First, make sure you are using the correct size fitness ball for your size. You may reference this size chart. Make sure your fitness ball is inflated to firm but not over-inflated. The more firm the ball, the more difficult the exercises. (The more give and surface area touching the floor in your ball, the more stability you will have.) Second, wear rubber soled shoes or use a yoga mat to ensure that your feet do not slip while you are doing this workout.

The Workout

This workout should take around 15 minutes to complete, and is a great adjunct to your gym workout after doing basic cardio. Use this workout to tone your whole body, but note that there is a focus on your arms. You will also need small hand weights 3-5lbs to start, or your preference.

1. Push-Up & Tuck

Start out with a plank position with the ball under your shins and feet, and your arms supporting your weight. Try to stay balanced with the ball under your legs and do a standard push-up. Return to plank position. Then, tuck your knees to your chest, rolling the ball closer to you. Try to keep your back straight as you perform 10 repetitions.

2. Exercise Ball Bench Press

Use the exercise ball as a bench. Start sitting on the ball with your feet on the mat and small weights in your hands. Walk your feet forward and start to lie back, allowing the ball to work its way to between your shoulder blades. Feel yourself engage your core, even as you hold this bridge position. Press the weights up perpendicular to the ground from your chest level. Do 10-12 reps here.

3. Push-Up & Pike

Get back in the same plank position as in Exercise #1. Perform a push up. This time, instead of tucking your knees towards your chest, draw the ball towards you, but feel your body invert over your shoulders, keeping your knees straight and hinging only at the hips. Repeat 8-10 times.

4. Single Leg Ball Bridge

Get back into the same bridge position as in Exercise #2. Hold one weight with both hands out in front of you. Try to get your shoulder blades pressed forward and engaged. Get your feet close together or touching, and don’t let your butt sag. If you feel balanced with this, try kicking out one leg, hold for 3 seconds, then alternate and kick out the other. You will really feel your gluts, back extensors, hamstrings and core! For added difficulty, try oscillating the weight in your hands from side to side. Repeat 10 kicks for each leg.

5. Core Kickers

Flip back over into plank position. With your body completely straight (spine in neutral) and your feet together supported on the ball, lift one leg from the hip off the ball. Pulse this leg in the air 10 times. Then switch legs. Make sure to keep your low abs really engaged here to support your back.

Cool Down

As with every good workout, remember to take a minute to cool down and stretch the muscle groups you have been working. You can try lying on the ball and opening your chest and abdominals to stretch out your front. Do easy hamstring and glut stretches and drink plenty of water. You can also try to do additional cardio after these exercises.

The SI or Sacroiliac Joint is one of two joints in the pelvis that connects the sacrum, or lowest part of the spine, to the large pelvic bone, the ilium. The two sacroiliac joints, on either side of the pelvis, connect the spine to the pelvis. The coccyx, or tailbone, is connected to the sacrum, but has no connection to the pelvis, and can be easily injured or bruised from a fall.
The SI Joint moves with a slight gliding action as we flex and walk. Sometimes walking, sitting, standing, or lying can cause pain in this joint and refer into the back, buttocks, and thigh. This radiating pain is sometimes confused with sciatica or low back pain.

Pain in This Area

Courtesy of natural-sciatic-relief.com

Generally, pain in the sacroiliac area can be distinguished from pain in the low back or sciatica based on the location of symptoms and whether or not the symptoms felt are localized or radiate into the buttock or leg. Classic symptoms for sciatica inlcude: pain in the lower back, buttock, and/or various parts of the leg and foot that can sometimes be severe. Numbness, muscular weakness, tingling and difficulty in moving or controlling the leg can also occur. Typically, the symptoms are only felt on one side of the body.

Sacroiliac joint dysfunction, can be described as pain in the SI, low back, hip or groin. The pain is typically worse with standing and walking and improved when lying down. Inflammation and arthritis in the SI joint can also cause stiffness and a burning sensation in the pelvis. It can be difficult to identify the exact cause of pain, therefore, you may need to see a physician or physical therapist to help idendify the source.

Cause of SI Dysfunction

Courtesy of wellsphere.com

Although SI joint dysfunction has similar symptoms and does affect the sciatic nerve, it is not caused by a pinched nerve root. SI joint pain is normally caused either by overuse, wear and tear on the cartilage in the joint, or from underuse were it becomes tighter and less mobile causing pain when we do need to mobilize it for activity.

