by: Hillary Templeton
Generally if you have weight loss - unexplained weight loss is always a problem and should be looked into by a doctor. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s ovary cancer. But a benign cyst, a functional cyst, any of these cysts that we talked about with the exception of the cancerous cysts which are rare, will not be associated with a weight loss. Obviously if we have pain or anxiety about a tumor or cyst often times that’s the cause of the weight loss. As far as weight gain, the weight gain is not because of a cyst. However, in the case of the polycystic ovary it’s a condition that’s sort of related. The cyst doesn’t cause the obesity but they seem to be related. And the reason for polycystic ovary disease is unknown. It’s multi-factor but again one of the treatments I mentioned was to try to get the patient to loose weight and it often helps the other symptoms.
A lot of women have been sending in questions to obstetrician Christopher Freville in relation to their nutrition and can eating certain types of food or avoiding other types of food have a, any affects on the cysts within their ovaries?
Let’s talk nutrition and perhaps we should mention certain types of drugs and what drugs might have an effect.
First of all as far as – let’s talk about food. Will nutrition help? Nutrition’s always good. Anybody that says good nutrition is not going to help the body is wrong. However, good nutrition per say is not going to resolve a cyst; it’s not going to prevent a cyst. Most of these cysts cannot be prevented because they’re functional or they’re the types of tumors or conditions that we’ve talked about and they’re totally unrelated to diet. The only condition it might be able to help would be the polycystic ovary that’s associated with diabetes and obesity, and by proper nutrition, proper diet, eliminate the obesity, decrease the tendency toward diabetes and therefore, hopefully the other symptoms might resolve as well. That would be the only case, I say that nutrition –
Now there are, and I will mention one thing because you kindly provided me with a list of questions that you’ve received from various people. And one, some health food, and this is interesting. I call it health food; we’ll call it health pills. One was Noni- Tahitian. Noni-Tahitian is the Indian mulberry plant. It grows in the South Pacific and like a lot of the natural foods there’s a lot of claims around all of these. In fact Noni-Tahitian, this is just an example. One company called Morinda, Inc. was pretty well known. It was 1998. And these can feel like a giant cystic mass, a giant sausage like soft balloon, but these are benign. But sometimes we don’t have a way of knowing until we actually get in at the time of surgery. Or, we actually can image it on ultrasound. And most of the time you’re going to go in and relieve that hydrosalpinx.
Tubal pregnancies - this is called an ectopic. Once in a while the pregnancy develops in the tube before it makes it down and these conditions are life threatening. Most of them are not, but in the process the tube can fill up with blood and before it ruptures. And this can also appear on ultrasound as a cyst and it can feel like a cyst. Most of the time a pregnancy test will be positive, and when you combine that with the enlarged tube, well you’ve got your diagnosis and saved an emergency.
We’ve talked about endometriosis, that which can be a cyst. They’re rare types of colon tumors, most of these are solid bowel abscesses, can be sometimes diverticulosis, diverticulitis. You can have abscesses that can feel - most of these, well they can feel, or present like a cyst, and they’re going to be painful. Most ovary cysts in and of themselves are not going to be causing a problem. And there are a couple of other conditions that can be mistaken for a pelvic tumor. They’re not cysts but I’m going to mention them; uterus fibroids or uterine myomas, and pelvic kidney’s. The kidney actually migrates during development. A lot of strange stuff happens to us. We’re lucky that so many of us are normal. The pelvic kidney sometimes remains in the pelvis and can feel like a tumor until the proper tests are done to identify it as a kidney. So, during the work up process all these things are considered. But, the important thing here, is that cysts themselves, in and of themselves are not going to be a problem or life threatening problem.
Sabtu, 21 Juni 2008
Can A Cyst Become Cancerous?
by: Hillary Templeton
Can a cyst become cancerous? Now, here’s the big question.
That’s again the cancer fear that all women have. The answer, I’d say is no. This has been looked at pretty, pretty extensively. There was a rather large study I think it was in Sweden. They looked at something like 90,000 - they’ve got a very sophisticated system of registry in Sweden where they can look at data. And something like ninety thousand women were paired with 90,000 normal ones and the various kinds of cysts, endometriomas, the functional cyst, the non-functional cyst. And they said “Well what’s the likelihood any of these women come back for ovary cancer”? And there was no difference. If you had an ovary cyst that was benign you had no increased incidence of having cancer later. The only difference in this was endometrioma which had a slight increase difference. And possibly the reason for that is something to do with estrogen sensitivity around the ovary. But again it’s, it was somewhat more common but it’s nothing to say “My gosh, I’ve got endometrioma, by now! I’ve got to have cancer”. That should be the farthest thing from a persons mind. So I’d say without question your –
The fact that one has a cyst it is not going to develop to, you do not have an increased cancer risk. Now certainly the cystadinomas it’s felt that some of these, these are the benign tumors. Can these cystadinomas develop into cystoadnocarsonoma? The answer is, yes probably. But, once you’ve removed it, the cystadinoma, as well as removing the dermoid cyst, which are very rarely cancer you’ve eliminated that risk. If a woman is going to have a cancerous cyst it’s going to be there from a cancerous cyst per say. She most likely is over the age of fifty and their, in general the reproductive years do not have, a woman does not have to be concerned that a cyst is going to transgress, develop into a cancer.
There was something else I wanted to mention. I’m sure we’ve got several questions, yet I do want to go through these. I think that’s pretty much my overview on cysts and the various diagnoses of cysts, the types of cysts. The treatment we can summarize that at the end.
What happens when a cyst is likely to rupture?
This is probably the number one life threatening complication that New York OB/GYN Christopher Freville has to deal with on an almost basis. A cyst can rupture be it a, most likely it’s a follicular cyst or a corpus luteum cyst. These are the so-called functional cysts, or the functional cyst with pregnancy. When they rupture generally nothing happens. In fact, there’s usually a pressure relief.
Because any distended cyst is often what gives, as a cyst's nerves are increased by the distension, by the fluid, that’s often what causes the pain. The relief of the pain comes whenever it ruptures. Often like, unfortunately a ruptured appendix. Sometimes when a patient feels an appendix ballooning up and brings him to the doctors the fact that the appendix becomes distended. Immediately after that there’s a rupture and they don’t feel the pain. Unfortunately what causes the problems with ruptured cysts is if the cyst has a very rich blood supply and that blood supply, the arteries start pumping blood and don’t seal off and the abdomen can fill up with blood. And I’ve dealt with many cases both as an ectopic pregnancy, but the conditions usually much worse, but also, as a, rarely as a ruptured cyst that’s bleeding off a cystic pregnancy. And often times the abdomen can literally become distended. In a severe case woman can go into shock meaning their blood pressure falls out, it’s an emergency, life threatening situation that if undiagnosed can be fatal. Fortunately, with emergency rooms being equipped the way they are, doctors being as smart as we are - we rarely miss this. But once in a great while this is a complication. And when the cyst ruptures it doesn’t, you can usually preserve the ovary. Usually it can be sutured over, quarterized. The ovary stays in tact and even in a rare case if it had to be removed, again that does not affect fertility
Can a cyst become cancerous? Now, here’s the big question.
That’s again the cancer fear that all women have. The answer, I’d say is no. This has been looked at pretty, pretty extensively. There was a rather large study I think it was in Sweden. They looked at something like 90,000 - they’ve got a very sophisticated system of registry in Sweden where they can look at data. And something like ninety thousand women were paired with 90,000 normal ones and the various kinds of cysts, endometriomas, the functional cyst, the non-functional cyst. And they said “Well what’s the likelihood any of these women come back for ovary cancer”? And there was no difference. If you had an ovary cyst that was benign you had no increased incidence of having cancer later. The only difference in this was endometrioma which had a slight increase difference. And possibly the reason for that is something to do with estrogen sensitivity around the ovary. But again it’s, it was somewhat more common but it’s nothing to say “My gosh, I’ve got endometrioma, by now! I’ve got to have cancer”. That should be the farthest thing from a persons mind. So I’d say without question your –
The fact that one has a cyst it is not going to develop to, you do not have an increased cancer risk. Now certainly the cystadinomas it’s felt that some of these, these are the benign tumors. Can these cystadinomas develop into cystoadnocarsonoma? The answer is, yes probably. But, once you’ve removed it, the cystadinoma, as well as removing the dermoid cyst, which are very rarely cancer you’ve eliminated that risk. If a woman is going to have a cancerous cyst it’s going to be there from a cancerous cyst per say. She most likely is over the age of fifty and their, in general the reproductive years do not have, a woman does not have to be concerned that a cyst is going to transgress, develop into a cancer.
There was something else I wanted to mention. I’m sure we’ve got several questions, yet I do want to go through these. I think that’s pretty much my overview on cysts and the various diagnoses of cysts, the types of cysts. The treatment we can summarize that at the end.
What happens when a cyst is likely to rupture?
This is probably the number one life threatening complication that New York OB/GYN Christopher Freville has to deal with on an almost basis. A cyst can rupture be it a, most likely it’s a follicular cyst or a corpus luteum cyst. These are the so-called functional cysts, or the functional cyst with pregnancy. When they rupture generally nothing happens. In fact, there’s usually a pressure relief.
Because any distended cyst is often what gives, as a cyst's nerves are increased by the distension, by the fluid, that’s often what causes the pain. The relief of the pain comes whenever it ruptures. Often like, unfortunately a ruptured appendix. Sometimes when a patient feels an appendix ballooning up and brings him to the doctors the fact that the appendix becomes distended. Immediately after that there’s a rupture and they don’t feel the pain. Unfortunately what causes the problems with ruptured cysts is if the cyst has a very rich blood supply and that blood supply, the arteries start pumping blood and don’t seal off and the abdomen can fill up with blood. And I’ve dealt with many cases both as an ectopic pregnancy, but the conditions usually much worse, but also, as a, rarely as a ruptured cyst that’s bleeding off a cystic pregnancy. And often times the abdomen can literally become distended. In a severe case woman can go into shock meaning their blood pressure falls out, it’s an emergency, life threatening situation that if undiagnosed can be fatal. Fortunately, with emergency rooms being equipped the way they are, doctors being as smart as we are - we rarely miss this. But once in a great while this is a complication. And when the cyst ruptures it doesn’t, you can usually preserve the ovary. Usually it can be sutured over, quarterized. The ovary stays in tact and even in a rare case if it had to be removed, again that does not affect fertility
Jumat, 20 Juni 2008
THE GREAT ABS MISTAKE "He Was Doing One Thousand Crunches And Sit Ups A Day... But Still NO Abs!!!
by: Arinze Eze
Tom Venuto's Burn The Fat
After 18 years in the fitness business, “How do I get great abs” is still BY FAR the most frequently asked question I receive out of the 30,000+ emails that come into my office every month. No doubt, it's because abs are the one body part that most people are the most frustrated with. Although their questions are often phrased differently and each person’s situation seems unique, my answer to “how do I get great abs” is almost always the same… and you’re about to hear it...
Your Fitness Future Foretold: 20 Predictions for the New Year
Happy new year! Today is your lucky day because I’m going to predict your future and forecast exactly what kind of results you’re going to get in the next 12 months. Sylvia Browne, step aside… I’m pretty good at this..
3500 Calories To Lose A Pound - Is This Formula All Wrong?
Most fitness conscious people have heard that there are 3,500 calories in a pound of fat, so if you create a deficit of 3500 calories in a week, you lose a pound of weight. If you create a deficit of 7000 calories in a week, you lose two pounds, and so on. Right? Well, not so fast. Dr. Kevin Hall, an investigator at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda recently published a new paper in the International Journal of Obesity that throws a wrench in works of the “3500 calories to lose a pound” idea.
The New Visualization Breakthrough: Mental Training Tactics For Health And Fitness Success
Understanding the mind's role in motivation and behavior is one of the most critical elements in physical fitness success. If you struggle with changing habits and behaviors or if you can’t get motivated, then even the best training and nutrition program is worthless. With new discoveries in the science of visualization, you can make amazing breakthroughs in your health and fitness achievements
Alcohol: Why Some People Can Drink It Without Getting Fat
Alcohol has been implicated as a factor that may hurt your efforts to lose body fat. Whether alcohol is "fattening" has been a controversial subject because technically, alcohol is NOT stored as fat; it is oxidized ahead of other fuels. Whether moderate drinking is healthy has also been a subject of controversy. Many studies show cardiovascular benefits associated with moderate beer or wine drinking, while other studies show improved insulin sensitivity. Some experts however, say that alcohol has no place in a fitness lifestyle. A recent 2007 study published in the journal Obesity adds new findings to our knowledge about alcohol, insulin resistance and abdominal obesity and gives us some insights into why some people seem to drink and get fat while others seem to drink and get thin!
Foods That Burn Fat: The Top 10 Lists
Anytime the topic of my blogs, articles or newsletters has turned to my own personal grocery shopping list, there has always been a spike in interest. It seems that many people are not only curious about what foods a natural bodybuilder eats to maintain single digit body fat, but they also want to be taken by the hand and told exactly what foods to eat themselves while on fat-burning or muscle building programs. That’s why I decided to put together four separate “top 10” lists of healthy foods that burn fat and build muscle.
Fish Oil May Help Burn Fat, But It's No Fat-Burning Miracle
Unless you’ve been living under a rock somewhere for the last several years, you’ve probably heard about the health benefits of eating fatty fish or taking fish oil supplements. Well, it looks like you might be able to add fat loss alongside the other benefits like heart, blood, brain, skin and joint health (and the rest of the list, which is too long to print here). However, the fat loss benefit is not as much as some people want you to believe…
The Incredible Shrinking Fat Cell By Tom Venuto
Earlier this week someone in our discussion forum wrote, "I haven't LOST any fat... I know EXACTLY where it went! I got a chuckle out of that because I "got" the joke, but truth is, most people really don't know where the fat goes when it's burned or how the fat burning process takes place, so this is a really good question.
Abdominal Training Secrets - The Interview, By Tom Venuto With David Grisaffi
In this full-feature length interview, Tom Venuto interviews Abdominal and core training expert David Grisaffi about the best ways to flatten your abs, improve athletic performance, decrease body fat and eliminate low back back. (DOUBLE COMMISSION OPPORTUNITY for affiliates - TWO clickbank products!
The Low Body Fat Secret Of Bodybuilders And Fitness Models By Tom Venuto
The secret to getting super lean – I’m talking about being RIPPED, not just “average body fat” – is all about mastering the art of "peaking." Most people do not have a clue about what it takes to reach the type of low body fat levels that reveal ripped six-pack abs, muscle striations, vascularity and extreme muscular definition, so they go about it completely the wrong way....
Don't Catch These 2 Diseases
One of my favorite motivational speakers is Brian Tracy, who is one of the world’s top experts on success psychology and personal achievement. In case you haven’t heard of Brian, he is sort of like a calmer, more “laid back” version of Tony Robbins. Not long ago, I had the chance to attend a seminar Brian held at the Jacob Javitz center here in New York City. One part of his talk really grabbed my attention, and I’d like to share it with you...
Body Wraps And Waist Wraps: The Difference Between Losing Fat And Losing Inches
"Body wraps" and rubber waist belts have been around for ages in the weight loss and spa industry. Claims include loss of body weight, loss of body fat, and loss of inches. When your body fat decreases, your circumference measurements usually also decrease, but what few people realize is that “fat” loss and “inch” loss are not one in the same. If you don’t know how to tell the difference, you could be falling for one of the oldest, most notorious fitness and weight loss scams in the book.
Why Some People Quit And Some People NEVER Give Up
Throughout my 18 years in the fitness industry, I have noticed that some people who start a diet and exercise program give up very easily after hitting the first obstacle they encounter. On the other hand, I noticed that some people simply NEVER give up. These people are like the bulldog that refuses to release its teeth-hold on a bone. The harder you try to pull the bone out of his mouth, the harder the dog chomps down with a vice-like grip. What's the difference between these two types of people? Psychologists say there is an answer.
Count Down To Fitness Success And Keep Your Motivation Drive Alive
There are many fantastic ways to get focused and motivated to start a new diet or exercise program, but often the most difficult thing to do is keep that drive and ambition alive and see your goal through to completion. Within just weeks of beginning a new fitness program, many people have already hit their first snag or setback, and as a result, have slipped backwards in the mental focus and motivation department. Setting goals in writing is an essential step to success, but how do you stay focused on them? One technique I have used ever since my very first bodybuilding competition 18 years ago, is...
Brain Science And New Year's Resolutions
It doesnt matter how much you know about nutrition or exercise. Until specialized fitness knowledge is linked with goals and directions, you won't accomplish much or keep the changes long term. Most people believe they are "setting goals" when they make a new year's resolution. However, most resolutions are casually set, lightly taken and only done once a year on January 1st. Neuroscience has now shed some light on why New Year's resolutions almost always fail and how to set goals scientifically for permanent change and results that last
Tom Venuto's Top 10 Travel Fitness Tips Part 2
just because you’re traveling doesn’t mean you can’t follow your regular exercise regimen. If you want to continue to improve your physique while on the road, you can! Here are 5 more ways that I did it on my last extended business trip that you may find helpful as well. It begins with a simple decision.
Tom Venuto's Top 10 Travel Fitness Tips, Part 1
just because you’re traveling doesn’t mean you can’t follow your regular exercise regimen. If you want to continue to improve your physique while on the road, you can! Here are 5 ways that I did it on my last extended business trip that you may find helpful as well. It begins with a simple decision.
Cortisol, Stress And Body Fat: Straight Answers To The Top 20 Questions About The Stress Hormone
It seems that every time science uncovers some type of association between body fat and anything, opportunistic entrepreneurs are waiting in the shadows to create a product and a marketing campaign around it. The most recent example is when researchers discovered a correlation between cortisol and abdominal body fat. Cortisol was then blamed as the latest culprit in the obesity problem, and cortisol-suppressing pills were touted as the “miracle solution.” .
Protein Supplements Vs. Protein Foods
Did you ever notice how so many articles about protein in bodybuilding and fitness magazines are slanted towards hyping some "revolutionary" new protein product? did you ever wonder why? Are protein powders and supplements really better than protein foods? Although protein powders can be very useful, as with most aspects of the bodybuilding supplement industry, the subject of protein is often driven more by marketing hype than science.
How To Use Super-Sizing, Portion Distortion And Dietary Displacement To Your Advantage
Ever since the independent film, Super Size Me was released, research on the relationship between increasing obesity and increasing portion sizes has skyrocketed and the results have been virtually unanimous. There have been numerous well-designed studies published just in the last several years which confirmed exactly what we suspected (and much of what Super-Size-Me suggested)
Can You Think Yourself Thin?
On a recent special edition of The Larry King show, panel experts Bob Proctor, John Assaraf and others who were featured in the movie 'The Secret' explained that recent breakthroughs in neuroscience along with understanding mental laws, reveal why goal setting, the "law of attraction" and "positive thinking" really do work, regardless of whether you look at them from a metaphysical or a scientific perspective
How To Repair A Damaged Metabolism
If you've caused metabolic damage as a result of following starvation diets or losing weight too rapidly in the past, it can be extremely difficult to achieve any further fat loss at all. The good news is, metabolic damage can be repaired. All it takes is the right combination of metabolism stimulating exercise and metabolism stimulating nutrition...
