healthbank.inHealth Information Site

You are going to be pleasantly surprised! Most people think that in order to lose weight you have to do strenuous exercise, continuously, and lots of it! Well, Guess what? NOT TRUE!
I know you are thinking? That’s crazy! It doesn’t make any sense! I thought the same thing, when I first heard this. But it all comes down to understanding how your body works.
By exercising 20 minutes a day average, you can reduce your craving for the wrong kinds of foods that result from your life stresses. SO let’s explore that concept of how the body really works! Your body has two ways to create energy. Your body can turn fat into energy, or it can turn blood sugar, glucose, into energy. But it can’t do both at the same time. At any time, your body is either burning fat, or blood sugar. When your energy demand is low, your body burns fat. When you are walking, working at your desk, driving a car, and even sleeping – the demand for energy is low so the body is burning fat. But as soon as your activity levels increase – your body turns to blood sugar since fat cannot be converted into energy quickly enough.
Let’s take an example. You are walking down the street to the bus stop (burning fat), and you see your bus start to close the doors and ready to leave. You start running – and very quickly your heart rate and your breathing will increase, and your body will begin to burn blood sugar instead of fat. Constant strenuous exercise conditions your body to burn blood sugar, instead of fat. Wow! That is an eye-opener, isn’t it?
These types of strenuous exercises are great for the heart, lungs, and circulation, and you may want to do these AFTER you lose the weight. Until then, try anaerobic exercise that doesn’t increase your heart rate. Try long, slow walks, because they are burning fat while you walk – but as an added bonus, you are conditioning your body to burn fat, opening up fat burning systems, burning calories, and building muscle
Weight lifting is another great exercise for losing weight because it will build muscle and muscle burns fat. Yep, that’s true. The more muscle you have the more fat your body burns every day. Don’t get me wrong – I am talking easy weight lifting, such as with 5 or 10 pound weights, and limit this to about 20 minutes a day, every other day. Alternate walking and weight lifting during the week – take Sunday Off. It is really that simple! Start your walking program easy too. Start with 5 minutes out, and then come back. Over time increase to 10 minutes out, and then come back; then 15, then 20. 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back – 40 minutes total every other day. Then stay consistent! One of the biggest problems with strenuous exercise is that people sometimes injure themselves early on in the program, and then that’s the end of it! All you need to do is walk and weight lift – light workouts. And once you have gotten started, do it consistently. This easy exercise program combined with a program of nutrition, information, and personal coaching can be just your ticket, to getting rid of those unwanted pounds forever.