Pregnancy is also a big risk factor for sacroiliac joint dysfunction caused by instability. Due to the increased amount of circulating hormones that cause ligamentous laxity in the body, pregnant and postpartum women often experience pain in their hips, low back and SI joint.

The goal then of SI joint exercise is to perform range of motion and stretching exercises helping to mobilize and stabilize the joint ligaments.

Exercises to Help Decrease SI Pain

Stretching Exercises for the Pelvis These stretching exercises will help a stiff pelvis, or those who have decreased mobility and motion through the hips and pelvic girdle. For those that are hypermobile, continue on to strengthening and stabilizing exericses.

Knee to chest stretch: Exhale as you engage the abdominal muscles gently drawing one knee at a time to the chest, hold for a 2 count, then release. Do this 8-10 times with each leg.

Knee Sways: Lying on your back with your knees bent and together with your feet flat on the floor, gently sway the knees side to side. The lower back should remain fairly still on the mat. As you improve you will be able to let the knees sway further to the floor feeling the lower back and hips peel off the mat. Do this for 4-8 times each side.

Piriformis Stretch: Lying on your back with your knees bent, and spine in neutral, cross your leg with your ankle resting on the opposite thigh. Grasp the “under” leg and pull it towards you. Hold this stretch for 20-30 seconds, then switch legs.

Strengthening and Stabilizing Exercises for the SI and Pelvic Girdle.Pelvic stabilization exercises should be performed to strengthen muscles that support a joint that may be too loose. This is important because the extra motion can cause wear and tear on the joint cartilage leading to degeneration and arthritis.

Knee Stirs: Start lying on your back with your spine in neutral (tailbone and lower ribs in contact with the mat, natural curve in the lumbar spine), and hands on your hip bones.

Exhale as you fold one knee up to a 90 degree angle from the hip so the shin is parallel to the floor. Feel the head of the thigh bone sink into the hip socket. Keeping the pelvis stable and hips level circle the knee feeling the head of the femur rotate in the hip socket. Circle clockwise and counterclockwise 4-8 times each direction for each leg.

Clam Shells: Start lying on your back with knees bent and squeezed together feet flat, place your hands on your hip bones and keep them still or level with the ceiling. Use your fingers to feel for a muscle contraction of your lower abdominal muscles just below your hip bones.

Keeping your spine neutral with tailbone down and middle ribs pressed into the mat let your knees fall apart until you feel a gentle stretch in the groin, as you exhale draw them back together feeling the deeper pelvic floor and lower abdominal muscles working. Keep the buttocks relaxed. Do this for 6-10 repetions.

**Variation: Drop just one leg at a time toward the floor making sure the opposite buttock stays in contact with the mat and the hips stay level. This should be done very slowly and controlled. Make sure to feel for a good contraction on your lower abdominal muscles.

Jane Fonda’s: Start side-lying, with your hips and shoulders stacked, spine in neutral. You can bend the bottom knee to increase your stability.

Exhale as you lift the top leg, making sure to keep the knee straight. Leading with your heel towards the ceiling will help you activate your gluts and hip abductors. Slowly lower the leg back down. Repeat this 8-12 times for each leg.

For more information on pelvic floor exercises that can save your back, click here.

Knee Structures & Ligaments

As you can see in this image, knee pain can be associated with many different causes. When choosing a knee brace, it is important to factor in the cause of your pain. For example, people who have had a significant knee injury in the past and are trying to protect their joint from further injury, and those who have never injured their knees, but are looking to keep them feeling good will require different equipment.

What Does Preventative Bracing Do?

Knee braces worn over the joint to protect against ligamentous injury can have a great effect. Braces are worn to provide medial-lateral support, prevent abnormal rotation, hyperextension, translation and to provide general knee stability. Check out this site to find great recommendations specific to your injury or athletic need: JointHealing.com

Specific braces have been shown to decrease tibial rotation in activities where increased translational and rotational forces occur. People who have undergone recent ACL-reconstructive surgery or those who have opted to cope and are ACL-deficient, may require these braces to prevent such problems.

