In Part I in this series, we discussed the state of Medicaid and the EPSDT — the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment benefit — which covers most American children with disabilities from birth until 19 (21 in some states) years of age. Since 1989, the EPSDT has required that each state of the Union provide every child with “all medically necessary services” that were available under the Federal government’s Medicaid program, even if that state didn’t offer that service to adults. This coverage is expansive enough that it dwarfs most private insurance.

What is ‘Medically Necessary’?

One major difference is that most states adopt a definition of “medically necessary” that only includes those services that “improve or eliminate a condition,” at least for adults. But the EPSDT’s definition of includes services that “correct or ameliorate defects and physical and mental illnesses and conditions.” That might not sound like a big difference, but it’s huge.

That’s because ‘correct or ameliorate’ includes services that stabilize someone who is medically unstable (i.e. vital signs aren’t consistently within the defined safe range). So if you’re 20 years and 262 days old and your epilepsy lands you in the hospital because you severely injured yourself, the EPSDT kicks in and whatever services it takes to stabilize you are paid for. If you’re 21 years old by seven hours when you land in the hospital, that (usually quite massive) bill gets sent to your parent’s insurance, and suddenly significant co-pays and deductions apply.

Similarly, ‘correct or ameliorate’ includes services that maintain function in someone who would normally not function without a specific ongoing intervention. (Maintenance is not ‘improving or eliminating’). By far and away the most common example is ADHD medication, which is covered by the EPSDT until 21 years of age, and then, depending on your precise prescription, the cost can jump as high as $300/month with no assistance available regardless of your income level.

A State of Exposure

States have quite broad discretion when it comes to designing the benefit packages they offer adults enrolled in Medicaid. They are obligated to provide coverage for a specific list of services, including (but not limited to):

• The Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) program,

• Inpatient and Outpatient hospital care,

• Physician services,

• Health Center, Rural Health Clinic, and Nursing Home use,

• Nurse Midwife, Certified Pediatric and Family Care Nurse, and Freestanding Birth Center services,

• Lab and X-ray use, and

• Transportation services (for medical reasons only).

This means they are not obligated to provide Medicaid programs covering:

• Prescription drugs,

• Clinic services (i.e. any non-hospital medical facility),

• Therapy services, including physical, occupational, behavioral, and so on,

• Dental, vision, speech, hearing, and language services,

• Respiratory care,

• Podiatry,

• Prosthetics, and

• Private duty nursing services.

As you can see, if you’re an adult on Medicaid, you might be very well-cared-for if you live in the right state… or you may be almost completely without coverage for the services you use most, even if your state accepted the Medicaid expansion. Remember in the first post in the series, we mentioned that the majority of children using the EPSDT were using it for developmental, mental, or emotional disabilities? Notice that all of those fall under “optional” services within this rubric? We’ll talk about what this means in more detail in the next post.

No matter how much we like handicapping, the more quickly and easily we can do it, the sooner we can get to the track. Of course, we can’t just rush through it. What’s the point of doing a sloppy job at handicapping and then putting our money on bets we’re not sure of?

So, if you’re like most handicappers, you take your time and really look at each race. You want to make sure that it’s playable and look for dogs that are likely contenders. What if I told you that you’re wasting your time, looking for winners in every race?

That’s right. There are some races where – even if you find a good looking dog – you can’t be sure that it can take on the competition. Why? Well, because there are one or more dogs in that race that you can’t figure out. Here’s what you need to look for, if you want to save yourself a lot of aggravation, time and money.

When you look over the races on a program, give them a quick scan first, just to make sure that they’re worth a closer look. If you see dogs shipping in from another track, dogs with no history that you can see, dogs with a lot of schooling races and few “real” races – pass this race by.

Even if there’s a dog in that race that looks like it’s much better than all the other dogs, pass the race by. Don’t fall for a “dog that can’t lose” scenario. There’s no such thing. If you can’t tell enough about the other dogs to really handicap them, there’s no way you can really be sure that one of them won’t surprise everyone by beating the dog that looks so good.

If you go back over your programs, you’ll find that there are a lot of races that you realize you shouldn’t have played. You’ve spent a lot of money on them over the years and they’ve eaten into your profits and the time that you have to spend on handicapping.