If you’ve ever tried to find a skin care product to deal with the skin care concerns of aging skin, you’re probably as confused as the average person. There are so many products and ingredients that tout ‘increase in this’, ‘decrease in that’ , ‘revitalized this and revitalized that’ and on and on and on. Many empty promises or over-hyped formulations.
In order to understand what anti-aging skin care products are intended to do, you have to first understand about what the aging process is for skin. Aging skin has the condition where the structural proteins that bind and support the skin, collagen and elastin, lose their resiliency and cohesion, causing the skin to wrinkle and/or sag. The body’s ability to produce new collagen and elastin also diminishes with age while the cells in the various layers of our skin decline and thin, loosing the ability to adequately maintain moisture. Without proper hydration, the healing mechanisms of the skin cease to function, adversely affecting the skin’s ability to receive nutrients and repair itself. The result is rough, lose, wrinkled skin.
Of course, we all want to have the best skin possible at any age and are searching for solutions to maintain our skin’s youthfulness. In our quest and with the constant marketing and advancements in skin care, it can sometimes be difficult to find an affordable and effective solution for great skin care.
However, what you need to know is that it doesn’t have to be that complex (as many of the product name suggest!). What you should consider is that what any skin care program should be is simple. That’s it, just simple. The results that we all want are simple: soft, smooth, clear, radiant, younger-looking skin.
Too much of the time now days, skin care marketers are trying to convenience consumers that they need formulations that no average consumer can understand, or day and night products, or formulations that highly successful, well-known personalities would use. If you think about it, how many products do you currently have in your storage that were purchased because of these marketing strategies?
With these types of advertising, there are so many re-touches and questionable representation of the product effectiveness because the personality also receives so many other types of services and procedures that impact the condition of skin that you really cannot know the true results that the highly marketed products will bring.
The positive side of the situation is that there are constant and ever evolving advances in skin care and we all have the option for our skin condition improving with age.
If you are looking for a skin care program, there are some guidelines you may want to consider when making your skin care choices:
Protect your skin while you are in the sun and extreme weather.
Drink lots of water. It’s so important for proper skin hydration and keeping your body clean from toxins and other chemicals that could cause adverse reactions in your skin.
You should know what you are using on your skin. If you can’t pronounce the majority of the ingredients or there are more than 5 or 6 ingredients, then it may be too complex for what your skin actually needs. Skin care that uses these types of formulations are full of fillers, coloring, preservatives, and chemicals that are not beneficial for your skin and come with a high price where the consumer is paying for the filler more so than the active ingredients. These types of ingredients are only needed to fill up the bottle and make it appealing to smell or touch. Sometimes products will contain multiple active ingredients but in order to formulate these ingredients, it requires that other ingredients be added. You end up paying for something your skin cannot use. The cheaper ingredients are filling up the bottle. Try a similar approach to how you would choose your food (skin is ‘live cells’ and needs nourishment). Watch the labels and choose products with skin healthy formulations where the active ingredients are 80% of the ingredients.
You should use a good and effective cleanser. This is the most important step in your skin care process. Many cleansing products do not leave your skin feeling smooth and deeply cleansed. Find a product that goes deep into the pores, provides light exfoliation and conditioning, and does not leave any residue. Applying moisturizers and treatments on top of skin that is not completely clean will just make the problem worse by clogging pores and showing a rough, uneven skin texture.
You should be able to adjust your program to meet your skin’s daily needs. If you can’t adjust the use of the products to match what your skin needs on a particular day, are you really getting what you need? Your program should be able to hydrate, heal, and renew your skin. You should see this gradual improvement everyday and not have to wait 30 to 60 days for results. It’s like watering a plant. A plant that needs water as a critical nutrient will respond immediately to the water being absorbed through its roots and perk up within a few hours. Watch your skin for a week or so and you’ll know how effective the program can ultimately be for your skin care needs.
You should be able to quickly go through your regime. It should not take more than 5 minutes. A skin care program should include the steps to cleanse, exfoliate, treat and/or moisturize. You should be able to pick and choose what you need based on you skin’s current condition for that day.
You should not be able to feel the product on your skin. In order for skin care to really be effective, it must penetrate the skin cells. Product sitting on top of your skin is product that is not penetrating the skin layers. Products with fillers and other unnecessary, complex formulations will may not get deep or directly enough to provide the treatment and results you are looking for. You should not know that you are wearing your skin care.
You should feel comfortable with makeup optional skin. If your skin care is really working, your skin will improve and you will not want to put makeup on it if you don’t have to. Most skin problems are correctable to a large degree. You should be able to go out feeling confident that your skin is at its best (with minimal makeup) no matter what your age is. Also, by using makeup less, you are giving your skin more time to repair and restore itself without the interruption of other product chemicals on your skin.

