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Losing weight doesn’t have to be boring when you focus on bright, colourful meals. What does this mean? Simply by making sure your plate reflects a range of colours, you’ll naturally create more balanced and healthful menus. Not everyone has the time or the patience to count calories, but assessing the colours on your plate is something anyone can do - and it only takes an instant!

Why is colour important? Many fatty and caloric foods, such as dairy products and startchy carbs, are beige or brown. When there are too many of these drab colours on your plate, weight gain is almost certain.

That’s because these beige foods often are high in calories and can leave you feeling hungry later. A cup of beige or brown beans can be over 200 calories….but a cup of red or green vegetables is under a hundred! Add fresh greens, deep purple-reds and bright yellow-orange to a meal, and water the nutrient content go up, while calories go down! Plus, you’ll get more enjoyment from eating when there’s a variety of colours and flavors on your plate.

Although these ideas may sound whimsical, they’re grounded in scientific fact. Dr David Heber, renowned nutritional expert from University of California, Los Angeles established the role of colour in his book, “What Color is Your Diet?” So, next time you visit the refrigerator, think colorfully. And remember to mix, not match!

To get you started on the color plate, here is a deliciously interesting salad: Avocado, Walnut & Crispy Bacon.

Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 8 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
7oz/200 g rindless bacon, chopped
½ cup walnut haves, roughly chopped
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup fresh lime juice
sale and ground black pepper
6oz/150g baby spinach, trimmed and washed
3 ripe Roma (egg) tomatoes, diced
1 large ripe avocado, halved, peeled, seed removed and sliced
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced

Directions:
1. Heat a non-tick frying pay over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon and set aside to cool.

2. Add walnuts to pan and cook over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate and set aside.

3. Add oil and lime juice to pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir to combine.

4. Combine spinach, tomatoes, avocado, onion, bacon and walnuts in a large serving bowl. Pour warm lime dressing over salad and toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

Kim Beardsmore is a weight loss consultant whose business operates across 60 countries. Tons of recipes, articles, resources, free newsletter and more to help you lose weight and keep it off forever. Estimate your healthy body weight or register for a free weight loss consultation at http://www.weight-loss-health.com.au

These are the days of increased disposable incomes, sedentary lifestyles, and large servings. The result is that almost everybody is fighting the battle of the bulge. And often it seems that it’s a losing battle. Obesity is the scourge of millions: it leads to all kinds of medical and psychological complications and it assumes even more alarming proportions when it occurs with diabetes. As the case is, diabetics have to live with the risk of organ damage, and they obviously wouldn’t want obesity to act as the catalyst. So it is imperative that obese diabetics combat their weight problems.

For years, obese diabetics were recommended a low-calorie, low-fat diet, which actually proved to be detrimental to their health. In fact, the best way to tackle obesity is to strike it at its root, and the root is not fat but carbohydrates. Dietary fat is not readily transformed into body fat, so severely limiting it will not solve the problem. Restricting the intake of carbohydrates is the only way out; firstly, because it keeps tabs on blood-sugar levels and secondly, because it keeps obesity at bay.

In a low-carb diet, sugar in its raw form and especially aerated drinks, confectioneries, and white flour should be taken only in minute amounts. These hit the bloodstream instantly and raise the blood-glucose levels. Furthermore, these are instantaneously converted to fat cells. On the other hand, there’s a group of carbohydrates, termed complex carbohydrates, which are not so harmful. They are comprised of food items like bread, pasta, cereal, etc. The body takes a longer time to break them down; as such it takes that much longer to convert them into fat cells.

Lessening the amount of carbohydrates consumed also leads to weight reduction in another way: when one is deprived of carbohydrates, and thus deprived of one source of energy, the body resorts to burning the fat cells when the need for energy arises. Fat cells burned in this manner lead to considerable weight reduction. You will have the lion’s share of fats from vegetable oils, avocados, fish liver oil, sunflower oil, etc., but never butter and margarine, and proteins from nuts, cheese, poultry, legumes, etc.

Thus, one’s weight-loss regime doesn’t mean bypassing fat altogether, unlike other diets. It is as simple as eating heartily with few carbohydrates and considerably larger portions of fats and proteins, so that you remain full and don’t feel the urge to gorge on sugary foods afterwards.