Induction Destruction: The Perils Of Diving Into Strict Diets Head First
One thing that almost all mainstream popular diets have in common is an “induction phase” (or the equivalent). This is often done under the scientific-sounding labels of “making the metabolic switch” from “carb burner” to “fat burner.” However, "induction" is simply a politically correct way to say you have to crash diet and starve yourself in the beginning... which is a one way ticket to eventual weight regain and metabolic destruction!
Increase Your Metabolism And Curb Your Appetite With This Fat-Burning Food Group
There have been countless studies performed on the role of protein in the muscle growth process to try and determine exactly how much protein you should consume to build muscle mass. Recently, several studies have looked at the role that dietary protein plays in helping you lose fat, and more importantly, helping you keep it off! One thing scientists have discovered is that eating lean protein foods is important for regulating body composition because it decreases your appetite.
What a "Muscle-head" Says About Organic Food
Last week I was talking about nutrition with one of my workout buddies and when I mentioned grass fed beef and "organic food” he asked, "Do you mean like what you get at Whole Foods Market?" I said, "Yes, exactly... that's a natural food and organic supermarket." He said, "Yeah well, that place costs so much, I call it Whole Paycheck!"I was rolling on the floor laughing, but the truth is, organic food really is expensive so it's a valid question to ask, “Is it worth it?” After researching the subject, let me offer you my take on it from a bodybuilder’s viewpoint. This is a perspective on organics you may not have heard before.
Nutrition Or Training - Which Is More Important?
Legendary bodybuilding trainer Vince, "The Iron Guru" Gironda was famous for saying, "Bodybuilding is 80% nutrition!" Is this really true or is this just another fitness and bodybuiding myth passed down like gospel without ever being questioned? This IS an interesting question and I believe there is a definite answer:
Building A Better Body One Brick At A Time
Losing weight and getting in shape doesn't happen overnight. Once you understand the truth about what it really takes to build a better body, you'll never fall prey to fads, gimmicks or scams ever again...
Banking Calories - Eat Less Now To Pig Out Later?
Suppose you’re on a diet and you have a banquet or a holiday party coming up. You’re expecting a big meal to be served for dinner, and there will be open bar with lots and lots of “party snacks.” You’re not sure if there will be any healthy food there, but you are sure that you’re going to be in a festive, partying mood! What should you do? Should you cut back on your food earlier in the day to make room for the big feast?
Top 10 Bonehead Workout Mistakes
Common workout mistakes has always been a very popular topic in fitness publications. But no matter how many times this subject is re-hashed, you almost always hear about the same half a dozen or so mistakes, including poor form, overtraining, going too heavy, not stretching, not warming up, and so on.. Ironically, you seldom hear about the biggest mistakes of all. I call these humongous bloopers “bonehead mistakes” because once you start to analyze and think about them, they’re really just common sense
Don't Be A Big Loser: Why You Should Say No To Quick Weight Loss
There are hundreds of ways to lose weight quickly, but only one way to lose fat and keep it off in the long term.
How To Lose 20 Pounds In 5 Minutes
Absolutely guaranteed to be the fastest way to take off 20 pounds that you have ever seen.
Did You Inherit Fat Genes? The Truth About Biology And Body Fat
Is obesity a genetically inherited disease or something you control? Some researchers say it's all genetics, but with billions of dollars in weight loss drug sales at stake, you might want to think twice before listening to those who say fat is just fate.
Health And Fitness Is Not A 12 Week Program
Thinking about entering one of those 12 week transformation challenges or going on a quick weight loss diet? If so, you'd better read this first
The Glycemic Index: Is Glycemic Index The key to fat loss or just another diet gimmick?
Many diet programs revolve around the concept of Glycemix Index (GI). Some even say that the GI is the “key to fat loss.” While the GI is one important aspect of fat burning nutrition, using GI as your only criteria for choosing foods may not be the diet panacea that some “gurus” want you to believe.
The Truth About Counting Calories And Weight Loss
Count calories, count portions or calories don't count? Discover the truth
Everything You Need To Know About Loose Skin And Weight Loss
If you're extremely overweight or if you've been extremely overweight in the past, then you know that getting rid of excess weight is only one of the challenges you face. Once the fat is gone, you are often confronted with an equally frustrating cosmetic problem; Loose skin.
Tom Venuto's Burn The Fat
After 18 years in the fitness business, “How do I get great abs” is still BY FAR the most frequently asked question I receive out of the 30,000+ emails that come into my office every month. No doubt, it's because abs are the one body part that most people are the most frustrated with. Although their questions are often phrased differently and each person’s situation seems unique, my answer to “how do I get great abs” is almost always the same… and you’re about to hear it...
Your Fitness Future Foretold: 20 Predictions for the New Year
Happy new year! Today is your lucky day because I’m going to predict your future and forecast exactly what kind of results you’re going to get in the next 12 months. Sylvia Browne, step aside… I’m pretty good at this..
3500 Calories To Lose A Pound - Is This Formula All Wrong?
Most fitness conscious people have heard that there are 3,500 calories in a pound of fat, so if you create a deficit of 3500 calories in a week, you lose a pound of weight. If you create a deficit of 7000 calories in a week, you lose two pounds, and so on. Right? Well, not so fast. Dr. Kevin Hall, an investigator at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda recently published a new paper in the International Journal of Obesity that throws a wrench in works of the “3500 calories to lose a pound” idea.
The New Visualization Breakthrough: Mental Training Tactics For Health And Fitness Success
Understanding the mind's role in motivation and behavior is one of the most critical elements in physical fitness success. If you struggle with changing habits and behaviors or if you can’t get motivated, then even the best training and nutrition program is worthless. With new discoveries in the science of visualization, you can make amazing breakthroughs in your health and fitness achievements
Alcohol: Why Some People Can Drink It Without Getting Fat
Alcohol has been implicated as a factor that may hurt your efforts to lose body fat. Whether alcohol is "fattening" has been a controversial subject because technically, alcohol is NOT stored as fat; it is oxidized ahead of other fuels. Whether moderate drinking is healthy has also been a subject of controversy. Many studies show cardiovascular benefits associated with moderate beer or wine drinking, while other studies show improved insulin sensitivity. Some experts however, say that alcohol has no place in a fitness lifestyle. A recent 2007 study published in the journal Obesity adds new findings to our knowledge about alcohol, insulin resistance and abdominal obesity and gives us some insights into why some people seem to drink and get fat while others seem to drink and get thin!
Foods That Burn Fat: The Top 10 Lists
Anytime the topic of my blogs, articles or newsletters has turned to my own personal grocery shopping list, there has always been a spike in interest. It seems that many people are not only curious about what foods a natural bodybuilder eats to maintain single digit body fat, but they also want to be taken by the hand and told exactly what foods to eat themselves while on fat-burning or muscle building programs. That’s why I decided to put together four separate “top 10” lists of healthy foods that burn fat and build muscle.
Fish Oil May Help Burn Fat, But It's No Fat-Burning Miracle
Unless you’ve been living under a rock somewhere for the last several years, you’ve probably heard about the health benefits of eating fatty fish or taking fish oil supplements. Well, it looks like you might be able to add fat loss alongside the other benefits like heart, blood, brain, skin and joint health (and the rest of the list, which is too long to print here). However, the fat loss benefit is not as much as some people want you to believe…
The Incredible Shrinking Fat Cell By Tom Venuto
Earlier this week someone in our discussion forum wrote, "I haven't LOST any fat... I know EXACTLY where it went! I got a chuckle out of that because I "got" the joke, but truth is, most people really don't know where the fat goes when it's burned or how the fat burning process takes place, so this is a really good question.
Abdominal Training Secrets - The Interview, By Tom Venuto With David Grisaffi
In this full-feature length interview, Tom Venuto interviews Abdominal and core training expert David Grisaffi about the best ways to flatten your abs, improve athletic performance, decrease body fat and eliminate low back back. (DOUBLE COMMISSION OPPORTUNITY for affiliates - TWO clickbank products!
The Low Body Fat Secret Of Bodybuilders And Fitness Models By Tom Venuto
The secret to getting super lean – I’m talking about being RIPPED, not just “average body fat” – is all about mastering the art of "peaking." Most people do not have a clue about what it takes to reach the type of low body fat levels that reveal ripped six-pack abs, muscle striations, vascularity and extreme muscular definition, so they go about it completely the wrong way....
Don't Catch These 2 Diseases
One of my favorite motivational speakers is Brian Tracy, who is one of the world’s top experts on success psychology and personal achievement. In case you haven’t heard of Brian, he is sort of like a calmer, more “laid back” version of Tony Robbins. Not long ago, I had the chance to attend a seminar Brian held at the Jacob Javitz center here in New York City. One part of his talk really grabbed my attention, and I’d like to share it with you...
Body Wraps And Waist Wraps: The Difference Between Losing Fat And Losing Inches
"Body wraps" and rubber waist belts have been around for ages in the weight loss and spa industry. Claims include loss of body weight, loss of body fat, and loss of inches. When your body fat decreases, your circumference measurements usually also decrease, but what few people realize is that “fat” loss and “inch” loss are not one in the same. If you don’t know how to tell the difference, you could be falling for one of the oldest, most notorious fitness and weight loss scams in the book.
Why Some People Quit And Some People NEVER Give Up
Throughout my 18 years in the fitness industry, I have noticed that some people who start a diet and exercise program give up very easily after hitting the first obstacle they encounter. On the other hand, I noticed that some people simply NEVER give up. These people are like the bulldog that refuses to release its teeth-hold on a bone. The harder you try to pull the bone out of his mouth, the harder the dog chomps down with a vice-like grip. What's the difference between these two types of people? Psychologists say there is an answer.
Count Down To Fitness Success And Keep Your Motivation Drive Alive
There are many fantastic ways to get focused and motivated to start a new diet or exercise program, but often the most difficult thing to do is keep that drive and ambition alive and see your goal through to completion. Within just weeks of beginning a new fitness program, many people have already hit their first snag or setback, and as a result, have slipped backwards in the mental focus and motivation department. Setting goals in writing is an essential step to success, but how do you stay focused on them? One technique I have used ever since my very first bodybuilding competition 18 years ago, is...
Brain Science And New Year's Resolutions
It doesnt matter how much you know about nutrition or exercise. Until specialized fitness knowledge is linked with goals and directions, you won't accomplish much or keep the changes long term. Most people believe they are "setting goals" when they make a new year's resolution. However, most resolutions are casually set, lightly taken and only done once a year on January 1st. Neuroscience has now shed some light on why New Year's resolutions almost always fail and how to set goals scientifically for permanent change and results that last
Tom Venuto's Top 10 Travel Fitness Tips Part 2
just because you’re traveling doesn’t mean you can’t follow your regular exercise regimen. If you want to continue to improve your physique while on the road, you can! Here are 5 more ways that I did it on my last extended business trip that you may find helpful as well. It begins with a simple decision.
Tom Venuto's Top 10 Travel Fitness Tips, Part 1
just because you’re traveling doesn’t mean you can’t follow your regular exercise regimen. If you want to continue to improve your physique while on the road, you can! Here are 5 ways that I did it on my last extended business trip that you may find helpful as well. It begins with a simple decision.
Cortisol, Stress And Body Fat: Straight Answers To The Top 20 Questions About The Stress Hormone
It seems that every time science uncovers some type of association between body fat and anything, opportunistic entrepreneurs are waiting in the shadows to create a product and a marketing campaign around it. The most recent example is when researchers discovered a correlation between cortisol and abdominal body fat. Cortisol was then blamed as the latest culprit in the obesity problem, and cortisol-suppressing pills were touted as the “miracle solution.” .
Protein Supplements Vs. Protein Foods
Did you ever notice how so many articles about protein in bodybuilding and fitness magazines are slanted towards hyping some "revolutionary" new protein product? did you ever wonder why? Are protein powders and supplements really better than protein foods? Although protein powders can be very useful, as with most aspects of the bodybuilding supplement industry, the subject of protein is often driven more by marketing hype than science.
How To Use Super-Sizing, Portion Distortion And Dietary Displacement To Your Advantage
Ever since the independent film, Super Size Me was released, research on the relationship between increasing obesity and increasing portion sizes has skyrocketed and the results have been virtually unanimous. There have been numerous well-designed studies published just in the last several years which confirmed exactly what we suspected (and much of what Super-Size-Me suggested)
Can You Think Yourself Thin?
On a recent special edition of The Larry King show, panel experts Bob Proctor, John Assaraf and others who were featured in the movie 'The Secret' explained that recent breakthroughs in neuroscience along with understanding mental laws, reveal why goal setting, the "law of attraction" and "positive thinking" really do work, regardless of whether you look at them from a metaphysical or a scientific perspective
How To Repair A Damaged Metabolism
If you've caused metabolic damage as a result of following starvation diets or losing weight too rapidly in the past, it can be extremely difficult to achieve any further fat loss at all. The good news is, metabolic damage can be repaired. All it takes is the right combination of metabolism stimulating exercise and metabolism stimulating nutrition...
Induction Destruction: The Perils Of Diving Into Strict Diets Head First
One thing that almost all mainstream popular diets have in common is an “induction phase” (or the equivalent). This is often done under the scientific-sounding labels of “making the metabolic switch” from “carb burner” to “fat burner.” However, "induction" is simply a politically correct way to say you have to crash diet and starve yourself in the beginning... which is a one way ticket to eventual weight regain and metabolic destruction!
Increase Your Metabolism And Curb Your Appetite With This Fat-Burning Food Group
There have been countless studies performed on the role of protein in the muscle growth process to try and determine exactly how much protein you should consume to build muscle mass. Recently, several studies have looked at the role that dietary protein plays in helping you lose fat, and more importantly, helping you keep it off! One thing scientists have discovered is that eating lean protein foods is important for regulating body composition because it decreases your appetite.
What a "Muscle-head" Says About Organic Food
Last week I was talking about nutrition with one of my workout buddies and when I mentioned grass fed beef and "organic food” he asked, "Do you mean like what you get at Whole Foods Market?" I said, "Yes, exactly... that's a natural food and organic supermarket." He said, "Yeah well, that place costs so much, I call it Whole Paycheck!"I was rolling on the floor laughing, but the truth is, organic food really is expensive so it's a valid question to ask, “Is it worth it?” After researching the subject, let me offer you my take on it from a bodybuilder’s viewpoint. This is a perspective on organics you may not have heard before.
Nutrition Or Training - Which Is More Important?
Legendary bodybuilding trainer Vince, "The Iron Guru" Gironda was famous for saying, "Bodybuilding is 80% nutrition!" Is this really true or is this just another fitness and bodybuiding myth passed down like gospel without ever being questioned? This IS an interesting question and I believe there is a definite answer:
Building A Better Body One Brick At A Time
Losing weight and getting in shape doesn't happen overnight. Once you understand the truth about what it really takes to build a better body, you'll never fall prey to fads, gimmicks or scams ever again...
Banking Calories - Eat Less Now To Pig Out Later?
Suppose you’re on a diet and you have a banquet or a holiday party coming up. You’re expecting a big meal to be served for dinner, and there will be open bar with lots and lots of “party snacks.” You’re not sure if there will be any healthy food there, but you are sure that you’re going to be in a festive, partying mood! What should you do? Should you cut back on your food earlier in the day to make room for the big feast?
Top 10 Bonehead Workout Mistakes
Common workout mistakes has always been a very popular topic in fitness publications. But no matter how many times this subject is re-hashed, you almost always hear about the same half a dozen or so mistakes, including poor form, overtraining, going too heavy, not stretching, not warming up, and so on.. Ironically, you seldom hear about the biggest mistakes of all. I call these humongous bloopers “bonehead mistakes” because once you start to analyze and think about them, they’re really just common sense
Don't Be A Big Loser: Why You Should Say No To Quick Weight Loss
There are hundreds of ways to lose weight quickly, but only one way to lose fat and keep it off in the long term.
How To Lose 20 Pounds In 5 Minutes
Absolutely guaranteed to be the fastest way to take off 20 pounds that you have ever seen.
Did You Inherit Fat Genes? The Truth About Biology And Body Fat
Is obesity a genetically inherited disease or something you control? Some researchers say it's all genetics, but with billions of dollars in weight loss drug sales at stake, you might want to think twice before listening to those who say fat is just fate.
Health And Fitness Is Not A 12 Week Program
Thinking about entering one of those 12 week transformation challenges or going on a quick weight loss diet? If so, you'd better read this first
The Glycemic Index: Is Glycemic Index The key to fat loss or just another diet gimmick?
Many diet programs revolve around the concept of Glycemix Index (GI). Some even say that the GI is the “key to fat loss.” While the GI is one important aspect of fat burning nutrition, using GI as your only criteria for choosing foods may not be the diet panacea that some “gurus” want you to believe.
The Truth About Counting Calories And Weight Loss
Count calories, count portions or calories don't count? Discover the truth
Everything You Need To Know About Loose Skin And Weight Loss
If you're extremely overweight or if you've been extremely overweight in the past, then you know that getting rid of excess weight is only one of the challenges you face. Once the fat is gone, you are often confronted with an equally frustrating cosmetic problem; Loose skin.
The Conscious And Subconscious Mind: Influence, Persuasion & Change For Healing With Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy.
by: Brian Green
Though we have one mind, there are usually considered to be two sections of it: the conscious and the subconscious. The subconscious was termed by Freud the unconscious. He only saw it as a negative, a swamp of primitive drives and aggressive impulses. Perhaps his was. Hypnotists, au contraire, regard it as the source of creativity, inventiveness and strength, a valuable resource that can be utilized, not only as this negative primitive area. Nowadays some hypnotists use the term, “other than conscious,” mind, to define it as everything not in conscious awareness in the present moment. A metaphor that is used to illustrate the conscious and subconscious parts of the mind uses a comparison to an iceberg. The visible portion above the surface of the water is the conscious mind, guestimated (I can’t imagine how), to be approximately 10% of our thinking ability. The subconscious mind, consisting of that portion of the iceberg beneath the water, being the other nine tenths. I have also seen information that the conscious mind processes a few hundred impressions a minute, to the thousands of impressions the subconscious mind processes in the same time, (I can’t imagine how this was arrived at either), but the general consensus is how much larger and more powerful this mostly hidden “other than conscious mind” can be.
Another useful analogy is to the computer. It seems to fit so well. After all, where would we intuit the design of a complex information processing system, other than our own minds? Many new processes such as “fuzzy logic” are in fact actual conscious attempts to reproduce our own mental processes, as far as they can be ascertained. In this comparison, the conscious mind is the equivalent of the computer screen, consisting of that which is available to our conscious thinking process. It is the analytical, linear, logical, rational, “two plus two equals four” mind. Plus our conscious emotions, those surface emotions that we are aware of. Here we move information around, computing how to minimize pain and maximize pleasure, the two fundamental desires of any organism, however they may be conceived of in any particular being or life path. Here we use the mind to analyze our environment to obtain the necessary control for achieving these ends. So this mind operates primarily in the here and now, though it usually calls on the past as a computational factor. This means many of its functions operate within the framework of and/or via the perspectives and “lenses” supplied by the subconscious mind.
