Flat Belly Plan

Even if you've never had a flat belly, you can still shrink your gut. Learn how you can fight fat, reduce inflammation and even beat stress!

The Flat Belly Plan was designed to flatten your belly with four key steps:

1. Shrink Fat Cells

A recent study found that those who ate three yogurts a day while dieting lost 81% more belly fat than people who didn't eat yogurt. All study participants were directed to eat 500 calories less per day. As part of the Flat Belly Plan, you should eat about 6 ounces of low-fat Greek yogurt before every meal. Why? It's thought that calcium can help stop fat from entering your cells, improve your body’s ability to break down fat and help your body carry out fat through your bowel movements.

2. Shed Excess Pounds With MUFAs

MUFAs, or monounsaturated fatty acids, are the cornerstone of the Flat Belly Plan. These are plant-based fats, so the easiest way to remember them is to look for healthy fats that aren’t from animal sources, such as avocados, nuts, seeds, oils and olives. A study done through the American Diabetic Association found that a diet rich in MUFAs worked to reduce belly fat.

As part of the Flat Belly Plan, you need to eat three MUFA meals a day.

The foundation of any MUFA meal has:

• 3 ounces lean protein
• 1 complex carb
• Unlimited vegetables
• 1 MUFA
• Each meal should be 350 calories (or fewer)

3. Reduce Inflammation
The next part of the plan aims to reduce inflammation. Belly fat has been linked to inflammation and elevated cortisol (the stress hormone). Belly fat is even thought to be "toxic" to your system as it releases chemicals into your body that wreak havoc on your appetite and the way your body metabolizes food. That's why anti-inflammatory foods are thought to be effective in fighting belly fat and breaking the vicious cycle.

As part of the Flat Belly Plan, have an anti-inflammatory snack in the afternoon. Snacks should be rich in flavonoids, which are powerful antioxidants that help curb inflammation. They're the natural compounds that give berries and other fruits their vibrant color. Try a sliced yellow bell pepper with hummus or a bowl of mixed berries drizzled with dark chocolate. 

4. Beat Bloat
Drink ginger iced tea with mint and lemon to reduce bloat! Ginger naturally aids digestion, mint helps to reduce gas, and lemon juice is rich in antioxidants. Follow the recipe below and sip on this Flat Belly Tea all day long:

Ingredients

3 bags of ginger tea

1 cup fresh mint, chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

2 cups of water

2 cups of ice

Directions

In a large pitcher (about 24 ounces), steep the ginger bags and chopped mint for 5-10 minutes. Strain mixture to remove bags and leaves. Add lemon juice. Stir and serve. Store in refrigerator, serve chilled and sip.

Source ::  http://www.doctoroz.com

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5 Reasons You Are Bad At Whatever You Are Doing

What follows are 5 reasons you are bad at whatever you are doing and understanding why this is indeed the case is important if you are to ever improve. In all honesty, we are often bad at something because of us making tiny errors on a regular basis or perhaps we are just not cut out for it in the same way as some people are good at sports while others are just not as athletic. However, hopefully by reading these five reasons it will give you renewed confidence in what you do.

1. Failure to start with the basics.

We are often guilty of thinking that we already know the basics of something and this then leads to us skipping reading the instructions and just getting stuck into it. The problem here is that we are often slightly deluded and misjudge our own capabilities or see it as some kind of a weakness in having to go right back to the start. However, it is essential that you read instructions or take small steps from the outset in order to build a firm foundation and the task, or job, you are doing will then become easier and you will be better at it. Get the foundation wrong and you will continue to make the same mistakes and be completely unaware that there is anything amiss leading to you failing to improve over time.

2. We rush through it without too much thought.

Following on from the idea of not starting with the basics, you will often also find that people are bad at what they are doing due to not taking their time with the job and trying to just rush through it in order to get it done. The problem here is that we will often make the same mistakes time and time again, but due to the speed at which we are doing the task we will not even notice the mistakes and carry on regardless. The key here is to slow down a bit and try not to do too much in the one day and you will see an improvement in how you handle the tasks and will be better as well.

3. We do not practice and lack concentration.

Studies have shown that there are so many working hours lost in offices around the world due to people being easily side-tracked in a variety of ways or time wasted correcting mistakes that have come due to a lack of concentration. If your heart is not in whatever it is that you are doing it will then lead to errors not only being made, but also you missing correcting them. In order to improve our concentration we need to be focused and actually practice what we are doing. Accept that even top people in their field still practice, you only have to look at sports people, and there is no shame in it, so just do it.

