Experts' Best Diet Tips for Weight Loss

Hoping to lose a few pounds in time for bathing suit season -- and tired of all the hype about "miracle" weight loss cures? To help you get answers about what really works for weight loss, WebMD turned to eight noted diet and nutrition experts for their own favorite diet tips.  

Here are their top 10 diet tips and tricks for weight loss success:

Expert Diet Tip No. 1: Never Go More Than 3-4 Hours Without Food.

Eating several times throughout the day helps keep hunger at bay while keeping your energy up, experts say.

"Fight the battle of the bulge by filling up with smaller meals featuring protein and fiber that are spaced evenly throughout the day," says Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD, a nutrition consultant who has written several books on diet and nutrition.

If the mini-meal approach doesn't appeal, plan a healthy snack between lunch and dinner so you don't get too hungry at night. "A midday snack gives you energy to finish your work day and hit the gym on your way home," says Pamela Peeke, MD, Discovery Health TV chief medical correspondent for nutrition and fitness.  

And, what makes a healthy snack? "The key is to include protein and not rely on carbs alone, like pretzels and a piece of fruit," Peeke says.

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LEADERSHIP -- Managing the Unimaginable

"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves." Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-2008) New Zealand mountaineer and explorer.

If you are someone who is overworked, stressed out, burned out, under-paid, and underappreciated, then read on to see what successful people do to be winners in their lives.

In today's environment you are being pulled in umpteen different directions at once. Each direction wants a part of you. The parts are getting exhausted and worn out, but you keep plugging along believing there is no other way. And you sincerely want to be your best, do your best, and be the fixer, problem solver all-in-one.

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Brain Scanners Can See Your Decisions Before You Make Them

This schematic shows the brain regions (green) from which the outcome of a participant's decision can be predicted before it is made. Courtesy John-Dylan Haynes.

You may think you decided to read this story -- but in fact, your brain made the decision long before you knew about it.

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Here is another article that appeared today in " Neuromarketing"

Some people worked it out; others did not. The significant point, though, was that the EEG predicted who would fall where. Those volunteers who went on to have an insight… had had different brainwave activity from those who never got it. In the right frontal cortex, a part of the brain associated with shifting mental states, there was an increase in high-frequency gamma waves (those with 47-48 cycles a second). Moreover, the difference was noticeable up to eight seconds before the volunteer realised he had found the solution. Dr Sheth thinks this may be capturing the "transformational thought" (the light-bulb moment, as it were) in action, before the brain's "owner" is consciously aware of it. [Emphasis added. From The Economist - Incognito - Evidence mounts that brains decide before their owners know about it

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Four Traits Of A 'Power Manifestor'

I get a lot of questions from people about how to get actual real world results from the Law Of Attraction. It's not so difficult to manifest an empty parking space or a beneficial coincidence, but it takes something more to manifest the bigger things like first class travel, houses, cars, jobs, relationships, health and material wealth.

There are a small percentage of people who regularly and consistently manifest the big things. I call these people Power Manifestors.

Over the years, I've noticed that the more I developed certain qualities within myself, the more powerful I became at manifesting the bigger things regularly and consistently. I've put together a list for you of some of the traits that helped me become a Power Manifestor. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but the four traits below are the most fundamental to making the Law Of Attraction work for you more often...

TRAIT #1: BEING IN FLOW
Here's a powerful metaphor for you. Have you ever watched a river flow from the top of a mountain down to the sea? If you have, you'll have noticed that the river always seems to take the path of least resistance to reach the sea. It will find the most effortless way to get down the mountain. You won't find a river trying to flow uphill!

Your life can flow like a river too, always seeking the most effortless path to your destiny. When your life begins to flow, your problems that once seemed insurmountable, naturally work themselves out as your life leads you on the path of least resistance to success.

So, what is flow? The best definition I have ever heard is from a great book called 'The Power Of Flow' by Charlene Belitz and Meg Lundstrom: "Flow is the natural, effortless unfolding of our life in a way that moves us toward wholeness and harmony."