I have found a major function of the conscious mind is to “bend” information to fit these hidden perspectives. Here is one of my usual simple crude examples. “I don’t like women with red hair, they are easily angered and bad tempered.” He forgets the little red headed six-year-old girl that used to hit him when he was four. Or if the memory of her is accessible, there will be no awareness of how those events are connected to his current views! Similarly, how many times does a person see advertisements of happy laughing healthy young persons playing on the beach, accompanied by the slogan, (or hypnotic auditory suggestion), “Things go better with Coke.” The visual imagery is also a visual suggestion associated, i.e. “paired with” the verbal one. Then in a store, the person purchases Coca-Cola, consciously thinking, “I need some Coke,” or “I need some for when my friends come visiting.” Never connecting their actions to the numerous adverts that have been absorbed. But the Coca-Cola Company does not spend untold millions putting out this information in this way for nothing. Cinema and television are powerful trance mediums, as a picture is “worth a thousand words.” This is an example I use with my clients, to illustrate the persuasive penetration of repetition, especially useful when internally absorbed deeply from repeated playing of a hypnosis audio product. This being the case, Hypnotherapists realize that people are actually mainly persuaded based on emotional processes that are going on within them, not logical thinking. Logic helps, but people are making most decisions emotionally, and then backing them up by manufacturing conscious logical thought.
Some psychologists identify anything that can be voluntarily called to mind as being in the “pre-conscious”. A hypnotist however would include all of this in the “other than conscious mind,” too. How many memories are there that could be recalled with the application of some thought, but how many of them are left undisturbed for decades, loitering in the lower reaches of consciousness? And how many are separated from linkages that would give more profound insight, meaning and relief? In our computer analogy, the subconscious mind equates to the software, operating systems, and memory banks, containing our automatic responses, deeper emotions, feelings, habits, impressions, and permanent memory, and our compulsions, impulses and responses to them. It operates apart from the linear logic of the conscious mind, though working with the subconscious as a hypnotherapist, I see what I term as “emotional logic.” Behavior, as is illustrated also in much psychotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, always has some positive intent, which when disinterred, becomes comprehensible within it’s own context and it’s own terms. The inner mind works with analogy and association, uses ambiguity, poetry, and especially imagery and metaphor for storing and processing information, rather than the more limited inductive/deductive quasi-logic, (and prejudices, rationalizations etc.) of the conscious mind. That is why the former inward factors stir us so deeply and readily.
Learned habits, such as walking, are permanently installed and normally accessed without conscious thought by sub-systems. Redundant acquired habits become “grooved in” and self-perpetuating in the “software”. In fact, attempting to consciously “take them over” causes a loss of effective functionality. (Try consciously thinking of where you are placing your feet the next time you hurry up a flight of stairs, and you will soon discover what I mean). So athletes often have to be assisted by a hypnotist to “get out of their own way”, allowing themselves to trust in their own trained abilities without thought, flowing more naturally in the “zone” as it is termed. Or using the “no-mind” as the Zen Buddhists would have it.
The lower or deeper levels of the subconscious part of the mind control blood pressure, body temperature, breathing, digestion, heart rate, and similar biological functions of our body. Also the instincts and instinctual responses, and their physiological counterparts, our reflexes, All of which we inherit presumably mostly through our genes. This resembles the “hard wiring” of a computer. In my pre-talk, to illustrate this point to clients, while simul-taneously reassuring them of their ultimate control I inform them, “No matter how many times it might be suggested, “you will stop breathing”, you would not do so, because it is wired in on the survival level.” Though Yoga adepts and so forth may bring many of these functions under conscious control, it is not such a usual accomplishment in Western culture. The sub-conscious never sleeps, never takes a break from keeping our biological functioning going. I also explain this to clients by, “It’s the part of the cave man mind that always stays on the alert for the Saber Toothed Tiger.” This is usually accepted with a smile. Also relating the “other than conscious mind” to the Guardian Angel, provides a positive frame of reference that helps counter any fears the client may have in releasing conscious control.
The subconscious mind is concerned with bringing about our deepest wishes expect-ations and desires, even if sometimes they are contrary to logic, and our own current well-being. The subconscious mind, seeking to meet our deepest needs, expectations, wishes, does not always do it the way we want it done. The subconscious mind does not care if the body hurts, but rather that the deepest needs are met. If our greatest need is for affection and the only time we experienced affection was when we were sick, we may get sick in order to receive that affection. This occurs even though consciously we don't like being sick and the reason is unknown. So it is evident that once a solution to a need is found, it may be repeated in essentially the same way incongruently, redundantly, at times in a disguised adult form. A female client, in trance, with no prompting from me said with tears streaming down her face. “When I was young, I was bitten by a dog two or three times. This was the only time I got any caring at home. That is why I kept going to Hospital Emergency Rooms for overdoses or cutting my wrists.” She was bearing the label of a mental condition. As I observed her release herself I thought, “She is never going to be that sick again.”
The soil of the subconscious mind accepts any kind of seeds - good or bad. Once the subconscious mind accepts an idea, it begins to make the idea a reality. When applied in a negative way, the subconscious can be the cause of failure, frustration, unhappiness, and even illness." Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." And in the Bible, (proverbs), "Whatever a person thinketh in his heart so is he.” Hypnosis is a process that allows access to a whole spectrum of altered states of awareness, (generally described as trance), that allow simultaneous states of inward concentration to occur, with a fluid flow between many levels and depths of the mind. In this state, the mind and body are more open and receptive, the most helpful tool for pursuing treatment goals. The beauty of clinical hypnosis is in acquiring the ability to enter a trance deliberately. This gives us a key in hypnotherapy, because in trance, deep level dysfunctional beliefs can be attenuated or erased, and more functional ones be instilled and installed. Negative images and metaphors can be altered and supplanted with more useful ones. We can guide a person to move “away from” damaging information and/or “move towards” healing/positive ideas. This can, when targeted at emotional processes for therapy, give a person a “virtual” better childhood, as the “old tapes” as they were referred to in latter day psychotherapies, can be annulled. More limited problems are amenable to less general suggestion processes. All of this appears to take place, in trance, on the “other than conscious” level where the negative processes were formed, for highly effective change, without will power. Even physiological processes may be affected by suggestion, and has given me the ability at times to assist people who have run out of medical options. Behavioral and functional difficulties can be overcome. As I have stated elsewhere, at times the results, both psychological and/orphysical, can appear miraculous.
c. Brian Green, 2007, mindmagic123.com
Though we have one mind, there are usually considered to be two sections of it: the conscious and the subconscious. The subconscious was termed by Freud the unconscious. He only saw it as a negative, a swamp of primitive drives and aggressive impulses. Perhaps his was. Hypnotists, au contraire, regard it as the source of creativity, inventiveness and strength, a valuable resource that can be utilized, not only as this negative primitive area. Nowadays some hypnotists use the term, “other than conscious,” mind, to define it as everything not in conscious awareness in the present moment. A metaphor that is used to illustrate the conscious and subconscious parts of the mind uses a comparison to an iceberg. The visible portion above the surface of the water is the conscious mind, guestimated (I can’t imagine how), to be approximately 10% of our thinking ability. The subconscious mind, consisting of that portion of the iceberg beneath the water, being the other nine tenths. I have also seen information that the conscious mind processes a few hundred impressions a minute, to the thousands of impressions the subconscious mind processes in the same time, (I can’t imagine how this was arrived at either), but the general consensus is how much larger and more powerful this mostly hidden “other than conscious mind” can be.
Another useful analogy is to the computer. It seems to fit so well. After all, where would we intuit the design of a complex information processing system, other than our own minds? Many new processes such as “fuzzy logic” are in fact actual conscious attempts to reproduce our own mental processes, as far as they can be ascertained. In this comparison, the conscious mind is the equivalent of the computer screen, consisting of that which is available to our conscious thinking process. It is the analytical, linear, logical, rational, “two plus two equals four” mind. Plus our conscious emotions, those surface emotions that we are aware of. Here we move information around, computing how to minimize pain and maximize pleasure, the two fundamental desires of any organism, however they may be conceived of in any particular being or life path. Here we use the mind to analyze our environment to obtain the necessary control for achieving these ends. So this mind operates primarily in the here and now, though it usually calls on the past as a computational factor. This means many of its functions operate within the framework of and/or via the perspectives and “lenses” supplied by the subconscious mind.
I have found a major function of the conscious mind is to “bend” information to fit these hidden perspectives. Here is one of my usual simple crude examples. “I don’t like women with red hair, they are easily angered and bad tempered.” He forgets the little red headed six-year-old girl that used to hit him when he was four. Or if the memory of her is accessible, there will be no awareness of how those events are connected to his current views! Similarly, how many times does a person see advertisements of happy laughing healthy young persons playing on the beach, accompanied by the slogan, (or hypnotic auditory suggestion), “Things go better with Coke.” The visual imagery is also a visual suggestion associated, i.e. “paired with” the verbal one. Then in a store, the person purchases Coca-Cola, consciously thinking, “I need some Coke,” or “I need some for when my friends come visiting.” Never connecting their actions to the numerous adverts that have been absorbed. But the Coca-Cola Company does not spend untold millions putting out this information in this way for nothing. Cinema and television are powerful trance mediums, as a picture is “worth a thousand words.” This is an example I use with my clients, to illustrate the persuasive penetration of repetition, especially useful when internally absorbed deeply from repeated playing of a hypnosis audio product. This being the case, Hypnotherapists realize that people are actually mainly persuaded based on emotional processes that are going on within them, not logical thinking. Logic helps, but people are making most decisions emotionally, and then backing them up by manufacturing conscious logical thought.
Some psychologists identify anything that can be voluntarily called to mind as being in the “pre-conscious”. A hypnotist however would include all of this in the “other than conscious mind,” too. How many memories are there that could be recalled with the application of some thought, but how many of them are left undisturbed for decades, loitering in the lower reaches of consciousness? And how many are separated from linkages that would give more profound insight, meaning and relief? In our computer analogy, the subconscious mind equates to the software, operating systems, and memory banks, containing our automatic responses, deeper emotions, feelings, habits, impressions, and permanent memory, and our compulsions, impulses and responses to them. It operates apart from the linear logic of the conscious mind, though working with the subconscious as a hypnotherapist, I see what I term as “emotional logic.” Behavior, as is illustrated also in much psychotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, always has some positive intent, which when disinterred, becomes comprehensible within it’s own context and it’s own terms. The inner mind works with analogy and association, uses ambiguity, poetry, and especially imagery and metaphor for storing and processing information, rather than the more limited inductive/deductive quasi-logic, (and prejudices, rationalizations etc.) of the conscious mind. That is why the former inward factors stir us so deeply and readily.
Learned habits, such as walking, are permanently installed and normally accessed without conscious thought by sub-systems. Redundant acquired habits become “grooved in” and self-perpetuating in the “software”. In fact, attempting to consciously “take them over” causes a loss of effective functionality. (Try consciously thinking of where you are placing your feet the next time you hurry up a flight of stairs, and you will soon discover what I mean). So athletes often have to be assisted by a hypnotist to “get out of their own way”, allowing themselves to trust in their own trained abilities without thought, flowing more naturally in the “zone” as it is termed. Or using the “no-mind” as the Zen Buddhists would have it.
The lower or deeper levels of the subconscious part of the mind control blood pressure, body temperature, breathing, digestion, heart rate, and similar biological functions of our body. Also the instincts and instinctual responses, and their physiological counterparts, our reflexes, All of which we inherit presumably mostly through our genes. This resembles the “hard wiring” of a computer. In my pre-talk, to illustrate this point to clients, while simul-taneously reassuring them of their ultimate control I inform them, “No matter how many times it might be suggested, “you will stop breathing”, you would not do so, because it is wired in on the survival level.” Though Yoga adepts and so forth may bring many of these functions under conscious control, it is not such a usual accomplishment in Western culture. The sub-conscious never sleeps, never takes a break from keeping our biological functioning going. I also explain this to clients by, “It’s the part of the cave man mind that always stays on the alert for the Saber Toothed Tiger.” This is usually accepted with a smile. Also relating the “other than conscious mind” to the Guardian Angel, provides a positive frame of reference that helps counter any fears the client may have in releasing conscious control.
The subconscious mind is concerned with bringing about our deepest wishes expect-ations and desires, even if sometimes they are contrary to logic, and our own current well-being. The subconscious mind, seeking to meet our deepest needs, expectations, wishes, does not always do it the way we want it done. The subconscious mind does not care if the body hurts, but rather that the deepest needs are met. If our greatest need is for affection and the only time we experienced affection was when we were sick, we may get sick in order to receive that affection. This occurs even though consciously we don't like being sick and the reason is unknown. So it is evident that once a solution to a need is found, it may be repeated in essentially the same way incongruently, redundantly, at times in a disguised adult form. A female client, in trance, with no prompting from me said with tears streaming down her face. “When I was young, I was bitten by a dog two or three times. This was the only time I got any caring at home. That is why I kept going to Hospital Emergency Rooms for overdoses or cutting my wrists.” She was bearing the label of a mental condition. As I observed her release herself I thought, “She is never going to be that sick again.”
The soil of the subconscious mind accepts any kind of seeds - good or bad. Once the subconscious mind accepts an idea, it begins to make the idea a reality. When applied in a negative way, the subconscious can be the cause of failure, frustration, unhappiness, and even illness." Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." And in the Bible, (proverbs), "Whatever a person thinketh in his heart so is he.” Hypnosis is a process that allows access to a whole spectrum of altered states of awareness, (generally described as trance), that allow simultaneous states of inward concentration to occur, with a fluid flow between many levels and depths of the mind. In this state, the mind and body are more open and receptive, the most helpful tool for pursuing treatment goals. The beauty of clinical hypnosis is in acquiring the ability to enter a trance deliberately. This gives us a key in hypnotherapy, because in trance, deep level dysfunctional beliefs can be attenuated or erased, and more functional ones be instilled and installed. Negative images and metaphors can be altered and supplanted with more useful ones. We can guide a person to move “away from” damaging information and/or “move towards” healing/positive ideas. This can, when targeted at emotional processes for therapy, give a person a “virtual” better childhood, as the “old tapes” as they were referred to in latter day psychotherapies, can be annulled. More limited problems are amenable to less general suggestion processes. All of this appears to take place, in trance, on the “other than conscious” level where the negative processes were formed, for highly effective change, without will power. Even physiological processes may be affected by suggestion, and has given me the ability at times to assist people who have run out of medical options. Behavioral and functional difficulties can be overcome. As I have stated elsewhere, at times the results, both psychological and/orphysical, can appear miraculous.
c. Brian Green, 2007, mindmagic123.com
The Life And Death Of Joe Rowley. Alcoholism And Addiction In Action.
by: Brian Green
The funny thing is, I didn’t know Joe that well.
He was only an acquaintance really, a drinking acquaintance, not a close friend of mine by any stretch of the imagination. A ship that passed in the drink and drug soaked long dark night of my soul. So why was it that when I heard of his death, six thousand miles away, and more than a sober year or two after our last contact, that I was moved to tears? I cannot find a full explanation yet, it remains a teasing and tantalizing will o’ the wisp, dancing on the peripheral fringes of my consciousness. Perhaps in writing this and recounting the facts of the matter, I will be able to find some resolution, as I still get teary, some thirty years later, when I think of Joe, and the manner of his end.
I had moved from London, our English capital city, to Brighton, a small seaside holiday town about sixty miles South, with it’s more provincial ambience. Also, as a holiday resort, it possessed a subclass that derived much of it’s income from the periodic influx of tourists. These people ranged from those who provided legitimate services, such as board and lodging, a well known genera including such sub-species as seaside landladies and hotel workers, to the more exploitative, such as bargirls, and the downright predatory, such as pick-pockets and pimps. Graham Green in his novel Brighton Rock, gives his grim, gray, grainy portrait of these under classes, with their admixture of petty criminality, that populate this underside of Brighton society; and the sordid parabolas of fungal doom that constitute the nightblooming of their lives. Probably not so different from many towns whose income is in some large part derived from similar sources.
Joe, earning his living as a beach photographer, was mid-range in his grubby occupation. A bit exploitative of the visitors, with his persistent persuasive importunings, as he prevailed upon tourists to purchase his services, hawked on the promenade and lower beachfront, without going as far as to actually insert his hand into their pocket. Myself, drinking within bar patios on the lower beachfront level, had plenty of opportunity to observe Joe ply his trade. Manipulating vacationers with what I now realize was an underlying, but ever present, driving desperation. Joe would be a clown for people, mock himself, present himself in any way he thought would ingratiate. He uttered his smoothly flowing conman patter, it poured out of his mouth without seeming effort, as he at times literally capered in front of a prospect whose path he had blocked. Joe had the gift of the gab. For me, this was observed mainly during the daytime, on sunny public holidays or weekends, which attracted me to the vicinity of his beat. Lucrative times for Joe, but he was probably similarly engaged most other days too, unless it was raining, or too cold and windy, or all three, on that coast of frequent hurtling squalls. God knows how he got by in some of the savage months of Winter.
Now and again Joe would take a break, and join the company for a beer, camera slung around his neck, like some disreputable reporter from the holiday beachhead, before resuming his endeavors. Conversing and joking around, always active and animated, bouncy with a cheerful ready wit, nut-brown from the regular exposure to the sun that he absorbed as the condition of his line of work, he was an entertaining companion. Perhaps a bit of a rough diamond, with his short crew cut hair lending an oafish look to his short and stocky build, part soldier, part gangster thug. Though he hardly stood out in this seafront assembly of drinkers, daylight ladies of the evening, hustlers, midday drunken tourists, misfits and ne’er do wells of every stripe. You understand, the usual potpourri of riff raff to be found in such places. For all his chunky masculinity, I never saw Joe with a woman. It’s not that he gave any indication that he was gay. He just seemed more at ease and more often at home in the company of men. Though in all conscience, he was seemingly as relaxed when my then wife was present drinking with me, passing the time of day with her in amiable chit chat and superficial banter. Joe gave no indication of superior education or culture either. His language was commonplace, salty and vulgar on occasion as it might be. He never infringed on a topic of any meaning, all was pitched on a mundane everyday level. Only the quickness of his sharp wit at times revealed there might be more intelligence to Joe than was normally allowed to be visible. Of course, even in those quarters, as elsewhere, rapid wit and skills at repartee gain their owner respect, so Joe probable felt it safe to show them.
