I hope you’ll want to learn more and let me help you to get into the best shape of your life and listen to my CD’S ‘Your body, Your life’ as this topic is discussed and explained in greater detail.

Aging is a mistake. Actually, aging is worse than a mistake, it is a catastrophe. Aging reduces quality of life and causes so called “diseases of aging” such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, and arthritis. Making yourself old and sick is not a sensible choice. Each disease, even a cold, accelerates aging, makes you sicker, and causes more disease. Then physicians manage these diseases with treatments that create still more aging and disease. It’s a vicious cycle, and you have to learn how to break that cycle.

To live a long disease free life, it is essential to learn how to prevent and reverse aging and disease. This is not difficult to learn. With just a little bit of effort, you can become healthier and biologically younger. While you cannot control your chronological age, you do have control over your biological age.  Aging is a mistake you don’t have to make.

Some people have lived well into their hundreds in robust, vigorous health without suffering as much as a cold, so we know this is possible. For you to accomplish something similar you must learn how to prevent aging and disease, and to do this, you must learn how to prevent and reverse inflammation. There is only one disease, malfunctioning cells, and a malfunction common to all chronic disease is a process called inflammation. No matter what so called disease you have, inflammation is a major part of your problem. By learning how to prevent and reverse inflammation, you are learning how to stay young and never be sick again.

Inflammation is a natural and healthy process. If you cut your finger, your body begins an inflammatory process immediately. This process neutralizes harmful microorganisms, helps to repair your wound, and cleans up the debris resulting from your injury. Inflammation is beneficial when needed, but it is disastrous when chronic. Chronic inflammation generates a constant supply of free radicals that overwhelm your antioxidant defenses and damage DNA, aging you and causing disease of every description, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, allergies, Alzheimer’s, autoimmune disease, and infections.  More than three out of four North Americans suffer from chronic inflammation. This is why we are aging so rapidly and why more than three out of four people have a diagnosable chronic disease. Even children are increasingly suffering from “diseases of aging” in epidemic numbers. To put an end to this tragedy, as a society and as individuals, we must learn how to prevent and reverse chronic inflammation.

Most suffer from chronic inflammation and disease because the North American diet is pro-inflammatory. Your diet lacks nutrients that help to prevent and control inflammation, while being rich in pro inflammatory compounds.

How do you reverse inflammation?  Avoid the Big Four: sugar, white flour, dairy, and processed oils. These so called “foods” are pro inflammatory.  They cause rapid aging and disease. By avoiding the Big Four, taking antioxidant supplements, you can control inflammation and allow your arteries and other tissues to repair and become those of a much younger person.

Sugar and white flour are deadly poisons. They have an inflammatory effect on your body. Unaware of this hazard, the average person consumes more than 160 pounds of sugar and 200 pounds of white flour per year. Children are also exposed to these deadly poisons, accelerating aging and causing lifelong health problems. Both of these poisons increase blood sugar levels. Even a modest increase in blood sugar generates free radicals that cause inflammation, thereby causing disease of every description. Because most people eat these poisons every day (in the form of bread, pasta, breakfast cereal, cookies, cakes, soft drinks, candy, etc.), disease is a growth industry.

Milk products also cause inflammation. Modern dairy cows eat grain containing diets that change the proportions of fatty acids in the milk, leaving very little omega-3 fats and creating a pro-inflammatory imbalance. In addition, a substantial percentage of your population (some estimate fifty percent) is allergic to dairy, often unknowingly. Daily consumption causes chronic allergic reactions, creating chronic inflammation. The fats and oils in your diet contain excessive omega-6 fatty acids, causing chronic inflammation. Omega-6 fatty acids promote inflammation, while omega-3s are anti inflammatory. Historically, humans consumed roughly equal amounts of these oils, achieving a balance. Today, we consume 20 to 30 times more omega-6 as omega-3. The modern processed food industry fills stores with pro-inflammatory oils, including safflower, sunflower, peanut, and even most commercially available olive oils; all of these contain excessive amounts of omega-6 and insufficient omega-3 fatty acids. Grain fed beef, poultry, and farmed fish also contain excessive omega-6. These imbalances create a huge excess of pro inflammatory compounds. Unable to turn the inflammation off, chronic inflammation and disease are the result. It is extremely important that only healthy fats and oils be consumed. Hydrogenated oils are also pro-inflammatory. These oils find their way into many products including candy, baked goods, margarine, breakfast cereal, and peanut butter. These deadly oils disrupt body chemistry, causing many abnormalities, including inflammation. The trans fatty acids contained in hydrogenated oils inhibit the activity of enzymes that make anti-inflammatory compounds, but not those that create pro-inflammatory ones, chronic inflammation is the result.

