Maintaining a healthy weight could protect against dementia, says study

New United Kingdom research has found that maintaining body weight and avoiding weight gain or loss in older age could help prevent the onset of dementia.

Led by the University of Wolverhampton, the new study set out to investigate whether being overweight or obese in older age reduces or increases the risk of incident dementia, which refers to newly diagnosed dementia cases in old age after exposure to certain risk factors.


Previous research has suggested that carrying excess body weight increases the risk of incident dementia, while the researchers behind a 2015 European study were surprised to find the contrary, as being overweight and obesity is normally linked to a range of health problems.

To investigate further, the researchers looked at 16 studies including 38,219 participants and 4,479 dementia cases in the United States, Sweden, Italy, Finland, Australia, Denmark, France and Japan, with follow-up periods ranging from three to 18 years.

The findings, published in The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease failed to provide evidence to support the paradox that being obese and overweight has a protective effect against dementia.

The team also looked at data from a new unpublished Chinese study, which showed that older men who were overweight or obese had an increased risk of incident dementia, although the same result was not found among women who were overweight and obesity.

There was also no association between increased waist circumference and a reduced risk of dementia.

From the study, the researchers concluded that overweight and obesity in older age are not protective factors for dementia and may in fact increase the risk of dementia in later life.

The results are also in line with previous research. A large-scale Korean study published earlier this year in the BMJ Open found that among 67,219 participants age 60 to 79 included in the study, weight gain or loss appeared to be a significant risk factor for dementia. A study published just last week by the University of Miami also found that having a bigger body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference in your 60s appears to be linked with brain thinning, which may increase the risk of thinking and memory problems later in life.

The team add that more studies with longer follow-ups could clarify further the link between body weight in older age and dementia risk.

Researcher professor Ruoling Chen commented on the findings saying, “There is no evidence to support recommendation of increasing body weight in older age for the purpose of preventing increased risk of dementia. However, we should pay more attention to older adults who lose weight, probably due to chronic diseases, for developing dementia. Controlling body weight to be within normal range in older age may prevent dementia.”

“As recommended by the current guidelines, maintaining normal body weight from young to older ages is necessary, and public health prevention and intervention strategies for tackling overweight and obesity should be sustained in older people.” JB

source: technology.inquirer.net

Pacquiao launches traditional weight loss contest before big fight

LOS ANGELES—World eight-division boxing champ Manny Pacquiao has launched a weight-loss contest among female family members of the Team Pacquiao with the “biggest loser” standing to pocket nearly P450,000 ($1=P44.98).

Pacquiao said the two-week weight-loss contest, which started Sunday and would go on up to April 6, was not just meant to encourage health and fitness among female team members but also for them to appreciate the “hard work and hardship of attaining the weight limit for a boxer.”

It was not immediately known how many female members of the team were overweight but as of Tuesday, the number of contestants has already reached 30.

Pacquiao said those who would lose 10 percent of their pre-contest weight would go home richer.

Those who would only achieve an eight-percent weight loss would be getting $3,000 each, he said.

Clement Asencio, a member of Team Pacquiao, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that to be able to get cash, the participants would have to shed off not less than eight percent of their total body weight.

“The final weigh-in will be held on April 6 to determine the winners,” Asencio said.

But he said Pacquiao made it clear that only one female team Pacquiao member would get the top prize of $10,000.

“Only one biggest weight loser will bring home the $10,000 prize,” he said. It was unclear yet how a winner would be picked if several contestants were able to lose 10 percent of their weight.

“(But) others, who would succeed in reducing by eight percent their total body weight, would pocket $3,000 each,” Asencio said.

In 2008, the weight-loss contest included male members of Team Pacquiao with assistant coach and trainer Buboy Fernandez emerging the winner.

“This time, male members of Team Pacquiao were excluded because each of us has an assigned task while Congressman Pacquiao is training for his fight. If we ourselves are participants to the contest it would affect our work considering that we have to skip meals, do the roadwork, etc. just to lose weight,” Fernandez said.

But male Team Pacquiao members need not be envious though because Pacquiao has planned a basketball tournament for the men, Fernandez said.

Already, he said that the Team Pacquiao was divided into several teams for the basketball tournament, in which, big prizes would also be up for grabs.

Aside from being pugilist, Pacquiao is also a basketball buff and a billiards enthusiast.