One late sunny Sunday morning, Joe entered the seafront bar I happened to be patronizing. After buying his first drink, he began pitching me his service. Making me a “mark”, a “John”, a breach of ethics really, you don’t con your own tribe. But I was not a close member, a hippy, with long hair, a full beard, unusual for that time and place. I had financial status too, owner of a car and a three-bedroom house, host of noisy weekend revels to the town’s gallimaufry of colorful characters. But his likeability was disarming, the amount of money was small to me, and I enjoyed the pitter of his patter and the easy grace with which he propositioned me, taking it all in with detached amusement while knowing exactly what he was doing. I also knew, he would take something back from whatever I gave him, at the special cut rate that he was using to tempt me, (after all we were friends weren’t we, so he was offering me a good deal on that basis). I just knew he would screw me somehow. My intuition was vindicated later when he gave me the roll of film he took, leaving me to pay for the cost of developing it, with some barefaced shameless flim-flam explanation of why he was doing so. I just laughed. Now I see the covert desperation was his driving need for money to drink. Perhaps on some inner level I knew and sympathized, feeling more fortunate, as my need for drink and drugs was just as driving, but my means were more equal to my needs.
I would also see Joe in another bar, or a pub as they are also termed in England, a mostly weekend evening hangout, where I often sat in with the musicians. This was one of the several pubs we frequented that sold British apple wine. Because it was home produced and carried no import tax on it’s alcohol content, it was comparatively pretty cheap, as strong as sherry, relatively palatable, and with the well-deserved reputation for creating a crazed drunkenness. This of course only added to the popularity of Merrydown, as it was named with an arch touch of drollery. Several times, early in the evening, which perhaps accounts for the fact that I was conscious enough to retain the memory, Joe would join me at the bar. This was in fact where he returned the undeveloped roll of film to me on one occasion. He would order a glass of Merrydown, which arrived in a capacious tumbler, full to the brim, and leave it on the bar. He would ignore his drink, chatting casually, as if it were of no interest, as if he had half forgotten it. After a few minutes or so, as if catching sight of it, as if vaguely remembering what he was engaged in, “Oh yes, I have a drink somewhere don’t I?”, he would pick it up with a smooth rapidity, raising his glass as he tilted his head back, and drain the entire contents in one set of swift gulping swallows. Then swinging the glass down in a wide arc to crash it on the bar, he would look at me and state rhetorically, “We’re such bastards Brian, aren’t we? Such bastards!” And then order another, and another, and another, each accompanied by a repeat performance. The dissembler with beads of sweat on his forehead. That were not created by the warm evening. Now I realize how badly Joe needed those drinks, he had reached the stage of physically addicted alcoholism, and I was close on his heels. So why the charade? What was he hiding from whom? Not wanting to admit his “weakness”, I guess he wanted to keep some shred of self-respect, some façade that hid reality as much from himself, as from others. Pretending he wasn’t so desperately in need of the drink that in actuality he was so desperately in need of.
Now if the party, i.e. the drunken debauch, was not at my house, mostly we would congregate at Grace and Gordon’s basement flat, and Joe would infrequently show up there too, late into the night. Grace was known even among us as an as an outrageous alcoholic. Arising around noon, she would spend two hours putting on her makeup with shaking hands, while consuming large glasses of Merrydown, or anything alcoholic that had been donated by a guest the night before. Or lacking a commercial product, resorting to her still cloudy homebrewed wine, that had barely finished fermenting. Ugh! Every morning, without fail. By nightfall she was roaring drunk and ready to party. Gordon was a fabulous, almost mythic figure. Sporting a military moustache, a relic of his service in the army, which he detested, the thinning hair was drawn back into an incongruent silky blondish ponytail, barely concealing his balding crown. Again an even more unusual deviant appearance considering his age, at this time and in this place. Gordon loved his drink too, was highly enamored of pot, and took far more amphetamines than he let on. Grace smoked weed if it was around, as did most on this scene, but booze was her first true love without any question. Both of them were some ten years senior to myself, at that time in my early thirties. Grace latterly was taking pills for the flashes of light across her vision, and the sudden pains shooting down her face. It was so obvious her drinking caused them, except to her Doctor of course, to whom she probably lied anyway. After I left I heard she was admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of some kind of “nerve problem.” Ha! I’ll say. From Grace and Gordon I think I remember half hearing in some dim hallucinatory state, the story that Joe had once owned a nightclub in South London, but had had it taken from him by the coercion of some brutal gangsters. That would account for his air of toughness. And then, during his descent, his wife had deserted him. You might think this was Joe’s tragedy, but I now see it was so much more than only that.
One night, around one or two am, Joe shows up at Grace and Gordon’s. He is as stoned as we are, and sits slumped in silence, almost collapsed, in an armchair. The music is turned down low, and the conversation sluggish and intermittent, all of those present being in their own sunken state of chemical torpor. All of a sudden, during a pause, a moment of silence, Joe begins to speak. To recite actually. Joe is reciting a lengthy poem.. from memory. And not only that, he is expressing himself with a phenomenal artistry. Every nuance of feeling, every scintilla of meaning, Joe is wringing it out of the poem, displaying the delicate, sensitive, subtle sensibilities of a truly poetic soul. His eyes are dull with a distant look. It is almost as if he is semi-conscious, and some other inhabitant of his inner world is speaking through him. Some deeply buried part of him has sprung to life, and Joe himself seems almost unaware of what he is doing. In the doom ridden besotted gloom we are entranced, enthralled, held spellbound by his words and their meaning, in one of those rare jeweled moments of timeless eternity that are occasionally found set amongst the dregs of drugged and drunken time warps. Who could of known Joe had this in him? I cannot even recall the poem at all, but I know it had greatness, a loveliness that Joe crystallized out of his own being. I only recall that feeling of sacred awe at witnessing the beauty of Joe’s hugeness, and the quality of his intellect and sensitivity, penetrating and encompassing on every level, each and every nook and cranny of his poem. For all I know, he wrote it himself.
So the real tragedy of Joe Rowley was one of this more significant loss. The prostitution of his talents, wasting himself to survive. That sadness in some place inside breeding such guilt, remorse and self-hatred, “We’re such bastards Brian, aren’t we? Such bastards!” As he was forced to abandon and betray himself over and over again. Never knowing that his addiction to alcohol was relentlessly consuming his life and being, completely out of any control by who he thought he was. The victim of a state of mind and body of which he had no comprehension. Never knowing of his own goodness. Never cognizant of his own great heart and the sweetness of his shining spirit, which stood so briefly revealed in those phantasmagoric moments, when the curtain of his lesser being was drawn aside. Driven down to ever lower depths of self-degradation and self-destruction by the loveless nightmare scourge of his alcoholism. Till he reached that inevitable terminal nadir, that deep pit, so deep that the only escape from it is through the still deeper bottom that is death. The news I received, later and so far away, was that Joe had choked on his own vomit, while unconscious from a combination of alcohol and sleeping pills, like so many before and since. This was his swansong.
And my sorrow for Joe.. perhaps is not only for him.. perhaps this is the explanation for that fleeting recurrent source of tears. I see so much of myself and my life reflected in Joe and his life.. so much of what was true of him has been true of me. At least, since writing this, no tears well up as I think of him. And then there are the myriad matching marching cohorts.. past, present and future.. treading some such path to some such similar an end.
I never had that film Joe took of me developed…
I lost it some time ago …. Somewhere along the way.
Brian Green. mindmagic123.com c. 2007.
The funny thing is, I didn’t know Joe that well.
He was only an acquaintance really, a drinking acquaintance, not a close friend of mine by any stretch of the imagination. A ship that passed in the drink and drug soaked long dark night of my soul. So why was it that when I heard of his death, six thousand miles away, and more than a sober year or two after our last contact, that I was moved to tears? I cannot find a full explanation yet, it remains a teasing and tantalizing will o’ the wisp, dancing on the peripheral fringes of my consciousness. Perhaps in writing this and recounting the facts of the matter, I will be able to find some resolution, as I still get teary, some thirty years later, when I think of Joe, and the manner of his end.
I had moved from London, our English capital city, to Brighton, a small seaside holiday town about sixty miles South, with it’s more provincial ambience. Also, as a holiday resort, it possessed a subclass that derived much of it’s income from the periodic influx of tourists. These people ranged from those who provided legitimate services, such as board and lodging, a well known genera including such sub-species as seaside landladies and hotel workers, to the more exploitative, such as bargirls, and the downright predatory, such as pick-pockets and pimps. Graham Green in his novel Brighton Rock, gives his grim, gray, grainy portrait of these under classes, with their admixture of petty criminality, that populate this underside of Brighton society; and the sordid parabolas of fungal doom that constitute the nightblooming of their lives. Probably not so different from many towns whose income is in some large part derived from similar sources.
Joe, earning his living as a beach photographer, was mid-range in his grubby occupation. A bit exploitative of the visitors, with his persistent persuasive importunings, as he prevailed upon tourists to purchase his services, hawked on the promenade and lower beachfront, without going as far as to actually insert his hand into their pocket. Myself, drinking within bar patios on the lower beachfront level, had plenty of opportunity to observe Joe ply his trade. Manipulating vacationers with what I now realize was an underlying, but ever present, driving desperation. Joe would be a clown for people, mock himself, present himself in any way he thought would ingratiate. He uttered his smoothly flowing conman patter, it poured out of his mouth without seeming effort, as he at times literally capered in front of a prospect whose path he had blocked. Joe had the gift of the gab. For me, this was observed mainly during the daytime, on sunny public holidays or weekends, which attracted me to the vicinity of his beat. Lucrative times for Joe, but he was probably similarly engaged most other days too, unless it was raining, or too cold and windy, or all three, on that coast of frequent hurtling squalls. God knows how he got by in some of the savage months of Winter.
Now and again Joe would take a break, and join the company for a beer, camera slung around his neck, like some disreputable reporter from the holiday beachhead, before resuming his endeavors. Conversing and joking around, always active and animated, bouncy with a cheerful ready wit, nut-brown from the regular exposure to the sun that he absorbed as the condition of his line of work, he was an entertaining companion. Perhaps a bit of a rough diamond, with his short crew cut hair lending an oafish look to his short and stocky build, part soldier, part gangster thug. Though he hardly stood out in this seafront assembly of drinkers, daylight ladies of the evening, hustlers, midday drunken tourists, misfits and ne’er do wells of every stripe. You understand, the usual potpourri of riff raff to be found in such places. For all his chunky masculinity, I never saw Joe with a woman. It’s not that he gave any indication that he was gay. He just seemed more at ease and more often at home in the company of men. Though in all conscience, he was seemingly as relaxed when my then wife was present drinking with me, passing the time of day with her in amiable chit chat and superficial banter. Joe gave no indication of superior education or culture either. His language was commonplace, salty and vulgar on occasion as it might be. He never infringed on a topic of any meaning, all was pitched on a mundane everyday level. Only the quickness of his sharp wit at times revealed there might be more intelligence to Joe than was normally allowed to be visible. Of course, even in those quarters, as elsewhere, rapid wit and skills at repartee gain their owner respect, so Joe probable felt it safe to show them.
One late sunny Sunday morning, Joe entered the seafront bar I happened to be patronizing. After buying his first drink, he began pitching me his service. Making me a “mark”, a “John”, a breach of ethics really, you don’t con your own tribe. But I was not a close member, a hippy, with long hair, a full beard, unusual for that time and place. I had financial status too, owner of a car and a three-bedroom house, host of noisy weekend revels to the town’s gallimaufry of colorful characters. But his likeability was disarming, the amount of money was small to me, and I enjoyed the pitter of his patter and the easy grace with which he propositioned me, taking it all in with detached amusement while knowing exactly what he was doing. I also knew, he would take something back from whatever I gave him, at the special cut rate that he was using to tempt me, (after all we were friends weren’t we, so he was offering me a good deal on that basis). I just knew he would screw me somehow. My intuition was vindicated later when he gave me the roll of film he took, leaving me to pay for the cost of developing it, with some barefaced shameless flim-flam explanation of why he was doing so. I just laughed. Now I see the covert desperation was his driving need for money to drink. Perhaps on some inner level I knew and sympathized, feeling more fortunate, as my need for drink and drugs was just as driving, but my means were more equal to my needs.
I would also see Joe in another bar, or a pub as they are also termed in England, a mostly weekend evening hangout, where I often sat in with the musicians. This was one of the several pubs we frequented that sold British apple wine. Because it was home produced and carried no import tax on it’s alcohol content, it was comparatively pretty cheap, as strong as sherry, relatively palatable, and with the well-deserved reputation for creating a crazed drunkenness. This of course only added to the popularity of Merrydown, as it was named with an arch touch of drollery. Several times, early in the evening, which perhaps accounts for the fact that I was conscious enough to retain the memory, Joe would join me at the bar. This was in fact where he returned the undeveloped roll of film to me on one occasion. He would order a glass of Merrydown, which arrived in a capacious tumbler, full to the brim, and leave it on the bar. He would ignore his drink, chatting casually, as if it were of no interest, as if he had half forgotten it. After a few minutes or so, as if catching sight of it, as if vaguely remembering what he was engaged in, “Oh yes, I have a drink somewhere don’t I?”, he would pick it up with a smooth rapidity, raising his glass as he tilted his head back, and drain the entire contents in one set of swift gulping swallows. Then swinging the glass down in a wide arc to crash it on the bar, he would look at me and state rhetorically, “We’re such bastards Brian, aren’t we? Such bastards!” And then order another, and another, and another, each accompanied by a repeat performance. The dissembler with beads of sweat on his forehead. That were not created by the warm evening. Now I realize how badly Joe needed those drinks, he had reached the stage of physically addicted alcoholism, and I was close on his heels. So why the charade? What was he hiding from whom? Not wanting to admit his “weakness”, I guess he wanted to keep some shred of self-respect, some façade that hid reality as much from himself, as from others. Pretending he wasn’t so desperately in need of the drink that in actuality he was so desperately in need of.
Now if the party, i.e. the drunken debauch, was not at my house, mostly we would congregate at Grace and Gordon’s basement flat, and Joe would infrequently show up there too, late into the night. Grace was known even among us as an as an outrageous alcoholic. Arising around noon, she would spend two hours putting on her makeup with shaking hands, while consuming large glasses of Merrydown, or anything alcoholic that had been donated by a guest the night before. Or lacking a commercial product, resorting to her still cloudy homebrewed wine, that had barely finished fermenting. Ugh! Every morning, without fail. By nightfall she was roaring drunk and ready to party. Gordon was a fabulous, almost mythic figure. Sporting a military moustache, a relic of his service in the army, which he detested, the thinning hair was drawn back into an incongruent silky blondish ponytail, barely concealing his balding crown. Again an even more unusual deviant appearance considering his age, at this time and in this place. Gordon loved his drink too, was highly enamored of pot, and took far more amphetamines than he let on. Grace smoked weed if it was around, as did most on this scene, but booze was her first true love without any question. Both of them were some ten years senior to myself, at that time in my early thirties. Grace latterly was taking pills for the flashes of light across her vision, and the sudden pains shooting down her face. It was so obvious her drinking caused them, except to her Doctor of course, to whom she probably lied anyway. After I left I heard she was admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of some kind of “nerve problem.” Ha! I’ll say. From Grace and Gordon I think I remember half hearing in some dim hallucinatory state, the story that Joe had once owned a nightclub in South London, but had had it taken from him by the coercion of some brutal gangsters. That would account for his air of toughness. And then, during his descent, his wife had deserted him. You might think this was Joe’s tragedy, but I now see it was so much more than only that.
One night, around one or two am, Joe shows up at Grace and Gordon’s. He is as stoned as we are, and sits slumped in silence, almost collapsed, in an armchair. The music is turned down low, and the conversation sluggish and intermittent, all of those present being in their own sunken state of chemical torpor. All of a sudden, during a pause, a moment of silence, Joe begins to speak. To recite actually. Joe is reciting a lengthy poem.. from memory. And not only that, he is expressing himself with a phenomenal artistry. Every nuance of feeling, every scintilla of meaning, Joe is wringing it out of the poem, displaying the delicate, sensitive, subtle sensibilities of a truly poetic soul. His eyes are dull with a distant look. It is almost as if he is semi-conscious, and some other inhabitant of his inner world is speaking through him. Some deeply buried part of him has sprung to life, and Joe himself seems almost unaware of what he is doing. In the doom ridden besotted gloom we are entranced, enthralled, held spellbound by his words and their meaning, in one of those rare jeweled moments of timeless eternity that are occasionally found set amongst the dregs of drugged and drunken time warps. Who could of known Joe had this in him? I cannot even recall the poem at all, but I know it had greatness, a loveliness that Joe crystallized out of his own being. I only recall that feeling of sacred awe at witnessing the beauty of Joe’s hugeness, and the quality of his intellect and sensitivity, penetrating and encompassing on every level, each and every nook and cranny of his poem. For all I know, he wrote it himself.
So the real tragedy of Joe Rowley was one of this more significant loss. The prostitution of his talents, wasting himself to survive. That sadness in some place inside breeding such guilt, remorse and self-hatred, “We’re such bastards Brian, aren’t we? Such bastards!” As he was forced to abandon and betray himself over and over again. Never knowing that his addiction to alcohol was relentlessly consuming his life and being, completely out of any control by who he thought he was. The victim of a state of mind and body of which he had no comprehension. Never knowing of his own goodness. Never cognizant of his own great heart and the sweetness of his shining spirit, which stood so briefly revealed in those phantasmagoric moments, when the curtain of his lesser being was drawn aside. Driven down to ever lower depths of self-degradation and self-destruction by the loveless nightmare scourge of his alcoholism. Till he reached that inevitable terminal nadir, that deep pit, so deep that the only escape from it is through the still deeper bottom that is death. The news I received, later and so far away, was that Joe had choked on his own vomit, while unconscious from a combination of alcohol and sleeping pills, like so many before and since. This was his swansong.
And my sorrow for Joe.. perhaps is not only for him.. perhaps this is the explanation for that fleeting recurrent source of tears. I see so much of myself and my life reflected in Joe and his life.. so much of what was true of him has been true of me. At least, since writing this, no tears well up as I think of him. And then there are the myriad matching marching cohorts.. past, present and future.. treading some such path to some such similar an end.
I never had that film Joe took of me developed…
I lost it some time ago …. Somewhere along the way.
Brian Green. mindmagic123.com c. 2007.
Getting Through The Social Security Disability Claim Obstacle Course: It's A Marathon, Not A Sprint!
by: Evan Zagoria
Don’t throw your hands up and give up hope! If you, your spouse or your child are disabled, frustrated, and are trying to collect Social Security disability benefits, you are not alone. The process seems difficult, long and discouraging at every turn.
Don’t despair! You can succeed in recovering these benefits that you deserve if you have professional help and understand that the process is designed to wear you down, frustrate and discourage you. It is a marathon, not a sprint!
This guide can help you understand and get through the process of filing and collecting social security disability benefits. One thing that can’t be overlooked is the importance of getting professional help from an attorney that specializes in social security disability claims. Not every attorney understands the process or has the experience to maximize your chances of recovery.
Buckle up! Here we go!
