Weight Loss Strategies - Use A Pedometer

There are countless types of exercise equipment on the market, and most of this equipment is very expensive. Pedometers are one of the exceptions. For less than twenty-five dollars you can purchase a pedometer and it will help you lose weight without going broke.

What is a pedometer?

A pedometer is a device that typically rests at your waist and counts how many steps you take. They have fancy ones that tell you how many calories you burned, your speed, your miles traveled and/or your horoscope. They come in a a variety of colors, brands and prices.

I use the New Lifestyles SW-200 Digi-Walker Pedometer. It is very accurate and the basic bundle costs only $21.95. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles but it is all you need. So, buy the pedometer and start counting steps.

10,000 steps a day

I'm sure many of you have heard about the 10,000 steps a day campaign. It is a campaign to get Americans to take 10,000 steps a day to lose weight, get health and prevent disease. I'm a big fan of this campaign. So why 10,000 steps a day?

The average person walks 5 miles with 10,000 steps. The average person also burns 100 calories per mile walked. You take 10,000 steps a day and you'll burn 500 calories a day. You burn 500 calories a day and you will lose one pound a week.

However, this can be a little misleading. The average person already takes 5,000 steps a day, so 10,000 steps are only 5,000 extra. So, you are only burning 250 calories more calories per day than before. But, that is still a lot of calories.

Game Plan

• Week one: Take 5,000 steps a day
• Week two: Take 5,500 steps a day
• Weeks three through ten: Keep increasing your daily steps by 500 every week
• Week eleven and beyond: Take 10,000 steps a day

Pedometers are an excellent and inexpensive way to lose weight, so buy one and start stepping.

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**Please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or certified fitness professional before starting or changing your diet or exercise program.**

The Benefits of Calcium and Vitamin D

I was reading this article in the New York Times about calcium and vitamin D, and if I was a woman I would definitely take a calcium and vitamin D supplement.

Breast Cancer

This is not the first time I read about the possible cancer protection effects of vitamin D or calcium. However, as more evidence is built, the more convincing the argument for supplementation becomes.

The article was inspired by a study from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. The study results suggest that vitamin D and calcium supplementation may reduce the risk of breast cancer by one-third. This should encourage all women to get an adequate amount of vitamin D and calcium through diet and supplementation.

Men

Men should also consider vitamin D and calcium supplementation if their diets are low in either nutrient. Men can and do get breast cancer. Calcium and vitamin D also have many other nutritional benefits for men and women.

Calcium's potential benefits

• Increasing weight loss
• Decreasing blood pressure
• Decreasing cholesterol
• Preventing osteoporosis
• Preventing stroke
• Preventing colon cancer
• Preventing gum disease

Vitamin D's potential benefits

• Decreasing blood pressure
• Preventing heart disease
• Preventing osteoporosis
• preventing arthritis
• preventing colorectal and prostate cancer

Where to find them

Calcium can be found in milk, cheese, yogurt, almonds, broccoli, cabbage, and dark leafy green vegetables. Vitamin D can be found in eggs and cold water fatty fish such as salmon or tuna. There are also foods fortified with calcium and/or vitamin D to consider.

If you decide to go the supplement route the daily doses to aim for are at least:

• Calcium: 1000mg
• Vitamin D: 5mcg

**Please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or certified fitness professional before starting or changing your diet or exercise program.**

Sources:
Mayo Clinic
University of Maryland
VitaGuide

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**Please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or certified fitness professional before starting or changing your diet or exercise program.**

New York City's Fight Against Obesity

In New York City, they have recently put into action a plan to phase out the use of artificial trans fats in all food service businesses. This is a great idea and I am glad to hear that other states are planning to start the same legislation.

Artificial trans fats are the worst type of fats, because they:

• Increase your LDL (bad) cholesterol
• Decrease your HDL (good) cholesterol

Artificial trans fats increase your risk of heart disease more than saturated fat do.

New York City's plan

On July 1, 2007 New York City's plan went into action. On that day, the city officially banned the use of artificial trans fats for frying, sauteing, grilling and spreading. There is an exception for products with less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving.

It has been difficult to find a replacement for artificial trans fats for baking, so food services are still allowed to use trans fats for deep frying cake batter and yeast dough. However, as of July 1, 2008, the bakers will also have to eliminate artificial trans fats.

