Journey To Weight Loss

Losing weight is easier said than done. Many people can agree to this cliché. You’d only realize how hard it is to lose weight when all your weight loss efforts are to no avail considering you’ve tried it all. Obesity is a global problem nowadays. It’s easy to find the culprit when you look around you. Fast foods are the staple when it comes to eating. After all, who has the time to prepare home-cooked meals these days when we are too busy juggling multiple tasks during the day. We end up going home exhausted and the last thing we want to do is to get our hands dirty and exert more energy into preparing and cooking our food.

Processed and artificial foods are everywhere. If you take a trip to the supermarket, you’ll see that the aisles are mostly stacked with cans of processed and preserved foods. There’s only a small section that carries fresh produce like fruits and veggies and most of the time they are also loaded with chemical fertilizers. No wonder people get sick often and die early now. We live in a world that is increasingly becoming artificial and it is obvious on our weight what the world has become. It is the reason people resort to different types of diet to lose weight to regain their figure back.

It doesn’t have a sexy name, nor does it promise to score you a revenge body. But that hasn’t kept the TLC diet from trending big and getting a nutritional thumbs-up from experts. It even came in fourth on US News and World Report’s best diet rankings for 2017, scoring the fourth slot for best diets overall and 18th for best weight-loss diets.

Short for Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes, the TLC diet aims to boost heart health by optimizing your cholesterol levels—and might also result in weight loss, says Maggie Moon, R.D.N., author of The MIND Diet.

Though the plan focuses on food, physical activity, and weight management, the biggest emphasis is on making smart menu choices. 

(Via: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/tlc-diet)

Many would argue that the issue of obesity depends on the person but we can’t deny that access and the price of food are big factors too. You end up spending more by buying healthy and organic food than a popular fast food combo. It’s just one of those hurdles that prevent many of us from leading a healthy life that may be the key to our weight loss.

People want a magic diet, but those don't change behavior, Ott says. Instead of fixating on carbs, as with the currently popular Paleo diet, fixate on behaviors. Think of how you can manage stress without food. Examine the messages you send yourself.

"Our thoughts define our reality," Ott says. "Telling yourself that you've failed before, and therefore will never succeed, is not reality. Instead, try: Yes, I've failed in the past, but I'm approaching it in a new way, with a new mindset, so it's likely I'll succeed."

(Via: http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/sc-weight-loss-tips-health-0503-20170502-story.html)

If you are struggling with your weight, you need to remember that no amount of dieting can give you the results you want. You’ll only plunge deeper and deeper into despair if you keep on setting yourself with unrealistic goals. Weight loss shouldn’t be your main goal. Your focus should be about healthy living because you’ll be able to drop all those excess pounds if your body is in a better state of health.

Experts say that while people can lose weight on a vegan diet, it's not a guarantee. (Also, not that gaining weight is inherently a bad thing, but eating all you want—even if it's healthy—can still affect how much you weigh).

If your goal is to lose weight, the process involves many more aspects than just what you eat and whether you follow a plant-based diet. Sure, exercise is a factor, too, but so many other things come into play. Components like stress and sleep, along with things you can't fully control, like health conditions and hormonal fluctuations, can play a big role in your weight as well.

(Via: http://www.self.com/story/vegan-diet-weight-loss)

While it is healthy to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, adopting a vegan diet isn’t the answer to your weight woes. What you need is a balanced diet with all the right portions of fiber, meat, grains, carbs etc. for a healthy and fit body. Totally excluding a food group like fats aren't the answer because our body needs them too, only in smaller amounts. That is the biggest misconception most people have about weight loss these days. If you start adopting a healthy and balanced diet, you’ll soon see a new and healthier you transform right before your eyes without going through drastic diets that take its toll on your health and your psyche.

The following article Journey To Weight Loss was originally published to https://maczealots.com

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The Future Has Gone Virtual

Virtual reality is no longer a dream but a reality of our times. What started as a gaming technology is finding itself more useful in different aspects of life too. The most popular way of enjoying virtual reality is through virtual-reality headsets that let you enjoy a 3D experience as if you were there too yourself. Now, who says these tech advancements can’t make our lives more exciting?

Just what is virtual reality? It actually is just a combination of the definition of both words, virtual and reality. Virtual simply means near whereas reality is our personal experience as human beings. In short, a virtual reality experience is a digital experience that is almost near reality.

Throngs of people flapped imaginary wings, paddled invisible canoes and took aim at shapeless digital foes, all courtesy of this year’s Consumer Virtual Reality (CVR) conference.

Now in its second year, the May 6-to-8 conference brought together tech enthusiasts of all kinds to embrace all things virtual.

With interest steadily growing, the CVR conference is poised to become one of the venue’s fastest-growing events as Vancouver takes centre stage in the virtual and augmented reality space.

“Last year, we were expecting about 1,200 to 1,400 people, and we ended up overselling and getting roughly 3,000,” said Dan Burgar, director of business development at Vancouver-based virtual reality (VR) company Archiact and president of the VR/AR Association.

