The fact that there are so many different approaches to weight loss is proof that there is no single, magic solution that suits everyone.

Some people do achieve weight loss through dieting, but many put the weight straight back on again if they ease up on the diet. And that’s just bound to discourage them and undermine their confidence about whether they will ever successfully lose weight.

It’s surprising that many people still don’t take the mind-body connection seriously when they decide they want to lose weight. Diets and exercise focus on just your physical body, and they’ll only really be effective in the long term if your mind is fully supporting your efforts.

If you don’t believe you can lose weight, for example, you’re unlikely to – how often have you succeeded in doing something that you didn’t believe you could do?

And sometimes people make it even worse without realizing it, and actually sabotage their own weight loss efforts by the way they are thinking. This article Using Your Mind For Weight Loss shows you how to get your mind in your weight loss corner. And this one explains how to use positive affirmations to help your mind believe in your success.

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Try This Cure for Insomnia

It’s 3 am; you’ve been in bed several hours but sleep just won’t come. Whenever you’re just about to drop off something pops into your mind and brings you wide awake again. Or maybe you’re going over something that happened at work today, or planning what you need to do tomorrow…

Need a Cure for Insomnia?

That’s how I used to be: lying there night after night waiting for sleep, wondering why no-one seemed able to come up with a foolproof cure for insomnia. And it was worse if I was stressed, or worried about something that had happened, or might happen.

Then a few years’ ago I learned a simple technique that works for me every time. It’s nothing to do with eating or drinking certain foods, listening to music or any other ritual. In fact it’s just about as simple as it can be…

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Do You Need a Stress-Buster?

Picture the scene: it’s not been a good day; your plans just didn’t work out and you’re further behind now than when you started. You’ve had a run-in with your boss, a wasted journey across town to pick up dry cleaning that wasn’t ready, the traffic is awful and at this rate you’ll be choosing between skipping dinner and being late for the theater.

But wait, the traffic’s easing up a little; you can actually see the bumper of the car in front now; you take a deep breath and start to relax a little…and then someone cuts right in front of you and fills up that space again. What will you do now?

Are you better at handling that final irritation than these celebrities…

Some are lost without a prop:

Supermodel Naomi Campbell, rapper Foxy Brown and actor Russell Crowe have all reached for the nearest telephone when they felt the urge to throw something at someone

Actor Jack Nicholson just happened to have a golf club handy to demolish the windscreen of a motorist who cut him up

and Heather Mills emptied a jug of water over estranged husband Sir Paul McCartney’s solicitor

Read the remainder of What's Your Stress-Buster?

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There I was in the supermarket toilets when someone in the next cubicle started talking to me – or so I thought.

A few seconds later I realized it was someone who was so attached to her cell phone that she couldn’t wait (if you see what I mean). Listening to her conversation wasn’t quite what I’d had in mind.

But I wasn’t aware that cell phones and toilets were such a hazardous combination. According to a survey conducted by mobile phone operator SimplySwitch.com2, a staggering 885,000 Britons flushed their cell phone down the toilet in 2007, not having noticed it had fallen out of their pocket or been knocked off the cistern.

That might be embarrassing enough, but spare a thought for the 26 year old French TGV train passenger who dropped his phone in the toilet recently. He was trying to rescue it when the suction controlled flush system activated and his arm got stuck. Bad enough, but firefighters had to cut the toilet away from the train and he had the dubious pleasure of going to hospital still wearing it on his arm!

Other mishaps cited in the survey, as reported by The Daily Telegraph, included 116,000 people who put their cell phone through a wash cycle, and over 50,000 whose pet thought their phone was an edible treat.

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Follow everything you read or hear and you’d never eat or drink anything. You definitely wouldn’t risk getting up in the morning, using any form of transport or exposing yourself to the germs lurking in any working or public place – but staying in bed could be just as bad for you.

That’s how it seems with caffeine at the moment, based on things I’ve read recently. Here, briefly, are some of the arguments:

Caffeine is Good for You Because:

Caffeine improves mental focus, sharpens sensory perception and improves reaction times. Coffee has long been favored by students working towards deadlines and anyone needing to stay awake

It is an ingredient found in some anti-cellulite products as an aid to smoother skin

Caffeine is a stimulant which increases the body’s metabolic rate. As such it has been cited as contributing to weight loss and is a key ingredient of carbonated drinks that are promoted for their energy boosting qualities

It can suppress the appetite, another reason it is used in weight loss products

It prevents lapses of concentration and reduces irritability

As it doesn’t accumulate in the body, the negative effects of caffeine are not long lasting

Coffee is a good source of age-defying anti-oxidants that can help prevent Parkinson’s and prevent diabetes

Recent research on rats has demonstrated that just the aroma of coffee can have a ‘pick me up’ effect. It’s not yet clear whether this would be the same in humans

Caffeine is Bad for You Because:

Caffeine is a stimulant which increases the production of stress hormones. Over the long term regular increases in stress hormones can lead to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke

It causes blood vessels to constrict thus raising your blood pressure (although this can depend on how much you drink and from what source with, interestingly, heavier coffee drinkers showing less evidence of constricted blood vessels than occasional coffee drinkers – complicated or what?)

As a stimulant it affects your ability to sleep soundly

Caffeine increases the production of stomach acid and can lead to gastric reflux

It can be addictive, with you needing more and more ‘fixes’ to get your high, and the withdrawal symptoms are unpleasant

It’s been associated with fybrocystic breast disease

In soft drinks caffeine is combined with other chemical substances which together can increase your risk of diabetes and osteoporosis

So which is it – is Caffeine Good or Bad for You?

If your focus is weight loss, or boosting energy and alertness you might reach for those caffeinated drinks – remember tea also contains caffeine. But to have any real impact on weight loss it’s likely you would need to consume large quantities of caffeine, which then brings the long term health effects into the equation.

As in all things, moderation is the best path: whether coffee, tea or a carbonated drink is your preference for your caffeine fix, don’t make caffeine based drinks the only things you drink.

Maggi (and Ken) – Personal Development Resources at www.facedestiny.com

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What do these have in common?:

• Coughing
• Driving in a seat that hasn’t been properly adjusted
• Fastening a child into a car seat
• Wearing high heels
• Slouching in your chair
• Sneezing
• Having one leg slightly longer than the other
• Ironing

Don't strain your back

They’re all potential causes of back pain

In fact it’s not unknown for someone’s back pain to begin after they’ve lifted shopping bags from the boot of the car, done the vacuuming, or been pushing a child on a swing.

There’s nothing you can do to stop yourself coughing or sneezing, but most of the other activities on the list are things you can do something about, and a little action now could help you to avoid back pain in the future. Read more about avoiding back pain

Maggi (and Ken) – Personal Development Resources at www.facedestiny.com

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