South Beach Diet & Other Weight Loss

Janet Simpson asked:


The weather is getting really cold, as is expected at this time of the year. The foods that you are eating, if you are following one of my eczema diets is perfect for keeping your skin gorgeous and clear.

However, I know that many of you are concerned that you may start to feel a bit cold because the majority of the meals that you’re consuming are nutritious raw foods.

Some of you might be thinking that it is time to dramatically change your foods to include large amounts of solid carbohydrates.

The only problem is that a lot of the carbohydrates being considered are the sort that irritates your eczema skin.

You might be considering junk foods, foods created using white flour and maybe snacks high in salt and sugar. You know the stuff I am talking about.

But if you want to continue to have gorgeous soft, smooth, eczema free skin this is not the way to go.

The best way to ensure you keep warm during the winter months and continue with your healthy skin is to make a couple of small adjustments to your current diet.

Here are a few tips you can incorporate to your current eczema menu.

Tip #1 - Eczema Diet – Alter Your Eczema Foods Now

Now that the weather has turned cold it is the perfect time to prepare a few more stews and soups during the week. The best type are vegetable based soups. They are easy to create and are chocker full with important nutrients.

The warm liquid will also go some way to keeping your body hydrated.

Tip #2 - Eczema Diet – Alter Your Eczema Foods Now

The second tip is to increase the amount of wholegrain carbohydrates that you consume. During the winter months I tend to eat carbohydrates at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Perhaps rye bread at breakfast, a small jacket potato with my salad for lunch and for dinner I continue with my brown rice.

Tip #3 - Eczema Diet – Alter Your Eczema Foods Now

To keep your skin lubricated and hydrated increase the amount of good oils you consume by one teaspoon per day. You should be taking hemp seed, flax seed or extra virgin olive oil on a regular basis.

Jackie Serta asked:


Are you interested in developing your own weight loss plan? If you are looking to lose weight, there is a good chance that you may be interested in doing so. Although you can pay to have a weight loss plan supplied to you or you can choose to join an existing weight loss program, you may find the cost of doing so a little bit difficult, especially if you are on a budget. That is why many choose to develop their own weight loss plans.

If this is your first time developing a weight loss plan for yourself, you may not necessarily know how you should proceed. What is nice about developing a weight loss plan for yourself is that you have freedom. With that in mind, you will still want to make sure that your weight loss plan is one that you can benefit from and one that you can lose weight while on. For that reason, you may want to think about turning to the internet, when looking to develop your own weight loss plan or weight loss program.

When it comes to using the internet to help you develop your own weight loss plan, there are a number of different ways that the internet can offer you assistance. For starters, a good part of a weight loss program involves eating healthy. For many individuals, eating healthy is something that is difficult to do, as they are unsure as to what they should cook or how they should cook it. There are a number of websites that you can find online, many of which are free to use, that give you access to healthy foods and recipes. Many of these recipes are accompanied by pictures; therefore, you should be able to tell right away whether or not the food in question is something that you would eat.

Another part of losing weight involves exercise. For some individuals, taking a simple walk is enough to help them lose weight, but others must participate in more active exercise activities. If you are one of those individuals, you can find a number of websites that outline exercises that you should be able to do. You will likely find a number of fitness websites that come with detailed pictures or videos, which outline each step of the workout in question.

You can also use the internet to order weight loss resources, like weight loss books or exercise equipment. One piece of exercise equipment that you may want to look into buy is that of an exercise video. What is nice about using the internet to find an exercise video, which you can incorporate into your at-home weight loss program, is that you can not only buy videos online, but you can also find product reviews online. Product reviews are a great way to determine if the exercise video you are interested in buying is really worth the money.

Once you have found a number of exercises that you would like to do or a number of healthy meals that you would like to make for yourself, you are advised to develop yourself a list, in writing or on the computer. This list can act as a schedule for yourself. For instance, you could outline each workout that you would like to do on Monday’s, as well as which meals you would like to eat on that same day. Having a detailed weight loss plan for each day of the week is likely to improve the chances of you following your own plan.