Many studies in the American Journal of Sports Medicine have been done on the effect of knee braces and football performance and correlation to injury of the MCL and ACL. This has been a very controversial topic, with many negative findings as well as several positive outcomes. A recent study recommended a style of knee brace where there is a hinged “H” buttress for support of the knee brace, and specifically showed the Drytex Economy Hinged Knee Brace produced the best results on the performance parameters. They concluded that prophylactic knee braces can be used for both healthy subjects and athletes to enhance proprioception, coordination, maximal force, and balance, but it is important to choose the best proper brace to the individuals according to their fitness level.

Neoprene Knee Braces or Sleeves

One of the most popular knee braces that I see out in the general population is the neoprene knee sleeve. These braces are supposed to be used to provide support and warmth to a joint that is strained or sprained. The advantage here is a brace that is flexible and supportive without being too constricting. The disadvantage of a neoprene knee brace is that it gives the wearer a false sense of security. An injured limb should not be pushed to the limit even if a brace is used. You may cause serious damage to your knee structures. Just because you are wearing something on your knee does not mean that it is completely protected from injury.

Athletic performance may continue at a mild to moderate level with this general type of brace, as it gives compression to the joint and provides proprioceptive feedback to your system, reminding you to take it a bit easier by slightly limiting your range of motion.

In conclusion, preventative knee braces can be a great thing for your knee. Make sure to find the correct brace for your specific injury, and remember that if your knee is already injured and inflamed, slapping on a knee brace and playing through pain may lead to significant damage.

Battle the bulge this summer season with a little more consideration to your diet. By making a few easy choices while meal planning, you may do your body a lot of good. While the foundational goal of dieting is to achieve a net zero or negative calorie intake when factoring in your body’s metabolic rate and exercise outputs, there are a few natural ways to help you get there. The first important thing is to set an attainable goal. This will give you more mental determination to fight off hunger cravings and make the right food choices.

Hunger

Hunger is not the enemy although it may seem like it in the fight to slim down. There are many strategies that help reduce hunger: avoiding refined carbohydrates, getting plenty of natural sunlight on your skin, drinking large amounts of water on a regular basis, and getting plenty of fiber in your diet. But there is nothing that absolutely eliminates hunger. The bottom line is that if you are going to lose weight, you are going to experience hunger at one time or another. This is especially true for those that engage in strength training. Nothing gets your appetite whipped into a fury like the leg press! However, it’s what you do with your hunger and how you manage it that counts. Hunger is a normal human response to a decrease in your consumption of calories.

The problem that most people encounter when they feel hungry is they feel it’s some sort of emergency. It feels like they are dying or wasting away when, in fact, the body is just signaling that it doesn’t have enough calories to add new fat to the fat stores it’s already carrying around. The first feelings of hunger are really more of a false alarm than anything to be concerned about; something to be aware of and a feeling to be in control of.

Tips to Stay in Control

Photo © Nathan Rupert

Drink Water

This is sage advice for staving off hunger, hydrating your body, improving your immune system, and smoothing your skin. Drinking about 8+ ounces of water before meals has been shown to make you feel fuller faster so you’ll eat less. Water also helps the undigested fiber you eat expand in your stomach and makes you feel fuller longer.

Drink Broth

In addition to water, you can also try drinking organic vegetable broth with low sodium and does not contain excitotoxins. These are ingredients that cause neurological disorders because they overexcite and harm nerve cells. Those ingredients are MSG, yeast extract, autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed vegetable proteins, and other similar ingredients. Stick to the Trader Joe’s brand or other similar health food branded vegetable or chicken flavored broths. Drink a 32-ounce quart of broth and fell totally full on just 20 calories.

Drink Green Tea

Green tea is a potent appetite suppressant and it’s also an all-natural fat burner that helps you burn up to 43% more fat. It also contains many antioxidants and vitamins, and you may be less inclined to add the sweeteners or cream that you might in coffee.

Eat Colorful and Fiber Filled Fruits and Veggies

Photo © Jeremy Keith

My favorites are apples and bokchoy. Other leafy vegetables include lettuce, cabbage, carrots, celery and any others that you prefer. These veggies are best digested raw, but can be blanched or lightly steamed as well. The trick to blanching vegetables is to make sure they are heated to a point that the color becomes more vibrant and there is still crunch to your produce. Your body will take longer to process uncooked or crunchy vegetables, leaving you feeling full.

