Fermented foods may not be on most peoples’ radars. Even though they are readily available, most people ignore them. They may seem daunting because they have strong smells or flavors, but they are full of nutrients and probiotics that can promote a healthy digestive system.

Your gut is full of bacteria, both good and bad. Bacteria outnumber cells in your body by about 10 to 1. The goal is to create a balance of good and bad bacteria for a healthy body. The good bacteria help to improve digestion and can even boost immunity. So how do you promote the growth of good bacteria? While there are a few different answers, an easy way to do this is by eating foods packed with probiotics, which are abundant in fermented foods.

What Are Fermented Foods?

They have been around for many years. Romans ate sauerkraut, Indians continue to drink lassi (a fermented yogurt drink), Bulgarians have been known to eat kefir, and various Asian cultures eat kimchi or other fermented vegetables. These foods go through a lactofermentation process, which means bacteria feed on sugars and starches in the food. This creates beneficial enzymes, omega-3 fatty acids, and probiotics.

List of Top 7 Fermented Foods You Should Eat:

· Tempeh

· Miso

· Sauerkraut

· Yogurt

· Kefir

· Kombucha

· Kimchi

Why You Should Eat Them:

Better Absorption of Food: If you have the right balance of good and bad gut bacteria, you can better absorb nutrients from the food you eat. Just because you eat fermented foods does not mean you can eat whatever you want. It means that if you eat healthy food such as fresh fruit and vegetables, your body will better absorb the nutrients from those foods.

Optimize Your Immune System: A healthy gut makes a strong immune system because about 80% of your immune system is in your gut. Probiotics help produce antibodies to fight off pathogens (science words for fighting off germs). A healthy digestive system is great for maintaining optimal health.

Help You Detox: The last things you want in your body are built-up toxins. This is why we always recommend cleansing the body to reboot your system. Because fermented foods contain beneficial bacteria, eating them can help your body naturally eliminate toxins and even heavy metals.

Cost-effectiveness: Why is eating these foods cost effective? To get probiotics, most people take probiotic supplements. Fermented foods actually have 100 times more probiotics than supplements. So get your kimchi or kombucha on.

Essential Nutrients: As you know by now, these foods are excellent sources of probiotics. They are also rich in nutrients such as vitamin K2, which helps prevent plaque from building up in your arteries. B-vitamins are abundant in fermented foods as well.

Don’t be afraid to try new foods, especially fermented ones. Not only do they taste great, but they are awesome for your health.

Are you suffering from excess belly fat that won’t budge no matter what you do?

Have the flashy infomercials convinced you that your belly fat is directly related to stress and that they have the miracle pill that will get rid of it with no effort on your part?

Are clever marketing ads suggesting your can rid your stubborn belly fat by investing in their “breakthrough” ab-machine?

Not only is belly fat unattractive, it’s unhealthy. You’re probably aware of this and have tried to do something about it, haven’t you?

Let’s face it. You’ve tried everything and nothing has worked thus far. Stop playing games with yourself. This is your body and your health, and it’s about time you got the TRUTH about how to lose belly fat.

Fact #1 on How to Lose Belly Fat – As frustrating and harsh as this may sound, it needs to be said. You will NEVER lose belly fat by doing countless crunches every day. If so, wouldn’t most people have them by now? You can do crunches until you are every color of the rainbow in the face and it WILL NOT get rid of belly fat.

Fact #2 on How to Lose Belly Fat – Fancy and expensive ab-machines won’t get rid of belly fat. Most the ab-gadgets marketed focus on spot reducing, suggesting to the consumer that all they need to do is use their “state-of-the-art” ab-device and they will get rock hard abs.

Fact #3 on How to Lose Belly Fat – Fat-loss potions and other “miracle” quick fixes will not get rid of belly fat. Many marketing companies wait for the next new piece of “scientific evidence” to emerge so they can use just enough “scientific fact” to create a product and make extravagant claims that hit the consumer at the emotional level.

Fact #4 on How to Lose Belly Fat – Fad diets are the worst of all the belly fat scams. Fad diets prey upon the desperate. They evoke restriction and deprivation, cause a loss of muscle, bone, and water, and in the end, completely destroy the metabolism.