Have you had times when your obstacles suddenly disappeared, one after another? When you felt you were in the right place at the right time and events in your life came together in a beneficial way? That's when you were in the flow. So, what does flow have to do with the law of attraction or manifesting? EVERYTHING!

You see, until you find your flow, you will not be able to consistently work the Law Of Attraction to your advantage and will find yourself struggling to see real world results from your visualization efforts. Like many others, your manifesting will be limited to empty parking spaces...

How can you get into your flow? Power Manifestors regularly do activities that keep them in flow. One of the easiest ways to step into your flow is to do the things that bring you joy and do these things often. For example, I love taking a week off and riding my motorcycle somewhere exotic, like Africa or Central Europe, camping on the side of the road and living out of a backpack with just a few pairs of clothes and a laptop.

Whenever I go away on a trip like this (I make sure I get away at least once a month), magical things begin happening in my life. It's almost as if the joy of the open road and the wind in my hair blows away any negativity I might have collected and my attraction abilities increase tenfold.

Here's another example of a flow state. Have you ever had the experience of time speeding up or slowing down? That's a good indicator that you are in a flow state. Take a moment and write down what you were doing when you had these experiences? Was it a hobby, a sport, an activity at work? Are you doing these activities as much as you would like to? If not, make a commitment to yourself to do these activities more often.

By Bruce Muzik : Click to read full article

ATTITUDE

 Impossible Is Just A Word


Everyone, at some point of his or her life, has dreamed of being somebody special, somebody big. Who hasn't fantasized about being the one who hits the game-winning homer? Who hasn't dreamed of being the homecoming queen? And how many times have we dreamed of being rich, successful, or happy with our relationships?

Often, we dream big dreams and have great aspirations. Unfortunately, our dreams remain just that -- dreams. And our aspirations easily collect dust in our attic.

This is a sad turn of events in our life. Instead of experiencing exciting adventures in self actualization, we get caught up in the humdrum of living from day-to-day just barely existing.

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Managing Anger by Seeing the unseen cause

Like many fields of therapy that deal with emotional problems, anger on the surface seems to be nothing more than an exasperated emotion. A person gets mad and we assume either he has anger management issues or there was something legitimate that elicited the response.

Even in people who have difficulty managing anger, there is usually something that triggers it, no matter how irrational the trigger might be perceived. So in this article, we are going to talk about all the different cause of anger and the many ways it is elicited in people.

However, we are not going to talk about the obvious causes, like someone violating your personal space or possession or something bad happening. We can all agree that these are all valid reasons, even for a person who rarely gets angry, to become angry.

Instead, we are going to focus on the not so obvious triggers; those that set us off without us really being aware as to why. These are the unseen, hidden reasons we don't realize that get us heated, livid, and outraged.

Listed below are 6 of the more common unseen cause of anger that can throw us into a fiery emotional state and a brief discussion of each. By seeing what sets you off, you can be more level-headed when similar circumstances arise, allowing you to have a better grasp of the feelings.

1. Overwhelmed

Getting overwhelmed is one of the main cause of anger. It is seen in people who have difficulty handling the day-to-day stresses in their lives. They lack the ability to deal with stress, which causes them to get overwhelmed. These overwhelming feeling make them feel trapped and unsure of what to do, so they lash out.

These people easily shout and blow their top at someone or something because that's the only way they know how to release the build-up of the overwhelmed feelings.

2. Retaliatory

Retaliating at a person who is angry at you is another cause of anger. The reaction is a direct response to someone getting angry at you. That is, you get heated for no other reason than the mere fact someone else is mad at you.

This is no doubt a defense mechanism reaction to another person's frustration with you, which you threatens your well being, especially if you believe there is no cause or reason for the other person to be mad at you.

If you are the type who gets defensive or offended easily, you more than likely retaliate against people who are angry at you by you getting angry yourself. The problem here is, when two retaliatory angry people get into it with each other, the confrontation can and tends to escalate into something dangerous really fast.