In addition to diet, infections also contribute to inflammation. Avoiding infections by keeping your immune system strong pays off in many ways. It is important to minimize the number of infections you suffer. Infections are inflammatory, triggering powerful inflammatory processes to destroy invading microorganisms. The inflammation damages you as well as the invaders. Having one cold after another will do lasting damage, shortening your life and leaving you susceptible to every imaginable disease. Repeated infections, as well as chronic infections, lead to chronic inflammation that damages and ages your entire body. One way to help keep your immunity strong is to avoid eating sugar, which is known to damage immunity as well as causing inflammation.

Physical injuries also create inflammation. Nature intended inflammation to subside once an injury is repaired. However, by consuming a pro-inflammatory diet, injuries are seldom fully healed and often result in chronic low grade inflammation in the injured tissue. This is why athletes have problems with old injuries as they age. These incompletely healed tissues, by producing pro-inflammatory compounds, become sources of chronic inflammation for the entire body.

Allergies and food sensitivities also create inflammatory responses. Chronic allergic reactions create chronic inflammation. This is why allergic reactions must be minimized by strengthening your immune system and avoiding allergens. Unfortunately, allergies have become epidemic. Contributing to this epidemic has been the irrational misuse of antibiotics, and hormones. These dangerous drugs disrupt gut tissue, causing leakage of undigested food molecules into your blood, thereby promoting food allergies. A good idea for almost anyone is to stay away from the most common allergens such as dairy and gluten (half the population may be allergic to gluten, found in wheat, rye, and barley).

Another promoter of chronic, systemic inflammation is fat cells. Given that two out of three North Americans are overweight, this is a huge source of inflammation. Pure and simple, if you are more than five pounds overweight, you have a serious chronic disease. The inflammatory process unleashed by being overweight accelerates the aging process and leads to every conceivable disease. Fat cells, especially those that form around your  abdomen, produce large amounts of inflammatory compounds that affect your entire body. If you want to prevent disease, or if you are diseased and want to get well, what should you do?

First and foremost, stop promoting inflammation. Get the Big Four out of your life now! Eat a diet low in pro-inflammatory foods and high in anti-inflammatory nutrients. Exercise to get rid of those excess pounds. Take high quality anti-inflammatory supplements. If you take these principles to heart, you will be well on your way to a longer, higher quality, disease free life.

Consume a diet low in refined carbohydrates and high in a variety of fresh, organic vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Eat high quality organic animal protein, such as eggs, fish, chicken, turkey, and grass fed beef plus olive, coconut and flaxseed oil. Supplementing with antioxidant nutrients is critical to preventing and reversing inflammation. Supplement with omega-3 fish oil, vitamins A, B complex (including folic acid,  B6 and B12), C, D, and E, plus quercitin, glucosamine, chrondroitin, beta-carotene, selenium, CoQ10, N-acetylcysteine, and alpha-lipoic acid.

By learning how to prevent and reverse inflammation, you can achieve power over aging and disease. What a wonderful goal and easy to do.

We all want to look good and age gracefully, without suffering from the same debilitating and chronic conditions as your parents. We all age over time, but the rate at which we age is a choice. Good health slows the aging process, causing you to feel and look younger. Poor diets, toxic exposures, stress, and lack of exercise all conspire to “age” you beyond your years. That’s why aging, relates more to disease than chronology. A healthy body will maintain healthy, youthful skin.

Your skin acts like a barometer for your body, revealing much about overall health. You may not think of your skin as an organ, but in fact it is the largest organ you have. It is also one of the most essential. Skin provides a nearly germ proof barrier to protect you  against microorganisms and it also prevents moisture loss. Body temperature is regulated by blood flow through your skin. Vessels dilating and constricting with changing external conditions. Skin has sensory preceptors that give you information about your environment. Skin also contains millions of sweat and oil glands, which eliminate toxins while helping to keep your body cool and your skin moist. Healthy skin reflects a properly functioning organ. The skin of an unhealthy person often portrays the effects of poor diet, toxic exposures, stress, or lack of exercise. Skin cells are replaced monthly. If each skin cell is replaced with a healthy cell, the skin will always look and be healthy. When your body is deficient in the raw materials required for new cell construction, or poisoned by toxic exposure, it undergoes more cell damage than it can repair. When this happens, the outward appearance is that of “aging.”

