Healthy Food Choices Becoming More Common

By Patrick Glancy, BCH

Healthy lifestyle trends are popping up in many areas of this country. Many restaurants are offering healthier alternatives, fast food restaurants are disclosing nutritional information and public schools are ripping out soda machines and replacing them with water machines. Attitudes toward exercise are getting more positive, diet has been replaced by the phrase "healthy lifestyle" and the word "organic" is now understood by many. America has spoken, it is time for a change of lifestyle!

American's like to eat out but eating out does not have to mean sacrificing your health or diet. Wendy's and Subway were some of the first fast food restaurants to offer healthy substitutions for children and adults. At Wendy's a salad can replace fries for no extra charge. For a kid's meal, parents can order their children a fruit cup and milk instead of fries and a soda. Subway also has raisins and apples in place of chips. Another chain is seeing their competitors success and making a change! Fatburger recently changed from vegetable oil to soy bean oil to fry their foods therefore reducing the amount of trans fat being served. Fatburger will also start using the leanest beef possible in all of their burgers and they are now offering a Boca patty (soy based meatless patty) substitute for all their burgers according to prleap.com. Even sit down restaurants such as Applebee's are jumping on the band wagon by offering Weight Watcher friendly menu items.

In years past eating out meant not knowing how many calories or servings you were eating. There was a lot of guess work involved. But after America demanded to be informed, restaurants and chains relented. Now the nutritional information can be found anywhere from their internet websites, pamphlets in the place, or on the actual container such as McDonald's fries carton. There is no more guess work to be done, consumers know exactly what they are eating, no more mystery meat!

Americans not only saw a problem with the restaurant industry but in their schools as well. Consumers asked for the governments help in fighting obesity and during the 2006-2007 school year, every district in America had a goal to obtain. This goal was to implement a better nutrition and increase activity levels according to aappolicy.org, and nearly every school accomplished this. Soda machines, snack machine and pizza were removed from every district from preschool to high school. They have been replaced by water, fruit and a salad bar. Kids can no longer sell junk food for clubs during school hours and all the cafeterias are required to serve balanced meals.

People are also making an effort to get out and exercise at least three days per week. According to WebMD.com, some of the most popular exercises are yoga, core work and martial art based exercises such as Tai Chi which all help to relieve stress and get you into shape. In 2008 WebMd.com reports America will likely see an increased amount of training, education and certification for all exercise providers and trainers. This is due largely to the rising health kick.

Getting out and exercising is also critical to a healthy lifestyle. People are making an effort to get out and exercise at least three days per week. According to WebMD.com, some of the most popular exercises are yoga, core work and martial art based exercises such as Tai Chi. All of these exercises have multiple benefits such as stress relief, flexibility training and toning all built in. A new trend in exercises is also emerging, in 2008 WebMd.com reports America will likely see an increased amount of training, education and certification for all exercise providers and trainers. This is due largely to the rising health kick.

Flexitarianism is a new "diet" which is quickly on the rise with many Americans according to CNN.com. Dietitians are defining these dieters as those who eat mainly fruits and vegetables but also eat protein but only three days per week such as chicken, lean beef and fish. The other four days a week they eat meatless meals. It is a diet which is low in saturated fat and high in fiber. Those who follow this diet have lower risk of stroke, diabetes, and heart attack.

America is ready to make a stand. Obesity causes stress for individual families, the pubic and healthcare providers. Of course there will be those out there who love eating their greasy pizzas and triple Whoppers. But for those who do not want to gain hundreds of pounds, there are now options. People are now given the choice when the once did not have one and America responded and healthy living is taking over.

About the Author:

Glancy Hypnosis works with Weight Loss in Salem Oregon

Salon Hair Care Products vs. Cheap High Street Hair Products

By Jennifer Summers

If you pride yourself on having clean and healthy looking hair, looking after your locks is a top priority. So using good shampoos, conditioners and hair care products on your hair is important. But when it comes to price and the quality of hair care products, how do you know which hair products to use?

High street products seem much more affordable and therefore giving you better value for money because of the low cost of high street hair products. Branded premium salon products can appear pricey with the average 300ml shampoo bottle priced at 5 times the cost ($20/GBP10) of a regular high street shampoo ($4/GBP2).

Comparing these prices it seems as if the high street products are better value at about a fifth of the price of salon professional hair care products, giving the impression that they are much better value for money, because you would be getting 5 times the amount of product as you would compared with professional salon hair products.

But when you look into this further, and take into consideration the quality and the effectiveness of the different hair care products, do the figures actually stack up in favour of the cheaper products, or are cheap high street hair care products a false economy? Let's find out?

To see if cheaper high street hair products provide more value for money in both the short and long term when compared with professional salon hair care products, we made the decision to test them both to see how each of the hair products compare against one another in a quality test.

We tested a 300ml bottle of shampoo from the high street and a 300ml salon professional shampoo. With the high street product a 50ml application is standard to clean hair where with the professional product a 10ml application was all that was required to clean the hair to the same standard.