As you can see, the internet is a nice tool to have, when looking to create you own weight loss plan. For the best results, with finding what you need online, you may want to perform a standard internet search. As a reminder, not everyone is able to develop their own at-home weight loss plans and follow them. If you find that you are having a difficult time with staying on track, you may want to think about joining one of your local weight loss programs or even an online weight loss program.

Jason Hobbs asked:


In case, an individual is looking for colon flushing by eating, then an individual would need great colon cleansing diet recipes. There are some things which an individual can look forward to, in addition to the fabulous recipes for getting started.

Search for Good Colon Cleaning Diet Recipes:

When an individual undergoes research for finding the ideal colon cleansing diet recipes to suit the lifestyle and the needs, numerous key points need to be kept in mind. The first and foremost things involve the fact that, no processed foods are contained by all best colon cleaning diet recipes. There is no point in the cleansing of the colon, when an individual would just put more junk in. The second factor involves the fact that, the diet recipes offer a lot of fiber. It is fiber which moves everything out of the system. This would mean that an individual would need lots of them.

The third factor involves the fact that the colon cleansing diet recipes need to be organic. This is the same concept as the first rule. With the cleaning of colon, an individual also gets rid of many non organic foods such as hormones, pesticides, and other toxins, in addition to the numerous non-organic foods. In addition, it does not make any sort of sense to consume the non-organic food recipe.

The fourth factor involved is the fact that a colon cleansing diet recipes need to include lots of vegetables and fruits. These are the best things which can be consumed, during the colon cleaning diet.

It needs to be checked for making sure that, the website or the books written by the professional in the field of recipe contains any sort of mineral or medicinal herb. There are some communities for colon cleaning, who are of the belief that an individual need not cook any thing, when they are in a cleaning diet. These people are of the belief that the process of cooking releases the natural vitamins of the fruits and vegetables and also, those minerals which help in detoxification.

Colon Cleansing Diet Recipes:

There are some recipes, which would begin on the colon clearing and detoxifying journey.

These include Lemon Detox Drink and Colon Cleanse Soup. In case of Lemon Detox Drink, 2 tbs. lemon juice or a lemon, 1/10 tsp red cayenne pepper, 2 tbs. pure grade maple syrup, 12 oz. hot purified water, 1 serving powdered fiber need to be taken and mixed well in the large glass and immediately drunk. In case of colon cleanse soup, 2-3 cucumbers, peeled and seeded, 1 seeded jalapeno, 1-2 seeded and cubed tomatoes, 1 tsp. parsley, 1 tsp. cilantro, 2 cups of organic vegetable stock, 3 cloves roasted garlic, quarter of a lime juice and a diced sweet onion, need to be taken either in the pureed or on the whole. These need to be then mixed well and served either hot or cold.

Elena Tudor asked:


Monavie – “the tree of life” in Portuguese - is a delicious and healthy blend of 19 fruits, including the revolutionary acai berry. This drink delivers all the antioxidants and phytonutrients your body needs to be healthy and active. 

Monavie is not a miracle drink and is not guaranteed to get you rid of all the affections you have. This drink simply provides your body with the proper nutrients in order to function properly.

The blend

All the fruits where carefully chosen to create a drink that has so great health benefits.

Here is a list with all 19 fruits that Monavie contains and some of the reasons they were chosen as a Monavie ingredient:

Açai berry - almost no sugar, increased number of antioxidants and has been proven to kill Leukemia cells

Acerola - large composition of vitamin A and C, powerful antioxidant and has anti-inflammatory properties

Apricot - high in fiber and powerful antioxidant

Aronia - good for the liver, lowers cholesterol, antioxidant. According to some sources it can even reduce the risk of colon cancer.

Banana - good for the heart, high level of potassium 

Bilberry –excellent antioxidant and can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease 

Blueberry - excellent source of vitamin C, antioxidant, dietary mineral iron, low glycemic index

Camu camu – high in vitamin C

Cranberry - high levels of vitamin C, good for kidney affections and a great source of vitamin A, C, B complex, Folic Acid and fiber.

