Technology’s Satire On Obesity
Just a few days ago I saw these two pictures that depicted a quibble satire on obesity. Hilarious as they seem, made me laugh my guts out for a while. But then suddenly realization dawned on me. This satire is unequivocally true. Whilst the technology is getting slimmer, sleeker and healthier, obesity is taking quite an opposite turn. See for yourself.
So what should be our take on this? Should we improve our way to life with technology or get sloppy and adopt a couch potato attitude. Most people regard technology to be one of the causes to obesity. Being obese is one of our own faltering. And blaming technologies for it is just a petty excuse.
It is understandable that obesity as medical condition requires assistance. And it is advised to take immediate help if even after your efforts you are not losing weight. If weight loss is the perspective then plenty of diet plans like HCG Diet Florida, weight loss programs etc offer a really good way to lose weight.
But if technology is a reason for you to be lazy and sluggish, then it is time that you change it. Obesity is nearing to be an epidemic and if don’t realize, perhaps the satire could become a darker reality.
Obesity is complex! No single cause can effectively be pointed for it. But one can always understand the source of it and make amendments accordingly.
1. Eating habits & Lifestyle - Food is a pleasure these days and the availability of food is easy. Your eating habits can be a big cause of obesity. If you are relying too much on the bad food like junk food, preserved food, pre-packed food etc then being over weight is a surety. Food cravings and over eating are also more common these days.
Further, if you abet too much of modern conveniences such as elevators, cars, and the remote control for television then your physical activity is significantly cut.
2. Emotional Levels – Stress, anxiety, depression, low self esteem are some emotional states which increase the tendency of obesity. For example under stress and depression people tend to over eat.
3. Genes & Medical Issues – For some people obesity is a genetically inherited disorder. Prader-Willi syndrome, Cushing's syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome, and other diseases are linked with being obese and require immediate medical supervision.
4. Social Influences – If your social circle such as your family, friends, relatives adhere to wrong eating and life style habits. Then chances are high that their negative influence could pose a problem for you.
5. Sleeping Patterns - Modern day life has acute shortage of time. Under such stress full environment people are becoming more sleep deprived and have irregular sleep patterns. Reduced sleeps increases the chances to be obese.
6. Vices – Alcohol and smoking are two prominent causes of obesity ands healthy issues.
7. Pregnancy – During pregnancy women have natural tendency to gain weight. But some women find it difficult to lose weight after the birth of child. This results into obesity in women.
You have probably heard about the five a day rule regarding the fruits and vegetables you need in order to stay healthy, but knowing how to incorporate this rule into your daily routine is another matter entirely. Most of us lead a busy lifestyle, and taking time to sit down and eat a well-balanced, home cooked and nutritious meal isn't always possible.
Too often we choose the processed, high calorie option, simply because it is easier. However, if you want break this cycle and start getting your five a day, the easiest way to do so is by replacing your unhealthy snacks with healthy ones. The following easy-to-prepare snack recipes should get you started down the right road.
1. Tropical Fruit Breakfast Smoothie
There is nothing like a hit of vitamins first thing in the morning to help you start your day out right. Perhaps the best thing about making a healthy breakfast smoothie is that you can get two or more of your five servings in one go, before the day has even begun.
Ingredients:
* One chopped banana
* One cup of chopped fresh pineapple
* Half a cup of yoghurt (full or low-fat, depending on your diet)
* Small amount of fruit juice concentrate, flavor of your choice
* Couple of ice cubes
* One tablespoon of wheat or oat bran
Just pop your ingredients together in the blender and mix them until the texture is right. You can vary this recipe with different types of fruit to bring some variety to your breakfasts. It's refreshing and takes less than five minutes to make. So no more excuses.
2. Vegetable Sticks with Avocado Dip
This recipe is quick and easy to prepare and can even be taken along in a Tupperware container to eat on the go if necessary.
Ingredients:
* Celery
* Carrots
* One fresh avocado
* Half a lemon or lime
* Seasoning of your choice (salt, pepper, chili, etc)
* One fresh clove of garlic
* Few tablespoons of yoghurt
First chop the desired amount of carrots and celery to make your vegetable sticks. Next, combine the avocado, lemon/lime, garlic, yoghurt and seasoning in the blender. Mix it until it is smooth and you are ready to hit the road with your super healthy, low-fat snack. If you are planning to eat it at work, however, you may want to leave out the garlic.
3. Gazpacho
This delicious Spanish delicacy is perfect when you are on the go, as unlike regular soups, this one is eaten cold. Gazpacho is almost like a liquid salad, making it just the thing when you are looking to fulfill your five a day requirement. Prepare a batch the night before so that it is ready for you to grab on your way out in the morning.
