Archive for May, 2009
If you read health magazines regularly, you are sure to come across a lot of fast weight loss tips. Some of these tips actually work, while others don’t. The ones that generally don’t work are those that suggest fad diets, weight loss supplements and pills. The tips that actually work for everybody are always simple: that of diet and exercise. However, the weight loss industry is ridden with myths and misleading information, and people often tend to twist the truths, either because of their own advantage or out of plain ignorance. In this article I will discuss three such weight loss myths.
Learn about the real weight loss myths now.
1. How to Lose Weight #1: Spot reduction of fat is possible: Not at all true, and I am sure that any weight loss expert will unanimously agree to this. You cannot force your body to spot reduce your fat under any circumstances, no matter what type of workouts you do. If you do only crunches and leg lifts frequently in the hope of reducing belly fat, you will notice that instead of reducing your belly fat, you will reduce the muscle mass that resides beneath the abdomen. For this reason, your focus should not be on crunches and leg lifts alone; you should also follow a healthy diet that would speed up your metabolic rate and help you burn fat fast!
2. Losing Weight Fast #2: A drastic cut down on calorie intake reduces your body fat: This myth has pushed many a person on the brink of crash dieting. People take to crash dieting in the hope of shedding those extra pounds, least realizing that crash dieting harm their bodies instead of helping them. As a matter of fact, when you starve or fast, your body realizes that you are going to kill it and then it goes into the starvation mode. While in starvation mode, your body slows down your metabolic rate and burns your muscles (instead of fat, which is kept in reserve) for producing energy. This way, you don’t lose much fat at all; if anything, you lose your valuable muscles. And once you return to your normal diet, you will gain extra weight!
3. Losing Weight Fast #3: Cardio exercises alone will help you lose weight: While it is true that cardio exercises can help you lose fat, it is not true that this is the only type of weight loss exercises available; don’t forget the aerobics. As a matter of fact, the amount of fat you will lose doing either cardio or aerobics is almost same. On the other hand, weight lifting is better than both cardio and aerobics, in that it not only helps you burn fat during the workout, but even after that!
Discover which fast weight loss tips can really work for you! When you know the truth about weight loss myths, you get start to use real weight loss tips to take off the weight.
Want to know a proved method to lose weight fast? Visit this blog!
So… Can you use aromatherapy for weight loss? The short answer is “Yes”.
This is not to say that aromatherapy is a “magic bullet” or instant weight loss cure – there is no such thing. But aromatherapy can be a valuable part of a healthy, sensible weight loss program.
Aromatherapy does two things: It can help manage cravings and feelings of hunger, and it can also address some contributors to weight issues such as stress, anxiety and depression.
How Aromatherapy for Weight Loss Works
Research shows that appetite and the sense of smell are closely connected. In fact, studies have found that our sense of smell actually triggers feelings of fullness before our stomach does.
When you inhale an essential oil, its microscopic molecules directly affect a part of the brain called the hypothalamus. An area inside the hypothalamus called the “satiety center” controls feelings of hunger/fullness.
The satiety center ‘reads’ certain essential oil molecules as a signal that you are full. And the good news is, this happens much faster than your brain gets the signals from your stomach telling you you’re full – so you feel full sooner!
The most well-known essential oil for weight loss is Pink Grapefruit.
Basil, Bergamot, Clary Sage, Cumin, Dill, Fennel, Ginger, Lemon, Marjoram, Patchouli, Peppermint, Sandalwood, Spearmint, Thyme, Vanilla and Ylang Ylang are some other appetite-suppressing essential oils for weight loss.
The trick to using these essential oils to curb your cravings and suppress your appetite is to inhale the appetite-suppressing essential oil for at least five minutes. Inhaling for less than five minutes can actually stimulate your appetite – not good!
Make Your Own Aromatherapy Weight Loss Inhaler
Use this handy aromatherapy inhaler any time you feel a craving come along. Carry it in your bag, keep one in your desk, your kitchen… wherever it will do the most good.
