Human development begins in dialogue, children learning to organise their world through interaction with others. Children need a responsive environment in order to develop agency at different levels.
We need to overcome the myth that creativity is a gift, an innate talent, that you are born either with or without. Creativity is an important part of every human life. We can cultivate creativity in every baby, toddler and child, and hope that it will continue into adult life.
If curiosity is what you’re after, your main goal in responding to a question shouldn’t be giving the answer. In some cases, an immediate answer can even extinguish curiosity.
What we know of the inner world of children and their parents is what we learn by listening to them. We shall hardly understand them if we look at them from the outside and seek objective measures.
Kids computer games help children relax and concentrate. Children relax because kids computer games are entertaining and children concentrate because children's computer games are challenging.
Social competence is an ability to take another’s perspective concerning a situation and to learn from past experience and apply that learning to the ever-changing social landscape.
WHEN YOU THINK OF ABS, you may think of Brad Pitt or Janet Jackson.You may think ofmagazine covers andunderwear commercials. You may think of six-packs,washboards, and a belly so tight that you could bounce a marble off it. Your cynical side may also think of airbrushing, starvation diets, and an exercise regimen so time-consuming it would violate labor laws. Abs, you assume, are reserved for athletes, for models, for bodybuilders, for trainers, for rappers, for the half-dressed “talent” on infomercials, for genetic freaks, for the liposuctioned, and for people who would classify celery as a dessert.
Your conclusion: You have a better chance of scaling Mount Everest in a Speedo than you do of getting great abs.
I understand the struggle. You look down, see a Jell-O mold implanted in your gut, and figure that your days of having a flat stomach vanished the day you graduated from high school. But in a way, you really shouldn’t think of your abs as being extinct. Think of your abs as the third cousins you met at a past family reunion. You remember seeing them, so you have a vague memory of what they look like, but it’s been so long that you really don’t have a clue where they are now. Well, even if it’s been decades since you’ve made any kind of contact with them, the physiological fact remains: You have abs.
The traditional white coat isn’t seen much on pediatricians. Though studies have shown that children are not more likely to be scared of doctors in white coats, most of us still don’t like to wear them. I personally don’t wear a tie anymore, either. One good, simple study showed that doctor’s neckties can carry disease-causing bacteria. Seen more often in emergency rooms or among specialists who perform surgical procedures, scrubs are popular because they are comfortable, they look cool, they’re easy to choose in the morning, and they’re free. (Actually, the ones with hospital insignia are not supposed to be free; they’re supposed to be worn only in the operating rooms of the hospital. Doctors routinely ignore this. The scrubs with wacky designs that nurses and techs wear are purchased.)
Whatever pediatricians wear, they ought to appear professional and clean. Pediatricians’ attire isn’t the most important thing, but it will be one way that you’ll make your own impression about their competence and professionalism.
Pediatricians come in all shapes and personalities. Which one to choose often comes down to personal preference and comfort.
Old versus Young
The stereotype is that older doctors have more years of valuable experience, and younger doctors are more up-to-date on the latest research and techniques. There’s some truth in this. Whether you end up favoring youth versus experience, you’ll want to work with doctors who keep up on their reading and maintain a healthy curiosity about children’s health. Any doctor, young or old, who feels they already know all they need to know is someone you should avoid. If your gut feeling is that you’d prefer a doctor with some grey hairs, go with that; if you think your children would prefer a younger physician, go that route. Either way can be fine, as long as you are confident and comfortable with your pediatrician’s skills and experience.
I’m sometimes asked if I have children, or if a pediatrician needs to have children to be competent. Although I’ve certainly learned a tremendous amount from my own three kids, I think pediatricians who keep their minds open and really watch children will be able to learn what they need to know, even if they don’t have children of their own.
Man versus Woman
Most general pediatricians coming out of training are now women, so it’s going to get more difficult to find a male pediatrician in the future. If you’ve got your own comfort zone about who seems more competent, go with your gut. Most younger children don’t care whether their doctor is a man or woman, but many teenagers do. Though you may have to change doctors in ten years, don’t get too concerned about matching the genders of your baby and your pediatrician.
Personality Types
Some doctors are quiet and thoughtful; some are kind of kooky. Some are quite direct, and don’t beat around the bush; some are much more “gentle” in the way they communicate. Some doctors become more emotionally attached to their families and might act more “friendly”; others prefer to maintain a profession detachment. These and many other aspects of a pediatrician’s personality may fit better or worse with what you’re looking for. Meet a variety of doctors until you find one that “clicks” for you.
Availability
An otherwise excellent pediatrician with commitments to teaching, research, or other matters may not be regularly available. This may matter more to you if your children are younger or have special health needs that require more frequent visits to a doctor who knows them well.
Super Star versus Others in the Practice
Many practices seem to have one or more “super star” pediatricians. These might be the owners, or might be the senior members, or might be the ones with the most likeable personalities. Though you may have heard how superb that individual doctor is, keep in mind that the practice’s “super star” is probably the busiest doctor in the group. You’ll have extra long waits, and may not be able to get quick appointments easily. One of the lesser known physicians in a group may fit your style just as well, and might work out better in the long run as your main go-to doctor.
If your child has special or chronic health problems, you may want to look for a doctor with particular interest or expertise in that area. Local parent support groups can be a good informal resource for these sorts of referrals, as can physical therapists, specialists, or other people who work with kids who have similar problems. Though you might continue to work with a geneticist as a resource for your child with Down Syndrome, for instance, it would be nice to know that your pediatrician is also familiar and comfortable with working with these kids’ special issues.