External creams and treatments are useful and have their place, but true beauty comes from the inside out. If your body is working properly, every organ, including your skin, will also work properly. Wrinkles, blemishes, premature aging, and skin cancer are all symptoms of underlying metabolic malfunction that is affecting your entire body and not just your skin!

To be healthy, your body needs a precise mixture of all 59 known essential nutrients plus a bunch of others we don’t even know about yet. Modern, processed food diets are so nutritionally deficient, that almost no one is getting all the essential nutrients on a consistent basis. Numerous studies shown that we are chronically deficient in multiple nutrients.

Consider health as an equation: Level of Health = Nutrition + Exercise – Toxins – Stress. You can change your level of health and the appearance of your skin by improving the variables in this equation. Let’s look at each of them:

Nutrition: Your ancestors, did not eat spaghetti, nor did they microwave frozen vegetables. In the  industrialized society, with its highly processed foods, it becomes very difficult to get all the essential nutrients we need for good health. Here are the nutritional fundamentals needed:

Avoid processed food Processing can include heating, freezing, refining and grinding foods. Essential nutrients required for cell construction and repair are lost during processing. This means avoiding packaged foods as well as products containing sugar, white flour, hydrogenated and processed oils, milk, and dairy products. These are low quality foods prevalent throughout  diets today. Low quality foods fill your bellies with empty calories while providing a multitude of toxic side effects. Don’t eat them.

Eat fresh! Fresh foods, in the form that nature provides them to you, are absolutely essential. Harvesting ripe food and eating it shortly thereafter is ideal. Each step away from the farm process decreases nutritional value. Foods picked green and then ripened, or processed and stored are misconceived as healthy foods.

Drink your water Fluid deficiencies cause upsets in electrolyte balance, and can send your body chemistry into chaos. Water aids in blood circulation and toxic elimination, directly affecting skin complexion and appearance. Water is an essential nutrient. Try to drink 8-8oz glasses per day.

Essential Fatty Acids (EFA’s) – Without a very specialized diet, obtaining adequate EFA’s is impossible. As a result, up to 90% of the population may be deficient in essential fatty acids. Fats are essential to cell structure, but they must be the right kinds of fats.

Antioxidant chemicals are essential A recent study found that ozone in urban environments significantly reduces the amount of antioxidant vitamins in the epidermis, leading to measurable free radical skin damage. Another study found a 70% drop in skin cancer risk simply by taking a daily vitamin E dose of more than 100 I.U., and a 90% drop in skin cancer risk by taking 5000 I.U. of beta-carotene. Skin damage is prevalent in cities where you have constant exposure to toxins such as air and water pollutants. Because these toxins are nearly unavoidable, it is important to get adequate amounts of antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, & E, as well as carotenes and selenium. To do this, eat a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, accompanied by high quality supplements.

Exercise: Exercise is another way to affect your health equation. Your bodies were designed when humans were physically active, so it follows that your physiology is dependent on such activity for proper function. Physical activity is an essential element to youth and vitality. Regular exercise can actually prevent and reverse many of the effects of aging. Consider that elderly people who exercise improve their life expectancy by an average of ten years. One study found that people who walked for 30 minutes a day, six times a week achieved almost the same health benefits as people who ran 30 to 40 miles a week. Exercise promotes healing, waste elimination, and new skin growth. Physical activity increases the production of collagen in your skin, thereby improving its elasticity, keeping it “young.” Your body must be given the proper nutrients, as well as proper activity to function at an optimum level.

Toxins:  Cells need an adequate supply of nutrients on a daily basis, to comply with the first part of the health equation. Your body must also be protected from toxins, as they can interfere with proper cellular function. North Americans fail to protect themselves from the toxic exposure that their lifestyle generates. While many toxins are unavoidable, such as in the air you breathe, it is surprising how many toxins people voluntarily, if unknowingly, administer to themselves. For instance, processed foods contain dozens of toxins including artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. Many FDA approved products; such as soaps, shampoos, skin creams, and toothpastes, contain known toxins. Often these products are loaded with chemicals that penetrate through your skin and mucus membranes, accumulate in your tissues, and cause cellular malfunction.

