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Don’t Let Your Emotions Cloud Judgement



I feel bad today because I am just sitting on the couch. Last week was a tough week as my kidney deprived daughter was in the hospital a couple of times and it just weighed me down.

On Sunday Taylor was fine and then in the evening she came down with a fever and was misdiagnosed on Monday, which made me furious and then again in the hospital on Wednesday until Thursday to get fluids pumped into her as she was dehydrated. She is fine now but the week was emotionally exhausting

The reason I tell this story is because this week my emotions took me away from my priorities and because of this I have made some super bad decisions due to lazy judgement calls.

I would like to dissect my situation and see if this can help you out.

What I do

Everyday I have certain priorities that I want to complete and I rate my day based on doing these. Mostly my days have to have the following to be successful; exercise, blog posting, facebook twitter and Google+ interaction, family time, sleep, eating healthy, and helping others in some way. Of course there is work too and I want to make sure that I get as many of these things done although I do not have a lot of scheduled or written priorities.

What happens 

I know that this is bad but it usually works for me, well usually until weeks like this knock me down and out.

So what happens during weeks like this (days as well sometimes) is that emotionally we get hit by something, feel a bit down, and then hit by something else and this will just lead us to shield ourselves. In these situations we just shut down the things that are important and we go into protection mode. I have done this, I bet you have done this, and we are all built with a defence mechanism that forces us in times of trouble or distress to just do what is needed and let everything else fall be the wayside.

Is this ok?

I know that how I act, and how we act as individuals is fine. This is the way we are built and how we are supposed to be. I look back on my last week and know that I did what was important (taking care of my family and especially my daughter) but I also made some bad decisions in that I have vague priorities that I did not complete.

I remember a story a few years ago about Kobe Bryant and how he was able to compartmentalize parts of his life. He was in the middle of the rape trial that could possibly put him in prison and he would fly back to LA and play some of the best basketball of his career as he was probably in his worst personal trials of his life. The power of this compartmentalization is something that we should all think about and try to do when the world feels like it is closing in on us.

What to do, what to do…

I am really not that great at this but I am learning. What you need to do is have some goals and plans. Every morning, or the evening before decide based on your life, short term, and daily goals what is important to get done. This does not mean that you have to have 20 things planned or anything in fact just having two or three outcomes or goals for that day are all you need.

This is not what I do and it is my own fault. If I had a goal just to sit down for 30 minutes each day this week to write a blog post and interact on Facebook then I would have got things done while at the same time I could have helped my wife, son, and daughter with their problems better.

Even better of course is to decide on Sunday night what your priorities for the week are and then extrapolate what needs to be done each day to reach those before the next Sunday night comes along.

Also we have to remember that life is supposed to be about those around us. Family and friends are always the top priority and down weeks will happen, this last week fore me is fine but people will have their lives spiral out of control through inaction and bad decisions all the time. don’t be that person!

So now it is time for you

So what do you do? Hop in here with a quick comment and let us all see some other ideas. Do you plan your day? Do you have any daily goals? Do your emotions lead you to making bad decisions or like me just no decisions? I know this could lead to the whole issue of emotional eating but I wanted to keep it a bit more defined to what we do in the situation of emotions and lifestyle.


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Weight Loss Exercise

Potassium and Weight Loss



Did you know that potassium is classified as a metal? Strange as it sounds, your body needs this metal – it’s an essential mineral that occurs in abundance in your body. Roughly 95% of your body’s potassium is stored within your cells. It’s called an electrolyte, like sodium, calcium, magnesium and chloride, because it conducts electricity when dissolved in water.

Potassium and Electrolyte Balance

It’s very important for our bodies to maintain the correct amount of potassium. A deficiency can manifest itself as muscle weakness, fatigue, irritability, confusion or heart problems. Potassium is often loss through sweat, which is why athletes drink electrolyte balancing drinks – to replace loss potassium and other electrolytes. The same is true of alcohol consumption, so down a sports drink after a night of drinking too.

This mineral can have a big impact on your weight through indirect means. It won’t cause fat to magically melt away, but it will support some bodily processes that your body must go through for weight loss.

One thing potassium does is contribute to healthy muscles. Healthy muscles are able to contract correctly, heal after injuries, and grow with the correct exercise techniques. This is important because muscles are 24 hour calorie burning machines. The more you engage your muscles, the stronger and bigger they’ll become – making them burn more and more calories whether you’re actively trying to or not. Muscles take up a lot of energy (calories) just to survive. Fill your body with more muscle mass, and fat will naturally start being reduced.

Another thing potassium will do is assist your body in converting food into energy. Potassium is important to the health of your cells. Inside your cells, an organelle called mitochondria is busy combining your food’s nutrients with oxygen, thus converting it into energy. Potassium helps keep this process running smoothly. With the increased energy, you’ll find you have better workouts and more energy to keep up with your weight loss goals.

Potassium and Water Weight

Potassium also helps to balance sodium levels. This helps a great deal if you have problems with water weight.

There are many differences in expert opinions about just how much potassium you need on a daily basis. There’s no number set in stone, but aim for around 3500 mg a day. In most American’s existing diets, only 2000 mg of potassium is provided. Although it doesn’t seem like too big of a deal, it means most American’s are slightly deficient in potassium and may be suffering from minor ill effects of that deficiency.