So - called nipple confusion can occur when a baby is offered the breast, the bottle, and/or a pacifi er within a brief time frame. Breast - feeding and bottle - feeding require two different sets of skills from a baby. With breast - feeding, and with proper latching - on, a baby places her tongue beneath and around the elongated nipple to help create suction and extract milk. When drinking from a bottle, she uses her lips more and places her tongue in front of the nipple to control the fl ow of liquid. A pacifi er uses yet another set of muscles and refl exes. So it ’ s easy to see why a baby who has not yet caught on to breast -feeding could be confused when artifi cial nipples are introduced too early.
A breast - fed baby can successfully learn to switch back and forth from breast to bottle (this is a practical concern for nursing mothers who go back to work and continue to breast - feed when they are home); she can also use a pacifi er to satisfy her need to suck between feedings. There is no science to suggest that pacifi ers cause medical or psychological problems. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends no pacifi er usage for the fi rst month of life, so that correct breast -feeding technique is established; however, they have also released data that suggests the use of a pacifi er in the fi rst year of life, combined with crib - sleeping, cuts the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. (For more on SIDS, see pages 52–54 in chapter 2 .) If you want to discourage nipple confusion, avoid artifi cial nipples, including pacifi -ers, for the fi rst few weeks of life until breast - feeding and latching - on is well established.
myth
No spicy foods or alcohol if you are breast - feeding! reality
You can have a beer with your enchiladas.
the facts
If you’re consuming a healthful, balanced diet, you needn’t be obsessive about restricting certain foods and beverages from your diet. Even if you make poor food choices, your baby will still extract the nutrition he requires from your breast milk; but chances are you’ll feel a lot better if you eat a good diet. So, is it true that if you eat garlic or onions or cabbage, and drink liquor, your baby will have an upset tummy or suffer from the effects of your alcohol consumption?
Some studies have shown that babies get gassy after their mothers eat foods from the cabbage family (like Brussels sprouts, kale, or caulifl ower), or that they balk at “ garlicky ” tasting milk. But unless your infant is truly sensitive and colicky, he can handle a varied diet. It takes about fi ve hours for the foods you eat to pass into your milk supply, so if you’re concerned about the “ tummy connection, ” pay attention to what you eat and when you eat it.
As for alcohol, you avoided it during your pregnancy, but now that you’re breast - feeding, can you resume drinking an occasional serving of beer, wine, or other liquor? Many doctors agree that no harm will come from occasional or light (not heavy) alcohol consumption — a few drinks over the course of a week, for instance. Very little alcohol makes it into the breast milk supply, especially if you consume food with the alcohol. If you ’ re at all concerned, then breast - feed (or express milk) before having a drink. By the time your baby is ready for his next feeding, you will have metabolized the alcohol (in a 120 - pound woman consuming an average drink, this takes about two and a half hours).
There is no evidence that having an occasional alcoholic drink during breast - feeding harms babies permanently; so no need to “ pump and dump ” your milk if you ’ ve had a single drink. However, you may prefer that your baby not be exposed to milk that may contain any alcohol if you suspect he has a reaction to even the smallest amount. In one study, babies who nursed after their mothers ingested a small serving of alcohol sucked more frequently during the fi rst minute of feeding, but then took in less milk in later feedings. Researchers could discern a different odor in the milk of alcohol - consuming mothers, so perhaps the babies drank less because they didn ’ t like the smell of the milk. However, the babies also took shorter but more frequent naps, which suggests that perhaps they consumed less milk because they were sleepy.
What about caffeine? Unless you can clearly connect its consumption to ill effects in your baby (irritability or wakefulness, for instance), you needn ’ t avoid it completely. However, babies are unable to eliminate caffeine from their systems effectively, so it may build up and cause problems for days or even weeks after you ’ ve ingested it. Pay attention to your consumption of caffeinated beverages (not just coffee and colas, but energy drinks, certain caffeine - containing cold remedies, and substances like chocolate — though white chocolate has no caffeine) and moderate your consumption accordingly.
Health is a complex state determined by ongoing interactions between an individual’s genetic makeup and everyday environmental factors. For example, a baby’s immediate and long-term health is affected by the mother’s personal health and daily practices during pregnancy: her diet; use or avoidance of alcohol, tobacco, and certain medications; routine prenatal care; and exposure to communicable illnesses. Mothers who ignore healthy practices during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to infants who are born prematurely, have low birth weight, or experience a range of special needs (Polakowski, Akinbami, & Mendola, 2009). These children also face a significantly higher risk of lifelong health problems and possibly early death. In contrast, a child who is born healthy, grows up in a nurturing family, consumes a nutritious diet, lives in a safe environment, and has numerous opportunities for learning and recreation is more likely to enjoy a healthy life.
Heredity
Characteristics transmitted from biological parents to their children at the time of conception determine all of the genetic traits of a new, unique individual. Heredity sets the limits for growth, development, and health potential. It explains, in part, why children in one family are short while those from another family are tall or why some individuals have allergies or require glasses while others do not.
Understanding how heredity influences health can also be useful for predicting an inherited tendency, or predisposition, to certain health problems, such as heart disease, deafness, cancer, diabetes, allergies, or mental health disorders. However, it should be noted that a family history of heart disease or diabetes, for example, does not necessarily predict the development of these conditions. Many lifestyle factors, including physical activity, diet, sleep, and stress levels, interact with genetic material (genes) to determine whether a child will ultimately develop heart disease or any number of other chronic health conditions.