3. Paranoid

Paranoia can also be a source of anger in people, specially those that feel they are being taken advantage of. These people don't necessarily need to be taken advantage of to trigger anger, they just need to feel as though they are.

It is normal for anyone to get upset if someone is trying to take advantage of you, but paranoid people go too far. When a they see a sign, any sign, whether or not it is rational, that suggests someone is trying to pull a fast one on them, they defend themselves against the hurt feelings by erupting into anger.

These people usually have trust issues and low self-esteem, which causes them to get easily offended and insulted by other people's actions, which they express through anger.

4. Threatened

Being threatened is a huge trigger for people. This is usually exhibited when an action or setting goes against or "threatens" someone. The threat could be anything. It could be a person, circumstance, or event that jeopardizes what someone has planned or what they want to have happen.

That someone will get angry for two reasons. First, they will get upset for not getting what they want, and second, they will use anger as a way to flex their muscle to take back control over the situation. Their anger is a way to communicate to the party causing the threat that something is amiss which requires immediate attention and/or remedy.

5. Judgmental

Getting judgmental is another trigger that can spark anger. When you judge someone or some situation, your judgment can easily get you all worked up. Prejudice people are the most guilty of this. They often pre-judge people and circumstances, and when their pre-judgment is mean and spiteful, it is but natural that temper and rage consumes them.

6. Chronic

There is nothing that triggers chronically angry people to be annoyed, irritated, or mad. They are just unrelentingly angry and look for any and every reason to be so. They find reasons in their lives, with themselves, with the people around them, and the whole world in general.

Chronically angry people have no definite cause for feeling the way they do. They, more or less, are addicted to the feeling of anger, so they remain in that state for no apparent reason at all.

Now that you have seen some of the unseen and lesser know cause of anger that put us into a fumingly heated state of mind, review them in detail and figure out which of them elicit anger in you.

Are you easily overwhelmed, do you needlessly get defensive, do you have trust issues, do you get angry when things don't go your way, are you unreasonably judgmental, or are you just chronically angry with no legitimate cause for your ill state?

Once you know what sets you off, learn ways to cope with it. Find an outlet that neither harms you or others. Deep breathing, Emotional Freedom Technique, and exercising are some of the many useful anger management tips that can help you in managing anger. Also, there are some anger management tips that teach you how to release tension and calm yourself through meditation.

Remember, you may not be able to completely change a person or a situation, but what you can change is the way that you deal with your feelings by learning how to react positively to it and not letting it get the better of you.

Mike C.Powers

Habit

"Man is a creature of habit."

This simple statement is deceptively profound. Most people's lives are comprised of a collection of habits that dictate many of their physical, emotional and mental actions and reactions. Depending on the level of conscious awareness you invest in a habit's creation, habits can either enslave you, turning you into a mindless automaton, or free you to pursue creative, joyful activities that enhance and give meaning to your life. Most people have a mixture of good and bad habits.

Habit is defined as an acquired behavior pattern followed until it has become almost involuntary. Habits can be good or bad, productive or non-productive. Good habits lead to skills, such as learning to ride a bicycle. They also save you time and energy by automating the performance of desirable actions. Brushing your teeth or driving a car are examples. These acquired behavior patterns free your mind from having to concentrate, as would be required of unfamiliar actions.

Bad habits predispose you to undesirable outcomes. Excessive drinking, smoking, drug use and overeating are examples of bad habits that can harm your body and impair your judgment, aside from wasting your time.

Common sense tells us that you want to replace bad habits with good ones, which is the basis of all self-development and evolution. But as almost everyone who has ever tried to quit smoking will tell you, this is not always as easy as it would seem.

Smokers are addicted to nicotine. But according to modern brain science, all habits induce emotional states that produce chemicals in your brain. Consequently, you become addicted to the chemicals secreted by your brain no matter what kind of habit you create!