Do yourself a favor. Find these races. See them for what they are – unplayable – and give them a miss. You’ll be glad you did, even if a few of them turn out the way you thought they would. It’s not worth winning a couple of races, when you have to blow a lot of money on other unplayable races to do it.

Not everyone is good at losing weight. Some of us often need to try harder than others. A lot of factors influence the weight loss process, including age, gender, metabolism rate, diet, and physical activity level. In this post, we have 10 essential weight loss tips that will work, as long as you follow a good diet plan and exercise regime.

1. Do not stress. That’s one of the fundamental rules for losing weight. People often believe that spending hours in the gym is enough for losing pounds, which sadly isn’t true. You have to avoid over thinking about the entire process.

2. Sleep enough. An adult person needs at least seven hours of sound sleep each day, and this doesn’t mean taking small naps. You have to sleep enough so that your body can take the toll of exercises.

3. Don’t skip your breakfast. Your breakfast should be the first and most heavy meal of the day because your metabolism rate is at its best. Make sure that you eat the right things, which can include oats, eggs, and fruits.

4. Add some nuts and seeds. Craving for smaller meals and snacks is absolutely normal, but instead of eating cookies and junk food, you can switch to nuts and needs. A spoon of flax or chia seeds is ideal for every meal too.

5. Hydration is essential. You don’t need magic weight loss drinks. Just drink enough water each day, and if possible, opt for vitamin enhanced water. Also known as alkaline water, it can help in regulating the metabolism rate.

6. Ditch sugar. If you cut down sugar intake for a month, you will see some significant changes in your body. Avoid all sorts of food that have any form of refined sugar. Fruits also have sugar and should be taken in moderation.

7. Don’t miss your carbohydrates. People often believe that carbs should be ignored completely, which isn’t the ideal thing to do. Ideally, it is best to choose some of the complex carbohydrates, which require more time for digestion. Examples include oats and brown rice.

8. Do more of strength training. If you are extremely focused on losing weight from certain parts of the body, weight training and HIIT workouts are your best choices. Cardio is important, but it shouldn’t be the prime concern all the time.

9. Opt for tea, not coffee. A cup of coffee per day won’t hurt you for sure, but it is always best to go for teas. Herbal teas, including jasmine, chamomile, green tea, are great for the body and should do wonders to keep you away from aerated drinks and sodas.

10. Focus on long-term results. Weight loss is a process, which takes time. Fad diets and exercise regimes may help in losing a few initial pounds, but the results often don’t last. You need to focus on eating right, and there is no reason to skip exercise. Try to lose weight sustainably.

Lastly, make sure that you are not losing your mind to dieting. As long as you have balanced meals, you should do fine.

None of us will be around a few hundred years from now when they finally “coin” a headline for our times. But I would bet my soaring 401K that it will involve the word “Distraction” or more formally the “Age of Distraction.” Sure, sure… we’ve all read articles about texting while driving, our increasing lack of focus, and the new “app for everything” lifestyle that we’ve mastered in our “smarter” world. But you’ve not read this: “We are losing our minds”… literally.

Our smart phones have dumbed us down so much that the “boob tube” of years gone by looks downright cerebral. We can no longer have conversations because that requires “conversing” which is something we have little time or focus to do. For all it has done right, Facebook has done one thing very wrong… it has destroyed face time and that is counterintuitive to human existence.

When was the last time you looked around a restaurant and saw people talking to each other? That once venerated ritual of the American family, “meal time” is no more. Whatever meals that the microwave has not pulverized, have been completely obliterated by live data streaming at the dinner table. Distraction… courtesy of the iPhone 6, the Samsung Galaxy, and the Sony Xperia.

In 2015, we gauge our thought-leaders by how much they can divert us. We reward our entrepreneurs by how well they interrupt us. Modern success is measured by the extent to which the human mind can be further dislocated from the heart and soul of the human condition.

New flash… Businesses no longer sell products, they push connections. But haven’t human beings been connecting for thousands of years? Ah, but not like this. We now we have instant, anonymous connections. The advent of the “app” means no more selling, pitching, schmoozing or power lunching… no more fat-chewing, chit-chatting, chinwagging, or corporate dinnering. Good right? Wrong!

The world has become one, big file stream… a giant information batch where data comes in and data goes out. We don’t care much about whether it inspires us… just about where it goes and how it gets there. You see, modern communication is far less about words, sentiment or authorship then it is about processes, frequency, and digital signatures.