Occasional emotional eating is normal. Everyone has celebrated with food before, that’s what birthday parties, Christmas lunch and BBQ’s on Super Bowl day and the Forth of July are all about. But emotional eating can become a serious problem when it leads to negative emotional and physical imbalances in our lives.
Frequent emotional eating can easily become a destructive cycle. Emotional eating becomes entrenched in the lives of its sufferers when they use food to regulate their mood, cope with stress or overcome feelings of anxiety or boredom.
This type of behavior can easily lead emotional eaters to become overweight or obese because many of them feel hungry most of the time.
“Satisfying” this insatiable hunger with food, many emotional eaters consume far more calories than their body needs and they gain a lot of weight which becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible to lose.
Common signs of Emotional Eating
Here are some common signs of emotional eating:
Eating when not physically hungry.
Eating during times of strong emotions, like anger or depression.
Eating when bored.
Rapid eating.
Eating immediately after arriving home from work.
Eating alone out of embarrassment at the quantity or type of food being eaten.
Eating until uncomfortably full.
Feelings of disgust, depression, or guilt after overeating.
Recognizing emotional hunger
Recognizing emotional hunger (as apposed to real physical hunger) is one of the keys to overcoming or staving off frequent emotional eating.
Some of the characteristics of emotional hunger include:
Emotional hunger comes on suddenly.
One minute you’re not hungry at all and the next minute you’re starving.
Emotional hunger often craves specific food, like pizza, candy or a cheeseburger.
Emotional hunger begins in the mouth and the mind, not the stomach.
Emotional hunger often accompanies an unpleasant emotion.
Emotional hunger involves automatic or absent-minded eating.
Emotional hunger isn’t satisfied when you’re full.
Emotional hunger makes you feel guilty.
Are you an emotional eater?
To find out if you might be an emotional eater, rate yourself on the following statements about your current lifestyle (adapted from the book Fattitudes: Beat Self-Defeat and Win Your War with Weight, by Jeffrey R., Ph.D. Wilbert, Norean K. Wilbert, St Martin’s Press, NY, 2000.) using the scale:
0 = Never
1 = Rarely
2 = Sometimes
3 = Often
4 = Almost Always
1.  I’ve try to lose weight, but always fail.
2.  I don’t feel in control of my eating.
3.  I often eat when I’m not hungry.
4.  I eat food when I’m stressed or upset.
5.  I eat food for pleasure or as a reward.
6.  I think about food a lot.
7.  I can’t stay on track when dieting.
8.  I binge eat.
9.  I feel ashamed of myself and my eating habits.
10.  Food helps me deal with feelings.
Add up your TOTAL SCORE
Interpretation:
0 – 10.   It is very unlikely that you are an emotional eater.
11 – 20.  You engage in some emotional eating but it’s unlikely that it is harmful.
21 – 30.  You are a moderate emotional eater and should consider professional assistance.
31 – 40   You are a heavy emotional eater. Professional assistance is highly recommended.
What to do if emotional eating is a problem
Here are some suggestions that may help you overcome problematic emotional eating:
Become aware of your motivations for wanting to eat.
When you feel like eating, ask yourself if you could possibly be upset instead of hungry.
Keep believing in yourself. You are in control and have the power to make changes in your life.
Develop new mood regulation strategies. For example, share your problems when anxious and exercise when you’re bored.
Remember support is available. If you need to, find a weight loss class, hire a lifestyle coach or engage a licensed therapist.
Focus on the things that matter. Like taking care of yourself, improving your emotional well-being, eating well and exercising.
Be wary of using diets. Dieting can lead to more emotional eating and won’t help you to address the underlying reasons for being overweight.
Love yourself for who you are and forget about trying to be perfect.
Don’t swallow your emotions for the sake of sparing others from getting upset. If they’ve upset you, let them know about it and tell them that you won’t tolerate that kind of behaviour in the future.
Make yourself – not a diet – responsible for what you eat.
Focus on the cause and solution rather than the affect. Constantly focusing on the negative symptoms of the problem won’t help you solve them. Focus on what you’re going to do about your current circumstances rather than the circumstances themselves.
Take responsibility for your life, stop thinking about food and LIVE!
Conclusion
Remember, we’re all emotional eaters to some extent. It’s nearly impossible not to be in America, where eating is an integral part of our celebration rituals and a fundamental aspect of our family and social life. But when emotional eating interferes with your health and happiness you know it’s time to do something about it and the sooner the better.

Many people think that creating a home workout gym is either too intimidating or too costly. So, often they instead invest their money in a health club membership not realizing that for the same amount of money (or even less) they can create a very effective gym right in their own home.
For an effective home gym, all that is required is a little bit of planning. Don’t fall into the trap of purchasing random fitness equipment because of fancy advertising for the latest infomercial fad or the great “sale” at your local fitness store. That type of purchasing leads to a house littered with equipment that’s only use is as a clothes hanger or dust collector. This often happens because the equipment is either useless, poorly constructed or quickly loses its value because it doesn’t progress with your fitness level.
To avoid having a basement filled with expensive dust-collecting equipment, keep these points in mind when making a purchase:

What are your fitness goals?
How often do you realistically think you will use the equipment?
What fitness level do you expect to be at in 3, 6, 9 months?
Will the equipment meet your needs as you get more fit (at the 3, 6, and 9-month marks)?
Does the equipment offer enough variations in use that you can change your workouts frequently to prevent your body from hitting a plateau?
Will you enjoy the exercises or will you quickly grow bored of them?
And, of course how much can you afford?