Environment
Although heredity provides the basic building materials that predetermine the limits of one’s health, environment plays an equally important role. Environment encompasses a combination of physical, psychological, social, economic, and cultural factors that collectively influence the way individuals perceive and respond to their surroundings. In turn, these responses shape a person’s behaviors and potential outcomes. For example, two cyclists set off on a ride: One wears a helmet, the other does not. The choices each has made could potentially have quite different outcomes if they were to be involved in a collision. In turn, if the cyclist who decided not to wear a helmet sustained injuries, he or she is likely to experience significant health, economic, social, and psychological consequences.
Examples of environmental factors that promote healthy outcomes include:
following a nutritious diet
participating in daily physical and recreational activities
getting adequate rest
having access to medical and dental care
reducing stress
residing in homes, child care facilities, schools, and workplaces that are clean and safe
having opportunities to form stable and respectful relationships
There are also many environmental factors that have a negative effect on health. For example, exposure to chemicals and pollution, abuse, illness, obesity, prenatal alcohol, sedentary lifestyles, poverty, stress, food insecurity, violence, or unhealthy dietary choices can interfere with children’s optimal growth and development.
heredity – the transmission of certain genetic material and characteristics from biological parents to child at the time of conception. predisposition – having an increased chance or susceptibility.
Health, safety, and nutrition are closely intertwined and dependent on one another. The status of each has a direct effect on the quality of the others. For example, children who receive all essential nutrients from a healthful diet are more likely to reach their growth potential, benefit from early learning opportunities, experience fewer illnesses, and have ample energy for play. In contrast, a child whose diet lacks critical nutrients such as iron may develop anemia, which can lead to fatigue, diminished alertness, growth failure, and loss of appetite. Disinterest in eating is likely to further compromise the child’s iron intake. In other words, nutritional status has a direct effect on children’s health and safety, which, in turn, influences the dietary requirements needed to restore and maintain well-being.
A nutritious diet also plays an important role in injury prevention. The child or adult who arrives at school having eaten little or no breakfast may experience low blood sugar, which can result in fatigue, decreased alertness, and slowed reaction times and, thus, increase an individual’s risk of accidental injury. Similarly, overweight children and adults are more likely to sustain injuries because excess weight may restrict physical activity, slow reaction times, and increase fatigue with exertion.
If your doctor approves, get moderate, regular, low-impact exercise, such as walking, swimming, or pedaling a stationary bike. Twenty to 30 minutes of exercise at least three times a week is recommended for most pregnant women. If you’re already a well-conditioned runner or workout star, you’ll probably be able to continue, perhaps at a lower intensity. If you’re out of shape, you shouldn’t try anything too strenuous during pregnancy. Some women should not exercise at all during pregnancy. So whether you’re a triathlete or a couch potato, you should discuss exercise with your doctor first.
As you get further along in your pregnancy, your sense of balance may be thrown off and your ligaments will get looser. (It’s a hormonal thing.) Because of these changes, many doctors advise against sports where falls are likely, such as skiing, cycling, and horseback riding. Waterskiing, surfing, and scuba diving are considered especially dangerous and should be avoided.
Take frequent breaks while exercising, and drink plenty of fluids. Limit exertion during hot, humid weather—you don’t want to get overheated. Avoid exercise that requires you to lie flat on your back after the first three months of pregnancy; the uterus may press on large blood vessels, restricting blood flow to your heart. Even if you are in good shape, do not push yourself anywhere near your limit. It appears that it may be safer if your heart rate (the number of beats per minute) stays below 140.
In addition to aerobic exercise, strengthening and stretching exercises can help prevent backache and other pregnancy discomforts. Try the pelvic tilt and Kegel exercises for starters.
The Pelvic Tilt
Start on your hands and knees. Relax your back, then breathe out and tighten your abdominal muscles while tucking your buttocks down. Your back will naturally arch upward. Hold for a count of five or ten. Repeat. You can also do it standing against a wall: When you tighten your abdomen and tuck in your buttocks, your lower back will flatten against the wall.
Kegel Exercises
Kegel exercises are like internal calisthenics. They strengthen the pelvic floor muscles (the muscles around the vagina and anus). This may make childbirth and recovery easier and help prevent the leaking of urine that new mothers sometimes experience. (Because they tighten vaginal muscles, they may even improve your sex life!)
To do Kegels, tense the muscles around the vagina and anus as if trying to stop the flow of urine. Hold them tight for several seconds, then relax. Do 10 to 20 contractions three or four times a day, and try to work up to holding each contraction for 10 seconds. You can do this exercise when you’re sitting, standing, or lying down. Any time you’re waiting—at a red light, in a store, or at the doctor’s office—you can get in a few Kegels.
Eat Well
It’s best to eat a balanced diet that includes lots of whole grain breads, pasta, and cereal; plenty of fruits and vegetables; and smaller amounts of low-fat dairy products and protein-packed foods such as poultry, fish, meat, dry beans, and nuts. The “Food Guide Pyramid,” designed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is a good basis for such a diet. As the guide suggests, it’s better to avoid empty calories—foods like candy, chips, and soda that are high in calories but low in nutrients.
During pregnancy, keep in mind a few more food tips.
