Health and Medicine Blog

Hi there. Thank yourself for thinking about quitting smoking today. You may not have quit yet, but you obviously want to stop.
I smoked for 11 years and have not smoked a cigarette in 13 months and counting. I am willing to share my tips that I used to quit.

I. Get a support system. Get a reliable means of support to help you quit smoking. Getting someone on your side is key to quitting. My reliable support was a chat group where I was able to chat with others who were going through what I was going through.

II. Pick a start date and count the days. Picking a start date that has meaning to you, like a birthday or something of that nature is helpful in quitting smoking. This enables you to remember the exact amount of days that you have quit. Use this as motivation to keep going. It will greatly benefit you. It has for me.

III. Pick an alternative that works. You have to go with an alternative when quitting smoking. I know for a fact that the cold turkey method will fail every time. I think the main reason I have quit for so long now is because I found an alternative that is almost fail-proof. I chose to use a new and upcoming way to stop smoking. This is called green smoke. It is a cigarette look-alike but really tricks your mind into thinking that it is really smoking! It’s great.

This is the guide that I used to quit cigarettes. If you follow it exactly, I know you can quit too.

The thing is, when it comes to quick weight loss, most people do it wrong and end up hurting their health and/or long term fitness success. If you’re trying to lose weight quickly, make sure you don’t do anything stupid like starving yourself or even drastically cutting your calories for more than a day or two (healthy, planned juice fasts are an exception). Figuring out a strategy for losing weight is a great first step! There are hundreds of weight loss tips out on the market today, and it can be hard knowing which ones are true and which ones are not. Now’s your chance to find fast weight loss tips that are effective and work! The following is ten weight loss tips that are proven to work and will help you lose weight quickly without all the struggles you’ve had in the past.

1. Begin eating a diet consisting almost exclusively of lean proteins (like skinless chicken breast), green vegetables, healthy nuts (like almonds and walnuts), and healthy fats (from fish, olive oil, flax seeds, flax oil, EFA supplements, etc.). A small amount of fruit is ok. Try to break up your food intake into 6 small meals per day.

2. Fruits and vegetables are packed with beneficial fibers, vitamins and antioxidants. They fill up your stomach fast so you feel full earlier. They are also low in calories and helps to keep your calorie count low.

3. Have a serious talk with your parents and ask them to help. They should be able to help you find materials on nutritious eating, and can help purchase the foods that will help, such as fresh fruits for snacks and whole grain cereals for breakfast. And they can avoid purchasing foods that will tempt you with poor choices, such as sodas, chips, candy, donuts or cookies.

4. Stop consuming high-calorie food – pastries, red meats, sugar and its products, dairy products, fried food, fast food, heavy sauces and the likes.

5. Get enough sleep. Most people need about 8 hours per night. If you’re not allowing your body to recuperate each night you have very little chance of successfully losing body fat quickly and safely.

6. If possible, purchase fresh foods and avoid package (processed) and convenient foods such as fast food. Packaged and convenient foods are often higher in sodium and fat content. Many people we spoke to are amazed that they can easily lose weight by packing a home-cooked lunch to work instead of eating out. This is one of the best natural weight loss.

7. Add daily exercise: I suspect that you may be caught in a vicious cycle of not exercising, eating and not having energy. Exercising actually makes you feel more energetic once you have made a habit of it. If you don’t feel like you have energy to exercise now, start out with some physical activity that will get you moving, but won’t require a lot energy. How about taking the dog for a walk? Or, if you don’t have a dog, take the neighbor’s dog for a walk. Once you have done some walking, every day for a couple of weeks, try running for a short distance. Get out on your bicycle, or roller blades, or shoot some baskets in the driveway.

8. Keeping a food journal helps you pin point your eating pattern and will enable you to easily modify it. If possible, have your Registered Dietitian review your journal.

