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Five Do’s for Natural Weight Loss

1. DO eat the highest quality food possible. That may sound like a given, but it’s rarely as easy as it seems. By high-quality food, I mean food with the most nutrition, the least amount of adulterants, and as fresh as possible. Try to eat mostly organic food, as it is usually higher in nutrition and less contaminated. This applies particularly to meat and dairy products, which are often loaded with hormones, steroids, antibiotics and pesticides.
2. DO eat close to the ground. Eat your food as close to its natural state as possible. This means fresh, simply prepared and even raw from time to time. The less processed your food, the more likely you are to get all of the nutrients available in the food. Cooking, processing and packaging all degrade the nutritional power of your food.
3. DO eat breakfast every day. There is overwhelming evidence pointing to breakfast as the most important meal in terms of weight loss. People who eat breakfast every day are much more likely to lose weight and keep it off.
4. DO make lean protein your priority. Protein is from the Greek word protos, meaning “first.” Protein is the primary building block for hormones, neurotransmitters, and your immune and detoxification systems.  And by the way, the protein rule applies to breakfast as well.
5. DO make your diet about color and variety. And by color, I do not mean white and brown. I am talking color—red, yellow, orange, green and purple. This means fruits and vegetables. These foods contain the antioxidants and phytonutrients that are crucial for heart health, brain function, keen vision and more. You need them. And make sure to eat a variety of foods. Not only does eating variety help one avoid food sensitivities, there is an old Chinese adage that says for every food you add to your diet, you add 100 days to your life.

Five Don’ts for Natural Weight Loss

1. DON’T keep “empty” foods, foods with little or no nutritional value, in the house. No one is perfect—almost everyone eats some empty foods every now and then. However, if there are no empty foods in your pantry, the less likely you are to eat them. If you have to get out of the house to indulge your cravings for the brown, white, empty foods, at least you’ll have to inconvenience yourself to eat them. Don’t make it easy on yourself.
2. DON’T eat it if it’s not food. If it comes in a package, it is probably processed to the point of being bereft of nutrition. Read the label of any packaged food: if it contains something you have never heard of or can’t pronounce, it’s probably just empty calories rather than food, so avoid it.
3. DON’T wait until you get ravenous. If you wait until you are starving to eat, you will lose the ability to choose wisely. If cheap, empty calories are available, your subconscious brain will lead you right to them, and your face will be stuffed with empty food before you realize it. Always have a nutritious snack or meal nearby in case of emergencies. You have to plan and prepare.
4. DON’T eat out. First, eating out gives you a warped perspective on portion sizes. In an effort to seemingly give you more for your money, restaurants are serving up larger portions—usually of the processed, white, brown, empty foods. Also, you cannot know the quality of the food you are eating. Besides—eating at home is cheaper.
5. DON’T  “stay off the horse” when you get thrown. Everyone chooses poorly at some point. But some people use that as an excuse to give up. They start out saying I messed up, but I’ll get back on the program on Monday, next week, after the holidays. Usually they don’t get back on the program at all. I always say that you are only one meal or one workout away from being on track—the next one. If you fall off, learn from your mistake and get back on that horse!

Source: 
Http://Www.Veria.Com/Yoga-Fitness/Natural-Weight-Loss-Tips-Five-Dos-And-Donts#Ixzz20dA4VIDw

Happy Fourth of July everyone! I hope everyone is having a fun hot day in the sun and relaxing. I decide to make some festive red/white/blue french toast on a stick in celebration of Independence Day . But these aren’t your typical french toast, I have officially found the best bread to used for french toast,Ezekiel cinnamon rasin bread. Same calories at there regular wheat bread and just as healthy.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices Ezekiel bread
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1tsp almond extract
• un-sweeten organic coconut flakes
• 4egg whites
• Blueberries/StrawBerries
• Walden Farms sugar free syrup/ Honey

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and soak each slice in the mixture on both sides. Use pam cooking spray and cook each slice for approx 2min on each side . Cook tell golden brown then add fruit and syrup.
-V.E

Hardcore runners here are some great articles from Oxygenmag.com on running to stay in great shape!

• Learn to Run
• Digging In (by Tosca Reno)
• Keep Your Feet Fit!
• Expert Q & A: ” What can I do to stay fit while nursing an injury from running?”
• Run to the Beat (a blog post from Tara Kher, Oxygen’s copyeditor)
• Run Outside! (a blog post from Diane Hart, Oxygen’s special issues Editor-in-Chief!
• Run to our Cover Girl Playlists!

Post-Workout Skin Care!

Cleanse your face. First and foremost use a cleanser preferably a foaming one to get rid of all the toxic agents that stuffed your pores throughout the workout session. In order to make the cleansing more efficient keep away of rubbing your face to hardly. Make it gentle to prevent the skin from deterioration and any bruises. It is also recommended to splash the water on your skin rather then washing it too thoroughly. Finally dry it with a neat towel.

Moisturizing is just as important since during the strenuous effort the skin might have dehydrated. This is top notch to boost the resistance of the skin towards any dirt or pollution. Choose a moisturizer specially designed for your skin type. In this case it is also advisable to choose one that targets oily skin, since it has the ability to reduce the further perspiration that might occur after the workout.

Hydration is the key factor when it comes of supplying the skin with the necessary moisture. During exercising our body temperature is likely to increase which results in different skin problems. By constantly furnishing our body and with it our face with the necessary liquids the temperature can be easily reduced and the inflammation can be stopped without any problem.

Essential oils will do miracles with your sore muscles as well as your skin. Use them to pamper your body with a soothing massage that would also enhance the relaxation. Opt for the ones that are used also in skin care and can nourish and at the same time hydrate your complexion. The circular movements will boost the blood circulation which is the great secret for healthy tissues and the quick cell repair and production.

Fit people’s food beliefs
I read a book called “The Body fat Solution” by Tom Venuto this weekend. Here is a passage that I found interesting: it deals with our beliefs about food and how they affect our behavior and decisions. 

“When it comes to food, I’ve discovered that fit, lean, and healthy people have a unique set of beliefs about food and a distinct set of metaphors they use to describe food and what food is for. The ones I’ve heard most often include: 

• Food is fuel.
• Food is the best medicine.
• Food is construction material for the body.
• Food stokes the fire of metabolism.
• Fruit is nature’s candy. 
• Lean protein is the lean muscle builder. 
• High-fiber foods are nature’s Roto-Rooter. 

I’ve never met anyone who talked about food with this type of language exclusively, who had a challenge with inappropriate eating or excess body fat. Think about that. When you look at it this way, food is no longer the problem, food is the solution and you become driven to eat the right foods rather than avoid food.”