Luckily, it’s easy to increase the amount of potassium you’re consuming by adding more healthy foods to your diet. Potassium is found in large quantities in many fruits and vegatables. Look to swiss chard, mushrooms, spinach, celery, romaine lettuce, squash, basil, tomatoes, cauliflower, asparagus, cucumbers, bananas, oatmeal, peanuts and yogurt to name a bunch.

Whenever possible, avoid cooking or adding water to foods when you’re eating them for the purpose of increasing potassium levels. Doing so will reduce potassium intake. If you think you’re not getting enough potassium because you like to cook your potassium rich foods, consider drinking parsley tea, which extracts large amounts of potassium from the parsley, leaving it in the hot water.

And although potassium does so many great things for you and will help with weight loss, it’s important that you don’t go overboard. You can go too far, and taking too much potassium could put you in danger. Excess amounts can cause hyperkalemia. Hyperkalemia may cause stomach irritation and possibly trigger a heart attack because it causes irregular heartbeat. It’s hard to overdose on food and supplement sources, though. It usually only becomes a danger if you take potassium salts or if you’re naturally prone to develop hyperkalemia.

Potassium is a great tool to help you reach your weight loss goals. It’s simple to obtain too, as you simply have to eat a variety of healthy foods, which should have been the first commitment you made when deciding to lose weight anyway.

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Does Fiber Help Lose Weight?



Fiber – we can’t digest it and it provides us with no calories or nutrients, yet we know that it’s good for us and most of us need more. What is it exactly, and what is it about fiber that makes it so healthy for us?

What is Fiber?

Fiber is simply the part of the plant foods we eat that we aren’t able to break down in our digestive systems. There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber will form a gel when dissolved in water. This type of fiber will slow down the rate of your digestion, leaving you feeling fuller for longer, and off of fewer calories, too! Insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve, instead, passing through your digestive tract intact. It fills you up and “scrubs out” your insides by collecting toxins and fats, and taking them out when it passes.

You shouldn’t focus on getting specific amounts of any one type of fiber. Eating a healthy and varied diet will take care of that for you. The only thing you should be trying to do to get more fiber is eat healthier foods on a consistent basis.

Does Fiber Help Lose Weight?

Does Fiber Help Lose Weight?

Does Fiber Help Lose Weight?

Fiber affects weight loss because of the effect it has on our sense of hunger. Your feelings of hunger are controlled by many things, including the amounts of carbs, fat, protein, water and fiber that are present in the things you eat. Eating healthy amounts of an appropriate mix of these foods will eliminate excess hunger and cravings.

Did you know that people eat basically the same amount of food each day. There aren’t usually any drastic changes in the amount people eat from day to day – aside from special occasions that may call for pigging out, that is. When you replace some of the foods you eat with foods that are high in fiber, you’re doing one of the best things you can for weight loss. After all, fiber adds no calories to your diet and most fiber rich foods have ver y little calories compared to other foods of the same weight or volume. It helps you feel full faster, and for longer periods of time. It also absorbs fat, leaving less of it for your body to digest. And most fiber rich foods require you to chew more because of their texture, and this simple act of slowing the rate at which you eat is the perfect way to avoid overeating.

Fiber Helps Blood Sugar

Plus it’s good for your blood sugar. You may think that’s something only diabetics would be concerned with, but everyone – especially those trying to lose weight – should be aware of the consequences of consuming sugar. When you eat sugar or foods like refined carbohydrates that turn into blood sugar quickly, your pancreas is signaled to release insulin. When the body is flooded with insulin, your brain thinks you have more than enough energy (calories) to keep you going, so it shuts off the fat burning systems in your body. Plus, the spike in insulin that occurs after eating sugar or refined carbs is followed by a big dip in insulin levels, leaving your body exhausted and craving more sugar and calories. It can quickly turn into a vicious cycle that will leave you hunting for candy bars when you should be working out.

So, now you know exactly why you should be getting more fiber, and you’re ready to start. Before you go doing anything drastic, though, you need to know how to use fiber safely. Even though it’s extremely healthy for you, it’s never a wise move to overdo anything. Too much fiber can prevent your body from absorbing nutrients or utilizing medications. Upping your dosage too quickly can lead to uncomfortable gas and possibly constipation.

The best way to get your fiber is to eat more plant based foods. Sure it’s not as convenient as those juice flavored fiber supplements you mix with water, but it’s better because supplements don’t keep you feeling as full as food sources of fiber do. Plus food sources that are high in fiber are usually high in vitamins, minerals and nutrients that will indirectly assist your body with fat burning.

Anytime you eat fiber you should be drinking lots of water to go along with it. This will keep your stools comfortably soft and help even more with weight loss, being that water is right up there with fiber when it comes to making you feel full and satisfied.

Fiber is an essential part of a healthy weight loss regimen, and most people don’t eat enough, especially with the prevalence of convenient foods. Get more fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains in your diet and you’ll notice you have less room in your stomach for the unhealthy stuff. Your weight will start dropping and you’ll feel a lot better, too.

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