Surrounding yourself with calming colors may also help you lose weight. So, eat on blue plates! It may sound weird but the research does show that blue is a natural appetite suppressant so try to use blue silverware, napkins, etc. Red, yellow, and orange have been shown to increase your appetite and make you eat more.

Use Spices

Using Cinnamon, cloves or ginger for flavor which will help you lose weight in the place of sugar or salt. Reducing your need for sweet and salty in your pallet will give you a more sensitive taste for the natural flavors in food. Plus, cinnamon, clove and ginger will decrease your sugar cravings by lowering your blood sugar levels and mood fluctuations. Spicy foods can reduce your appetite by increasing your body’s norepinephrine and epinephrine levels, and Canadian researchers found that people who ate appetizers with hot sauce ate 200 less calories than people who did not use hot sauce. Another study in the British Journal of Nutrition found that women who added 2 teaspoons of dried red pepper on their food ate less calories during the day.

Eat Pickles

Photo © Brian Everett

Really though, pickles can be a very tasty treat without a high calorie consequence. Not all pickles are created equally. Avoid the ones with food coloring, added sugars and salts. You want to buy completely natural pickles (available at Trader Joe’s) that are made without artificial colors or flavors and that have an extremely low calorie count. An entire jar of pickles may give you only 50 calories!
By the way, while you’re eating pickles, it’s an excellent time to take some calcium and mineral supplements, too. The acidity of the pickles will accelerate the absorption of calcium.

Take Calcium

Research has shown that women who take calcium supplements or consume at least 1 serving of dairy products daily (like yogurt, skim milk, or low-fat cheese) about 2 weeks before menstruation will significantly lower their cravings during PMS for bad carbs that make them gain weight. Calcium intake through dairy products or supplements is also important for bone strength, cell metabolism and general health.

Eat Protein

Make sure at least 30% of your diet is protein. You can do this by starting out your day with an egg. Studies found that an egg for breakfast helped overweight people feel more full over 24 hours than a bagel-based breakfast of equal calories and the people who ate the egg breakfast ate 330 calories less during the day and after an 8-week study. The people who had eggs for breakfast instead of bagels lost 65% more weight and they lost 16% more fat. You can also hard boil eggs and keep them stored in the refridgerator for up to a week. For an even quicker ready to snack method, keep hard boiled eggs peeled in a bowl of cool water in the fridge.

Try protein shakes with near-zero calories and few carbs, or add vanilla flavored whey protein to oatmeal for a snack.

Photo © Jeff Hill

Sleep

Sleep science shows that not getting enough sleep makes your body release the appetite stimulating hormone, Ghrelin. Try to get at least 7 hours of sleep so you can lower your Ghrelin levels and increase the levels of the fat burning and appetite suppressing hormone, Leptin.

Exercise

Exercise decreases Ghrelin and stimulates the hormone Leptin in a feedback loop to tell your mind you’re full and you need to stop eating. According to a study in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, people who did 30 minutes of weight loss workouts and body sculpting exercises ate 500+ fewer calories a day and lost 1 pound of fat every week or 50 pounds a year – you just have to eat 500 fewer calories a day.

Body Shaping Garmets

Why not use clothing that enhances what you already have as you are working towards your goals of working out and looking great? The results you see from exercise take a while to kick in, so grab a pair of Spanx Shapewear (only $28 and up) to create great body lines now. Many of the celebrities swear by body shaping garments on the red carpet and under their everyday wear. You can also find much cheaper knock-offs that do the same trick.

Alternatives to Liposuction Procedures

While diet and exercise is really the only proven method of conservative weight loss, there are a plethora of medical procedures that aim at accomplishing the same outcomes. Exercise accompanied by a balanced diet can offer a long term solution with many health benefits, but there are also a few less invasive procedures out there if you are still considering a surgical option.

What is hCG?

While many of you have probably heard of the HGH (human growth hormone) drugs out there for performance enhancement, it is not the same as hCG. Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (hCG) is a water soluble, glycoprotein hormone extracted from the urine of pregnant women. You are probably wondering how a pregnancy-related hormone can help one lose weight. The theory behind hCG for weight loss involves stimulation of the hypothalamus gland, which is responsible for moderating the thyroid, adrenals, fat storage, and more importantly, your metabolic rate.