Before you dismiss me as some dinosaur hell bent on resisting technological change, I am actually quite comfortable in the digital realm, but I no longer enjoy it. Marketing is no longer a skill… it is a logarithm. What was once a creative dialogue with the customer, is now a dry impasse. What was once a branding relationship, is now a nameless, faceless, arrangement of code.

The reality of modern commerce is that if you get paid every time a button is pushed, you will do everything in your power to put that button ‘front and center’ and make it as attractive as possible.

Not too long ago, I would rush to the office to brainstorm with colleagues in a wave of inspiration and ideas for new ways to move the customer. Shuffling to a lap-top to load up tags, key words, and code files doesn’t have the same appeal. It seems like entrapment. It feels like a set-up or a con. We once inspired the buyer with the promise of a brand. We now drop digital cookies like laced bread crumbs to further disrupt their already fractured minds in the hope that they will click on something in the throes of confusion. And we wonder why there is an ROI crisis in social and digital media?

This all begs the question… do great breakthroughs in technology come with great responsibility? I believe they do and while I doubt the likes of Apple, Microsoft or Facebook will acknowledge their role in our dehumanization, the research is indisputable. Neuroscience has confirmed that we are being intoxicated by a cocktail of modern contraptions that are changing our brains and threatening those very things that constitute a clear mind… a desire for certainty, significance, and intimate connections.

Perhaps this is why emotive selling narratives continue to be embraced and go “viral”… a curious term for modern popularity. They not only stand out from the technocratic crowd but go a long way to foster homosapien self-awareness. After all, marketing with stories is like walking barefoot in the grass … it feels good, natural, nostalgic and wonderfully familiar.

Want some tips for losing weight? If you're struggling to get the weight off and the frustration is getting to you, here are a few tips for losing weight which if implemented will result in some decent weight loss:

1. Chew Gum

Who would have thought that something as simple as chewing gum would work so well. Just make sure this is gum with about 5 calories a stick and only 1 or 2 grams of carbs. This will keep your mouth moving and help tide you over between meals. Chewing gum will also be a way to stop you from wanting to cheat on your diet. It serves multiple purposes so it's always good to have a pack on you at all times.

2. Keep A Food Log

If you really want to lose weight, you need to keep track of everything you eat. If you don't do this, I guarantee you will not lose any substantial amount of weight. You need to know how many calories are in the foods you're taking in each day and you need to know how much of a deficit you're in as well. The only way to know this is to measure and track everything that goes into your body.

3. Treat Yourself Once A Week

Out of all the tips for losing weight this is one of the most important believe it or not. It's critical that you feel you can still have the foods you enjoy at least once and a while. If you're on a diet, you can set aside 1 day each week to indulge in your favorite foods, just as long as you don't go overboard you'll be fine.

I would like to let you in on a little secret to my success with losing weight so quickly. First of all you need to make a decision. The decision is that you are going to do this. You are going to follow the workout plan and you are going to change the food you place into your mouth. You are going to push play on your DVD player no matter what time of the day it is and what you have left to do for the day. In order to get this burning desire you need to discover why you want to do this.

This can be different for many people. For me it was my self-esteem, my son and my job. For you it maybe that beach vacation you are taking, a wedding, training for the military or a marathon or because your health is deteriorating. Next you need to decide what your fitness goal is going to be. Are you going to lose 5 lbs., 15 lbs, or 50 lbs. or more? How many inches would you like to lose on your waist? What size do you want to fit into? How fast do you want your mile run to be?

Next, WRITE IT DOWN! Write your goals down on a piece of paper and place it next to your bed. Read it before you go to sleep and when you get up in the morning. This will remind you of your goals and it has been proven to increase motivation. Then pick your workout program based on your physical ability. Beachbody has several different workout programs to choose from. Want fun music and cardio? Try Turbofire. Want a total body transformation? Try P90X. Do you have arthritis or a bad knee? Try Power 90. Whatever the choice just remember to read the manuals and follow the nutrition plans. Also ask your coach they are very knowledgeable on a plan that will work for you.

It has also been proven that if you join a workout group for support and motivation you will be a ton more likely to finish the program and reach your goals than someone going it along. This is why challenge groups are so effective and why my team, Team Hustle, was created. It is to assist others in eating healthy and achieving their weight loss goals.