Diabetic Diets provides detailed information about diabetic diets, diabetic diet tips, diabetic weight loss diets, 1200 calorie diabetic diets and more. Diabetic Diets is the sister site of Turkey Recipes.

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America is getting older and more and more families have to find a way to give care to elders. This can be done by finding help at home or trying to find a good nursing home. Any way you look at it, Americans are having to come to grips with this issue. With this fact in mind, we will consider how to find help and resources to address these needs.

Firstly, you must decide if you are going to give care for elders in your home. If so, you can ask your family physician to help make this decision. If your doctor agrees your elder needs home health care, you might be able to choose to get an in-home aide from certified home health agencies that serve your geographic area. To do so, be aware of the conditions and limitations of your coverage under the insurance policy you have.

These agencies are set up to give you the care and services that you need. Although you are allowed to choose which agency you use, your choices may be limited by the availability of the agency, or because. managed care Medicare plans may require that you get services from agencies that they regularly have a contract with. If your elder is returning home following a hospitalization, the discharge plan should also clearly identify which of the agencies are those where the hospital has a financial interest.

Personal home care aides come via these agencies to give you in-home services like housekeeping and routine personal care. They will clean houses, wash laundry, and change bed sheets. They also plan meals, grocery shop, and cook. They also may help the clients get out of bed, bathe, dress, and groom themselves. Some aides accompany clients to doctors’ appointments or on other errands.

For people who cannot care for elders at home, an appropriate alternative such as assisted living must be found. Apartment suites exist for the elderly and provide on site medical care or assistance. The seniors live independently and are able to have a measure of autonomy while still being able to engage in directed activities. The elder can either cook or eat in restaurant-like communal areas. There are also daily checks to make sure the senior has no emergency needs.

The last care of elders option is the skilled nursing facility. These are set up specifically to provide managed help for seniors who are unable to care for themselves or who are unable to walk independently. In these situations the family is not able to physically meet the senior’s needs. Skilled nursing facilities offer comprehensive medical care and rehabilitation services.. As with the assisted living location, be sure to tour the facility and check to make sure that the level of care is to your standards.

With these things in mind, you can further investigate which elder care option is the best for your needs.

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Move over low carbohydrate, here comes the next craze — the glycemic index. As attention to the Atkins and South Beach diets wanes, watch out for the next wave of diet books featuring the glycemic index. Indeed, just googling the term shows a variety of books already exist that promise health benefits, including type 2 diabetes control and the ever elusive weight loss miracle.

Just how does the glycemic index work? Should we add another diet book to our already burgeoning libraries?

The Glycemic Index Promise for Diabetes & Weight Loss

The glycemic index is simply a measure of the effect a carbohydrate-containing food has on blood sugar levels. The theory - emphasis on theory; this isn’t proven — is that foods with a higher glycemic index cause blood sugar levels to rise more than foods with a lower index, thereby increasing insulin secretion, which then causes blood sugar levels to drop. Theoretically, that leads to false hunger, causing us to eat more than our body really needs. Hence, struggles with weight and, for people with diabetes, blood sugar control.

A number of studies have looked at various aspects of this promise. For people with diabetes, several studies do suggest that paying attention to the glycemic impact of foods may have a positive effect on A1C levels (a measure of blood sugar control). Studies of the effect of the glycemic index on weight gain are inconsistent; some show a potential effect; others don’t. A recent study of 32 healthy ‘overweight’ adults with normal glucose tolerance, however, showed that those who had high levels of insulin secretion and ate a low glycemic load diet lost the most weight.

The Problems with Using the Glycemic Index for Weight Loss &/or Diabetes Control

The glycemic index, however, has a number of practical problems. For one, it fails to truly categorize foods according to their impact on glycemic effect because it doesn’t consider the amount of a food that we tend to eat at one time. A good example of this is a carrot versus a Snickers bar.

In the low carbohydrate diet craze, carrots gained a bad reputation due to their glycemic index. They rank 92 on the scale, which runs from 0 to 100. By comparison, a Snickers bar has a glycemic index of only 68. So does that mean Snickers are better choices than carrots for type 2 diabetes and weight loss? No. Because the amount of carbohydrate eaten at any one time is an important factor. If you take into account how much carbohydrate you eat in each carrot vs. each Snickers bar - which is the basis for a calculation called glycemic load - carrots rank as 7 and Snickers as 23. To get as much carbohydrate from carrots as one Snickers bar, we’d have to eat about 8 carrots in one sitting.

