Weight Loss: Add Chocolate to Your Diet?
Copyright ? Donovan Baldwin
http://www.NoDiet4Me.com
Before you run out and stock up on chocolate bars, read the whole article please.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
There really ARE health benefits of chocolate, and it CAN be a part of a weight loss program.
There are a few things to know first.
First we talk about the boring stuff...free radicals, antioxidants, and flavonoids:
Free radicals:
These little rascals, I mean radicals, are unstable atoms or groups of atoms that occur in the body as a result of everyday atomic processes in reaction to such intrusive things as pollution, cigarette smoke, and sunlight.
They are a natural part of the process of being alive, but they can damage cells, and research seems to implicate them, at least to some extent, in the growth of cancer, cardiovascular disease, strokes, cataracts, and other problems related to age.
Antioxidants:
The free radicals are unstable because they have lost an electron, and they begin to steal electrons from other atoms and molecules within the body. This creates more free radicals and more damage, even to the DNA itself.
Antioxidants have an extra electron to spare and lend it to the free radicals, thereby stopping their destructive rampage. The antioxidants will also turn the free radical into a waste product, allowing it to be flushed (no pun intended) from the body.
There are many antioxidants, but some of the more common sources are vitamins C & E.
They are also available in many fruits and vegetables.
Flavonoids:
Android, asteroid? No relation.
Flavonoids are pretty common throughout nature, and they are anti- a lot of bad health things.
As you may have guessed, they are also antioxidants.
They are found in all kinds of stuff, such as red wine, tea, and beer...AND...Chocolate!
Oh yeah!
You can also eat the fruits and veggies mentioned above and get them, but chocolate's more fun, right?
NOW THE BAD NEWS ABOUT CHOCOLATE
Not all chocolate is created equal...at least in the finished product.
The more processing that is involved generally removes more of the flavonoids.
Therefore, dark chocolate probably contains the most flavonoids and provides the most antioxidant qualities.
Unfortunately, chocolate by itself doesn't taste too good, so to make it palatable, fats and sugars are added.
Those are the really bad things about chocolate, particularly if you are on a diet or in some other type of weight loss program
CHOCOLATE AND WEIGHT LOSS
As you can imagine, there is not a lot you can do about the ingredients added to chocolate.
These ingredients are, for the most part, exactly the sort of things you need to avoid in your diet or on your weight loss program.
However, regularly adding reasonable amounts of chocolate products to your diet can help you attain your weight loss goals in indirect ways.
Occasional chocolate treats are not of any great importance if you are doing everything else right.
One candy bar or chocolate chip cookie is not going to destroy a week's worth of adherence to your weight loss program.
In fact, knowing that you can allow yourself a treat or reward for "being good" can help you get over some of the tough parts.
This is particularly true if you have the sort of self control to keep portion sizes reasonable and spaced at sensible intervals.
You can also be proactive and head off the "carb cravings" that sometimes push you over the edge by drinking some low-carb chocolate milk for example.
You won't get as much of the benefits from the flavonoids, but satisfying yourself in advance with the taste and texture of the drink, or other snack, may help you retain control.
One of the major reasons diets and other weight loss programs fail is because people feel deprived.
It is better to commit the occasional small dietary sin than to give up completely.
Integrating chocolate and other foods you enjoy in controlled-portion servings can help you make your weight loss plan a success.
A diet plan which permits the use of chocolate may be found at http://diet.free-business-hosting.com..
A member of Mensa and military retiree, he provides articles and other website content to many websites.
His online business site may be found at http://www.donovanbaldwin.com.
Are You Building Your Own Cistern?
You're looking at one star in the middle of a dark sky...The star stands still while you fly up to it. As you get closer you see someone standing there holding an object. You can't see what it is so you move even closer. It's a cup that is almost vase shaped.You watch as the person pours some water into the top of it. -Before the person even finishes pouring the water is flowing out parts of the sides and the bottom!You watch the person get upset and go for more water to fill the cup.You're still watching but you slowly start to float back away from the star into space.
All of the sudden you stop and watch water float right by the star. It just continues to flow right on past this person that is still upset over the holes in the container...Do you realize that we humans are too good at fighting to do more to fix a problem -and yet sometimes we miss the flow of the best.God knew this and had it written for us in Jeremiah 2:13: For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken...
Are You Building Your Own Cistern?
Diets > Are You Building Your Own Cistern?
Is your child fat?
Well, according to the latest statistics concerning child health fitness (and my own observance of people where I live), there's a pretty good chance that he/she is.
I can't wait to hear from everyone who tells me that they are predisposed to be fat, or they have the "fat gene" (whatever that is), or they inherited fatness from their great great grandmother's 4th cousin.
Well, I call BS.
Is it possible that you have to work a little harder to lose some weight??.sure.
Will some of you have to go that extra mile to accomplish you goals???absolutely.
Is there ANY reason at all, no matter what shape you're in, to not get started on an exercise and fitness program??..HECK NO!