4. We allow our frustrations to get the better of us.

If you find that you are becoming frustrated it will often lead to you being bad at whatever it is that you are doing because as that anger builds and the adrenaline flows around our body it leads to the job or task getting the better of us. Instead, you need to look at ways to prevent yourself from becoming so frustrated and accept that things will not always go as smoothly as you hoped and when you master your mood it should hopefully lead to things becoming a lot easier.

5. We try to do something we have no real interest in.

Doing a job that you find laborious or boring will often lead to you being bad at it as you do not have the same kind of drive to complete it to the standard required and you will also care less about those small errors that creep into your work. By doing something you love, or at least have some kind of interest in, you will find that you can get better and have a willingness to learn and improve, but we need to have that desire inside us in order to make any progress. If you have no real interest in a particular type of job, then the best advice is to avoid it or if you hate golf, then avoid picking up those clubs or you will face an uphill struggle from the start.

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Why Are we So Overweight ?

I suppose the easiest answer is fast food, but the problem extends out to so much more. Yes, the prevalence of fastfood restaurants certainly doesn’t help. As Morgan Spurlock showed us with painful reality in his movie, “Super Size Me”,fast food menus offer us a heaping helping of fat,cholesterol, and calories. I highly recommend watching this movie if you find yourself addicted to McDonald’s – you could very well change your mind after you see it! At any rate, many of these restaurants are now offering health-conscious choices including salads, potatoes instead of French fries, yogurt, and grilled meats instead of fried meats. So with these items now included on their menu,why aren’t we losing weight? The answer lies within our choices. Those choices extend to home life as well.Many people live horridly busy lifestyles, and they more often than not opt for pre-packaged foods that contain high amounts of salt, fat, and other unhealthy components that contribute toward weight gain.

We tend to maintain a mostly sedentary lifestyle choosing to watch a favorite television program after dinner rather than going out for a walk like they used to do decades ago.This type of life style unfortunately is being learned by our children as well. When I was young, we couldn’t wait to getthrough dinner so we could go outside and play a game of kick the can as the sun went down. We rode our bikes everywhere and only watched television when “The Brady Bunch” or “The Partridge Family” was on. Hey, we had our priorities!Today, you’re more likely to find kids on the computer or in front of the TV with a video game controller in their hands.Kids know more about the story line on Desperate Housewives than many of their housewife mothers. They can tell you about all of the new products being offered through commercials they see in between their programs.

In fact, the average child these days will watch more than 15 hours of television each and every week.Now, we’re not saying television is BAD. In fact, some programs can be beneficial and even helpful in making kids smarter. What we’re saying is that kids need to get outside more instead of sitting in front of the TV eating Cheetos anddrinking sugar rich soda.The statistics are showing this to be true. Fifteen percent of all children and teens are overweight - a number that has tripled since a previous study done in 1980.

Some people blame their excessive weight gain on slow metabolisms. In some cases, this might actually be true.However, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has confirmed what no one really wants to face: we’re overweight because we simply eat too much of the wrong
foods.Losing weight is actually quite simple – eat less, exercisemore. But we’re resistant to that message. Mainly, it’s because we’re looking for a quick fix – an easy, painless way to drop pounds without sacrifice. After all, losing weight just CAN’T be that easy, now can it?No, it isn’t. You have to consider portion control, food choice, exercise, how much exercise, what kind of exercise,etc. But worrying about all of the specifics will do you little good. You need to get the big picture in mind first before worrying about the specifics.What you want to do is lose those extra pounds. And there are many, many ways to go about that. But before you wait around for the next miracle diet, try some of the tried and true methods we’ll show you. It’s not as monumental as you think it is!

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The Happiness Factor among Doctors

Here are some simple steps that you can take to improve yourself:

1. Accept mistakes

As humans, we tend to make mistakes.

The most important thing is not to beat yourself up for any mistakes made, but rather to learn from them and not repeat them in the future.

It is best to learn to accept your mistakes. Don’t blame yourself when you realize that you did something wrong. Accept it fully and if you need to apologize, do it.

There is nothing wrong with making mistakes. The wrong thing is to blame yourself or others and let that mistake put a dark spot in your mind. Don’t let this happen to you.

2. Build self discipline

An undisciplined life is bound to fail one day. An important part of being able to succeed in life is having a certain degree on self discipline.

I understand that not everyone agrees on the importance of self discipline. Personally

I find self discipline have a great impact when it comes to chores or responsibilities that you don’t like to do but you need to do in order to stay healthy, fit or be successful.