He also raises fighting cocks in his sprawling farms in Sarangani.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Turning up the heat on love handles

The last five to 10 pounds are always the hardest to lose. You can spend hours doing crunches and planks and alligator drags, but your midsection fat simply won’t go away.

American personal trainer and TV host Jillian Michaels has a simple explanation in her blog: the body, for survival purposes, will always struggle to hold on to the last bit of fat. Strict diet and exercise regimens do not work uniformly.

But technology has turned the impossible dream into an attainable goal. Called Vanquish, it is, according to its manufacturer, the world’s first noncontact, noninvasive and hands-free treatment that uses selective radio frequency to zap away fat in the abdomen and love handles.

The patented device has been scientifically studied and clinically proven for the circumferential reduction of fat in the tummy and love handles, said Petra Kopecka, the Czech manager in Southeast Asia of BTL Aesthetics, the company that invented and manufactured Vanquish.

Targeting fat cells

“The skin, fat and muscles have different impedances. The impedance will depend on the water content. Fat cells have low water content and high impedance. With selective radio frequency, the machine automatically measures the impedance of the tissue layer and specifically targets just the fat cells. It kills the fat cells, or it reduces its size,” Kopecka said.

Vanquish treatment is offered exclusively at The Aivee Teo, MD, Anti-Aging Institute located at 2/F East Building, Forbestown Center, Burgos Circle, BGC (tel. nos. 4031982, 4033245, 5562533; e-mail info@aiveeaguilarteo.com).

After four to six sessions, scheduled seven to 10 days apart, people can shave up to three inches off their midsection. There is no downtime, no special diets or supplements, no side effects, no internal organs affected, and the whole process is painless, Kopecka said.

“We don’t ask patients to go on a diet. We just ask them not to gain weight,” she added. Unless the weight gain is 100 percent from muscle mass, people who gain weight normally increase their body fat percentage. Increasing body fat is counter-productive to the treatment.

Dr. Aivee Teo clarified a point: Vanquish is a body-sculpting device that contours the midsection. It is not a weight-loss machine.

“You want to kill the fat cells and decrease their volume, but you can’t kill them all. It’s not healthy. You still need fat. When you decrease the number of fat cells and reduce their volume, you won’t have a bulging tummy anymore. It will look aesthetically better,” Teo said.





Vanquish was first tested on a controlled group of Vietnamese swine, whose fat cells and tissues are very similar to humans, said Kopecka. The study, which concluded last year, showed that the swine lost up to 60 percent fat. People, however, can expect a reduction of about 20-25 percent.

Natural processes

“I would never promise 60-percent reduction to anyone. We don’t live in a controlled environment,” Kopecka said.

The machine works in accordance with the natural processes of the body. Its maker, BTL, is a European company known for producing medical devices for cardiology and pneumology the past 21 years. It ventured into medical aesthetics eight years ago, producing machines that also pass rigid medical standards and regulations, she said.

“As a medical company, we understand the body very well,” Kopecka said.

Vanquish stimulates apoptosis, or the natural death of fat cells. Each treatment is only 30 minutes long. The radio frequency has a thermal effect on the deep tissue while protecting the surrounding areas. That’s why even at its highest temperature of 45 degrees, when the induced apoptosis occurs, the skin and other tissues do not burn.

“Our body has its own lymphatic drainage. Any toxins in your body, after it has been metabolized, will be excreted through stool or urine or sweat. Our drainage system flushes the fat out of our body,” Teo said.

Kopecka cautioned, however, that patients must inform the nurse or doctor if their midsection begins to produce too much sweat during the treatment.

Vanquish is a very powerful machine, she said. An overproduction of sweat may cause the water droplets formed in the abdomen and love handles to start boiling. This in turn can cause blisters. Although this rarely occurs, it’s a situation that can be prevented.

Actress Judy Ann Santos, who had her first session of Vanquish a week ago, said all she felt was a warm sensation in her midsection—very tolerable and painless. And the 30-minute treatment is just perfect to squeeze into her tight schedule.

The once fleshy Santos now flaunts an hourglass figure. She swears by Teo’s services and treatments, and complements them by exercising six times a week.

This body-sculpting treatment is said to be closest to surgical results. Since treatments are evenly spaced out for weeks, allowing the body ample time to recover from the fat loss, there is less chance of the skin sagging.