Once you have answered all of the above questions then you are ready to make some purchasing decisions. Of course, how much you can afford to spend may dictate what you can actually purchase.  Don’t get discouraged. For as little as $100, you can have a very effective total strength training home gym. Even for as little as $35, you can create an effective workout that will tone your entire body.
Regardless of what your fitness goals are, there are a plethora of equipment options to consider. For building muscles and/or toning-up you can choose from free weights, selectorized machines, resistance bands, benches and even no-equipment. For cardiovascular improvements (e.g. running, walking, etc),  there are even more options. They range from treadmills, to elliptical trainers, to bikes and beyond. So, answering the previously mentioned questions is very important.
To help make your decision easier, below are several recommendations based on costs and needs, along with benefits of the exercise equipment.
If you want to create a gym that will provide you with a total body workout (cardio, strength and flexibility) and you have a budget of at least $1000, consider the following recommendations:

Treadmill – The best option for cardiovascular equipment because it can be used for running, walking, and even some leg strength training. Plus, workouts can continually be varied based on speed, incline, even direction. And, it easily progresses as fitness levels improve.
Full dumbbell set with weights ranging from 5 pounds to 50+ pounds. – Great for light toning, to intermediate strength training to building muscles. Less expensive than selectorized machines and usually provides more flexibility and variety in workouts.
Fitness Ball – Provides exercise options for toning, strengthening and stretching.
Resistance Band – Provides another option for strength training. Can alternate use with free weights for a great challenge that will help prevent plateaus.
Step Bench – Can be used for both cardio workouts and strength training workouts.

If you want a home gym specifically for building muscles (or just can’t afford cardio equipment), and can afford at least $100, consider the following recommendations:

Dumbbell set.
Fitness Ball
Resistance Band
Jump Rope – Offers very challenging cardiovascular fitness workouts at a very low price.

If you want a total body home gym but can only afford less than $100, consider the following recommendations:

Three dumbbells sizes (e.g. 5, 10 and 15 pounds)
Resistance Band
Jump Rope

If you are limited to purchasing just one very affordable piece of equipment, consider buying a Fitness Ball. As mentioned above, it provides many different exercise options. With the ball you can get an upper body workout, a lower body workout, very challenging abdominal workout and a stretching/flexibility workout. And, you can get all of this for around $35.
Also, don’t underestimate what you can do with things that are already in your house, like stairs, a chair, milk jugs and others. There are a lot of exercises that require no equipment at all. For example, push-ups, tricep dips, squats, calf raises, etc. You can even create your own “weights” through milk jugs filled with water or sand.
As you can see, there are a lot of options available for creating a home gym that will meet your individual needs and will provide a lot of workout variety. Even on a shoestring budget, you can still make a wise purchase that will be invaluable in helping you get more fit and healthy. And, you’ll enjoy all the benefits of working out at home.
What are the benefits of working out at home? Well, here are some highlights:

No wasted time driving to and from a fitness club
No waiting in line to use the equipment
Workout on your schedule, rather than just when the health club is open
No expensive monthly membership fees or long-term contracts
Motivation to workout as you pass by the equipment every day

Of course, you will need previous knowledge of how to use your home equipment or you will have to be willing to learn. But, it’s not difficult. Most equipment will come with basic instructions and a few sample exercises. You may want to enlist the help of a professional to provide additional exercise options and guidance that will ensure that you get the most out of your fitness equipment through every fitness level stage.
For an affordable workout plan personalized to your individual needs and available equipment, enroll in a WorkoutsForYou.com online fitness program.

Many people suffering from hair loss prefer not to use the strong drugs and medications that currently form the best available treatment options. They may have tried a range of treatments but found they did not work or perhaps suffered unpleasant side effects. What options are left for such people, especially if they do not wish to consider surgery?
There are a number of solutions available but the final decision will be strongly influenced by the amount of thinning that needs to be covered.
1. Creative styling – this is perhaps the easiest option but its success depends on how far your hair loss has progressed. Slight balding can easily be camouflaged by careful grooming but attempts at covering large bald patches can end up looking ridiculous. One option for men with extensive thinning is to shave the head completely but this is not for everyone.
2. Hair cosmetics – this can include anything from hair thickening / volumizing products to dyes and fibers that blend with existing hair. Once again, these solutions really only work if the area of scalp to be covered is minimal.
3. Head coverings – seen by many as a last resort, wigs and hairpieces offer a further option. Once an object of derision, hairpieces have improved beyond recognition in recent years, although the price you are prepared to pay will determine the realism of the final result. Wigs come in all shapes and sizes and can be made from real or synthetic hair, but be warned the best ones are very expensive.