONE?

LEVELS OF STEAK DONENESS

Degrees of Cooking

Well done: Grayish-brown with no sign of pink, usually slightly charred on the outside. Cooking a good steak to this level of doneness is a challenge. It has to be done slowly on low heat, or else you end up with shoe leather.

Medium well: Mostly gray-brown throughout, but with a hint of pale pink inside. Good for someone who wants an ever-so-slightly juicy steak, but detests any sign of "blood" in their meat.

Medium: A more pronounced band of pink in the middle of the steak. However, there should still be slightly more gray-brown than pink coloration.

Medium rare: Warm and mostly pink to red center. Firm on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside.

Rare: Cool or warm red center. It's nearly like raw meat, but obviously cooked on the outside.

Very rare or blue: Red, cool, and practically raw. It's barely cooked for the true carnivores amongst us.

Raw: I think this one is self-explanatory. Die-hard carnivores can go for this.

ISN'T EATING UNDERCOOKED MEAT BAD FOR YOU?

When it comes to things like chicken, pork and ground beef, yes, definitely! But the risk for steak is different. If a cut of steak is going to have any bacteria, it's just about always going to be on the outside. Steak doesn't contain the parasites that plague chickens and pigs. However, the outside should be cooked and handled with clean instruments.

Ground beef, on the other hand, is going to have bacteria spread throughout. You are more likely to get E. Coli by eating undercooked ground beef. Go for a well-done hamburger.

Our biggest worry with chicken meat is salmonella. It's very common for chickens to carry salmonella, which permeates its flesh. The only way to kill the salmonella is to thoroughly cook the chicken meat.


What is ginger used for when served with sushi?

Why do sushi restaurants give you ginger on the side? I've seen people mix it in with their soy sauce/wasabi dip (which I think is kind of strange) and I've also heard people say that it cleans your pallet... what does that even mean if it's true

Cleaning your pallet is simply taking the taste of a food out of your mouth so it is ready for a different taste. When you eat sushi, you tend to eat more than one flavor.When you eat a small piece of ginger in between different types you get the best flavor of the sushi.

TOP 5 MOST FATTENING FOOD

1 ) Cheese Fries
Calories : 2,900

Even if you split this “starter” with three friends, you’ll have downed a dinner’s worth of calories before your entree arrives. Follow this up with a steak, sides, and a dessert and you could easily break the 3,500 calorie barrier. Front-load: Start your meal with a protein-based dish that’s not deep-fried. A high-protein starter helps diminish hunger without putting you into calorie overload.


2 ) Baskin Robbins Large Oreo Chocolate Shake
Calories : 2,600

Named by Mens Health as the worst food item in the world, this shake is embarrassingly unhealthy. You can expect BR to remove it from their menu by year end.


3 ) Spaghetti and Meatballs with Meat Sauce
Calories : 2,430

This meal satisfies your calorie requirements for an entire day. Downsize the Devastation: Ask for a lunch portion of this dinner dish (or any pasta on the menu, for that matter), and request regular tomato sauce instead of meat sauce. You’ll cut the calories in half.


4 ) Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese
Calories : 1,620

Double Quarter Pounder is McDonalds popular burger. 2-¼ pound patties and processed cheese match this up with a large fry and large Coke and you have artery clogging magic! But you need to know the numbers for the entire meal are as follows, 1,620 Calories and 72 grams of fa


5 ) Chocolate Cake
Calories : 1,380

What is more outrageous about this cake: the price, or how bad it is for you? Much like Outback, The Cheesecake Factory is not open about the nutritional information for many of their food items. A good rule of thumb is do not eat something if you do not know how bad it is for you.

Apr 21, 2012

Long life vs fresh milk

Have you given UHT milk a fair go lately? It’s easy to forget about the shelf friendly staple, when many of us head straight to the supermarket fridge to buy fresh milk. The question is, how does UHT milk compare to its fresh counterpart? Does it have the same nutritional value as fresh milk and how does the heat treatment affect the vitamins in milk? Dietitian Glenys Kerrins, answers these questions and more.