Kiwi – contains vitamin A, C and E, , trace minerals as well as dietary fiber 

Lychee fruit - rich in vitamin C and potassium

Nashi pear – contains high amounts of folates

Passion fruit - rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber. Has a high concentration of carotenoids and phytochemicals - cancer fighting agents

Pear - high in Potassium, good for the heart

Pomegranate - high in tannins and antioxidants

Prune - good for the digestive system

Purple grape - antioxidant, lowers blood pressure, protects vascular system

White grape - lowers blood pressure

Wolfberry - used to improve eyesight and the immune system in China for generations

The production process

* Collecting the fruits: 

This starts with the key ingredient, the acai berry, which is collected from the Amazon Rain Forest of South America, in the Amazon River basin. All is done without harming the environment, collecting only the acai berries and not damaging the trees.

* Processing: 

Immediately after being harvested the acai berries are transformed into a freeze-dried formula, keeping its natural properties. All this is done because much of the nutrients that the acai berries contain can be lost in less than 48 hours after harvesting. The final acai blend contains the benefits of both freeze-dried acai and frozen acai pulp.

* Bottling: 

MonaVie uses flash pasteurization: the formula is rapidly heated, bottled, and cooled, thereby capturing the fresh flavors, vibrant colors, and dense nutrient content of the blend.

Monavie products

* MonaVie Original- contains strong antioxidants and phytonutrients to help fight free radicals and maintain your body’s overall health

* MonaVie Active - MonaVie Active contains the additional benefits of Gluscosamine and Esterified fatty acids to help relieve joint/muscle pain and inflammation 

* MonaVie Pulse- MonaVie Pulse nutritionally supports your cardiovascular system, with the help of three new ingredients: plant sterols, resveratrol and omega 3 fatty acids.

Making money with Monavie

Yes! Monavie is a business opportunity also. They have a great compensation plan and many successful stories.

George Black asked:


In recent years, ultra low carb diets have hained a lot of popularity. But, are they really all they are cracked up to be?

First of all, let’s see some of the philosophy behind these diets:

Carbs make your body secrete a lot of insulin. Insulin is a hormone that carries nutrients from the blood to the different parts of the body. Some insulin is good (we would die without it – diabetics need to take insulin shots for example). But too much insulin is not good because it tends to make us gain more fat (no need to analyse the biological process – just trust me, this happens).

Fat on the other hand tends to be absorbed much slower. This means that if you add fat to a food, the food will be absorbed more slowly and not that much insulin will be secreted.

So, eating more fat and less carbs helps keep your insulin levels steady throughout the day (eating 6 small meals instead of 3 big ones does the same thing). This means that you will not have so many “crashes” (like those afternoon urges for food). By the way, when you exercise (and especially when you weight train) your body becomes that much more efficient at dealing with insulin and tries to “push” the nutrients to your muscles – and not your fat reserves.

Now, in practical terms, does the “high-fat, low-carb” type of nutrition work? It depends on what we mean by “high” and “low”. If you ask me, the name of the game is moderation. Do that and you should be fine. As I mentioned earlier, a typical diet, may look like this:

Carbohydrates: 60%

Protein: 10%

Fat: 30%

And I recommend something like:

Carbohydrates: 45%

Protein: 35%

Fat: 20%

So, should we take it to the extreme and do something like:

Carbohydrates: 10%

Protein: 35%

Fat: 55%

In my opinion, no. Although some people can respond well to this type of nutrition, most people won’t. The main reason is that very low carb diets will tend to cannibalise your muscle tissue – because carb molecules and water molecules are stored in the muscle (again, no need to get technical – just show some blind faith here).

You lose the carbs, you lose the water – and you lose the muscle. And then you can’t lose fat because your metabolism drops. Stick to the ratios I recommend (don’t obsess over them – just try to approximate them) and you should be fine (more than fine actually).

Finally, let me say that an ultra low-carb diet is BRUTAL and no “normal person” will be able to stick with it and see results from. Unless they are a masochist of course. In order to succeed, you need to enjoy your program so you stick with it. This is crucial…

Janet Sommers asked:


Being healthy does not equate neither to being too thin or being obese. There are dangers if a person in either of the two ends in health. So, there are many people who try to control their weight so as to avoid other health complications.

Having diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, sleep apnea and some breathing disorders are now linked to obesity. With this, there are many people who want to change their eating habits and engage in other weight loss activities so that they can avoid these health problems. One way to do so is to consult to a doctor, dietician and a nutritionist in order to know the right way to lose weight without further endangering the health of the person.

