If you’ve watched the news at all lately, you’ve likely heard about the dangers of energy drinks, especially in regard to how they are affecting our children – the largest consumers of these particular beverages. While the intent of these drinks is to give us more energy, it is becoming apparent that it is perhaps more energy than our bodies can safely handle.

What Makes Energy Drinks So Damaging?

We’ve known about the negative effects of too much caffeine for ages, which is why there are tons of recommendations about limiting the amount of coffee we drink. Therefore, it only makes sense that energy drinks would fall under this cloud as well as some of the brands have more than twice as much caffeine per serving as a cup of coffee. So, if you’re drinking two or three of them per day, you’re having about a pot of coffee, which isn’t good for you but, unfortunately, the negative side effects don’t stop there.

(This is Part 3 in our three-part series: How 3 Ancient Alternative Methods Can Help You Lose Weight. CLICK HERE to read Part 1, Acupuncture. CLICK HERE to read Part 2, Can Hypnosis Help You Lose Weight?)

Meditation is part of our earliest recorded history. Long ago, it was used mostly in conjunction with religious practices. Some say that meditation is the oldest form of mental, spiritual and physical health and wellness practice in existence.

The earliest known root of meditation is with the Hindus in India who used forms of meditation to discern the true nature of Brahman. Buddha reached “enlightenment” while he was meditating under a Bodhi Tree. Those that followed Buddha, however, did not believe that mediation was a way to understand a higher being but rather a way of sensing ones connection to all things. Forms of meditation are present in all major religions.

You can’t walk into a store after the first of the year without seeing shelves full of delectable chocolates and candies that say “Be My Valentine.” While it’s great to want to share your feelings with those you love, adding to their waistline isn’t exactly a great way to show your sweetheart that you care. It’s like saying, “I love you, but I want to make sure you don’t live a long and healthy life.” It just doesn’t make sense.

This Valentine’s Day, take a different approach. Choose a gift that truly shows the special people in your life that you want them to be around for as long as possible. Give them something that encourages their health, rather than takes it away. Don’t know what to get? That’s okay because we have lots of ideas for you.

Fitness Products

If your honey likes to exercise or at least wants to work out more because he or she knows that it is good for them, here are some gifts you may want to consider for your active sweethearts:

Holidays are full of wonderful celebrations and memorable moments. You get to spend precious time with family and friends, creating memories you’ll cherish for a lifetime. However, the holidays aren’t all candy canes and sparkly lights. Dealing with the stress that comes from several directions can lead to emotional eating and often leaves a sense of fatigue and regret.

Because most people engage in gift giving during the holiday season, there is an added financial burden that can make it harder than ever to pay your regular bills while still bringing smiles to the faces you love with presents wrapped in pretty bows. In fact, even if you don’t hand out a lot of gifts, the costs can still add up if you entertain or buy food or wine to take to holiday parties.

What would you say if you were told that every time you grab a diet soda from the fridge or vending machine that the liquid you are consuming almost guarantees your weight loss failure? Would you believe it?

Or how would you feel knowing that with every sip or guzzle that you take in the name of health and fitness you are pushing yourself further and further from your goal of being fit and trim instead of getting closer to it?

What if you learned that the more diet soda you drink, the greater the likelihood that you are going to wind up adding weight to your body despite the word “Diet” displayed prominently on the side of the can?

Although you may be inclined to disbelieve these statements, you may be surprised to learn that they are true – and there has been a ton of research, available to the public, to prove it.

The Science Behind ‘Diet’ Soda

When you are on a weight loss journey, you’re always looking for ways to speed up the fat loss process. You know that it is going to take some time to get rid of the excess weight that you are carrying, but the sooner you can reach your goals, the happier you will be.

One way to do this is to take a fat burner. These are supplements that raise your metabolism by shifting it from neutral into overdrive, helping you create the body that you desire. A few of the supplements that can help you do this are:

There are lots of diet programs available that will help you lose weight, but nothing beats the ones that offer you results at lightning speed. You realize that achieving weight loss is a process, but that doesn’t mean that the process has to be slow.

So, if you want to lose weight at the fastest rate possible, without sacrificing your health, here are the diets you’re going to want to consider:

Finding a diet is easy. Finding a diet that works for you - not so much. So what can you do to increase the chances that you’ll achieve weight loss success on the diet that you choose to follow? It starts with selecting a diet that will work for you, which is easy to do if you follow these seven simple steps:

Tip #1: Examine your readiness

No diet in the world is going to work for you if you aren’t ready to lose weight. How do you know if you are ready? Ask yourself if you are willing to commit to making changes no matter how hard they are? Will you choose to make failure not an option on your route to weight loss success? If your answer is yes to both of those questions, then you are probably ready to kick butt on your weight loss journey.

Tip #2: Define your goal

One of the most envied body parts is a tummy that is flatter than a board. After all, there is something sexy and confident about someone that has a midsection that is tight and toned. And, if you’re like most people, you’ve even envisioned yourself with bikini worthy abs, strutting around the beach for the entire world to see.

Sadly, if you’re like most people, you’ve also given up the hopes of ever seeing that trim midsection become a reality. However, you can have a thinner tummy and we’ve got some ways to help you get it. Here are three things you can do that will help you create abs that others envy:

Lower Your Body Fat Percentage

It doesn’t matter how tone your muscles are in your core area, you’re not going to be able to see them if they are hidden under a layer of fat. Therefore, you’ll want to decrease your overall body fat so that your finely tuned abdominal muscles will be able to shine through.

When it comes to choosing which weight loss program is best for you, you can become barraged with hundreds of different options. While every health professional has their own ideas as to how to lose weight, there are some common similarities in some of the best programs available. Here are the top three:

Quality #1 – They involve a lifestyle change

You can’t expect to ever go back to your old eating habits without expecting to gain back all of the weight you’ve lost because it isn’t going to happen. If you return to living in the exact same way that you do right now, you’re also going to return to the body that you have right now. To lose weight and keep it off, you have to make changes for the rest of your life.

Stay away from any program that you go “on” and “off” and look for programs that you can sustain from this day forward. Some programs have stages of changes, and those are okay. It is the ones that have a diet phase and an eat-whatever-you-want phase that you’ll want to avoid as they offer only short term results – and short term happiness.