8 Scents That May Help You Lose Weight.

When you’re trying to shed a few pounds, your nose is your ally. Research shows that certain smells — whether from scented candles, essential oils, or the real deal — may curb your appetite, boost your energy, and improve your mindset. And while you still have to do your part with healthy eating and regular exercise (there’s no fragrance that’ll make the pounds magically melt off), these scents could help you hit your weight-loss goals.

Green Apples or Bananas
You’d think these sweet smells would kick your sugary cravings into overdrive, but the opposite may actually be true. Alan R. Hirsch, MD, the neurological director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, found that people who sniffed the aroma of green apples or bananas when they were hungry ended up eating less and losing weight. “The hypothesis we came up with is a phenomenon called Sensory Specific Satiety,” Dr. Hirsch. He explains that since the olfactory bulb in the brain is connected to the satiety center, simply smelling these fruits could fool your brain into thinking you’ve eaten them.

Lemon
An Ohio State University study found that the smell of lemon oil significantly improved the mindset of participants. So if you find yourself in a workout funk, a whiff of lemon could give you the mood boost needed to get back on track. Aromatherapy experts also believe the scent can improve digestion, which may help to prevent mindless munching. “Often, when we’re dealing with appetite, it has a lot to do with stress and emotional eating,” says Amy Galper, the Executive Director and founder of the New York Institute of Aromatherapy. “Lemon oil will stimulate the digestive system in a way that’s positive.”

Cucumber
Stress can hinder your weight-loss efforts in several ways, from throwing off your schedule to ramping up your cortisol production. But cucumber may work wonders in calming you down. “The smell of cucumber reduces the degree of anxiety,” Dr. Hirsch explains. “By reducing anxiety, it potentially could help reduce the desire to eat as a stress reliever.”

Peppermint
Really, what can’t peppermint do? The herb is found in everything from toothpaste to tea, and studies have shown it can soothe an upset stomach, increase alertness, and improve athletic performance. So it’s no surprise that it helps with weight loss, too. Research has shown the scent is a natural appetite suppressant, and it may even make your workout more effective — a study in Iran found that participants who inhaled the minty scent before exercising had better respiratory function, lower blood pressure, and more endurance than those who didn’t.

Cypress Oil
Cypress trees have a few potential benefits — Hinoki cypress leaf oil has been shown to improve relaxation, and Kashmir cypress was found to have antioxidant properties. And while your mileage may vary, aromatherapists believe cypress oil could also help you get your head in the game before trying a new skill or tackling a daunting challenge: “It’s very clearing for the mind, so it keeps us sharp and focused and attentive,” Galper says.

Lavender
There’s a reason this is the go-to scent for sleep masks — the gentle, floral aroma is a proven stress reliever that can soothe your body and mind. “When our bodies are feeling really tense due to emotional stress, lavender is great for soothing it,” Galper says. The scent also combats anxiety, which is helpful if you’re trying to psych yourself up to try that Tabata class.

Black Spruce
Aromatherapy experts believe this scent helps you breathe deeper, which has several benefits — not only can it relieve stress and speed up metabolism, but according to a study at the University of New South Wales, when fat is broken down during exercise, most of it leaves your body through your lungs. Of course, you can’t shed fat without diet and exercise — but, like stretching or meditating, deep breathing is a healthy habit to get into. “When we can breathe easier, our minds are calmer,” Galper says. “We’re able to make more of that mind-body connection.”

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What To Do After A Binge To Get You Back On Track. Part 2 of 2

Step 3: Resume Exercise

Obviously, don’t hit the pavement running moments after you lay down your post-binge fork. Intense exercise on a full stomach is barf-worthy, so give yourself time to digest. Feeling antsy? Do a brisk walk with your dog or walking up and down the stairs several times. When you’re fully digested (think: the next day), you can sweat through a killer workout. The excess glycogen stored from your binge can deliver a burst of energy to fuel your next jog,  workout, or HIIT session. The key here is that you’re exercising to be a healthier, fitter you, not to earn extra calories for food.

Note: If you try a cleanse, you may want to go easy when it comes to exercise intensity, as the cleanse will tax your body (and energy reserves) enough on its own.

Step 4: Think Binge Prevention

Be comfortable with the fact that you may binge again. Then, work on ways you can safeguard yourself from the next binge:

·         Notice the warning signs. Instead of reaching for a tray of Oreos, reach deep down inside and figure out why you desire a binge. Oftentimes, binging is a coping mechanism for tension or other taxing emotions. If this is the case, brainstorm some non-food ways to deal with your emotions. Also, don’t be afraid to get help. A health professional can help you figure out your binge triggers and find better ways to cope.

·         Don’t keep binge foods in the house. If you know certain foods can trigger a binge, by all means remove them from your home. You may not have established an appropriate relationship with those foods yet. Once you do so, they can be reintroduced into your home. Again, a health professional can help you figure this step out.

·         Don’t binge on autopilot. Next time you’re mid-binge, take mores pauses to assess the situation. Understand that at any point in your binge you can stop. Just because you’re satisfying an urge to binge doesn’t mean you need to let it play all the way through. Pace yourself and try to enjoy the food.

·         Loosen up your diet. For some, eating a restrictive diet (think: calorie-pinching to the point where you’re constantly under-eating) for a long period of time can lead to a binge. If this is you, liberalize your diet and allow some of the foods you love back in modest amount. A healthful diet should allow you to enjoy them without guilt.