So get started with your goals tonight. Write them down and add to them as you go about your day. Just make sure they are big enough to motivate you to take action!

Building a custom home is the largest purchase most people will make in their lifetime, and choosing the best custom home builder is essential to the project’s success. The role of a custom home builder is as much to advocate for the homeowner as it is to collaborate with the design team. Since homebuilding is a process that takes several months, it’s important that you the buyer feel there is trust and clear communication on the part of the builder. If you have a location and have set your budget for the project, you are ready to shop builders; read the following tips on how to find a custom home builder without losing your mind.

Consider your resources

If you have already hired a designer, they are the best asset at your disposal for beginning your search. Your design professional likely has first hand experience working with builders and will know their construction qualities, communication styles, and business reputations. You could also check with your lender or realtor, if they are familiar with the custom home market in your locale. You can contact the National Association of Home Builders for a list of qualified local builders. Internet searches can identify builders in your area, and some sites may be equipped with ratings & feedback from prior customers. And, certainly, you could ask friends and acquaintances who have completed custom home projects for referrals.

Shop the candidates

Shopping for a well-qualified home builder is easy when you know what to look for to accommodate your project. The right builder for you will need to have the available time, an interest in your project, and experience in working with homeowners. You want a custom home builder whose primarily focused on building custom homes rather than speculative homes, so that their services are tailored to your needs. When considering builders, ask about their current projects and their track record with projects of similar scale and detail to yours. They should also be able to provide you client references. You want to get the sense that the builder you are considering has done this sort of thing before.

Work the schedule

When you talk to prospective builders, ask what kind of schedule you would be looking at for your project. Know that building a custom home usually takes a minimum of 6 months and that the schedule will be weather-dependent. Additionally, steps must be taken before the home can even be framed, such as installing the plumbing and electric up to city code. A builder promising a time frame for completion that is only a few weeks or months should be considered a red flag, no matter how tempting it may seem. In the case of custom home building, it’s better the project be completed properly then quickly.

Communication is key

Again, you need to be comfortable with how a builder communicates with you. You should not feel pressured or talked down to at any junction. You are trusting an expert to build your home, and that expert ought to be able to take the time to explain their process in layman’s terms. You should have access to the construction site. You should feel your questions are welcome, and that they being answered in a timely and respectful manner. If you get the sense that the builder is more or less communicative than you would like, take note, and consider moving on. You do not want to enter into a building contract with a builder whose communication is irksome.

Remember, you’re trying to find a collaborative building partner who will be your advocate. Take your time, be specific in what you want, and ask questions.

This can be the year you finally drop those excess pounds, achieve a strong, streamlined body, and give your health a huge boost with a commitment to sensible eating.

But in order to reach your healthy weight and keep it there, you’ll have to sidestep a lot of diet minefields. So many nutritional myths and faddish ideas are out there, you could easily wind up sabotaging your weight loss efforts and compromising your health, without even knowing it.

NEWSFLASH:

58% of consumers are actively trying to lose weight to improve either their appearance, health or both, according to the Natural Marketing Institute’s Health & Wellness Trends Database.

MYTH #1: YOU HAVE TO GO ON A DIET TO LOSE WEIGHT.

REALITY: Most diets don’t work. Instead of following the latest fashionable weight loss program, you should develop healthy, fat-burning habits and make them part of your daily life.

INSTANT ANALYSIS:

Atkins, Zone, Ornish… How do they stack up? A recent study tracked the weight loss results of obese people who followed popular diet plans for one year. In order to achieve a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI), most subjects needed to lose 41.8 lbs. At the end of 12 months, those on the Atkins low-carb plan lost 10.4 lbs; Zone moderate-carb dieters lost 3.5 lbs; and Ornish low-fat dieters lost 4.9 lbs. With all three diets, most of the participants started out as clinically obese… and ended up as clinically obese, with only a very modest weight loss to show for their year-long dieting efforts. On all three diets, the subjects experienced most of their weight loss in the first two to six months, and then began regaining most of their lost pounds.

GOOD HEALTH TIP:

It’s easy to get discouraged about dieting when you keep trying the latest trends… and failing. The best way to achieve permanent weight loss is to incorporate reasonable, nutritious, and enjoyable changes into your life that you can stick with over time.

NEWSFLASH:

Consumers employed several lifestyle changes to help manage their weight in the past year.

