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OK, I thought I had mentioned Dr Phil before here but it appears that I did not. I have always thought that Dr Phil means well in his show, on his CDs and with his weight loss books but he does get very irritating.

I just saw that there is some kind of a lawsuit being filed against him and I thought it was another one of those crappy “I don’t like you so I’ll sue” type suits but it appears there is more to it

Dr Phil’s Supplements: Class Action Lawsuit? /> /> It seems that Dr Phils program included taking a ton of pills a day to improve your weight loss. I am really against any pills and have to be proved otherwise whenever something new comes out.

The one thing that I am in favor of and take a fair amount of is Vitamins. I feel that in taking vitamins you are just replacing the nutrients that you can not get from food thanks to the bad way in which our meat and vegetables are produced and processed. I have never been in favor of taking excess vitamins to create some kind of thermogenic effect.

In looking at diets and trying to decide which diet is right for you the only important parts are the food and types of food you take in and the exercise that you do. Any extra pills in a diet are something that you would not want to incorporate into your lifestyle forever so you would not want to rely on them in your initial weight loss phase of any diet.

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Originally Posted in FitForLife.com

Another Really good Reason to be aware of your surroundings and to keep yourself in shape. This article from the associated press show how people are creatures of habit but I have seen so many times that if you really want to change than you have it in your grasp to do so.

Just when we thought we couldn’t get any fatter, a new study that followed Americans for three decades suggests that over the long haul, 9 out of 10 men and 7 out of 10 women will become overweight.

Even if you are one of the lucky few who made it to middle age without getting fat, don’t congratulate yourself _ keep watching that waistline.

Half of the men and women in the study who had made it well into adulthood without a weight problem ultimately became overweight. A third of those women and a quarter of the men became obese.

“You cannot become complacent, because you are at risk of becoming overweight,” said Ramachandran Vasan, an associate professor of medicine at Boston University and the study’s lead author.

He and other researchers studied data gathered from 4,000 white adults over 30 years. Participants were between the ages of 30 and 59 at the start, and were examined every four years. By the end of the study, more than 1 in 3 had become obese. /> /> The study defined obesity as a body mass index, which is a commonly used height and weight comparison, of more than 30.

The findings, published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, show obesity may be a greater problem than indicated by studies that look at a cross-section of the population at one point in time. Those so-called “snapshots” of obesity have found about 6 in 10 are overweight and about 1 in 3 are obese, Vasan said.

The findings also re-emphasize that people must continually watch their weight, Vasan said.

The research subjects were the children of participants in the long-running and often-cited Framingham Heart Study, which has been following the health of generations of Massachusetts residents.

Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which supported the study, said the findings show “we could have an even more serious degree of overweight and obesity over the next few decades.” /> Susan Bartlett, an assistant professor of medicine and an obesity researcher at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said the study was one of the first to look at the risk of becoming overweight.

“The results are pretty sobering, really,” said Bartlett, who was not involved in the research.

While the health risks of being obese are much more severe than being overweight, those who are overweight are much more likely to go on to become obese, Bartlett said.

The study shows Americans live in an “environment in which it’s hard not to become overweight or obese. Unless people actively work against that, that’s what’s most likely to happen to them.”

Obesity raises the risk of heart disease, some cancers, href="http://ed5f5yl7-kk68ndego5xhu6r7y.hop.clickbank.net"rel="nofollow"title="" >diabetes and arthritis, and being overweight raises blood pressure and cholesterol, which in turn can raise the risk of heart disease.

The number of deaths linked to obesity has been heavily debated. Earlier this year the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said obesity caused only about 25,814 deaths annually in the United States _ far fewer than the 365,000 deaths the agency had earlier reported. Other scientists have disagreed with the revised conclusion, while organizations representing the food and restaurant industry think weight-related ills have been overstated.

As for the Framingham study, Mark Vander Weg, a Mayo Clinic psychologist who researches obesity but was not involved in the study, said it is one of a few to track a group of individuals over an extended period.