The concept of glycemic load, then, appears to better to assess the effect of individual foods on blood sugar levels. Still, experts agree that this concept has more utility for research on how populations of people eat, not for individual diet planning. One reason is because glycemic load is based on measures of the glycemic index, and the measures themselves are highly variable according to, among other things, individual response, where a food is grown, how ripe it is, its physical form (whether it’s whole or ground, for example) and how it is prepared.

For example, rice from Italy has a glycemic index of 102; in Canada, it’s 72. Tables of glycemic index often reflect an average glycemic index, which can be useful for studies of what an entire population eats. When it gets down to individuals, obviously the variations can make a big difference. To further complicate things, fat and protein also affect the glycemic response, resulting in a lower glycemic effect when a food is eaten in combination with other foods rather than by itself.

What to Do

Clearly, trying to determine the effect of a food on blood sugar outside of a laboratory is fraught with complications that would make eating a low glycemic diet an exercise in frustration. That is, if you keep looking at single foods. But if you look at the total diet, there are some words of wisdom to make smart eating a reality.

Choose among a wide variety of whole foods, including whole grains, beans, vegetables, fruits, lowfat dairy products and protein foods. Most likely, you’ll automatically be eating a lower glycemic diet as a result. Refined foods - those with fiber removed such as white bread and fruit juices - tend to have a higher glycemic load. What’s more, they’re lower in all the vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and other substances that make for healthy eating.

If you do want to eat a food with a higher glycemic index, eat it in combination with a protein food. For example, saltines with peanut butter for a snack.

If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes or high insulin levels, work with your dietitian to determine if some foods have a higher glycemic effect for you. This may involve checking your blood sugar levels after test meals.

So save your money - skip the latest book promising easy solutions for type 2 diabetes and weight loss by using the glycemic index. First, it isn’t easy; second, it’s not necessarily accurate. Try spending your money instead on something that really helps you feel better - like a massage, facial, manicure, pedicure, personal training session, and the like.

Marsha J. Hudnall, MS, RD, CD is director of health communications and senior nutritionist at Green Mountain at Fox Run. For over 34 years, Green Mountain at Fox Run has been a women’s weight loss retreat and spa. Green Mountain’s unique weight loss program has offered women lifelong solutions for weight management through lifestyle and behavioral change. Learn more about our Mastering Type 2 Diabetes and Prediabetes, offered in concert with the Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School.

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Great weight loss techniques are completely worthless.

That’s a true statement 99.7% of the time.

Great weight loss techniques are a scam on oneself.

That’s also a true statement 99.7% of the time.

Great weight loss techniques NEVER make you thin, lean, healthy, or sexy!

Also a true statement 99.7% of the time.

Great weight loss techniques waste your time, and get you really frustrated..

Again, a true statement 99.7% of the time.

Great weight loss techniques almost ruined my life and my business.

I stopped it - As soon as I saw this horrifying trend in the industry years ago, I stopped testing our new technique after new technique on my clients.

You might think that makes me sound like a quitter - but let me explain how this simple ’step back’ allowed my clients to all take 10 steps forward towards their goals.

I define Information Overload as: A condition whereby weight loss techniques come to you in such abundance that you have trouble keeping up with all of them.

When you turn on the television you see them, when you listen to the radio you hear about them, when you enter a store you see signs for them, and they’re all “new”, and they all proclaim to have finally found a revolutionary combination of exercises, or diets, or nutrients, or some other new gadget that promises you the body of a model or of a bodybuilder if you just buy one bottle of pills or one new system, etc, etc, etc…

For 15 years, my staff and I tested all the new products we came across, trying to determine what worked and what didn’t.

When we found a technique that worked, we tested it and tested it and tested it again to make sure that it worked every time it was used by someone.

But there was one common denominator - everything that worked, everything that was actually getting people great results, was already known to man.

Not many of the “new” techniques were actually working.

Every few days. Another technique came across my desk that was supposed to make people thin and healthy. It was amazing.

People trying to lose weight were caught up on Information Overload. They were literally paralyzed because they had too much information. they literally had no idea how or where to get started, and when they did start, they changed direction every time they came across another ‘miracle weight loss technique’.

It’s a vicious cycle that continues today.

Does any of this sound familiar?

To many, you know this scenario all to well. All to well.

