In November 2009, my Husband and I began trying for a baby, and amazingly fell pregnant within the first month. I truly believe that conceiving this quickly was due to our impeccable health with a balanced nutritional diet, regular exercise and good hydration.
Nutrition during pregnancy - I have been using Herbalife Formula 1 nutritional shake mix (food), at least once if not twice a day. This gives me the balanced nutrition for breakfast and a healthy snack to get my extra 200-300 calories per day. I take the Formula 2 Multivitamin and Mineral complex, Thermojetics beverage to help maintain my energy levels, extra Calcium tablets, Flora Fibre, Herbalifeline (fish oils) and Herbal Complex tablets for extra Iron & Vitamin C.
I have not experienced any morning sickness, or major cravings and my energy levels are great, this I believe, is because I am feeding my body and my baby everything we need. I believe that without the world's leading Herbalife nutritional products my pregnancy may not be as comfortable as it has been so far. Nicki PALMER
]]>Eating healthily and lowering the risk of obesity related diseases is easier said than done and long term weight loss is only achieved through understanding how our body works and what constitutes a nutritionally balanced diet. It is exactly through applying that knowledge it is possible to make the right changes to our diet to ensure not only long term weight loss, but also healthy digestion, healthy heart, healthy aging, healthy immune system etc.
At the same time, it is exactly that knowledge that the majority of people who need it the most lack making it difficult to make any real, long term progress. Many weight loss programs around do not offer this sort of support and concentrate solely on weight loss ignoring nutritional demands of the body, causing well known yo-yo dieting effect.
The Arriba Weight Loss Challenge is a 12 week workshop conducted by weight loss and wellness coaches, initialised by Herbalife International, world leader in weight loss and nutrition, where participants, regardless of what weight loss program they follow, meet weekly to follow up their weight loss progress, are empowered with advice on nutrition and healthy food choices covering topics like Importance of Protein, Reading Food Labels, Good and Bad Fats, Good and Bad Carbs, Understanding Metabolism, Importance of Exercise, Heart Health, Healthy Breakfast, Importance of Water, etc.
The cost of 12 week Weight Loss Challenge workshop is an equivalent of £3.00 per week, thats is £35 for a 12 week perod making it very affordable. Majority of the registration fee goes back to the participants in terms of Weekly Gift Prizes, Free Healthy Beverages and Snacks and Cash Prizes to the three biggest losers at the end of 12 weeks.
Three biggest losers will have a chance to win up to £600 between them, final winner's pot depending on the number of total participants. Participants are free to use any method of weight loss they wish, but those who best apply the information we give in our weekly training sessions are likely to be the ones who win the competition.
Most of all, it will be FUN and we envisage it to be the place where participants will feel comfortable to come together and compete in a friendly atmosphere with one another, keep track of their progress, share knowledge and experiences, get advice on healthy eating, get necessary recognition and earn some much needed cash in this financial climate!
]]>Formula 1 is now available as a meal replacement bar. As an addition to the Formula 1 family, the bar provides the essential nutrients needed for a complete healthy meal as an alternative to the Formula 1 shake. So option to have a shake for breakfast and a bar for lunch when away from home. High in fibre and protein for sustained energy and to keep you fuller for longer. Balanced essentail nutrients for a healthy balanced meal replacement.
It's not a snack, it's not a treat, it's an F1 meal in a bar, no more spillages when at work with your shakes!
]]>At any one time in Britain, around 10 million people are trying to lose weight. This programme, fronted by doctor-turned-journalist Michael Mosley, investigates the latest scientific breakthroughs in slimming, uncovering 10 of the simplest ways to shed those pounds. The programme was backed up with research and practical demonstrations.
Don't skip meals. A CT scan of the brain showed the brain lighting up when a volunteer who had skipped breakfast was shown pics of high calorie, high fat food and little reaction to low-cal food. The volunteer who had eaten breakfast scan showed no difference between pics of low cal food and High cal food. The area of the brain lighting up was one associated with appetite so the brain was guiding choice towards calorie laden food (think pastries at morning break)
Eating a protein rich breakfast (or any other meal) keeps you satisfied for longer because it triggers the release of more of the chemical that tells the brain you are full. At last someone questioning the value of breakfast cereals.
