Guild of Health

Stress can be caused by almost anything around us, traffic, job, lack of money, family and the list goes on. Some can handle stress well and remain calm while others need to release it to start functioning well again. For both cases, it is important to face that you are undergoing a stressful situation and come up with an immediate plan to resolve it. Simply ignoring it will not make it go away, rather it can haunt you in the future. There are medical studies that proves that psychological stress can add up to the immune-related disease that can make you very sick.

1. Know your problem. The first step is knowing your enemy and acknowledge that you are undergoing a

fight over stress. Then you need to determine the type of stress that you are dealing with. There are two basic types, long term and acute stress. A long term stress is the stress that you endure daily, everything that you encounter in your life can add up to this. On the otherhand, acute stress is caused by more specific events like a recent fight with your mother or an accident. Both type of stress can affect your health in the long run so you need to determine the root of this worries and find specific means to eliminate it.

2. Find ways to eliminate the root of your stress. After accepting that you have a problem you should further evaluate yourself and what causes these stress. Is it family related? Is it about your Job? A debt problem perhaps. After determining the root of your stress, think of ways how you can eliminate this to change the situation. Fix that family problem, get a new job or hold a garage sale. There’s always a solution to any problem, the key is to not give up until you find that solution

3. Take time to smell the roses. Living in a fast paced routine can build up stress that is more than you can handle. It wouldnt hurt to take things slow and take control of your life as well as the situations that you’re getting into. There’s no need to rush so take your time and live a little. Learn to be carefree once in a while so that you can appreciate what you have right now instead of always running for what you want.

4. Set aside a “me” time. Add a “me” time in your daily routine wherein for few minutes you forget everything that you worry about. Reflect on how have you changed throughout the years, what goals have

you accomplished so far and what will you do today, next month or this year to further achieve your other

goals.

5. Satisfy your adventurous bone. Do different things once in a while since a daily routine can make you

feel bored. move out of your circle and try new things that can spice up your live.

People will always encounter stressful situation that can make life harder but in a way spice up your daily routine. You should not ignore it rather face it and come up with a solution to eliminate the root of your stress because there’s so many things to do in life than be stressed.

We all know that eating at fast food restaurants is terrible for our health. It makes us fat, lazy, bloated and sick. Just one cheeseburger will double your daily calorie requirement, and the salads, yogurts and diet sodas they sell are not really all that much healthier. They are the biggest reason for the obesity epidemic in America today, and there does not seem to be any way of making them disappear from our ever growing suburban landscapes.

If you are really serious about getting or staying in shape, fast food restaurants are not on your path to success. Sometimes, though, these restaurants may seem like the only option other than starvation. Long road trips, co-worker lunches, and other situations may force you into choosing between bad or worse. This can be devastating to anyone trying to lose weight or trying to change their bad eating habits to good.

Listed below are 7 tips that will help you make healthier choices if you are ever forced to eat fast food. It is inevitably going to happen in todays fast paced world. You might as well be prepared!

Fast Food Healthier Choice Tips #1: Get Less For Your Money

So-called value meals really only offer you extra calories, saturated fat, sugar, and other diet killers. The only way this could be beneficial is if you are saving up for bypass surgery. Getting twice as many fries for only 20 cents more is not a good deal. Fast food packs a lot of unhealthiness into a small package as it is, so super-sizing it is only adding fuel to the fire.

Think about it this way. Is 20 cents really worth eating an entire weeks worth of fat and calories in one sitting? Paying extra to ruin your health makes no sense. Ordering the small size may not be as cheap per pound of food, but it will save a fortune when working off pounds of fat later.

Fast Food Healthier Choice Tips #2: Discover Your Inner Child

Sadly, a reasonably sized portion for an adult is now only found on the children’s menu! Want to get healthy sides like fruit or carrots? Again, only on the childrens menu! It is great that kids are getting healthier options, but what about adults? We need good nutrition too! Don’t be ashamed to order the junior hamburger or even the kids’ meal. You are the only one who can control what you eat and how much of it.

Fast Food Healthier Choice Tips #3: No All Salads Are Created Equal

Just because it has lettuce does not mean it is healthy. A Big Mac has lettuce, and you know it would not be any healthier if it was called a Big Mac Salad. Don’t be fooled by clever naming tricks. Use common sense when selecting a salad, and make sure all the ingredients are vegetables, fruits, and lean proteins you recognize. Also, do not go through all that effort just to drown your healthy meal in a pool of fatty dressing! Ask for vinaigrette.