What You CAN Do To Lose Belly Fat I know what you are probably thinking at this point and I now have you completely depressed. Alas, I’m going to tell you how to lose that belly fat you hate and have been trying to get rid of.

If you implement these methods I’m about to discuss, you will begin to notice your mid-section decreasing in size and belly fat will slowly melt off, the right way. When you take fat off the right way, it’s less likely to return. The idea is to create control and then maintain that control.

Keep in mind that this is not a “quick-fix” and you will not see results overnight. Sorry, but I speak the truth. What you can expect is:

Continual belly fat loss over the course of several weeks or more

To have less cravings

Feel the changes as well as see them

To increase your health and self-esteem

Lose Belly Fat Rule #1 – Detox your body and organs. Studies show that a body that’s been purged of impurities functions better than one loaded down with toxins. Cleaning your intestinal track is the first step to good health.

Lose Belly Fat Rule #2 – Clean up your eating habits. The eating rules are to eat natural food derived from the earth. Eat a small balanced meal every 3 hours. Taper off complex carbs toward the end of the day. Doing these small, yet effective dietary changes will purge your body of toxins to allow the nutrients to be utilized and it will also boost your metabolic rate.

Lose Belly Fat Rule #3 – Drink water. If you already drinking water, drink more. Water is vitally necessary in toxin removal as well as getting fat moving and flushing it out of the body.

Lose Belly Fat Rule #4 – Cardio constitutes as an effective means of reducing belly fat, provided you keep it within reason. Losing belly fat with cardio is a tool, not the sole answer as many people may think. Doing 20-30 minutes of high intensity interval training three to five times a week is sufficient to boosting your metabolic rate and burning fat.

Lose Belly Fat Rule #5 – Abdominal exercises are wonderful in building a strong midsection. When you build stronger abdominal muscles you will look and feel better, improve posture, and alleviate lower back pain. You can do a wide array of various forms of crunches up to 4 times a week.

Lose Belly Fat Conclusion The bottom line about how to get rid of belly fat is not by investing tons of money into fancy gadgets, expensive pills, and starving oneself, but it’s in nourishing the body, purging the impurities and exercising.

You won’t have a model-ready body by tomorrow, but in time you will lose the belly fat and keep it off.

Now that you have the TRUTH about how to banish unsightly belly fat, use this information to your advantage and you will be unstoppable.

A Marcy home gym ranks as one of the top choices for home gym equipment among many weight lifters and fitness buffs. For reliability, ease of use and value for money, Marcy home gyms have it all. To see what this favorite home gym brand has to offer, here is a sneak peek at some of its popular machines:

Marcy Powerstation

For a Marcy home gym equipment that offers all-in-one features, the Marcy Powerstation is a great choice. The equipment itself is made with heavy steel, so you are assured of power and stability that can last you for years. The grips are made from basic foam, but they are comfortable enough to assure a continuous home gym workout.

The Marcy Home Gym Powerstation is best for building the upper body and can work your arms, chest, back, shoulders and arms effectively. The abs can also be targeted using 5 different positions. This is a terrific home gym system that is easy to assemble and use.

Marcy Multi-Station MWM 1800

This Marcy home gym equipment features two weight stacks of 100 lbs. each, perfect for buddy home workouts. The abdominal strap, lat bar and straight bar are included in the basic equipment. For serious weight lifters, the weight stack can be purchased separately.

The Marcy MWM 1800 includes a free chart featuring the pin placements for the weight amounts of every exercise your perform. This helps you plan your workout progress as you go along. The Marcy Home Gym MWM 1800 works smoothly and offers value for its price. It’s easy to use, although assembly might take a while. It’s also a bit bulky, so make sure you have enough space in your home.

Marcy Personal Multi-Gym MWM 900

Beginner fitness fans will love this machine. For value and features, the Marcy Home Gym MWM 900 offers a lot of challenge to work out different muscle groups and keep the body toned and strong. Comfort is also high on the list of the manufacturers when this home gym was built and the hardware are top quality.