Stress:  Living in a modern urban environment is like living in a big stress machine. When your body is stressed, the adrenal glands release hormones (stress chemicals) called glucocorticoids. While these hormones are designed to help you through a specific event, chronic stress can precipitate a host of destructive processes. These include immune suppression, hypertension, muscle wasting, fatigue, impaired mental function, fluid retention, and thinning of the skin. Equally important to avoiding external toxins, you must avoid stress chemical toxins which will damage your health and cause you to age faster.  Stress chemicals reduce your blood supply to the skin and also slow down your  body’s normal repair processes. This deprives your skin of needed nutrients and causes cells in the basal layer of the epidermis to divide more slowly. Your skin doesn’t renew itself as quickly, wounds don’t heal as quickly and essentially the skin is “older.” Stress also inhibits the immune function of your skin thus increasing the opportunity for infection. Modern life is full of unavoidable external stressors, and the way you respond to these events is what matters. In fact, how you choose to respond to stress event makes all the difference, and new ways of responding can be learned. Many people find techniques such as breath control, meditation, and yoga helpful in keeping stress levels down on a daily basis. The bottom line is that stress creates toxins, which must be avoided for health reasons.

Your skin shows your level of health, affecting how you appear to others. Choices you  make, regarding your health equation, directly affect how you look. To be healthy, you must give your body what it needs, and protect it from toxins. Provided that these simple requirements are met, your body will deliver a life filled with youth and vitality. If not, it will fail catastrophically, aging and debilitating along the way. It is clear that diet, exercise, toxins and stress all have profound effects on your health. That’s why you all need to educate yourselves on how to choose health. How you manage your health equation can keep you sick and aging, or healthy and beautiful.

The choice is yours.

To get more insight and information check out my CD’s Your Body Your Health and The Secrets of Weight Loss and the Nutritional Sprays (all available on my website) which will bring you the best supplements available all in a spray, with up to 98% absorption. It increases the bio availability of nutrients with a simple and delicious spray into your mouth. Feel Healthy, energized and vibrant.  Help slow the aging process, support your immune system and suppress your appetite for a healthier body and mind in minutes a day.

I know you want to get in shape and look great.  Whatever your fitness goal…to slim down…gain muscle…tone your arms or flatten your tummy…I’m here to help you accomplish your goals and to improve your fitness level. If you have enjoyed this article and the many other free features on my site, and would like some more comprehensive information such as fitness books and CD’s to aid you in achieving your health and fitness goals, please visit my ONLINE STORE where you will find innovative natural health and beauty products to help you become the BEST YOU CAN BE !

I hope you’ll want to learn more and let me help you to get into the best shape of your life.

TOXICITY IS A MAJOR PROBLEM

Did you know that in the year 2001 alone, more than 6 billion pounds of chemical pollutants were released into the environment? Over the course of a lifetime, you will be exposed to thousands of foreign compounds that can enter your body through the food you eat, the air you breathe, and directly through your skin. To make matters worse, many of you have substituted healthy meals with a poor diet that significantly lacks nutritional value to fuel your body’s detoxifying capacity. All of these factors can contribute to an accumulation of toxins, or toxicity.

WHERE DO TOXINS COME FROM?

Toxins can derive from chemical pollutants, heavy metals, pesticides, drugs, alcohol, active/passive cigarette smoking, and food additives. However, toxins can also come from normal metabolism and intestinal build-up of unhealthy bacteria within your own body.

HOW TOXICITY CAN AFFECT YOUR HEALTH

A number of symptoms and conditions have been associated with possible toxic exposures and toxicity, including:

Migraine headache

Fibromyalgia

Generalized arthralgias

Chemical sensitivity

Chronic fatique syndrome

To minimize toxins in your diet:

Avoid foods high in fat, additive, and preservatives

Eat organically grown vegetables, fruits and grains

Drink plenty of water

To minimize toxins in the environment:

Use an effective air purification system

Wear protective clothing and/or apparatus when working with toxic materials

Replace furnace and air conditioning filters regularly

The term detoxification refers to your body’s natural ability to transfer and eliminate toxins.

DETOXIFICATION OF STORED TOXINS INVOLVES 3 STAGES

Only substances that are easily dissolved in water, or water-soluble, can be effectively excreted from your body. Toxic compounds, however, are typically stored as fatty molecules and, therefore, do not mix well with water. The detoxification process transforms these toxic, fat-soluble substances into harmless, water-soluble molecules which can then be excreted out of your body.

