Saint Valentine Never Had it So Good
There are several theories on the origins of Valentine's Day. Some
believe it originated on February 14, 269 A.D., when Saint Valentine
was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. Others subscribe to the
story of Saint Valentine, a priest imprisoned for defying the Emperor
Claudius. And some of us don't really care how it started (have you
heard of Romance Grinches?). Early records report that in 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius honored St.
Valentine by declaring February 14 in his name. Whatever the true story,
the fact remains that at some point St. Valentine became the patron saint
of lovers. Valentine's Day has since evolved into a day to celebrate love
and romance, to shower one's object of affection with rich, lavish,
luxurious gifts, glittery trinkets, shiny baubles, precious gee-gaws and
love's liquor? chocolate. It may not be a coincidence that the icon of the modern Valentine's Day
is a chubby little cherub slinging golden arrows hither and yon. The
arrows aptly symbolize the dollars we send flying at our heart's desire-
often unwisely or too extravagantly. And the chubby little guy? You've
probably guessed the connection there--sugar-laden chocolate! What would Valentine's Day be like if it had been started by low
carbers? For one thing, that cute little cherub would be a svelte little
fellow with abundant energy, probably with his own Web site, message
boards, chat rooms and LC Cupid franchises, spreading the good word
of sugar-free chocolate and low-carb delights world-wide. Instead of
shooting arrows, he might toss bouquets of water bottles and flavored
pork rinds. His slogan could be, "Share your healthy heart with the one
you love." Greeting cards would have a pro-health focus: "Be my low-
carb valentine"; "Splenda sweets for my sweet"; "I crave your love
instead of pasta." With every new love affair there would be two low carbers living the life
together, listening to love songs with titles like, Low-Carb Cupid, and
The One I Love Belongs to the Atkin's Center. Restaurants would serve
"high-carb" meals by special request only. White flour and refined sugar
would be difficult to find and only available on a few Web sites and
occasionally on eBay. Bread would only be two net carbs per slice and the national lunch
snack would be sugar-free chocolate and natural peanut butter.
Presidential candidates would run on a platform of "the low glycemic
school lunch." Political slogans would shout, "no more sugar, no more
flour!" Rallies would chant, "Carb Low or We Won't Go!" The tabloids
would cover stories such as, "Gwyneth Zellwager feeds protein bars and
Atkins Crunchers to the homeless," and "Somersize this Summer with
Suzanne and all of Southern California." Dan Rather would interview
high-carb traffickers and low-fat diet gurus from their jail cells. Romance
would mean revived health, renewed energy?and weight loss. A low-carb Valentine's Day just might be good enough to turn Romance
Grinches into LC Lovers. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some low-
carb shopping to do? Cherie' Davidson is a freelance writer and Web content developer who
lives in the Pacific Northwest with her toy poodle, Auggie Dog, her
"energy muse." She has her own freelance writing business, Suitable
Words Publications (http://www.suitablewords.com), where she writes
and promotes Website content, designs and develops e-books, hires out
as a copywriter and writes a wide variety of articles, reviews and essays.
She has started a blog at http://suitablewords.blogspot.com and a free
article site at http://www.writerscontent.com
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for dinner and Are We There yet?
Weightless Workout - Strength Training Without Equipment
Resistance training, also known as strength training, does not require a gym membership. It does not even require an expensive home gym. In this article, you will discover the secret of isometric training and its effectiveness for muscle growth.
Weight Loss: Its Not Always What You Eat, But What You Dont Eat
On a little island half way in between Guam and the
Philippines there is a rampant epidemic affecting
the inhabitants. This tiny island of approximately
8,200 people is not afflicted with famine or a deadly
disease as you might think when talking about an
epidemic... the islanders are dying at much earlier
ages that at any other time in their history. They have
alarmingly high rates of heart disease, type 2 diabetes
and obesity.
Weight Loss and Dieting Secrets ? What You DONT Want to Know!
Some of you will not like what I have to say, even though it is the truth. And that may be where the problem of American's health problems lies. No one wants to give you the truth. My responsibility as a high profile fitness expert lies not in if you like me, or even if you buy my e books. My responsibility lies in giving you straight talk with no sugar coating it.
How Body Mass Index Works ? Set Your Weight Loss Goals
Many people want to lose a few of those annoying pounds, but they just don't know where to start. If only there was some sort of guide that would help dieters to set goals. Body mass index, or BMI, creates an opportunity for weight loss enthusiasts to determine their ideal body weight in order to set their goals.
How To Measure Body Fat
When it all comes down to losing or gaining weight, most people turn to the scales to determine how much they should lose or gain to have the weight or the shape that they desire.
Weight Loss Secrets from Hollywood Movie Stars ? LA Personal Trainer Speaks Out!
In the early nineties I had the opportunity to work with some of the most famous movie stars in the world. As a manager and personal trainer for Kathy Smith and her health club, I experienced first hand the secrets to the stars. Here are a few things they did to look like they do:
Low Carb Diets Cause More Than Water Weight Loss
Many critics in have attacked
low carb diets for only providing an
initial loss in water weight, rather than
actually affecting sustained fat loss.
Some critics have even suggested that
dieters lose don't lose any fat at all.
Healthy and Fast Weight Loss: Ephedra - Why the FDA Couldnt Keep Their Ban On It?