Isn’t that relief to the ears? The term ‘easy weight loss’ itself makes your fat guilt feel lighter. Being obese and overweight is a concern among most people. The worry only gets bigger every morning when the weight scale fails to differ. It is human to be impatient, and specially for weight loss, people only wish they had a magic wand to wave and vanish the bulging fat. There is not much room for trial and error with your body at least, right? But most of us are trying different diets and exercises to lose weight. And believe me, even if the results are not visible after long, they will still try the same plan, until the cows come home! The key to healthy weight loss is to combine efforts of a good diet and workout. We have a list of saviors, some easy weight loss tips.

Easy Weight Loss Plans

Losing weight works on a simple formula, that is intake of few calories and burning more calories. These easy weight loss tricks are meant to cut your bad food habits and help you lose weight fast.

Understand Your Body
Before concluding to a specific diet, it is important to understand how much energy and calories does your body need? You can use a calorie calculator for the same. Due to the difference in the nature of work and also our different bodies, understanding the basic requirement of your body is important.

Veggies on Platter
Obesity generally hints at lower consumption of vegetables in the diet. Vegetables come packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibers. They are low in calories and also make you feel fuller. That in turn will help you eat less portions of your favorite food. You must include at least a handful of veggies, a minimum of five servings of fresh vegetables and fruits, in your daily diet.

Reduce the Carbohydrates
It is true that your body does require some amount of carbohydrates. But you need to balance the simple carbohydrates with the complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are easy to digest. Most contain refined sugars. Fruit juice, yogurt, milk, honey, maple syrup, molasses, fruits, etc., are some examples. Complex carbohydrates come with lots of fiber, and take longer to digest. Bread, cereal, pasta, legumes, etc., are some examples. It is important to reduce the intake of sugar and balance the ratio of simple and complex carbohydrates. This will help in regulating blood sugar levels, and your body will burn more fat for energy, thus reducing weight.

Meal Portions and Habits
Eating the right portions of food is important so as to reduce and control weight. Eat small meals throughout the day instead of large meals. 5 – 6 small meals are better than 3 large meals in a day. Studies have shown that distributing the same amount of calories in smaller meals, helps produce insulin and maintain control blood sugar level, thus controlling hunger. Also, do not skip your meals or starve. While eating chew slowly, enjoy what you are eating. Slow eating prevents compulsive overeating. It is also advised to avoid packaged and frozen food. Such food is often high in fats and sodium. Home cooked food is your best friend when losing weight.

Snack Control
Avoid snacking on unhealthy food. Cravings for sweets, chips and more is normal, but you can replace these snacks with some healthy nuts and fruits. It is common to snack when stressed, depressed, or even when waiting for meals. Do not let your mind rule fast food and calories at such times. Traveling is one time that allows a guilt free snack. Be wise to pack some healthy snacks with you.

Let Go Once in a While
It is alright to let go your diet and weight loss worries once a week. Do not restrict your body and allow yourself to binge on some comfort foods. Having your favorite food once in a while is OK. A slice or two of pizza or a scoop of your favorite ice cream will not do much harm.

Water and Other Liquids
Perhaps all the possible health suggestions narrow down to drinking plenty of water. With hydrating your body, water will also make you feel full and less hungry. Focus on water instead of soda and soft drinks. The sugar in these drinks may also add up to the calories. Alcohol should also be avoided. It has nutrition-empty calories and makes you gain fat. It lowers the process of metabolism and hence lowers burning fat process for about 48 hours!

Healthy Fats, Nutrients and Food
Do not completely deny your body of fats. There are certain good fats that your body requires for functioning. Fatty acids like omega-3 and omega-6 actually help lose weight, along with protecting your heart, bones and lungs. Include a decent ratio of these acids in your easy weight loss diet. It is observed that antioxidants like vitamin A, C, and E help the body combat the toxins that are stored in fat cells. Get plenty of these too. If you can stand the spice, include spices like cinnamon, curry and cayenne pepper, and other herbs that help in faster metabolism. Cayenne pepper especially is the most healthy spice herb, so include it in your diet a few times.