Anyone between 18 and 65 years old can undergo the treatment. Each session costs P15,000. People with metals in the body, pacemakers, cancer, and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers should not undergo the treatment.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

How to lose weight

More than one-third of adults in the United States are obese. In fact, the furor over obesity, which some have termed an “epidemic,” has reached such proportions that one big-city mayor has gone about banning large-sized, sugary soft drinks and the First Lady has been on a crusade to control the dietary offerings in public schools.

Even many adults who do not fit the clinic definition of obese are still overweight, and a large percentage are looking for the best ways to lose weight.

Shedding pounds largely comes down to the two-pronged factors of diet and exercise. Not modifying the first one enough, and not getting enough of the second one, ends up giving the individual a recipe for being overweight.

Conditions related to obesity include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Counseling someone to eat less and exercise more might be the simplest advice possible, but it’s also, partially, an oversimplification. When it comes to diet, no one needs to starve themselves in order to lose weight. It has more to do with the types of food you eat than how much you eat.

Reduce the amount of red meat in your diet. If you don’t want to eliminate red meat altogether, choose cuts of meat with less fat content. Limit your intake of salt and starches. If you’ve got to have potato chips alongside your sandwich at lunch, opt for the baked potato chips that are less greasy and contain less fat than the deep-fried chips. You might find you’re really not sacrificing that much in terms of taste.

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, egg whites, skinless poultry, fish and nonfat dairy products will certainly aid in the mission of losing weight. Drink more water and less sugary drinks. If you have to have a soda, a diet soda is a better option, but seltzer is an even better choice than that.

In terms of exercise, it’s important—if not always easy—to make sure you get at least some physical activity each and every day. Cardio and strength training burn lots of calories. If your feet or your stamina level won’t allow for a regular jogging regimen, then make sure you take lots of walks. Next time you need to mail a letter, walk to the mailbox instead of driving. Try to work in a daily walk in your neighborhood. And if you intend on more rigorous, formal exercising at the gym or fitness center, be sure to pace yourself and don’t build up to an overly ambitious workout agenda too quickly.

There are thousands of diet fads among us.  However, sometimes the best advice is common sense.  Work towards a healthy diet and integrate regular exercise.  You would be surprised at the results small changes can make.

source: smarterlifestyles.com

Blast that mummy tummy away–without leaving your home

After I slaved away at the beginning of the year to get beach body-ready, all I want to do now is sleep, eat ramen and not work out. Having babies takes a toll on your body as it expands and changes, and getting older with each baby makes the slimming process all the more challenging.

Even after losing all that weight and then some, our skin quality is no longer the same as it was, and bits of fat just won’t move without some extra help.




For busy people

I heard about Slim At Home from an old colleague who told me that it was the latest venture of Happy Ongpauco-Tiu, a beautiful entrepreneur and mother I had met several years ago when she first opened the Boutique Hotel in Tagaytay.

After having children and running several businesses, Happy found herself in the predicament many career women find themselves in.

“I am in the food business, so that makes it difficult to go on a diet, especially with all the food development and the food tasting I have to do,” she says. “With all my businesses and personal obligations, I do not have the time to exercise regularly or enroll in a slimming clinic. Hence, I conceptualized this business to cater to busy people like me who, despite the lack of time, still care about staying slim and fit.”

Happy is so dedicated to her new business that customers can text her directly for any questions.


Slim At Home offers a holistic approach to slimming. Treatments need to be done in combination with a proper diet and exercise regimen. It offers personal training sessions in the comfort of your own home, where a trainer brings all the equipment and monitors your weight. That means no excuses now!

Noninvasive treatments

I tried some of the services such as the Lipocavitation. It works by using ultrasonic energy to heat the dermis and tighten the deeper layers of skin while helping initiate the production of collagen. It’s used to target fat cells in specific areas such as arms, inner and outer thighs, hips, calves, upper and lower abdomen pocket fats and cellulites.

“During exercise, the body burns fats,” explains Happy. “It is through ultrasonic technology that the hard fat eventually becomes soft fat, which in turn makes it easier to metabolize in time. It is the muscles that become firm through exercise and not the fat. After the treatment, it is normal that the fat cells are eliminated through body excretions such as urine.”


After the lipocavitation, the therapist did the Thermaslim Radio Frequency treatment on me, which she said would help dissolve fat further.

Another treatment, Cryo Therapy, is a noninvasive treatment that uses below-zero-degree temperature to tighten the skin, which is then infused with rejuvenating serums. It freezes fats in targeted areas, causing the fats to crystallize. About 20 to 25 percent of the fat cells in the treated area die in a natural way, eventually draining out from the body through metabolism.