Medical weight loss involves a program supervised by doctors, and dieticians to ensure that the weight loss of the person is safe and healthy. Consulting with an expert for the medical weight loss should always be done so that a person will be well informed about the changes that would be done to his body and how he will be able to achieve it the safe way. Also, some medical weight loss programs entails that the patient should first consult with a psychologist to make himself educated about the losing weight, its effects to the mind and body, and some eating disorders that should be avoided. These ways provided by the medical weight loss programs are a good way to start weight loss. It ensures the safety of the patient and weight loss will be properly monitored since the experts will be able to guide them all throughout the process of losing weight.

Aside from the medical consultations that would be done, the medical weight loss programs also make a personalized weight loss nutrition diet that should be followed by the person. This way, a person will be able to have a format on how he should be eating. The person needs to maintain healthy so he must eat only the right foods that would not make him fat, and eat them in right amount. A person should never suppress himself from eating since there can always be foods that are right for him and enjoying the food can always be done even if a person wants to lose weight.

Also included in medical weight loss is the set of exercise that should be followed so that the person will not gain more weight. Exercise is important so that the body will be able to burn the fat from the food that he eats. The food will be transformed to energy so the more fat burning activities that a person engages in, the more fat will be metabolized.

Lastly, medical weight loss programs should make the person mentally ready for weight loss. Since it may affect the way that a person thinks of himself and of the other things that surrounds him, these experts will guide him so that he will avoid the eating disorders and then he will feel better about himself. Also, right motivation of the person who wants to lose weight will be done to ensure that the weight loss will be long term.

All of these activities will be supervised by experts in weight loss to ensure that a person will be able to lose weight the safe way. This is a good way to lose weight and the health is the utmost priority.

Scott Meyers asked:


Reducing carbohydrate intake to a minimum is one of the key factors in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. This is precisely what the Atkins diet teaches you to do. Although the concept of using low carbs to lose weight is not a new approach, the Atkins way is a very specific method. It will teach you how to stick to a plan that is proven effective, and easy to use. You will still be able to eat tasty foods, and satisfy your craving for carbohydrates. The best thing about the Atkins way is this: once you have reached your target weight, you are not left wondering what to do next. The Atkins program is tailored in such a way that you can use it for your entire lifetime.

There are two phases to the Atkins program. The first phase is especially important if you have a lot of weight to lose. It is the jump start or introductory phase. For approximately two weeks, you will be limited to an intake of about 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. During this phase your diet should include protein rich foods such as chicken, whole eggs, cooked beef, and a variety of fish. You also need foods that are high in the ‘good’ fats such as dairy products and olive oil. For your carb meal you may have a green salad with a low carb dressing. You may also have foods such as green beans and broccoli.

Phase two of the Atkins program is what they call the ongoing weight loss phase, or the OWL. During this phase, you must keep on eating the foods that are high in protein and fat. The primary difference in phase two is that you begin to re-add carbohydrates to your diet in 5 gram intervals. The objective is to add 5 grams of carbohydrates per week until you stop loosing weight.

If you are satisfied with your current weight, then you stay with the current amount of carbohydrates. If you want to lose more weight, you need to drop 5 grams per week until you are back down to 20 grams, or you reach your desired weight.

Although this yo-yo effect may at first seem confusing, it makes perfect sense. During the first two weeks of a diet, you aren’t getting rid of fat tissue. Instead, you are getting rid of water. After that, your effort to burn fat becomes complicated by your body’s tendency to want to hold onto the fat stores. It will seek to accomplish this by lowering your metabolism. Therefore, when you alter the amount of carbohydrates, your body cannot adapt as quickly, and will utilize the fat stores instead of changing the metabolism.

The Atkins way is one of the best forms of low carb diet. Not only does it allow you to see immediate results, it takes into account the homeostatic tendencies of your body. Finally, once you have reached your target weight, you will be able to continue on the regimen in order to maintain healthy nutrition habits. If you want to adjust your weight again later on, the Atkins way will help you achieve it safely and reliably.

Gregory Reed asked:


Ever since Dr Perricone appeared on Oprah and declared the acai berry as the No. 1 “Superfood”, companies have jumped on board promoting this life changing food.