The arm press doubles as a chest press and you can also work out your pecs without changing or shifting anything. All the other parts such as the pulley stations, the lateral bar and the straight bar offer a lot in terms of exercise variety. There is no reason for you to be bored when using a Marcy home gym machine.

The rollers are padded for extra protection and the back and lumbar areas are supported with contoured pads, so there’s no need to worry about straining your body during a good workout. The Marcy MWM 900 is pretty quiet and the smooth operation is tops on the list of many gym users.

Marcy Personal Multi-Gym MWM Premier

If you want a more challenging workout, the Marcy Home Gym MWM Premier offers a tougher challenge. The basic equipment includes a 150-lb weight stack made of cast iron that can push your muscles to build strength and definition. Once you’ve begun to progress, you have the option of getting another 50-lb. weight stack for a heavier workout.

The pectoral contractor and preacher curl are fully adjustable and the handles rotate, allowing you to go through different motions without having to change your grip. Like the MWM 900, the arm and chest press lets you shift your focus without having to move or get up from your seat.

Comfort is also addressed by this home gym machine – the seats are padded, the back is contoured for a snug fit and provides lumbar support. There are also a wide range of exercises you can perform and the quiet action ensures that you get to focus on your tasks perfectly.

Marcy MWM 1600

The Marcy MWM 1600 home gym lets you shift and play with the resistance to create thirty different settings for better, tougher training. This is via the power booster system that features three positions.

Once you’ve fully mastered the motions, you will find at least 20 different exercises for strength training, enough to keep you challenged and interested. All the muscle groups are addressed by this home gym equipment and the parts are constructed in such a way to be ergonomically effective, so the only aches you’ll worry about is the feel of your muscles growing.

The Marcy Home Gym MWM 1600 is bigger than the MWM 900 so floor space is an issue. If you do have the room for it, though, the MWM 1600 is a machine that can offer you total body workout and the best results.

Everyone has a right to look different and gain an impressive personality. We are born to look good and stay good so it is fair that we adopt good techniques to stand tall and add a few more inches to our original height. You may think it’s not possible after the age of puberty or after your growth age is over, but that’s just a myth, in fact, you can grow taller whenever you want only if you have good ways to implement and effective tips to follow. Natural diet and exercises are the only way to increase your height.

Performing different workouts in the gym, growing tall and losing weight has become a trend for today’s genre. People like to try out new looks and change their entire look by gaining and losing weight and moreover, if they succeed in growing tall it will be a best thing for them to get noticed and recognized. All you need to have is time, dedication and concentration to perform a good workout and follow it daily.

There are question that may trouble you often, you may think, “How can we get taller when your parents are short heighten, or you may think how we can grow taller after the age of puberty is passed? So here are simple answers to your question and ways to grow taller. After spending hours and hours in the gym with heavy and dedicated workout and diet you do not gain results, this happens because either you are not practicing the right exercises, or maybe you do not attain right postures. It’s better to follow your gym instructor’s instructions, because he is the right one to help you successfully gain extra inches. So try to follow your fitness expert and get noticed with a good height and personality.

Random fact: Having liposuction can increase your breast size. No kidding. According to a study in Dermatological Surgery, 43% of the participating women experienced bosom expansion after liposuction. Later, thirty percent of these chicks had to hit Nordstrom’s and start shopping for bras a whole cup size larger.

But if the chance of sudden-boob inflation doesn’t make liposuction anymore enticing to you, and you’re utterly convinced that exercising only makes cellulite spread faster, please at least consider that you may have been performing the wrong exercises to paralyze that Jello on your backside.

Let me explain. A few months ago, I met a sports medicine trainer who worked with professional model and Olympia competitor Monica Brant. Gasp! Amazed to find someone who knew first hand about Brant’s fitness regime, I begged to know, “How in the world does she get such great legs?”

Well, instead of directly answering my question, the doctor went into a speech about how most people exercise entirely the wrong way, using the wrong weights and never getting the results they want. Snoozing… Finally, after hearing about fitness bloopers, we got to the kernel of why most women have issues with cellulite-they focus on the wrong muscles. Ha! Thank goodness for fitness breakthroughs.