How Does the hCG Diet Work?

Taking some form of hCG in combination with a restricted 500 calorie diet is said to put your body into a starvation-like mode, forcing your body to utilize stored fats for energy. In normal pregnancy, this hormone is responsible for ensuring the fetus has enough nutrition to grow by breaking down and mobilizing fat storages in the mother’s body, usually found in the hips, thighs and butt.
This diet also calls for an incredibly low calorie, high fiber diet. Typically consuming a meager 500 calories would make one feel very weak, hungry, and tired, thus making it difficult to stick to a diet plan. The addition of the hCG drops is supposed to modify and suppress appetite and feelings of hunger. Even without extreme dieting, many people who take this supplement report weight loss of anywhere between 1/2 pound and three pounds a day, with an average of 1 pound per day. The recommended low-dose daily hCG injections (125 IU) in combination with a customized ultra-low-calorie (500 cal/day, high protein, high fiber, low-carbohydrate/fat) diet is said to burn adipose tissue without loss of lean tissue. Fiber and water intake are very important to your weight loss success, and a multi-vitamin is suggested to supplement your diet. More specifically, the makers of this product recommend users to take a liquid B-12 and potassium supplement daily.

hCG is offered in many forms: sublingual (under the tongue) pills, drops, powders and injections. Both the drops and injections require refrigeration and a consult from your medical doctor in preparation for the diet is recommended to see if you are a good candidate for rapid weight loss. Neither the homeopathic n synthetic supplement varieties are FDA approved. The ingredients in these products are often obscure, but if prepared from true hCG via homeopathic dilution, they contain either no hCG at all or only trace amounts. Proponents of homeopathic HCG claim the solution bears the “energetic imprint” of HCG.

Injection Sites

Many people fear injections, but the shots given for hCG are very shallow and only reach just below the skin to deliver a subcutaneous dose to the fat cells. They do not reach the muscle layer, which can be more painful.

The best spots for injection include the stomach (best), arms (2nd best), thighs, and buttock.

Other Uses for hCG

For medical purposes, hCG has been used to treat obesity in women with poly cystic ovary syndrome that have difficulty regulating their metabolisms. Studies are also being done to examine the effects of hCG on tumor cells in breast cancer patients. HCG is also used as a fertility treatment in both men and women.

Reported Side Effects

The Research

Both the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and the Journal of American Medical Association state that hCG is neither safe, nor effective as a weight loss aid. The literature goes on to state that the meta analysis found studies supporting hCG for weight loss were of poor methodological quality and concluded that “there is no scientific evidence that HCG is effective in the treatment of obesity; it does not bring about weight-loss or fat-redistribution, nor does it reduce hunger or induce a feeling of well-being”.

Resources

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
HCG and treatment of Obesity
Review on hCG
hCG Diet Exposed
Instructions to take hCG
FAQs on hCG
Male Side Effects with hCG

Types of Liposuction

In general, liposuction procedures involve fat being removed via a cannula (a hollow tube) and an aspirator (a suction device). Liposuction techniques can be categorized by the amount of fluid injection and by the mechanism in which the cannula works.

• Dry liposuction.The dry method does not use any fluid injection at all. This method is seldom used today.
• Wet liposuction. A small amount of fluid, less in volume than the amount of fat to be removed, is injected into the area. This fluid contains lidocaine as a local anesthetic, adrenaline to contract blood vessels, and a salt solution. This fluid helps to loosen the fat cells and reduce bruising. The fat cells are then suctioned out with the basic vacuum procedure.
• Super-wet liposuction.In this method, the infusate volume is in about the same amount as the volume of fat expected to be removed. This is the preferred technique for high-volume liposuction by many plastic surgeons as it better balances homeostasis and potential fluid overload. It takes one to three hours, depending on the size of the treated area/ areas. It may require either IV sedation as well as the local lidocaine, or complete anesthesia.
• Tumescent liposuction. The surgeon injects high volumes of solution directly into the subcutaneous fat to be removed. Due to a potentially large total volume of local anaesthetic injected into the tissue, systemic toxicity from lidocaine is a potentially fatal complication which must be considered with larger volume cases.
• Laser assisted liposuction (LAL).Laser assisted liposuction uses thermal and photomechanical energy to affect the lipolysis. The addition of a laser to traditional liposuction possibly increases skin tightening effects through tissue coagulation.
• Ultrasonic Assisted liposuction (UAL). This includes any modified liposuction technique that delivers ultrasonic energy to subcutaneous fat in an effort to facilitate traditional negative-pressure liposuction.
• Power Assisted Liposuction (PAL). PAL devices use power supplied by an electric motor or compressed air to produce either a rapid in-and-out movement or a spinning rotation of an attached liposuction cannula. Advocates of PAL assert that it makes liposuction easier for the surgeon, decreasing the amount of manual movements.
• Micro Liposuction. This refers to the the removal of small areas of fat through tiny tubes and very small incisions. Microliposuction is commonly performed on the face, especially the cheeks, neck, under the chin, and the jowls.