Slim At Home also offers Cryo Facial to rejuvenate tired skin, as well as Theralift, which also uses radio frequency technology to stimulate the formation of collagen to tighten and renew skin.

For more information, visit www.slimathome.com.ph for the full range of treatments. For bookings, contact Aileen at the Slim At Home booking line at 0917-885SLIM (7546). Or call Happy Ongpauco-Tiu directly at 0917-8901225.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Kate applauded for not hiding new mommy tummy

NEW YORK—As Kate and William showed off the royal baby, what caught the eye of many women was not the new heir to the throne but the Duchess of Cambridge’s post-childbirth silhouette: that little bump under her pretty polka-dot dress.

“I love that she came out and there was a mommy tummy. It was there! We all saw it!” said Lyss Stern of New York City, who remembers turning down offers of a girdle and diet pills after her first child was born nine years ago.

Stern, whose company Divamoms.com organizes events and product launches, added that Kate was sending “the right message,” in stark contrast to Hollywood celebrities who are shown “three weeks after childbirth with a flat stomach and G-string bikini. That’s not real.”

Even those who make a living getting new moms into shape applauded Kate. “I’m thrilled that she went out there like that, because we never see real mommy tummies,” said Helene Byrne, a personal trainer in Oakland, Calif., who specializes in pre- and post-natal exercise. “When you see a magazine or photos of new celebrity moms, they’re Photoshopped. They’re fake! They’re a big lie!”

The Daily Beast even ran a headline saying Kate’s “unabashed baby belly busts the last taboo of pregnancy.” Indeed, most celebrity new moms don’t have their pictures taken until their tummies are flat again. And while the stars usually credit diet and exercise with making their bodies bikini-ready so fast, gossip and plastic surgeons often cite something else: the popular procedure known as a tummy tuck.

People magazine has an entire online archive devoted to “Body After Baby: Celebrity moms show off shockingly svelt figures after giving birth,” but the magazine declined to comment Wednesday on the example set by Kate. Meanwhile, the summer’s other celebrity mom, Kim Kardashian, has yet to be seen in public. Us Weekly reported that she won’t leave the house untill she’s ready to “debut her post-baby body.”

Unaware?

Nobody can say whether Kate consciously chose to send a message that this is what new mothers really look like, or whether she didn’t realize—or didn’t care—how obvious her tummy would be. Either way, she un-self-consciously handed the baby off to her husband rather than using the newborn to camouflage her figure from the cameras and crowds when she emerged from the hospital Tuesday. And her form-draping dress was a contrast to the caftan-like outfit that hid Princess Diana’s figure when she appeared publicly for the first time after giving birth to Will in 1982.

Nancy Manister, who worked for 20 years as a maternity nurse and now teaches at Fairfield University in Connecticut, even noticed a moment during the photo op when Kate “clasped her hands together underneath the belly, and I thought, ‘She’s not trying to hide it.’” As for anxious new moms wondering when that bump will go away, Manister says, “it takes six weeks to lose 25 pounds, and a full year” to get your old body back.




Jennifer Moneta, who works in public relations in Dallas, gave birth nine weeks ago and was especially pleased that Kate made the post-partum silhouette “look very natural, as if that is what all moms can and should expect after having a baby.” Moneta said that when she left the hospital, “I still looked five months pregnant, even though I only gained 20 pounds during pregnancy.  My father even lovingly kidded me about it, saying ‘I didn’t realize the baby was still in there.’”

‘Is she pregnant again?’

Alison Jimenez, a fashion blogger in Astoria, New York, said she was “outraged” by comments from some Kate-watchers asking things like “Is she pregnant again?”

“This woman has just given birth, what was she supposed to do? Struggle into a pair of Spanx?” Jimenez said.

But some new moms do swear by girdles or their modern equivalent. Josephine Giraci, of Lloyd Neck, New York, says the best piece of advice she got before her first child was born 11 years ago was to pack a girdle in her maternity bag. She wore it for three months after giving birth: “I slept in it and everything.”

One shapewear company, Hourglass Angel, wasted no time Wednesday emailing pitches showing a picture of Kate with the mommy tummy alongside ads for corsets and girdles as a way for women to “regain their body” and “feel even more beautiful.”

Dr. Robert Atlas, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, explained that the “bulge that women have after they deliver” is mostly loose skin and fat. He said breast-feeding can help new mothers lose the weight “due to extra metabolic processing,” but he doesn’t recommend girdles as a way to lose baby weight — though women who have cesarean sections do wear a binder-like accessory around their midsections to support abdominal muscles.