Needing 50ml per application, a 300ml bottle of cheap high street shampoo would give you about 6 applications. But using only 10ml per application, the professional hair care shampoo gives you approximately 30 applications in a 300ml bottle. Comparing the prices, the price per application of the professional salon shampoo is $0.66c/GBP0.33p per application, and the cheap average high street shampoo worked out at $0.64c/GBP0.32p per application.

Summary: at first glance, cheaper high street hair products appear to be a better buy and provide value for money, but on closer scrutiny there is but a hair's breadth of difference in the price of salon hair products, and cheap hair products. When you add the better quality and effectiveness of salon products into the equation, the salon products turn out to be much better value for money. Q? Why would you use anything other than the highest quality hair care products on your hair?

About the Author:

About the author: Jennifer Summers can help you achieve great looking hair. She is a well of information on hair products, regularly providing valuable and informative hair care advice.

Individuals Can Obtain Texas Health Insurance Employers

By Jordan FeRoss

With all the information available online and from insurers themselves, it can be confusing and overwhelming for individuals searching for health insurance in Texas. There are so many different plans and their wording is often quite complex, making it difficult to fully assess options and even more difficult to choose the one that will provide the best care at the most reasonable cost. This is true even when working with employer-sponsored health insurance in Texas.

If you are employed full-time, then check with your employer to see what kind of health insurance is available in Texas. Some employers don't even offer health plans to their employees because they think it would cost them too much to invest in. With group health insurance coverage, it's an easy process and you can choose the coverage that is most affordable for you.

Usually you can sign up for a health insurance plan in Texas as soon as you are hired in. New employees are usually given thirty days from their date of hire to get signed up. People that miss this opportunity often have to wait for the next open enrollment period to get health insurance. The open enrollment period usually occurs once a year and lasts for thirty days. This is also the time when employees who dislike their current plan are permitted to switch to a different carrier.

You may have a health insurance plan in Texas that will pay for your health services and later on submit a claim to get reimbursed by the health insurance plan. Just like any other plan, health insurance in Texas provides services that come from a network of medical providers. Not only that, you have a choice of preferred providers that are in the network of the specified health coverage.

These networks are beneficial for cost management but limit choice for health insurance in Texas as there are only certain doctors you can see and facilities you can use for procedures without incurring additional out-of-network expenses. As the insurer is not your choice, but your employers, you may find you don't have enough flexibility with their plan. This may be especially true if you have a doctor you really like who is not on their network. If this is the case, you are not required to accept your employers plan and can search for an individual plan. These are generally more expensive and require a deeper dive into your medical history but it is your choice.

Employers may limit the choices the employee has because of the high cost of providing insurance to employees. Just like everywhere else, health insurance costs in Texas go up each y year making it more difficult to provide coverage while keeping the company budget balanced. Larger companies of 50 employees full-time employees or more have different options than smaller companies with less than 50 full-time workers.

In addition to that, health insurance in Texas for employers is comprised of a managed care plan and an indemnity coverage health plan. A managed care plan means that you have to get medical services using a certain network of doctors and other medical personnel. An indemnity health plan is when you have to pay for medical services upfront and then submit claims to get reimbursed. So depending on the size of the employer, you may be looking at either one of these plans listed above. Just make sure that you have some type of health insurance coverage so that you won't be so much out of pocket for expenses.

About the Author:

Individual Texas health insurance can be secured at Texas Health. That is of course if your employer will not provide you with your own health insurance in Texas. Good Luck!

Tobacco Helps you Relax?

By Sara Mendez

I've helped a lot of people quit smoking. While doing this, I've been told a lot of reasons why it is good to smoke.

Smoking helps you think, relaxes you, de-stresses you, keeps you from getting upset at your family, tastes good with coffee, tastes really good after a meal. Basically, makes things "better" and makes you feel "better".

I know you don't really believe these reasons, or why would you be trying to stop smoking. Still, a part of you DOES believe these reasons.

You do have a strong reason to keep smoking or you would have quit by now. Just so you know, there are not any laws stating your reason to keep smoking needs to make any sense. It rarely does.

You've probably already proven your reasons untrue. Smoking might taste better with coffee because the coffee taste on your tongue covers the bad taste of smoking???

And most of the time you're AWARE it doesn't make sense. That doesn't change anything though, does it? Just one more log to toss on the fire of your motivation to quit. A fire that doesn't have much chance against the ocean of your craving to smoke.

There are two important sides to this. The feeling that smoking will make you feel better and, the feeling you want to feel better than. That's what needs to be changed.

If you're thirsty you crave something to drink. If you're hungry you crave food. If you feel bad (tired, stressed, overwhelmed, angry, lonely, whatever...) you want to feel good. And, whatever your mind has been taught feels good, you will crave.

This is an only slightly simplified explanation of a craving. Most smokers have more than one type of craving like, the 'first thing in the morning' craving feels different than the 'after lunch' craving. But the same model applies.