The only exceptions to the rule are foods served in the manufacturer's original sealed packaging. So, they are allowed to sell a sealed bag of potato chips regardless of how much trans fat it contains.

Calorie disclosure

New York City has also passed legislation to force the fast-food chain restaurants to display their food's calorie count in an open area.

Many of the fast-food restaurants have been displaying their calorie counts for years. However, most of them displayed them in obscure places or only on their websites

The New York City legislation will require that the calorie listings be placed in an open location, so that customers are forced to see the calories before they purchase the food.

The Big Apple

I like New York City's proactive regulations to improve overall public health. This has probably been influenced by New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is a known health enthusiast.

New York City has banned smoking in restaurants and bars. They have made purchasing cigarettes a burden by taxing them heavily. Now they are eliminating artificial trans fats and forcing restaurants to disclose their calorie counts. It is a beautiful thing.

We need Food Police

Americans are not helping themselves. Two out of every three Americans is overweight and that percentage is increasing. Childhood obesity is also becoming a bigger problem every day. We are not taking the necessary steps to police ourselves, so I think it is great that the government is getting involved.

Many people will argue that what they eat is their personal business. However, it is now obvious that Americans' poor health is hurting everyone.

The restaurants and food service businesses are fighting the new legislation. Obviously, they are fighting to protect their profit margins and not our health.

I hope the New York City plan works and more cities adopt similar policies. Many people will not appreciate these laws today, but our grandchildren and great grandchildren will.

Sources:

NYC Trans Fat

NYC Calorie Labeling

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**Please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or certified fitness professional before starting or changing your diet or exercise program.**

Drive-thru Health Care

According to the CDC, almost 44 million Americans do not have health insurance. That''s 44 million people who have to pay out of pocket for their health care. However, basic health care is becoming more affordable because of walk-in clinics.

Wanted: Health Insurance

44 million Americans lack health insurance. Unfortunately, all of those Americans need health insurance. They not only need health insurance to get adequate treatment for illnesses and injuries, but also for disease prevention, screening and early diagnosis.

When people do not have health insurance they worry about what they will do if they get sick. That should be the least of their concerns. There biggest concern should be whether or not they have a disease that could be treated in its earliest stages. They should also be worried about preventing chronic diseases.

As adults, you should see a health care provider at once least every two years. You need to get physicals and have "get well" visits. Your weight, body mass index, body fat percentage, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar should be checked. Many expensive and debilitating chronic disease can be prevented with those simple tests.

Toilet paper, Deodorant and Health care

Do not let the lack of health insurance prevent you from seeing a health care provider. Walk-in clinics are a great option for basic health care. You can find these clinics in multiple locations. They are in certain Wal-Mart, Target, CVS stores and as stand-alone locations. At Wal-Mart clinics a typical Get Well visit cost less than 65 dollars. You can have your cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure checked. You can also have many common health ailments treated. Find a Wal-Mart Clinic near you here.

Wal-Mart is not the only place that offers walk-in clinic. Do a Google search or look in your yellow pages for a location near you. Go see a health care provider because prevention is cheaper than treatment.

Start losing weight today without breaking the bank using Dr. Kal's Don't Go Broke Diet.

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**Please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or certified fitness professional before starting or changing your diet or exercise program.**

Massachusetts's Universal Health Care Plan

I have been following the new health insurance changes in Massachusetts, and I really hope it is a success. You can read about the changes in the New York Times here and here.

Massachusetts's Plan

In Massachusetts, they have made it mandatory for everyone to have health insurance. As a proponent of universal health care, I like the Massachusetts plan because it:

• Spreads the health care burden to all tax payers
• Encourages disease prevention and screening
• Provides health insurance to people who could not afford it otherwise

What if you can not afford it?

The Massachusetts plan provides their low income residents with either free or subsidized health coverage. Some people will argue that they should not have to pay for other people's health insurance. They do not realize they are already doing that through Medicaid and emergency room funding.

These people also do not realize that it will be less expensive to provide disease prevention and screening now than it would be to pay for disease treatment later.

Some people will argue that they can not afford the coverage even if the government says they can. The truth is that they can not afford to not be covered.

No one expects to develop a debilitating disease, but it happens. Health insurance is like a seat belt. It is something you must have, but hope you never have to use.

But I am healthy

Some people will argue that they are healthy and their money will simply provide health care for sick people. Everyone should have health insurance. No one knows what the future holds and we should all be prepared even if it has to be forced upon us.

