'I Was Sick And Tired If Being Sick And Tired': How Trevor Lost 95 Pounds

'I Was Sick And Tired If Being Sick And Tired': How Trevor Lost 95 Pounds

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Name: Trevor Holland
Age: 28
Height: 6'3"
Before Weight: 370 pounds

How I Gained It: I've always been an active person and although my weight has fluctuated in the past, I've generally been in good shape. However, in my late teens I developed bipolar disorder (which was only diagnosed in the last six months). Then, at the age of 24, my hero, my father, died from aggressive cancer. It tore me apart, and my symptoms worsened as a result. I would use food as a response to the entire spectrum of emotion: happiness, sadness, depression, solitude, celebration, anger, etc. My eating habits spiraled out of control until I was putting myself under a great deal of financial stress. I would also eat in secret, out of shame for my behavior.

Breaking Point: One day, it finally dawned on me that I had hit rock bottom. I weighed 370 pounds and was so grossly unfit that I struggled to perform basic tasks. Walking up the stairs would make me out of breath, putting my shoes on would make me struggle to breathe, a five-minute walk would cause me to sweat profusely. My legs hurt, my feet hurt. I constantly had heat rash on my legs. I had destroyed my body and the implications this had on my mental well-being were vast. I was miserable, sluggish and lacked the inclination to do anything.

I realized enough was enough. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I decided to change my life -- not in the short term, but forever. I decided I was going to lose weight, fix my body and fix my mind. That was August 13, 2011.

How I Lost It: I joined my local gym and started exercising four to five times a week, slowly building up the intensity. I also rewired my thought process around food by finding other things to fill the void in my life. I started painting and writing. I was determined. I changed my eating habits to three square meals a day, with plenty of fruit, vegetables, lean chicken and fish. I started writing a blog to chronicle my journey and keep myself on track called Belly and Brain. The hard work has continued and I'm feeling like a brand new man. I'm proactive, productive, full of energy, happy and confident. As of today, I've lost 95 pounds and plan to lose another 45. I feel great and am so proud that I've managed to change my life without gimmicks, tricks or quick fixes.

After Weight: 275 pounds

For more on weight loss, click here.

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Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

5 Foods That Age Your Brain

5 Foods That Age Your Brain

By Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., F.A.C.S. and Michael Roizen, M.D. for YouBeauty.com

A healthy diet is about more than keeping yourself fit and free of heart disease, wrinkles and impotence (yes, all are related to food!). It's about preserving your memory, too.

For instance, eating high amounts of saturated fat -- more than four grams in an hour -- can raise the levels of bad cholesterol in your blood, which can stick to your arteries, and, even worse, turn on inflammatory genes that result in those wrinkles, poor orgasm quality, and you got it, that gunk in your brain that makes your memory be less than it is now.

The same arterial plaque buildup from this saturated fat -- we call it a food felon -- that leads to heart disease is a major culprit for vascular dementia -- when the brain neurons become inflamed or don't get enough oxygen and blood flow. Inflammation and lack of oxygen (resulting from that donut or sugary soda) result in accelerated memory loss.

This gives serious meaning to the phrase "eating to forget."

More from YouBeauty.com:
How Your Diet Affects Your Brain
QUIZ: Are You Eating the Right Foods?
Avoid Sneaky Sources of Sugar

Poor food choices cause poor cognitive functioning: The eight southern states in America that make up the "Stroke Belt" also have higher incidences of obesity and and greater chance of dementia. Of course, many factors are at play when it comes to developing dementia, but lifestyle factors like a high saturated fat diet (from four-legged animal fat, two-legged animal skin, palm and coconut oil), coupled with little physical activity, are certainly big contributors to memory problems as well as wrinkles, orgasm decay and heart attacks.

A recent study of healthy adults and adults with mild cognitive impairment tested out the effects of two diets. One was the "high diet," which was high in saturated fat (at least 25 percent of the diet) and simple carbohydrates (glycemic index greater than 70). The other was a "low diet," which was low in saturated fat (less than 7 percent of the diet) with a fewer simple carbs (glycemic index less than 55).