Pour a teaspoon of coarse sea salt in a very small dark glass or PET plastic bottle and add one of the following blends:
Aromatherapy for Weight Loss Citrus Blend
30 drops Grapefruit essential oil
4 drops Lemon essential oil
1 drop Ylang Ylang essential oil
Aromatherapy for Weight Loss Mint Blend
20 drops Peppermint essential oil
10 drops Bergamot essential oil
4 drops Spearmint essential oil
1 drop Ylang Ylang essential oil
Aromatherapy for Weight Loss Herb Blend
15 drops Basil essential oil
15 drops Marjoram essential oil
1 drop Oregano essential oil
1 drop Thyme essential oil
To use your aromatherapy weight loss inhaler, take three long, slow, deep breaths of the aroma. Take a short break, then take three more deep breaths. Do this three times. Sniff long and hard through each nostril. Really flood your nose with scent – in this case, more is better!
Use the aromatherapy weight loss inhaler before eating and whenever your appetite is triggered. Scientific studies show that the more often you inhale essential oils for weight loss throughout the day, the more effective it will be.
Some studies suggest that aromatherapy is more effective for weight loss if you change up the scents every day. You might try making an aromatherapy inhaler with each of the essential oil weight loss blends above, and then use Citrus on Monday, Mint on Tuesday, Herb on Wednesday and so on.
In these stressful, hectic times it makes sense to use every tool available to support our health – both mental and physical. Using aromatherapy for weight loss will not only help you meet your weight loss goals, but it will also help you feel happier, calmer and more able to cope every day. After all, that’s the nature of essential oils!
Further reading about aromatherapy and weight loss:
http://www.aromapatch.org/Hirsch_Weight_Loss_Smell.pdf
http://www.gritman.com/EO_Papers/Weightloss.html
Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to treat, prevent, diagnose, or cure any condition.
By: Kyley Zimmerman
About the Author:
Kyley Zimmerman works from home and focuses on making her family life happy, healthy and eco-friendly.
She shares her love of making natural bath, body and home products at http://www.easy-aromatherapy-recipes.com/ Check it out!
Open your mind’s eye for a moment. You are in the grocery store—no matter which one so long as it is a big one, like a Publix or a Winn Dixie or even bigger. Got the picture? Good.
Now, you need some baking supplies. You wander around till you find them and then down the aisle you go. You soon arrive at the sugar counter. There is sugar and sugar products from the base of the display to the top of the four shelves. On the base are 5 lbs. bags of sugar stacked 8 deep, four high, running for 20 feet. On the shelves above are all the other types of sugar, including Brown sugar and Confectioner’s sugar. Two shelves up are the sugar substitutes, the terrible ones and then the silly ones. The terrible ones include Splenda? and some others. The purile ones include cane juice sugar – somehow the manufacturers believe that you will be fooled into thinking that this is better than sugar. C’mon guys!
Then, there is that one shelf about which the natural food folks are all agog. That is the shelf containing the products labelled ’stevia.’
Eh-hem, ‘called’ stevia. Have you read the contents of these convenient little packages or the boxes in which they come? This is not unadulterated stevia! It is reduced or blended or cut or polluted (choose a word) stevia. These products are not pure stevia! For that matter, they are not even the sweetest of the stevias available! These products are like the 5 lb bags of sugar beneath them. The difference is that 60% of that 5 lb bag of sugar has been replaced with non-fat dry milk. Would you buy your sugar that way? Of course not. So why buy your stevia that way?
Do these ‘blended’ stevias taste good? So so. Sweet? Yes. Healthier than sugar? Begrudgingly, yes. Made by a health food company? NO. Made by a chemical company? Yes. Made by a comapany that gives a r… a.. about your health? NO. Is this what you should buy? Hmmm.
Allow a clarification: Reb-A, the type of stevia used in some of these ’stevia’ products is not considered to be the sweetest type of stevia available. The sweetest is called stevia rebaudiana or stevioside. Do not get hung up on names. Just be aware that this is not the best product available nor even the most desireable. Stevioside, for sweetness sake, is more desirable.
Uncut is preferrable because you, the user, determine how much you wish to use. Moreover, you do not ingest anything other than stevia as happens when using blends. Why is this important? As an example: what if peanuts are processed in the same building as the blending?
My suggestion: go for the real stuff; go for the uncut full strength stuff; go for the sweetest stuff. Choose stevioside. Buy JAJA Stevia.
Please check us out at JAJA Stevia and make comment on Splenda
Visit this blog in order to know more about weight loss!



