Low-Carb Diets = NOT Smart long term. New Research!

Low Carbohydrate Diets Linked to Long-Term Psychological Problems

Losing weight is psychological torture for most people. The long-term success of weight loss diets depends on the psychological capacity to eat less food. Australian researchers found that people following low-fat diets (LF; 46 percent carbohydrate, 24 percent protein, and 30 percent fat) were psychologically healthier after 12 months than those following low-carbohydrate diets (LC; 35 percent protein, 61 percent fat, 4 percent carbohydrate). Both groups ate reduced-calorie diets (1,433 calories per day for women and 1,672 calories per day for men) and lost similar amounts of weight (30 pounds).

At 12 months, the low-carb group scored higher in measures of depression, anxiety, anger-hostility, tension, and dejection. The LF group showed less fatigue and better all-around mood. Reduced-calorie diets that are either low or high in carbohydrates produce similar weight loss after a year, but long-term adherence to a low-carbohydrate diet produces more psychological side effects. (Archives Internal Medicine, 169: 1873-1880, 2009)

Inspired to do a Figure Competition - May 7, 2011

Love Yourself...and you'll love the results!

You train people how to treat you by how you treat yourself.

~ Martin Rutte

Think about all the times you worry about what other people think about you...the way you look, your clothes, that extra lump on your thighs that shows in your bathing suit.

Is it just you that sees it? YES!!! While you scrutinize and judge yourself you are training everyone to see you that way...especially if you're verbalizing it to everyone.

Time to train yourself first... love yourself, see how fit, stron and beautiful you are and you know what? Everyone else will too!

Stay Motivated during Summer

If somewhere between May and right now your fitness drive pulled a disappearing act, don't despair. Here's a summarized version of WH tips on how to maintain your workout mojo—for good.

Curing the motivation problem is at the crux of a theory developed by Deci and his colleagues called Self Determination Theory (SDT ). It boils down to this: The more you do stuff you like to do and not what you think you should do, the more you'll keep doing it.

Step 1: Take charge Appoint yourself CEO of your fitness decisions. Don't let well-meaning friends (or mothers or spouses) force you into another gym membership you won't use.

Step 2: Give yourself props for progressHow many times have you said to yourself during a workout, "I'm getting nowhere"? To make it work, keep the focus on what you can do, rather than what you can't, Wilson says. And don't compare yourself to anyone else. Once you start focusing on you, your confidence will grow and ignite a cycle of positive reinforcement that will keep you hooked.

Step 3: Make it socialAccording to the principles of SDT, making your workouts more like happy hour will put you well on your way to stoking your inner motivator. Start by finding like-minded workout buddies. A study by Canadian researchers found that a congenial atmosphere, rather than a competitive one, helps people stay motivated by providing a source of encouragement.

You already have what you need within you: It's just a matter of tweaking your perspective so you can tap into what really gets you going.

Keep moving this summer moms, you look hottest when you're feeling the coolest!

Keep your fitness momentum mojo.

Zen Master Technique:Feeling Alive

"People say that what we are seeking is a meaning of life. I don't think this is what we're really seeking. I think what we're seeking is an experience of being alive." ~ Joseph Campbell

Feel alive again.

As a Zen master once said; this technique is so simple that a 5 year old can know it, but a 90 year old man can fail to practice it.

It’s simply the practice of being in the now.

The past and future never exist except in your own mind. But how many of you have had your mind zip away to somewhere else while reading this article? How many of you are, right now, thinking of something you did or going to do, instead of being fully here?

Every moment you spend away from the present is a moment you lose, and the only time you can ever really be alive is now.

But centering yourself isn’t rocket science, it’s quite easy. You don’t have to go anywhere, find anyone or even do anything much.

All you need to do is breathe!

1) Decide to take a moment for yourself (maybe this moment? :)). Find somewhere you won’t be disturbed.

2) Close your eyes, if you can, and decide to focus on nothing else but your own breathing.

3) Start taking deep breaths, and become more conscious of how it actually feels to take deep breaths. How does it feel going into your nose? How does your chest feel when it expands? Focus on nothing except your breath.

4) If thoughts of any kind intrude, let the thought go and come back to focusing on your breath.

5) Repeat as many times as you like, until you feel centered and in the now.

6) Open your eyes, noticing how differently the world looks, hears and feels.

We get caught up in our errant thoughts that often we lose focus of what it really means to be a human being, not a human doing, and to focus on the only time we have to be truly alive.

Find and Conserve Energy: I'm talking about your own!

This constant, unproductive preoccupation with all the things we have to do is the single largest consumer of time and energy.

~ Kerry Gleeson

I agree completely: How much time to we spend thinking about all that has to get done, what we want to get done, what we don't want to do, what we haven't done, what someone else hasn't done... and so on. Now if we could gather up all that time...use it diligently to do just ONE thing at a time, how much more uncluttered could our minds...and our lives get.

And then there's this useful quote:

Avoid fragmentation: Find your focus and seek simplicity. Purposeful living calls for elegant efficiency and economy of effort—expanding the minimum time and energy necessary to achieve desired goals.

~ Dan Millman

So how can you be a better consumer of your time. We hear about conserving energy for the environment, I'm encouraging you to conserve your energy in your INTERNAL environment.

Task: Less thinking wasted, focus on the task at hand.

Have a great week everyone!