Food Cravings? Here Is What Your Body Really Wants.

Don't think about pink elephants....
Don't think about pink elephants....
Don't think about pink elephants....

What are you thinking about?
PINK ELEPHANTS

I'm on a diet, and this time it will work.
I'm not going to eat chocolate...
I'm not going to eat chocolate...
I'm not going to eat chocolate...

What do you want to eat?
CHOCOLATE!!! NOW!

Ummh... now this one doesn't seem rocket science to me. Whenever we tell ourselves NOT to do something or think about something, it seems to happen and we want it all the more.

It's like if I tell my children not to spill something, like a full drink they are carrying to the table... yes, you guessed it, within 2 seconds they've spilt it all over the floor! This is because I've placed a suggestion/thought/idea into their head, which potentially leads to a behaviour. So here's a tip for all you parents of messy children out there, instead of:
'Don't spill that drink', use 'Make sure you keep that all in the cup'. You'll be surprised how well it works!

So, how does this relate to food and cravings?

When we start to introduce restrictions into our diet, and tell ourselves we are NOT going to eat something for the next x months, our brain thinks about that food more than we would normally do. Infact it seems, all the time! How many people went on the Atkins Diet, which restricts carbohydrates, only to sit there dreaming and drooling over having a thick fresh wedge of home baked bread or hot buttered toast or creamy mashed potatoes or chunky crispy chips?!! (What are you thinking about now?!) I bet they never experienced these incessant cravings before commencing the diet!

Can you see just what an amazing powerful tool our brains are? Through suggestion, I have probably just made you hungry for some of your favourite carbohydrates. When we banish something, are brain starts to think and quite often fantasize over things, until we 'give in' to temptation.

So here's the trick, are you ready? It's very complex... Allow yourself to eat whatever you like! Yes, that's it. It really truly is.

Now, I can feel the panic rising already... 'If I allow myself to eat whatever I like, I'll be constantly pigging out on crisps or chocolate or biscuits or cakes or cheese or bread or chips..., I couldn't do that'.

OK, to help you, you will need to put in a couple of other steps first (which you can read in my previous articles or blogs)

STEP 1
Eat when you are physically hungry and stop when you are physically full
Not for all the other reasons, e.g. emotional, tired, bored, stressed etc.

STEP 2
Really listen to what your body tells you it wants to eat, not what the diet industry tells you you SHOULD eat. You will be surprised that your body craves a wide variety of different nutrients, when you truly listen to it.

STEP 3
See all food as equal, and do not deny yourself anything

STEP 4
Eat slowly, chew, really enjoy and taste your food. Food is there for pleasure as well as nutrition.

In a 1930s experiment, over a 30 day period scientists gave a group of toddlers unlimited access to foods ranging from ice-cream to spinach. While they each chose different foods at different times, every single child in the study ended up eating what was considered a balanced diet, not just the food junk you would presume.

The key is to trust your body and it will start to regulate itself. It will not require 4 bags of crisps, when you relax and eat for physical hunger, your mind only wants to eat those crisps when you deny yourself certain foods.

Banish those cravings forever, by eating when you are physically hungry, and what your body tells you it needs or wants to eat, and don't deny yourself anything. And remember, you can't eat a pink elephant all at once!

Vanessa Heaps is a Weight Management Specialist based in the UK. She helps people to become their dream weight, for the rest of their lives, without dieting. Vanessa concentrates on helping people to think themselves slim using NLP techniques. She believes that people can regain their passion and enthusiasm for food and eating through giving up dieting forever, as diets only work in the short term.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3861226

Tips For Making Nutrition And Fitness Greater Priorities

Do you know that one family that always seems to keep so healthy and trim? What is it about their lifestyle that you are not doing to keep your family fit? More often than not it is simply a matter of having a more thorough health education. Here are seven ways you can educate yourself and your family to make health and fitness a priority.

1. Work as a Team

In order to get the whole family involved, you need to increase their buy-in. Giving everyone a voice leads to greater participation. Sit down as a family to discuss your lifestyle choices and set some healthy goals you can work towards as a team.

2. Don't Starve

Most diets are very restrictive, and result in people simply eating less. When you do not eat right, your body initiates production of the hormone Ghrelin which causes you to become insatiably hungry. The result is that you end up over indulging on unhealthy foods when you could have simply had plenty of healthy snacks, such as almonds or carrots, throughout the day.