Ultra Heat Treated (UHT) or long life milk contains all the nutritional goodness that you would expect from any dairy product and contains no additives or preservatives. Like fresh milk, long life milk is a rich source of over ten essential nutrients including:

calcium
phosphorus
potassium
riboflavin
potassium
vitamins A and B12
magnesium
carbohydrate
protein and,
zinc.

The difference between fresh and long life milk is the method of processing. Fresh (pasteurised) milk is heated to 74°C for 15 seconds. Long life milk is heated to 140°C for two seconds and then packaged aseptically. The increased temperature at which long life milk is treated results in a greater reduction in bacteria and heat resistant enzymes in comparison to milk that undergoes pasteurisation – giving it an extended shelf life.

Long life milk can be used for cooking, the same way you would use fresh milk, but the advantage about cooking with long life milk is that it is already at room temperature, which as foodies might know, is a real positive when baking! The best thing about long life milk is that it can be kept unopened in the pantry for up to six months, which means no more unexpected trips to the supermarket. Once opened, UHT milk must be refrigerated and used within seven days.

Apr 20, 2012

The Most Common Exercises Mistakes

Common Reasons Your Workouts Don't Work

All Quantity, No Quality
Take a look around the gym (if you haven't quit going yet) and see how many people are really getting a quality workout. I'm always amazed by how many people are wandering aimlessly, walking leisurely on a treadmill while reading a book, lifting weights so light that not one hair moves out of place, or simply look bored. A lot of exercisers head to the gym out of habit, and as if on automatic pilot, put in some time and head back to work or home. If you are one of these people, ask yourself, "What do I want to get out of this?" If you want serious results, you need to do serious exercise. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it and have fun. But it does means you need to focus on what you are doing and increase the quality of every movement.

Underestimating Your Eating
Many people are in denial about the foods they eat, and particularly, the quantity consumed. If you really want to lose weight, you need to be honest with yourself about what you put into your mouth and how that helps or hinders your weight loss goals. To get real with yourself, write it down. Tracking what you eat in a food diary will help you break the cycle of food denial.


Doing the Wrong Type of Workout
Where did you learn your current exercise routine? Watching others at the gym (who are exercising incorrectly)? From your friends, coworkers, the web, tv, the latest research findings, What you are doing for exercise directly determines the results you will get. To learn what you should do, there is no better place to start then by writing down your goals and then working with a professional trainer to design the right workout to meet those goals.

Using Incorrect Form or Technique
Learning the right way to exercise is essential to getting results. Form does matter, especially when doing any strength training exercise. Incorrect form or technique also sets you up for potential injuries, pain and soreness. To learn proper technique, there is no better place to start than with a personal trainer or coach.

Setting Unrealistic Goals
So, what are your goals? Are they realistic for you? If your goal is to be the next Lance Armstrong, and you only have 30 minutes a day to train, or wanting to lose 25 pounds in a month, well, how realistic is that? Again, it comes back to being honest with yourself about your abilities, your level of commitment and your lifestyle. We need to set appropriate goals that start from where we are and progress at a reasonable rate .

Never Changing Your Workout
When you do the same thing day after day, you get very good at it. In exercise this is called the principle of adaptation. It basically means that we become very efficient by doing the same exercise over and over. This is great for sports performance, but not that great for weight lose, strength increases or physical fitness progression. If you always do the same workout for the same amount of time you will eventually hit a plateau where you fail to see any additional change. One way of overcoming this plateau is to modify your workouts every few weeks or months. You can change the type of exercise you do, the length, the amount of weight lifted or the number or reps. This is why professional athletes change their program during the off-season.

What’s The Best Time to Drink Protein Shakes?

The first thing to realize is that protein shakes are intended to be supplemental to your regular whole meals — not replacements for whole meals. So if you view it that way, you should typically be consuming no more than 2-3 shakes a day on your workout days, and 1-2 (if any) protein shakes on your non-workout days.
In general, the two most critical times for drinking a protein shake are:

* First thing in the morning
* Immediately following your resistance or weight training workout.

Why first thing in the morning?