Overview:
The Social Security disability program really is two systems, known as (1) Social Security Disability Benefits (Title II) and (2) Supplemental Security Income/SSI (Title XVI). Social Security disability benefits can be paid to the worker, and auxiliary benefits to a spouse and minor children. . Disability benefits can be paid to the widow(er), age 50 and over, of a deceased worker. Disability benefits can also be paid to the child, age 18 and over, of a disabled, deceased, or retired worker, if disability starts prior to age 22. Social Security survivor benefits can be paid to the spouse and minor children of disabled, deceased, or retired workers. Social Security retirement benefits can be paid to workers of appropriate age and their spouses. Social Security disability benefits generally require a worker, age 31 and over, to have worked 5 of the 10 years before they become disabled or have 20 calendar quarters of earnings in the 40 calendar quarter period ending with the quarter in which disability begins. Workers disabled prior to age 31 have special rules but must in general work half of the time between age 21 and when disability commenced.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are a form of welfare benefits payable to disabled, blind, or aged (65 and over) individuals. To be eligible for these benefits the disabled person need never have worked. In place of the work requirements, SSI has strict income and resource rules. Countable assets cannot exceed $2,000.00 for an individual. Income cannot exceed $623.00/month, generally (in 2007). Income can be deemed from parent to minor children and from spouse to spouse.
The definition of disability is the same for both Social Security and adult SSI disability benefits. The statutory definition is as follows:
“The inability to perform any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.”
Merely being unable to perform your usual occupation or return to your former employer is not sufficient grounds for being found disabled. Employer hiring practices, unavailability of jobs, and a poor local economy, for example, are also not grounds for being found disabled.
To be considered disabled, generally, the claimant must be unable to perform the exertional demands (sitting, standing, walking, bending, lifting, carrying) and non-exertional demands (mental, visual, hearing, pain, fatigue, etc.) of simple and unskilled sedentary or sitting down jobs. There are occupations that require very little lifting, allow for postural changes, require minimal use of the hands, or require little education or job training. Claimants under age 50 must be unable to perform even unskilled sedentary occupations. For claimants age 50 and over, there are different combinations of age, education, prior work, skills, and the level of work one can do that help determine if disability exists. The definition of disability becomes somewhat easier at ages 50, 55, and 60.
The Disability Process:
Even though the Social Security program is national or federal in scope, there are significant local and state variations to the process, such as case processing times and allowance rates. A disability decision is often a subjective conclusion, as many medical judgments are gray, rather than black and white. Some adjudicators and Administrative Law Judges (ALJ’s) might be more liberal or more conservative.
The general claim process is to file an application after which a state agency makes the initial decision. If your claim is denied, you can request reconsideration. After a reconsideration decision, if benefits are still not granted, you can request a hearing from an Administrative Law Judge. If your claim is still denied, you can request an Appeals Council review, and if denied by the Appeals Council, the next step is Federal Court review. If you are denied at one level, you have 60 days from receipt of the denial, absent “good cause” to appeal or file for the next level. You are presumed to have received a decision 5 days after the date on the decision unless you can prove receipt at a later date. Examples of “good cause” include, but are not limited to, death or serious illness in the family, being hospitalized, or not receiving the denial notice.
In 10 states, including Michigan, SSA began testing a program called Prototype. This omitted the reconsideration level and allows claimants to go directly from the initial denial to the ALJ hearing level. The rationale for the experiment was that the allowance rate at the reconsideration level tends to be comparatively low. The Prototype program was not extended to the other states but it continues in existence in the original 10 states.
The SSA disability process needs to be considered as more of a marathon than a sprint. One must be prepared for the process to take time, and for rejection. The SSA process can be aggravating, frustrating, time-consuming, and duplicative. Not all claimants have the resources, willpower, or stamina to deal with SSA’s lengthy process. A significant percentage of claimants denied at one level do not appeal to the next level. Some of these claimants might have gotten better or decided they were not actually disabled. Many, however, abandon the process despite believing they are disabled, because they believe they will not win or do not have the ability to continue to fight the system. You need an experienced attorney to help you maneuver through the obstacle course and keep pressing your claim through the levels of reviews and appeals until you succeed. Representation by an experienced attorney who is willing to press your claim through all steps and levels of the process relieves much of the burden of the claimant in completing the process. The further one goes in the process, the more likely one is to win, particularly at the ALJ level. The ALJ level is the single most favorable level of the process. The ALJ’s are more independent and have greater discretion to believe a claimant’s subjective complaints of pain, fatigue, or emotional distress.
Not every lawyer understands the SSA process from both sides of the table. Not every lawyer understands the Social Security Act and Regulations as well as others. Not every lawyer understands medicine as well as others. Not every lawyer understands how to obtain medical evidence and opinions, in the form of sworn statements of treating physicians, reports, records, or treating physician statements about residual functional capacity and how to use that to prove disability. You need an attorney with a lot of experience in handling these cases to maximize your chances of success.
It is best to apply as soon as possible. Even though the Act has a 12 month durational criteria, one need not actually be out of work or disabled for 12 months before an application is filed. Social Security disability benefits cannot be paid more than one year prior to the application date.
It is very important to have attorney representation as soon as possible in the process. The more subjective the disability, i.e., pain or fatigue or emotional problems, the more likely it will be denied at the initial or reconsideration levels. Adjudicators at these lower levels have less discretion to believe more subjective complaints. There are better and worse ways to complete an application. Seemingly innocent questionnaires as to daily activities, pain, headaches are frequently relied on to DENY claims. These should be reviewed by your attorney. The attorney and his or her staff should help you complete these forms.
Despite statements by SSA, claimants who are trying to be found “disabled” do not need to attend consultative examinations scheduled by SSA. The examinations requested by SSA may not be complete and the doctor’s evaluations may be less than impartial. Under SSA’s Regulations, the treating physician is supposed to be the primary source of providing medical evidence.
Spending this extra time preparing applications, filling out activity forms, managing the consultative exam process does not always guarantee a favorable decision at the initial or reconsideration levels, but allows the attorney to help his or her clients win more claims at the ALJ level.
Claimants must continue to see doctors regularly and preferably the same doctor(s). The burden of proof of disability is on the claimant. You are presumed to be “not disabled” until you prove to the Social Security Administration’s satisfaction you are. You meet this burden of proof with your medical records, reports, sworn statements, residual functional capacity assessments, etc. The more medical evidence you have the easier it is to meet your burden. Older medical evidence does not necessarily prove current impairment and, more importantly, resulting functional loss. Being awarded VA benefits, Workers Compensation benefits, disability benefits from an employer or insurance company is not necessarily proof of disability to SSA by Regulation. Every disability program has its own unique medical and legal criteria. A doctor you see regularly, a doctor seen over a longer period of time, is considered a long time treating physician, and is entitled to more adjudicative weight than a doctor seen only once or twice. Under appropriate circumstances, the long time treating physician can be entitled to “controlling weight”.
It is often very difficult for a claimant to represent themselves. Most do not understand SSA’s complex medical criteria and legal requirements. Most claimants do not understand what their medical records say or whether they help or hurt regarding the SSA claim. You cannot always rely on SSA to request and obtain complete medical records, or residual functional capacity assessments from doctors, hospitals, and clinics.
You need an attorney who will professionally represent a claimant at all levels of the process, before or after the ALJ hearing. Many lawyers will not get involved at the early stages of the claim.
Fees:
Social Security and SSI disability claims are usually handled on a contingent fee basis which means you will not owe any fee unless your claim is approved. Under SSA’s system, when represented by an attorney (or an SSA approved non-attorney representative), SSA will withhold 25% of all retroactive benefits payable to the claimant and his/her family members for direct payment of the authorized fee. SSA must authorize or approve any fee that any representative can charge. You do not pay any extra or higher fee to hire an experienced lawyer compared to less experienced lawyers. In some cases, retaining an experienced lawyer results in a lower fee if benefits can be awarded at an earlier stage of the process or prior to the hearing date. Why not hire an attorney with many years of experience, handling thousands of claims?
For most claimants, winning or losing their Social Security claim means the difference between being able to retain some normalcy of life or not.
Don’t throw your hands up and give up hope! If you, your spouse or your child are disabled, frustrated, and are trying to collect Social Security disability benefits, you are not alone. The process seems difficult, long and discouraging at every turn.
Don’t despair! You can succeed in recovering these benefits that you deserve if you have professional help and understand that the process is designed to wear you down, frustrate and discourage you. It is a marathon, not a sprint!
This guide can help you understand and get through the process of filing and collecting social security disability benefits. One thing that can’t be overlooked is the importance of getting professional help from an attorney that specializes in social security disability claims. Not every attorney understands the process or has the experience to maximize your chances of recovery.
Buckle up! Here we go!
Overview:
The Social Security disability program really is two systems, known as (1) Social Security Disability Benefits (Title II) and (2) Supplemental Security Income/SSI (Title XVI). Social Security disability benefits can be paid to the worker, and auxiliary benefits to a spouse and minor children. . Disability benefits can be paid to the widow(er), age 50 and over, of a deceased worker. Disability benefits can also be paid to the child, age 18 and over, of a disabled, deceased, or retired worker, if disability starts prior to age 22. Social Security survivor benefits can be paid to the spouse and minor children of disabled, deceased, or retired workers. Social Security retirement benefits can be paid to workers of appropriate age and their spouses. Social Security disability benefits generally require a worker, age 31 and over, to have worked 5 of the 10 years before they become disabled or have 20 calendar quarters of earnings in the 40 calendar quarter period ending with the quarter in which disability begins. Workers disabled prior to age 31 have special rules but must in general work half of the time between age 21 and when disability commenced.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits are a form of welfare benefits payable to disabled, blind, or aged (65 and over) individuals. To be eligible for these benefits the disabled person need never have worked. In place of the work requirements, SSI has strict income and resource rules. Countable assets cannot exceed $2,000.00 for an individual. Income cannot exceed $623.00/month, generally (in 2007). Income can be deemed from parent to minor children and from spouse to spouse.
The definition of disability is the same for both Social Security and adult SSI disability benefits. The statutory definition is as follows:
“The inability to perform any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.”
Merely being unable to perform your usual occupation or return to your former employer is not sufficient grounds for being found disabled. Employer hiring practices, unavailability of jobs, and a poor local economy, for example, are also not grounds for being found disabled.
To be considered disabled, generally, the claimant must be unable to perform the exertional demands (sitting, standing, walking, bending, lifting, carrying) and non-exertional demands (mental, visual, hearing, pain, fatigue, etc.) of simple and unskilled sedentary or sitting down jobs. There are occupations that require very little lifting, allow for postural changes, require minimal use of the hands, or require little education or job training. Claimants under age 50 must be unable to perform even unskilled sedentary occupations. For claimants age 50 and over, there are different combinations of age, education, prior work, skills, and the level of work one can do that help determine if disability exists. The definition of disability becomes somewhat easier at ages 50, 55, and 60.
The Disability Process:
Even though the Social Security program is national or federal in scope, there are significant local and state variations to the process, such as case processing times and allowance rates. A disability decision is often a subjective conclusion, as many medical judgments are gray, rather than black and white. Some adjudicators and Administrative Law Judges (ALJ’s) might be more liberal or more conservative.
The general claim process is to file an application after which a state agency makes the initial decision. If your claim is denied, you can request reconsideration. After a reconsideration decision, if benefits are still not granted, you can request a hearing from an Administrative Law Judge. If your claim is still denied, you can request an Appeals Council review, and if denied by the Appeals Council, the next step is Federal Court review. If you are denied at one level, you have 60 days from receipt of the denial, absent “good cause” to appeal or file for the next level. You are presumed to have received a decision 5 days after the date on the decision unless you can prove receipt at a later date. Examples of “good cause” include, but are not limited to, death or serious illness in the family, being hospitalized, or not receiving the denial notice.
In 10 states, including Michigan, SSA began testing a program called Prototype. This omitted the reconsideration level and allows claimants to go directly from the initial denial to the ALJ hearing level. The rationale for the experiment was that the allowance rate at the reconsideration level tends to be comparatively low. The Prototype program was not extended to the other states but it continues in existence in the original 10 states.
The SSA disability process needs to be considered as more of a marathon than a sprint. One must be prepared for the process to take time, and for rejection. The SSA process can be aggravating, frustrating, time-consuming, and duplicative. Not all claimants have the resources, willpower, or stamina to deal with SSA’s lengthy process. A significant percentage of claimants denied at one level do not appeal to the next level. Some of these claimants might have gotten better or decided they were not actually disabled. Many, however, abandon the process despite believing they are disabled, because they believe they will not win or do not have the ability to continue to fight the system. You need an experienced attorney to help you maneuver through the obstacle course and keep pressing your claim through the levels of reviews and appeals until you succeed. Representation by an experienced attorney who is willing to press your claim through all steps and levels of the process relieves much of the burden of the claimant in completing the process. The further one goes in the process, the more likely one is to win, particularly at the ALJ level. The ALJ level is the single most favorable level of the process. The ALJ’s are more independent and have greater discretion to believe a claimant’s subjective complaints of pain, fatigue, or emotional distress.
Not every lawyer understands the SSA process from both sides of the table. Not every lawyer understands the Social Security Act and Regulations as well as others. Not every lawyer understands medicine as well as others. Not every lawyer understands how to obtain medical evidence and opinions, in the form of sworn statements of treating physicians, reports, records, or treating physician statements about residual functional capacity and how to use that to prove disability. You need an attorney with a lot of experience in handling these cases to maximize your chances of success.
It is best to apply as soon as possible. Even though the Act has a 12 month durational criteria, one need not actually be out of work or disabled for 12 months before an application is filed. Social Security disability benefits cannot be paid more than one year prior to the application date.
It is very important to have attorney representation as soon as possible in the process. The more subjective the disability, i.e., pain or fatigue or emotional problems, the more likely it will be denied at the initial or reconsideration levels. Adjudicators at these lower levels have less discretion to believe more subjective complaints. There are better and worse ways to complete an application. Seemingly innocent questionnaires as to daily activities, pain, headaches are frequently relied on to DENY claims. These should be reviewed by your attorney. The attorney and his or her staff should help you complete these forms.
Despite statements by SSA, claimants who are trying to be found “disabled” do not need to attend consultative examinations scheduled by SSA. The examinations requested by SSA may not be complete and the doctor’s evaluations may be less than impartial. Under SSA’s Regulations, the treating physician is supposed to be the primary source of providing medical evidence.
Spending this extra time preparing applications, filling out activity forms, managing the consultative exam process does not always guarantee a favorable decision at the initial or reconsideration levels, but allows the attorney to help his or her clients win more claims at the ALJ level.
Claimants must continue to see doctors regularly and preferably the same doctor(s). The burden of proof of disability is on the claimant. You are presumed to be “not disabled” until you prove to the Social Security Administration’s satisfaction you are. You meet this burden of proof with your medical records, reports, sworn statements, residual functional capacity assessments, etc. The more medical evidence you have the easier it is to meet your burden. Older medical evidence does not necessarily prove current impairment and, more importantly, resulting functional loss. Being awarded VA benefits, Workers Compensation benefits, disability benefits from an employer or insurance company is not necessarily proof of disability to SSA by Regulation. Every disability program has its own unique medical and legal criteria. A doctor you see regularly, a doctor seen over a longer period of time, is considered a long time treating physician, and is entitled to more adjudicative weight than a doctor seen only once or twice. Under appropriate circumstances, the long time treating physician can be entitled to “controlling weight”.
It is often very difficult for a claimant to represent themselves. Most do not understand SSA’s complex medical criteria and legal requirements. Most claimants do not understand what their medical records say or whether they help or hurt regarding the SSA claim. You cannot always rely on SSA to request and obtain complete medical records, or residual functional capacity assessments from doctors, hospitals, and clinics.
You need an attorney who will professionally represent a claimant at all levels of the process, before or after the ALJ hearing. Many lawyers will not get involved at the early stages of the claim.
Fees:
Social Security and SSI disability claims are usually handled on a contingent fee basis which means you will not owe any fee unless your claim is approved. Under SSA’s system, when represented by an attorney (or an SSA approved non-attorney representative), SSA will withhold 25% of all retroactive benefits payable to the claimant and his/her family members for direct payment of the authorized fee. SSA must authorize or approve any fee that any representative can charge. You do not pay any extra or higher fee to hire an experienced lawyer compared to less experienced lawyers. In some cases, retaining an experienced lawyer results in a lower fee if benefits can be awarded at an earlier stage of the process or prior to the hearing date. Why not hire an attorney with many years of experience, handling thousands of claims?
For most claimants, winning or losing their Social Security claim means the difference between being able to retain some normalcy of life or not.
7 Ways To Get Your Body Ripped For Summer
by: Joey Sheather
1. Lift Weights to Build and Tone Muscle
Increasing your muscle mass and tone will accelerate body-fat loss. When your muscles grow the demand on your body’s energy resources increase. Therefore your metabolism starts running at a higher rate burning more calories during rest and while you exercise.
Muscles require a lot of energy to:
- Fuel their normal function in rest
- To power the 3 main energy systems with ATP (Adenosine Tri-phosphate; the energy molecule), Glycogen (a string of Glucose molecules) and Adipose Tissue (Fat) during exercise
- To replenish energy stores after exercise when the muscles are drained and facilitate the sustained hyperactivity of the muscles chemistry
Bigger and stronger muscle also enhances your bodies’ ability to perform and sustain high intensity exercise. This in turn can increase the potential calorie burning effect of your workout.
2. Perform Low Intensity Sustained Exercise
Have you ever noticed someone who is overweight pounding away day after day on the treadmill sweating and panting but never really getting anywhere? I certainly have. This is because of a fantastically great misconception that I can’t believe still exists today: The harder you go on the cardio the more fat you burn! I’m afraid not. If you learn about the basics of the human body and how the energy systems work you find out that it is in fact the opposite.
Fat burning occurs and peaks during sustained low intensity exercise in the presence of oxygen. This means that when energy is required quickly for short or medium bursts of intense exercise ATP and Glycogen becomes the source of that energy. They can be used instantly and without oxygen resulting in a by-product that everyone has experienced, Lactic Acid. Anaerobic Exercise predominately uses these fuels during brief periods that cannot be sustained. Aerobic Exercise utilises fat as the dominant fuel because the low amount of intensity is sustainable allowing blood supply to the muscles that is rich in oxygen, fats’ catalyst.
So what does this mean for all you lovely people out there? If you want to concentrate on burning fat during cardio-vascular exercise drop the intensity to a level where your breathing rate increases but you can still have a fairly normal conversation with someone. A more scientific approach would be:
Get the number 220, take away your age to get your maximum heart rate (MHR), multiply that number by 0.65 (the fat burning range) and use the answer as your target heart rate (THR) during cardio-vascular exercise. Example;
220 – 26 = 194
194 x 0.65 = 126 beats per minute (BPM)
Maintain this heart rate for 30 minutes to 1 hour to hit your peak fat burning range. If you are fit however, I’d increase it by 10 BPM as your bodies’ chemistry and response to exercise are more developed.