Eating low-fat dairy products helps the body to excrete more unabsorbed fat than usual. Dairy calcium binds with fat in the small intestine and passes through without being absorbed. So skimmed milk, low-fat yoghurt, cottage cheese, fromage frais etc all help to carry away fat in the gut. To prove it, Blur guitarist-turned-farmer Alex James sportingly agreed to follow a high-dairy diet for one week, while sending off regular poo samples to a lab in Holland. He followed this with a week-long low-dairy diet, which contained exactly the same number of calories. Amazingly, Alex excreted more than double the amount of fat on the high-dairy diet.
The 'burn' from exercise carries on well into the next day. The volunteer ran at 4mph for 90 minutes and his fat burn measured. It wasn't that impressive but next day showed how it had carried on. The body accesses carbohydrates easily during exercise and has to use stored body fat to run everything over the next hours - impressive
Building small amounts of 'activity' into daily routine significantly increases heart rate and calorie expenditure. The volunteer was Aimee Lamee, US comedienne and broadcaster. She was more active at home, spent less time sitting at lunchtime and more time walking and talking, she did her radio show standing up and moving around. It made a significant difference.
People generally under-report their intake by 40 to 60%. Count and record everything, including every snack and calorie laden sauce.
Change your plate size from 12 inches to 10 inches. And choose low-calorie options of all your favourite foods.
Soup fills you up for longer it's all to do with the particular way the stomach shrinks and expands and was demonstrated using ultrasound scans of Territorial Army recruits. The same food was served to two groups of soldiers. Half ate chicken, rice and veg on a plate with a glass of water. The other half ate the identical food and water liquidized and served as a soup. Stomach scans showed the soup still in the stomach long after the other group's stomachs were empty and calling to be fed
Here are more tips on the science of weight loss from Herbal Vitality. Why protein shakes for breakfast help someone to lose weight.
]]>Fruit is a good source of fibre and can contribute to the recommended 25-30 grams per day.
Here are some fruits rich in fibre and nutrients:
Apples - 1 medium apple (80 calories, 0 g fat): An apple's 3 g of fibre help you meet your fibre goal of 25 g to 30 g daily. Foods rich in fibre can lower heart disease risk.
Apricots - 3 apricots (51 calories, 0 g fat): A good source of beta-carotene (which is converted to vitamin A by the body), providing the equivalent of 35% of the RDA for vitamin A. Fibre-2.1g.
Bananas - 1 medium (105 calories, 0 g fat): Bananas are a great source of potassium, which plays a key role in heart health and muscle function. Plus each one has 3 g of fibre.
Blackberries - 1 cup (64 calories, 0 g fat): This fruit boasts a whopping 8 g of fibre in a single cup.
Blueberries - 1 cup (81 calories, 0 g fat): Blueberries help prevent and treat bladder infections by making it hard for bacteria to stick to urinary tract walls. Fibre- 3.5.
Cherries - 1 cup (84 calories, 1 g fat): A good source of perillyl alcohol, which helps prevent cancer in animals. Heart-protective anthocyanins give cherries their colour; Fibre- 2.8g.
Grapefruits - 1/2 fruit (39 calories, 0 g fat): A good source of vitamin C and a compound called naringenin, which helps suppress tumours in animals. Fibre-2g.
Kiwi - 1 medium (46 calories, 0 g fat): Just one little fruit packs a mean vitamin-C punch (74 mg) and 2.3 g fibre.
Mangoes - 1 mango (135 calories, 1 g fat): A single mango has enough beta-carotene to cover your RDA for vitamin A while racking up 57 mg of vitamin C; Fibre-3.7g.