As he spoke, he was with a patient, Melissa Baker, of Ellicott City, Md., who gave birth just a week ago. Asked what she thought of Kate, Baker said, simply, “I liked that she didn’t look perfect.”—Beth J. Harpaz

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

UltraShape-VDF: Lose fat permanently in just one visit

MANILA, Philippines — Experience for yourself why over 90% of clients have seen noticeable improvements in their problem areas right after just one session of UltraShape-VDF.

UltraShape-VDF is the clinically proven non-invasive way to remove unwanted fat for good. Its advanced ultrasonic technology targets and destroys fat cells better than any other system. It’s body shaping via fat cell reduction. It’s lipo without the suction!

Why is UltraShape-VDF so good?

   * It’s non-invasive. No surgery required.

  *  It’s painless. No need for anesthesia.

  *  It’s quick and easy. Lose unwanted fat in less than an hour while lying down.

  *  It doesn’t leave unsightly scars, lumps and ripples. Just a smooth and slimmer you.

  *  There is no downtime. You can get your treatment during your lunch break and go back to work immediately afterwards.

  *  Doesn’t require weeks of endless treatments. You will see and feel the difference after one session.

UltraShape-VDF is the perfect solution for your trouble spots—bulging tummy, muffin top, thick thighs, love handles, or saddle bags.

At Marie France, all treatments are supervised by in-house doctors and its teams of qualified nutritionists are on hand to offer personal one-on-one advice on lifestyle choices for your slimmer, healthier future.

Call Marie France today at 894-2639 to book your appointment. 

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

How juicing saved his life

Joe Cross, a financially successful Australian in his early 40s, was burdened with a serious health problem: he was overweight by 100 pounds, and for nine years had been taking medication for an autoimmune disease.

Tired of swallowing pills and worried that he’d soon end up dead, most probably from a heart attack, Joe challenged himself to lose weight the natural way—by drinking a juice recipe of vegetables and fruits for 60 days and documented it on film.

The result, as captured in the documentary “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead,” is so inspiring that viewers are likely to follow Joe’s lead. First released in 2010, the film won the Best Documentary Feature in the Iowa Independent Film Festival, the Turning Point Award and the Audience Choice Award in the Sonoma International Film Festival, all in the same year.

Although it got mixed reviews—the negative ones saying it’s simply self-promotion—the main message of Joe’s film is not just about juice diets, but maintaining a balanced lifestyle to achieve good health.

Joe is in Manila to help promote “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead,” which will be shown starting today in several Metro Manila theaters. Recently, he granted Inquirer Lifestyle an exclusive e-mail interview.

In the film, you said you used to eat two whole pizzas. What other foods did you indulge in before you decided enough was enough?

From the time I was a boy, I had a serious sweet tooth and would eat more than my fill of lollies, breakfast cereal and baked treats, and wash it all down with Coca-Cola. But I also loved fast-food hamburgers and fries, and basically anything fried. What I never indulged in were fruits and vegetables—and happily, now I can’t get enough of them.

Your parents also said that you ate a lot even as a child, but you started gaining weight only when you were working in the stock market. How do you explain that?

Principally, I was on my own as an adult, and even though I had always been prone to overeating, I no longer had any mechanism to regulate what I ate—so the brakes were really off the car at that point!

Second, I didn’t have the institutionalized, organized exercise that you get as an active kid who plays rugby or footie at school—and the absence of exercise didn’t help.

Third, I was under lots of pressure in a high-stakes job, and I probably turned to food as support. And finally, like everyone, my metabolism started to slow down after my teenage years.

You used to get into a fruit and veggie diet but eventually went back to your old ways. Was it because your willpower to lose weight was not strong enough?

I think it was because I didn’t realize how high the stakes were. When I turned 40 and looked in the mirror, I really understood that I had spent decades making choices that were going to end my life prematurely. And that scared the dickens  out of me—let me tell you, fear is a powerful motivator!

How did you learn about the juice diet?

I had tried it before in a limited way, but I worked with several doctors to create the plan I followed. The premise was less about “juicing” and more about getting massive amounts of fruits and vegetables into my system as quickly as possible while cutting off the supply of processed food—and there’s no better way to do that than juicing, in my opinion!

Was there a detailed plan (daily menu, specific fruits and veggies) before you started doing it?