3. Cut Out Excess Calories and Pleasure Foods
I’m not talking about dieting because to me that word sounds temporary and unsustainable. I’m talking about a sensible and attractive lifestyle change that is logical and positive. You don’t need all that crap. Eating certainly needs to be enjoyable but eating in excess of what your body really needs is unacceptable 90 percent of the time. Do yourself a favour and put food into perspective.
Food only exists to fuel, nourish, maintain and rebuild the body. Humans have made eating a way of life and we let it get out of control treating ourselves constantly to food that is very high in empty calories and low in nutrition. Junk food tastes good but is that short few minutes of pleasure really worth deteriorating the function and capability of your body?
Good food tastes good. I think that there is just as much pleasure and satisfaction or even more out of supplying your body with nutritious foods as there is with eating fast foods, desserts, sugar and chocolate. If you have a great training session a healthy protein drink or a steak and salad is what you feel like because that is what is going to support the desired outcomes of your exercise routine. Lollies or candy will do nothing positive and makes you feel gross afterwards.
If you think about the big picture and you want to get the most out of your life you MUST look after the ONLY body that you have. How on earth can people justify owning an expensive car or boat or whatever, spending time and money on maintenance, repairs, supplies, services and accessories giving it the best of everything while they only supply their own bodies with sub-standard fuel? Cars and other toys are replaceable and only needed a few hours of each day. You CAN’T replace your body. You need it all day every day until you leave this world. It’s your best friend and should the priority receiving everything it requires for peak performance.
I always suggest that one day a week everyone should consider letting their guard down and eating something nice and naughty but for the rest of the time you must eat healthy, fresh, nutritious varied food. It’s a crime not to and will only lead you down a negative path.
Enough preaching. Here are some suggestions to help shed unwanted body-fat through your eating habits:
i. The food and exercise equation
First there is an element of experimentation. You need to find out how to balance and manipulate the equation between the food that you eat and the exercise that you perform. This can be simplified further by calling it ENERGY IN and ENERGY OUT. Increase or decrease one or the other to make your bodyweight go up or down.
Example:
- if you eat more and exercise less your bodyweight will go up
- if you eat less and exercise more your bodyweight will go down
- if you are at a point where your food intake and exercise output balance each other your bodyweight will remain the same
Work out the extent of change you need to apply to change your bodyweight.
ii. Increase your meal frequency and decrease your meal size.
If you eat three large meals a day you receive an uneven spread of calories and energy. This can affect you in the following ways:
- Slowing down of the metabolism ( the bodies total demand for energy and ability to burn it)
- A lack of energy due to the large meal gaps
- Storing of excess calories as body-fat from the large meals
- Sleeping on a full stomach again promoting body-fat storage
If you eat 5 to 7 smaller meals throughout the day all these point can be turned around increasing your metabolism and facilitating exercise and normal function.
iii. Don’t eat complex carbohydrates or junk-food after lunch.
Eat foods that are dense in energy early in the day for a sustained release of energy throughout the rest of the day. As you get closer to sleeping you need nutritious foods, such as salads and stir-fried veges, lean meats and fish, that provide less energy because excess calories will be unused and stored as fat. Dinner should also be a smaller meal than it traditionally is to aid this. Breakfast and lunch should be the larger meals as they are the energy providers for your day and any exercise that you do.
iv. Drink lots of water.
Water is the catalyst for every function and chemical reaction in the body. If you keep yourself hydrated it will assist you in many roles such as body-fat loss. You can train harder and longer maintaining a healthy internal environment by keeping up the blood volume reducing pressure on the cardio-vascular system. The sodium and potassium concentrations of the muscles will remain balanced promoting healthy muscle contraction. Drinks lots of water to exercise properly and stay healthy. Adequate water supplies will speed up all the processes within the body including fat metabolism.
v. Avoid.
Pasta, bread, buns, oats, cereals, white rice, noodles, potatoes, mash, chips, pumpkin, couscous, polenta, pastry, alcohol, junk-food, snack-food, desserts, pizza, crumbed stuff, batter, oil, butter, sugar, salt, MSG, cheese, fast food and fried food especially after lunch.
vi. Eat.
Salads, vegetables, fruits and herbs of many colours. Fresh, raw, organic and cooked foods. Fish, beef, chicken, tofu, lean lamb, protein drinks and supplements.
Do what is best for your health and enjoy it.
4. Perform Your Cardio First Thing In The Morning
Perform your fat-burning cardio exercise first thing in the morning before you have breakfast. There will be no food in your system to use as energy and the glycogen stores in muscles and liver won’t be utilised if the exercise intensity is low (where it should be). Glycogen is limited and will deplete leaving fat as the primary fuel. Keep yourself well hydrated with water but don’t have breakfast until after you have finished your 30 minutes to 1 hour of cardio. Fat will be maintained as the dominant fuel source.
5. Cut Down Rest Time Between Sets
Weight training is traditionally performed with approximately a minutes rest between sets or even longer. I think that most people rest for too long losing potential workout intensity and other possible benefits. I recommend 30 seconds to 1 minute and often less or none!
Reasons for reducing rest time between sets include:
- Increased exercise intensity through continual muscular stimulation whilst fuel stores are depleted. Limiting rest time forces the muscles to work extra hard as their energy stores do not have time to replenish. The blood also cannot deliver oxygen rapidly enough to retard lactic acid accumulation.
- An increased cardio-vascular effect produced because the body moves continually from one exercise to another taxing the heart and lungs. So you not only facilitate muscle strength, growth and tone you also improve heart and lung fitness.
- Improved fat-burning effect with the sustained exercise during the workout and in recovery afterwards. More calories are burned training in this manner.
- Enhanced body chemistry through increases in oxygen delivery, lactic acid removal and energy repletion.
How to decrease rest time during your workout:
- Utilise agonist/antagonist supersets. This is where an exercise is performed for a muscle followed immediately by an exercise for the opposing muscle group
- Utilise pre-exhaustion supersets. This is where an isolation exercise (single-joint) is performed to specifically fatigue a muscle followed immediately by a compound exercise (multi-joint), which uses additional fresh muscles, to further fatigue the target muscle
- Perform circuit-type training where there is little to no rest for the entire workout
- Be focussed and motivated and hungry
6. Perform Sprint Workouts
Twice a week take yourself to a sports field or flat park and mark out a 100 metre length. Complete a 10 minute jog and 10 minutes of stretching focussing on the legs. Perform a run at 50%. Walk back. Perform a run at 75%. Walk back. Perform up to 10 runs at 100% walking back slowly each time to recover.
This type of intense anaerobic exercise will:
- Alter the chemistry of the bodies energy systems forcing them to work harder and faster
- Increase the basal metabolic rate (BMR) burning more energy at rest
- Change the muscle fiber composition of the muscles training them to be stronger, more powerful and able to work at higher intensities for longer
- Cause more fat to be burnt during recovery
7. Use Variety In Your Cardio And Fat Burning Program
I’ve talked about using variety to get the most out of your weight training and while it’s not as frequently required with cardio-vascular exercise it still needs to be implemented. Instead of using the treadmill for 40 minutes every try one of these mediums:
- Rowing Machines
- X-Trainers
- Stair Climbers and other machines
- Circuit Classes
- Barbell Classes
- High Energy Classes
- Boxing and Martial Arts Classes
- Spin Classes and other group fitness activities
- Team Sports
- Dancing
- Walking, Jogging, Running
- Cycling, Swimming
- Other dynamic pastimes, games, sports and activities
Changing your routine regularly will keep your body stimulated achieving constant improvement. It’s also fun and will keep you interested.
1. Lift Weights to Build and Tone Muscle
Increasing your muscle mass and tone will accelerate body-fat loss. When your muscles grow the demand on your body’s energy resources increase. Therefore your metabolism starts running at a higher rate burning more calories during rest and while you exercise.
Muscles require a lot of energy to:
- Fuel their normal function in rest
- To power the 3 main energy systems with ATP (Adenosine Tri-phosphate; the energy molecule), Glycogen (a string of Glucose molecules) and Adipose Tissue (Fat) during exercise
- To replenish energy stores after exercise when the muscles are drained and facilitate the sustained hyperactivity of the muscles chemistry
Bigger and stronger muscle also enhances your bodies’ ability to perform and sustain high intensity exercise. This in turn can increase the potential calorie burning effect of your workout.
2. Perform Low Intensity Sustained Exercise
Have you ever noticed someone who is overweight pounding away day after day on the treadmill sweating and panting but never really getting anywhere? I certainly have. This is because of a fantastically great misconception that I can’t believe still exists today: The harder you go on the cardio the more fat you burn! I’m afraid not. If you learn about the basics of the human body and how the energy systems work you find out that it is in fact the opposite.
Fat burning occurs and peaks during sustained low intensity exercise in the presence of oxygen. This means that when energy is required quickly for short or medium bursts of intense exercise ATP and Glycogen becomes the source of that energy. They can be used instantly and without oxygen resulting in a by-product that everyone has experienced, Lactic Acid. Anaerobic Exercise predominately uses these fuels during brief periods that cannot be sustained. Aerobic Exercise utilises fat as the dominant fuel because the low amount of intensity is sustainable allowing blood supply to the muscles that is rich in oxygen, fats’ catalyst.
So what does this mean for all you lovely people out there? If you want to concentrate on burning fat during cardio-vascular exercise drop the intensity to a level where your breathing rate increases but you can still have a fairly normal conversation with someone. A more scientific approach would be:
Get the number 220, take away your age to get your maximum heart rate (MHR), multiply that number by 0.65 (the fat burning range) and use the answer as your target heart rate (THR) during cardio-vascular exercise. Example;
220 – 26 = 194
194 x 0.65 = 126 beats per minute (BPM)
Maintain this heart rate for 30 minutes to 1 hour to hit your peak fat burning range. If you are fit however, I’d increase it by 10 BPM as your bodies’ chemistry and response to exercise are more developed.
3. Cut Out Excess Calories and Pleasure Foods
I’m not talking about dieting because to me that word sounds temporary and unsustainable. I’m talking about a sensible and attractive lifestyle change that is logical and positive. You don’t need all that crap. Eating certainly needs to be enjoyable but eating in excess of what your body really needs is unacceptable 90 percent of the time. Do yourself a favour and put food into perspective.
Food only exists to fuel, nourish, maintain and rebuild the body. Humans have made eating a way of life and we let it get out of control treating ourselves constantly to food that is very high in empty calories and low in nutrition. Junk food tastes good but is that short few minutes of pleasure really worth deteriorating the function and capability of your body?
Good food tastes good. I think that there is just as much pleasure and satisfaction or even more out of supplying your body with nutritious foods as there is with eating fast foods, desserts, sugar and chocolate. If you have a great training session a healthy protein drink or a steak and salad is what you feel like because that is what is going to support the desired outcomes of your exercise routine. Lollies or candy will do nothing positive and makes you feel gross afterwards.
If you think about the big picture and you want to get the most out of your life you MUST look after the ONLY body that you have. How on earth can people justify owning an expensive car or boat or whatever, spending time and money on maintenance, repairs, supplies, services and accessories giving it the best of everything while they only supply their own bodies with sub-standard fuel? Cars and other toys are replaceable and only needed a few hours of each day. You CAN’T replace your body. You need it all day every day until you leave this world. It’s your best friend and should the priority receiving everything it requires for peak performance.
I always suggest that one day a week everyone should consider letting their guard down and eating something nice and naughty but for the rest of the time you must eat healthy, fresh, nutritious varied food. It’s a crime not to and will only lead you down a negative path.
Enough preaching. Here are some suggestions to help shed unwanted body-fat through your eating habits:
i. The food and exercise equation
First there is an element of experimentation. You need to find out how to balance and manipulate the equation between the food that you eat and the exercise that you perform. This can be simplified further by calling it ENERGY IN and ENERGY OUT. Increase or decrease one or the other to make your bodyweight go up or down.
Example:
- if you eat more and exercise less your bodyweight will go up
- if you eat less and exercise more your bodyweight will go down
- if you are at a point where your food intake and exercise output balance each other your bodyweight will remain the same
Work out the extent of change you need to apply to change your bodyweight.
ii. Increase your meal frequency and decrease your meal size.
If you eat three large meals a day you receive an uneven spread of calories and energy. This can affect you in the following ways:
- Slowing down of the metabolism ( the bodies total demand for energy and ability to burn it)
- A lack of energy due to the large meal gaps
- Storing of excess calories as body-fat from the large meals
- Sleeping on a full stomach again promoting body-fat storage
If you eat 5 to 7 smaller meals throughout the day all these point can be turned around increasing your metabolism and facilitating exercise and normal function.
iii. Don’t eat complex carbohydrates or junk-food after lunch.
Eat foods that are dense in energy early in the day for a sustained release of energy throughout the rest of the day. As you get closer to sleeping you need nutritious foods, such as salads and stir-fried veges, lean meats and fish, that provide less energy because excess calories will be unused and stored as fat. Dinner should also be a smaller meal than it traditionally is to aid this. Breakfast and lunch should be the larger meals as they are the energy providers for your day and any exercise that you do.
iv. Drink lots of water.
Water is the catalyst for every function and chemical reaction in the body. If you keep yourself hydrated it will assist you in many roles such as body-fat loss. You can train harder and longer maintaining a healthy internal environment by keeping up the blood volume reducing pressure on the cardio-vascular system. The sodium and potassium concentrations of the muscles will remain balanced promoting healthy muscle contraction. Drinks lots of water to exercise properly and stay healthy. Adequate water supplies will speed up all the processes within the body including fat metabolism.
v. Avoid.
Pasta, bread, buns, oats, cereals, white rice, noodles, potatoes, mash, chips, pumpkin, couscous, polenta, pastry, alcohol, junk-food, snack-food, desserts, pizza, crumbed stuff, batter, oil, butter, sugar, salt, MSG, cheese, fast food and fried food especially after lunch.
vi. Eat.
Salads, vegetables, fruits and herbs of many colours. Fresh, raw, organic and cooked foods. Fish, beef, chicken, tofu, lean lamb, protein drinks and supplements.
Do what is best for your health and enjoy it.
4. Perform Your Cardio First Thing In The Morning
Perform your fat-burning cardio exercise first thing in the morning before you have breakfast. There will be no food in your system to use as energy and the glycogen stores in muscles and liver won’t be utilised if the exercise intensity is low (where it should be). Glycogen is limited and will deplete leaving fat as the primary fuel. Keep yourself well hydrated with water but don’t have breakfast until after you have finished your 30 minutes to 1 hour of cardio. Fat will be maintained as the dominant fuel source.
5. Cut Down Rest Time Between Sets
Weight training is traditionally performed with approximately a minutes rest between sets or even longer. I think that most people rest for too long losing potential workout intensity and other possible benefits. I recommend 30 seconds to 1 minute and often less or none!
Reasons for reducing rest time between sets include:
- Increased exercise intensity through continual muscular stimulation whilst fuel stores are depleted. Limiting rest time forces the muscles to work extra hard as their energy stores do not have time to replenish. The blood also cannot deliver oxygen rapidly enough to retard lactic acid accumulation.
- An increased cardio-vascular effect produced because the body moves continually from one exercise to another taxing the heart and lungs. So you not only facilitate muscle strength, growth and tone you also improve heart and lung fitness.
- Improved fat-burning effect with the sustained exercise during the workout and in recovery afterwards. More calories are burned training in this manner.
- Enhanced body chemistry through increases in oxygen delivery, lactic acid removal and energy repletion.
How to decrease rest time during your workout:
- Utilise agonist/antagonist supersets. This is where an exercise is performed for a muscle followed immediately by an exercise for the opposing muscle group
- Utilise pre-exhaustion supersets. This is where an isolation exercise (single-joint) is performed to specifically fatigue a muscle followed immediately by a compound exercise (multi-joint), which uses additional fresh muscles, to further fatigue the target muscle
- Perform circuit-type training where there is little to no rest for the entire workout
- Be focussed and motivated and hungry
6. Perform Sprint Workouts
Twice a week take yourself to a sports field or flat park and mark out a 100 metre length. Complete a 10 minute jog and 10 minutes of stretching focussing on the legs. Perform a run at 50%. Walk back. Perform a run at 75%. Walk back. Perform up to 10 runs at 100% walking back slowly each time to recover.
This type of intense anaerobic exercise will:
- Alter the chemistry of the bodies energy systems forcing them to work harder and faster
- Increase the basal metabolic rate (BMR) burning more energy at rest
- Change the muscle fiber composition of the muscles training them to be stronger, more powerful and able to work at higher intensities for longer
- Cause more fat to be burnt during recovery
7. Use Variety In Your Cardio And Fat Burning Program
I’ve talked about using variety to get the most out of your weight training and while it’s not as frequently required with cardio-vascular exercise it still needs to be implemented. Instead of using the treadmill for 40 minutes every try one of these mediums:
- Rowing Machines
- X-Trainers
- Stair Climbers and other machines
- Circuit Classes
- Barbell Classes
- High Energy Classes
- Boxing and Martial Arts Classes
- Spin Classes and other group fitness activities
- Team Sports
- Dancing
- Walking, Jogging, Running
- Cycling, Swimming
- Other dynamic pastimes, games, sports and activities
Changing your routine regularly will keep your body stimulated achieving constant improvement. It’s also fun and will keep you interested.
Glucosamine Shown To Not Help Hip Arthritis Pain - So What Does Help?
by: Richard Chandler
A two year study conducted by a team of medical researchers recently concluded that the use of glucosamine has no meaningful effect on the pain in patients with arthritis of the hip, as posted in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Dr. Rianne M. Rozendaal and colleagues at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands randomly assigned 222 patients in the early stages of hip arthritis to either glucosamine or a placebo. The research team took careful precautions to ensure the integrity of their results, including requiring that the supplier of the glucosamine double check that the tablets were of the correct dose. In spite of the carefully controlled conditions, the treatment had no significant effect on pain scores, stiffness, or physical function.
Many consumers have turned to glucosamine as a way to treat hip arthritis pain as an alternative to pain medications. However, despite various studies, definitive proof of glucosamine being effective as a treatment for pain associated with arthritis of the hip is lacking. So that leaves consumers wishing to avoid frequent use of pain medication with a big question: “If glucosamine does not help, then what does?”
If you wish to avoid unnecessary strain on your hip, and in doing so relieve hip pain, a variety of independent living products are available that allow you to continue enjoying your usual lifestyle. Many who suffer from hip arthritis are unaware that by making small adjustments to their everyday routine, they can enjoy a relatively pain free lifestyle without the use of narcotics.
Sitting and Standing in the Living Room and Kitchen
Arthritis of the hip can make sitting down and standing up a painful experience, and make standing for a long period of time virtually impossible. With the correct products around the home, however, you can go about your normal routine with very little change to the lifestyle you have grown accustomed to.
