Your Great Mind

People are more concerned about their health nowadays and it is hard to not hear of the acai berry when watching TV, listening to the news or reading magazines, especially if they are health related. If you watch Oprah or the Rachel Ray Show, you will hear of the acai berry and how great it is for your health.

Although you may have heard about the acai berry for the first time, this berry is not a new berry or organically created in a lab to contain amazing properties. The acai berry has been around for a very long time but it was tucked away deep in the rain forests, unknown to most people elsewhere in the world.

The acai berry grows on a branch of an acai palm tree called Euterpe oleracea, which is more commonly known as the acai palm tree. The acai palm is large and tall. Each tree can have as many as 25 trunks although it is not very common. An acai palm tree can be as tall as 25 meters.

On each acai palm trunk, you will see many strands of ribbon-link branches hanging from it. Acai berries are found on the branches. Each acai berry is attached to a thin, small but long branch. Each branch has many acai berries on.

An acai berry looks very similar to a blueberry when ripe. The acai berry is round and small, similar to most berries. It is dark in color. Some are darker than others but most of them are dark purple in color. Each acai palm tree can produce as much as 20 kgs of acai berries a year.

Like most berries, the acai berry is edible. Many people eat the acai berry as fruit but some make use of other parts of the berry too. The acai pulp is where most of the nutrients are and it is very commonly used in wines, liqueurs, or as food flavoring or colorant. The acai berry has many uses so it is not surprising that there are many acai berry products around.

However, the most amazing thing about the acai berry that has caught most people’s attention is its health benefits. The acai berry is very healthy to eat since it contains more nutrients and minerals than almost everything else. There have been many researches into the health properties of the acai berry and all of them are positive.

Since people now know that the acai berry is so healthy, the acai berry is more in demand now than ever. In the past, the acai berry used to be hand picked but nowadays many companies have them mass harvested to meet the world demand of the acai berry. Unfortunately, automation will always decrease the effectiveness of the end product.

Dining out is a big part of many people’s lives. Maybe you’re eating out more frequently because you entertain clients. Perhaps you don’t like eating out. Either way, if you want to keep a nice trim body, restaurant meals will give you a huge obstacle to overcome. In fact, eating out is one of the biggest reasons why so many people fatten up while the road.

If you’re interested in staying lean while dining out by using a few healthy tricks you’re in luck because I’m going to share some below.

The 3 most important things to avoid that are everywhere at restaurants are:

*** any sodas, juices and other sugary foods (except fresh fruits, which are great) *** deep fried foods (anything dropped in a scorching bath of trans fats) *** refined starchy foods

Skip these major culprits and you can eliminate the major food sources that do the worst damage to your body – trans fats, refined vegetable oils, refined starchy carbohydrates, and refined sugars.

Ok, so what do you need to do? Well, this means you should try to skip the cheap white bread, cut out the french fries that come with every single sandwich on every menu known to man, and wipe out all of the huge portions of pasta and rice that are often loaded on the plates as well.

Instead, just try to order meat and a side salad, and then, asking for the vegetables as a substitute for the typical french fries, pasta, or rice, that most restaurant meals come with.

Almost every restaurant I have ever been to will always allow me to change to vegetables or side salad for the regular french fries or chips that almost always come with burgers or sandwiches.

Just a quick side note, it amazes me how many people scrutinize my substitutions of veggies for fries by telling me that I am ‘not living’ because I refuse to eat deep fried french fries… are you kidding me! If french fries are your idea of ‘living it up’, you need to get a better hobby!

Ironically, these same people are the first to complain that they are fat, overweight and have tried ‘everything’, yet can not lose their big guts. I am not sure why so many people think eating deep fried foods equals ‘living it up’… I am for moderation with many things, but there are 2 things that should be totally removed from every diet because these foods are simply dangerous… it is sodas and fries!

Take a look at the typical difference this simple substitution makes between choosing smart and doing what most other people do…

Most people will eat a meal out such as this:

* Burger or sandwich or burger * chips or fries * soda or other sweetened drink (and no, diet sodas are NOT healthy!)

A MUCH more smart alternative (if you care about your body and health) is this simple change you can make:

* Salad or veggies * Burger or Sandwich * unsweetened iced tea or water (no diet drinks — unless you like to drink poison!)

These 2 simple substitutions every time you eat out can save you around 400 – 900 calories… AND you are cutting out the poison’s to your body as well, by avoiding the trans fats and fructose corn syrup from the fries and soft drinks.

