There's a wonderful holiday coming up on April 12. It's D.E.A.R.--Drop Everything And Read--Day. What a great concept and holiday! Please join me in celebrating it. If you and your family are not already in the habit of reading regularly, here are a few reasons that might convince you all to D.E.A.R.
READING PROVIDES A WELCOME ESCAPE
Reading, especially reading fiction, is a fabulous stress reliever because it plucks you out of your immediate circumstances, transporting you into another time, place, and situation. I notice that reading helps me wind down more easily in the evenings. Great fiction contributes to my feeling completely refreshed and recharged after weekends or vacations. Recommendation: The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffennegger, or The Earthsea Cycle, by Ursula LeGuin.
READING EXPANDS YOUR MIND
Books allow you to explore the world and learn about a multitude of topics without ever leaving home. Especially if you are a visual learner, reading is a wonderful way to absorb information. If you are an auditory learner or struggle with reading, audio books may work well for you. Recommendation: Ken Wilbur's Kosmic Consciousness audio program.
READING SETS A GOOD EXAMPLE
Children mimic adult role models. If your children frequently see you read, whether its books, magazines, or newspapers, they are more apt to become avid readers. This has been certainly the case with our family. When my younger son was a fifth-grader, he read two or three books a week and set an ambitious goal to read a hundred books in a year. If your children are young, reading aloud to them is a wonderful way to instill a love of reading. For preschoolers I'd recommend any of the many picture books from Leo Leoni or Eric Carle. The Harry Potter series, by J. K. Rowling, is a hit with school-age children.
READING EXPANDS YOUR CAPACITY FOR COMPASSION
Books provide an opportunity to briefly view life through the eyes of a person of another sex, ethnicity, nationality, culture, or era. Your trials and tribulations may pale in comparison to the challenges faced by the characters in the book. This can help you become more empathetic towards others and more grateful for your own life. Recommendations: Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon.
Some of my favorite fiction writers include: Gail Tsukiyama, Jodi Picoult, Barbara Kingsolver, Amy Tan, Sue Monk Kidd, Kaye Gibbons, Margaret Atwood, Penelope Lively, Khaled Hosseini, Tracy Chevalier, Maeve Binchy, Dan Brown, and P.D. James. Other all-time favorite books of mine are Anita Diament's The Red Tent, and Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone.
When you do decide to D.E.A.R., may your book selection delight you and quickly works its magic. Happy reading!
A body cleansing program can help with fat loss. When done right, a body cleansing program will help you flush fat, balance your hormones, curb food cravings and give you more energy. You can get healthier while shedding weight at the same time.
Start by eating foods that will help flush fat. Include fresh fruits that are considered Low Energy Density. These types of fruits have more enzymes, fiber and higher water content to help shed excess fat while speeding your metabolism.
The best fruits to eat for this effect are apples, oranges, peaches, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, grapefruit, watermelon, papayas, honeydew melon and cantaloupes.
Next, be sure to include lots of fresh, green salads. Top with other finely cut veggies to help your body stimulate digestive enzymes and rev your metabolism. Use a variety of greens for your salad including Romaine lettuce, baby greens and spinach. Top with other chopped veggies such as red, yellow and green peppers, cauliflower, broccoli and shredded carrots for a variety of color, flavor and nutrients.
Add excitement to your salad by making a dressing with flax seed oil and fat burning apple cider vinegar. This combination helps kill bacteria, dissolve accumulated fat and remove waste. And it tastes good. For more fat flushing effect and flavor, add a squeeze of citrus juice from limes, lemons or oranges.
Include small portions of lean protein throughout your day. The right proteins will help your liver burn fat, feed your muscles and keep your metabolism raised. The best proteins to use are lean chicken, lean turkey, lean organic beef, organic eggs, sprouts, garbanzo beans and fish such as halibut, tuna and cod.
Keep the portions small, about four to six ounces. Determine how much protein is good for you by keeping portions to the size of your palm.
Yogurt fits in the category of protein, yet deserves its own section since it is a staple for a good fat loss program. Research consistently shows that those who consume yogurt lose belly fat at a higher rate. Read the labels and eat only yogurt that has live bacteria such as acidophilus, lactobacillus and bifidus. Also, avoid white sugar, artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup as these can all sabotage your efforts.
A good body cleansing program for fat loss should include whole food supplements that add nutrition and help your organs work to stay on top of the fat burning process. Adding nutrition from the right sources also help keep your energy up, keep your mood elevated and keep your metabolism revved.
Food supplements from whole food sources include the Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's) to satiate appetite and supply vital nutrients for your brain, skin and hair. Use green tea to help shed belly fat and ward off carcinogens (cancer causing agents). Vitamins C and B6 and the mineral chromium help your body produce Growth Hormone, an important hormone that helps your body burn calories, keeps your immune system strong and muscles full.
Include a fiber supplement in your body cleansing program, such as psyllium. Fiber helps to sweep built up waste from the digestive tract. Eliminating excess build up can help your body more efficiently absorb nutrients from the foods and supplement you consume, which can help lessen food cravings and ensures you have the energy you need.
Excess waste build up can also add up to more pounds, so getting rid of it is an important step in any body cleansing program. If you feel you need more help to cleanse, try a fiber with cleansing herbs added to it. These herbs can help metabolism go from sluggish to efficient. They also can help your body heal itself of digestive issues among other things.
Don't forget to exercise! Mild, daily exercise such as walking helps stimulate your body to keep waste, including unwanted fat, moving out. And a mild walk with short periods of brisk walking are better at fat burning than a strenuous workout, since it doesn't cause your body to produce stress hormones that can actually cause you to store fat. Walking also helps pump your calf muscles, which help your circulatory system to remove waste.
And don't forget the one big don't - don't eat junk and processed foods. These have the opposite effect of a body cleanse. They add waste build up, cause your body to store fat, and make you too sluggish to stay motivated. So opt to replace these foods with healthier foods from the above list.
Use all of these tips to help you create your body cleanse for fat loss. You can shed up to 15 pounds before your next holiday party if you plan right and start now. Have a healthier and happier winter.
Both Grace Durfee & Cindy Papp are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Grace Durfee has sinced written about articles on various topics from Health, Family and Family. Grace Durfee is a Professional Certified Coach, trainer, and speaker who works with busy professionals, small business owners and career changers who want to achieve professional success while enjoying more balanced lives. She is the author of Balance wi. Grace Durfee's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.
Cindy Papp has sinced written about articles on various topics from Lose Weight, Fitness and Metabolism. Cindy is a qualifited and certifited Nutritional Counselor. Learn more about permanent and how a. Cindy Papp's top article generates over 6120000 views. to your Favourites.