Compression Garments

After a lipoplasty procedure, surgeons will often recommend the use of compression garments. Wearing a compression garment after liposuction is essential to improve blood circulation, minimize swelling after the procedure, flush the body out of potentially harmful fluids, accelerate the healing process, and allow the patient to return to daily routines sooner. A liposuction compression garment also provides support to surgical areas for more comfort and helps the skin fit better to its new contours. These garments should be worn for the first several weeks after surgery.

Side Effects of Liposuction

• Bruising.You might experience evident bruising, which generally fades away in 2 to 4 weeks.
• Swelling.There’ll be swelling usually on the surgically treated regions. Fortunately, these also slowly settle down in a couple of months. You might also suffer swollen ankles after that surgery.

• Dimpling. After liposuction, you could notice some sort of skin dimpling because of the fat removed from that area. When lots of fat gets removed, your skin might have an ugly and lumpy appearance.
• Scars.There might be some obvious scars, which are around and inch or two long and slowly vanishes if you allow a couple of weeks. These things are the simple symptoms of liposuction.
• Thrombophlebitis. You might experience thrombophlebitis and/or inflammation on your veins. This happens especially when your liposuction surgery has been performed on your upper thigh region. This generally settles following a couple of weeks.
• Thromboembolism or Fat Embolism.Although rare, blood clots following surgery can occur, and may have serious consequences, including death.
• Pain, Numbness and Discomfort. And finally, you might be faced with some sort of discomfort, coupled with some provisional numbness on your surgically treated regions.

Things to Consider

Not everyone can undergo lipoplasty procedures. To be a good candidate, one must usually be over 18 and in good general health, have tried a diet and exercise regime, and have found that the last 10 or 15 pounds persist in certain pockets on the body.

Where does MRSA comes from?

Actually, about 25% of people normally carry staph bacterias in their nose, mouth, genitals, and anal area. Only 1% carry the MRSA strain, but this does not usually manifest infections. MRSA skin infections commonly occur at sites of visible skin trauma, such as cuts and abrasions, and areas of the body covered by hair (e.g., back of neck, groin, buttock, armpit, beard area of men). There have also been many cases of MRSA infections beginning on feet, as your feet are very prone to picking up bacteria from the floor (locker room or shower floor). Infections occur when this normally healthy bacteria gets into a cut or has direct access to your bloodstream.

In general there is a higher incidence rate among football teams, in military training facilities, dormitories, shelters and prisons. This could be due to crowded conditions, with increased skin to skin contact after injuries or turf burn. I’m sure David Lee, from the Golden State Warriors, could attest to the virulence of an MRSA infection after suffering for several months with “a hole in his elbow” after a run in with another player’s teeth. Even with proper care and cleaning (I’m sure not missing a game hasn’t helped too much), it has been months of pain.

More Facts on MRSA

How is it Spread? What Does it Look Like?

At the gym, the infection can be spread by a shared towel, razor or piece of sports equipment, or through skin-to-skin contact.
Staph a. grows rapidly in warm, moist environments, and could potentially live on surfaces like the grips of exercise machines.
It maybe hard to tell where you contracted a staph infection because the bacteria has a long incubation period before spreading to a serious condition.
These staph infections range from simple, pimple-like boils, to antibiotic-resistant infections, to flesh-eating infections. The difference between all these is the strength of the infection, how deep it goes, how fast it spreads, and how treatable it is with antibiotics. The antibiotic-resistant infections are more common in North America, because of our overuse of antibiotics. MRSA happens to be one of the strains that is methicillin-resistant, leaving few choices for medical treatment.