As the doc sees it, in the gym, women focus too much on working the front leg muscles while neglecting the cellulite burning hind muscles. The thighs of most women are relatively large anyway because we use them to walk and kick car doors shut when our hands are full of shopping bags. The thigh also gets a workout during forward moving exercises like bike peddling and running to get to work on time.

But if you want to rouse your backside into elite cellulite fighting mode, you need to focus on building the muscles on the back of your leg called the hamstrings, and your buttocks muscles too.

Here are three exercises that will help you do just that:

1. Hamstring curl

The hamstring curl plumps up your hamstrings to add more sexy curves to your profile.

Most gyms have either standing or lying hamstring machines. (While generic hamstring curl guidelines follow, use he manufacturer’s instructions for your gym’s machine.)

Start off with an easy weight, like 10 pounds, to get a feel for using your hamstrings. As you use your hamstrings to lift the weight to the top of the movement, really squeeze your back leg muscles to intensify the movement and encourage new muscle growth. Then return your leg the starting position and repeat the motion 10-12 times.

To make this exercise effective, use a weight that is heavy enough to allow you to perform 10-12 correct, complete and muscle exhausting hamstring curls. Do three sets of this exercise twice per week.

2. The door squat

If you’d rather ditch the gym, you can still squeeze in butt exercises during episodes of Dr. Phil by doing the “door squat.”

To do the door squat, open a door to a 45 degree angle from the wall. Now stand, with your legs shoulder width apart, about six inches away from the edge of the door facing the door’s side and both doorknobs. Next, grab a door knob with each of your hands.

Now, to start this cellulite burning motion, bend your knees and lower your legs until your hamstrings are parallel with the floor. Pause and squeeze your hamstrings and buttocks. Now raise yourself upward again by squeezing your hamstrings and butt muscles. Repeat the door squat 15-20 times. Perform three sets of this exercise twice per week.

The key to knowing whether or not your doing this exercise right is that you should feel your back leg muscles and butt doing the work. You should have absolutely little or no strain on your knees because, again, your butt is doing all of the work, not your thighs or knees.

3. Walking up the hill

Once Dr. Phil is over, go outside and look for some hills. Walking uphill forces your hamstrings and buttocks to work in order to push you upward against the force of gravity. Even though walking on flat trails is super exercise, hills and inclines turbo charge your exercise so much you should actually feel your backside tingling away fat bulges as you mount those hills.

If you frequent the gym, just use the incline function on the treadmill to turn your brisk walk into a cellulite broiler. Aim for an incline of at least 30 to 60% on the treadmill to optimally work your hamstrings and buttocks. This will accentuate your leg muscles and obliterate chunky-butt syndrome.

Ahhhh, at the end of the day, doesn’t it feel empowering to shake around your cellulite instead of letting cellulite shake you around.

Source:

Finzi E. Breast Enlargement Induced by Liposuction. Dermatologic Surgery, September 2003; vol 29, no 9, pp 928-930.

Have you ever suffered from shoulder discomfort after working out? I am referring to aching or sharp pain experienced in the front of the shoulder or lateral upper arm that is felt with overhead activities, reaching behind the back or even laying on the shoulder. These symptoms are often indicative of rotator cuff inflammation. This is a common problem for many people who perform resistance training on a regular basis. It is also a problem that can easily be prevented by modifying the following “dangerous shoulder exercises.”

Bench Press – This is a popular exercise chosen to build the chest, along with the anterior deltoid and triceps. Most teach taking the bar down until it lightly touches the chest. However, I believe this is unsafe because it exposes the anterior shoulder capsule to excessive load, in addition to compressing the soft tissue of the rotator cuff between the humerus and the acromion. Over time, with repeated bouts and heavy loads, the rotator cuff becomes inflamed.

Individuals with any anterior shoulder laxity (loose joints) or history of subluxation/dislocation are also at increase risk for rotator cuff injury or labral (shoulder cartilage) damage. Furthermore, you also have the potential to rupture the pectoralis tendon with full range pressing during heavy loads. The safe answer is to lower the bar until the upper arm is parallel to the floor (elbow bent to 90 degrees). This prevents the shoulder joint from moving into the unsafe range. The same advice applies to push-ups.