Fast Food Healthier Choice Tips #4: Have It Your Way

Most restaurants honor your requests if you ask them. Hold the mayo and high-corn-syrup ketchup, and ask for more pickles, tomatoes and lettuce. Substitute the breaded chicken breast for the grilled chicken breast. Ask for extra vegetables. Ask for wheat buns instead of white. And by all means, hold the cheese! Most of the time you can not savor the flavor when it is packed into a sandwich anyway.

Fast Food Healthier Choice Tips #5: You Are What You Drink

The most profitable menu items for restaurants are soft drinks. Costing almost nothing to make, they want you to get as big a size as possible and pay for it. What you’ll get is tons of sugar and chemicals. And maybe eventually, diabetes! Soda and diet soda will ruin your figure and your health. Order iced tea or water instead. If someone is holding a gun to your head and making you order a soda, get the small.

Of course the best advice I can give you is to make your own fast food at home in the form of a soy-based protein meal replacement. This is how I lost 70 pounds in 4 months and have kept it off for over 15 years. It usually takes me about 3 minutes to make, which is less time than it takes to wait in the drive-thru line at any McDonalds.

I rarely go to fast food restaurants anymore, but when I do I follow the tips listed above. Losing weight and keeping it off for good is about making healthy decisions about what you eat, no matter where you are eating.

Anyone losing weight should be encouraged to base snacks and meals from whole food, which refers to food that has not been processed or manipulated with preservatives and chemicals. The food on your plate should resemble its source as closely as possible, like fresh chicken breasts instead of crispy chicken fingers with ranch dipping sauce.

I know what you are thinking. Whole foods taste kinda bland at first, right? And sweeteners add more calories so what is the point? Your first instinct would be to use something like Sweet & Low, or a similar sweetener that claims to be a healthier alternative to refined sugar. Even though it is not thought of as a food on your plate, it still goes into your body. You need to know how to sweeten your food safely.

Refined white sugar is harmful for any diet simply because it is so devoid of nutritional value of its own, it actually robs your body of nutrients to metabolize it evenly. Just like anything else, a little bit will not hurt too much, but your health will greatly improve with a significant reduction of white sugar in your diets.

How do you sweeten food safely without it being detrimental to your health and weight loss efforts?

Sweeten Food Safely Tip #1: Use Natural Sugars

Nutritionally complex natural sugars such as honey, molasses, and syrup are healthy alternatives to using any kind of sugar or artificial sweetener. Remember, these things come from the earth just like fruits and vegetables, and we all know how good those foods are for us on a daily basis.

Honey is sugar, but since it is natural and unrefined, it contains a host of nutrients and enzymes that have a multitude of beneficial attributes.  It will not cause the rapid rise and fall of blood sugar levels as does white sugar, and there are many varieties and flavors to choose from.

Sweeten Food Safely Tip #2: Choose Nature’s Candy

Ever wonder why you do not have to pour sugar over apples, grapes, blueberries, strawberries or raisins? It is because these foods are the candy of the produce department. They can be used as sweeteners in a variety of foods such as soy-based protein shakes, cereal, yogurt and oatmeal.

Just like everything else, unfortunately, our diets are often compromised by our willingness to bring these natural foods down to the American diet level. Dipping fruits into high-fat chocolate and caramel will not help your weight loss. It is no healthier to eat a Raisinet than it is to eat any other candy, despite the claim on the wrapper that is contains antioxidants. Stop falling for these sales gimmicks. Keep your foods natural and your taste buds will eventually revert back to the days before these altered snack foods even existed.

Sweeten Food Safely Tip #3: Limit Artificial Sweeteners

Anything containing aspartame is not a healthy choice for sweetening your food or drinks. Studies show that products containing aspartame can lead to poisoning, seizures, blackouts, headaches, memory loss, blindness, nausea, and gastrointestinal disorders. With even just one of these potential side effects, why risk your health let alone your weight loss efforts?

Just as drinking alcohol will not solve any of your emotional problems, fake sugar will not feed your body’s needs. Your body needs proper nutrition in order to perform at optimum performance, and that includes weight loss. The more you focus on working toward healthy nutrition, the more you will find your cravings for junk foods disappearing.

Even worrying about sweetening your food is not really the kind of mindset you need to live a healthy lifestyle. It is useful when trying to change your eating habits, but your long term goal is getting to the core of the problem by avoiding sweet foods altogether. But if you must sweeten… sweeten food safely! Keep a bowl of fresh ripe fruit nearby at all times to snack to to relieve your sugar cravings.

If you are craving something sweet, do not feel guilty. Over the years the American diet has slowly made us become dependent on sweet treats. The more time rolls on, the sweeter we want our food. This would be alright if becoming overweight was not a side effect, but it is taking its toll on society. Losing weight is about making small changes on a daily basis toward a healthier lifestyle…and for things to change, you have got to change.