“What’s particularly concerning is that these results actually may underestimate the risk of becoming overweight or obese among the general population” because minorities, who are at increased risk for obesity, were not included in the study, Vander Weg said.

Recent trends also suggest that people currently coming into middle age may be even more likely to become overweight or obese than those who were studied, Vander Weg said.

While more studies that include more diverse populations are needed, he said, the results “add to a growing body of evidence that makes it increasingly apparent that more effective prevention and treatment strategies are urgently needed.”

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3. How good is Cold-FX for avoiding a cold?

Originally Posted in FitForLife.com

With cold and flu season right around the corner I just read an article or two about a product called Cold-fx which is supposed to be a great cold remedy. There is a study taking place seeing if there are any good health benefits with Cold-fx. I myself never have taken cold-fx but know many people that do and the kicker is that they never seem to get sick!

With savvy marketing and the help of some high-profile sports figures, an Alberta company has propelled a natural health product to known-quantity status as something that may boost the immune system’s ability to stave off colds and influenza.

But to date only small studies support CV Technologies’ assertions that Cold-fX can help one stay healthy through Canada’s long cold-and-flu season. /> Now the company is putting the claims to the test. It announced yesterday it will conduct a study of 720 healthy senior citizens in Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto to see if those who take the product over six months – at either standard or high dose – are less likely to contract respiratory infections than those not receiving the supplement.

“At the end of the day the outcome will be: Did Cold-fX prevent infections in this population or not?” one of the researchers, Dr. Andrew Simor of Toronto’s Sunnybrook and Women’s Health Sciences Centre, said.

“The company has some preliminary data, in elderly nursing home residents and also in some younger adults to suggest that it might actually work in preventing respiratory tract infections. It’s very exciting preliminary data, but that’s all it is. These data need to be confirmed in good, rigorous scientific studies.” said Simor, an infectious disease expert.

One alternative to Cold FX is Immunitril.

Immunitril is made to give the same kinds of benefits as Cold FX and includes many minerals as well as Arabinogalactan, Echinacea Purpuria Leaf, Elderberry and more. Its prime qualities are:

Promotes Healthy Immune System Function /> Supports the Function of White Blood Cells /> Increases Healthy Digestive Microflora /> Anti-oxidant Protection Against Cellular Damage /> NEVER GET SICK AGAIN!!!

And it is to be used IMMEDIATELY when first signs of sickness occur to prevent onset of common cold or flu.

Drugs aren’t allowed on the market without that rigorous efficacy testing. But Cold-fX is a natural health product, an extract of North American ginseng. Natural health products can be brought to market without the type of efficacy testing the company is now in the process of doing.

For the study, only seniors living in the community – in other words, not those in nursing homes – will be enrolled. All must have had a flu shot, because influenza vaccinations are recommended for people in this age group, the researchers said. Participants will be monitored closely for respiratory infections.

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Originally Posted in FitForLife.com

The people that make Centrum Vitamins have created a nutrition calculator that will tell you how good your diet is based on what you eat on the average day. The nutrition calculator also asks you for your sex and age

centrum.ca – Tools -

Remember when you use this nutrition calculator that the people that have brought it to you do sell vitamins. This is a great idea though and I will bring you more of these as I find them

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Originally Posted in FitForLife.com

Cookies are delicious any time of the day but no one believes there could be healthy cookie recipes, many people think they are unhealthy and should be banished from a healthy diet. Fortunately for everyone with a sweet tooth, there are healthy cookie recipes that you can eat without feeling guilty. These healthy cookie recipes have less fat, less sugar, and include healthy ingredients such as whole grain flour, oatmeal, applesauce, raisins, and nuts.

Store-bought cookies are often loaded with sugar and saturated fats, but healthy cookie recipes made from scratch will satisfy your sweet tooth without adding inches to your waistline. If you make your own cookies using healthy ingredients you can enjoy them on a regular basis.