Ingredients:
* Two chopped onions
* Two chopped cloves of garlic
* Two chopped peppers, one red one green
* One finely chopped cucumber
* Four chopped tomatoes
* Two tablespoons of vinegar
* Seven tablespoons of oil
* Seasoning of your choice (salt, pepper, chili, etc)
* Two tablespoons of water
* Two toasted slices of bread
Combine the onions, garlic, tomatoes, vinegar, oil and seasoning in the blender and mix until smooth. Cube the toasted bread to make croutons. Pour this mixture into a bowl and add the cucumber, peppers and croutons. If you are taking this to go, you should keep the cucumber, peppers and croutons aside in a separate container and add them in once you are ready to eat it.
As you can see, eating healthier foods and getting your five a day doesn't have to be complicated. It does, however, take a bit of planning. With this in mind, you may want to consider creating a weekly meal plan and buying all the ingredients you will need beforehand. This will allow you to prepare your snacks when you need them, without the hassle of running to the store at the last minute.
A guest post by Samantha Harvey on behalf of Tasty Online Bingo home to some great recipes and tasty bingo promotions.
If you’re concerned about the environment, then owning a car is a double-edged sword. Unfortunately, cars are a necessary evil. We live in such a vast country, with many of us often commuting long distances to work or school, and, unless you own or can afford to swap your car for a hybrid, the very vehicle that gives us the freedom to travel, also has one of the biggest negative impacts on the environment.
We all know how fuel pollutes the air we breathe, with motor vehicles generating half of air pollutants, but were you aware that running your car’s AC reduces fuel efficiency by up to 4 miles per gallon? With almost 8kg of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere for every gallon of gas used, this is obviously a major concern to the environment in itself, but the problem with auto air conditioning doesn’t stop there.
The air conditioning in cars used to use chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as a coolant, but by 1995, in response to the damage CFCs were causing to the ozone layer, these were phased out and replaced with an alternative refrigerant called HFC-134a. Whilst not anywhere near as bad for the environment as CFCs, which are a major cause of the ‘greenhouse effect’, HFCs are still causing problems, eventually introducing highly toxic and environmentally corrosive Hydrogen Fluoride into the air.
How does HFC-134a get into the atmosphere from cars?
Everything under the hood of your car is susceptible to the effects of driving it – heat, cold and vibrations all take a toll and, over time, refrigerant can be lost through seals, hoses and valves, as well as the unit itself. There is no avoiding it, it’s all part of car ownership, but until repairs are made, the gases continue to seep into the environment.
What can I do about it?
Regular vehicle maintenance is important, and leaks will be picked up during vehicle services. However, even if you get your car serviced every six months (most Americans service their cars less than once a year!) if a leak develops the week after your service, you’ll be releasing HFCs into the atmosphere every time you use your AC for the next five months!
The best way to reduce the release of environmentally damaging gases is, obviously, to minimize the use of your AC. But is this at all feasible, especially during summer months where many states reach temperatures in excess of 120°F?
The green solution
There are many ways to reduce the heat in your car during hot weather, including parking in shaded areas such as under trees, against buildings, or next to larger vehicles. Unfortunately, this isn’t so easy when everyone else has the same idea. However, there is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to reduce the heat in your car by up to 90%, as well as block 99% of damaging UV rays – window tint!
What is window tint?
Window tint is a film that’s fitted to your car windows to reduce the amount of heat, sun glare and damaging UV rays coming through the window. Cheaper, basic films are made from dye-infused polyester while top of the range window tints are made with materials like carbon and ceramic. Both products work equally well, but aesthetically, higher end products offer a more showroom like quality.
How much does it cost?
One of the advantages of window tinting is its cost-effectiveness. The price of window tinting can range from as low as $80 for a sedan up to as much as $450, depending on the type and quality you choose, and most experts believe a mid-range tint is sufficient for the average driver. As mentioned before, using your car’s AC can reduce fuel efficiency by anything up to 25%, and, with the price of gas these days, that’s a lot of dollars to burn. By reducing the need to cool your car, window tint increases your auto’s fuel efficiency. The savings to your pocket will, therefore, quickly recoup the cost of the installation, while the savings to our environment will last a long time.
Clodagh Foelster has written many articles on cost-effective ways to ‘go green’. As a mother of five, she encourages eco-friendly habits in her children to help teach the future generation the importance of doing what we can for our planet.
Since appearance has become one extremely important factor and increased awareness in people in general regarding evil effects that increased weight may lead to impose serious concern in this regard. The best way of successfully doing it is through understanding the basics. Taking less quantity of calories and burning more will have great outcomes as far as weight loss is concerned. Though people throughout the world are making efforts to keep the weight under control here are a few vital points one need to remember.