Symptoms include inflammation or cellulitis which can look like: redness, warmth, swelling, and pain. Any skin sore or ulcer that has these signs may be developing cellulitis. If the staph infection spreads, the person may develop a fever, sometimes with chills and sweats, as well as swelling in the area.

Safety Suggestions

If you have an open wound, be very conscious to keep it covered and clean.

Avoid ripping callouses, instead try tape or gloves.

So What’s In Tea Anyway

The antioxidants in green tea, primarily polyphenols called EGCG, are thought to be responsible for the unique health benefits of a green tea diet. Drinking fresh loose leaf green tea not only tastes great, but is a great regular addition to a healthy diet and lifestyle. So, why do you lose weight when you drink tea? Tea contains caffeine, flavanol, polypheonls, vitamins, and other things that promote fat oxidation. Fat oxidation means fat burning, and this means losing weight. A 2006 Northwestern University study found that oolong tea and puerh tea lower the amount of blood lipids. But, it’s also what is not in tea that adds to the equation resulting in weight loss. Tea, by itself, has no calories. If one substituted a cup of tea in the morning and afternoon in place of a Starbucks espresso drink, they could be saving themselves more than 500 calories a day (360 calories for a grande peppermint mocha and 190 calories for a caffe latte), just on calories from coffee drinks.

Oolong Tea

There are three major kinds of tea: green tea, black tea and oolong tea or qīngchá meaning “blue-green tea” in Chinese. You have probably already seen or heard of green and black teas. Jasmine green teas and Earl Grey black teas are staples, but there is a wide variety of each. Oolong teas, are one of the most popular teas served in Chinese restaurants, and are commonly brewed to be strong, with the bitterness leaving a sweet aftertaste. In Japan, oolong tea is widely known as the slimming tea, and called the “looks tea”. A recent study has shown that a 300 ml cup of oolong tea is equal to a fast 15 minutes walk. It is rich with iron, calcium, and other important substances like polyphenol, an activator of the enzyme responsible for dissolving triglycerides in the blood, and an effective substance in controlling obesity and excessive poundage. Indeed, this tea is an all natural weight loss product with no side effects. Oolong tea comes in many aromas and flavors that are appreciated for their sweet and flowery qualities.

Puerh Tea

Puerh or pu-erh tea is sometimes classified as an aged green tea, and is made from a large leaf variation of Camellia sinesis. Puerh’s health benefits include the lowering of blood lipids, lowering of blood pressure and cholesterol, and it has slimming qualities. Puerh Tea is a fully fermented tea, and it is unique because through the fermentation process, it can improve the enzyme decomposition functions of fat. In particular, it has proven to inhibit the accumulation of abdominal fat.

Ma Huang Tea

Ma Huang tea is an ancient Chinese stimulant tea that has organic forms of ephedra. This tea has been shown to increased heart rate even at recommended levels of dosage. Ma Huang has traditionally been used as a treatment for respiratory ailments such as asthma, bronchitis, or nasal congestion, but can be used to relieve cough associated with colds as well.

Herbal Teas & Laxatives

The Dangers

There are dangers associated with the use of slimming teas.

While many dieters take slimming teas because they believe that frequent bowel movements will prevent the food they eat from being absorbed, this is not the case. According to an article in FDA Consumer Magazine, studies show laxative-induced diarrhea does not significantly reduce absorption of calories. This is because the laxatives do not work on the small intestine, where calories are absorbed, but rather on the colon, the lower end of the bowel. To read more, check out: Tea Advisor Panel.

Where to Get These Fancy Teas?

“I buy high quality tea from two trusted places on the internet. If you are looking for variety or are looking to try different types of tea, then I recommend purchasing from Adagio Teas. If you already know what kind of tea you want, I recommend that you just purchase from Amazon, as they are tax free and hassle free.”
- Thaya Kareeson

The General Approach to Dieting

I have tried several different kinds of diets, most only last me a couple of days to a week. They produce short-lived results and mostly leave me feeling really hungry or really thirsty. You have heard it over and over again that a life-style change is the only real way to shed those pounds and keep them off, but I’m here to show you how to lose those last 5-10 pounds that you have been trying so hard to lose.

