If you ever needed another good reason to exercise, I’ve got one for you:

Exercise makes your brain bigger.

Actually this isn’t entirely accurate. To be more specific, exercise was found to increase brain size slightly, but far more important to increase “spatial reasoning.”

This is the ability to recognize patterns, remember phrases, numbers, and so-on. This was discovered by researchers at the Universities of Chicago and Pittsburgh.

It is also one of the most important factors to the prevention of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

My mom suffered with dementia the last ten years of her life. But unlike most dementia patients she was fully functional thanks to exercise. She drove and had a mind that was unbelievably sharp right up until an accident injured her beyond the ability to exercise.

After that, she mentally went downhill rapidly. Thankfully, she passed in peace… and she had ten wonderfully active years thanks to her willingness to take up weight training at the age of 71.

She eventually walked up to 3 miles per day and trained in the gym 3 days per week.

That kept her mind sharp, along with fish oil and N-Acetyl L-Carnitine, a wonderful brain nutrient.

Once again, we see the power of exercise. It increases the QUALITY of your life.

Quantity is no where near as important to me as quality.

The links at the bottom of this newsletter are to my books on exercise. Pick the one that appeals to you most and take action.

Your brain will thank you, as will the rest of your body.

One of the best ways to start exercising when you are over 40 is by using the routines covered in “Fit Over 40″.

This book profiles 53 different men and women, age 40 to 80, all sharing their workouts, nutrition plans, and mental empowerment techniques.

It is a MUST-HAVE for anyone wanting to begin exercising or improve their level of fitness after the age of 40.

For a freee fat-burning course from Fit Over 40, go here –

http://www.fitover40.com/go/40sfitness <— Freee Fatburning Course

For the uninitiated, the 5 Factor Diet has its origins in Hollywood, where its creator Harley Pasternak, happened to be a trainer to stars like Jessica Simpson and Alicia Keys. He was asked to come up with a plan to give valuable workout sessions to celebrities as they went though their work. As he trained and maintained the food habits of his celebrity clients, Harley was able to devise a remarkable diet plan.

The 5 Factor essentially is a five week plan which lays stress on having 5 meals a day. Typically these meals should not consist of more than 5 ingredients and can be made within 5 minutes. Now each meal should be a proper mix of lean proteins which may include things fish or chicken, some complex carbohydrates typically provided by fruits or vegetables, small amount of health fats like olive oil and fiber and a beverage or water.

A great part about this diet is that it allows you to have ‘5 cheats’ or opportunities where you can consume high calorie rich foods such as cakes, pizza or French fries. The only restriction is that you can have only 1 cheat per week. Thus it allows you to indulge in your favorite food and yet curbs an over consumption of high calorie items which can prevent you from losing weight. Incidentally egg, bacon sandwich and turkey figure prominently amongst the popular ingredients that this diet plan lists in its 5 minute meal menu. Thus this diet plan allows you enjoy delicious meals and still lose weight.

The 5 Factor Diet does lay stress on a 25 minute workout per day.  It encourages you to cut down the workout into several mini sessions so that paucity of time does not prevent you from performing some simple exercises. In a nutshell the 5 Factor diet claims to work wonders for your body if you are able to follow it and also perform the advised exercise routines.

As with all diet programs the 5 Factor diet too has received it fair share of criticism and is at times subject of skepticism. Since it has its origins in Hollywood many label it as a fad diet and another run of the mill gimmick. Then there are others who dismiss the diet as a effort with limited research. They point out that it does not address a major aspect of weight gain that is emotional over eating. Despite its certain drawbacks most experts do agree on the fact the 5 Factor does offer significant benefits by intelligently combining necessary nutrients and a basic exercise regime.

See How Celebrities Diet: See why celebrities love this plan. Easy & effective. Subscribe now!

Benefits of South Beach Diet

South Beach diet is based on the simple principle of replacing “bad carbs” and “bad fats” with “good carbs” and “good fats”. Thus needless to say, this diet program involves eating the right foods containing the right nutrients.

Carbohydrates are a great source of energy but most carbohydrate rich foods like refined sugars and grains trigger hunger. So when more of these kinds of foods are taken in, excess carbs are stored as fat in the adipose tissues of our bodies. The South Beach Diet will replace these sources of carbohydrates by introducing unprocessed foods like vegetables beans and food grains.

Unlike carbohydrates dealing with fats is a complicated matter. Trans Fats obtained from fried foods and saturated fats from red meat and poultry, which are extremely hard to burn, add to LDL cholesterol and cause chronic heart problems over time. The South beach Diet replaces them with unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids, which are contained in lean meat, oily fish and dry nuts.