Detoxification systems in your body can be summarized in 3 phases:

Liver Function Phase I:  Fat-soluble toxins are transformed into intermediate compounds, which can be more reactive, but bind more easily to non-toxic, water-soluble molecules in Phase II.

Liver Function Phase II: Formation between the reactive intermediates and water-soluble molecules make the entire compound harmless and ready for excretion out of the body.

Without enough supportive Phase II substances, the reactive intermediates can attack healthy tissues and may cause damage.

Phase 3..Excretion:  Neutralized toxins, now made water-soluble, are removed from your body in urine via the kidneys or in bile/feces through your intestines.

Healthy Function

1. In your healthy intestine fewer internal poisons are formed and most of the toxins are excreted with only a small amount naturally transported to your liver
2. In your health liver the toxins are transformed to an intermediate substance and harmful free radicals are transformed to harmless water by antioxidant nutrients
3. Here in phase 3 the transformed water soluble substances are released to your kidney and then excreted via your urine.

Unhealthy function

1. Toxins and poisons which are formed internally leak through your unhealthy intestine and flow to your liver
2. The toxins are not detoxified in your unhealthy liver and leave your liver and are stored in tissues such as fat.
3. The stored toxins recirculate in your blood and may contribute to long-term poor health.

PROLONGED FASTING MAY DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD

Because the detoxification process needs a lot of energy, fasting with water or juice has been shown to be both ineffective and even dangerous. In fact, prolonged fasting may weaken muscles and other organs, eliminating the essential nutrients required for healthy detoxification rather than toxins.

THERE IS NUTRITIONAL SUPPORT FOR DETOXIFICATION (click here)

Studies have shown that the overall detoxification process is heavily nutrient-dependent, whereby key steps are fueled by vitamins, minerals, and other major food components.

Here are a few nutrients that may help maintain and improve detoxification.

Zinc, pantothenic acid, and beneficial probiotics

Vitamins A, B3, B6, B12, C, E, beta-carotene, and folates

Amino acids, L-cysteine, L-glutamine, and taurine

N-acetylcysteine, sodium sulfate, and L-glutathione

Green tea catechins

Low-allery-potential protein/carbohydrates

HEALTHY DETOXIFICATION REQUIRES HEALTHY NUTRIENTS

Without optimal detoxification, your body will not efficiently remove harmful toxins. Your kidneys play a major role during the final step of detoxification by excreting transformed toxic compounds in urine. An alkaline pH level may be an important consideration for proper kidney function. Therefore, a focused, high-impact, low-allergy potential nutritional support program to promote an alkaline pH level and improve detoxification capacity may be helpful.

8 simple ways to detox your body

Cut your sugar intake

Cutting back on your sugar and drinking more water are smart strategies for a healthier spring. A seasonal detox is an effective way to clear your body of toxins, which will also speed up your metabolism and enhance your overall health. Start by decreasing the amount of sugar you consume, and that includes honey, molasses and artificial sweeteners. If you eat more sugar, you ask your body for more insulin, straining your pancreas and wearing yourself out. In the long term, this kind of habit can cause you to become chronically fatigued, diabetic, develop cancer and pack on excess weight.

Start with water
You should drink a tall glass of water with juice from half of a lemon in the morning. Lemon helps re-hydrate your system and promotes digestion, which will help the flow of waste out of your body.

Move your body

Regular exercise encourages circulation in the blood and lymph system. Doing this will also enhance digestion, reduce tension, lubricate your joints and strengthen your body. It’s a proven fact, people who exercise regularly have far fewer total toxins in their systems.

Drink a lot of tea

Tea is full of antioxidants, it hydrates you (especially if it’s herbal) and fills you up. This means you will be less likely to overeat or eat the wrong things! Keep in mind, the caffeine in tea is different than the caffeine in coffee. It’s gentler on your system. It will also give you a pick-me-up minus the jitters

Whole Foods

A colorful variety of fruits and veggies should be the main focus of your diet, along with whole grains, beans and legumes, and small amounts of nuts and seeds. You should eat whole plant foods because processed foods lack the nutrients your body needs. Dark green vegetables, for instance, are full of micronutrients and are very low in calories, so you can eat a lot of them.

Combat environmental pollutions

Don’t forget that pollution and allergens are all around you. They’re in the air and can trigger allergy symptoms such as yucky, puffy, red eyes.  Check with your doctor to see if he will advise using a nasal flush like Nasonex or something else. Doing so can eliminate the side effects of air pollutants and lead to better breathing naturally and may even enhance your sleep.

