When we’re looking for a jolt to get us going in the morning, many of us grab a soda. All that sugar and caffeine gives us just the energy boost we need to get through the day, right? Well if you want to feel more energetic through your whole day, you’ll probably see a bigger difference if you give up the soda.

Most sodas are chocked full of sugar and caffeine. While they give you a boost when you first drink them, you also trigger your body’s insulin response, which counteracts all that sugar that’s entering your body. This counteracts the effects of the sugar and usually leaves you feeling even more tired than you started. The only way to get yourself going again is to drink more soda, which continues in a vicious cycle.

When you eat sugar with other foods, there are other materials that help to slow the absorption of the sugar. This decreases the insulin response and leaves you less tired after a meal than if you just had the sugar alone. When you drink soda, there is just sugar and nothing else to slow the absorption. If you drink soda with your meal it can help counteract this response, but it will still happen somewhat.  Read more...

Do you have trouble mustering up the energy to get out of bed in the morning?  Or do you function normally until after lunch, then come crashing to a near-halt?  Lots of us suffer from low energy at one time or another, and for some it’s an everyday occurrence.

All too often, when we need enough energy to get us through the day, we reach for a cup of coffee or some other caffeinated drink.  This does provide a quick boost, but it’s not really the best thing for our bodies.  While an occasional dose of caffeine is no problem, it can easily become a habit.  And that can end up sapping our energy even further in the long run.

There are other ways to get an energy boost.  Most do not provide the quick and dramatic short-term fix that caffeine does, but they do increase our alertness and stamina.  Here are some of the best energy boosters:  Read more...

How many times have you tried to diet and managed successfully for a few days or even weeks – and then found that your eating has spun out of control and you have piled all the weight on again? Does your weight fluctuate like a yo-yo? Have you tried every diet in the book and spent a fortune, only to find yourself back at square one (or worse) every time?

This is a problem shared by many people. Society tells us that we are not attractive or lovable unless our bodies are ‘perfect’. Poor self-esteem causes us to desperately struggle to achieve that ‘model figure’.

The major ingredient missing from most diets is an understanding of how our bodies ‘think’ and the role that food and eating (or overeating!) play in our emotional functioning. Without this knowledge, you can diet, starve, fast, exercise all you like – and even lose weight drastically, but you will be almost guaranteed to put it all on again – and then some!  Read more...