Oranges fruits- 1 medium orange (61 calories, 0 g fat): One orange provides an impressive 50 mg to 70 mg of vitamin C, 40 mcg of folic acid and 52 mg of calcium. Fibre-3.1g.
Papayas - 1 cup, cubed (55 calories, 0 g fat): Loaded with vitamin C (86 mg per cup), a healthy dose of fibre (2.5 g) and a sprinkling of beta-carotene and calcium.
Purple grapes - 1 small (113 calories, 9 g fat):Offer three heart-guarding compounds: flavonoids, anthocyanins and resveratrol (green grapes are not rich in them).
Prunes - 1/3 cup, stewed (87 calories, 0 g fat): Prunes' famed laxative effect is no mystery: There are 5 g of fibre (both soluble and insoluble) in just 1/3 cup.
Raspberries - 1 cup (60 calories, 0 g fat): Teeming with 8 g of fibre per cup, they also boast vitamin C, ellagic acid and anthocyanins.
Strawberries - 1 cup, sliced (50 calories, 0 g fat): Strawberries have high levels of ellagic acid and anthocyanins, and are rich in vitamin C (95 mg per cup) and fibre (3.3 g per cup).
How to get a healthy source of protein and rich source of fibre into the diet
]]>Recent data from the National Statistics Office in Korea, for example, indicate that nearly a third of Koreans - about 10 million people - are overweight, with numbers increasing by about 400,000 annually.
Researchers at the Seoul National University Hospital in Korea recently reported that the use of meal replacements twice daily was an effective strategy for reducing body weight and body fat, and for improving indicators of obesity-related conditions.
The study, published in the February issue of the International Journal of Clinical Practice, followed 75 obese men and women with the metabolic syndrome - a cluster of factors including high blood pressure, a large waist measurement, elevated blood sugar and triglycerides, and low blood levels of 'good' HDL cholesterol - for a period of 12 weeks.
All subjects replaced two meals a day with liquid meal replacements (Herbalife Formula 1, Korean formula) but were randomly assigned to consume a diet of either a standard amount of protein - about 15 percent of total calories - or double the amount of protein from a higher protein plan.
At the end of 12 weeks, both groups lost weight and both groups lost weight in the belly area. But, in the subjects who followed the diet most strictly, the people in the high protein group lost more body fat (and less lean body mass) than the people consuming the standard amount of protein.
"These findings indicate that meal replacements are a very valuable strategy for losing weight and body fat," said Belong Cho, M.D., Ph.D., of the Department of Family Medicine at Seoul National University Hospital and lead researcher on the study. "With the increasing incidence of overweight and obesity in Korea, there is a critical need to find ways to help individuals lose weight and decrease their risk of developing obesity-related disorders such the metabolic syndrome," he added.
The incidence of the metabolic syndrome in Korea has increased from 18.6 percent to 23.6 percent between 1998 and 2001, paralleling similar increases - from 34.5 percent to 39 percent - over the same time period in the U.S. Dr. Cho added, "We have demonstrated the effectiveness of meal replacements for weight loss, and this approach could have far-reaching benefits in addressing obesity which has become a worldwide problem."
Cho is a member of Herbalife's Nutrition Advisory Board (NAB). The NAB is made up of leading experts around the world in the fields of nutrition and health who educate and train Herbalife independent distributors on the principles of nutrition, physical activity and healthy lifestyle.
The NAB is chaired by David Heber, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
]]>Obesity often goes hand-in-hand with the Metabolic Syndrome - a cluster of five factors that include high blood pressure, a large waist circumference, elevated blood sugar and triglycerides, and reduced blood levels of HDL cholesterol.
Weight loss is one of the first lines of defense in treating the syndrome, and researchers from the University of Ulm, Germany, have found that increased amounts of protein in the diet lead to greater improvement in metabolic syndrome risk factors when compared to a standard level of protein.
The study, presented this weekend at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society in Phoenix, enrolled 110 overweight subjects with the metabolic syndrome who were randomly divided into two groups, and were followed for one year.