I created one with Dr. Joel Fuhrman, director of research of the US Nutritional Research Foundation. But after a few days and as I got more comfortable with juicing, I started to experiment and get creative.

Was doing a documentary on your 60-day juice diet the primary motivator for you to succeed?

The motivation for my success was literally to save my life. But I reckon having a camera crew around will keep you honest!

In your website, it is mentioned that it is not required of everyone to do a 60-day juice fast. Why did you go to the extreme?

I had an extreme problem—an excess 100 lbs, an autoimmune disease and daily doses of powerful and debilitating drugs—so I chose a pretty extreme solution. But I now “reboot” every few months or so for five to 15 days and that is enough to keep me on track, now that I have restored my baseline health.

In the film, it is noted that you started losing weight as early as the first or second week of your juice fast. What difficulties or challenges did you encounter as the days went on?

The first few days were tough, since my system was detoxing and my brain was grappling with letting go of so many habits and “crutches” that I relied on during times of stress. Since then, I’ve learned more about how to prepare for a period of juicing, and I provide people doing a reboot with lots of information—like weaning yourself off processed foods and animal products before you begin.

But truly, after the first five days, which were tough, everything became very effortless, and the results were so positive that I was motivated to continue.

You have gone back to a solid food diet and only do a juice fast every three months for 10-15 days. Does that mean you’re back to eating meat again?

Very sparingly—every few months, I might get a hankering for a bit of steak and if I do, I will eat it. What is great is that I no longer really want it. The cravings I was afraid of when I started this journey just simply aren’t there.

Would you recommend juice fasting even for children?

No, children have special dietary needs and require a very balanced diet to grow and be strong! However, I think that adding a fresh juice of vegetables and fruits to their diet is a great way to enhance their nutrient intake.

What’s the greatest thing you learned from your juice fast, aside from the insight that the body can heal itself?

The power of community and communication. The help and encouragement I received from friends and family was so crucial to my success, and I have been trying to pass that along to people around the world. I get hundreds of stories of personal triumphs every day and one of the key factors that people cite is that they had a friend, or family member, or were on our online community and received encouragement. I believe, with the right information and a healthy amount of support, incredible change is possible. I’m living proof!

“Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” will be screened today at Newport Cinema 3 of Resorts World Manila; tomorrow at Cinema 3, Gateway Mall; and May 31, Cinema 3, Shangri-La Plaza. All screenings are at 6:30 p.m. For free tickets, log on to breville.com.ph/joe-cross-in-manila

Everything in moderation

I USED TO be skinny, but gained weight in recent years due to an increased appetite, coupled with drinking alcohol regularly, especially after work assignments. I used to do brisk walking for exercise, but it got rare due to the long nights out (going to bed at 4 a.m. was the norm), which made waking up early an arduous task.

The sight of a bulging tummy bothered me, and the sharp, creeping pain in my chest that I occasionally felt gave me the creeps.

After watching a DVD copy of “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead,” I thought of trying the juice diet, which consists of three kinds of vegetables and two fruits to be put in a juicer and drunk the whole day, without any solid food.

With a blender, which used to mash my son’s food when he was a baby, I started taking only juice for meals last May 6. I would “cheat” once in a while with the soup of sinigang na bangus or a serving of pinakbet. But generally, it was just juice that I had for breakfast and which I also brought to the office in two one-liter jugs, kept in the ref and drunk for lunch and dinner or every time I felt hungry.

In the first few days, I lost 10 lbs, followed by another five pounds within a 12-day period. The most wondrous thing was that I never felt weak; on the contrary, my energy was at an all-time high during those 12 days, my mind very much alert to the demands of editing and writing stories late into the night.

Now I like what I see in the mirror: no more puffy face and no protruding tummy, either. My waistline shrunk by at least two inches, so I have to tighten my belt. Also, I got back to brisk walking and noticed that I don’t get tired at all.

It doesn’t mean, however, that I’m turning vegetarian. I had a few slices of beef steak a few days ago, and I’m looking forward to having a bite of the roast pork belly at Resorts World. I’m just following Joe Cross’ dictum, which is actually the universal maxim to living well: everything in moderation. Pocholo Concepcion

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

HCG Diet - Human Chorionic Gonadotropin

HCG -(Human Chorionic Gonadotropin) is usually hormone produced during pregnancy. HCG diet was invented by Dr. Simeons, a British Doctor who spent years on trying to find out the reason or real cause of obesity.