Standing up from a chair or couch can be especially difficult, especially if soft foam causes you to sink low into the seat. Not every couch is “hip arthritis friendly”: couches rarely sit high off the ground and often the armrests are not positioned in a way that makes them ideal for support when you stand up. The CouchCane is an easy to install solution that provides you with a sturdy, comfortably positioned handle that you can lift yourself up with. The weight of your couch holds it in place while the rubber feet on its base prevent slipping and protect your floor. The CouchCane features an adjustable height hand grip, quality steel components, and an adjustable base that fits either end of a variety of couch sizes and styles.
If you lack hand and arm strength, or if you have arthritis in your hand as well, a handle to lift yourself up will not be of much help. Pride Lift Chairs make an attractive addition to any room’s décor and smoothly lift the user to an almost standing position. Available in a variety of styles, such as Casual Line, Gentle Line, and Luxury Line, Pride Lift Chairs feature an assortment of high quality fabrics in a wide range of colors. The soft upholstery and comfortable arm position make them comfortable enough to sleep in while the durable scissor-style mechanism and powerful motor ensure years of operation. The Luxury Line lift chairs allow the user to adjust the angle of the backrest and ottoman separately for a custom fit, which allows those with hip arthritis to find the leg position that best works them.
Cooking, working at a counter, or washing dishes can require you to stand for long periods of time, which can be extremely painful for your arthritic hip. Barstools can provide the necessary height for your work, but typically have very uncomfortable seats and have a tendency to leave your legs in uncomfortable positions. The Drive Adjustable Arms All Purpose Stool is a cost effective alternative that gives you adjustable height, a soft padded seat, and a seating angle that allows your feet to rest on the ground. By keeping your feet on the ground as opposed to dangling, the all purpose stool takes the pressure off of your hips and knees. It makes an attractive addition to your kitchen and is easily cleaned with a damp sponge.
Bathroom Safety and Convenience
Because hip arthritis limits the use of your legs and makes standing or stepping very painful, the bathroom can be the most difficult room in your home to navigate. Getting in and out the bathtub, standing up in the shower, and getting on and off the toilet are activities that put extra strain on your hip joints.
The Pride Lift Chair is great for getting you on your feet in the living room, but don’t you wish you had something like that for the bathroom? The Ergonomic AirLift Bedside Commode is exactly what you are looking for. Functioning as either a stand-alone commode or a toilet-mounted seat, the AirLift features air powered struts that give the user an extra boost when standing up. The struts are adjustable based upon the individual’s weight. The Ergonomic AirLift is also constructed with ergonomic armrests, a comfortable seating surface, and a specially designed “Guest Seat” stand toilet seat that can be easily mounted in place of the AirLift when company is expected. The AirLift is priced much lower than similar toilet lifting systems and is easy to assemble and install.
When arthritis of the hip begins to cause pain, enjoying a warm bath, or at least getting in and out of it, can be virtually impossible. Depending on the setup of your bathroom and the severity of your arthritis, there are two options available. The first would be a bath lift, such as the Sterling 303. The Sterling 303 is more affordable than most bath lifts that are advertised on television and in magazines, yet it has more features. In addition to the side flaps that make transferring in and out of the tub much easier, the Sterling 303 Bath Lift includes a sealed rechargeable battery, a reclining backrest, and thick covers over the seat and back for added comfort. The Sterling Bath Lift can be folded for travel or storage and features suction cups on the bottom for stability and security without the need for a permanent installation.
For a more permanent solution to hip pain while bathing, the Safety Bath Walk-In Bathtub can be installed in place of your current bathtub. The only walk-in bathtub that features a “swing out” door which will not leak, the Safety Bath comes with all of the necessary plumbing fixtures. It uses your home’s hot water as opposed to a separate water heater to save energy costs, uses less water than a standard bathtub, and eliminates the need to step over the edge of a tub. Those with arthritis of the hip will benefit the most from the optional heated seat and 12 jet massager. The Safety Bath can be installed with very little trouble by any qualified plumber.
Getting In and Out of Your Car
Whether you drive a compact car or a large SUV, arthritis of the hip can make getting out of your vehicle a painful experience. For starters, twisting in your seat to find the proper position to stand up or situate yourself in your car can be excruciating. However, a simple and inexpensive device such as the Portable Swivel Seat Cushion eliminates the need to twist by allowing you to rotate easily. It features an attractive grey or camel-colored velour cover which can be easily removed for washing and a comfortable polyfoam padded seat.
Once you are in a position to stand up, the Handybar 3 in 1 Car Aid provides a sturdy, conveniently-placed handle for you to lift yourself up with. Simply insert the smaller end into the striker on your car’s door pillar; the specially designed tip holds the Handybar firmly in place while you stand up. The ergonomically designed grip is easy on your hand and wrist.
Pain Relief Through Far Infrared Heat Therapy
Heating pads are the oldest form of pain relief and the most effective. Everyone from arthritis sufferers to athletes relies on heating pads to soothe muscle and/or joint pain. While traditional electric heating pads and microwave heating pads are still quite popular, the most effective way to get deep, penetrating heat to your muscles and joints is by using far infrared heat therapy.
Infrared is a band of light that we perceive as heat. Divided into three segments (near, middle, and far), infrared heat makes up the majority of the sun’s energy output. Through a process called “conversion”, far infrared has the ability to heat objects such as human tissue without heating the air in between. This effect can be felt on a partly cloudy day; when a cloud obscures the sun, you immediately feel cooler even though the air temperature has not had enough time to change. The cloud blocked the far infrared rays from penetrating your body.
Far infrared heat therapy has taken the traditional heating pad and made it even more effective as a way to combat pain through heat. The Thermotex Infrared Heating Pad combines far infrared heating elements with a soft, machine washable, nylon and cotton cover that features convenient velcro straps to help hold it in place. Unlike standard heating pads that are limited in their heating ability without causing discomfort, the Thermotex Infrared Heating Pad can penetrate your body up to three inches while keeping the pad’s surface temperature at less than 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Besides being great for arthritis and hip pain, the Thermotex Infrared Heating Pad is ideal for fibromyalgia, back pain, and tendonitis.
The most effective and most relaxing form of far infrared heat therapy is a far infrared sauna. Unlike conventional saunas that can reach temperatures in excess of 220 degrees Fahrenheit, far infrared saunas stay below 150 degrees and stay ventilated with fresh air as opposed to stale, humid air. This allows for longer, more effective treatments and additional amenities such as a CD player and reading light (both included). Far infrared saunas use a fraction of the electricity that a standard sauna. They are also much easier to assemble and heat up faster. The penetrating far infrared heat of this sauna not only eases hip pain, but it also increases circulation and removes toxins from your skin.
Relief of Hip Pain Does Not Have to Come From Pills
The recent study conducted at the Erasmus Medical Center further proves that taking pain relievers and supplements is not the only way to deal with arthritis of the hip. By making simple adjustments to your lifestyle, which can benefit you in other ways, you can reduce the strain on your hip joints and enjoy a pleasant, independent, and less painful lifestyle.
A two year study conducted by a team of medical researchers recently concluded that the use of glucosamine has no meaningful effect on the pain in patients with arthritis of the hip, as posted in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Dr. Rianne M. Rozendaal and colleagues at the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands randomly assigned 222 patients in the early stages of hip arthritis to either glucosamine or a placebo. The research team took careful precautions to ensure the integrity of their results, including requiring that the supplier of the glucosamine double check that the tablets were of the correct dose. In spite of the carefully controlled conditions, the treatment had no significant effect on pain scores, stiffness, or physical function.
Many consumers have turned to glucosamine as a way to treat hip arthritis pain as an alternative to pain medications. However, despite various studies, definitive proof of glucosamine being effective as a treatment for pain associated with arthritis of the hip is lacking. So that leaves consumers wishing to avoid frequent use of pain medication with a big question: “If glucosamine does not help, then what does?”
If you wish to avoid unnecessary strain on your hip, and in doing so relieve hip pain, a variety of independent living products are available that allow you to continue enjoying your usual lifestyle. Many who suffer from hip arthritis are unaware that by making small adjustments to their everyday routine, they can enjoy a relatively pain free lifestyle without the use of narcotics.
Sitting and Standing in the Living Room and Kitchen
Arthritis of the hip can make sitting down and standing up a painful experience, and make standing for a long period of time virtually impossible. With the correct products around the home, however, you can go about your normal routine with very little change to the lifestyle you have grown accustomed to.
Standing up from a chair or couch can be especially difficult, especially if soft foam causes you to sink low into the seat. Not every couch is “hip arthritis friendly”: couches rarely sit high off the ground and often the armrests are not positioned in a way that makes them ideal for support when you stand up. The CouchCane is an easy to install solution that provides you with a sturdy, comfortably positioned handle that you can lift yourself up with. The weight of your couch holds it in place while the rubber feet on its base prevent slipping and protect your floor. The CouchCane features an adjustable height hand grip, quality steel components, and an adjustable base that fits either end of a variety of couch sizes and styles.
If you lack hand and arm strength, or if you have arthritis in your hand as well, a handle to lift yourself up will not be of much help. Pride Lift Chairs make an attractive addition to any room’s décor and smoothly lift the user to an almost standing position. Available in a variety of styles, such as Casual Line, Gentle Line, and Luxury Line, Pride Lift Chairs feature an assortment of high quality fabrics in a wide range of colors. The soft upholstery and comfortable arm position make them comfortable enough to sleep in while the durable scissor-style mechanism and powerful motor ensure years of operation. The Luxury Line lift chairs allow the user to adjust the angle of the backrest and ottoman separately for a custom fit, which allows those with hip arthritis to find the leg position that best works them.
Cooking, working at a counter, or washing dishes can require you to stand for long periods of time, which can be extremely painful for your arthritic hip. Barstools can provide the necessary height for your work, but typically have very uncomfortable seats and have a tendency to leave your legs in uncomfortable positions. The Drive Adjustable Arms All Purpose Stool is a cost effective alternative that gives you adjustable height, a soft padded seat, and a seating angle that allows your feet to rest on the ground. By keeping your feet on the ground as opposed to dangling, the all purpose stool takes the pressure off of your hips and knees. It makes an attractive addition to your kitchen and is easily cleaned with a damp sponge.
Bathroom Safety and Convenience
Because hip arthritis limits the use of your legs and makes standing or stepping very painful, the bathroom can be the most difficult room in your home to navigate. Getting in and out the bathtub, standing up in the shower, and getting on and off the toilet are activities that put extra strain on your hip joints.
The Pride Lift Chair is great for getting you on your feet in the living room, but don’t you wish you had something like that for the bathroom? The Ergonomic AirLift Bedside Commode is exactly what you are looking for. Functioning as either a stand-alone commode or a toilet-mounted seat, the AirLift features air powered struts that give the user an extra boost when standing up. The struts are adjustable based upon the individual’s weight. The Ergonomic AirLift is also constructed with ergonomic armrests, a comfortable seating surface, and a specially designed “Guest Seat” stand toilet seat that can be easily mounted in place of the AirLift when company is expected. The AirLift is priced much lower than similar toilet lifting systems and is easy to assemble and install.
When arthritis of the hip begins to cause pain, enjoying a warm bath, or at least getting in and out of it, can be virtually impossible. Depending on the setup of your bathroom and the severity of your arthritis, there are two options available. The first would be a bath lift, such as the Sterling 303. The Sterling 303 is more affordable than most bath lifts that are advertised on television and in magazines, yet it has more features. In addition to the side flaps that make transferring in and out of the tub much easier, the Sterling 303 Bath Lift includes a sealed rechargeable battery, a reclining backrest, and thick covers over the seat and back for added comfort. The Sterling Bath Lift can be folded for travel or storage and features suction cups on the bottom for stability and security without the need for a permanent installation.
For a more permanent solution to hip pain while bathing, the Safety Bath Walk-In Bathtub can be installed in place of your current bathtub. The only walk-in bathtub that features a “swing out” door which will not leak, the Safety Bath comes with all of the necessary plumbing fixtures. It uses your home’s hot water as opposed to a separate water heater to save energy costs, uses less water than a standard bathtub, and eliminates the need to step over the edge of a tub. Those with arthritis of the hip will benefit the most from the optional heated seat and 12 jet massager. The Safety Bath can be installed with very little trouble by any qualified plumber.
Getting In and Out of Your Car
Whether you drive a compact car or a large SUV, arthritis of the hip can make getting out of your vehicle a painful experience. For starters, twisting in your seat to find the proper position to stand up or situate yourself in your car can be excruciating. However, a simple and inexpensive device such as the Portable Swivel Seat Cushion eliminates the need to twist by allowing you to rotate easily. It features an attractive grey or camel-colored velour cover which can be easily removed for washing and a comfortable polyfoam padded seat.
Once you are in a position to stand up, the Handybar 3 in 1 Car Aid provides a sturdy, conveniently-placed handle for you to lift yourself up with. Simply insert the smaller end into the striker on your car’s door pillar; the specially designed tip holds the Handybar firmly in place while you stand up. The ergonomically designed grip is easy on your hand and wrist.
Pain Relief Through Far Infrared Heat Therapy
Heating pads are the oldest form of pain relief and the most effective. Everyone from arthritis sufferers to athletes relies on heating pads to soothe muscle and/or joint pain. While traditional electric heating pads and microwave heating pads are still quite popular, the most effective way to get deep, penetrating heat to your muscles and joints is by using far infrared heat therapy.
Infrared is a band of light that we perceive as heat. Divided into three segments (near, middle, and far), infrared heat makes up the majority of the sun’s energy output. Through a process called “conversion”, far infrared has the ability to heat objects such as human tissue without heating the air in between. This effect can be felt on a partly cloudy day; when a cloud obscures the sun, you immediately feel cooler even though the air temperature has not had enough time to change. The cloud blocked the far infrared rays from penetrating your body.
Far infrared heat therapy has taken the traditional heating pad and made it even more effective as a way to combat pain through heat. The Thermotex Infrared Heating Pad combines far infrared heating elements with a soft, machine washable, nylon and cotton cover that features convenient velcro straps to help hold it in place. Unlike standard heating pads that are limited in their heating ability without causing discomfort, the Thermotex Infrared Heating Pad can penetrate your body up to three inches while keeping the pad’s surface temperature at less than 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Besides being great for arthritis and hip pain, the Thermotex Infrared Heating Pad is ideal for fibromyalgia, back pain, and tendonitis.
The most effective and most relaxing form of far infrared heat therapy is a far infrared sauna. Unlike conventional saunas that can reach temperatures in excess of 220 degrees Fahrenheit, far infrared saunas stay below 150 degrees and stay ventilated with fresh air as opposed to stale, humid air. This allows for longer, more effective treatments and additional amenities such as a CD player and reading light (both included). Far infrared saunas use a fraction of the electricity that a standard sauna. They are also much easier to assemble and heat up faster. The penetrating far infrared heat of this sauna not only eases hip pain, but it also increases circulation and removes toxins from your skin.
Relief of Hip Pain Does Not Have to Come From Pills
The recent study conducted at the Erasmus Medical Center further proves that taking pain relievers and supplements is not the only way to deal with arthritis of the hip. By making simple adjustments to your lifestyle, which can benefit you in other ways, you can reduce the strain on your hip joints and enjoy a pleasant, independent, and less painful lifestyle.
Weight Loss: Why Hypnosis Really Does Help
by: Simon de Lides
If you are one of the many millions of people who struggle to maintain the proper weight, you are probably aware of the generally accepted groundrules of weight management.
The rules say that you need just two things to keep to the correct weight: proper diet and exercise. These two factors are expounded in books and programs worldwide that are the center of a billion-dollar business.
Unfortunately, that business is failing, at least in having an effect, if not in making money for its principals. The proportion of the population who are overweight, and in fact obese, is growing at an alarming rate.
And it's not just the United States, by the way. Obesity worldwide is such a concern that the World Health Organization has coined a new word "Globesity" to describe what they see as a global problem.
For many of us, "proper diet and exercise" is not a simple or an easy answer - instead, it represents a total and challenging lifestyle change. Resistance to the required change in personal eating and exercise habits and practices is what dooms many individual attempts to lose weight.
In other words, proper diet and exercise are only half of what is required to maintain a healthy weight - the physical half. It's the other half: the mental and emotional challenges, resistance to change, and difficulty in breaking habits and routines, which keep us overweight.
And, seeing that "proper diet and exercise" is fairly simple in concept, and it's the emotional and habit issues that are the sticking point, it's therefore those latter issues that we should be focussing on. This is where hypnosis can help.
Let me comment, by the way, that all this is the reason why programs like Jenny Craig, Weightwatchers, and even Overeaters Anonymous are so effective. Using meetings and counselors to allow you to interact with others, they address your emotional needs as much as the physical aspects of diet. However, the use of hypnosis can be a lot cheaper, faster, and easier.
For example, most of us have become accustomed (conditioned) to eating particular types and amounts of food on a particular schedule. It's not easy to eat less, or differently. Our tummies are used to feeling full, our brains are conditioned to eat at particular times, and we are used to particular foods, often those which are "not good" for us.
Exercise is also not that easy to insert into one's daily routine. It seems straightforward but humans are strongly resistant to it. Plus, in today's society, who has the time?
This is where hypnotic techniques can help. Hypnotherapy is about habit reconditioning and behavior modification. A course of hypnotherapy can help you modify your existing behaviors and habit patterns (in other words, the mental and emotional challenges) so that you more easily adjust to the new lifestyle required to achieve the two physical cornerstones of weight management - diet and exercise.
But, hypnosis or not, you still have to embrace the diet and exercise part. Hypnosis helps you do this.
Now, here is the good news - a good hypnotherapy program can greatly influence good weight management behavior and make a substantial difference in the adjustments required to a new diet and exercise regime.
First, hypnosis can teach you relaxation. Many of the triggers that cause people to overeat are caused by stress-related factors. The kind of relaxation learned during hypnosis techniques can greatly reduce stress, making the adjustment to new habits much easier.
Next, a good hypnotherapist will work with you to identify triggers. These are that are sabotaging good diet and exercise habits.
You may be one of those people who find yourself standing looking inside the fridge, just looking for something to eat. Your hypnotherapist will help you change those behaviors so that you only snack at fixed times, and then you only eat something good for you, such as a protein snack to prevent hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar.
We describe certain foods as comfort foods - food which is tasty to eat and filling, and generally bad for you. For some people, their entire diet is comfort food. Maybe their parents fed them comfort food at a young age when they were upset.
Whatever the reason, those bad eating habits are now engrained. Your hypnotherapist can give you suggestions to change your automatic responses when you have an upset or a "stress moment".
In fact, hypnosis can help alleviate the pangs or cravings that we tend to feel even when we are not hungry, and do not need nourishment. Often we eat because we are just used to eating at a certain time, or because our tummies are used to feeling full.
The problem with this is that over the years, we need to eat more and more to maintain that "full" feeling. Hypnosis can reverse this behavior to allow you to let go of the hunger pangs at all the wrong times.
Your hypnotherapist can also help you to change your mental patterns so that you feel better about yourself. Self-image is a big issue when it comes to weight and dieting issues.