Health insurance is not only for the ill. Having health insurance encourages regular doctor visits for disease screening and disease prevention education.

I am not sure if this plan will work in Massachusetts. Even if it works there, it may not work anywhere else. But I sure hope it does. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

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**Please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or certified fitness professional before starting or changing your diet or exercise program.**
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Health Care Cost Destroying America

I was reading this article in Business Week and I got very excited about the future of health care in the United States. I am a proponent of universal health care and the article gave me hope that our country is heading in that direction.

Health care cost

The health care problem in America is worsening. A large percentage of our country's GDP is spent on health care and this percentage is increasing annually.

These rising health care costs represent the worsening health of our country. Our poor health is weakening America physically as well as economically.

Health care costs are eroding the profit margins of all American companies. These eroding profit margins are making it difficult for American companies to compete in a global market place.

Fixing the problem

We can decrease the health care cost in this country by:

• Encouraging disease prevention and screening
• Encouraging weight loss in the two-thirds of Americans who are overweight
• Eliminating the inefficiencies in health care delivery and health information technology
• Providing universal health care to all Americans funded by tax payer

Universal health care

Universal health care would eliminate the problem of the uninsured. There are 43 million Americans without health insurance.

Their lack of health insurance increases the cost of health care for all Americans. The uninsured are less likely to get the prevention education and disease screening they need. This leads to chronic diseases, emergency room visits, and decreased productivity.

Universal health care with wellness incentive programs would spread the health care burden to all Americans and encourage healthier lifestyles.

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**Please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or certified fitness professional before starting or changing your diet or exercise program.**

Acomplia - FDA Reject?

Acomplia was supposed to be the miracle drug obese American were looking for, but Americans will not be getting Acomplia any time soon, if at all. That is because a FDA advisory committee just unanimously rejected the drug.

What is Acomplia?

Acomplia is the first CB1 cannabinoid receptor blocker. The CB1 receptor is in your brain. Blocking this receptor results in a decrease in appetite. Take the pill, you eat less and lose weight. This drug is for obese individuals and has been proven to work at decreasing weight.

Acomplia is made by Sanofi-Aventis and has been approved in over 35 countries. Unfortunately, having to sell it in those countries and not the US is like having to go to the prom with your cousin. It is just not ideal. Americans are the largest people in the world and we spend more on prescription medications than anyone.

What is wrong with Acomplia?

Acomplia was rejected because of its potential side effects. It seems that blocking the CB1 receptor does more than just suppress your appetite. It also causes depression and anxiety in some people. Most people would be happy if they lost some weight, but this drug may make you sad while you lose weight. Sounds like fun.

The future

The drug will probably be officially rejected by the FDA and Sanofi will have to try again. Americans are going to have to lose weight the old fashion way, using a well balance low calorie diet and exercise. It is a good thing you have Dr. Kal's Blog to help you out.

Sources:
The New York Times
The Diet Blog

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Dr. Kal's Blog

Welcome to Dr. Kal's Blog – the blog where we discuss losing weight, preventing chronic diseases, getting healthy and decreasing your health care cost.

I am Kalvin C. Chinyere, M.D. fondly know as Dr. Kal and I want to make the world a thinner, healthier and richer place. I started Dr. Kal's Blog to spread the gospel of disease prevention and health care cost reduction.

In the many years I have been involved in medicine and health care, I have noticed some trends:

• Medical technology has improved but people are not getting healthier.
• Health care costs are increasing, but people’s ability to pay for health care is decreasing.
• The percentage of people who are overweight is increasing.
• The percentage of people with preventable diseases is increasing.
• The percentage of people without health insurance is increasing.

The world is filled with sick people who can not afford to get sick. These same people can not afford to get healthy either.

That is why I created this site. I want us to discuss how everyone can afford to get healthy and that no one can afford not to.

As a 300 pound physician doing a rotation in the stroke unit of a hospital in Brooklyn, New York, I decided that I was not going to have a stroke. However, at the time I was working 80 hours a week and getting paid less than $10 an hour as a medical resident. I also had $200,000 in student loans hanging over my head. I was too tired and too broke to lose weight and get healthy.

I decided to try anyway. I researched the literature on weight loss and disease prevention extensively and devised ways to accomplish my goals with the little time and money I had available. Now I am over 140 pounds lighter, my cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure are within normal limits and I am much happier.