(Via: https://www.biv.com/article/2017/5/virtual-reality-gets-comfortable-vancouver-venue/)

As the technology advances and becomes more accessible mainstream, more and more people become curious about it and are even willing to try it themselves. These gaming virtual-reality headsets are even selling like hot pancakes in kids and teens that are tech-savvy.

Virtual reality can be lonely.

For all of the overwrought promises about the futuristic technology connecting people, it's a pretty isolating experience. The hardware shuts out any view or sound of people physically near you, not many people own headsets yet, and interactions inside virtual settings are still limited.

Google (GOOG) is working on new features that could fix some of that. Unfortunately, it might involve hanging out in the VR version of a YouTube comments section.

The company announced the next steps for its virtual and augmented reality technology on Thursday at its annual I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California.

Google is releasing a major update to its virtual reality platform, Daydream. It's the software that will run on its own Daydream View goggles as well as the standalone headsets that third parties like Lenovo are creating later this year. Google also makes the Daydream View, a low-tech VR headset that uses a smartphone.

(Via: http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/18/technology/gadgets/google-vr-updates/)

The truth is that any obsession with technology tends to alienate the person from almost everyone and everything in his surroundings. They get lost in their virtual world and spend hours on end doing their thing on the computer and miss out on creating relationships and strengthening bonds between family and friends. It might be the same thing with virtual reality. Fortunately, Google got this covered as indicated in the article.

"I’m afraid [virtual reality] can be too good, in the sense of being an experience that people want to spend a huge amount of time in,” said Hanke at an industry conference last month, as reported by GamesIndustry. “I mean I already have concerns about my kids playing too much Minecraft, and that’s a wonderful game."

Hanke continued: “We’re human beings and there’s a lot of research out there that shows we’re actually a lot happier when we get exercise, when we go outside – and outside in nature in particular. I think it’s a problem for us as a society if we forgo that and spend all of time in a Ready Player One-style VR universe."

(Via: http://time.com/4780507/virtual-reality-vr-problems/)

This is one sad reality we have to acknowledge about virtual reality. Humans are social animals. It has been proven throughout history. We feel depressed and perform poorly in isolation. Unfortunately, the technology that we have now and are likely to dominate our future does just that. We get lost in our little virtual bubble that we become oblivious to what’s going on around us. We try to connect with people from our past and even to strangers but we miss out on living in the now with the people who means a lot to us because our times are consumed by our preoccupation with these tech gadgets and the Internet of Things.

Fortunately, they are still optional technologies right now. The thing with technology is that they only become bad depending on how you use it. Technology can either be your friend or foe, so make sure you use it right. Immerse yourself with the right technology and use it in moderation and you’ll be able to enjoy the best of both worlds without getting out of touch with reality.

The Future Has Gone Virtual Read more on: The Mac Zealots Blog

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Fitness Can Be Smart Too

Health and fitness are all the rage now. Everything around us is increasingly becoming artificial (even the food we eat) and our health is greatly compromised as we imbibe this modern lifestyle. Obesity is rising faster than we can get rid of the extra fats and calories we put on from our last meal. Not only is obesity a health risk but it also messes up a person’s confidence and shatters their self-image. It’s not a good thing nowadays where people are often bullied for their physical appearance and cyber bullying does more than damage than we give it credit for.

Organic markets are becoming more popular again. People are trying to go back to the basics and to how life was lived back then in an attempt to protect our health and well-being. It all starts with what you eat. Movement or leading an active life also plays a big part in getting that fit and toned body you so desperately want. Unfortunately, living healthy is proving to be more expensive than thriving on junks and preserved foods all the days of your life. There is still something you can do, though – exercise. Fortunately, our modern technology introduced more than a handful of handy devices that can help us achieve and maintain our good health when being healthy is no longer the norm.

Smartfit Inc products combine brain fitness with body fitness, improving physical, sensory, and cognitive performance creating a fun, multi-sensory experience for all ages and abilities. 

Their SMARTfit exercise technology utilizes the latest in Brain Body Exercise Science to bring you a unique solution that improves mental and physical fitness.

SMARTfit found a way to capture the benefits of sports into a modern form that can engage everyone.

They started by looking at the key benefits of sports that were lacking in the average gym and came up with the most important finding: the Hebbian Theory, neurons that fire together, wire together. Neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to re-wire itself in response to sensory experiences, is now accepted science thanks to Eric Kandel, Nobel Prize winner in 2011.  

Added to this, they also discovered found that research confirms that exercise is good for the brain because BDNF, a hormone often described as ‘miracle grow for the brain’, is produced during exercise and is responsible for promoting the development of neurons. 

(Via: http://www.kristv.com/story/35494132/smartfit-improves-mental-and-physical-fitness)

Who says electronics can’t help you get fit. Many people are bothered by their weight and appearance that they turn to technology to help them start their weight loss journey when it was likely an obsession with gadgets as well and preference to eating fast food that made them obese in the first place. SMARTfit is just one of those emerging exercise technologies you never knew you needed until it came along.