With every thought or action you undertake, you create electrical pathways in your brain. As Joseph Dispenza says in the movie What the Bleep do We Know?, "neurons which fire together, wire together." Repetition etches these patterns more deeply into your brain.

To replace a bad habit with a good one, you need to break the association with your emotions and the chemicals you've grown accustomed to, and rewire your brain. This requires concentration and will.

If you are unaware or unwilling to acknowledge your non-productive habit, you will have a hard time replacing it. If you are not convinced a particular habit is bad for you, you will have no incentive to change it. But, if you are aware of your unwanted habit and are willing to devote your attention to it, then it can be changed. Deeply focused concentration, such as during a visualization exercise, increases the potency of your thoughts and more deeply affects your brain's rewiring.

Remember, it took regular action to install your unwanted habit - possibly over the course of several lifetimes - so it will take regular action to undo it. This is where your will comes in.

You strengthen your will, as well as your habit, with repetition. Every time you consciously reject the urge to give in to your bad habit, you strengthen your will. Every time you consciously undertake an action to install a new, positive habit, it becomes easier. This is how you rewire your brain and overcome your addictions.

When these habits are of a positive nature, this self-reinforcing cycle produces positive results, but the contrary is also true. This demonstrates a principle that Jesus taught, "For he that hath, to him shall be given; and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath."

In other words, consciously acting to install positive habits strengthens your will and further attracts more like experiences. Giving in to bad habits, weakens your will, not only making it harder to install good habits, but doing so may cause you to lose what good habits you already had. Can there be any better reason to develop your will and consciously establish positive habits?

The development of good habits is meant to improve your life, free you from the grip of negative habits and attract even more positive experiences to you. At the same time, always remember to be guided by wisdom and not convention. You should strive to perform good actions based on your own inner wisdom and conscious choice, not based on convention - not even good habits. This is the ultimate freedom.

By Edwin Harkness Spina She is an award-winning author and speaker.

Self-Esteem: You Are Not Who You Think You Are

David sat in front of me at one of my five-day intensive workshops. A successful businessman with a wife and two grown children, David believed that he was not good enough.

"I'm insufficient," he said. "I'm inadequate."

I looked at this kind man and felt deep sadness for him. He did not know who he was.

"Why do you believe that?" I asked.

"I didn't do well in school, and I've made lots of mistakes in my life."

"So you are basing your worth on your performance, right?"

"Of course."

David could not conceive of any other way of defining his worth other than through his performance – which he never saw as good enough.

I asked David to look inside – at the essence of himself - and tell me what he sees. All he saw was emptiness.

"David, please close your eyes. Now imagine a wonderful being who loves you very much. Who comes to mind?"

"My grandfather. He died when I was young, but he really loved me."

"Good. Now imagine that you are seeing yourself through the eyes of your grandfather. What does your grandfather see when he looks at you?"

"He sees a bright and creative little boy, who is very kind and caring. A loving little boy. A little boy who is funny and likes to laugh, and likes to make other people laugh."

"Is there anything wrong with this little boy? Anything inadequate or insufficient?"

"Oh no! He is a wonderful little boy."

"David, this is who you really are. You are not your performance. Your performance will come and go and at some point you might retire and not perform at all. Yet that does not mean that you are, therefore, worthless. Your worth is in who you are, not in what you do. Your worth in intrinsic."

David realized that, because of his highly critical and rejecting parents, he had always been trying to prove himself and always came up short in their eyes. As a result of seeing himself as unworthy and inadequate, he did not treat himself well. He treated himself the way his parents had treated him – with criticism and neglect. He was always trying to take care of everyone else, but rarely thought about taking care of himself. He was constantly abandoning himself emotionally, just as he had been emotionally abandoned by his parents.

"David, if you chose to see yourself as your grandfather saw you rather than how your parents saw you, how would you feel about yourself and how would you treat yourself?"

"I've just been thinking about that. I just realized that I treat my dog better than I treat myself! I would never judge my dog the way I judge myself."