Well, when you wake up, you have essentially been in a fasted state for the past seven to eight hours. That means you’ve had no protein during this time and you are at risk for becoming catabolic (meaning you’ll start to break down muscle for fuel.) By drinking a protein shake with some simple carbs (like orange juice or a banana blended in) as soon as you wake up, you can stop this muscle breakdown dead in its tracks and put yourself back in “positive nitrogen balance” — a fancy term that simply means you have more protein available for your body than what it is using for fuel or excreting.

The second key window of opportunity for drinking a protein shake is immediately following your resistance or weight training workout.

During this 30-60 minute post-workout window, your muscles are like sponges and take up nutrients — including protein — very quickly as part of the repair and recovery process. Your body also utilizes carbohydrates more efficiently during this period, due to increased insulin sensitivity, so drinking your protein shake with some simple carbs can help the body more efficient absorb amino acids and utilize them for ongoing tissue repair and growth.

Why do we get cramps?

Cramps are caused by the build up of lactic acid in your muscles. Lactic acid is caused by a lack of oxygen going to your muscles. SO if you get cramps in your foot, that could mean that there is a lot of lactic acid build up in the muscles of your foot. This is not a problem! All you need to do, is make your feet muscles more oxygen efficient!

Try to bend and relax them everyonce and a while, to renew the blood flow and therefore, delivering new oxygen rich blood cells to the area, washing away the lactic acid build-up!

How to Boil an Egg

Eggs are a rich source of protein and vitamins and are generally healthy to eat, unless you have a high cholesterol level.You can eat eggs raw, boiled or cooked in a pan as scrambled eggs or an omelet. Boiling eggs is one of the easiest ways to prepare them; this eHow will provide instructions on how to boil an egg in six simple steps.

1 Place the raw egg in a saucepan.

2 Run cold water into the saucepan until the water is 1 inch above the egg.

3 Place the saucepan on a stove and cook over medium heat until the water begins to boil.

4 Reduce the heat to low.

5 Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes for soft-boiled eggs or 10 to 15 minutes for hard-boiled eggs.

6 Remove the egg with a spoon or ladle and let it cool slowly, or run cold water over it to cool it more quickly.

What is a Calorie

Everyone has heard of them; you know you are supposed to count them, whatever that means; you know they have to do with food but you just aren’t sure exactly what, most of us are trying to cut back on them to lose weight and frankly you are quite sick of hearing about them. But, what are these little guys and why do they seem to affect our lives so much in terms of how much we weigh?

In its most technical terms a calorie can be defined as a unit of measurement that is used to indicate the potential amount of energy provided to the body by a particular food. Also known as kilocalories (= 1000 calories), which the amount of energy that is needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1 degree Celsius. A calorie can be considered just a unit of energy. In most cases we associate calories with food but the truth is that they can apply to anything that contains energy. An example of this is gasoline. There are approximately 31,000,000 calories in 4 litres (gallon) of gasoline. This is equal to eating roughly around 64,000 Big Macs from McDonalds.A calorie is equal to approximately 4.2 joules of energy, a common unit energy used in the science world.

In our society we often think of calories in terms of their relation to food. Such as “This chocolate bar has 300 calories.” In actuality the calories that are located on food packaging are actually kilocalories. So this “300 calorie” chocolate bar contains 300,000 regular calories or 300 kilocalories. In a similar fashion, when dealing with exercise and burning off calories, when someone says “You burned off 100 calories doing that exercise.” they are talking about kilocalories.

Now that we have some idea of what calories are, let’s take a look at what they do. As humans we rely on energy to survive. We need energy for every function we perform; even breathing, and for pumping blood as examples. And the energy we use for this we acquire from food, in the form of the almighty calorie. When you think of food in terms of calories, always remember that this is a representation of the amount of potential energy that food possesses. Both Carbohydrates and Proteins contain 4 calories per gram and Fat contains 9 calories per gram, meaning that fat has more energy per gram. These three building blocks are what making up food and if we know how much of each is contained in what we are eating we can easily convert this to how many calories, or energy, we are consuming.

5 Workout Techniques to Burn Major Calories in Less Time

Want noticeable results in less time? Get the fastest results by combining cardio and sculpting into a single workout (and even a single move). You’ll also get the best kind of bonus benefit: You’ll burn three times more fat than with cardio alone. And to burn calories faster, you have to challenge your body. Here are 5 techniques that will help you get fit and look good — fast!