For the first three months - the weight loss phase - those in the high protein group were instructed to follow a diet that supplied about twice the protein obtained from a typical diet; they also replaced two meals a day with Herbalife's European Meal Replacement Shake. The other group was instructed to eat a standard amount of protein from an all-food diet.
For the remaining nine months of the study - the weight maintenance phase - everyone used one meal replacement shake a day as part of their meal plan, and both groups maintained the level of protein intake in the diet they had consumed during the previous three months.
Everyone lost weight after a year, but the high protein group lost more weight (nearly 25 pounds, compared with about 14 pounds for the standard protein group) and more body fat, and preserved lean body mass. More significant, however, was the finding that at the end of the study, 64 percent of those in the high protein group no longer met the criteria for the metabolic syndrome, compared with 41 percent who consumed the standard amount of protein.
"We knew that weight loss would improve risk factors for the metabolic syndrome," said Marion Flechtner-Mors, Ph.D., one of the researchers on the study and head of the Obesity Research Group at the University of Ulm, Germany, "but we found that more subjects showed improvement in these risk factors when we increased the protein in the diet."
Nearly 47 million Americans have the metabolic syndrome, and the numbers continue to grow - in parallel with the rise in the incidence of obesity. Flechtner-Mors added, "Effective interventions, such as the use of high protein meal replacements for weight loss, could improve the risk factors associated with the metabolic syndrome and affect the lives of millions of people." Flechtner-Mors is a member of Herbalife's Nutrition Advisory Board (NAB). The NAB is made up of leading experts around the world in the fields of nutrition and health who educate and train Herbalife Independent Distributors on the principles of nutrition, physical activity and healthy lifestyle.
The NAB is chaired by David Heber, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
]]>Metabolism basically refers to all the chemical processes that take place in the body in order to sustain life-allowing you to breathe, pump blood, keep your brain functioning and extract energy from your food. When you hear the term metabolic rate-more accurately called basal (or resting) metabolic rate-that refers to the number of calories your body at rest uses each day, just to keep all your vital organs functioning. You burn additional calories through your daily activities and formal exercise, but by far, the majority of the calories that you burn each day are your basal calories.
Keep your metabolism revved with these tips:
Your muscle mass works like a furnace, burning calories and stored fat for energy. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism, the faster you burn calories. Eating plenty of protein daily is essential to maintaining your muscle mass for good health, energy and effective weight management.
More details on How to boost your metabolism?.
]]>Excess carbohydrates in the diet is one of the major reasons for weight gain i.e. cereal and toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, pasta for tea and other carb based snacks such as rice cakes and chocolate during the day. Excess carbs are easily stored as fat.
Any meal or snack high in carbohydrates generates a rapid rise in blood glucose. To adjust for this rise, the pancreas secretes the hormone insulin into the bloodstream, which lowers the glucose. Insulin is, though, essentially a storage hormone, evolved over those millions of years of humans prior to the agricultural age, to store the excess calories from carbohydrates in the form of fat in case of famine.Insulin, stimulated by the excess carbohydrates in our overabundant consumption of grains, starches and sweets, is responsible for all those bulging stomachs and fat rolls in thighs and chins.
Top Tip - Get Protein into every meal. Protein comes in the form of meat, soy products, cheese and dairy products. However, most of these are in the form of animal proteins, which add greatly to the bad cholesterol in our bodies. Therefore we need to look for high quality proteins, in our diet, from non-animal sources.
Healthy Breakfast
What type of breakfast do you have? Is your breakfast made up entirely of carbohydrates? Really how healthy is your breakfast cereal? How much fibre does it
contain? Look at alternatives to breakfast cereals and toast.
Make sure you eat breakfast.
If you don't eat breakfast, you slow down your metabolism and send the body into "hoard mode," thinking it's starving because you're going a long period of time frequently 8 to 10 hours or more, without food. Or you develop a craving later in the day. Try a protein shake packed with nutrients, hunger busting soy protein and complex carbohydrates instead of skipping breakfast.