• Smaller portions at mealtime

• Making slight lifestyle changes

• Regular and consistent exercise

• Eating smaller more frequent meals

• Making drastic lifestyle changes

• Working with dietitian/nutritionist

MYTH #2: DIET FOODS ARE A GREAT HELP FOR LOSING WEIGHT

REALITY: Many “low-fat” foods are surprisingly high in sugar content – and calories. That’s because manufacturers often add sugar to compensate for the diminished flavor and texture that results from removing fat.

GOOD HEALTH TIP:

Secrets of Sneaky Sugar: A sugar by any other name is still sugar. Your “diet” food can contain added sugars in different guises you may not recognize. Here are some names to look for on the ingredient list: brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrates, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, lactose, maltose, malt syrup, molasses, sucrose, syrup.

So what’s a conscientious dieter to do? As always, the battle of the bulge is ultimately won in the arena of calories. Carefully check food labels for total calorie content… even when they’re branded “diet” or “low-fat.”

INSTANT ANALYSIS:

The Great Cookie Caper: Let’s compare calories of a regular chocolate chip cookie and a reduced-fat chocolate chip cookie. The regular cookie has 3 fat grams and 49 calories; the reduced-fat cookie has 2 fat grams and 45 calories. A 4-calorie difference is not going to get you into that bikini by summer!

On the other hand, some low-fat choices can significantly slash your calorie intake. Don’t want to give up cheddar cheese? One ounce of regular cheddar cheese has 6 fat grams and 114 calories; the same-sized low-fat portion has 1.2 grams of fat and an impressively reduced 49 calories!

NEWSFLASH:

When the weight loss aim is to improve their health, consumers seem to eat a more balanced diet (e.g., less sugar, fewer carbs, etc.). In the past year, consumers limited their sugar, carbohydrate, and fat intake more often than they used diet food/products to help manage their weight.

MYTH #3: YOU HAVE TO STARVE YOURSELF TO LOSE WEIGHT.

REALITY: Yes, you do have to limit your calories to shed pounds, but there’s no need to starve. You can cleverly choose foods that fill you up, not out – and keep you satisfied and stoked with energy all day long. What’s your best bet for filling foods? Fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. Most Americans get only half of the recommended daily intake of 25 to 30 grams of dietary fiber, putting them at risk for obesity and a host of serious health problems.

NEWSFLASH:

• 46% of consumers are choosing to eat fiber-rich foods as part of their weight management plan.10

• Consumers who eat fewer carbohydrates to lose weight also eat fiber-rich foods (66%) and participate in regular and consistent exercise (61%) to achieve their optimum weight.

Fiber comes in two types, each with its own starring role to play in protecting our health and promoting weight management. Soluble fibers dissolve in water, and are associated with regulating blood sugar levels and lowering cholesterol. Insoluble fibers or roughage can’t dissolve in water, but can absorb water. This causes them to swell, making them good bulking agents that improve gastrointestinal functions and speed up elimination. By eating sufficient amounts from both fiber types, you’ll enjoy their full range of health benefits. Soluble fibers: apples, citrus fruits, pears, carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, squash, legumes, lentils, barley, oats, oat bran, oatmeal. Insoluble fibers: Cabbage, beets, Brussels sprouts, turnips, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, whole wheat bread, wheat cereal, wheat bran, rye.

GOOD HEALTH TIP:

Here are a few ideas to help you incorporate more whole grains into your daily diet:

• Create a whole grain pilaf with a mixture of barley, wild rice, brown rice, broth, and spices. For a special touch, stir in toasted nuts or chopped dried fruit.

• Try rolled oats or a crushed, unsweetened whole grain cereal as breading for baked chicken, fish, veal cutlets or eggplant parmesan.

• Freeze leftover cooked brown rice, bulgur, or barley. Heat and serve it later as a quick side dish.

INSTANT ANALYSIS:

Decode the Food Label to Find Whole Grains

• Choose foods that name one of the following whole-grain ingredients first on the label’s ingredient list: brown rice, bulgur, graham flour, oatmeal, whole-grain corn, whole oats, whole rye, whole wheat, wild rice.

• Food labeled with the words “multi-grain,” “stone-ground,” “100% wheat,” “cracked wheat,” “seven-grain,” or “bran” are usually not whole-grain products.

• Color is not an indication of whole grain. Bread can be brown because of molasses or other added ingredients. Read the ingredient list to see if it is a whole grain.