Healthy Cookie Recipes Ingredients

By adding the right ingredients to your healthy cookie recipes, they can help provide essential nutrients to your diet. Whole-grain flour, wheat germ, rolled oats, nuts and dried fruits are just a few of the healthy ingredients that you can add to your cookie recipes. If you have a favorite cookie recipe, you can also make some healthy substitutions.

Oil and Shortening Substitutes

Healthy Cookie Recipes

Oil and shortening make your baked goods soft and chewy. While not all fats are bad, some are healthier than others. Canola, sunflower, and grapeseed oils are healthy options that you can try. Applesauce is also a good substitute for oil, and can really cut down on fats and calories. /> Sugar Substitutes

To make your cookie recipes healthier you can start by reducing the amount of sugar called for in the recipe. Eliminate one-fourth of the sugar and give your recipe a taste test. You may be able to eliminate one-third of the sugar and still have a tasty cookie.

You can also substitute another sweetener for the sugar. Use honey or maple syrup instead of sugar, but add only half the amount. If the recipe calls for 1 cup sugar, use 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup instead.

Healthy Carrot Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

The following cookie recipe is found at 101 Cookbooks and contains healthy oatmeal, carrots and nuts.

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup real maple syrup, room temperature
• 1/2 cup unrefined (fragrant) coconut oil, warmed until just melted
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oats. Add the carrots and nuts. In another bowl, combine the maple syrup, coconut oil and ginger. Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Drop by level spoonfuls on prepared baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake in pre-heated oven at 375 F for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Healthy Cookie Recipes tips are easy to do and a great indulgence that will keep you slim.

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Originally Posted in FitForLife.com

Sleep, rest and relaxation are a very important part of your daily ritual. I know that in the past I have gotten reved up with many projects and before long something has to be let go and it is usually the sleep that I need for a while. Don’t do it! As your sleep and rest start dropping you lose focus and can be lured into bad habits, sugar, coffee, and bad food. The worst thing about a lack of rest is that your body will not have a chance to heal from your earlier workouts, this can be very bad as you not only will feel sore longer but it will also suck your optimism for your new lifestyle.

How Much Sleep to Get

How much rest is enough? You probably already know this. I myself do not wake up with an alarm clock or clock radio anymore. I am fortunate to have a flexible start time and know that I will not sleep in past 8:00 in the morning. Try going to be earlier in the evening for a few nights and see when you wake up. In the fall and winter I always tape the TV shows that I watch so that I can get a chance to watch them when it is convenient to me not when it is convenient for the TV networks.

Another thing that pro bodybuilders do is have a nap in the afternoon, a nap can be great in cleansing your mind and letting you learn to relax better but you will probably find as I do that it si almost impossible to do except maybe on the weekends.

You can probably see from the tone of this information that I am delivering here that you must stop treating sleep and rest as something that takes away from something and instead learn to treat it as your own personal time, something a little more sacred than just something unavoidable that has to be done.

The Effects of Sleep

According to leading sleep researchers, there are techniques to combat common sleep problems:

• Keep a regular sleep/wake schedule
• Don’t drink or eat caffeine four to six hours before bed and minimize daytime use
• Don’t smoke, especially near bedtime or if you awake in the night
• Avoid alcohol and heavy meals before sleep
• Get regular exercise
• Minimize noise, light and excessive hot and cold temperatures where you sleep
• Develop a regular bed time and go to bed at the same time each night
• Try and wake up without an alarm clock
• Attempt to go to bed earlier every night for certain period; this will ensure that you’re getting enough sleep

According to sleep researchers, a night’s sleep is divided into five continually shifting stages, defined by types of brain waves that reflect either lighter or deeper sleep. Toward morning, there is an increase in rapid eye movement, or REM sleep, when the muscles are relaxed and dreaming occurs, and recent memories may be consolidated in the brain.