HCG is a disciplinary diet of only 500 calories per day and can help you lose weight, burn fat and replace fat in the buttocks and stomach. It's safe, easy and effective and it enables you to maximize your results.


The hormone is taken 3 times every day through HCG drops. Expect not to have excessive hunger throughout the program as well as drop off the excess weight because the oral HCG diet drops taken plus a low calorie diet limit the urge to eat and will improve your metabolic action. It's a diet plan with dieting tips accessible at pharmacies, over the counter drugstores and online with no doctor's prescription. You can purchase it online and understand it's usage and direction.

Beyond cosmetic treatments or plastic surgery, a healing of the soul

Arianne Vasquez, medical director of Aesthetic Science Clinic, walks her talk. Before she underwent breast augmentation, she meditated, cleansed her chakras or energy centers, and performed inner dancing, the use of movement to release blocked energies and to harness inner power.

During post-surgery, there was the initial discomfort of having foreign bodies in the chest. Her anxiety was heightened with thoughts about surgical complications. Thus, two of her reiki healer-friends healed her through long distance. She then felt a deep sense of calm and returned to work in five days.

Aesthetic Science clinic espouses a holistic approach to cosmetic enhancement as it offers life coaching and reiki healing. Although cosmetic dermatology and plastic surgery can beautify a person, it can’t take take away the bitterness or the harshness of the soul. Hence, the need for complementary treatments.

“Some clients want a change not just on the outside but also on the inside,” says Vasquez. The clinic offers life coaching to help them deal with deep-seated issues that brought them to the clinic in the first place.

Many patients, mostly women, want a boob job, a nose lift or eyebag removal because of low self-esteem born out relationship problems. However, they have unrealistic expectations about the surgical results.

“Surgery is not the cure-all. On the other hand, some patients talk about their problems while others remain silent.”

Stress

Vasquez added that undergoing major and minor surgery can still pose stress.

“Even if the patients come out beautiful or sexy, it will not ease their burden.”

Life coaching or counseling can help women realize that self-esteem is not based on looks alone but on their qualities.

For people with weight issues, doctors recommend diet and exercise before undergoing liposuction or non-invasive body contouring treatments for best results. Jason Peñaranda, the wellness doctor, specializes in detox and digestive cleansing.

JASON Peñaranda

“Some people have a hard time losing weight. The liver doesn’t function properly because of the fats in it,” says Vasquez. Some are advised to detox first, to cleanse the body off bad oils and residues from synthetic medicine.

With obese patients, life coaching can help identify emotional issues that spurred the weight problems.

“The approach is holistic because you’re not just working on the body but also the soul,” says Vasquez.

Peñaranda pointed out that after liposuction or completing their non-invasive body contouring treatments, patients come to him for diet and lifestyle change so that excess weight doesn’t creep back. While other doctors treat weight loss from a physiological viewpoint, he dwells more into attitude in order to affect transformation. Instead of making a restricted diet plan that tends to make patients feel miserable, he suggests adapting new habits and using food as medicine.

Peñaranda underscores the importance of keeping the digestive system in order so that nutrients could be easily assimilated.

Ancient art

Although most people visit the Aesthetic Science to improve their looks, some also come for reiki healing to boost their energy, both psychic and physical. Reiki is an ancient Japanese healing art wherein the healer goes through a meditative space to harness the Source and uses the palms to diagnose and balance the energies.

Vasquez also practices reiki healing with her crystals. Some of the cases range from severe allergies to victim complex. She meditates, puts the crystals on the patient’s energy centers and lays her hands. She stays longer in the weak areas to neutralize the imbalances. The healing takes place on the level of vibrations or frequencies.

Peñaranda explains that the healer is merely a channel of the cosmic energy.

HEALING with crystals

“Supposing your energy is off. It needs another energy to put restore it,” he says. He likens the patient-healer dynamic to the child and adult.

“If you’re sick, your energy is like the kid who bikes in an erratic direction. It needs the assistance of an adult to make the child bike straight. Reiki provides the conduit for correcting an aberrant frequency.”

Says Vasquez, “From my experience, reiki lowers the blood pressure, relieves stress and provides some mental clarity. For post surgery, it speeds up the recovery. We had a patient who had gastric pains. In the process, she started crying as emotional issues came out. It taught me a lesson that you have to address the whole being.”

Although there is still resistance to alternative modalities, Vasquez observes people are slowly opening up to this new alternative. “They say there’s an evolution or a shift consciousness as the Mayan calendar ends,” she says.