Eat a little more. A woman of moderate weight will need to add an averageof 300 extra calories a day to her diet. A low-fat eight-ounce yogurt and an apple will do it, or half a turkeysandwich and a glass of 1 percent milk. Nutritious foods like these are a goodway to get the extra calories (although the occasional late-night pint of icecream is one of the time-honored perks of pregnancy).
Gain weight. The National Academy of Science has recommended thatwomen of normal weight gain 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy. If your doctor thinks your fetus is growingwell, don’t worry about exactly how much weight you’re gaining; mostwomen who fall outside this range still have healthy babies. But don’t try aweight-loss diet while you’re pregnant. Wait until after your baby is born.
Drink a lot of water. During pregnancy, a woman needs extra fluid. Theamount of blood in her body increases by an average of almost 50 percent.The fetus, placenta, and amniotic fluid all require water. Dehydration can deepen fatigue early in pregnancy and lead to premature contractions later on. Aim to get eight eight-ounce glasses of fluids a day; make as much of it from water as possible.
Don’t eat raw or undercooked meat, raw eggs, raw (unpasteurized) milk, orcheese made from raw milk. Such foods can carry microorganisms, such asListeria monocytogenes or the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis, that can harm a fetus. If you handle raw meat, wash your hands and utensils immediately afterward. Wash raw fruits and vegetables before eating. The Food and Drug Administration suggests that pregnant women avoid eating swordfish, shark, king mackerel, and tilefish because of possible high mercury levels.
Be sure you get enough iron and calcium. The recommended dose of iron is 30 mgs a day to prevent anemia in the mother (increased to 60 to 100 mgs if the woman is large or carrying twins). This is especially important later in pregnancy when the fetus, the placenta, and the mother’s expanding blood supply can easily use up her stored iron.
The recommended dose of calcium is 1,200 mgs a day for pregnantwomen. Prenatal vitamins, which are commonly recommended by doctors,typically contain only 200 to 300 mgs of calcium because taking more caninterfere with the absorption of iron in the supplement. If you wait a fewhours, however, this is no longer a problem. So, unless you get a lot of calciumin your diet, you may want to take your prenatal vitamin in the morningand a calcium tablet at night.
Sleep and Rest a Lot
You may be surprised at how tired you are in the first few months of pregnancy—when you don’t even look pregnant yet. Most women feel less tired midway through the pregnancy, and then weary again at the end. If you feel tired, don’t fight it. Take a nap, or put your feet up, close your eyes, and listen to music. If you’re working outside the home, try to find a place where you can lie down for a few minutes during the day. Go to bed early, even if it means cutting back on activities or getting your partner to do more around the house (or leaving it undone). Take a personal day.
Get Some Exercise
If your doctor approves, get moderate, regular, low-impact exercise, such as walking, swimming, or pedaling a stationary bike. Twenty to 30 minutes of exercise at least three times a week is recommended for most pregnant women. If you’re already a well-conditioned runner or workout star, you’ll probably be able to continue, perhaps at a lower intensity. If you’re out of shape, you shouldn’t try anything too strenuous during pregnancy. Some women should not exercise at all during pregnancy. So whether you’re a triathlete or a couch potato, you should discuss exercise with your doctor first.
Doing—or not doing—a few things in advance can help your baby get a healthy start.
Take folic acid (a B vitamin) daily. Begin at least a month before you starttrying to get pregnant, and continue throughout the first three months of pregnancy. This simple act can help prevent many cases of spina bifida andother neural tube defects (birth defects that affect the brain and spinal cord).The recommended dose of 0.4 to 0.8 milligram (mg) is found in most multivitamins.
If you smoke or drink alcohol (even moderately), stop.
If you are severely overweight or underweight, work toward achieving ahealthier weight before you attempt to get pregnant. This can reduce yourrisk of many prenatal problems.
If you have a chronic illness or suspect you have a sexually transmitted disease,see your doctor and get treatment before you become pregnant.
Do not take oral prescription drugs called retinoids (synthetic variants ofvitamin A); they can be dangerous to your fetus. The most commonly prescribedform of this drug is the acne drug Accutane (isotretinoin). This drugcan be particularly damaging early in pregnancy, before a woman may evenrealize she has conceived. Related drugs Soriatane (acitretin) and Tegison (etretinate), used to treat psoriasis, may damage a fetus even after a womanhas stopped taking them. If you have ever taken these drugs, talk to yourdoctor. (Some skin creams, such as Retin-A or Renova, contain a related substancecalled tretinoin or retinoic acid. In studies so far, these do not appearto cause problems. But until more research is done, it may be wise to avoidretinoic acid creams before and during pregnancy.)
Dealing with potential problems ahead of time can make life better for you andyour baby. That’s one reason doctors advise that women or couples have a “preconceptionvisit” with a health care provider months before a planned pregnancy.
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Disney DVD Shop
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Tesco CDs
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It seems like most fat loss programs focus on one main thing: to burn fat, you have to expend more energy than you take in.
This is what we call "energy balance." In order to lose fat, you have to create what we call "energy debt" or "energy deficit" – that is, eliminate the balance and instead be on the negative side of the balance scales.
Of course, that works very well for "beginning" fat. However, success doesn't last forever.
As anyone who's ever been on a diet and exercise program of any kind can tell you, at first it's pretty smooth sailing. Eat less, do more, lose fat.
And then it stops! And as those same people can also tell you, it usually stops suddenly.
Of course, the first instinct people have is a very natural one…to simply do more of what was bringing them success in the first place.
So they eat even less and do even more.
And…have no results.