Find out how to get more protein into your breakfast.
]]>Every attendee is offered a comprehensive wellness questionnaire, professional body composition analysis and advice on simple changes they can make to improve their lifestyle.
First of all height and age is recorded then you stand on the scales. Now, this isn't just any old set of scales. This is a Body Composition Monitor. This helps to calculate body composition by sending a low safe electrical signal through the body. The signal passes freely through fluids contained in lean tissue, such as muscle and blood, but meets resistance passing through fat tissue. The monitors accurately measure this resistance and use it to calculate elements of body composition. You find out your body fat%, total body water %, visceral fat%, physique rating and finally your metaboloic agse which you can compare to your actual age!
You complete a questionnaire (don't panic it's only 14 questions) about your general diet and exercise to which you answer either Yes or No. You score points on your answers and these give you a Wellness Evaluation Score. The more honest you are in your answers will ensure that you are given the best possible advice and that advice will cover diet, exercise and simple rules that can have a dramatic impact on your overall health.
The Community Wellness Club meetings give their members the opportunity to receive regular guidance and inspiration from like minded people that have decided to make their health a priority. To meet the growing demand for support and information New Clubs are being launched all over the country.
So, how much does this cost? Your first visit is FREE! There is no joining fee and if you decide to keep attending then it is £10.00 per every four weeks or £3.00 per week if you don't want to pay in advance. Here's an even better bit - there are no penalties for missed classes! A further expansion will be "Wellness Clubs" in the workplace.
And look out for the Wellness Club Challenge where you can win £300 in time for Christmas. More details here:
]]>The science of sports nutrition is complex and often confusing, but it can be simplified to basic components: Fuelling, Hyrdation, Refuelling, Repairing and Recovery. Herbalife products provide highly digestible and absorbable carbohydrates, electrolytes, proteins and essential fatty acids - all required by the body to help with peak performance. If you want to experience the ultimate competitive edge, make Herbalife part of your life.
Running, swimming and cycling all come under the 'endurance' banner: performing strenuous exercise for long periods of time. These activities require carbs for energy and plenty of fluid to avoid dehydration. The New Innovative H3O Pro™ isotonic Drink can help power exceptional performances by providing hydration - crucial when sweating over a long period of time, and an additional source of energy right when you need it. .
Isotonic Supplements Compared]]>How do they do it? Two crucial factors aid an exceptional performance: energy and hydration. As little as 2% fluid loss during exercise or mild dehydration can significantly harm your performance.
For an exceptional performance, water alone is not enough. Your body is 60% water so, for results to be proud of, your body fluid must be kept at its optimum level. When you exercise, you sweat which increases the risk of suffering from the negative effects of dehydration such as headaches, fatigue and cramp.
Today, isotonic drinks are the preferred choice for most fitness enthusiasts and athletes wanting exceptional hydration and energy. Isotonic drinks have a similar carbohydrate and electrolyte concentration to your body meaning they are absorbed as fast, if not faster, than water.
More information on Isotonic Sports Drinks
]]>Just because a food is fat-free doesn’t mean it’s calorie-free. Get up to speed on “good fats” and lose the fat from your body, not your diet.
Today, supermarket shelves are packed with meals that call to dieters with the words “FAT-FREE.” But as conscientious weight watchers load up their shopping carts with fat-free foods week after week, many discover this alarming fact: their weight is going up!
Getting fat on fat-free meals
Since the beginning of the “fat-free craze,” statistics show Americans have grown fatter and fatter. Although we’ve been taught to think of fat as the culprit in the weight-loss battle, clearly this is only part of
the whole diet picture. Just because a food is fat-free doesn’t mean it’s calorie-free. Many fat-free foods are actually very high in sugar and carbohydrate calories. And these calories, when eaten in excess, become
converted into the one thing we’ve been taught to avoid–fat!
