The Healthy Journal

If you're resolved to lose weight, get back energy and feel better, there are several things you should know to help you succeed. #1 Don't Count Calories Do yourself a favor and forget the stress of counting calories. It will only make you crazy. Besides not all calories are alike—50 calories of sugar is a whole lot different than 50 calories of veggies. It's not the calories that count— it's the content of the calories . Instead, take a serious look at the food you want to eat and ask, "Is this something that will give my body good health?" You know you shouldn't be eating a candy bar when you're hungry. It's full of artificial and GMO ingredients and sugar (corn syrup most likely). You might be satisfied, but you won't feel good. #2 Don't Skip Breakfast Breakfast is still the most important meal of the day. You've been sleeping for 7 - 9 hours (hopefully—otherwise you need to read Sleep—Needed for Optimum Wellness ). Your body needs...

Here you are at the edge of the holiday season—staring down piles of leftover halloween candy or worse, sneaking pieces of your son or daughter's stash, while telling yourself you're saving them from eating too much candy. You’ve told yourself you’re making the switch to healthier eating, but you see food all around you—tempting holiday food that you know isn’t good for you. What can you do to deal with the temptation? You need a plan. Start with your home—that will be the hardest—especially if your house is full of hungry grouches (I say this endearingly) who don’t see eye-to-eye with you on eating healthy. Here are things you can do to make things go smoother. #1 Don’t Have It in the House Throw out unhealthy food with artificial ingredients, sugary snacks, cookies, candy, sodas and even juices with added sugar. This has been my  get healthy  credo for many years. You can hear the same advice from diet and health gurus like Dr. Oz. Being a recovered  sugar addict ,...

Sugar Will Kill You Sugar can be as addictive as cocaine . It activates the brain’s reward system causing pleasure-inducing chemicals (dopamine) to flood the body. The result is a craving for more… and more. Sugar damages your health  on several levels. For starters we now know that fructose/sugar elevates blood pressure and potentially damages your kidneys. It increases uric acid which leads to chronic, low-level inflammation—the foundation for most disease. For example, chronically inflamed blood vessels can lead to heart attacks and strokes. Let's look at the what happens in the body when you consume a 20 oz soda: Within 20 minutes— Your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the resulting insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar (17 teaspoons full on average) into fat. Within 40 minutes— Caffeine absorption is complete; your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, and your liver dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. Around 45 minutes— Your body increases d...

Rock Man at Tamarack Lake, CA Rather than show you an ugly picture of belly fat or the flat stomach of a twenty-year-old... I bring you Rock Man. He spouts wisdom to help you lose that gut you're tired of feeling around your middle. Maybe you're not interested in getting a rock-hard stomach (although it's easy to attain... right, Rock Man?), but you'd like to get rid of that roll. Read on. Building muscle, losing fat, and improving overall health is dependent on one very important hormone—insulin. Follow these tips to control your insulin and lose that fat! First, let me say that losing fat is less about cutting down on fat in your diet and more about cutting out sugar or foods that quickly turn to sugar like breads, pasta, rice and corn. In fact, healthy fats keep you satiated, which means you are less likely to be hungry soon after eating. So let me just say it... Fats don't make you fat, sugar does. Now on to the tips: 1. Feed Your Belly-Zapping Hormone Eat as c...