You see, what these people fail to realize (and what most fat loss programs fail to address) is…
After a certain point, simple energy deficit no longer covers the tab.
It becomes more about what type of deficit.
Speaking generally, you actually have to eat closer to maintenance calorie levels (instead of far below) and expend more calories through exercise.
Even then, things don't always happen as quickly as you want.
You see, once you've hit a fat loss plateau or when you're trying to lose the last few pounds (like I was when I was dieting for the beach house), fat loss becomes less about energy balance and more about hormones.
You see, some hormones, such as Leptin, actually control the majority of your general fat loss efforts and all of the factors thereof: appetite, satiety, "starvation mode." However, assuming you're eating enough and trying to create an energy deficit through training, Leptin isn't the issue.
In Final Phase Fat Loss though, you're never on a severe diet, so you don't have to worry about Leptin.
There are other hormones however, which are a bit more insidious in their effects on your physique. They don't just determine IF you gain fat – they determine where you gain it, and whether you're able to lose it from those areas.
Those "problem" areas on your body are there for a reason.
"Problem areas" are created by your hormonal environment, and it's your hormones that force your body to have particular fat storage patterns.
In this article, we're going to talk about the three most common types of regional fat storage, and the hormones that cause them.
Back Got Back: Low Body Fat Storage
One of the most common types of fat storage that we see in women is the "pear shape" – fairly thin on top but heavy on the bottom (and IN the bottom, if you know what I mean).
This is so common that we often refer to a "pear shape" as a body type. This is true to an extent, but this type of fat storage is also heavily dependent on the female sex hormone estrogen. This is one reason why you see this type of fat storage primarily in women.
High levels of estrogen are awesome for enjoying Grey's Anatomy and makin' babies, but terrible for fat loss – which is why women usually have more trouble losing fat than men.
However, anyone—male or female—with high estrogen levels will have trouble losing fat, especially from the lower body. In essence, the higher your estrogen levels, the greater the likelihood you'll store fat in your lower body; mainly in the hips and thighs.
And yes, it IS possible for men to have high estrogen levels. Unfortunately, outside of having to deal with a declined rate of fat loss and lower body fat, these guys ALSO have to deal with the ignominy of man-boobs.
On the whole, estrogen related fat storage is a pain in the butt (get it!?) but it is not completely unmanageable. You see, you can offset this phenomenon with certain types of training.
No worries, ladies (and gents!), I'm here to help.
In addition to helping you lose fat stored in the lower body, these specifically designed workouts will also be great for fat loss in general. Essentially, they're great for burning calories and for shedding lower body fat through estrogen management. Combine the two and the result is rapid fat loss, with a heavy concentration on lower body fat stores.
Probably my least favorite incarnation of regional fat storage is love handles and lower back fat. This is, of course, because I personally suffer from such.
Even when I am in lean condition – I'm talking shredded pretty much everywhere else – I store some fat in my love handles and lower back. It used to take me an extra 3 weeks to get rid of it!
The reason I tend to store fat this way is because of how my body reacts to certain hormones, and because of the effect those hormones have on fat storage.
When I was a fat kid and ate lots and lots of goodies, I screwed by my endocrine system a wee bit. Nothing too serious, but a decade of eating rapidly digesting carbs followed by, well, more rapidly digesting carbs, made my insulin spike and crash and spike and crash all over the place.
On top of making me fat in that immediacy, it also completely had a pretty negative effect on the way my body processes and handles insulin period.
The degree to which you are able to process and respond to glucose (sugar) in your body is called insulin sensitivity. The higher this is, the easier and more efficiently your body utilizes carbohydrates for energy, and the less like you are to store carbs as fat.
On the other hand, insulin resistance is the opposite; you don't deal well with carbs. And anything other than a low carb diet pretty much means you're gonna hang on to some fat.
And, to make matters worse, as I mentioned previously, there are regional effects. It's been shown that people who store fat in the love handles are generally very insulin resistant – and therefore it can be reasoned that insulin resistance leads to love handles and lower back fat storage (which of course, means that insulin resistance makes it very hard to lose fat from that area as well).
I'm sure many of you out there who have been heavy before are experiencing much the same problems that I used to have.
The good news is that insulin resistance (and the resulting regional fatness) can be mitigated with certain types of training. For example, with careful planning and selection of exercises, you can start to whittle away at your love handles and lower back fat while you increase insulin sensitivity.
The better news is that I've figured out a specific series of training sessions that will do just that.
The One, the Only: Belly Fat
Without question, the most common type of regional fat storage is belly fat. If this isn't you, it's someone you know.
Abdominal fat storage obviously has a lot to do with your diet and overall body fat level; that should be obvious but it never hurts to touch on it.
Outside of that, it's hormones baby, hormones.
The one we're talking about here is cortisol. This hormone has been in the media a lot in the past few years, and I've talked about it a bit, so by now you know that cortisol is sometimes called a "stress" hormone.
That moniker is more appropriate than you know.
Basically, that means your body will produce cortisol (and encourage belly fat storage) under conditions of nearly any type of stress – both emotional and physical. So to combat cortisol, it's not enough to just get more sleep or stop drunk dialing your ex-girlfriend (although that helps, I've heard).
Instead, it is of far greater effect to combat cortisol through resistance training.
Now, if you're observant, you may have noticed what seems to be a contradiction.
As I said, cortisol is also produced through physical stress. In fact, training is actually one of the primary means through which your body will produce this sneaky little hormone.