Sweat it out
If you have access to a sauna, use it regularly. There’s nothing more detoxing than sweating it out.

Exfoliate

Skin brushing and oil massages will help exfoliate the toxins from your skin and refresh circulation. If you email me at [email protected] I’ll send you a great self exfoliating foot bath you can make in the comfort of your home.

In my Cd’s you will learn all about detoxification by learning how to incorporates proper nutrition and understanding how to avoid the pitfalls and learn the best way to become the ‘Best you can be..’   It is comprehensive, yet tailored to meet your individual needs.

You have the power to shape your body for better health. Take the first step to achieving your goals today.

I know you want to get in shape and look great.  Whatever your fitness goal…to slim down…gain muscle…tone your arms or flatten your tummy…I’m here to help you accomplish your goals and to improve your fitness level. If you have enjoyed this article and the many other free features on my site, and would like some more comprehensive information such as fitness books and CD’s to aid you in achieving your health and fitness goals, please visit my ONLINE STORE where you will find innovative natural health and beauty products to help you become the BEST YOU CAN BE !

I hope you’ll want to learn more and let me help you to get into the best shape of your life.

If you think you have to give up pizza and burgers in favor of celery sticks and rice cakes to lose weight, it’s time to rethink your plan. To do so you’ll have to learn the sneaky tricks the food industry uses to sabotage your weight-loss goals. The biggest hurdle to your weight-loss efforts isn’t the high calorie foods you already know exist in supermarkets and restaurants but rather packaged and prepared foods that masquerade themselves as healthy alternatives. The food industry spends $30 billion a year to promote their products, so it’s no wonder we’re confused and tricked into thinking some of the most calorie-riddled, fat-laden products are truly nutritious and good for us. Check out the following examples to help you make better choices to eat less calories and fat and come up with a better plan to help you become the best you can be.

  Bran muffin

• 420 calories
• 20 g fat

Eat this instead: Ham, egg and cheese on an English muffin

• 300 calories
• 12 g fat

Bran muffins have two things your body doesn’t want in the morning: sugar and refined flour. Both will spike your blood sugar, which signals your body to start storing fat and sets you up for a mid-morning crash. And with only trace amounts of fiber, there’s nothing healthy about this muffin. The breakfast sandwich, on the other hand, is a great way to start your day. Besides having fewer calories, fat, and carbs, it offers you about 20 grams of protein, which you really need in the morning to jumpstart your metabolism.

  Chicken Caesar salad (dinner-size portion)

• 900 calories
• 60 g fat

Eat this instead: Grilled chicken on mixed greens

• 400 calories
• 20 g fat

Caesar salads contain fatty dressing, Parmesan cheese and croutons. Even a Caesar side salad before a meal can cost you up to 500 calories. A better choice would be a simple grilled chicken breast tossed in a bed of mixed greens with a balsamic vinaigrette. The vinaigrette is a vast improvement over the Caesar dressing, and the absence of Parmesan cheese means that you’ll save nearly an entire meal’s worth of calories by making this swap.

  Tuna melt

• 900 calories
• 50 g fat

Eat this instead: Roast beef or ham sandwich

• 500 calories
• 15 g fat

Tuna out of the can is healthy; tuna doused in mayo, covered in melted cheese, and slicked with another layer of dressing is not. Ham and roast beef are packed with protein and are satisfying and   lean, which means you can eat the same size sandwich and save 400 calories and 35 grams of fat.

  Chicken wrap

• 700 calories
• 35 g fat

Eat this instead: Grilled chicken sandwich

• 375 calories
• 15 g fat

The wrap itself is the real offender here, it’s a tortilla shell pumped with a bunch of modified starch, fat and fast-burning carbs. The huge surface area means there is more room to slather dressing and pack in more cheese and meat than your typical sandwich. Not a healthy food choice. A grilled chicken sandwich on a bun offers a great balance of fat, carbs, and protein, plus having a bun instead of a huge tortilla provides some portion control. Cut out the mayo and use barbecue sauce or salsa, which is the ultimate fat-free, low-cal condiment.

  Turkey burger

• 850 calories
• 50 g fat

Eat this instead: 7 oz sirloin steak

• 350 calories
• 20 g fat

When you hear turkey, you automatically think lean and healthy, but depending on the type of ground turkey and toppings used, one of these turkey patties can be every bit as fatty and high in calories as a beef burger. Sirloin, on the other hand, is one of the leanest cuts of meat available, which makes for an incredibly satisfying, protein-enriched meal that will keep you feeling fuller, longer.