Dr. Kal's Blog is a place for me to share my knowledge and opinions with you.

Start losing weight today without breaking the bank using Dr. Kal's Don't Go Broke Diet.

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**Please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or certified fitness professional before starting or changing your diet or exercise program.**

Who is Kalvin Chinyere, M.D.?

Kalvin C. Chinyere, M.D. fondly known as Dr. Kal is on a mission to eradicate self-imposed diseases and illnesses. While the goal may seem lofty, those who know Dr. Kal believe it’s entirely possible. His pursuit is not driven by self serving egotistical goals but from a passionate commitment to helping others transform their lives for the better.

From X-Box to XXL

Overcoming his battle with low self esteem and obesity created a deep seated desire to teach others how to triumph over these same challenges. Dr. Kal was born in Miami, Florida. The year round warm weather encouraged an active lifestyle. At the age of 7, Kal’s mother moved him and his younger brothers to Queens Village, New York leaving his father behind in Miami.

His mother worked over 60 hours a week to raise 4 boys. The climate change combined with Kal’s love of food, responsibilities of being the eldest son and love of video games resulted in a dramatic weight gain. Kal developed “boy breasts” and was subjected to constant teasing in the neighborhood and at school.

Kal excelled academically but his self-esteem plummeted. He was accepted into and attended the prestigious Bronx High School of Science but spent most of his time alone and studying.

At the age of 14, Kal moved back to Miami to live with his father where he attended and graduated from Miami Northwestern Senior High School’s Medical Magnet Program. A brilliant student, he went on to the University of Miami and University of Miami School of Medicine earning a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) and Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree in 8 years.

The Spark of Change

In the eight years after high school, Kal’s weight ballooned from 250 pounds to more than 330 pounds. At 6 feet, he should have weighed 180 pounds. He was literally carrying around an extra person. Kal’s weight had been a concern since high school but every attempt at weight loss had not only failed but resulted in additional weight gain.

Following medical school, Dr. Kal started his Internal Medicine internship at a hospital in Brooklyn, New York. His first rotations were in the stroke unit where Kal came face to face with his future if he continued to allow his weight to spiral out of control.

The vast majority of the stroke patients had medical conditions that could have been prevented by losing weight and making small lifestyle changes. As Dr. Kal worked to alleviate his patient’s suffering from self imposed diseases, he made a decision to take charge of his own destiny.
Money is the most envied, but the least enjoyed. Health is the most enjoyed, but the least envied. --Charles Caleb Colton

Dr. Kal’s inspiration to change his life was quickly tempered by the obstacles he faced. He was working 80 hours a week, had no money and owed over $200,000 in student loans. He did not have the time or money to lose weight!

On a Mission

Undeterred, Dr. Kal began to read and study everything he could on weight loss. He pored through medical literature, medical journals, books and success stories. Combining his knowledge of medicine, human biology, years of experience with his new found information, Dr. Kal designed a program that helped him slowly lose more than 130 pounds. He did it without fad diets, weight loss pills or surgery.

His transformation was both physical and mental. After losing weight following years of failed attempts, Dr. Kal was dedicated to helping others lose weight, prevent disease and live long and healthy lives.

His deep seated commitment led him to become certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a Health and Fitness Instructor and personal trainer.

With an objective to decrease obesity in adults and children, Dr. Kal has channeled his energy into teaching his successful strategies for losing weight and keeping it off.

Dr. Kal firmly believes the key to successful weight loss is changing behavior, eating a well balanced diet, increasing physical activity, reducing stress and laughing as much as possible. He also teaches how to make these changes inexpensively.

Start losing weight today without breaking the bank using Dr. Kal's Don't Go Broke Diet.

Laugh and lose weight at the Laugh Out Loud Weight Loss Blog.

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**Please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or certified fitness professional before starting or changing your diet or exercise program.**

Links To Dr. Kal

Link to Squidwho

Link to Yahoo Answers Page

Link to LinkedIn

Link to Yahoo 360

Link to Weight Loss Forum

Link to PRWeb Press Release #1

Link to Ezine Articles

Link to MSN Spaces Page

Link to One Pound Closer T-Shirts

Link to Doctor Prescribed Laughs T-Shirts

Start losing weight today without breaking the bank using Dr. Kal's Don't Go Broke Diet.

Laugh and lose weight at the Laugh Out Loud Weight Loss Blog.