Lat Pull Downs – This is a good exercise to strengthen the back, but when done behind the head it can cause problems. Like the bench press, pulling the bar down behind the head positions the humerus in such a way that the rotator cuff can be pinched. This may depend on other factors, including the shape of a person’s acromion and degree of any present arthritis, but I still believe the risk outweighs any benefit. Not to mention that keeping the bar in front of the head still accomplishes the same movement for the target muscle, while eliminating the risk of shoulder injury. Remember not to sway during the movement, and position the body in a slightly reclined position, pulling the bar toward the sternum. Another unrelated reason not to do behind the neck pull downs is that it places undue stress on the cervical spine.

Military Press – This exercise when performed behind the neck with a bar, positions the shoulder in the aforementioned unfavorable position. Done repeatedly, the rotator cuff can become inflamed. Similar to behind the neck pull downs, you also expose your neck to unnecessary stress. It is safer to perform the exercise in front of the head or utilize dumbbells and work in the scapular plane. You must watch to avoid arching the low back and it is best to use a bench with back support to prevent this.

Dips/Upright Row – As before, the key mistake made with these exercises is allowing the shoulder to move beyond 90 degrees relative to a position parallel to the floor or perpendicular to the body. I always recommend stopping at 90 degrees to protect the shoulder capsule and the rotator cuff.

Dumbbell Lateral Raise – In my opinion, this exercise is often done incorrectly. The mistakes include lifting too much weight, keeping the arms straight, and raising the arms out away from the body in the plane of the body. The force on the rotator cuff reaches 90% of your body weight when the arms are raised to 90 degrees with the arms straight and in the plane of the body. That is a lot of force on four relatively small rotator cuff muscles. The target muscle is the lateral deltoid, but the rotator cuff is extremely active, and it functions to allow you to raise the arm by depressing the humerus so that it passes under the acromion during active elevation. When heavy loads are introduced in the wrong plane of motion, disaster usually occurs. I am fanatical about performing this exercise correctly.

The proper way to execute a lateral raise is to keep the elbows comfortably flexed (20-30 degrees) and raise the arm to no higher than parallel to the floor. The arm should be in the scapular plane of motion (approximately 30-45 degrees from being perpendicular to the body) and the weight should be relatively light. Once you feel you have to shrug or use momentum to raise the weight, you need to rest or lower the weight. In my opinion, this is one of the worst exercises for the shoulder if done incorrectly.

In summary, I want to emphasize that good intentions may spell bad results for the shoulder if proper form is lacking. The rotator cuff and shoulder joint is extremely vulnerable to heavy loads and repetitive bouts of exercise. Gradually, it may become inflamed and hinder or limit your workout altogether. Be sure to master form before increasing weight, and do not attempt to work through pain, as this often perpetuates the problem. Remember to assess risk and reward at all times, and rest assured that these modifications will not hinder your gains. Instead, they will prevent missed time in the gym and produce happier, healthier shoulders!

Plyometrics. The word makes people in the know shudder. It also forms the basis of many different workouts, including most of the Insanity Workout and ‘the mother of all P90X Workouts’, as its creator states. Which of these two has the tougher plyometrics workout? Are they both effective? What are the differences? Read on to learn about plyometrics in both P90X and the Insanity Workout!

First off, what exactly is plyometrics? Most people just say that they’re ‘jumping workouts’, but that ain’t it, brother. Plyometrics can be any form of exercise whose goal is to produce fast, powerful movements by improving the functions of the nervous system. This can be anything from explosive jumping power to running faster, throwing farther, or punching harder. It is basically a means to improve how quickly and powerfully you can move. So jumping, yes. But so much more.

So let’s look at the P90X Plyometric workout first. Tony Horton claims that this is the workout that puts the ‘X’ in P90X, and coming in at 60 minutes, there’s a lot of truth to this statement. It consists of four or five main sets that are repeated twice, each set composed of about four exercises. They range from variations on the horizontal leap, to variations on squat jumps, to hopping on one foot to sports drills like shooting hoops. What’s excellent about them is that they last for an hour, yet never floor you (except for a couple of particularly tough exercises in the middle). You’re able to keep a consist level of intensity throughout, so that while you’re absolutely dead by the time you reach the 60 minute mark, you’re definitely able to hang in there throughout.