There is always time, there is always a way to get you and your family in the shape that you need to be in.
Parents, if your child is fat???..guess what, it's partially you're fault.
Yep, I said it.
Diets > Is your child fat?
You Won't Get Spooked by Marketing With These Small Business Marketing Tricks of Treats
(ContentDesk) October 23, 2005 -- If marketing your business has you spooked, discover how a Halloween strategy can pull in all the clients you want.If you live in the U.S., at the end of October you'll be preparing for a stream of young children to come to your door on Halloween. One by one or in groups of friends, they'll ring the bell and shout, "Trick or Treat".To avoid having them actually play a trick on us, you bribe these youngsters with a selection of mini candy bars. You could offer them healthy treats like apples or small boxes of raisins or you could try something novel like telling them a favorite joke, but most young children are on a mission. They want to fill their plastic pumpkins and pillowcases with candy as quickly as possible.You may not be a fan of sugar-based diets, but if you enjoy seeing all those undersized fairy godmothers and ghosts and goblins on Halloween, you'll indulge them and dole out one candy bar after another.
Your costumed customers know...
Diets > You Won't Get Spooked by Marketing With These Small Business Marketing Tricks of Treats
Popular Diets Carry Hidden Dangers, Warns Joel Fuhrman M.D.
Flemington, New Jersey (ContentDesk)
October 16, 2003 ? Joel Fuhrman, M.D. tells the truth about today's best-selling diets, no matter how strong or unpopular his message.
As the weight loss and nutritional expert on The Discovery Channel's Second Opinion with Dr. Oz, Dr. Fuhrman joins Mehmet Oz M.D.
and Oprah to discuss the obesity epidemic, which has been caused in large part by dangerous dieting.Popular diets such as the Atkins diet, the Zone, and the South Beach Diet result in short-term weight loss, emphasizes Dr. Fuhrman, and "the critical question is whether these diets are safe."
He cites the medical journal Angiology, where a study of people on the Atkins diet for one year experienced a decreased blood flow to their heart by 40 percent and increased inflammatory markers.
Ketogenic diets?like the Atkins plan?can also cause cardiomyopathy or dilation of the heart.
Scientific research shows a six-fold increase in certain cancers...
Diets > Popular Diets Carry Hidden Dangers, Warns Joel Fuhrman M.D.
"Lighten Your Load"A New Year?s Resolution
Its 2006!
Another year, another reason to party and yes?.another set of resolutions to tackle.
Most of us start the new year ready to take on new goals. We start with a strong push toward meeting these new goals. However, sometimes as early as the second week of the year, the resolutions lose their energy and eventually die by the middle of February, if not sooner.
It doesn't end there. We sometimes further recycle those same resolutions the next year.
We wonder why we fail at something that we have so desperately wanted to accomplish?
The answer is simple?we fail because we have not planned to succeed.
Success takes planning. Ask anyone who has ever reached a major career or personal goal.
Achieving a weight loss goal will happen if you follow the steps outlined below.
Define your end result: This is the first step to losing weight. Define clearly the end result that you want. Is it to be able to slip into a favorite dress or...
Diets > "Lighten Your Load"A New Year?s Resolution
Diverticulosis, Diverticulitis and Diet
Pouches that push outward through vulnerable areas in the colon are called diverticula. Diverticulosis is the condition of having diverticula. Diverticulitis occurs when the pouches (diverticula) become infected or inflamed. Diverticulosis and diverticulitis are also called diverticular disease.
CAUSES OF DIVERTICULAR DISEASE:
Our highly refined western diet, with inadequate amounts of fiber, especially soluble fiber, is the primary cause of Diverticular disease, a type of digestive disease. The disease was first noticed around the time that processed foods were introduced into the western diet.
Because processed foods contain refined, low-fiber flour, there is not enough fiber to prevent constipation.
Chronic constipation forces the muscles to strain in order to move hard stools. This increased pressure in the colon causes weak spots that force the colon to bulge out and become diverticula.
Diverticular...
Diets > Diverticulosis, Diverticulitis and Diet
What would you do for a Klondike Bar?
Unfortunately, the words "diet" and "cheating" go hand in hand. When you say, "I'm on a DIET", it usually means you are depriving yourself of something. Diets do not work; they are restrictive and can become exceedingly frustrating, leading you to "cheat". The more you restrict calories and the tempting treats you love, the more likely you are to binge eat. This is counterproductive in a fat loss program and will prevent you from becoming lean.I'm sure you know the scenario; you embark on a weight loss plan (a.k.a.
A Very Low Calorie Diet) fully confident and filled with motivation and willpower. You go out to eat and turn down the dessert you desperately want and then have to sit at the table and watch EVERYONE else gobble down their brownie ala- mode or a slice of Death by Chocolate cake. As the days of deprivation go on you suddenly find yourself thinking about food more and more. You dream about the pint of ice cream that's calling your name. You begin to bargain with yourself,...
What would you do for a Klondike Bar?
Diets > What would you do for a Klondike Bar?