Additionally, because cortisol has been linked to overtraining and has a catabolic (muscle wasting) effect, producing too much of it through training is certainly counterproductive.
It's important to note, however, that long duration cardio and extended lifting sessions are what produces the most cortisol, and I always recommend against those.
Instead, short, intense training sessions using a particular type of training modality will help to counteract the effects of cortisol; both the muscle-wasting effect and the cortisol related belly fat storage.
Are you ready to fight these hormones?!
If so, click * HERE * to learn more and find out about using specific types of training to combat the nefarious three hormonal nemeses by producing hormones that offset the effects of estrogen, insulin, and cortisol.
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Watching TV can definitely make anyone fat. No, not just because it is a sedentary activity, but because the information most commercials are giving is extremely misleading and really confusing, to say the least.
Most people who know me, know I am not a TV watcher. Actually, I don't even have cable at home (A rare thing these days, I know.) Very often, I have no idea which show is the "latest craze" and which commercials are all the rave.
Last week the TV did catch my attention. I was at my parent's house and my mom had the TV on in the background. I was helping her cook and I nearly chopped my fingers off because I couldn't believe what I was hearing! "Eat Cheerios to lower your cholesterol." "Three or more glasses of skim milk a day are a great way to lose weight". Then it got ugly "Splenda is just like sugar and is great for kids".
The worst of them all (the one where my mother had to nearly restrain me from attacking the TV "There is nothing wrong with High Fructose Corn Syrup. It comes from corn and can actually be good for you." I nearly passed out.
I can see why people are totally confused about healthy eating. I can also see why obesity, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes are at an all time high in this country and in many others as well.
After I was done hyperventilating, I decided to first turn the TV off (because my heart just couldn't take anymore) and then write this newsletter to clear up a few misconceptions.
1. Cheerios biggest claim to fame is that eating them will help you lower your cholesterol. I am here to tell you that eating processed grains, especially in the form of cereal can actually make your cholesterol go up! The cholesterol study done showed how soluble fiber can help the body eliminate bad cholesterol from the body. Cheerios has 1 gram of soluble fiber per serving. Woop-dee-doo. Big deal. I can get 2 grams of soluble fiber from an apple, 3 grams from broccoli and carrots, and more than 4 grams from kidney beans. (Beat that Cheerio Man). Honestly, I don't think there are many foods in a box that are healthy at all. They have to be highly processed to stay shelf stable, many times loading them up with chemicals and fillers that are making us gain weight. My recommendation is ditch the cereal and pick up some wholesome natural foods like fruits and veggies. Natural grains like brown rice, millet and quinoa are 10x's better than any boxed cereal.
2. Milk does a body bad! That's really what the commercial should say. Ok, that is not entirely true. Conventional milk does a body bad. If you have read the Dairy chapter in The Diet Solution Program, you know my stance on milk: Organic is a must and Raw Milk is even better. If you didn't read my article on milk, you can read it here:
But don't go yet until you read #3. 3. Give Splenda to my children? Never! Splenda has not been out on the market long enough to show whether it is actually safe or not. Until then it is a public health experiment (No thanks, I don't' want to be your guinea pig). Being the organic chemistry nerd that I am, I know exactly how sugar is converted to Splenda. I will spare you the chem lesson but tell you that Splenda (or sucralose) is a synthetic compound stumbled upon in 1976 by scientists in Britain seeking a new pesticide formulation. Huh? Did you say pesticide? Yup. Many chemists believe this molecule resembles a pesticide much more than it resembles natural sugar. If this is still in debate, I will not be a test subject. I highly recommend you take yourself and your children out of this experiment as well. My tip: Stick to natural sweeteners like whole fruits, stevia and agave syrup and stay away from artificial sweeteners like Splenda, Equal and Sweet & Low. I could probably go on and on. If I watched TV long enough (or if I actually purchased cable) I could probably find 10, 20, 100 more commercials that are giving us false info, all in the name of selling products. Now, go shut the TV off will ya? Read the Real Truth about Healthy Eating and Weight Loss and get started on your own fat loss and health goals right away.
You know if I had a nickel for every time somebody asked me "Isabel, what supplements should I be taking?", I swear, I'd be rich (and lying on the beach in Bermuda right now…or the Bahamas…I'm not picky.)
People are so confused and, sometimes, a bit too hung up on the supplement thing. Many times they are missing the big picture.
There's really no sense in overloading your body with a bunch of pills if you are not following the essential principles of healthy living. You would be better off focusing your efforts on getting your eating plan and your exercise regimen under control before worrying about which supplements do what or which ones may give you a "quick fix" to anything…comprende?
Now with that being said, I do agree that there are some supplements that we can be taking that do add great benefit to any meal plan (and some even help burn fat..good news right?)
That's why I've decided to dedicate the next several newsletters to answering your most pressing questions about a handful of the most popular supplements out there (some good, some bad).
Most of you already know that I am a big fan and a big proponent of taking a fish oil supplement each and every day. The benefits of a high quality fish oil are endless (as I've written about in the FATS chapter of your Diet Solution Manual) and really should be a part of anyone's nutrition plan…women, men, children…everyone. I also think we can all benefit greatly from ingesting enough antioxidants each day. And if you are not getting them from food, you'll need to supplement for those as well.
If you're counting calories to lose belly flab, stop the madness! Calorie counting is time consuming, depressing and completely unnecessary. Don't get too excited though. Just because you don't need to count calories, doesn't give you a free pass to pig-out on pizza and French fries whenever you want. You still have to be mindful of what you eat.
