health advices
Six Pack Abs - 3 Mistakes to Avoid at All Cost
If you are working out to develop six pack abs then you need to be aware of the three biggest mistakes described in this article and avoid them at all cost!
First, you need to understand the difference between getting six pack abs and simply losing body fat. Getting six pack abs is a all about having extremely low levels of body fat. For men this is around 8% and for women around 15%. Training and eating to get body fat levels this low is much different than someone who just starts a diet and wants to lose 20-30lbs.
If you are just trying to lose a lot of weight, then making small changes to your diet will help you make a lot of progress very fast. For example, if you were to only drink water, unsweetened iced tea, and green tea, then you will not be consuming any calories from beverages. For someone who just wants to lose weight, a small modification such as this can make a big difference.
For someone who wants to get six pack abs, the process is much more detailed. Here are two mistakes that most people make when they try to develop six pack abs.
Six Pack Abs Mistake #1: They try to do too many crunches and ab exercises.
While crunches and other ab exercises will help to build a stronger core, they will not help you get down to a low level of body fat. Trying to use endless reps of ab exercises simply does not build enough muscle or work your body hard enough to burn significant calories.
The myth of "spot" reduction is where a lot of people get caught up. The concept of spot reduction basically states that if you want to lose fat in a certain part of the body you should work the muscle underneath it. Our bodies do not store fat in one specific place, therefore you cannot lose fat in one specific place either.
I guarantee you will never see someone who has six pack abs in the front and is flabby around the rest of their midsection. If spot reduction actually worked this is what would happen. In the real world however, you need to focus on losing body fat all over in order to developing six pack abs.
Six Pack Abs Mistake #2: Trying to use infomercial ab gimmicks
When you see an advertisement for an "miracle" piece of ab equipment, the people who are using them usually have great bodies, low body fat, and a great six pack. However I can guarantee you one thing, and that is they did not get that way to using one single piece of abdominal exercise equipment.
Like we just talked about with why lots of crunches do not help you get six pack abs, the same holds true for any ab crunch machine or anything else you see on an advertisement.
This all goes back to the false concept that working the abs with lots of exercises will directly lead to a six pack. All the people who have the best abs got them by exercising their whole body and by adhering to a very strict diet. Not by using some ab crunch gimmick for "two easy payments of $29.95." Six Pack Abs Mistake #3: Eating too many calories.
Sounds overly simplistic doesn't it?
This is one of the most important core concepts that is crucial to understanding how to lose body fat and develop six pack abs. So many people try to eat healthy and still have trouble losing weight. Sometimes they think they have something physiologically wrong with them and their bodies simply cannot lose weight.
Before you fall into this trap and start seeking "miracle" quick fixes, you need to know that not being able to lose body fat is simply a matter of taking in too many calories. If you try keeping a food journal for a week and counting the calories you consume you will be amazed at the insight it will give you.
Even if you eat 400 extra calories a day from little snacks here and there (which is not difficult at all), you will be taking in an extra 2,800 calories per week. For some people, taking in an extra 500-1000 calories per day can easily come from foods that are extremely calorie dense but do not help you feel full. Such foods include bagels, donuts, muffins, potato chips, soda, any kind of fast food, and more.
So before you think that getting six pack abs or simply losing body fat is impossible for you, try taking a few days to really track what you are eating. You will be surprised that losing weight can really be as simple as cutting out small calories dense foods from your diet.
A wise man once said that having sexy six pack abs feels better than the best tasting food in the world. Remember this concept and start taking action today. Good luck!
Depression and Pregnancy-What Is the Connection?
At one time, doctors believed that the hormones associated with pregnancy were a good protection against depression. In more recent years, however, there has been a growing body of evidence that depression during pregnancy is a serious problem, affecting 10-20% of all women - the same proportion that women as whole suffer without adding pregnancy into the equation. With figures like that and with the added concern that depression can factor into the health of the baby, it is important to know something about how depression and pregnancy are connected.
First, it's important to recognize what depression is and what the symptoms are.
Depression is a mood disorder that may have both biological and behavioral roots. Although healthy women frequently experience some of the following symptoms during a pregnancy, depression is usually diagnosed when the patient experiences three or more of the following symptoms in the space of two weeks:
* A sense that nothing feels enjoyable or fun anymore
* Feeling blue, sad, or "empty" for most of the day, every day
* Difficulty concentrating
* Extreme irritability, agitation, or excessive crying
* Trouble sleeping or sleeping all the time
* Extreme or never-ending fatigue
* A desire to eat all the time or not wanting to eat at all
If a woman experiences three or more of these, she may be suffering from clinical depression and should report the symptoms to her doctor.
Depression is a serious disorder, and is more than just having "the blues." Untreated depression can interfere with a woman's ability to care for her self during pregnancy, and can push a woman to neglect vital personal care, thus hurting her unborn child. In extreme cases, the condition can also put her at risk for suicide, and for abuse of substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs. Depression may also interfere with the ability to bond with the child, and can also increase the risk for having an episode of depression after delivery (postpartum depression). In addition, recent studies have shown the possibility of links between depression in the mother and such serious conditions as premature delivery, low birth weight, spontaneous miscarriage, and gestational hypertension, or preeclampsia.
