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Welcome to all our new subscribers, and I extend my appreciation to everyone who forwards this newsletter to friends. If you know anyone who might like it, please forward this newsletter to them or send them this link: http://www.FitnessMovtivatorNewsletter.com. One friend telling another is how we grow, and I deeply appreciate your support.

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I hope this past month you have found ways to get outside for some type of activity and exercise, so you could enjoy the fresh spring weather.

I made the mistake of pushing too much, to soon and then had to take a few days off. I urge you to exercise at your current fitness level. Otherwise, you might have little set back and have to start over again.

It is wiser to listen to your body and take it slow. It won't be long before you can add time and/or distance to your present routine.

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The Causes Of Obesity

By Jeff Foster

Far and away, the most common cause for obesity is unhealthy eating habits combined with an overall lack of any type of physical activity. If the food that you consume results in intaking more calories than you burn, you body opens up the ol' store room and puts it away as fat.

Very basic, simplified concept... but that's the bottom line.

Bad eating habits are by far the number one reason why people head down the path to obesity. With today's emphasis on time and convenience when it comes to eating and planning one's meals it is no wonder at all that obesity is propagating throughout the entire world. And that's just the diet side of the equation... throw in the fact that with all of today's other conveniences, people get less and less activity in their daily routine and you've got a world wide health issue developing.

When it comes to genetics; you can be more naturally susceptible to obesity and being overweight if it runs in the family. But having said this, it is still up to you to control your eating habits and your lifestyle in order to effectively keep obesity at bay.

As I mentioned just a bit early, personal time and convenience combined together more often than not add up to junk food. If you find that you are eating out more than you should, you should start looking at what you are about to eat. For instance, fast food and restaurant food's portioning are usually way more than your body needs... not to mention the type of food. A single burger in and of itself is a complete meal as far as your body is concerned because of the fat and calories involved. The problem is your stomach will not 'feel' full after consuming but one singe burger... so it cries out for more... regardless of the fact that your body is at it's maximum. If you want more volume... eat healthier foods to begin with.

Changing your eating habits is a much better mind set to get into than 'dieting'. The problem with the 'dieting' mentality is that most people will tend to lose a few pounds on their latest 'diet' but return to their old destructive eating habits once they get bored or constantly inconvenienced with the diet. Then to add another layer of difficulty, once you go from diet to diet restricting your body from nutrients; your body will go into a defensive mode storing everything that it possibly can and make it even more difficult for you to lose weight.

Any successful 'diet' is actually a successful 'lifestyle' change... which by the way includes exercise. Forbidding yourself from certain foods that you enjoy immensely just makes them all the more attractive to you.

So, think lifestyle and not so much diet. Work to eat healthier, and keep those 'forbidden' foods moderated and proportioned... and get some regular exercise. Not only does exercise withdraw those calories from your body's storage bank; but you'll feel better, reduce your boredom, your stress level, and those cravings.

About the Author:

For more important information on weight loss be sure to visit weight-loss-won.com where you will find product reviews and tips on weight loss, dieting, and more.

Back to Table Of Contents

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"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing—that's why we recommend it daily."

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"A man who wants something will find a way; a man who doesn’t will find an excuse."

~~Stephan Dolley, Jr.

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The Benefits Of Eating Raw Vegetables

by Gray Rollins

We’ve been told since birth to eat our vegetables and yet far too few of us actually do it. Even when we do get around to eating our vegetables it’s only after we’ve cooked out most of the natural nutrients that our body is desperately craving.

Keep in mind, as you proceed, that while all raw vegetables are incredibly beneficial, raw green vegetables actually serve as the basis of nearly all life on this planet. That may sound a bit extreme to you, but stop and consider for a moment that almost every organism on this planet survives by either eating raw green vegetables or by eating an animal that eats raw green vegetables…they really are that important.

I know, you’ve probably eaten most of your vegetables cooked since you can remember. Simply put, just because something has “always” been done a certain way doesn’t mean that it’s the best way to do it. You will get a lot more out of your vegetables if you consume them raw.

I specifically used the word “consume” because, in reality, you get the same benefits from raw green vegetable juice as you do from eating them whole and usually you get it faster. This is because raw vegetable juice takes less internal work to digest and is absorbed into the body almost instantly.

It seems that most people only know that they should eat vegetables because they remember mom telling them to; very few people seem to have a grasp on the amazing nutritional value of vegetables.

Raw vegetables are extremely rich in minerals, vitamins, trace elements, enzymes and natural sugars. All of these are things that your body needs to function properly and the raw veggies will help stabilize and normalize your natural bodily functions. They actually help pretty much ALL of your natural bodily functions operate.

You’ve probably heard about the necessity of vitamins and nutrients to your overall health your entire life, but the concept of enzymes may be new to you. Basically, the enzymes in raw vegetables help your body digest food. This is one of the reasons that green vegetables are sometimes considered “nature’s laxative,” because they get your stomach working properly.

The average American diet is actually comprised of quite a few foods that are incredibly difficult for our bodies to digest properly. When we aren’t digesting properly, the food sits in our stomach longer than it should and we miss out on any nutritional value it did possess.

Okay, so at this point, you may have started to become convinced about the necessity of vegetables…but why raw?

All of our cooking methods have been shown in scientific studies to reduce the amount of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes in vegetables. Of the cooking methods, steaming has been shown to retain the largest amount of vitamin content although it still reduces it.

Vegetables begin losing their valuable nutritional elements as soon as they are plucked, pulled or picked from the ground. For this reason, the additional loss of nutrients during cooking would be a smaller problem if we grew our own vegetables and cooked them the same day we harvested them.

However, most of us don’t live that way. The largest majority of us purchase our vegetables at the grocery store after they’ve been shipped hundreds or thousands of miles. During that time, the nutritional value has been seeping out of them.

Finally, to make matters worse, repeated studies have shown that commercially grown vegetables, right out of the ground, aren’t as rich in nutrients as they were 50 years ago. One large contributing factor to this is that farmers have found so many ways to make their crops grow faster that we aren’t receiving the full benefit of naturally mature vegetables.

It is admittedly extreme, but not that extreme, to state that any vegetable you get from the grocery store and then cook at home probably has the nutritional value of cardboard by the time it hits your stomach.

Start eating (or drinking) raw vegetables as soon as you can. Whenever possible, grow them yourself or purchase them from local farmer’s markets.

About the Author:

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Articles & Web Sites Worth a Look

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If you need more motivation and some group support, feel free to subscribe to the Exercise Your Willpower mailing list. We have a great group of people who help motivate each other. To get more information, visit our website at: http://www.exerciseyourwillpower.com

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May 2007

Volume 7, Issue 5

The Causes Of Obesity

The Benefits Of Eating Raw Vegetables

by Gray Rollins

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