First, set a goal. Whether it is a concrete number on the scale, a pair of skinny jeans you want to squeeze into, a new belt notch, or just to stave off the muffin top, having a goal lets you know how to measure your progress.
Make your goal visible. Hang that dress on the back of your door or on your mirror. Wear that belt more often. Write sticky notes to yourself and place them around the house. (My notes are on my mirror and fridge, and a digital one on my computer desktop. They all read “Fat Camp Starts TODAY!”)
Less food in your mouth = more pounds lost. This doesn’t need to be a complex idea, it is really just simple. To help solve this major problem, every diet plan constructs a different approach. For me, I just used the power of mind over matter, and looked at overall end of the day calorie intake. There are many strategies for this, but I will list my favorites:

1. Have a food journal. Sometimes this gets a little obsessive, but at least you have to think about if you really want to write down another pink, sprinkle donut.
2. Set an eating schedule. Many diet plans make big money telling you when you can or cannot eat food. Do this yourself: you can even use Google Calendar to send you pop up reminders to get up for a break, eat a small snack or go for a walk. I recommend setting up a plan with small meals throughout the day. Eating every 2-3 hours is a good idea. This keeps your body from getting too hungry and prevents overeating when you are hungry. Many diet plans also recommend not eating after 9pm or closer than 3 hours before bedtime.
3. Drink more water. Flavored water or teas can help as long as they have 0 calories and definitely no sugar. My thoughts on drinking more water are: if you are trying to shed the pounds, snack on water. Save food and snacks for meal times and drink more fluids in between. Also by drinking more water, you will get the bonus exercise of making more trips to the bathroom. I always carry a water bottle with me and am constantly sipping throughout the day.
4. Exercise. Well duh. This is the other hard part about losing weight. There are a bunch of tricks to get around this or to incorporate exercise into what you are already doing, but here is the truth: If you want to lose those last few pounds or really make a difference in your weight loss progress, you have to set aside time to exercise and make your workout count. If you pick a two week window where you will be very dedicated, set aside 45-60 minutes a day to do hard aerobic exercise with 10-15 minutes of resistance training. (Muscle cells burn more calories than fat cells.) You will see the results of your work! Stick to it. Then you can go back to doing maintenance workouts with your new bod.
5. Keep Yourself Busy. When you are busy, you tend to think about food less and eat out of boredom less.

For the Hardcore Dieters

Hats off to you for the determination. My recommendation here is that you will see all the results you want based on the effort you put into your two week diet.

Start with a Cleanse. Now a cleanse is not the best way to lose weight, but this will kick off your diet and get detox your system. Pick one that suits your needs and don’t be afraid to modify or supplement the cleanse for your body.

1. Shop ahead of time for the ingredients you need for your cleanse and meals to follow. This will help eliminate excuses to crack open the box of mac n cheese.
2. Try blended foods for a couple of days after the cleanse. Broths, freshly juiced or blended foods are a good way to come off a 3 day cleanse and get your body ready to accept more foods. Might seem weird, but you really can blend almost anything. Keep it simple though: blend raw fruits and veggies mixed with juices or broths. Watch sugar and sodium content.
3. You can also try eliminating certain items from your diet. Try no dairy and no meat for two weeks and your body will feel refreshed!
4. This is also a good time to incorporate a new veggie or fruit into your diet. For more excitement, look up healthy recipes using that specific ingredient and have fun with it.
5. Steam or poach your foods. This eliminates many of the oils, salts, fats and carbon that goes into other cooking methods. Many asian cultures use “blanching” as a way of preparing vegetables.
6. Exercise. You will find that doing a light, simple workout will already take its toll on your body, as you are eating fewer calories already. Use your workout time to focus on toning exercises with light weights, simple cardio for 30 mins or a Yoga class.

I am definitely not the best dieter out there, but even in my two weeks, which included a fair amount of cheating on my diet plan, I managed to lose 3 pounds. My best words of advice, pick a diet plan that is set for 2 weeks, and stick with it! Challenge yourself! Whether it’s for you or for a loved one, healthy eating and a healthy body weight have major implications on your quality of life and can decrease your risk for many co-morbidities associated with increased BMI.

Resources to help you plan

• The Mayo Clinic
• American Diabetes Association
• Help Guide