For example, I don’t like doing physical exercises.

I would rather sit on the couch and read a book or watch a movie. But I knew that I need to maintain some form of exercise every day to stay fit and healthy. In this case, I use self discipline to make myself do it.

3. Maintain a positive attitude:

Make sure you are positive and optimistic every single day. What is the point of being negative or pessimistic about things when you cannot help the matter with negativity?

Yes, you can have worries once in a while (I do) but don’t let it linger too much. Instead focus on what kind of solutions you have on hand to solve the problem. Spend 1 % on the problem and the other 99% on the solution.

Tip: The first moment in the morning is extremely important in dictating how you are going to feel during the day. So when you wake up, be grateful for all the things you have and it will boost your optimism throughout the day.

4. Forgive others and move on:

One of the best ways to improve yourself is to learn how to forgive yourself and others.

If you live with pent-up emotions in your heart, you are going to hurt yourself physically and emotionally.

Forgive anybody that has hurt you and don’t keep a grudge in your heart. Grudges are heavy emotional baggage for the heart to carry.

What is the use of holding onto garbage or baggage that you don’t need? You don’t need grudges to make you happy or successful. It is happiness, love and being fulfilled that is going to make you happy, right?

So don’t bother holding onto grudges. If you love yourself, you will not do any harm to it and grudges can do a lot of harm to you in silence.

The less time you spend hating such people, the more time you will have to love yourself and those who love you. Your time is very valuable so spend it on things you value and love  .

Tip: Just how you need to take out the garbage frequently to maintain a clean home, you should do frequent cleaning of any mental or emotional garbage to keep yourself happy and fulfilled. Mental and emotional garbage are grudges, hate, envy, jealousy, anger, sadness, self pity, and all the negative emotions we keep inside ourselves.

Create a mental picture of you throwing all these stuff into a garbage can and let it be taken away by the garbage truck.

5. Express gratitude:

Be grateful for everything you do and have. It is good to strive for more things in life such as a career promotion, or material wealth but in the mean time be also grateful for things you’ve already possessed.

The very fact that we have a computer to use, have food on the table, a nice house in a nice neighborhood, a bed to sleep on, the ability to read and write, and countless others is a great blessing.

We might take them for granted because we get used to them but a lot of people in other parts of the world doesn’t even have basic clean water and food.

Being thankful for the things you have is instrumental in your attitude and thought: you will be more positive and optimistic while you appreciate more the things around you.

In turn your appreciation will attract more of the good things back into your life.

Essentially it is like a circle that whatever energy or intentions you give out, it will come back in one form or another.

6. Keep learning:

There is no end to learning in this world. Spare some time for learning something new every single day. You will end up honing your knowledge and make yourself even more valuable and knowledgeable.

Moreover, you never know when your situation will force you to use that knowledge sometime in the future in your career. Also learning keep your mind sharp and improve your thinking, knowledge base and skill set.

7. Smile every day:

Make it a habit to smile at least 20 times a day. It uses lesser muscles to smile than to frown.

Let smile be your close buddy whenever you go and don’t let others or situations take away your smile.

Every smile is a beautiful and unique sight (Have you ever seen two people with the exact same smile? )  so treasure your own.

8. Burn old memories:

It is better to forget those memories that keep hurting you.

Remaining attached to the past may prove to be a stumbling block in your progress. Get rid of the memories that don’t bring a smile on your face.

Don’t let the past haunt you and dictate you what to do in the future. Move on to newer and greener pastures and not let the pain and hurt from the past prevent you from moving on.

Many times it is holding onto our past hurt and pain  that prevents us from moving forward.

Maybe it is your ex who has hurt you and you cannot move to a new relationship.

Why give so much power to others? By holding onto those hurts done to you from others, you are giving them the power to influence you. Don’t.

Let go and be your own captain in life and not to be bothered what has happened in the past.

You cannot change the past but you can change the present and consequently the future. Focus on the things you can control.

9. Meditate daily:

One of the best ways to improve yourself is to start meditating daily.

Meditation is a great healer and bringer of clarity to our mind.  Meditating daily will connect you to your inner self and open up a whole new world of possibilities.

It increase your intuition, it deepens your own understanding of yourself and it makes you more aware of things, people and situations around you.

Try it and you will see what benefits meditation can bring you.

And start easy: do 5 minutes every day, then extend the time as you get more and more comfortable doing meditation. Having some quiet background music will help in the beginning.

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