Having loads of information, at first, is thought to be a good thing by most. Years later, when you’ve done nothing you realize this fact…

Information Overload is an enemy. One that if not controlled will hold hostage your goals and dreams.

There’s only one way out.

Decide on 1 tried and true weight loss program that ‘does it’ for you.

And open fire on the enemy with your only weapon.

Take Action.

Massive action.

It’s the step that changed my life and the lives of my clients around the world.

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Some of you are asking, “Where did Charles find the information to help him finally take control this life-destroying monster and reach his goals”.

Scroll down. It’s in the PS of this email.

P.S. Charles put all other program aside, he stopped listening to everyone in the gym who willingly wanted to share their ’secrets’ with him, and he quickly changed the channels on the radio and television every time another unsubstantiated weight loss program was being advertised that would just add to his Information Overload. Then he picked up a copy of the Living Health Weight Loss Audio and listened over and over again to 3 deceptively simple techniques that helped him clear his mind of all the garbage, and start getting real, healthy, fast results.

It’s the ONLY program like it on the market. Fact. Learn More Now

For a ton of f.ree, valuable tips, tricks, and secrets visit: http://www.MaximizeYourMetabolism.com

2002-2005 Wisdom Books, LLC & Christopher Guerriero WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: Christopher Guerriero, is the founder of the National Metabolic & Longevity Research Center and a best-selling author, speaker, and coach to millions. He is creator of the award-winning ‘Maximize Your Metabolism’ system. To learn more about this step-by-step program, and to sign up for FR*EE how-to articles and F.REE teleseminars, visit http://www.MaximizeYourMetabolism.com

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A friend of mine who recently lost nearly 150 pounds after gastric bypass was sharing her excitement with an acquaintance. She was excited because all symptoms of her Type II Diabetes were gone and she no longer takes any medication - she feels healthier than ever in her life.

Then the acquaintance, a life-long skinny-minny, burst her bubble, “But doesn’t having that turkey neck bother you? You know, all that wrinkly skin just hanging there?”

What a cruel world. My friend was crushed. It is true, she has a turkey neck. Most people who lose massive weight will have a saggy wrinkly neck so kindly referred to in the cosmetic surgery profession as “turkey waddle”. A saggy neck is a small price to pay for better health and wellness. Even so, we want to look our best after weight loss surgery and having someone draw attention to this residue of our obesity is disheartening.

There are some surgical options to tighten then neck skin: A neck lift is actually a set of procedures used to enhance the appearance of your neck:

Cervicoplasty is the procedure used to remove excess skin

Platysmaplasty removes or alters neck muscles

A plastic surgeon also can perform neck liposuction, which removes excess fat. In some cases, Botox injections may be the answer to your problems if you have fullness or “bands.”

A neck lift was out of the question for my friend, so we did some research and found a more holistic approach that yielded some improvement. From Bharti Vyas’ book, “Beauty Wisdom” we found the following advice:

Give your neck a weekly massage

Hold your head in proper alignment - imagine that your head is being pulled upwards by a piece of string attached to the crown

Cleanse your neck night and morning the same as you do your face, starting at the collarbones and working up to the jawline.

Apply a rich-moisturizing cream at night and moisturize with sunscreen during the day. Cover front and sides of neck and the area around the collarbones.

Exfoliate your neck weekly.

For crepey neck, apply almond oil as a nourishing moisturizer.

Ms. Vyas also recommends some simple exercise to tone neck muscles (and *Bonus* these are wonderfully relaxing):

Hold your head in a central position, then lean it as far over as you can towards one shoulder and hold for a count of 10. Your neck may feel rather stiff to begin with. Repeat on the other side, making sure that your shoulders remain still and relaxed throughout. Do five repetitions.

Keeping your chin level, turn your head to one side so that the chin is over your shoulder. Incline the head backward in a “come hither” movement. Repeat on the other side. Repeat the sequence five times.

My friend follows these practices faithfully. Her neck is not flawless, but to me it’s beautiful. She has collarbones and a chin and a beaming smile on her healthy face.

Copyright 2005 Kaye Bailey - All Rights Reserved.

Kaye Bailey is a weight loss surgery success story having maintained her health and goal weight for 5+ years. An award winning journalist, she is the author and webmaster of http://www.livingafterwls.com and http://www.livingafterwls.blogspot.com

Fresh & insightful content is added daily, check in often.

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