One of the most succesful companies is Mona Vie, the Utah based network marketing giant that in just three and a half years is now turning over $1 billion in annual sales.

Now that maybe all well and good for the founders of Mona Vie and it’s distributors, but does this stuff actually work or is it more smoke and mirrors.

I’ve always been skeptical of ‘foot tapping, palm clapping’ people sitting in a room and claiming that their product and company is the best thing since sliced bread. So I wanted to delve a little deeper. Scratch the surface and get right under the skin.

Is this a pyramid scheme?

Well going by the true defination of a pyramid scheme, Mona Vie does have a product. In fact they have three. The original juice as well as Pulse their latest addition and their number one seller, Active, which not only has the “superfood” acai berry in it but glucosime as well.

So product does move through independant distributors from which money is exchanged.

Therefore Mona Vie is NOT a pyramid scheme.

Does the product work?

Yes cut to the chase. There’s a ton of substances on the market all claiming to cure stuff. Most of it is unfounded. “Cures” occur mainly due to the placibo effect I’m sure in most cases.

But what about Mona Vie? Will it cure cancer, diabetes or heart disease.

NO of course not. And nor does Mona Vie claim their products will cure anything. they are merely marketing a food.

However when you look at the main ingredient acai berry, there are plenty of articles on the wonders of this berry. According to the experts it has the highest ant-oxidant of any fruit on the planet which is great for fighting free radicals; the nasty bugs in you.

Tests by the University of Florida also show that there is some cases where cholesterol has been lowered by consuming acai.

And if that not all and you still need convincing jump onto You Tube and check out some of the testimonials of people taking Mona Vie. There’s even some stories from famous sport stars including Geoff Bodine, the Nascar super champ.

Ok, so who’s behind Mona Vie?

Management of a company is vitally important to it’s long term existance.

Dallin Larsen has had many years running similar companies very successfully; most notable is Usana, another nutritinal supplement giant based in the USA.

Dallin has surrounded himself with a bunch of experts in customer care, distribution and product development all of which has created a billion dollar selling company in just three and a half years in just 6 countries.

The super mlm companies of Amway, Herbalife, Shaklee and Nu Skin never reached those dizzing heights so quickly. And it’s not easy to emulate. Recent 4 year start up Agel is achieving about a tenth of the sales even though they market in approx 40 countries.

So Mona Vie appears to be in very good hands.

After scrating the surface and digging a little deeper I can’t find too much wrong with Mona Vie. The acai berry has some great stories written about it, the company’s operations are strong and the distributor base is growing at a rapid pace.

ona Vie appears to be a company where you can improve your health AND wealth.

Greg Reed is the editor of Acai Berry Drink which offers great tips, ideas and articles on the acai berry. To discover more please go to http://www.acai-berry-drink.com

Sandy Klocinski asked:


There are no two ways about it. Everybody wants to get slim to look beautiful. That is the new definition of beauty. No matter how attractive your facial features are, you have to be slim to be called beautiful. At the same time it is getting harder and harder to stay in shape mainly because our lifestyle is such that most of us do less physical work and our diet consists of high calorie junk food.

There are many ways people attempt to lose weight. Diets, pills, exercise are just a few of these methods. There are many diet pills that claim to help you get slim faster than the drop of a hat. You should be wary of such products since they can play havoc with your system. A very good example of such a weight loss pill is the Size Zero Pill. This particular pill is perhaps the latest on the weight loss circles but it is in fact, an approved FDA drug for horses and can have serious side effects on your health and can even prove fatal. It is imperative that you choose your weight loss or diet pill after careful assessment regarding its authenticity, side effects and price.

There are some completely natural and organic diet pills available that can help you slim down without any side effects. Moreover, they also help you reduce food cravings and suppress appetite naturally.

Diet pills aim to help overweight people  curb their hunger and therefore lose weight. They are invariably pharmacological substances, though herbal and other natural alternatives exist, too. If diet pills contain pharmacological agents, there is an issue of benefits vs. risks involved. Obviously, grossly obese patients with serious health risks caused by excessive weight do not have many options. However, many of the initially developed diet pills contained amphetamines. Examples of these were Dexedrine and Digoxin. These stimulants can increase heart rates to dangerous levels. Obese persons often have to reduce weight precisely because of existing or developing heart conditions. In this context, diet pills that contain amphetamines or similar stimulants present a definite risk. While they do curb hunger, they also disrupt normal sleep patterns, cause anxiety and are highly addictive. Their uncontrolled use leads to many serious problems. In fact, almost all diet pills work by disrupting some natural physical and even mental functions. This is an important point to remember.