The Insanity Workout Plyometric Cardio Circuit is another story. Coming in at only 45 minutes, and with the main Plyo workout itself only about 20 of those, you would think it would be easier. You would be wrong. The workout starts with a brutal, 10 minute warm up (I regularly advise people to warm up before the ‘warm up’), goes through a long stretch, and then kicks off with the main workout, which is divided into four sets, reach repeated 3 times with no breaks. It kicks off with Suicide Drills, gets tougher with Football Drills, and then explode into a world of pain with the Basketball Drills (the words ‘In! Out!’ will haunt your darkest nightmares forevermore). The last set, Attacks, is only a series of punches and cross jacks, but the previous 17 minutes will have destroyed you, and made these incredibly tough.

So which is the tougher of the two? The award goes to the Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit. Shorter in duration, it almost qualifies as a High Intensity Interval Training program, coming just short of that killer intensity so that you’re able to keep going for all 20 minutes. As such it qualifies as Threshold training, and trust me, that’s punishing enough. The P90X is done at a lower intensity, but for a much longer time, so that those 60 minutes end up chewing you up even as you work your way through them. I would say that the P90X is more beginner friendly as a result, but is still an incredibly tough workout. And the Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit workout? It’s absolutely an insane workout.

Young ballet dancers often drop comments in a casual way, referring to their self esteem problems. Whether it is a body image issue, a perfection issue, a weight control problem, or a slightly depressed lack of energy issue, they either don’t come out and say it, or they really cannot articulate what the problem is. Recently when I started reading about hypoglycemia, and blood sugar balance, I began to relate its symptoms to many of the statements I have heard.

I became more interested in hypoglycemia and its sometimes subtle symptoms, due to a conversation I had with a non-dancer, a talented performer, in another field. This person has performed in many countries, is pushed forward by all her teachers, and yet cannot accept the accolades from teachers or peers, or the enthusiasm of fans, because – she just can’t.

The lack of self-esteem in this person confuses me. A person who won the number one state award for acting while still in high school? That’s like winning the ballet competition performing the Blue Bird or Swan Lake pas de deux.

Disorder eating is most broadly defined as, the behavior that results in an emotional outcome by controlling what you eat. This does not necessarily mean anorexia or bulimia, but may refer to a practice of self control or self approval in regards to the food you eat, the caloric content, and this does not only apply to dancers.

It may involve an extreme situation like a teenager who insists on being a vegan, in which I have personally witnessed the result causing stress fractures in this dancer who still thought that she was going to be able to get stronger on pointe and have a professional career in ballet, while she looked at her x-rays.

Recently I took a look at hypoglycemia and its symptoms. Now this is tricky. Symptoms are almost unique to the individual. But the dominating symptoms, according to what I have read, are:

• sadness
• self criticism
• hopelessness
• feelings of absolutely no self worth
• periodic complete failure of energy, dizziness, mental confusion
• thoughts of suicide, though not enough energy to think further than that

Hypoglycemia is…drum roll…too low blood sugar!

It is caused by a nutritional deficiency of protein, or just lack of food.

Hypoglycemia does not mean you are diabetic, or almost diabetic. More concisely called Reactive Hypoglycemia, this is a condition that results from a poor diet, or not eating often enough for whatever reason. Or eating too many carbohydrates with not enough protein.

The most common recommendation for hypoglycemics, is to eat some protein every two hours.

Also, I would like to mention the rule of nutritionists, that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Why? Proteins set your brain chemicals for the day. Skip those, and your brain chemicals will not be properly functioning until the next day IF you happen to eat protein for breakfast.

Dance parents reading this – how often does your dancing daughter or dancing son run out of the house and skip breakfast because they slept late?

And what will they eat when they get to the food dispensers at school? Or will they go hungry until they get to the school cafeteria for lunch? This is a miserable situation for a non-athlete student, not to mention a ballet dancer or any other athlete.