Exercise and Body Workouts
Along with a healthy diet, exercise will give your body an effective command to lose weight. Workout and exercise play a vital role to burn the fat. Around 30 – 40 minutes of daily exercise is advised by health experts. Activities even like daily walking for 20 minutes can help you lose weight. If you do not find enough time to religiously exercise everyday, you can help your body burn fat by the simplest of everyday things. You can walk to the shopping mall instead of a ride, engage in some outdoor activities instead of being glued to the television on the couch. Your body does not mind losing fat either ways, be it in the gym or anywhere in the house or park.

Well this marks your diet and workout chart, these are some few other things that can help too. Below mentioned are some tips for easy weight loss.

Other Tips for Weight Loss

Keeping a food and exercise journal works as a hawks eye over your diet and exercise. Make it a point to write what you eat. You can get a health expert check this for suggestions. Get rid of the fat clothes as you are reaching your goal, it will inspire you more. Be a little color conscious when you eat. Having warm colors on the dinner table and around, like red, yellow and orange, will make you feel more hungry and ultimately make you eat more. But including colors like blue are actually effective as appetite suppressants. Use plates, curtains and other possible things in blue, and you will tend to eat less. Other factors like serving in smaller dinner plates than the regular ones, the plate will be more full than empty, making you feel less hungry eventually. Sniff on some peppermint, apple or banana. It sounds funny, but research has proved that the smell of these foods reduce hunger and helps in weight loss. Last and the most important is to think positive and stay determined.

‘Rome was not built in one day’, so will the excess baggage on your body not shed at the blink of your eye. Include these easy weight loss tips to bid adieu to your bulky worries. All the best you can and you will do it!

What is the best way to get your dad to stop smoking? It’s a serious issue. Those who don’t smoke find it hard to be able to live with people who smoke. There have been a few suggestions made, but it’s tough to know which ones work. If you’re one of the those who need answers to this question, today is your lucky day. This information explains all the stuff that you can do to get your dad to stop smoking.

One thing you should know is that your dad is not happy with this habit. Statistics show that more than half of the smokers wish to quit smoking, however they are unable. What they need is outside help. Therefore, if you’re trying to get your dad to quit smoking, understand that he’s appreciative of the help.

Reasons for Smoking

A lot of people, including those who would like to quit smoking, are aware of the associated health problems. The problem is that this knowledge alone is not enough to make them quit smoking. If you wish to get your dad to quit smoking, ensure that he gets the moral support he deserves. Make the home as stress free as possible for him. Stress is one of the reasons people smoke and if it is reduced his needs for smoking will be reduced too.

Apart from reducing stress, it’s also wise help him design a game plan for stopping. It’s not easy to stop without a plan. Often, those who wish to stop without planning give up before they succeed. If you can help your dad make a game plan, then all he needs to do is to stay with it, and he will succeed. The vital thing is to help him take note of the reasons for quitting. By doing this, everytime he feels like smoking, he’ll read them and stop himself from smoking cigarettes.

Quit Smoking Plan to Use In Order To Get Your Dad to quit Smoking

To increase chances of success, your dad should set a quitting date. Remind him of this date every day. It’s also good to help him popularize this plan to his friends and colleagues. He’ll need their support. To get your dad to quit smoking, you must advise him to talk to his personal physician. The doctor is a professional who has some tricks up his sleeve to help your dad in his quest.

To get your dad to stop smoking, it is important to give him an easy method of struggling with his cravings. One of the most opportune times for smoking is right after a meal. To curb this practice, it is helpful to have a some fruits prepared during meal times. After the meal, he should nibble on these rather than reaching for a stick.

Alcohol usually goes hand in hand with cigarettes. To have your dad to stop smoking, he should also stop taking alcohol. Moreover, in many places were alcohol is taken (bars), there are also many people who smoke. Help him avoid these places all together. If you can achieve all the above, you will not be wondering how to get your dad to stop smoking since he’ll be well on his method to doing stopping.