Posts

Showing posts from May 22, 2012

Causes of Panic Attacks

Image
The short and obvious answer: panic attacks are caused by high anxiety. But, what exactly is anxiety? Understanding how anxiety crops up will help you defeat panic attacks. One of the biggest myths surrounding anxiety is that it is harmful and can lead to a number of various life-threatening conditions. Definition of Anxiety Anxiety is defined as a state of apprehension or fear resulting from the anticipation of a real or imagined threat, event, or situation. It is one of the most common human emotions experienced by people at some point in their lives. However, most people who have never experienced a panic attack, or extreme anxiety, fail to realize the terrifying nature of the experience. Extreme dizziness, blurred vision, tingling and feelings of breathlessness—and that's just the tip of the iceberg! When these sensations occur and people do not understand why, they feel they have contracted an illness, or a serious mental condition. The threat of losing complete cont

Ecological Gardening

Image
When we think of organic gardening and permaculture we tend to conjure up images of leathery-skinned bearded warriors who dedicate their lives to working long days in their vegetable plots.  Whilst this may be a wonderful way to live your life, it doesn't suit the average suburbanite with a full-time job and a hefty mortgage. Growing food is typically seen as either an art form or damned hard work.  It's no wonder very few people do it on a serious level.  But what if a technique came along that was so easy and so prolific that even the busiest corporate executive could grow a significant portion of their family's food in less time than it takes to drive to the shops.  Ecological gardening just might be the answer.  In my experience, it's the ultimate modern-day convenience veggie plot. I didn't have a light bulb moment that said, "Ah, so this is ecological gardening".  My vegetable garden was no different to anybody else's for many years until I m

Cortisol, Stress And Body Fat: Straight Answers To The Top 20 Questions About The Stress Hormone

Image
It seems that every time science uncovers some type of association between body fat and anything, opportunistic entrepreneurs are waiting in the shadows to create a product and a marketing campaign around it. They ride the wave into the multi millions, until the buzz dies down or until the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sues and slaps a padlock on their warehouse doors. Then, it's on to the "next big thing in weight loss," because they know there will always be a gullible crowd eagerly waiting for the next quick fix. The most recent example is when researchers discovered a correlation between cortisol and abdominal body fat. Cortisol was then blamed as the latest culprit in the obesity problem, and cortisol-suppressing pills were touted as the "miracle solution." Big Claims, Little Proof After a web search on the subject of cortisol, here are some of the claims you may find: The advertising claims include just enough scientific fact to make even the savvie

Excess Abdominal Fat is Not Only Ugly, but Extremely Dangerous to Your Health – This is More Than a Vanity Issue!

Image
Although this picture depicts an extremely overweight man, this article applies to dangerous types of fat inside the bodies of both men and women … and this discussion also applies even if you only have a slight amount of excess stomach fat. Did you know that the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess abdominal fat?  It's true – as much as 70% of the population in some "westernized" countries such as the US and Australia are now considered either overweight or obese.  The first thing that most people think of is that their extra abdominal fat is simply ugly, is covering up their abs from being visible, and makes them self conscious about showing off their body. However, what most people don't realize is that excess abdominal fat in particular, is not only ugly, but is also a dangerous risk factor to your health. Scientific research has clearly determined that although it is unhealthy in general to have excess body fat throughout your body, it is

Fat Loss for Visible Abs — Workouts, Nutrition, and Lifestyle Tips for Success

Image
CB: Mike, let's start off with some background on the types of people you train, and your training background. MG:   Craig, I've been a Certified Personal Trainer for almost a decade now, and in recent years, I've become certified as a Nutrition Specialist as well. As for the types of people I train… I've trained everybody from skinny teenagers looking to add some bulk to their frame, to middle-aged housewives and businessmen looking to lose body fat, to senior citizens looking to get stronger and leaner in their golden years. CB: You have a site, The Truth About Abs. So…what the heck is the truth? MG: Well Craig, from what I see on a daily basis, one of the most common fitness goals people have is to get a flatter stomach and if possible, achieve some sort of a "six pack abs" appearance to their midsection. Unfortunately, most people struggle for years without ever achieving this goal. Instead, I see so many people waste so much of their time on wo

Fighting Hormones with Hormones

Image
New York's Premier Fat Loss Expert and the creator of the Final Phase Fat Loss program As you may have heard me say before (and if you haven't, you're going to hear it now!), when you are breaking through a fat loss plateau or trying to get to the Final Phase of leanness, things get a bit murkier than they do with traditional fat loss. Rather than dieting excessively in order to create a calorie deficit, we are now looking to enter into energy debt…and we do this with intelligently designed training protocols. That's because keeping energy intake high ensures that Leptin levels don't drop and throw another hormonal monkey wrench into the machinery. You see, when you're getting very lean or you've hit a plateau, fat loss is not just about calories in vs. calories out. It's about your hormonal environment and the way that affects fat storage, and thereby fat loss. When you've lost the first 20 or 30 or whatever pounds, you've lost the "

Health Warning: Can a Cell Phone Carried Regularly in Your Pocket Damage Your _____?

Image
You've probably started hearing in the media about emerging studies showing possible correlations between heavy cell phone use and brain tumors.  But what not many people are talking about is the risk of carrying cell phones in our pockets for hours each day.  This is where it gets even more interesting and a little scary too! First of all, to both guys and gals… read this article carefully, as it contains some potentially scary health issues related to cell phone use.  And although the examples are geared towards men's issues, I wouldn't trust that it's only men that can experience health issues from heavy cell phone use. You're also going to want to pass this page on to your friends and family to help them protect their health, and the health of their "crotch"… sounds funny, I know…but this is serious business. To start, I realize that some people simply don't believe that something as small as a cell phone can give off any radiation levels th