1. Resistance. The more muscle you have, the more fat you burn. Building muscle is the best way to burn more calories and lose more fat and boost metabolism around the clock. (The post-exercise afterburn from cardio also boosts metabolism, but the effect is comparatively brief.) Incorporating weights in your workouts will give you a more youthful, slim and shapely appearance. Start with a set of 3, 5 and 8 pound dumbbells. As you get stronger, continue to maximize your results by using heavier weights.

2. Four-limb exercises. Pair an upper body sculpting exercise with one for the lower body to save time and burn calories faster. The corkscrew is a good example: "This power move tightens the hips and thighs, strengthens the core and firms the chest, shoulders and back while keeping the heart rate strong. You can’t get more bang for your buck," says The FIRM Master Instructor Rebekah Sturkie. Learn how to do the corkscrew and four other cardio-sculpt moves in this video clip.

3. Muscle confusion. To prevent plateaus and see continuous results, alternate between light-weight, moderate intensity workouts and heavy-weight, high intensity workouts. The light-weight workout burns tons of calories. The heavy-weight workout increases muscle that will burn calories even when you’re not exercising. It’s one way to create "muscle confusion," which will "shock" your body into better, faster results. And you don’t have to do high-impact moves to boost intensity; low-impact moves work just as well if you keep your feet moving while doing overhead arm movements with dumbbells. Adding a balance element to your workout can also help you burn calories faster, as your muscles will have to work harder to keep you stable.

4. Light resistance. You can pack a lot of calorie-burning into a cardio workout by slightly slowing down standing cardio moves and adding basic arm movements while holding dumbbells. “By moving both your upper and lower body together, and adding resistance, you really boost your heart rate and burn more fat and calories without adding more time to your workout,” says The FIRM Master Instructor Alison Davis-McLain, who's created a number of The FIRM's signature cardio-plus-weights workout DVDs and kits.

5. Interval training. You may have heard the theory that if you stay at a steady intensity level throughout your workout, your body goes into fat-conserving mode just after your workout. You can avoid this with interval workouts — changing your intensity level every few minutes. You’ll continue to burn calories long after the workout is over. If you mostly walk, add in some running bursts. If you usually run at a steady pace throughout your workout, add sprints and lunge-walking bursts. If you do aerobics, alternate your sequences with plyometric jumps and slower muscle-toning moves.

Apr 18, 2012

What It Takes to Burn Off One Can of Soda

Whether you're loyal to Coke or Pepsi, a two-can-a-day habit can set you back when it comes to controlling calories. Aside from added sugar, a single can of soda contains 100 calories. It may not sound like much, but when you drink two or a three a day, the calories add up. Let's look at how much exercise you'll need to do to burn off one can of soda


Exercise Equivalents:
Walking: 26 minutes
Running: 11 minutes
Biking: 14 minutes

Do you need to see a doctor before starting an exercise program?

"Before starting this or any other exercise program, be sure to check with your doctor."

But some experts say this prescription is not one size fits all, and a beginning exerciser needs to know what to ask for and what to tell his or her doctor before hitting the gym.What's more, the beginning exerciser needs to know the potential dangers of not seeking medical advice in advance.Dr. Herbert Insel, a cardiologist from Executive Health Exams International, cautions that while "exercise can be the single most important thing one can do for oneself, embarking on an exercise program can shock the body, and be deleterious if not approached correctly."


Insel adds that a previously sedentary person may experience elevations in blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems.

A beginning exerciser also needs to make sure he or she is in adequate physical condition to participate in the level of activity being pursued, says Dr. Joel Press of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Illinois.
The specific tests one should have depend on a person's baseline health and on the goals of the exercise program.


Age is another critical factor when it comes to starting physical activity.
According to Dr. Michael Zimring of Mercy Medical Center, people in their 20s are usually in a safe position to start exercising.But, he says, "it may not be a bad idea for the young to be evaluated based on family history or cholesterol readings."

People in their 30s and 40s should see their physician for a comprehensive evaluation that includes a review past medical problems and family medical history, comprehensive blood tests, and possibly an exercise stress test.