Aesthetic Science is at Jupiter Place Bldg., Jupiter St., Bel-Air, Makati, tel. 8993643 and 0908-9967376; and Kennedy Center Prime St.t, Madrigal Business Park, Ayala Alabang, tel. 8098021, 3833488, 0916-3412464.

source: http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/31387/beyond-cosmetic-treatments-or-plastic-surgery-a-healing-of-the-soul

Weight loss pills and diet pills are available in in many shapes and sizes

Fat reduction pills and diet pills are available in in a variety of shapes and sizes. Diet pills and fat reduction pills can be found in a variety of shapes and sizes. Weight loss pills are specifically designed to help decrease and control your body weight. Weight loss pills are categorised as ‘dietary supplements.’ This means that they do not have to be approved by the FDA. Makers of drug products do have to be FDA approved which involves proving that the product is effective and safe. The only requirement for a dietary supplement is that the labelling has to be truthful and not misleading.

Weight reduction pills are occasionally referred to as anti obesity drugs. Some types of weight reduction pills require a prescription but there are a huge number that can be purchased freely from a number of different outlets. For many years a large number of weight reduction pills contained Ephedra which has been used to treat a wide variety of health problems in China for in excess of five thousand years. In 2004 however the FDA finally banned the marketing of supplements containing Ephedra in the USA after a number of deaths that were linked to the drug. There are still a number of products available that are designed to closely mimic the properties of Ephedra.

A large number of the products today contain mainly herbal ingredients which are free of disagreeable or dangerous side effects.

There are two main categories of weight reduction pills. They are fat burners and hunger suppressants.

Fat burners increase your body temperature a little which raises your metabolic rate and results in some of your excess fat being burned off. Doctors will on occasion prescribe fat burners to patients suffering from obesity who are unable to exercise. The top fat burners will also assist you in conditioning and regulating your metabolic rate so as that you are able to maintain your weight.

Appetite suppressants help you to manage your eating habits. These types of pills and supplements are referred to as being ‘anorectic’ which comes from a Greek word that translates as 'having no appetite'. Hunger suppressants are designed to reduce your food consumption but still feel full. Eating smaller amounts clearly reduces your calorie intake thereby promoting weight reduction.

Some of the products that you can buy act both as hunger suppressants and fat burners. The manufacturers of Capsiplex ,which is acknowledged as being one of the top fat burners, state that you can burn off an extra 278 calories a day purely by taking Capsiplex pills.

If you prefer to take hunger reducers like Uniquehoodia it is possible to reduce your intake of calories by as much as 2000 calories per day without feeling hungry.

Although it is possible to cut your weight by just taking weight loss pills and supplements it is recommended to lose weight with pills in conjunction with a properly formulated diet and a realistic exercise programme. This will increase the rate of weight loss and also assist you in maintaining your body weight once you have achieved your target weight. You should always set yourself sensible weight reduction targets and do not try to lose too much weight too rapidly. It is advisable to lose no more than 3-5 lbs a week for the majority of people.

There is a huge choice of weight loss products available on the market. The most widely used weight loss pills are fat burners and hunger suppressants.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

Experience Permanent Weight Loss

A lot of people want to lose weight but most of them do not know the best way to lose weight. A lot of people eat foods that are recommended by dieticians and yet only a few succeed.

To start seeing differences, you have to make some changes in your habits and lifestyle and for you to experience permanent weight loss you have to follow and acquire good habits that allow you to lose body fat.

Proper diet begins with the elimination of foods which are not beneficial to the body because we are what we eat. In order to be slim, we have to pay attention to what we eat. Practice having smaller meals all throughout the day, this is much better than getting three heavy meals. As you eat more often, your body will always have something to digest and you won't feel the starvation.

Make a diet plan. A diet plan is often composed of a low-fat, high fiber foods, or foods low in carbohydrates and low in calories. Food diet and appetite control is really a part of the successful weight loss programs.

Water is also an important factor. Increase your water intake. Water circulates through the body and cleanses from the inside. As it flows, it flushes toxins, and expels them through urine, sweating and promotes organ efficiency. Therefore, the more water that flows the body, the faster it will cleanse itself, allowing the weight loss process to begin. You should drink enough water during and after exercises, It helps the body remove all the by-products produced when the body is dedicated to exercise and keeps your body active and in shape.

Anyone can lose weight by having a proper diet, increased water intake, (Water Therapy) and exercise.