Why was the FDA trying to hide the facts about Ephedra from YOU?
Eating Sensibly, Working Out and Still Not Achieving Your Goals?
Are you working hard in the gym 3 times a week, eating sensibly but still struggling to lose that weight or change your body shape?
The TRUTH About How to Lose Weight
The huge companies stealing your money by promising impossible results if you just drink their shake, take their pill, or do 10 minutes of exercise on their wiz-bang machines are abusing your trust in the name of profits and market share.
Weight Loss Secret -- Think Bodybuilding
This little known secret has been used by bodybuilders for sometime now to achieve astounding results, including healthy weight loss when necessary.
Obesity, Whats The Big Deal Part 4
In this issue, I am going to focus more on some of the consequences of obesity, especially as it relates to children. Although this is focusing on children, think of how it relates to you. Also, if you have kids, what are you teaching your kids about health?
How To Burn Fat Fast: Go For Speedy-Burn, Not Crash-Burn
How to burn fat fast is a question that burns anyone who has any weight to lose. Two ways to burn fat fast are: speedy-burn and crash-burn.
Trans Fat: Whats That!?
Learning the jargon is part of the weight loss journey. Depending on the weight loss or healthy eating program you are on, you will learn lots of things about food and their ingredients.
What Obesity Debate?
This is a perfect example of how on-line weight loss "experts" can confuse and harm the American consumer...The Obesity Debate?
During a dinner conversation with a friend, the topic of laziness was brought up. From there, we some how got around to the topic of obesity. He said to me, "A great example of how bad laziness can be is obesity."
"Excuse me," I coughed out (almost chocking on the last bite).
"You know, obese people don't do anything. They are fat because they are lazy," my friend said as if from a position of authority. This was going to be a long dinner I could tell.
It turns out, my friend read an article posted on the net that started with a statement similar to my friend's words that almost made me choke. Unfortunately, he didn't remember the author's name but the title was Fitness and Exercise -- I haven't found it...yet.
What blows my mind is how easily people believe what is written on a website by someone calling himself an expert! The real experts need to start making noise!
Laziness does not cause obesity. If that were so, obesity would be the norm and not considered a problem. I recently found a wonderful definition of obesity...it covers all the possibilities in one clear sentence:
The etiology of obesity is complex, determined by the interplay of genetic and environmental factors -Andrea Baessler, from her recent article in Diabetes, Jan, 2005.
There has never been a debate about what causes obesity. We have always known that obesity is multifactorial in etiology. The "real" debate topics are which environmental factors and which genes increase the risk or incidence of obesity. The rest of the article reviews recent work around two genetic links to obesity.
SREB-1 Gene
Delphine Eberle's work (Diabetes, Aug, 2004), with the sterol regulatory element binding protein transcription factor, found that the two isoforms are linked to the "plasma leptin concentrations in American obese families."
His group hypothesized, "...genetic variations of the SREB-1 gene could be associated with obesity and obesity-related metabolic traits such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia."
Interestingly, SREB-1 gene polymorphisms were found among obese cohorts when compared to nonobese cohorts. This means they are on to something and possibly not far from marking the SREB-1 gene as a clear link to obesity (1).
Ghrelin Receptor Gene (GHSR)
The importance of ghrelin in the central regulation of feeding has been demonstrated in animals and humans. Ghrelin increases appetite and food intake in normal subjects and patients with decreased appetite, such as those suffering from cancer cachexia. Recent evidence suggests that obesity is associated with an impairment of the entire ghrelin system (2).
Besides its biological function, the ghrelin receptor gene is located in a quantitative trait locus or QTL strongly linked to six phenotypes of obesity (1).
This is a second strong genetic association to obesity. Both groups will soon have conclusive evidence to support their arguments for SREB-1 and GHSR genetic links to obesity.
As far as I can tell, laziness wasn't mentioned once. How many wonderful people avoid treatment because they actually believe it's their own fault?
Educate at all costs.
Healthy Living!
Michael A. Smith, M.D.
Additional Information is available at The Weight Loss Professional
References:
Preventing Overweight and Obesity ? Are You Responsible Enough?
Obesity is now assuming epidemic proportions. Worldwide there are over 1 billion overweight people and out of that more than 300 million in the obese category. With the U.S. weight loss market alone grossing over $46 Billion, and projections of 1 trillion by 2010, obesity, diet control and weight control nutrition is assuming increasing concern among health planners especially the WHO.
Close Kept Secrets to Weight Loss Lesson #14
You know what is so amazing? We get to keep learning how to improve ourselves. Each day brings a new opportunity for us to practice unconditional love, especially of ourselves. Loving your body is demonstrating unconditional love. Think what your body does for you each day.
Breakfast -How Not To Start The Day Part I
Axiom Number Four
Can Caffeine Tights Beat Cellulite?
At around £350 pounds a treatment, Lipo-Dissolve the so called "flab-jab" injection that dissolves fatty tissue in the knees is costly, painful and requires ugly plasters on both knees, as recent pictures of Gerri Halliwell and Nicole Kidman show.
Weight Loss Problems? - Why The Gastric Bypass Surgery Does Not Stick!
Gastric bypass surgeries are temporary physical fixes to a long term head problem!
If you think the surgery is a cure all, think again. The crazy thing is people are
gaining weight on purpose so they can be qualified to even be considered for the
surgery. How sick is that?
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