A More Practical Approach

The South Beach Diet needs to be approached in three phases, which will become progressively liberal as you follow them.

Phase I lasts for two weeks and it involves eliminating all kinds of processed sugars and carbohydrates, fruits and high-glycemic vegetables. Hunger cycles will cease, as a result and you will undergo significant weight loss.

Phase II can be continued for as long as you need to lose weight. Most Fruits, vegetables and whole grains can be used during this phase.

Phase III is nothing but a maintenance phase and should last for life if you would want it to. This phase neither prescribes nor prohibits any kinds of foods buts will inspire you to live by the basic principles of a healthy and wholesome diet.

Other Aspects

The South Beach Diet is wholesome in the sense that it includes all major food groups. You won’t need to exclude carbohydrates from your diet or carefully measure them. The Diet is developed along the belief that food grains, fruits and vegetables should be near to their natural form while you consume them.

Since you will lose a lot of water weight during Phase I of the diet, you need to be careful and not overdo it otherwise you may have an electrolyte imbalance.

South beach diet is also available through a line of packaged food products developed by a food product multinational. These products are well designed to meet the basics of the diet.

Healthy Weight Loss Tips: Get member support, nutritionists’ advice, the doctor’s tips, results!

Before we discuss its merits and demerits, it is prudent for us to understand what a typical raw food diet signifies. Purists argue that a raw food diet is primarily composed of unprocessed and uncooked plant foods which may include vegetables, grains, nuts, etc along with fruits and at least 75 percent of the food intake must be living or raw.

It is widely known that cooking food at a temperature of more than 116 degrees Fahrenheit can destroy most enzymes present in the food which typically assist in digestion and subsequent absorption of food in our body. Thus proponents of raw food diets vociferously argue that cooking takes the life force out of food and thus is bad for our health.

Though consumption of raw meat is frowned upon by some raw food proponents, significant amounts of people who follow a raw food diet, consume them in a regular manner as they believe they are rich in minerals and omega 3 fatty acids.

Key Advantage of Raw Food Diet

Some of the key advantages of raw food diets are listed below for your reference:

Substantial Increase in Energy Levels: Proponents of raw food diets argue that consuming raw food can increase your energy levels and will help you to perform strenuous physical activity.

Improved Skin: Another benefit typically associated with a raw food diet is an improvement in your skin tone and increased radiance.

Weight Loss: Invariably weight loss counts as one of the major benefits of a raw food diet. Since you will avoid all kinds of processed foods in a raw food diet, it means you are keeping yourself away from all junk foods and caffeinated drinks. Thus a weight loss is nearly assured with a raw food diet.

Reduced Risk of Diseases: Proponents of raw food diet argue that sticking to raw foods can significantly reduce your chances of falling prey to cardiovascular diseases. In addition your overall digestion is also expected to improve and you can easily avoid major lifestyle related diseases.

Key Disadvantages of Raw Food Diet

Food Poisoning: Detractors of raw food diet point out the risk of poisoning associated with consuming raw foods, especially meat products which can be highly toxic to our body. Gastroenteritis outbreaks amongst people who consume raw foods have repeatedly been noticed. In addition some raw plant foods may contain deadly micro organisms.

Nutritional deficiencies: A number of nutritional deficiencies have repeatedly been noticed amongst people who consume raw food and at times their bodies are short of essential minerals like calcium, iron and zinc to name a few.

The Mediterranean diet essentially incorporates a number of key elements and primary among them is the use of olive oil for cooking. Over the years people have noticed that people living in the Mediterranean region are less susceptible to cardiovascular diseases in spite of the fact that their food is quite rich in fat content. After a series of research, it was discovered that olive oil is primarily responsible for this remarkable feat.

Essentially olive oil is a form of monounsaturated fat that is rather beneficial in keeping your arteries in good shape and has typically less cholesterol levels. This when combined with other elements of Mediterranean diet like legumes and nuts which are rich in antioxidants and fiber and limited consumption of red meat and milk helps in creating a very healthy balanced diet. In case you too wish to follow a Mediterranean diet just follow the tips given below:

1. Begin by replacing your cooking oil with olive oil and also aim to use olive oil in place of butter or other spreads.
2. Next incorporate a number of vegetables in your diet. Try to get hold of a good recipe book for Greek dishes and try to make popular Greek dishes which contain a large number of vegetables
3. Try to include whole grains in your meals instead of refined white bread as they have a lot of fiber content and are highly beneficial for your body.
4. Incorporate large amounts sea food in your diet and try to avoid red meat as much as possible. While cooking food, make sure that you are not frying them and instead try to bake them.
5. It is also a good idea to avoid dairy products and instead focus on nuts and legumes.
6. Try to consume poultry and eggs in good proportions
7. Consume nearly six eight glasses of water a day as a Mediterranean diet stresses on adequate intake of water.

