Is Your Personality Type Making You Fat?

If you're ready to lose weight, you might want to consider what your personality type is (based on the world-renowned Myers-Briggs Type Indicator). Once you know your type, then pick the best weight-loss approach for your type. Just think - no more use of willpower.

The only reason people use willpower to lose weight is because they're having to do things that aren't comfortable for their type. As I tell my clients, "You have not failed. The plan failed you." So find out what is right for you to finally have the success you're capable of having.

Visit www.advantagediets.com to see more details about this series. There's a link on the page (about midway down) called "About Personality Typing". Click on that and watch the slideshow to learn more about personality typing.

What are you eating that for?

Good morning.
With most of us not having overactive metabolisms where we can eat just about anything and it never shows, we need to make every calorie count. So I decided to use that thinking and analyze what I had for breakfast.

I had an orange for its vitamin C (to act as an antioxidant and help my immune function) and fiber (to provide bulk for the intestines to keep their muscle tone), along with 1/2 a banana for its potassium (for fluid balance, heart muscle activity and the nervous system).

The hot oatmeal I had gave me a good supply of soluble fiber. (Soluble fiber turns into a gel with the water in your intestines. It then traps cholesterol, making less cholesterol available for absorption. That's great news for lowering one's risk for heart disease and high cholesterol).

I added about 1/2 cup of lowfat milk, giving me about 150 mg of calcium. (While I know 150 mg of calcium is far from my goal of 1200 mg, it was contributing to my overall total in my attempts to protect my bones against osteoporosis. But calcium isn't just for your bones. It also regulates heart beat, muscle action and nerve function, and a number of other chemical reactions that occur in your body. There is also some protein in the milk. For those of you familiar with "complementary proteins", the missing amino acids in oatmeal are complemented or made up for by the amino acids in the milk. By the way, there isn't a concern that they be eaten in the same meal. Your body will manage them even if they come in at different times of the day.)

I included about 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed to give me some healthy omega-3 fatty acids to help reduce any inflammation in my body. (Inflammation is the basis for many of the diseases in the United States, from heart disease to diabetes to arthritis and inflammatory bowel syndrome.)

Lastly, I topped it off with about 1/4 cup of lowfat Greek style yogurt for its probiotic content, calcium and protein. (Probiotics are healthy bacteria that we need in our intestines. Most people don't appreciate that there are many, many different types of bacteria in our intestines, some doing some very valuable jobs of breaking food down and giving us some healthy byproducts. What's even better about having the fiber in the oatmeal and the flaxseed, is that these foods will feed the healthy bateria so that if I ever get some bad bacteria down there, I'll always have a larger population of healthy bacteria to fight them.)

And what's best of all, I came away very satisfied and know that I won't be hungry in an hour. The fiber will slow down the absorption of my meal so it becomes more like a time-release energy capsule.

In many of the following blogs, I'll share with you foods that I think you should be eating and why. I hope that you'll start thinking about food in terms of "why am I eating this?" While you can justify dark chocolate now that we know it has valuable antioxidants, I'd love to hear how you would justify, say, jelly beans!

Visit www.advantagediets.com for more health and wellness information

Copyright 2008 - Advantage Diets

Make It a Different New Year's Resolution This Year

We all feel we've got to make those New Year's resolutions. And why not? It's such an exhilarating feeling to know you’re starting with a clean slate. You allow yourself the privilege of forgiving your mistakes of 2008, promising you won’t make those again. It’s very possible you won’t. But that doesn’t guarantee you won’t make some new ones. Always keep in mind that if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not growing. So, view what you did wrong last year from a different perspective. Evaluate what worked, what didn’t work and what you’d like to change.

I’m sure many people will have, right at the top of their list, to lose weight. Considering that almost 65% of Americans are overweight or obese, you’d expect some of them to want to come to terms with how much they weigh. But wait — before you jump to that resolution called “I promise to lose so many pounds this year”, let me suggest a new approach. Forget the number of pounds. In fact, forget discussing weight at all.

Restage your thinking. Instead of stipulating that you want to lose weight or want to lose a certain number of pounds, consider the alternative resolution: I’m going to do whatever it takes to become a healthier me. It’s not the weight that’s the issue as much as resolving to change your not-so-healthy lifestyle habits that have led you to wanting to lose the weight. When you appreciate “why” you’d want to make some changes, you’ve got a resolution taking shape.

What you really should want is a good quality of life. For example, if you’re too heavy, walking upstairs is a struggle. Wouldn’t it feel so much better to walk up those stairs without huffing and puffing? Now that is a good goal — being able to walk upstairs comfortably. Once you’ve set yourself a goal such as this, you’ll figure out what is required for you to reach that goal. And not once will you moan over having to make those changes. In fact, you’ll embrace the changes, always keeping that picture of the “new” you in your mind’s eye.

Most of the relatives on my dad’s side of the family died of heart disease. For me, staying as heart-healthy as possible is my resolution. Then I ask myself what steps does that take? I get on the treadmill in the morning for 30 minutes, not because I enjoy jogging, but because to be heart healthy, exercise is right there on the top of the to-do list. I eat foods that I know will foster a healthy heart — fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, vegetables, fruits, and grains that are high in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and drink plenty of fluids. I’m not eating these foods because I’ll lose weight with them. I’m eating them because I know they’re good for me. Instead of using the scale as my judge of how well I’m doing, how I feel is my guide. Having more energy, feeling more alive, keeping my sense of humor all will tell me I’m on the right track.

Your resolution should be in terms of how you want to feel this year. For me, it’s to be the healthiest I can be, whatever that takes. How about you?

Visit www.advantagediets.com for more health and wellness information

Copyright 2008 - Advantage Diets