Not surprisingly, the low (low in the food felons) diet improved or made the levels of three important markers of health better for you.

Firstly, this diet was associated with decreased plasma lipids (read: less bad cholesterol). Secondly, the low diet was linked with lower insulin levels. Current research is looking at an optimal insulin dose to help cognitive functioning in people with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

Lastly, the low in food felons diet lowered CSF F2-isoprostane concentrations, which is a fancy way of saying it lessened the biomarkers of free radical injury, a signal of oxidative damage to, or damaging inflammation in, your central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord).

What does this all mean for the bigger picture? After just one month of the low saturated fat/low carbs diet, "visual memory" improved for healthy adults and adults with cognitive impairment. This was a small study of 49 subjects, but the implications have big promise for your enjoyment of life and brain functioning!

Starting today, what can you do? Look out for the five food felons, which are guaranteed to age your brain and body. We like to kick the felons totally out, but truth be told, the felons don't have to be exiled from your diet -- they just have to be put under very close watch.

Here's a quick review of how they can age you, so you can steer clear:

Look out for "partially hydrogenated vegetable oils." Trans fat alters metabolic processes and hardens your arteries. How much to have? Zilch! Flickr photo by Mykl Roventine

Look out for "partially hydrogenated vegetable oils." Trans fat alters metabolic processes and hardens your arteries. How much to have? Zilch!

Flickr photo by Mykl Roventine

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1) Trans Fat

Look out for "partially hydrogenated vegetable oils." Trans fat alters metabolic processes and hardens your arteries. How much to have? Zilch! Flickr photo by Mykl Roventine

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

Tinnitus Miracle – Suffering From Tinnitus? Factors You must Know

Tinnitus Miracle – Suffering From Tinnitus? Factors You must Know

Written by gaurav mehrotra on January 16th, 2012

Tinnitus Treatment

If you’re among the many individuals who consistently knowledge a ringing inside your ears, you’re not alone. Tinnitus is really a quite irritating and frustrating condition that affects numerous people. This article will show you distinctive methods which will allow you to alleviate and cope using the discomforts of tinnitus.

Be patient when taking medications to handle tinnitus. What a lot of tinnitus patients do not comprehend is that it truly is typical for these medicines to take awhile to settle in, that is why they stop taking them so easily. It is important to continue taking the medication and you are going to see positive outcomes, soon.

Tell your associates and family members about what you’re going via. It is important for you to surround oneself with people who are understanding and supportive; that may only happen if you share what’s happening together with your ears. Explain what tinnitus is, and how it impacts your life, to ensure that they are aware and can be there for you.

Many people swear that anti-anxiety medication aids with their tinnitus, and it tends to make sense than it would. This type of prescription calms you down, lowering your tension levels and therefore your blood pressure till it reaches a standard level. If your tinnitus is bothersome as well as the tension unbearable you too can ask your doctor for a recommendation.

Any time you receive the diagnosis of tinnitus it can be a true shock, and it is that emotional reaction which can make you become frustrated using the sound you hear. Understand that with time points will get much better and you will be able to forget regarding the sound and get on with your life.

While tinnitus isn’t a illness, it is a incredibly bothersome condition. As you are able to see, there are numerous methods which will be made use of to treat tinnitus. By implementing these basic methods, it is possible to lessen the uncomfortable symptoms of tinnitus and can reside a productive, enjoyable life in spite of it.

Source: www.newpublichealth.com

China cancer village tests reach of law against pollution

China cancer village tests reach of law against pollution
XIAOXIN, China (Reuters) - Nothing in Wu Wenyong's rural childhood hinted he would end up on a hospital bed aged 15, battling two kinds of cancer. Born to poor farmers in Xiaoxin, a dusty village of low brick houses in southwestern Yunnan province, he paddled in the Nanpan River as a child and later helped his parents tend rice. About 3 km (two miles) from Wu's home stands a three-storey high hill of chromium slag produced from the Yunnan Luliang Peace Technology Company. ...
Source: news.yahoo.com