3. Automate Meals

As Americans, we are infamous for skipping the most important meal of the day. The reason breakfast is so important is because it is the first thing you have eaten in 8-9 hours, and determines your hunger levels throughout the whole day. Instead, pick a few staples for breakfast and lunch that are quick and easy, and eat those every day. Use dinner as your meal to get creative.

4. 30 Minutes a Day

Try to get 30 minutes of exercise every day, if you can at your home. If you have to drive somewhere to exercise, you make it more difficult on yourself to keep up with it every day. If need be, split up the 30 minutes into two sessions of light, gentle exercise like walking, running, cycling, body weight resistance exercises, and weight training.

5. Be The Decision-Maker

When it comes to food, whatever you buy your children will eat. If you buy them chips and cookies, they (and probably you, too) will eat them. After this, if you try to restrict them, it will cause them to crave those unhealthy foods even more. Instead, avoid bringing those foods into the house to begin with. Keep fresh fruit and vegetables chopped in the refrigerator, and have nuts, pretzels, and other wholesome snacks on hand.

6. Eat Dinner Together

The simple ritual of sitting down together as a family for a nightly meal places a priority on nutrition and proper eating habits in your family values. Additionally, this simple act has been shown to improve parent-child relationships, and increase academic performance.

7. Play Together

An important part of your exercise regime, should be pure, unadulterated play. Whether that means putting on music and dancing around, kicking a soccer ball around, rough-housing or anything that brings out your inner child.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8795729

Universal Truths in Nutrition

The most famous health quotation that I have heard since my childhood is "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." I realized the importance of apples when I grew up and understood the meaning of this saying. Apples are no doubt a super food which has one of the best balanced quantities of natural elements in it that keeps you healthy and strong. The most potent flavonoid found in apples is quercetin, which is also a powerful antioxidant. Apples are an excellent source of fiber as well. Don't forget that when you are eating an apple with its skin it contains five grams of fiber in total and that is a good quantity.

Apples are also very famous because of its look which is red and juicy. The majority of its phytochemicals and fiber is filled in the colorful exterior that you see and get attracted. Therefore it is suggested that one should eat an apple with its skin. Apple is the only fruit that has this much popularity that we hear this saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" otherwise we don't hear usual saying about other fruits so common.

The nutrients, fiber, and flavonoids in an apple work to keep you healthy in several ways. Many people from medical science and many nutritionists also prove this fact by presenting a lot of researches conducted. It is a fruit with no side effects at all. It fights high blood pressure according to a research conducted by the journal of nutrition in 2007, it is proved that quercetin in this fruit helps to lower blood pressure in humans. Another very natural healthy benefit of this fruit is that they help you lungs to process properly. The flavonoids I just mentioned works like anti histamines and anti-inflammatory agents to reduce severity of asthma attacks and allergic symptoms. It strengthens the respiratory system of your body and makes you feel better.

Like many super foods, this fruit also prevent cancer as said in the Journal Prostate in 2008 that, in laboratory tests quercetin slows the growth of cancerous cells without harming prostate cells. Don't stop counting because apples also help to make you think clearer and sharper. Yes! They help you to strengthen your nervous system. I bet you haven't heard of this one before. Older people who eat this fruit and drink its juice may have stronger brain functions

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3280792

Amazing Facts About Sleep That Will Surely Impress You

Sleep is very essential for every living thing. It is a periodic activity that is closely linked to our body clock and serves as a sort of "defense mechanism," be it a plant or an animal, including human beings.

Here are a few important facts about sleep you probably knew about but never gave them a second thought -

What Goes On As You Sleep - The most important thing that happens is that your body gets a chance to rejuvenate, relax, replace dead cells with new ones, and heal the feeling of fatigue. The brain gets re-charged and important hormones are released that help the tiredness go and you have a feeling of being fresh on waking up.

Need For Sleep - Babies need most sleep - up to 16 hours a day since the cells are growing rapidly in their body. As they grow older, the pattern changes from up to 10-12 hours of sleep in 3 to 12 year olds and 8 hours sleep from 18 to 55, the older persons needing only about 6 hours.

Dreams - dreams are normal and common phenomenon. Curiously men dream about themselves and other men almost 70% of the time, while women dream of women as well as men almost equally. We can dream of only the faces we have already seen sometime, someplace - whether we remember them or not.