And later when they run off to their ballet academy? Are you one of those ballet parents who have to suffer hearing “I’m not that good”…”I’m not good enough”… and worse? While the ballet teacher is telling you your child should be aiming higher – auditioning for professional summer intensives?

Confused yet? Let me give you some relief. Hypoglycemia-without-Diabetes at http://benjimester.hubpages.com is an eye-opening discussion. It is worth reading the entire thread.

Personally, I believe that hypoglycemia is caused by:

• lack of education about nutrition
• processed, fast-food, frozen food products
• not enough time to serve fresh food indicating what nutritious food is
• addiction to sugar (nutritional ignorance)
• ignorance about grains, GMO grains, glutin and GMO sugars

And, sadly much more I cannot cover here. BUT please, if your dancing child or anyone in your family has any energy or depression issues – but not severe enough to consult your physician (who probably will not have any nutritional education) or therapist, please investigate hypoglycemia. It is an insidious condition – but can be reversed with a good diet!

It is not that difficult. I would love to never hear from again, a ballet dancer, or any other kind of performing artist, who feels morose, depressed, sad, or hopeless about their talent or potential, when they have no idea where all this negativity comes from. And they skip meals, eat nutrition-free snacks, and have low blood sugar…

I would love to never hear from again, a sad, depressed ballet parent, whose amazing talented child is failing, sinking, not even treading water, suffering from body image problems, or self esteem problems, and contemplating quitting ballet, or even suicide. For the want of nutritional balance.

This may take a lot of extra food preparation for ballet parents! If you’re still reading this post, I bet you’re O.K. with that.

Vitamin B complex is a group of vitamins that includes thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, B-6, folate, B-12, pantothenic acid, biotin and choline. Some of the benefits of vitamin B complex supplements include increased energy, improved or more stable moods, healthier skin, hair and eyes. The vitamins are important for proper nervous system and immune system function.

Actually, adequate amounts of the vitamin B complex group are needed on a daily basis to insure the proper function of many systems of the human body. Niacin (found in the vitamin B complex group) is found in every cell of the human body. Inadequate amounts of niacin in the diet can result in dermatitis (dry, itchy, inflamed skin), muscle soreness, cramping, exhaustion, insomnia, indigestion, mental problems, sores in the mouth and loss of appetite.

Another very important part of the vitamin B complex group is folate, known until recently as folic acid. Healthy men and women over the age of 13 need at least 400 mg per day. Women who are pregnant or nursing need more to support the growth needs of infants. Deficiencies can result in a variety of learning disabilities and growth problems.

No upper limits have been established for the vitamin B complex group. No toxic affects have been noted, except after intravenous injections of pharmaceutical quantities. When taken orally, the body uses what it needs and excretes anything that is left over.

The benefits of vitamin B complex to the elderly include improved memory and mood. No matter what their age, most people notice an improvement in memory and ability to concentrate, as well as a decrease in depressed feelings and irritability.

Vitamin B complex is used by the body to convert carbohydrates into glucose, which is then converted by the cells into energy, commonly referred to as metabolism. The symptoms of vitamin B complex deficiency are similar to symptoms of low blood sugar levels. Increased irritability is one of the first symptoms. Those with sluggish metabolisms or problems controlling their weight often benefit from vitamin B complex supplements.

Most people who start taking a vitamin B complex supplement notice an increase in energy immediately. If you suffer from dry skin or hair, it may take a few weeks to notice a difference, but you will see an improvement.

It is nearly impossible to get adequate amounts of the vitamin B complex from a typical daily diet. In addition, certain things increase an individual’s daily vitamin B complex requirements. Drinking coffee or alcohol increases the need for the B vitamins. Taking birth control pills, sulfa drugs and sleeping medications increase the need for the vitamin B complex group. It is interesting to note that a lack of vitamin B complex in the diet can lead to insomnia, which could lead someone to ask for a sleep aid, which increases the need for the vitamins. Before you reach for a sleeping pill, you may want to look at your diet and whether or not you are getting adequate amounts of the vitamin B complex group.