Some active ingredients for diet pills in the recent past were phentermine and fenfluramine. These work by blocking certain metabolic feedback pathways that result in weight gain. Their use in combination apparently yielded considerable success, too. However, medical authorities took fenfluramine and its derivatives off the market when studies revealed that they could lead to heart valve damage. Topiramate and phentermine combinations are currently still in use. So are combinations of bupropion with zonisamide and naltrexone.

People tend to overeat for various reasons, many of which are psychological rather than physical. For this reason, there are pills that reduce excessive appetite because they correct a psychological or even psychiatric disorder. Again, these are not diet pills but do have the desired effect of helping curb appetite in overweight people.

Roy Barker asked:


Low in Saturated Fat

Physicians and nutritionists the world over all agree that a diet that is high in saturated fat can have very negative consequences on a person’s health and wellbeing. Indeed, a diet that is high in saturated fat can cause a person to suffer heart disease, can lead to cancer and can cause a whole host of other health problems and concern.

The Mediterranean diet is noteworthy because of the fact that it is very low in saturated fat. The typical person who follows the Mediterranean diet intakes less than eight percent of his or her calories from potentially harmful saturated fat. This is significantly below the average of people who do not follow a Mediterranean diet regimen.

Includes Plentiful Amounts of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Another reason why the Mediterranean diet is good for you lies in the fact that the diet includes the consumption of a significant amount of fruit and vegetables. Indeed, the diet encompasses more fresh fruits and vegetables than any other dietary program or plan today.

Fresh fruits and vegetables have a significant beneficial effect on a person’s health and wellbeing. People who following the Mediterranean diet and consume generous servings of fruits and vegetables each day have a lower incidence of certain diseases including cancer and cardiovascular ailments.

High in Whole Grains and Fiber

A benefit in the Mediterranean diet is found in the fact that it lowers in the incidence of certain types of cancer. One of the reasons that the Mediterranean diet lowers the incidence of cancer is found in the fact that the diet is rich in whole grains and dietary fiber. Both whole grain and fiber have proven to lower the incidence of cancer, including colorectal cancer.

High in Anti-Oxidants

The Mediterranean diet is high in anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants play a significant role in maintaining the body — including organs, muscles and skin — in top condition. A diet high in anti-oxidants is believed to ensure that a person will live a longer, healthier life.

Low in Red Meat

Because the Mediterranean diet is low in red meat, the diet plan works to reduce the amount of “bad cholesterol.” A diet low in “bad cholesterol” lessens the incidence of cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke.

High in Lean Meats

The Mediterranean diet includes lean meats in moderate portions. The reasonable amount of lean meats — including fish and certain seafood and fish — provides a health source of protein and energy for a person.

Low in Dairy

The Mediterranean diet is low in dairy products. In fact, a true adherent to the Mediterranean diet includes almost no dairy products at all. Any dairy that is included in the diet is low fat or non fat. Because the diet is low in dairy, particularly fatty dairy products, the diet encourages a person to obtain or maintain an ideal weight. Additionally, the diet aids in reducing cholesterol and works to prevent heart disease.

Prevents Disease

As mentioned, one of the reasons that the Mediterranean diet is good for you rests in the fact that the diet plan appears to reduce the incidence of certain diseases including:

– heart and cardiovascular disease

– cancer

– diabetes

– hypertension

– diabetes

Longevity

The history of the people of the Mediterranean region demonstrates that the Mediterranean diet works to extend a person’s life. In addition, while working to extend a person’s life, this diet scheme works to ensure that a person’s longer life will be healthy as well.

A Convenient Diet Program

Finally, the Mediterranean diet is good for you because it is a convenience diet program. In order to follow the Mediterranean diet you do not need to buy any special products or prepare a unique and hard to manage diet plan. If used with moderate exercise, it is a great way to lose weight while remaining healthy.