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**Please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or certified fitness professional before starting or changing your diet or exercise program.**

Weight Loss Coaching

Dr. Kal knows the physical, emotional, and psychological pains that obesity can cause. Having been an overweight child, obese teen, and a morbidly obese adult, Dr. Kal also knows how difficult it can be for some people to lose weight and keep it off. That is why he started his weight loss coaching program to help people get on and stay on the weight loss wagon.

Dr. Kal or one of his trained coaches will help you lose weight by empowering, motivating, teaching, guiding, and advising you. The coaches are equipped with the techniques and strategies to help you reach and maintain your weight loss goals.

Start losing weight today without breaking the bank using Dr. Kal's Don't Go Broke Diet.

Laugh and lose weight at the Laugh Out Loud Weight Loss Blog.

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**Please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or certified fitness professional before starting or changing your diet or exercise program.**

Weight Loss Journey

His story is very inspirational. Public accountability is an excellent motivator.

The only things I didn't like were the music and his tight pants. At least I could mute one of them.

Start losing weight today without breaking the bank using Dr. Kal's Don't Go Broke Diet.

Laugh and lose weight at the Laugh Out Loud Weight Loss Blog.

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**Please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or certified fitness professional before starting or changing your diet or exercise program.**

Safe Weight Loss Tips

Safe Weight Loss Tips

By Janno G. C. Damgaard

Usually when people wish to lose weight, they start by reducing the amount of food they eat.

Off course this may work for a while, but it is not a lasting solution to walk around being hungry all the time. And if you are not careful and thorough with what you do eat, you could end up with some vitamin deficiency that is unhealthy. Instead of you going about this in the wrong way, read these weight loss tips, and start loosing those excess pounds in a safe and healthy way.

It is a common belief that in order to loose weight, you need to eat fewer calories. This misunderstanding probably comes from the adverse selections of low fat, low calorie foods in the supermarkets. In fact this is not good at all, because even though the decrease in calorie intake will start the body burning that excess fat, it will also result in fatigue, weakness and perhaps illness. This is because burning fat requires a lot of energy, and the lessened amounts of food and calories, does not support fat burning.

The body will not only be burning fat this way, it will also start eating away at the lean muscle, which weight losers usually want to keep in place. And when you begin eating again, the weight will return rather fast, but this time it will be all fat, the muscle will be gone forever. OK, perhaps not forever, but you will have to work for the muscles to return. Most people know that fat weighs more than muscle, and when you think about it, it is pretty obvious, that even if you only gain back what you lost in the terms of weight, you will look fatter, as fat weighs less than muscle.

Instead you should be eating smaller meals, more frequently, and that way keep your metabolism working hard at digesting your food intake, and burning more energy than what you put in. But this time in a positive way, that leaves the muscles in place.

More Weight Loss Tips - Training and Exercise Burns Muscle

When your muscles work hard, they burn a lot of calories, and this is a safe and secure way to loose weight. And well trained muscles actually also burns calories when resting and regenerating after a workout. So the sheer fact of doing some weights or other muscle building workout will actually be a weight loss cure in itself. Even if you did not become thinner, you would weigh less as the fat turned into lean muscle mass.

Cardio training is excellent for weight loss, and also for the heart. When you do cardio workout, you raise your pulse, and as a result, your blood flows faster through your body, thereby deliver more oxygen to the muscles, which in turn helps them increase and burn fat. If you really want to combine these to kinds of training, you should try getting a treadmill, and walk on it, while it is inclined 15 to 20 degrees. This is excellent cardio workout, and muscle training of the legs, in one workout, and it can be done to music or TV if you like.

Following these simple weight loss tips will help you get in better shape, at the same time as you are losing weight.

When you begin to eat more frequent meals, work your muscles, and get your heart pumping, you are giving your physiology a run fir its money, and that is a healthy way top start burning that fat away.

These weight loss tips will both help you loose weight, and at the same time gain energy. If you want a more specific scheme for what you should eat, and at what times, please go to: http://weightloss.jannogcd.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Janno_G._C._Damgaard
http://EzineArticles.com/?Safe-Weight-Loss-Tips&id=1402909

Start losing weight today without breaking the bank using Dr. Kal's Don't Go Broke Diet.

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**Please consult your physician, registered dietitian, or certified fitness professional before starting or changing your diet or exercise program.**