Here’s a side note: a little-known way to eat full portions of pasta, rice, and breads and actually get away with it without packing on the body fat is to make sure to schedule a high intensity full body resistance training exercise (can be free weights or body weight training) BEFORE your scheduled meal time.

Sometimes it can be really hard to fit the workouts into your schedule right before the meal, but if you can, the meal can be your ‘post-exercise meal’. After a high intensity resistance training exercise, your body can handle a higher amount of carbs than normal to help replenish the muscle glycogen depletion you had during the intense exercise.

Your moderate intensity cardio workout will NOT work for this… it must be high intensity resistance training to deplete enough glycogen in the muscle to handle restaurant portions of these carbohydrates.

I hope these dining tips help you choose smarter and healthier for a leaner body next time you eat out.

You have just made the initial step on your path to weight loss, admitting that you have a desire to lose weight. Weight plays a big part in how you feel about yourself. If you aren’t happy you will feel bad physically as well as emotionally.

But people can have a difficult time realizing that in order to lose weight they actually should eat moe often throughout the day. A common strategy at the beginning of a diet is a drastic reduction in the amount and kinds of food eaten. However, that may in fact ultimately do more damage than produce any benefit.

Eating too little during the course of the day actually sets up your body for weight loss failure. By not eating enough you set your body up to have low energy throughout the day. Try to store as much fat as possible, which will thwart your weight loss attempts,your body will also go into starvation mode. You should also know that once you begin to keep yourself from eating you will have a greater food craving than if you were to just eat sensibly.

Your body’s main goal is to keep yourself alive and operating properly and healthfully. Our systems have all sorts of survival mechanisms in place to keep your systems working. These systems will automatically start up when your body gets the signal that it is needed. One of our most highly developed defensive mechanism is our response to famine.

You could sit down and eat whatever you want that your internal mechanisms do not really realize. Your body does not recognize your choice to consume fewer calories, but operates in a starvation mode, making adjustments to be able to provide energy for its functions.

Your body will begin to think that it is starving if you choose not to eat enough or if you wait for long periods of time between meals. You shouldn’t do this because your body will react in a negative way. You will slow down your metabolism making it harder to burn the fat you are trying to lose. An effecient metabolism is the keystone of a successful weight loss plan.

Instead of the fat as a result of your eating habitsyou may start to lose the toned muscle. If your body does not get enough protein to support your regular activities, then you will lose muscle mass. You will be slowing down your metabolic rate even further,additionally, by loosing this lean muscle. Again reducing the amount of fat that your body is able to burn.

If you intend to loose weight then make sure that there is no problem with your metabolic processes. The best way to keep your metabolism up and running is to eat a small meal every three hours. You are sure to quickly become the new you that you have always dreamed of being if you do that in coordination with a fitness program.

A lot of clients often ask me why they don’t see any weight loss result. These clients generally do some things correctly but sadly enough, they often focus on the wrong actions and prevent long term weight release.  First we have to change the way we look at “weight loss”.   As humans what are we conditioned to do when we lose something? Let’s suppose you lose your keys, or you lose your car in a crowed parking lot, what will you do next? My guess is you will find it somehow. If you condition your mind around the topic of losing weight, I promise you will find it at a later point in time. Let’s use the word release. When you release something you do not expect it to come back. Understanding how expectation impacts our lives is very important!  Now on to 7 specific tips to “release weight” as quick as possible:

1) Limiting your calories: Most people think that if they eat healthy and low fat food, they don’t need to limit their calories. I have bad news for you. To release weight you need to burn more calories than you take in.

2) Muscle building: Muscle building is in my opinion very beneficial in losing weight. Why? Because muscle building is a very intense type of exercise that will help raise your metabolism. By raising your metabolism you will be burning more fat and at the same time toning your muscles.

3)Reduce the amount of starchy food: Starchy food like white rice, white bread, pasta and bake goods are not good for weight loss & fat loss. These food have lots of empty calories and when eaten to often will promote weight gain. They lack vital vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy body.

4) Exercise first thing in the morning: A lot of research have been done on exercising on a empty stomach. It as been found that you can tap in your fat reserves faster. The best time to do it is first thing in the morning. Why… because you have been fasting for 8 -10 hours.