Dieting is not difficult, as it happens. There is a huge variety of different options, including for those who want bigger portions, those who like particular foods, and so forth. It's making the adjustment to stick to a plan that makes the difference, and that's the key to success.
So, what's the game plan? First, when entering into any form of diet, exercise, or other lifestyle change, it's always a good idea to visit your doctor and get his advice on what to do and the limits. For example, if you have not exercised forever and you are 50 pounds overweight, it's not a good idea to suddenly try running 3 miles a day. You need to start slowly. So, get a diet and exercise plan from your doctor.
Next, understand that you have to take it slowly. Weight loss of 1-2 pounds a week is a standard goal, and this requires both diet and exercise. You can probably lose more in the short term by taking more extreme measures like starvation dieting. However, this will not last.
Second, understand that even with hypnosis, you are going to have to exert a little bit of will power. Hypnosis will help you greatly by making you aware of the urges and reframing your automatic responses. However, at some point you are going to have to just say "no". It's at this point that a hypnotic refresher, such as an MP3 recording, will be very effective.
There are many "Hypnosis weight loss" programs and CDs available. The best kind of program, however, is one which offers personalized individual sessions, backed up by recordings to be listened to between the sessions. Hypno To Go provides such a program, for example. Individual hypnotherapy sessions, which can be performed over the phone, are directed towards your specific weight loss issues, and can also be tailored to support the specific diet and exercise program that you have chosen or that your doctor has recommended.
Finally, know that you are not alone. Millions of people are overweight and even obese as we stated above. However, this does not mean that you can not make a difference for yourself.
Take the right steps, take them slowly, and commit to the long term, and a return to a lower weight will surely be in your future. I wish you the very best of success with your weight loss endeavors.
For more information, please see http://www.hypguy.com/weightloss.
If you are one of the many millions of people who struggle to maintain the proper weight, you are probably aware of the generally accepted groundrules of weight management.
The rules say that you need just two things to keep to the correct weight: proper diet and exercise. These two factors are expounded in books and programs worldwide that are the center of a billion-dollar business.
Unfortunately, that business is failing, at least in having an effect, if not in making money for its principals. The proportion of the population who are overweight, and in fact obese, is growing at an alarming rate.
And it's not just the United States, by the way. Obesity worldwide is such a concern that the World Health Organization has coined a new word "Globesity" to describe what they see as a global problem.
For many of us, "proper diet and exercise" is not a simple or an easy answer - instead, it represents a total and challenging lifestyle change. Resistance to the required change in personal eating and exercise habits and practices is what dooms many individual attempts to lose weight.
In other words, proper diet and exercise are only half of what is required to maintain a healthy weight - the physical half. It's the other half: the mental and emotional challenges, resistance to change, and difficulty in breaking habits and routines, which keep us overweight.
And, seeing that "proper diet and exercise" is fairly simple in concept, and it's the emotional and habit issues that are the sticking point, it's therefore those latter issues that we should be focussing on. This is where hypnosis can help.
Let me comment, by the way, that all this is the reason why programs like Jenny Craig, Weightwatchers, and even Overeaters Anonymous are so effective. Using meetings and counselors to allow you to interact with others, they address your emotional needs as much as the physical aspects of diet. However, the use of hypnosis can be a lot cheaper, faster, and easier.
For example, most of us have become accustomed (conditioned) to eating particular types and amounts of food on a particular schedule. It's not easy to eat less, or differently. Our tummies are used to feeling full, our brains are conditioned to eat at particular times, and we are used to particular foods, often those which are "not good" for us.
Exercise is also not that easy to insert into one's daily routine. It seems straightforward but humans are strongly resistant to it. Plus, in today's society, who has the time?
This is where hypnotic techniques can help. Hypnotherapy is about habit reconditioning and behavior modification. A course of hypnotherapy can help you modify your existing behaviors and habit patterns (in other words, the mental and emotional challenges) so that you more easily adjust to the new lifestyle required to achieve the two physical cornerstones of weight management - diet and exercise.
But, hypnosis or not, you still have to embrace the diet and exercise part. Hypnosis helps you do this.
Now, here is the good news - a good hypnotherapy program can greatly influence good weight management behavior and make a substantial difference in the adjustments required to a new diet and exercise regime.
First, hypnosis can teach you relaxation. Many of the triggers that cause people to overeat are caused by stress-related factors. The kind of relaxation learned during hypnosis techniques can greatly reduce stress, making the adjustment to new habits much easier.
Next, a good hypnotherapist will work with you to identify triggers. These are that are sabotaging good diet and exercise habits.
You may be one of those people who find yourself standing looking inside the fridge, just looking for something to eat. Your hypnotherapist will help you change those behaviors so that you only snack at fixed times, and then you only eat something good for you, such as a protein snack to prevent hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar.
We describe certain foods as comfort foods - food which is tasty to eat and filling, and generally bad for you. For some people, their entire diet is comfort food. Maybe their parents fed them comfort food at a young age when they were upset.
Whatever the reason, those bad eating habits are now engrained. Your hypnotherapist can give you suggestions to change your automatic responses when you have an upset or a "stress moment".
In fact, hypnosis can help alleviate the pangs or cravings that we tend to feel even when we are not hungry, and do not need nourishment. Often we eat because we are just used to eating at a certain time, or because our tummies are used to feeling full.
The problem with this is that over the years, we need to eat more and more to maintain that "full" feeling. Hypnosis can reverse this behavior to allow you to let go of the hunger pangs at all the wrong times.
Your hypnotherapist can also help you to change your mental patterns so that you feel better about yourself. Self-image is a big issue when it comes to weight and dieting issues.
Dieting is not difficult, as it happens. There is a huge variety of different options, including for those who want bigger portions, those who like particular foods, and so forth. It's making the adjustment to stick to a plan that makes the difference, and that's the key to success.
So, what's the game plan? First, when entering into any form of diet, exercise, or other lifestyle change, it's always a good idea to visit your doctor and get his advice on what to do and the limits. For example, if you have not exercised forever and you are 50 pounds overweight, it's not a good idea to suddenly try running 3 miles a day. You need to start slowly. So, get a diet and exercise plan from your doctor.
Next, understand that you have to take it slowly. Weight loss of 1-2 pounds a week is a standard goal, and this requires both diet and exercise. You can probably lose more in the short term by taking more extreme measures like starvation dieting. However, this will not last.
Second, understand that even with hypnosis, you are going to have to exert a little bit of will power. Hypnosis will help you greatly by making you aware of the urges and reframing your automatic responses. However, at some point you are going to have to just say "no". It's at this point that a hypnotic refresher, such as an MP3 recording, will be very effective.
There are many "Hypnosis weight loss" programs and CDs available. The best kind of program, however, is one which offers personalized individual sessions, backed up by recordings to be listened to between the sessions. Hypno To Go provides such a program, for example. Individual hypnotherapy sessions, which can be performed over the phone, are directed towards your specific weight loss issues, and can also be tailored to support the specific diet and exercise program that you have chosen or that your doctor has recommended.
Finally, know that you are not alone. Millions of people are overweight and even obese as we stated above. However, this does not mean that you can not make a difference for yourself.
Take the right steps, take them slowly, and commit to the long term, and a return to a lower weight will surely be in your future. I wish you the very best of success with your weight loss endeavors.
For more information, please see http://www.hypguy.com/weightloss.
How Basic Hygiene, Cosmetics, Dark Skin, and Diet Effect Acne
by: Stephen M. Seabrook
Acne and Basic Hygiene:
Dirt does not cause acne. That is one of the very basic concepts that most acne sufferers need to accept and understand. Keeping your face clean will greatly help to make acne outbreaks occur less frequently and with less severity. The fact that your face gets dirty is not the cause of acne.
Facial cleansing is particularly important for those who are generally prone to acne, like teenagers. The facial cleansing for the prevention of acne outbreaks and while an outbreak is occurring needs to be a specific and recurring 7 step process as defined below.
1. Wash your hands first. Is that surprising? It shouldn't be. Your hands are about to come in contact with your face. The first thing you need to do is scrub your hands and be sure that your nails are clean as well.
2. The next thing that you need to do is to secure your hair either in a hairnet, a shower cap or a headband. Pull your hair away from your face and firmly secure it.
3. Wet your face with warm (not hot) water and apply the soap or facial cleansing product as directed on the packaging. Never use more or less of the product than is recommended.
4. Using only your fingertips (NOT a washcloth), gently massage the cleanser into your face. Use a circular motion and be sure that you go all the way to the hairline. Pay particular attention to the areas of your face where you most often see pimples. Hard scrubbing is counterproductive. Be very gentle.
5. Rinse your face thoroughly by splashing it with warm water. Don't take a shortcut here. Rinse your face until all traces of the cleanser are gone.
6. Gently pat your face dry with a clean towel. Don't rub your face and never use the same towel more than once.
7. Allow your face to air dry for at least 15 minutes before you apply acne medications or moisturizers.
Acne and Cosmetics:
Acne! The very word strikes fear and thoughts of never having a steady boy friend into every teenage girl across America and the world! Is there a teenage girl who has NOT been affected by acne.....No!
It doesn't matter much that it affects anywhere from 95 of girls, when it happens to any one of them, you would think that they were the only girl who had ever had a zit.
Teenage boys hate acne just as much as teenage girls hate it. Boys just suffer through it but girls turn to cosmetics to try to hide it.
There is nothing wrong with a teenage girl or a young woman trying to make an acne outbreak appear less noticeable. It is a perfectly natural thing to do.
Girls use cosmetics to enhance their appearances...make their lips redder or fuller, to give their cheeks a healthy glow, and make their eyelashes appear beautiful, so covering up an acne blemish is the next logical step.
The cosmetic industry knows that covering blemishes ranks right up there with rosy cheeks so they have developed products like a concealer that is designed specifically for covering up blemishes.
Concealer's come in many forms. Some of them are in tubes like lipstick while some of them are in bottles like other liquid make up base products. Still others are in cake form like pressed face powder.
The one thing that all teenage girls and young women do need to remember when they use these products is that they need to be thoroughly cleaned off their face before going to bed. If left on the face, these products will contribute to clogging pores and intensify the acne outbreak.
The bottom line here is that using concealer products is just fine. If it makes you feel better about yourself, then go for it but before you go to bed, use your facial wash. Clean your face completely, pat it dry with a clean towel and apply your acne fighting medications.
Acne and Dark Skin:
People of African, Latino or Indian decent have skin pigmentation that is darker than those who are of European decent. The treatment of any skin disease is often based on the color of the skin.
Some cosmetic procedures, for example, cannot be used on skin with dark pigmentation because it will leave light spots.
In actuality, acne is an equal opportunity disease. The color of one's skin has no bearing whatsoever on whether a person will have acne. Treating acne is based upon the type of acne it is and what the most effective treatment options are for the particular type of acne that is present in each patient.
Many acne medications make the skin sensitive to excessive sun exposure. This has nothing to do with the color of the skin. The sensitivity is simply a side effect of the medications.
People with darker skin complexions are not usually as prone to sunburn as those with lighter complexions but these medications make dark skin as susceptible to sun damage as their lighter skin friends.
A sun blocking product with an SPF factor of at least 25 is recommended when there will be prolonged sunlight exposure.
There is one type of acne that often afflicts only those who are of African heritage. This type of acne is called Pomade Acne.
Pomade acne is caused by a hair care product that is designed to straighten very curly hair. The product has a very heavy oil base and should be kept off of the skin as much as is possible.
The pigmentation in very dark skin can get darker after an inflammation is cleared up. This is called 'post-inflammatory hyper pigmentation'....which means increased pigmentation following inflammation.
The spots will gradually return to their normal color over time but a dermatologist can prescribe medication which will hasten the process.
Acne and Diet:
The general medical consensus is that diet does not cause acne; but, there are those who disagree with this assessment and assert that diet has everything to do with acne.
For many years it was generally accepted everywhere by everyone that consumption of chocolate and junk food was what actually caused acne or had a positive effect on the severity of acne.
That theory has been proven to not be true by modern research; but, there are those who claim that the research is faulty and that acne is, in fact, if not caused by diet is at least exacerbated by diet.
Refined sugar is believed to be one of the major contributing factors of how severe a case of acne will become by those who adhere to the belief that food and acne are related.
These sources say that you should reduce your intake of refined sugars and substitute artificial sweeteners or natural sweeteners like honey for all refined sugar in your diet to help reduce the severity of acne out-breaks.
Another dietary culprit is believed to be nuts, or rather the oil that is found in nuts and especially peanuts. Those who have acne, says the proponents of the diet/acne connection should avoid peanuts in all forms including peanut butter.
Another recommendation is that milk should be used only in very small amounts and intake should be greatly restricted. Milk comes from cows, usually pregnant cows and contains large amounts of hormones that are believed to actually be one of the causes of acne.
The anti-acne diet that is recommended is high in salmon, halibut, tuna, sardines, fresh organically grown vegetables, and whole grains. The fish that are recommended are all very high in omega-3 which is known to promote healthy skin. This diet is a very healthy one and whether it actually prevents acne or not, it is a good one.
Sincerely,
Stephen M. Seabrook, MBA
President, Nice Specialty Gifts, L.L.C.
http://www.nicespecialtygifts4u.com
Acne and Basic Hygiene:
Dirt does not cause acne. That is one of the very basic concepts that most acne sufferers need to accept and understand. Keeping your face clean will greatly help to make acne outbreaks occur less frequently and with less severity. The fact that your face gets dirty is not the cause of acne.
Facial cleansing is particularly important for those who are generally prone to acne, like teenagers. The facial cleansing for the prevention of acne outbreaks and while an outbreak is occurring needs to be a specific and recurring 7 step process as defined below.
1. Wash your hands first. Is that surprising? It shouldn't be. Your hands are about to come in contact with your face. The first thing you need to do is scrub your hands and be sure that your nails are clean as well.
2. The next thing that you need to do is to secure your hair either in a hairnet, a shower cap or a headband. Pull your hair away from your face and firmly secure it.
3. Wet your face with warm (not hot) water and apply the soap or facial cleansing product as directed on the packaging. Never use more or less of the product than is recommended.
4. Using only your fingertips (NOT a washcloth), gently massage the cleanser into your face. Use a circular motion and be sure that you go all the way to the hairline. Pay particular attention to the areas of your face where you most often see pimples. Hard scrubbing is counterproductive. Be very gentle.
5. Rinse your face thoroughly by splashing it with warm water. Don't take a shortcut here. Rinse your face until all traces of the cleanser are gone.
6. Gently pat your face dry with a clean towel. Don't rub your face and never use the same towel more than once.
7. Allow your face to air dry for at least 15 minutes before you apply acne medications or moisturizers.
Acne and Cosmetics:
Acne! The very word strikes fear and thoughts of never having a steady boy friend into every teenage girl across America and the world! Is there a teenage girl who has NOT been affected by acne.....No!
It doesn't matter much that it affects anywhere from 95 of girls, when it happens to any one of them, you would think that they were the only girl who had ever had a zit.
Teenage boys hate acne just as much as teenage girls hate it. Boys just suffer through it but girls turn to cosmetics to try to hide it.
There is nothing wrong with a teenage girl or a young woman trying to make an acne outbreak appear less noticeable. It is a perfectly natural thing to do.
Girls use cosmetics to enhance their appearances...make their lips redder or fuller, to give their cheeks a healthy glow, and make their eyelashes appear beautiful, so covering up an acne blemish is the next logical step.
The cosmetic industry knows that covering blemishes ranks right up there with rosy cheeks so they have developed products like a concealer that is designed specifically for covering up blemishes.
Concealer's come in many forms. Some of them are in tubes like lipstick while some of them are in bottles like other liquid make up base products. Still others are in cake form like pressed face powder.
The one thing that all teenage girls and young women do need to remember when they use these products is that they need to be thoroughly cleaned off their face before going to bed. If left on the face, these products will contribute to clogging pores and intensify the acne outbreak.
The bottom line here is that using concealer products is just fine. If it makes you feel better about yourself, then go for it but before you go to bed, use your facial wash. Clean your face completely, pat it dry with a clean towel and apply your acne fighting medications.
Acne and Dark Skin:
People of African, Latino or Indian decent have skin pigmentation that is darker than those who are of European decent. The treatment of any skin disease is often based on the color of the skin.
Some cosmetic procedures, for example, cannot be used on skin with dark pigmentation because it will leave light spots.
In actuality, acne is an equal opportunity disease. The color of one's skin has no bearing whatsoever on whether a person will have acne. Treating acne is based upon the type of acne it is and what the most effective treatment options are for the particular type of acne that is present in each patient.
Many acne medications make the skin sensitive to excessive sun exposure. This has nothing to do with the color of the skin. The sensitivity is simply a side effect of the medications.
People with darker skin complexions are not usually as prone to sunburn as those with lighter complexions but these medications make dark skin as susceptible to sun damage as their lighter skin friends.
A sun blocking product with an SPF factor of at least 25 is recommended when there will be prolonged sunlight exposure.
There is one type of acne that often afflicts only those who are of African heritage. This type of acne is called Pomade Acne.
Pomade acne is caused by a hair care product that is designed to straighten very curly hair. The product has a very heavy oil base and should be kept off of the skin as much as is possible.
The pigmentation in very dark skin can get darker after an inflammation is cleared up. This is called 'post-inflammatory hyper pigmentation'....which means increased pigmentation following inflammation.
The spots will gradually return to their normal color over time but a dermatologist can prescribe medication which will hasten the process.
Acne and Diet:
The general medical consensus is that diet does not cause acne; but, there are those who disagree with this assessment and assert that diet has everything to do with acne.
For many years it was generally accepted everywhere by everyone that consumption of chocolate and junk food was what actually caused acne or had a positive effect on the severity of acne.
That theory has been proven to not be true by modern research; but, there are those who claim that the research is faulty and that acne is, in fact, if not caused by diet is at least exacerbated by diet.
Refined sugar is believed to be one of the major contributing factors of how severe a case of acne will become by those who adhere to the belief that food and acne are related.
These sources say that you should reduce your intake of refined sugars and substitute artificial sweeteners or natural sweeteners like honey for all refined sugar in your diet to help reduce the severity of acne out-breaks.
Another dietary culprit is believed to be nuts, or rather the oil that is found in nuts and especially peanuts. Those who have acne, says the proponents of the diet/acne connection should avoid peanuts in all forms including peanut butter.
Another recommendation is that milk should be used only in very small amounts and intake should be greatly restricted. Milk comes from cows, usually pregnant cows and contains large amounts of hormones that are believed to actually be one of the causes of acne.
The anti-acne diet that is recommended is high in salmon, halibut, tuna, sardines, fresh organically grown vegetables, and whole grains. The fish that are recommended are all very high in omega-3 which is known to promote healthy skin. This diet is a very healthy one and whether it actually prevents acne or not, it is a good one.
Sincerely,
Stephen M. Seabrook, MBA
President, Nice Specialty Gifts, L.L.C.
http://www.nicespecialtygifts4u.com
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