Owing to the large variety of food you can consume in a Mediterranean diet, you can stick to it for a very long time. However while you are following a Mediterranean diet, make it a point to avoid caffeinated drinks and food items which have a high sugar content.

Apart from following a Mediterranean diet, it is prudent to give a thought to the lifestyle of the ancient Greeks.

The basic idea behind the Food Combining is the assumption that different food groups can be better digested if they are consumed in a specified manner or combination. The combinations which the Food Combining diet specifies are mentioned below for your reference:

Proteins and Starch at Separate Meals

The Food Combining diet argues that proteins which are readily found in food items such as beans, seeds, fish and meat should be taken at separate meals. It suggests the same for starches which is typically found in food items such as pasta, cereal, breads, carrots etc.

The diet also allows eating of proteins and starches in combination of common vegetables that you may like, though green vegetables are ideally recommended.

Eating Fruits in Isolation

The Food Combining diet strongly argues the case of consuming fruits in isolation and not as a part of other meals. It believes that most nutrients present in fruits are easily absorbed by our body when the fruits are consumed separately. However it does not restrict combining different varieties of fruits.

The Food Combining diet gives a detailed explanation of its reasoning of eating certain kinds of food separately. It mentions that starches are better absorbed when eaten with vegetables owing to the fact that pH value of our digestive tract is alkaline.  However on the other hands proteins are supposed to require stomach acid for their digestion. Now if both protein and starches are consumed together, the digestive environment at that time would neither be acidic or alkaline and thus improper digestion would take place.

However not everyone is convinced about the Food Combining diet. Its critics point out that it has some critical drawbacks and some of them are listed below for your reference:

1.  The primary argument made against this diet is the fact that most people can negotiate a variety of foods simultaneously without suffering any health problems
2. Its critics also point out that certain nutritional deficiencies can occur in people who follow this diet as it does not offer proper meal plans. Since proteins and starches are not allowed to be consumed together, people invariably end up consuming either too much protein or starch depending on their taste.
3. The diet also takes out some of the favorite food combinations that people normally prefer to eat like tofu sandwiches, chicken burgers to name a few. Also if you tend to eat out, chances of you finding meals which offer only proteins or starches can be rather difficult.

Though typically not as popular as other diet plans, the F Factor diet still holds its ground when tried against popular diet options. In fact the single most highlight of this diet is the fact that it does not ask you to avoid various kinds of foodstuff. Instead it encourages you to add food items with rich fiber content to your diet.

Typically most diets work on the concept of deprivation and thus are at times are very difficult to follow. The F Factor diet on the contrary is possibly amongst the easiest to follow diet plan ever conceived. Quite expectedly its proponents claim it as a ‘healthy life long eating program’. It essentially recommends adding regular food items rich in fiber in your meals which can keep you feeling full after you have consumed them. Thus it keeps of your urge to gorge on high calorie snacks between your meals and thus prevents piling up more fat in your body.

Another positive aspect about the F Factor diet is that most items that it asks you to incorporate in your food habit are very easy to procure. In fact a majority of them can be obtained from regular grocery and departmental stores. Some of the popular food items that have relatively high fiber content include almonds, pistachios, carrots along with cucumber slices and bell peppers. That apart you can readily consume fiber crackers along with vegetables such as lettuce, cauliflower and onions.

Apart from helping you in losing weight, the F Factor diet can also contribute in improving the performance of your digestive system. One must note that consuming fiber is very essential for your body and the F Factor diet can also prove beneficial for people with high blood sugar levels. Some of the other changes that you are likely to notice if you follow the diet include improvements in your skin condition along with your hair and a significant increase in your energy level. That apart the diet also claims to reduce the risks factors responsible for cardiovascular diseases and even may prevent some forms of cancer.

Now if you are by now convinced about the benefit of F Factor diet in reducing fat and are curious to know how soon it can give results then we would like you remember what we mentioned above that it is basically a long term healthy eating program. Thus drastic weight loss is not something that you can associate with this diet. However it does help you in gradually losing your weight and if it is mixed with a proper exercise plan, it surely can work wonders for your body.