5) Drink lots of water: Water as no calories and keep you full for 30 to 60 minutes. Instead of drinking cola or fruit juice, drink some water and you will see that you will release weight faster.

6) Train with a group of people: Training with a group can get you very result. You will be able to help and motivate each others in attaining your mutual goal. I recommend you join an exercise group of your choice like yoga, spinning or aqua fitness.

7) Have a specific goal: It will be easier to release weight if you have a specific goal. I recommend you write down on a piece of paper what kind of physique you would like, be very specific. Write the actual numbers you want. Like “26 inches waist within 12 months”. Read this piece of paper every day and you will start to focus more on your goal.

Let me know what you think of these ideas.

Ray Stendall AKA “The Catalyst”

http://www.yourgreatmind.com/blog

Now, the question is: Are vitamins included? What are the vitamins recommended for pregnant women? What will be the effects? Here’s the real truth about the vitamins pregnant women can and can’t get away right now.

Vitamins Essential for Moms-To-Be

1. Vitamin C

This vitamin is essential in the manufacturing of your baby’s blood vessels, bones, and the whole skeletal system. Vitamin C helps display collagen, a protein responsible for producing your baby’s skeletal foundation. Vitamin C is also known as skin food because it feeds your skin as well as your baby’s skin with the right nutrients to help build healthy skin. As an antioxidant, it crapper also help you and your child fight free radicals or retard the oxidation process.

Since your body can’t produce vitamin C, unlike most animals, and it can’t store it either, it is important that you get your regular cater of vitamins from supplements and foods rich in vitamin C, such as citrus foods, vegetables, and fruits.

2. Foliate

Foliate, a B vitamin, is another nutrient necessary for the production of healthy red blood cells. And not everybody gets enough.

Foliate is found primarily in fresh fruits and vegetables, and people who eat a lot of canned or pre-packaged foods crapper become deficient. Pregnant women who springy alone and don’t want to cook for one are especially at risk for anemia caused by bedded deficiency.

Health experts suggest that a few servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day are the best bet for prevention. If you can’t bear Brussels sprouts, consider taking a daily nutritional supplement with 400 micrograms, the Daily Value of folic acid (the supplemental form of foliate).

3. Vitamin A

A daily intake of vitamin A between 10,000 and 15,000 IU (international units) may also provide healthy bones, skin, and eyes to your baby as well as healthy cells needed to build your baby’s internal organs.

However, meaningful women should speak with their doctors before supplementing their diet with vitamin A. Studies show that excessive intake of vitamin A crapper bring about relationship defects, such as ear and receptor abnormalities, microcephaly or small head, cleft lip and palate, hydrocephaly or enlargement of the fluid-filled paces in the brain, mental retardation, or heart defects.

Statistics show that meaningful women who consume more than 10,000 IU of vitamin A crapper lead to relationship defects in 1 of every 57 infants. Also, excessive intake of vitamin A during pregnancy crapper cause higher risks of miscarriage.

4. Vitamin D

When researchers in a certain study measured levels of vitamin D in pregnant women, they saw that the more vitamin D in the blood, the better the insulin was at delivering glucose to the muscles. So vitamin D is an important nutrient for many other reasons as well, such as helping produce healthy teeth, tissue, and bones for your baby and may help your body derail diabetes. Studies show that diabetes in pregnant women can be very risky and may even cause birth defects or morbidity.

Though vitamin D is produced when your skin is exposed to sunlight, a more reliable year-round source is milk. Four 8-ounce glasses of fat-free milk everyday crapper get you to the Daily Value of 400 IU. Alternatively, you crapper supplement your diet with 400 IU of vitamin D.

5. Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 facilitates the formation of hemoglobin, the red blood cell component that carries oxygen through the bloodstream. During pregnancy, more hemoprotein is required to supply your child with oxygen. And the fetus also uses this vitamin to build its own blood supply.

Your body needs vitamin B12 to create red blood cells. This vitamin is found in chicken, red meat, dairy products, eggs, and fish, but not in plant foods. Most people get plenty, but super-strict vegetarians who don’t eat some non-vegetable foods are at risk for a deficiency of vitamin B12 and anemia. The solution is to take a regular nutritional supplement that contains at least double the Daily Value of B12 (six micrograms).

Keep in mind that baby’s health depends on the mothers way of getting the proper amount of vitamins, so meaningful women can’t afford to skimp. Hence, meaningful women should make sure that they get enough of the nutrients every day.