"So what would you do differently if you saw yourself the way your grandfather sees you?"

"I would stop judging myself as insufficient and inadequate. I'm a really good person. I am not at all insufficient or inadequate as a person. And I choose my friends based on who they are as people – not on their performance. So I obviously value the very qualities that I possess!"

"What else would you do if you really valued who you are?"

"I would listen to my own feelings and take care of my own needs instead of taking care of everyone else's feelings and needs. I would no longer see it as selfish to take care of myself instead of taking care of everyone else. I would be at least as attentive to myself as I am to my dog!"

David was glowing. He was discovering who he really is, not who he thought he was.

People often think that their worth – who they really are – is based on looks and performance. Yet these qualities are transitory. What is real and eternal is who you are in your heart and soul. If you shift your definition of your worth from outer to inner, you will stop trying to prove yourself. You will know that you are already a beautiful being, totally deserving of love.

By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

Beyond Fear and Addiction: Six Steps to Healing

There is a wonderful anachronism for FEAR:

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

Much of the fear in our lives is based on false evidence.

Our bodies are designed to respond with the fight or flight mechanism to real and present danger - such as being physically attacked. In the face of real and present danger, the adrenaline flows and the blood drains out of our organs and brain and into our limbs to prepare us for fight or flight.

Yet many people spend much of their time in the anxiety and stress of fight or flight when there is no real and present danger. This is because the body responds the same way to imagined danger as it does to real danger. The body thinks that the false evidence coming from our thoughts is real.

This constant state of fear and anxiety often leads to various addictions in the hope of numbing out the difficult feelings. Food, alcohol, drugs, nicotine, gambling, sex, TV, shopping, approval, attention, work, anger, rage, violence to self and others – all can be used in attempts to block out painful feelings.

Yet, the addictions themselves are an abandonment of self, in that they are not a healthy and loving way of dealing with painful feelings. And it is self-abandonment that causes the most fear, anxiety, and depression.

Thus, many people are caught in a very negative circle based on self-abandonment:

• Thinking negative thoughts about the future - about rejection, failure, loss of others, loss of self, loss of money – creates fear in the body and is an abandonment of self.

We are abandoning ourselves when we allow ourselves to make up thoughts about the future that scare us. This would be like saying to a child, "You are going to end up alone. No one will ever love you. You will be out on the streets with no food and no help." Saying this to a child would be considered child abuse, yet many people tell these same things to themselves over and over when there is no objective truth to these statements.

• Once we have created fear with our negative thinking, we try to avoid the fear with our various addictions.

Avoid responsibility for creating our fear by turning to addictions is another self-abandonment. This is like offering a frightened child a cookie instead of addressing the source of the fear. The self-abandonment creates deep inner emptiness and aloneness, which perpetuates the addictive behavior. It also creates neediness, leading to pulling on others for love, approval and attention.

• Addictive behavior perpetuates the original fears – an endless vicious circle of self-abandonment.

Moving Beyond Fear and Addiction

There really is a way out of this! While the process of moving beyond fear and addiction is simple, it is not easy. It takes deep commitment and devotion to your peace and joy.

1) Choose the willingness to feel your painful feelings and take responsibility for creating them, rather than continue avoiding them with your various addictions. It is only when you are willing to be with your feelings rather than avoid them that you can learn about how you are creating your own pain.

2) Consciously decide that you want to learn about what you are thinking or doing that is causing your pain.

3) Dialogue with the part of you that is in fear and pain - you can think of this feeling part of you of a child within – about how you are causing the pain. Discover your thoughts and actions that are causing your pain.

4) Open to learning with a Higher Power – your own highest wisest self, an inner teacher or mentor, a guardian angel, God – about what is the truth regarding your negative thinking and what the loving action is toward yourself.

5) Take the loving action for yourself that you are guided to do in Step 4.

6) Notice how you feel. If you feel more peaceful, then you know that you have taken loving action. If not, then you need to go back through these steps to discover another loving action.

By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.