Plenty of companies have come along with attempts to contest Fitbit’s thrown, but there’s only one company that can lay claim to the fitness tracker crown. Bottom line: if you want the comfort in knowing you’ve got the best fitness band in the business, you’re going to buy a Fitbit. No other company can match Fitbit’s blend of style, simplicity, and functionality, and right now is the perfect time to experience all that for yourself.

Amazon has a big limited-time sale going on the five best fitness bands Fitbit has ever made, including the best-selling Fitbit Blaze Smart Fitness Watch and the Fitbit Charge 2 Heart Rate + Fitness Wristband. 

(Via: https://bgr.com/2017/05/04/fitbit-blaze-sale-charge-2-amazon/)

Fitbit probably pioneered how smart gadgets are used as a fitness tool. There are various Fitbit devices you can now choose from for fitness such as this handy watch. The Fitbit Blaze Smart Fitness Watch boasts of various features that make it stand out from the crowd. First off, you can sync it with your smartphone or other smart gadgets via Bluetooth and many other features that help you stay fit. No need to worry about it not working once you get sweaty and all from working out hard because it is water resistant.

Just remember that these gadgets are just tools to help you become more aware of the state of your health. The will to make such a positive change in your life still starts from deep within you and nobody else can make you do something you don’t want to. Having a healthy body is more than you can ask for, so do your part in caring for your health and body before it succumbs to an illness that can no longer be cured as you age.

The following blog post Fitness Can Be Smart Too Read more on: maczealots.com

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The Youth Should Be More Involved In Environmental Protection

The environment is suffering for the longest time and it needs all the help it can get. People are obsessed with so many nonsense issues these days that we fail to realize what should really matter most to all of us. The adults of today failed to maintain the lushness and richness of the environment for the future generation. It’s the reason we are now facing threats like climate change, global warming, and the rapid rising of the sea level, for instance.

The youth makes up a big chunk of today’s population. It is but wise and practical to get them involved in saving the environment because it is their future we are talking about. If they don’t act now and do their part in preserving what’s little left of the wild and basically the natural environment around us, the only place we all call home may eventually perish along with us. Of course, we don’t want that to happen. We want the human species to thrive and continue dominating the world. We can only do that if we’ll be able to pull off a miracle and stop the continued deterioration of the environment for the sake of everyone living on the planet, most especially the young ones who barely grasp the concept of living and surviving in an increasingly inhospitable planet.

Eighty per cent of Nigerian youths lack basic environmental education.  And 70 per cent of young people around the world do not care about the environment they live in.

The bitter truth won’t be found in data logged in some computers or books stacked in libraries.

The clear confirmation that we are far from nature stares us in the face: the gully erosion that swept a whole community recently, the daily depletion of the ozone layer and its cancerous effects

Then there is the air pollution that annually chokes millions of children to death around the world, the mindless exploitation of wildlife, and the list is endless. Indeed, we are disconnected from nature.

Today, how many parents will have their kids tend a garden, prune a flower, plant a tree, go  a-fishing in a local river, climb mountains, engage in environmental education or even at the least, take a long evening walk across the field? How many?

(Via: http://tribuneonlineng.com/role-youths-protecting-environment/)

As young as they may seem, the youth must learn the concept of environment protection and be made aware of the consequences of their actions like haphazardly throwing trash, abusing natural resources, harming the animals, etc. They should learn that some mistakes are irreversible and it’s the planet that consequently suffers and us eventually.

The Interface Development Interventions (IDIS) expressed alarm over the result of a survey conducted by the University of Mindanao’s Institute of Popular Opinion showing a low interest of the youth in Davao City in environment.

“Everyone should know the impacts of climate change and everyone should contribute in addressing it, especially students. They should contribute in mitigation and adaptation measures, in their own capacity,” IDIS acting executive director Chinkie Pelino-Golle told MindaNews on Monday.

The IPO survey called “Davao Youth Situationaer” surveyed 264 youth from May 24 to 30.

It showed that only 1.1 percent of them are affiliated with environmental groups, the lowest among those engaged in sports and recreation (49%),  church and religious groups (29%), civic organizations (20%), and socio-political activities (1.2%).

Golle said she is disheartened to know only a few youth are engaged in environment organization or part of an environmental cause.

(Via: http://www.mindanews.com/environment/2017/06/youths-low-interest-in-environment-alarms-group/)

It is but morally right for the youth to take the initiative in caring for the environment but enforcing this responsibility should also be taught in schools where children spend most of their time. Teachers should continually remind these young minds that the planet is in a truly bad shape right now and it needs all the help it can get. If we don’t all unite, more species will continue to perish from the face of the planet and the time may even come that it will probably be our turn to disappear because of the havoc and destruction we have caused on our way to progress.

The Youth Should Be More Involved In Environmental Protection Read more on: maczealots.com

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