Here's the thing: when you eat a bunch of processed junk, not only are you loading up on toxins, you're taking in way more calories than your body can use. What do you think happens to all of those extra calories? Bingo. They get stored in your body as fat.
Even if you exercise regularly, eating a bunch of nonsense foods will make it tough to create the kind of calorie deficit you need to get rid of the blubber around your midsection. If you really want to burn enough calories for killer abs, fill your diet with natural foods that contain protein, healthy fats and fiber.
When I say "natural foods," I mean foods that have not been processed or filled with unhealthy additives. Natural foods are low in calories; if you stick to reasonable portion sizes during your meals and snacks, you won't have to spend the rest of your existence keeping tabs on your caloric intake.
Healthy Sources of Dietary Fat
Dietary fat catches a lot of flack and is often accused of being the culprit of heart disease. This is absolutely not the case; fat is not the enemy. In fact, any good eating plan should include fat from quality sources like olive oil, fish oil, nuts, seeds, unrefined coconut oil, organic raw butter, avocados and natural grass-fed beef.
Healthy fats help with nutrient absorption and can improve the health of your heart. Also, fat helps you feel satiated. When you add it to your meals, you are less likely to overindulge.
Healthy Carbohydrate Sources
If most of the carbohydrates in your diet come from refined sources like white bread, pasta, baked goods, processed snacks and sugar, you can forget about losing stomach flab. These types of foods absorb quickly in the body and trigger the rapid release of insulin. When insulin is released too fast, it can give you the munchies shortly after you've already eaten.
The bulk of your carbohydrates should come from complex sources like vegetables, beans, legumes and fruits. These foods are rich in fiber so they digest slowly and keep you full much longer than refined carbs.
Healthy Sources of Protein
Protein triggers the release of a hormone called glucagon, which acts as an appetite suppressant. In fact, studies suggest that diets rich in protein can enhance fat loss when it is combined with the proper amounts of exercise. Eat nuts, legumes, grass-fed beef, free range poultry and organic eggs to get enough protein in your diet.
You don't have to count calories to lose flab in your midsection. Simply dump the processed foods and replace them with natural foods that are rich in protein, healthy fat and complex carbohydrates. Of course, if you want consistent weight loss results, you have to exercise regularly.
Weight loss doesn't have to be a lifelong struggle. The Diet Solution Program will get you on the right track and keep you there. Watch my video for a quick overview of how we can help you lose belly flab and stop counting calories.
Let's make sure we get one thing straight from the outset. When you're dieting, you shouldn't ever feel hungry. In fact, if you are hungry, you should consider eating more.The perfect diet plan for weight loss isn't about starving yourself, or depriving yourself of the essential foods you need to function at your prime.
In fact, it's not even about counting calories—and if you follow my blog, you know how I feel about calorie counting. Instead, the right way to eat healthy means switching out the foods that are bad for you, and replacing them with foods that are good for you.
But even if you don't reduce your food intake by that much, you may have an adjustment period as you begin to shed belly fat. It's really more of a mind over matter thing than real starvation. If you've been used to eating large quantities of the wrong kind of food, you might go through a kind of withdrawal period once you begin eating healthfully.
So are there any ways to combat these hunger pains, without giving in to the urge to binge? Absolutely! Let's look at a few techniques you should incorporate into your diet plan to lose weight:
Drink Your Water
First and foremost, you should be drinking plenty of water once you start your eating plan. In fact, you should be drinking at least half your body weight in ounces of water per day. So, for example, if you weigh 160 pounds, you should drink 80 ounces at a minimum per day.
Not only will water help flush toxins from your body, it can help combat edema and water retention. Need an even more compelling reason to drink water? Your body can often misinterpret thirst for hunger, actually causing your stomach to growl.
So before you reach for something more to eat check to see how much water you've had to drink. If you haven't had enough for the day, drink plenty of H20 before you have anything else to eat.
Eat Healthy Fats
Yes, you can eat fat while you are on a diet. Does this mean you have my permission to run out and devour a bucket of fried chicken? Wishful thinking, but the answer is no.
You need to eat plenty of healthy fats, which are MUFAs or PUFAs, while you are dieting. These healthy fats will help contribute to a feeling of satiety between meals, as well as give you the essential fatty acids you need to function at your prime. Healthy fats include olive oil, organic butter, coconut oil, raw nuts, nut butters, and avocadoes.
Eat Lots of Fiber
Everyone knows that including high amounts of fiber in your diet helps while you are trying to reduce your weight, but no one really seems to know why it's important. Well, there are two reasons.
Fiber keeps you from becoming constipated, which can happen when you make a sudden dietary change—even if that change is for the better.
Fiber helps you feel full more quickly, and helps you remain that way between meals.
As a rule, you should consider including a serving of fiber with every meal, even snacks. In fact, I usually recommend you include your favorite type of green vegetable with meals, such as a salad or celery sticks.
Stay Active
While exercising doesn't have much to do with what you put in your mouth, it can have a huge impact on the success of your eating plan and how hungry you feel. I'm not a fan of long hours on the treadmill, as you probably know. In fact, I prefer shorter workouts with more interval training and strength training thrown in because I feel it gives you more bang for your buck.
But no matter how you choose to get and stay active, you should know that it will make your metabolism more efficient, allowing you to continue burning calories several hours after your workout has ended. So while you are working on eating a better diet, find ways to incorporate active movement into your daily routine. You'll train your body to burn calories more efficiently over time.