Lose the fat from your body, not your diet Ironically, in order to burn fat and lose weight you need a certain amount of good quality fat. That’s why the ShapeWorks® Weight-Management Program stresses the importance of a well-balanced diet that includes enough “good fats,” such as those found in fish and olive oil, together with Herbalife’s highly nutritious meal replacement shakes and snacks.
By avoiding the fat-free craze and giving your body the complete nourishment it needs with Herbalife’s Cellular Nutrition supplements and weight-management products, you’ll lose weight steadily and feel healthier along the way.
Remember to:
1. Eat regular meals spaced throughout the day
2. Choose slow releasing carbohydrates foods
3. Increase your intake of live foods (fresh fruit and vegetables)
4. Identify your body's protein needs and consume the amount you need.
5. TAKE PROTEIN WITH EVERY MEAL
If you tried to get all the protein you need from foods such as meats, you would consume too many calories, because these protein rich foods come with extra fat calories. Protein-enriched Meal Rplacement Shakes,
Protein Supplement Powder and High Protein Low Carbohydrate snack products, contain protein sources which are easily absorbed and assimilated, and which allow you to reach your body's protein requirements without those unwanted calories. Easy and convenient to follow the programme, so will fit into a busy lifestyle. For example, easy to take a shake for breakfast (in milk or juice or yoghurt or water) to help balance blood sugar levels, rather than skip breakfast altogether. Its fast food for smart people!
And contact Herbalife Distributor who will determine which personalised Meal Plan, with the correct amount of protein, you should
follow for effective weight management.
Take away the water and about 75 percent of your weight is protein. This chemical family is found throughout the body. It's in muscle, bone, skin, hair, and virtually every other body part or tissue. It makes up the enzymes that power many chemical reactions and the hemoglobin that carries oxygen in your blood. At least 10,000 different proteins make you what you are and keep you that way.
Twenty or so basic building blocks, called amino acids, provide the raw material for all proteins. Following genetic instructions, the body strings together amino acids. Some genes call for short chains, others are blueprints for long chains that fold, origami-like, into intricate, three-dimensional structures.
Because the body doesn't store amino acids, as it does fats or carbohydrates, it needs a daily supply of amino acids to make new protein. Protein deficiency is surprisingly quite common as many people have cabs for breakfast lunch and dinner. Foods like cereals, potatoes and pasta.
Foods High in Protein -Nuts for the Heart
Many people think of nuts as just another junk food snack. In reality, nuts are excellent sources of protein and other healthful nutrients.
One surprising finding from nutrition research is that people who regularly eat nuts are less likely to have heart attacks or die from heart disease than those who rarely eat them. Several of the largest cohort studies, including the Adventist Study, the Iowa Women's Health Study, the Nurses' Health Study, and the Physicians' Health Study have shown a consistent 30 percent to 50 percent lower risk of myocardial infarction, sudden cardiac death, or cardiovascular disease associated with eating nuts several times a week. In fact, the FDA now allows some nuts and foods made with them to carry this claim: "Eating a diet that includes one ounce of nuts daily can reduce your risk of heart disease."
There are several ways that nuts could have such an effect. The unsaturated fats they contain help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol. One group of unsaturated fat found in walnuts, the omega-3 fatty acids, appears to prevent the development of erratic heart rhythms. Omega-3 fatty acids (which are also found in fatty fish such as salmon and bluefish) may also prevent blood clots, much as aspirin does. Nuts are rich in arginine, an amino acid needed to make a molecule called nitric oxide that relaxes constricted blood vessels and eases blood flow. They also contain vitamin E, folic acid, potassium, fiber, and other healthful nutrients.
Which food snacks?
Get a balance of snacks between protein, fruit and vegetable. Limit carb based snacks. Eating nuts won't do much good if you gobble them in addition to your usual snacks and meals. At 185 calories per ounce, a handful of walnuts a day could add 10 pounds or more in a year if you don't cut back on something else. This weight gain would tip the scales toward heart disease, not away from it. Instead, eat nuts instead of chips or other, less healthy snacks. Or try using them instead of meat in main dishes, or as a healthful crunch in salads