  Fruit smoothies

• 600 calories
• 120 g sugars

Drink this instead: 100 percent fruit smoothie

• 350 calories
• 75 g sugars

Many fruit smoothies contain added sugars and high-fructose corn syrup, which means they’re more of a milkshake than a smoothie. A 100 percent fruit smoothie made with plain yogurt instead of ice cream or sherbet will contain nearly half the calories and significantly less sugar, plus it will provide all of the vitamin and antioxidant capacity that a smoothie is supposed to have.

  Granola bar

• 200 calories
• 15 g sugars

Eat this instead: 1 oz cheddar cheese with Triscuits

• 150 calories
• 5 g sugars

Ever wonder what keeps a granola bar together? They use mostly high-fructose corn syrup as their glue, which in turn quickly raises your blood sugar and cancels out any of the potential benefits you might otherwise get from the oats. By switching over to cheese and crackers, you swap out sugar and calories for protein and fiber.

  Pasta salad

• 300 calories
• 20 g fat

Eat this instead: Egg salad

• 200 calories
• 14 g fat

When the main ingredient for your snack or a side order is pasta, you’re asking for trouble, because pasta is made from highly-refined flour, which means quick-burning carbs and a huge spike in your blood sugar. Switching to egg salad saves you a hundred calories, and replaces the carbs with healthy protein, which helps fill your belly faster and keeps your metabolic fires burning.

  Yogurt with fruit on the bottom

• 190 calories
• 30 g sugars

Eat this instead: Plain yogurt with fresh fruit mixed in

• 110 calories
• 15 g sugars

You wouldn’t start your morning with a can of Coke, would you? Then you should pass on these troublesome yogurt cups since they contain as much sugar as a soft drink. Almost all of what comes directly from the “fruit” is high-fructose corn syrup. Yogurt and real fresh fruit can be a great way to start your day, but do it yourself by mixing a cup of nonfat plain yogurt with a half cup of mixed berries.

  Bagel with cream cheese

• 700 calories
• 40 g fat
• 13g saturated

Eat this instead: Cheese omelet

• 425 calories
• 18 g fat
• 6 g saturated

Bagels are bogus. The bread contains 300 calories and 60 grams of carbohydrates, but at to that the almost 4 ounces of cream cheese and your “harmless” breakfast snack just got worse than a Whopper. A cheese omelet will save you nearly 300 calories, plus provide metabolism boosting protein. And a recent study suggests that eggs can help raise HDL (good) cholesterol.

  Pasta primavera

• 800 calories
• 40 grams of fat (12 g saturated)

Eat this instead: 2 slices veggie pizza

• 400 calories
• 20 g fat
• 6 g saturated

There may be a few vegetables in this popular pasta dish, but there is also a ton of butter, cream, and quick-burning carbs from the noodles. If you want pasta, look for red sauce-based dishes. A few slices of cheese or vegetable pizza turn out to be a smarter choice.  Pasta in most restaurants is served up in an almost bottomless bowl, pizza comes in a naturally portion-controlled form, two slices and you’re done. Just be sure you choose regular or thin crust.  Pan and deep dish pizza have nearly twice the calories.

  Dried fruit

• 175 calories
• 45 g sugars

Eat this instead: Fresh fruit, like an apple or a peach

• 70 calories
• 15 g sugars

Dried fruit won’t totally derail a day of good eating but it’s far from being a harmless snack. The dehydrating process sucks most of the volume from the fruit, so you can eat cups of the stuff, and 600 calories later, still not feel full. Companies also add a ton of sugar to the fruit, making Raisins closer to candy than what Mother Nature had original intended. Stick to the real stuff. You’ll get more fiber and less sugar.

Fish sandwich

• 600 calories
• 30 g fat
• 11 g saturated

Eat this instead: Chicken sandwich

• 300 calories
• 13 g fat
• 4 g saturated

Fish is healthy. Fish battered, fried, and bathed in tartar sauce is not. Too many chicken- and fish-based dishes are ruined by high calorie additives. Make sure your chicken sandwich is grilled (avoid the word “crispy,” which is just another word for fried) and is dressed with fresh produce, and topped with a low-cal sauce like barbecue, or even ketchup and mustard.