MYTH #4: FAT MAKES YOU FAT

REALITY: Your body needs fat to function. Fat provides you with energy, allows you to absorb key vitamins, and helps build cell walls and membranes throughout the body. Don’t deprive yourself of health-giving, energy-producing fat.

NEWSFLASH:

41% of consumers employed a low-fat diet in the past year to manage their weight. And consumers were heavily invested in the use of reduced fat food/beverages.

The trick is to consume the right kind of fat – and in the right amounts. If you’re like most Americans, you may be getting far too much of omega-6 fatty acids… and not nearly enough of omega-3 fatty acids.

It’s easy to take in excess quantities of omega-6 fatty acids because the common vegetable oils in the American diet – such as corn, safflower and sunflowers oils – are packed with omega-6. So are meat, milk and eggs. Unfortunately, when you consume large quantities of omega-6, you not only gain weight, thanks to its high caloric content, you may also grow more susceptible to inflammation and thickening of the blood.

Omega-3 fatty acids, on the other hand, are hard to come by. The reason you’re probably not getting enough of these health-giving powerhouses is that many manufacturers remove them to keep products fresh. You can ramp up your consumption of omega-3 fatty acids by nibbling on soybeans, walnuts, flaxseed, and alfalfa, and by adding cold water fish like salmon, mackerel and sardines to your menu.

INSTANT ANALYSIS:

Here’s a handy guide for getting a healthy balance of fat in your daily diet: Keep total fat intake between 20 to 35 percent of calories, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts and vegetable oils.

GOOD HEALTH TIP:

Sip green tea, lose weight? The Chinese have long appreciated green tea for its remarkable ability to promote digestion, improve mental faculties, and regulate body temperature. Now an intriguing new study in Japan suggests that green tea may also have a helpful role to play in losing weight. Over a 12-week period, one group of men drank a bottle of tea containing 690 mg of catechins (from green tea) every day, while the other group consumed tea containing only 22 mg of catechins. The results showed that the men drinking the tea with higher catechins had lower Body Mass Index (BMI), body weight and waist circumference compared to the other group. So the next time you pour a soothing cup of green tea, consider that each sip may be helping your body break down fat, along with all its other benefits.

MYTH #5: SKIP BREAKFAST TO SLASH YOUR DAILY CALORIE INTAKE.

REALITY: While you may be tempted to miss your morning meal to save on calories, studies show that skipping breakfast can sabotage your diet efforts. A recent study examined the role that breakfast intake plays on body mass index and studied the effect of different types of breakfasts. After adjustments for sex, age and race, the results showed that people who ate different types of cereal had a lower body mass index than those who ate meat and eggs or those who skipped breakfast.

And, for girls, here’s a fascinating look at the strong link between a healthy weight and breakfast: a recent analysis of government data on breakfast eating in teenagers (ages 12 to 16) showed that the thinnest girls are the most likely to eat breakfast. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the most overweight girls are the most likely to skip breakfast.

Of course, not all cereals are created equal. You won’t lose weight by heaping your bowl with sugary cereal, then drowning it in whole milk. Choose a low-calorie, high fiber cereal and limit your portion size to about 150 calories. Oatmeal is an excellent option for a satisfying, high-fiber jumpstart to your day. And try skipping the fruit juice, and eating the fruit instead.

By eating a healthy, filling breakfast, you’ll stay more in control of your appetite and be less prone to overeating later in the day.

GOOD HEALTH TIP:

Breakfast bonus: Eating small meals more frequently may help lower your cholesterol. British researchers recently found that people who ate more than six times a day had lower cholesterol (by about 5%) than those who ate once or twice daily. The key is to eat small, healthy meals every three or four hours.

Who Skips Breakfast? People who are losing weight to improve their appearance tend to skip meals more than those who are losing weight to improve their health.

NEWSFLASH:

Frequent Weight Loss May Affect Immune Function

You already know that going on fad diets can be frustrating, unhealthy and ineffective, because the weight you lose comes right back on, every time. Now there’s another reason to end the “yo-yo diet” syndrome – it may compromise your immune system. Investigators studied a group of healthy, overweight, post-menopausal women and discovered that the more often the women had lost 10 pounds or more, the greater the suppression of their immune systems.

