Courtney Straub, Healthy Living Editor
The Behrend Beacon
Lose Weight, Feel Great
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Feel good about
your body
by Amy Frizzell
staff writer
Spring break has come and gone and
some of us are still regretting not hitting
the gym before hitting the beach, while
others are still trying to remember what
they did over the break. Well, not to fear.
Summer is coming up and there's still
time to reach that goal of feeling good
before taking another adventure that
requires a bathing suit.
While dieting and exercise helps
sometimes feeling good about yourself
doesn't take much. So here are 20 tips
on how to feel good about yourself and
your body.
1) Listen to your body. If you're hungry,
eat. If you're tired, rest. If you have
energy, use it.
2) Look for beautiful things about
yourself and your life. Stress and over
exertion can cause problems with your
body and make you sick. So, looking
for beautiful qualities gives you a chance
to focus on something that isn't so
stressful, therefore reducing stress and
giving you a little confidence booster.
3) Keep a list of all the qualities you like
about yourself and your life. Keep the
list in a place where you can see it easily
for a little reminder to yourself.
4) Put up post-it notes to remind you to
smile, or take in a breath of fresh air.
5) Don't let your body image interfere
with something you want to do. Doing
this can only lead to regret in life and
that's not something you can add to your
list.
6) Enjoy exercising. Go out and do the
things you like to do, whether it is
basketball, soccer, swimming or rowing.
If you enjoy what you're doing then it
doesn't seem like exercise.
7) Exercise to feel good about yourself.
If you don't feel good about yourself
after you exercise, then what's the point
of exercising?
8) When you wake up in the morning
take a minute to stretch. Stretching
The truth about
fad diets
With the thought of the Freshman 1 5 many people - especially girls - will do
anything it takes to fight the weight they gain at college. Because college students
don't always have time for the gym, one of the quickest ways to drop weight is
with fad diets.
These diets include anything from doing the Slim Fast plan to taking diet pills.
The commercials look great. People who used to be 300 pounds and could not
stand for more than 10 minutes now stand before you in the tiniest bikini with
amazing abs. What's their pitch? They only took a simple pill, ate right and lost
weight.
The saying "If something is too good to be true, it probably is" applies.
Taking a pill isn't going to melt the fat off bodies, there must be something else
to this. Well, what the commercials fail to tell you is that these people who dropped
such enormous amounts of weight had to work out, too. The pills might work for
you and you'll see some weight come off. Unfortunately once you stop using the
pills, the weight comes back. Sometimes, you can gain the weight back and then
some.
One ingredient in the pills, Ma huang, helps you lose the weight. Ma huang,
increases heart rate, blood pressure, can cause seizures, heart attacks and even
death. So while you'll be thin, you could unintentionally hurt yourself in the end.
Ephedrine, disguised as Ma huang, is how companies get away with putting this
active ingredient in their pill.
Along with other fad diets there is the "no carb" diet, where you eliminate all
breads and starches. This is one of the best quick diets out there. By eating all
protein and vegetables and fruit, your body quickly sheds its self of fat. Yet, once
you are done and have lost all the weight and go back to eating breads again, the
same thing happens as with the pills. You start to gain weight again. Sometimes
in the end, you weigh more than when you started.
The best way to lose weight is the old-fashioned way. Eat fruits and vegetables;
limit the intake of carbs yob eat, cut back on junk food, and drink lots and lots of
water. Water is one of the key components of loosing weight, along with 3-5 days
of exercise for 30 minutes a day, plus weight training. It might take a while to lose
weight this way, but...it's the healthiest way.
allows you to breathe, providing a
moment to think about how refreshed
your body feels.
9) At night before you go to bed take
time to breathe ,also. When you lay
down take deep breaths and let your
muscles relax as you fall asleep. This is
very calming and will allow you to sleep
better.
10) Your skin renews itself every month,
your stomach lining every five days, your
liver every six weeks and your skeleton
every three months. Just think about it.
11) Do you really have time to be
obsessing over the way you look? Life
is too short to waste your time.
12) Use the time you spend worrying
about your body to get something done.
Doing this will make you feel like you've
done something, therefore you'll feel
better about yourself.
13) Pay attention to what you have
instead of what you don't. This gives
you a positive mindset making it easier
to accomplish the goals you really want
to achieve.
14) Wear comfortable clothes. Don't be
afraid to wear sweatpants every once in
a while. There's nothing wrong with that,
that's what they were made for.
15) Walk with good posture, keep your
head up. Using good posture exerts less
pressure on your spine therefore avoiding
pain. Plus, it just looks better.
16) Create a list of things your body can
do. Like can you put both of your feet
behind your head at once, or touch your
tongue to your nose.
17) Take a minute to think of how
complicated the mechanics of your body
are, and appreciate that.
18) Smile, it's not that hard.
19) Laugh, it's not that hard either.
20) Your body is amazing. It's like a
well-oiled, fine tuned piece of machinery
that's strong in itself, yet fragile at the
same time
by Erika Jarvis
staff writer
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Friday March 21, 2003
Stretching before and after physical activity allows your body to relax
ose weight the healthy way
During the last two decades, the number of overweight people in the United States has increased. ( ently
about one quarter to one third of adults and one quarter of children and teenagers in the U.S. are overweight. Obesity
is the primary cause for a wide range of serious diseases, including heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer. It
also tends to raise blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and makes you more likely to develop diabete s . I hereh ue
obesity is one of the most significant, but preventable, causes of death and disability among adults.
The easiest way to determine if your body is overweight is to find your Body Mass Index ( liM I I
checks how much you should weigh based on your height. It is a relative comparison between the proportion 01 Lit
versus lean in your body
Determine your Body Mass Index by using the following formula
I. Divide your weight (in pounds) by your height (in inches) squared
2. Multiply the results of Step Iby 705.
Example: if you are 5'3" (63 inches) and weigh 138 pounds, the equation looks like this
13M1 - - [l3B/(63x63)] x 705= 24.5
A healthy BMI is somewhere in the range of 19 to 25. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight and
over 30 is considered obese. If you are not sure whether or not you are overweight, see your doctor immediately.
A healthy diet is the first step to start losing weight. The number of calories a person eats and the number of
calories a person's body uses each day controls the body weight. So in order to lose weight, the body needs to take in
fewer calories than the body uses. The best way to do this is by becoming physically active and eating less.
Regular physical activity will help you lose weight, look better, and feel better. An activity that is done on a
regular basis for 30 minutes each time is the way to start. The activity should make the heart beat a little faster and
make it a little harder to breathe. Do not over do it! As the body gets adjusted to physical activity, it is best to exercise
at a low pace for a long amount of time.
Losing weight is not easy and it takes time. Keep in mind that you didn't gain weight overnight so it is
impossible to lose it overnight. Most people are capable of losing the weight they want in a suitable time period
Lifting weights is just one of the physical activities that helps your body maintain a healthy body weight
by Courtney Straub
Healthy Living Editor
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PHOTO COURTESY OF KRTCAMPUS COM
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