Parasomnia Or Sleep Walking - This is a disorder that makes a person do unnatural movements despite being asleep. It can lead to crime resulting from driving; writing bad checks, rape or molestation, etc while one is actually asleep!

Sleep Positions - Sleep positions are also regarded as a sort of key to the type of personality one reflects. To see the various positions, go to my website..

Bonding - Sleeping together increases the bonding. However it is assumed that 1 in every 4 married couples sleep in separate beds.

Dream Recall - Almost 50% of your dream is forgotten within 5 minutes of waking up. Also, within 10 minutes, its 90% gone!

Positive Affirmations - The affirmations made during the hours of wakefulness and semi-sleep have a deep impact on behavior and personality.

Phases Of The Day - Sleep is induced by lack of sunlight in the normal course of our body cycle. This explains why we sleep early when there is no light or sleep late when the room is well lit.

Effect On Health - Without sleep, health deteriorates more rapidly than without food! You may be able to survive starvation for more than ten days, but without sleep for more than 7 days, you might just not survive!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5535629

The Ten Benefits of Drinking Lemon Water Naturally Sweetened With Raw Honey

Fruit juices taken in its natural form will give you the best results. This is what you may have comes across and knowing the fact how fruits are to be eaten that will give you the maximum benefit. Fruits consumed in its wholesome form will truly provide the greatest health benefits in terms of holistic wellness. In relation to rejuvenating a youthful looking appearance and enjoying a tint of glowing skin health, here is a special recommendation. By drinking lemon water or juice mixed with honey, you will discover the many benefits that come along with drinking it regularly. Henceforth, I would have readers here to re-look at the 10 benefits of drinking lemon water or juice. How you can experience the youthful looking vibrant glow of health that you are entitled to no matter what and where you belong to, is what I am sharing in this article.

1. For the beauty conscious, drinking lemon water naturally and on a regular basis without the usual processed white sugar content being added to it but with raw honey will not only make the skin looks better but glow with a tint of health. You may wonder why it is so good in bringing about a beautiful complexion to your overall skin. What it can do, is that it acts as an anti-aging remedy, helping to remove wrinkles or blackheads. In view of its vitamin C content in this citrus, it not only enhances beauty by rejuvenating from within, but also promotes the level of immunity to common illnesses.

2. As a natural antiseptic medicine, it is associated with its marvelous healing properties for a number of skin related problems.

3. Lemon fruits contain anti-bacterial property and it is great in treating and curing throat infections.

4. Lemon water helps in reducing or breaking fever by increasing perspiration and has proven to fight against common cold effectively. It thus paves the way for simple home treatment approaches for folks who are very much comfortable with natural treatment of illnesses.

5. Not only is it able to act as a blood purifier such as in cases where patient is undergoing treatment for Malaria, cholera or dengue fever but also as a cleansing agent. It helps flush out bacteria and toxins from the body. It helps in constipation too.

6. Lemon juice 's ability to help the liver produce more bile, acting as a liver tonic, helping in the digestion of food is also regarded as an agent for gallstones remover.

7. For those with digestion problem such as heartburn, belching and bloating, taking lemon juice mix with hot water will bring much relief. Besides, symptoms of heartburn and nausea could be effectively treated with it. Furthermore, it can help in regulating blood pressure level, having a stabilizing effect to the bodily system.

8. It has been used in dental care as well because it can actually assist in getting rid of pain when apply onto the areas of the toothache. On gum bleeding and bad smell problems related to gums, just applying the massages of fresh lemon juices on gums would have settle the problem.

9. Lemon is a diuretic and therefore great in treating rheumatism and arthritis. Apart from this, it also assists in the treatment of respiratory disorders such as asthmatic patients with breathing problems.

10. Act as a health agent for weight loss, taking lemon juice or water with raw honey added makes for a unique way of reducing body weight to a quicker pace. It greatly works against obesity.

Armed with these amazing facts about lemon, you can now start the habit of taking lemon water or juice, and as one health expert has suggested by taking the lemon whole together with the pulp that provide more added health benefits because of its fiber content in it. For a healthier and youthful glowing face that makes you look younger your age to come about, this simple daily act of drinking lemon juice or water could make a big difference in bringing about a desire change from within.

The author has considered the general interest of readers who have a flair for looking radiant and glowingly healthy to do some study over what helps to make one looking younger his or her age. This is only part of what constitutes to it and for further information, the link may provide added benefit hopefully. [http://theabtwister.org]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7325832