TO SUM IT UP: 5 DIET MYTHS EXPOSED

1. Avoid fad diets and concentrate on making healthy lifestyle changes.

2. Check the labels of low-fat “diet” foods for sneakily added sugars and high-calorie content.

3. Stave off diet-destroying hunger pangs with filling high-fiber foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.

4. Add salmon, mackerel, sardines, and other cold water fish to your menu to

increase your intake of health-giving omega-3 fatty acids.

5. Every morning, eat a delicious, low-calorie, high-fiber breakfast such as

oatmeal with fresh fruit

Someone broke your heart and you are suffering now. Your life seems unfulfilled and hopeless. You may be stuck in inertia and you are waiting for him to come back to say sorry and take your pain away.

You feel so small and so shattered now and you are waiting for him and other people to come and to look after you.

Hey! Wake up! I have bad news for you!

You are living now in a hypnotic dream state. You are waiting for “someone” who will fix your problems. Unfortunately, this “magical person” will never come.

Why am I so unlucky you may ask?

Well, you are struggling with a fear. This is a fear to take a full and total responsibility for your life. It makes you feel hopeless, empty, stressed out. Your life is pointless and frustrating. Those feelings encourage you to give up on your life and end it up. It is killing you!

What motivates you to hold this fear within yourself? Why do you have it?

If you are honest with yourself, you will answer that is not beneficial at all.

This belief seduced you to believe that it is an advantage to hold it and to believe it.

So, let me explain to you something more…

A fear of taking full and total responsibility for your life motivates you not to be accountable when something goes wrong. So that, you avoid negative feelings such as unworthiness, stupidity and low self- esteem. So that, you keep feeling good about yourself.

Let’s do a summary statement:

A fear of taking full and total responsibility for your life makes you feel good about yourself.

Does this statement resonate with you? Take a moment and think how you feel inside when you have this issue within yourself.

I am sure you feel hopeless and stuck to your life. You wait for your ex-partner and other people to fix your life problems and save you. That makes you feel inadequate, incompetent and dependent on others. You feel vulnerable, sad and depressed. What is more, you can’t cope with fearful feelings! That is diminishing your worth as a person. You feel less than a human being.

Does this statement feel true or false for you?

When this resonates with you as a false statement it means your authentic self is speaking the truth. This is a first step of getting out of this paralyzing state of being.

Then, you can disconnect from traumatic past. You will stop waiting for a magical prince to save you. It will be easy for you to take full and total responsibility for your life as an independent, mature adult.

Struggling to see those pounds come off? Don’t feel too bad. Many people go on a diet and fail to see the scale move, but this does not always mean they are not getting results. In some cases, you could very well be seeing progress, and it is just the scale is not quite indicating it.

What does this mean? Learn why you may not be getting the weight loss results you want and what you can do about it…

1. Measuring Inaccuracies. The first reason you may not be seeing the weight loss success you thought is you do not weigh yourself correctly.

First, note there can be significant bodyweight fluctuations for reasons other than actual fat loss or gain. If you are retaining extra water, for instance, that can cause the scale to move. If you had a substantial meal the night before, that food weight could also come into play.

If your workout was the hardest you have ever done, you might be inflamed, and this could mean your scale weight appears higher. There are so many reasons why you may notice the scale fluctuations beyond fat loss, so it is not always the best judge.

2. You Could Be In A Temporarily Slow Phase. One thing you must know about weight loss is it is never linear. While it would be great if every week, like clockwork, you lost one pound, that is not how the story goes.

Some weeks you may lose two and others none. It is all part of the weight loss game. So if you have gone a week or even two without losing weight, keep at it, next week you may be in for a pleasant surprise.

If you go more than four weeks without seeing any weight loss whatsoever, however, then it may be time to look at your program as perhaps this is an indication something is not working quite as well as it should.

3. You Are Gaining Muscle And Losing Fat. Most people do not possess the capability to gain muscle and burn fat at the same time as they are different processes. If you are someone who is just starting out though, you could classify yourself as a beginner, and then it is possible to achieve this.

If you gain muscle but burn fat, it is very likely your weight will stay the same. Therefore, you will not see any difference in the scale. But, if you look better than you looked before, that is all you need to concern yourself with. If this is the case, you are moving in the right direction.

Keep these tips in mind and then consider if you need assistance in the fat loss department or if you need to keep on plugging away, waiting for the results to show.