No Hitting the Snooze Button

The experts say that hitting a snooze alarm over and over again to wake up is not the best way to feel rested. ‘The restorative value of rest is diminished, especially when the increments are short,’ said psychologist Edward Stepanski, PhD who has studied sleep fragmentation at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. This on and off again effect of dozing and waking causes shifts in the brain-wave patterns. Sleep-deprived snooze-button addicts are likely to shorten their quota of REM sleep, impairing their mental functioning during the day. (New York Times, October 12, 2004)

Certain therapies, like cognitive behavioral therapy teach people how to recognize and change patterns of thought and behavior to solve their problems. Recently this type of therapy has been shown to be very effective in getting people to fall asleep and conquer insomnia.

According to a study published in the October 2004 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine, cognitive behavior therapy is more effec

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Originally Posted in FitForLife.com

Today it was my Thanksgiving dinner. Here in Canada we have Thanksgiving in October, I know our southern neighbors have Thanksgiving in November we just get to see the football scores from work that day.

Two things that I noticed at dinner today, we had the big spread with lots of people and even more food. We of course have a couple of drinks before dinner, graze for a while rest for a while and then have pie. This is probably the worst way to eat as the meal takes a few hours and is thousands of calories. /> /> My wife had no food before dinner and just drank water, she had a little of everything at dinner and then after dinner had a fork full of my pie and that was it. On the way home she was saying how great all the food was while I was complaining about how much I had to eat this afternoon and evening. I bet Michelle also sleeps better tonight and feels better tomorrow morning as well.

Some people have until tomorrow to think about this and the rest of you do not have to worry about it until next month.

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Originally Posted in FitForLife.com

Well this week the contestents were in Las Vegas and got ot play a card for money and lose their Coach if they did so. Out of 10 people 5 took the money. In the end all of the people lost quite a bit of weight so apparently the muscle is starting to pack on an the cardio is definitely working.

The trainers both were horrified when they found out that 5 people took $1,000 to $5,000 to not have a trainer for a week, you have to agree with them as getting kicked out early may stop your weight loss in it’s tracks and having all time access to a trainer is a once in a lifetime experience.

For drama the women were fighting and not working as a team while the men were working really hard, together and as a team.

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Originally Posted in FitForLife.com

I am sure that most people that have tried a diet have wondered about all of these diets or plans that seem to go to be true. I have found a great site for researching Diet Scams and it is worth checking out.

Also Ediets has a diet scam page. There are also other kind of scams, every now and then some kind of product comes on the market that is supposed to help you lose weight and often they can be dangerous.

It all comes down to a few factors to see if a weight loss plan makes sense to try or if it is a diet scam. /> /> 1. Does the diet have a reason to work? Do you do exercise to increase metabolism? Do you decrease your caloric intake to lose weight? If not it is probably a diet scam.

2. Is the diet sustainable for the rest of your life? Most diets are just that, a diet to be on for a few months with no plan as to how you will eat after it is over. Although some of these work it is really a diet scam if there is not plan that you know of to come off the diet.

3. Is there some strange herb that will increase your metabolism? I have seen at least a couple dozen of these magic herbs over the last few years and none of them has stayed for long. One of the problems is that to increase your metabolism to magically lose weight these herbs are a danger to your heart or liver. All of these herbs are in my opinion a diet scam unless they can prove otherwise with scientific backing not just testemonials.

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Originally Posted in FitForLife.com

In my travels across the internet I just found this great post from a guy who has ben living a great new healthy lifestyle and wrote a nice long post about how it has made him feel.

Life is about learning from mistakes that have been made and being better: Health and Fitness

Sometimes I forget about the great changes in peoples outlook from having a great workout, or haveing a great eating day. These are things that really make us appreciate how we have made these changes for ourselves. Sure it is nice to get compliments from frineds and coworkers about how much better we look, but it is even more importnat that deep down we are really happy about what we have done for ourselves.

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Originally Posted in FitForLife.com