I know you want to get in shape and look great.  Whatever your fitness goal…to slim down…gain muscle…tone your arms or flatten your tummy…I’m here to help you accomplish your goals and to improve your fitness level. If you have enjoyed this article and the many other free features on my site, and would like some more comprehensive information such as fitness books and CD’s to aid you in achieving your health and fitness goals, please visit my ONLINE STORE where you will find innovative natural health and beauty products to help you become the BEST YOU CAN BE !

I hope you’ll want to learn more and let me help you to get into the best shape of your life.

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO KICK THE HABIT?

The nicotine in cigarette tobacco is an addictive drug.  It changes how your brain works, temporarily making you feel calm and more alert, boosting your mood.  But when the effect wears off, your energy level or mood drops and you crave another cigarette for that nicotine boost. It is a vicious cycle that millions of people go through every day.

The good news is that many people also quit every day.  You have it in you to quit.  I talk about re programming in my books and sell a great product on my site called The smartsmoke which which contains NO nicotine.

FACT:  Tobacco smoke contains nicotine and more than 4,000 chemicals.  At least 50 of them are highly poisonous and cause cancer.

FACT:  ‘Mild/Light’ cigarettes are just as deadly as regular ones.  You’re still inhaling the same amount of deadly toxins as in regular cigarettes, you are just doing it through a different filter.

FACT:  Smoking makes your heart beat faster, your breathing quicker and it raises your blood pressure.

FACT:  Second hand smoke is harmful to your friends, family and other people around you.  In fact, second hand smoke is the third major preventable cause of death in North America

FACT: 1 in 5 quitters won’t gain any weight at all and for those that do, the average is 5 to 7 pounds.  Remember weight gain is controllable.

Once you quit the nicotine addiction you may experience some withdrawal symptoms like; moodiness, trouble sleeping, increased coughing and oral cravings.  Most of these symptoms last 7 to 10 days and can be managed.

If you’re smoking a cigarette right now, I have good news for you: if you don’t ever pick one up again, your body will go through amazing transformations within minutes of finishing your last one.

• 20 minutes after your last cigarette, your blood pressure and pulse will lower and return to normal. The temperature in your hands and feet increase.
• After 12 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood will lower and return to normal. Blood oxygen begins to increase. You’ll feel more alert, sleep better, and be stronger.
• After 24 hours, your risk of heart attack drops significantly.
• After 48 hours, nerve endings begin to regrow and your sense of smell and taste will return.
• After about 3 months, your circulation will improve, walking will be easier, and you’ll cough less. Lung function will be markedly improved.
• Between 1 and 9 months, you’ll have less sinus congestion, fatigue, and nearly no shortness of breath.
• After 1 year, your risk of coronary heart disease is half of what it was when you smoked.
• After 5-15 years, your risk of stroke returns to normal, as if you never smoked at all.
• At the 10 year mark, your chance of developing smoking-related cancer is about the same as a non-smoker. Diet and smoking contribute to 60% of cancers.
• After 15 years, your risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack is that of a non-smoker. Your risk of death has dropped to that of a non-smoker.

You’ll also save a ton of money by not smoking too. Who wouldn’t want that?  In my book ‘get fit stay fit’ and ‘the best you can be’  I have many innovative ways to help you ‘kick’ the smoking habit or any other habit that you have. Also my newest book ‘Not Just Willpower’ will give amazing insight into addictions and how to overcome to become the best you can be.

You should recognize the reasons why you smoke so that when you decide to quit, you are better prepared  Once you figure out why you smoke, you’ll be able to recognize trigger situations and then you can change those situations.  If you smoke while having a coffee, try drinking juice or tea.

Most people quitting for the first time try to do it on their own or ‘cold turkey’.  For some this may work, but for others there are many other options available. If one strategy doesn’t work, don’t give up.  Try another one or even a combination of strategies.

Quitting smoking is challenging, but YOU CAN DO IT!

I hope this helps you to stop smoking.  If you have any stop smoking tips you would like to share, I’d love to hear about them.
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I know you want to get in shape and look great.  Whatever your fitness goal…to slim down…gain muscle…tone your arms or flatten your tummy…I’m here to help you accomplish your goals and to improve your fitness level. If you have enjoyed this article and the many other free features on my site, and would like some more comprehensive information such as fitness books and CD’s to aid you in achieving your health and fitness goals, please visit my ONLINE STORE where you will find innovative natural health and beauty products to help you become the BEST YOU CAN BE !