SERIOUSLY! I LOST 8 lbs & 5″ IN 5 DAYS- Healthily.

It really doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated.

There are a lot of mixed messages out there when it comes to weight loss. From what I’ve witnessed, people usually give up on a program before they’ve seen any real results for one of two reasons:

1) They aren’t seeing noticeable results in the time they expected.

2) They don’t have the will power to see a program through to the end (usually because it seems to take too long and, truth is, we want something instant).

I am here to tell all of you who are so frustrated for one of those two reasons that there is a simple, doable and most importantly healthy way to lose 5-10 pounds in the shortest amount of time. And thankfully, it doesn’t entail the latest miracle pill, potion or lotion.

With most regimens we feel like we are completely cut off anything that makes us feel satisfied and we follow the steps but after a week, 10 days or what have you, we wonder what happened. I suppose you’re thinking, “Now what can I really have to eat? Am I going to feel like I’m starving? And is it really going to help me loose?” Well, I personally followed all the steps and had phenomenal success in only 5 days.

Here’s what to do… follow a very simple eating regimen that will start showing you noticeable result in just 2-3 days. After you stick with it for that long, you will be so motivated to see it through… 5 whole days. The best part is that it can change the way you look at food forever and you will WANT to choose healthy foods that make you feel fantastic, improve mental clarity and help you keep building lean muscle mass. Not to mention, your metabolism will speed up simply because your body has to burn more energy just to digest the foods you eat. AWESOME!

Too good to be true? Well, it really isn’t.

I was very skeptical because a few years ago I learned how important protein really is to my diet and once I started implementing it on a regular basis while lifting weights, my muscle mass improved greatly. Yes, I do mean lean muscle. But honestly, I was working out pretty hard back then too. So, fast forward a few years x 3… had a child, a demanding career and life was busy… I noticed there was a little bit added on here and there (my hips, thighs and middle). Well, last year when seasons changed (summer to fall) and it was time to get back into my pants (I guess shorts are a little more forgiving) and they were all too tight! You know- can’t sit down without taking your breath away because it feels like someone just shoved a table edge right into your middle. I was devastated! I couldn’t go buy a new wardrobe.

Although I was desperate for a quick fix, it was more important that I could incorporate the way I lost the weight into a new diet lifestyle. So, I took all my body measurements- bust, waist, hips and thighs even calves and upper arm. Immediately, I started following the plan and I was amazed when in 2 days my pants were comfortably looser. “OK, that’s a good start, I’m sure it will level off at this point.”

After the 5 days I lost 5 Gigantic inches, 8 pounds, had ab muscles again, felt toned and of course- pants fit ‘FINE’! HOLY SMOKES! I was so amazed and felt like I wanted to tell everyone.

Okay, so you’re asking, “What kind of workout did you do to get there?”

I do love how exercise makes me feel. I think I walk/ran 2 miles on two different occasions and did a few sit-ups and lifted weights maybe once. The program actually recommends that you don’t work out extensively because it’s easy to feel a light headed. And I’ll admit I didn’t feel like I had solid foods I was used to but at the same time, I felt awesome.

So you want to know how you can do it too?

Follow a super simple system that includes: 3 meal replacement shakes, 1 serving of fruit, 1 great big serving of veges (salad with all the veges you like and vinaigrette or balsamic dressing or stir fry veges in olive oil and garlic or a yam with spray butter and salt and pepper), 3- either fiber bars (fiber one) or balance or zone bars (something similar). Drink lots of water. Do a light 20 minute workout or walk daily.

Some Hints…

Eat often, about every three hours even if you aren’t hungry. Yes, the shake is considered eating.

Make sure you start the program when you can implement and plan your meals. They are very simple, but don’t do it say when you are traveling out of town.

When you’re done, don’t stop. Making this change to your diet for only 5-7 days is simple. Although, after that time it should be very simple to stick to your new diet (Because of How YOU LOOK and How YOU FEEL) don’t stop there. Keep making proactive approaches to your health.

I really hope this helps you reach your fitness goals or gets you motivated to keep moving one step closer and closer to achieving your healthy body.

Check out the resource box for a link to the entire regimen.