1. Taking Same Amount of Calories Everyday
Learning the basics here are a few things one need to know.
Let’s assume your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is 1,500 calories and the amount of calories intake through food and number of calories burn either through work out or other tasks average burning ends up on 2,200.
Now as an individual just reading somewhere that decreasing the amount of calories by 500 will result in weight loss of one pound.
Now after initiating efforts to decrease the calorie intake by 500 you start realize there is no alteration in body fat. You may either wonder whether metabolism has been done at slower rates. Did it even happen after long period of starvation?
The Answer
Amount of calories required for a healthy individual is 2,200 per day. From last few years you have been taking near about 2,900 calories per day. Thus even after decreasing it by 500 constant intake of calorie is 2,400.
In order to actually lose weight one need to consume 500 lesser calories than you actually burn and require. Thus it’s very important as an individual for you to know the exact amount of calorie and intake of food in order to lose weight.
2. Unable to Boost Metabolism
Numbers of people believe they are unable to boost metabolism the way they want to. Increasing it to 50-100% almost seems impossible. Here have a glance:
Biological advancement state, that an individual making efforts to increase the metabolism may show obvious signs like increased rate of heart beat, higher breathing speed and starts feeling thirsty.
When it comes to increasing your metabolism, experts of bodybuilding and fitness concerned people use Clenbuterol Drug. It has been considered as one of the most effective remedy for increasing metabolism. It boosts your metabolism and numbers of symptoms stated above are appeared.
There arise a question whether such remedies will actually be able to make you feel as that after you workout. The answer is a big no.
See, one must not consider it healthy to feel sweaty, thirsty and tires always since taking such medicines may lead to serious health hazards. Though increasing metabolism rate is one good to apply remedy but making artificial efforts such as taking drugs is seriously not advised.
3. Starvation Mode Theory
Another thing people are not exactly aware of and make inappropriate presumptions is Starvation mode. It states that not eating sufficient quantity of food may lead to further fats. Thus the theory ultimately guides to increase the amount of food intake. See what really happens in such situation is your body slows down the process of metabolism, since the amount of food is just not enough.
Recent studies have made it clear that for quite extended period there is no actual effect over fat or body weight through lesser calories and without any serious alteration in metabolism rate. Before getting at least 5% fat vanish, it is quite an impossible task actually to reach starvation mode.
Another fact is Fatty individuals can easily make oxidization in comparison to those, who not have the same. Oxidization has direct relation with your body fat. Therefore, reaching the minimum limits will certainly slow down metabolism. It has been the reason why at later stages it becomes more difficult to get rid of excess of 4-5 ponds.
So it is possible to lose weight with any diet without worrying about slowing down your metabolism, even with fasting diet, until this is a diet you are able to follow in long term.
4. Misconception with Six Meals per Day Diet
The basic idea was introduced through fitness freaks and bodybuilders. It was considered as one of the most effective way of losing weight, at the period it was first introduced.
Once a body builder gains above 250 pounds of weight he starts making efforts to keep the daily diet less than 2,400 calories. Even after that it’s quite an excess amount of calories intake in comparison to an average healthy individual. The idea was to take 400 calories every time and doing it for 6 times will result in 2,400 calories exactly. It was believed that including such diet a bodybuilder will start losing weight.
When it comes to an average built woman with the height of 5’4, it is not that easy. The six times diet totaling 2,400 calories will still be on the higher side for her. Taking 1,300 calories in a whole day and dividing it for six times requires just 220 calories each time. It is equal to one banana and half cup of yogurt. Banana size will definitely make the difference in total calories intake. You certainly would have realized how difficult it becomes with six meals plan to maintain the calorie intake.
Eating such short amount of food for six times is equally difficult as that of preparing it in kitchen. It is one of the basic reason people use supplement to remain fit.
5. Not realizing the Actual Outcomes of Work Out
While doing exercise you can burn calories, let's understand it with an illustration. Suppose a person who weighs average can walk for 5 miles around for one hour, then this enables him to burn an exact amount of 500 calories. In some situations if you wish to walk for an extra hour with the same diet as you were taking previously, then you are enabling to burn off 1 extra pound which is a very surprising fact.
But you must be very careful about diet control and calories in taken as a slight increase over the food cannot give you satisfied results. If you perform 7 hours exercise for losing 1 pound fat, proves to be a very effective task. In actual you have to put your focus more on eating less rather than burning. Routine exercise and proper diet can assist you to maintain body fats. You can simply put off your weight by following a regular and well mannered diet.
This is a guest post written by Will from Sprained Ankle Institute.
He also writes about new alternative healing methods.