The Diet Solution Program was designed with one focus in mind: to help people learn to eat better and thus transform their lives. If you want to learn more about how to lose weight without feeling deprived, consider downloading my program today!
If you are new to The Diet Solution program, watch this video to learn more about a diet plan for weight loss. It's more than just a fad diet; it's a lifestyle change that you'll love!
We shall explore different kinds and layers of creativity. We shall focus on what it means to be a creative learner. It is very rare for someone to bring unique, completely original creativity to the world, but we can be everyday creators and, in doing that, we shall enrich our lives and our learning.
Original and world-shaking creativity
We shall look at truly original creativity, which is rare to find, because it is an act of creativity that is unique in human history. However, because it is so unusual, we shall not make this the main focus of the book. We do need to bear in mind, though, that we may be teaching or have in our group a child who will either be encouraged or constrained by us, but who will one day become a famous creator. This amusing poem by Peter Dixon helps us to think about this!
Recreating an idea in a different time and place
Another aspect of creativity is that sort of creativity which repeats itself in different parts of the world at different times. There is a great deal of reinventing the wheel. The Romans invented under-floor central heating, which was re-invented at a later point in history. Creations are regularly lost in a particular culture and then found again later by someone creative, or by a creative group of people who co-operate together.
Specialists who create ideas which are important in their field, who may not become famous, but who contribute in important ways
In science, the humanities and the arts, we find people who are very creative and who help their field or discipline to move forward. Some will become well known and famous within or beyond their area of expertise; some will not, and won’t become household names.
Everyday creativity that makes life worth living
The major emphasis of this book is on the everyday creativity which can be part of anyone’s life, beginning with babies, toddlers and young children, and parents and practitioners working with them. Everyday creativity is what lifts the experience of children and adults out of being pedestrian and commonplace, and enables them to do things which are original and important. This will give them what the psychologist Maslow (in Storr, 1989: 201) calls the ability to become ‘lost in the present’ because they are able to live the moment to the full. They become ‘totally immersed, fascinated and absorbed in the present’. These important moments free us from other people, so that our authentic voice, our deeper self, can emerge and be strong. This is as true for children as it is for adults.
Everyday creativity brings quality to our lives. It is about creative learning and so values the processes of creativity, the developing of ideas alongside the hatching of them. Expert creators, or world-shattering creators, hatch mega-important creations. Most of us bring to fruition creations which are important for us as individuals, within our families and those we love and are loved by. They are just as important as the world-shattering creations. For those who work with or bring up young children, the more we can learn about how to help creative learning for all, the more we help individuals and how they can contribute to the world as well as finding the fulfilment that creativity brings into their lives. Fulfilment is deeper than happiness or enjoyment. It helps us through the difficult times as well as the easier side of our lives.
Can’t tell left from right?
You already have a lot to keep track of, and now you have to keep track of whether you offered the left or right breast at the last feeding? You ’ re so tired you can ’ t even remember which is which! Lactation experts recommend a variety of tricks for keeping track, including the rubber band method:
If you are offering the left breast, put a rubber band on your left wrist. When you are done with that feeding, switch the rubber band to your right wrist and you ’ ll automatically know which side to feed your baby on fi rst. Eventually, you ’ ll be able to keep track without a reminder like this. The Web sites http://breastfeeding.com and http://kellymom.com contain good information for breast - feeding moms. ( Note: If you use information from the Internet, make sure it has been vetted by a licensed, reputable health care professional. Always check with your doctor before implementing a major change in your baby ’ s care or your own.)
There is a strong tendency to believe that creativity is a gift with which only some people are born. It seems to run in families. We hear people say, ‘They are a very musical family’, and it seems that each new generation is as musical as the last. Perhaps the family has developed ways of encouraging the creativity of its children, so that they are, throughout their lives, creative learners. Perhaps more families could be musical, artistic, scientifically and humanistically creative, given more help in knowing how to encourage it.
We need to overcome the myth that creativity is a gift, an innate talent, that you are born either with or without. Creativity is an important part of every human life. We can cultivate creativity in every baby, toddler and child, and hope that it will continue into adult life. Human brains allow us to:
move (sitting, crawling, lying down, or walking, running and jumping);
learn though our senses and movement feedback;
develop embodiment and a sense of self as separate from but connected to others;
communicate in words, intonation, pauses, cadence and rhythm, gestures and body language;
have ideas and thoughts;
have feelings;
develop relationships;
play so that we are innovative, flexible and are not pinned down to one result;
imitate by reconstructing what others do;
make mental images (visual, auditory, olfactory, taste, tactile) and imagine;
remember;
represent, keeping hold of our experiences and going beyond the here and now;
become a symbol user by making one thing stand for another;
be creative, giving an existence to ideas, thoughts, feelings, relationships and physical embodiments.
All of these brain processes contribute to and help in the cultivation of creativity. They are each important in different ways. Creativity emerges out of the co-ordination of these broad-ranging processes.
Kids computer games help children relax and concentrate. Children relax because kids computer games are entertaining and children concentrate because children's computer games are challenging. Children who relax and concentrate are in a perfect frame of mind to learn. These Children's -tested games teach fun, educate, colors, hand-eye coordination and help children get used to computer use as well.
Merry Motors is a collection of fascinating children's games and funny lessons for your kids.
American Hangman - Presidents and States For Mac - is a fun, colorful, soundful, educational word-guessing game based on the simple game of hangman we all played as children. It's for Macintosh.