SO, how do you change these things? I can write on and on about this (and I have on my web site) It will come down to changing the feelings, motivations and beliefs involved.

First, feeling bad needs to be looked at and helped. If it's stress, get it managed, if it's a bad situation, do what you can to fix it or get help.

Second, the belief that smoking makes you feel good (it is often the mistaken, and understandable, belief that smoking equals being an adult, in control, strong, capable, etc...) The fact is, smoking is some plant leaf and chemicals wrapped in paper. The good feeling you're looking for, and sometimes experience, is created by YOU. YOU make yourself feel better when you smoke. You can make yourself feel just as good when drinking a glass of water. If, your mind believes it.

And that's the bottom line. The bulk of the quit smoking issue is about behavior modification - changing the way you feel. That's why the success rate of most prescription medication and nicotine replacement (like the patch and nicotine gum) alone is so low. The only current exception is Chantix and even Pfizer, the makers of Chantix, recommend behavior modification go along with the medication.

About the Author:

Quick, simple, hypnosis downloads available with quit smoking hypnotherapy!

Real Smoothies - Keep it Healthy

By Nick Jaggs

Have you any idea of what is going into that smoothie you are drinking? In recent years this type of drink has become big business and many companies will use words like "healthy" and "natural" to describe theirs. However, what you may not realize is that the smoothie you purchased from your local grocery store is not all that it seems. Although the label may show a sunny outdoor scene or lots of fruit in a blender to show you that they contain lots of living ingredients. What you will soon discover that these have been produced on a mass scale using fruit puree that has been pasteurized to help extend its shelf life.

Not every juice and smoothie bar set up offers completely natural products to you either. In some cases they use frozen fruit purees high in sugar that have been supplied to them by the company that supplies the juice and smoothie making equipment. Certainly these types of professional blenders are very expensive to purchase and juice bars will often be provided them for free as long as they use the companies frozen fruit portions to create their smoothies.

However, there are a number of juice bar chains who have created their own frozen fruit products which not only saves them money but simplifies their operations. Although there are some which are good there are others that contain high levels of sugar. But if you think it is some sort of conspiracy to make sure that we don't get natural ingredients, and then think again. It's just businesses streamlining things in order to make a profit, but there are times when we as the consumer lose out.

The original idea of a smoothie was simple; it was a blended health drink. It was made popular in the USA; although today there is still no specific definition to describe this drink. However, most of us know them as a thick, smooth drink that is fruit based and will be created using either frozen fruit or frozen fruit and ice. A large number of the independent juice bars around today are health focused and will offer a high quality of freshly prepared natural products. Also for the health enthusiasts they will provide super foods and boosters to further enhance their smoothies.

If you are lucky enough to have such a great juice bar close to you then you should really be using it. However, if your only real contact with smoothies is the bottled variety, you are missing out on some great flavours and goodness from the freshly prepared kind.

The best way for you to try a smoothie is actually make it yourself at home. But first let us clear up the confusion caused by some blender manufacturers. When we talk about smoothie makers we are actually talking about blenders. For years the kitchen appliance we know as a blender was always called this until someone somewhere in a marketing department decided to call them smoothie markets so that the company producing them could target those people wanting to make their own smoothies. Whilst a lot of companies have profited from the demand in people wanting to make their own smoothies it is this reason which has resulted in us thinking that these are two different machines, when in fact they aren't.

Making smoothies at home is very simple you just need to put some ingredients into the jug and then press the button. It only takes a matter of seconds to pulp a full jug of fresh fruit and juice, and at a lot less than you would pay for the high street ones. As well as the drink being delicious it is full of vital nutrients your body needs. Some people will use frozen fruit chunks that they have prepared earlier or add ice to the fresh fruit. To give the smoothie a much creamier tangier taste adding yoghurt is recommended. But you could experiment as well using different healthy ingredients in order to get the health benefits from them as well.

For making such drinks you need a blender or smoothie maker. It is important that you go for one which will do everything you require and is able to deal with frozen ingredients. The cheaper models may save you money but are as effective and blending ice in such machines can be very demanding on them. So it is better to go for a more expensive model. Ideally go for one that allows you to mill dry ingredients as well such as the Mill Blender by the American company L'Equip. This is a machine that not only allows you to create smoothies but allows you to grind up flax which is full of essential fatty acids and which can be added to the drink.

Many health enthusiasts demand much out of their kitchen equipment and some will spend several hundred pounds on purchasing commercial blenders like the Blendtec Total Blender. But you don't need to although you will get many years of good service out of such a model spending more than 60 on yours will be sufficient, especially if you intend to use ice in your smoothies. If you are looking for a good quality smoothie maker there are plenty of online sites such as www.ukjuicers.com who have available what you may need.

About the Author:

There are a wide variety of smoothie makers available to buy from various online shops. It is worth doing some research into what type is most suitable for you and you diet needs. You may also consider picking from the many juicers which can be a great alternative to a smoothie maker.