Doctors feel that there are several major causes which can contribute to a depression during pregnancy. Having an existing history of clinical depression or PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, a severe type of premenstrual syndrome or PMS) is paramount among these, as a predisposition to the disorder can increase the chance that pregnancy and its attendant stresses will bring on an episode. Age at time of pregnancy is also a factor -- the younger the woman is, the higher the risk of depression.
There are also environmental factors to consider. If the woman is living alone, without the support of a partner, and has limited social support; if there are already multiple children in the family, or there is a history of marital conflict and ambivalence about the pregnancy, there is a greatly increased risk of a significant clinical depression.
If a pregnant woman believes that she is experiencing depression, she should seek medical advice immediately. This is not a condition that will simply go away; treatment to avoid the serious consequences listed above is vital.
Fortunately, there are many ways to treat depression during pregnancy. One of the most important is for the woman to take a step back and realize that she may not have to do everything she did before the pregnancy. If a social network and supportive partner are available, much of the self-imposed stress of trying to maintain a normal, pre-pregnancy routine can be alleviated by doing less while others take up the slack. If these resources are not available, psychotherapy is an effective way to help the patient get at root causes of feelings of helplessness and low self-worth, thus allowing her to cope better.
Self care is critical - developing good sleeping habits, regular diet and exercise routines and the like are also effective treatments. Medications are also available, but as with any drugs taken during pregnancy, there are risks that must be considered. Some antidepressants have been associated with serious side effects for the baby; any use of these drugs should be discussed carefully with a trained doctor so that risks are balanced against the benefits. Keeping in mind that depression is a serious illness; there are times when the benefits of treating a depressive episode with drugs outweigh the possible downside.
As with any medical condition that occurs during a pregnancy, depression requires a skilled diagnosis and treatment by a trusted specialist. Women who are at risk for depression or who are experiencing the symptoms owe it to themselves to address the problem as soon as possible.
The Causes Of Narcolepsy
What in the world could be causing such a strange disorder as Narcolepsy? Scientists have been asking this same question and have discovered quite a few interesting things. In fact, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) has combined its efforts with the National Institute of Health (NIH) to conduct research about narcolepsy and other related sleep disorders. Different studies such as the “Safety and Effectiveness Study of a Single Dose of JNJ-17216498 in Patients With Narcolepsy” and “Body Weight Regulation in Patients With Narcolepsy”, many conclusions have been made. Other studies such as the “Effectiveness Of The Drug GSK 189254 In Treating Patients With Narcolepsy” and “Trial of Xyrem (Sodium Oxybate) for the Treatment of Narcolepsy” have helped to conclude that, while there are available medications to relieve some symptoms of narcolepsy, there is still no cure for the condition as a whole.
Thanks to some of the friendly doctors on the job, we are provided with some simple explanations about the causes of a very complex disorder. To make things more understandable to the average layman, it had been explained that narcolepsy is a chronic neurological condition caused by the inability of the brain to exercise normal and regular sleep and wake cycles. The underlying causes of this neurological condition are too complex for many people to understand, but there are four major symptoms that are associated with this condition. First, patients experience excessive daytime sleepiness or EDS. Second, they experience cataplexy or the sudden loss of muscle tone. Third, they experience vivid hallucinations during sleep or upon awakening and lastly they have brief periods of total paralysis. People with this condition do not have the luxury to exercise a regular sleep cycle from non-rapid eye movement to rapid eye movement. Instead, they must seek serious medical treatment.
One of the most common questions still remains for many people. “What causes narcolepsy?” If we are willing to stretch our minds a bit, a more complex explanation can be given for this strange disorder. First, there are some simple things that can be said to trigger the symptoms of this disorder. According to researchers, studies show that patients who suffer from narcolepsy had developed infection, immune-system dysfunction, trauma, hormonal changes, traumatic injuries, tumor growth due to exposure to toxins and stress prior to their narcolepsy symptoms attack. Although these are not considered definite causes for the disorder, they can be readily associated with its onset.
In addition to this, a more complicated explanation involves the fact that a number of variant forms of genes called Allenes affect the condition and are located in a region of chromosome 6 known as the HLA complex of the human gene. I told you this was going to be complicated! Anyway, Allenes have also been discovered to be an essential factor associated with narcolepsy. The HLA complex makes up the majority of interrelated genes that regulate vital roles in the immune system function. People who are diagnosed to have this condition have been shown to have only specific variants in certain HLA genes. These alone, however, are not sufficient to cause the disorder because there are clinical studies that prove the condition to be more unpredictable by nature. Many other genes, aside from those which make up the HLA complex may significantly contribute to the occurrence of narcolepsy. By considering the group of neurons in the brainstem and in the central brain which interact with each other to control sleep, there are large numbers of genes which are supposed to disrupt the brain’s neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters keep us awake when we need to be awake and individuals who lack these transmitters are found to develop many symptoms of narcolepsy. Now you see how complicated it all is! The good news is that you don’t have to be a genius to see the symptoms or to seek medical advice if you think you may be suffering from this condition.
As part of treatment and good management of this condition, medical practitioners strongly suggest that patients must adhere to certain behavioral strategies such as avoidance of alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine before bedtime. These behaviors, accompanied by proper medication to establish a regular sleep every night, are the best solutions known to help combat this strange disorder known as Narcolepsy.