·         Practice mindful eating. Mindful eating helps you learn the difference between physical hunger and emotional arousal, so you can consciously make the right call to eat. Research shows strong evidence that mindfulness can reduce the frequency and severity of binges.

Related: 3 Ways Mindful Eating Can Help You Stay Slim

The Final Phase of a Post-Eating Binge: Be Kind to Yourself

Losing weight and getting to a healthier you is a journey, so you need to be patient and kind to yourself. Healthy eating for life is more about moderation, balance, and quality, and this is just one binge. With time, you will progress and learn more about what will and won’t work for your body. Until then, don’t beat yourself up!

Related: What To Do After A Binge To get Back On Track: Part 1

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What To Do After A Binge To Get You Back On Track. Part 1 of 2

Here’s the not-so-dirty secret: Everybody binges… at some point. Think about the last time you declared, “Just one chip,” but finished with an upended bag of salty crumbs on your lips. What about that holiday feast turned food coma? The fact of the matter is it happened, and there’s no use pretending it didn’t.

What Is a Binge?

A binge is overeating in a short period of time. You go past satisfying hunger, despite feeling stuffed with food — and oftentimes regret. A binge happens unintentionally, unlike a “cheat meal,” which you can plan into a healthy eating regimen. Binges can occur periodically, as in Thanksgiving dinner, or over a stretch of time like a weeklong cruise to Cancun featuring all-you-can-eat crab legs.

Keep in mind that we’re talking about a binge, where you overindulge, and not a consistent pattern of binging that may be a sign of a more serious eating issue. To read more information about eating disorders, visit the National Eating Disorder Association.

Your 5-Step Guide to Beat the Binge (and the Bulge)

Just because we all binge at some point doesn’t mean we can’t beat the bulge. A binge can be discouraging, especially if you’ve just started to see progress on the scale. Follow these five steps, so you can get back on track after a binge:

Step 1: Do Emotional Damage Control

Unless you’re a special kind of saint, binging will make you feel lousy. Guilt, shame, worthlessness, and disgust can be knee-jerk reactions post-binge. Catch yourself immediately! You can’t change the past or let this binge define you. Here are a few tips to reign in your gloomy thoughts:

·         Reframe the situation. This binge session is not going to tank your progress. Your weight is affected by how much you eat averaged over a long period of time. Think of this binge as a learning opportunity, and use it to course correct for the future. It may be helpful to jot down your thoughts in a journal for when you can look back on this moment with a clearer mind, and glean insights from it.

·         Get your mind off your mood. Feeling blue? Call up a close friend and plan something fun that doesn’t involve food. Now is the time to distract yourself with a hobby you love (yoga, anyone?). Bonus points if it involves light exercise.

·         Don’t weigh yourself. Binging is a hard blow, especially if your self-esteem is tied up in your shape and weight. It’s tempting to weigh that food baby, but do yourself a favor and stay off the scale for now.

Step 2: Pick a Fallback Nutrition Plan

So, you inhaled a large pepperoni pizza, now what? All that excess calories, fat, refined carbs, and salt can make you feel bloated and tired. After dealing with the emotional hurdles of a binge, refocus your effort to get back on the healthy-eating horse. There’s no one answer to how to do this, but here are a few options you can try:

·         Get back on the healthy habits horse as soon as possible. Resume an appropriately portioned, balanced diet. Word of caution: Despite tons of calories post pig-out, you may feel hungrier than normal the next morning. This is likely due to the sugary, high-glycemic index nature of most binge foods, which can spike blood sugar and stimulate hunger.

·         Focus on fluid and fiber. If you’re like me, you’ll get a bit queasy thinking about your binge foods. On the flipside, a fresh salad or tangy fruit-and-veggie smoothie sounds like pure bliss. If this is you, kick off your post-binge meal with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and water. The combination of fluid and fiber makes digestion more efficient, which helps move your binge food right on through your system. Avoid loading up on calorie-dense, high-fat foods at this point, as these will slow down digestion.

·         Try out a non-gimmicky reset. Depending on the bigness of your binge, you may want to slate about two to three days to recuperate. You can get back on track while eating nutritious fruits, veggies, and good-for-you fats.

Related: What To Do After A Binge To Get You Back On Track: Part 2

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Dr. Oz: 5 Ingredients You Should Stop Eating Right Now | The Oprah Winfr...

Interesting and informative video. What do you think?

Booze! - How Small Changes Help You Stick To Your Weight Loss Plan

No matter how tropical your mixed drink or how light your beer, your choice of happy-hour hooch may not be as healthy as you think it is. Alcohol is still filled with empty carbs and calories that add up if you're watching your weight. 

Yes, what you've read about some health benefits to booze is true. Beer and wine may help ward off coronary artery disease, hypertension, and even dementia. All of these benefits go bust, however, if you don't practice moderation, generally accepted as no more than one beverage a day for women or two for men.

Learn your limit, switch to a better bar order, and raise your glass to better health.

Liquor

In small amounts, ethanol, the pure form of alcohol, may raise good HDL cholesterol and encourage better blood flow. go overboard regularly and the effects reverse, increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease. The first law of liquor: go easy. The second: ditch drinks with inflated calories and loaded with sugary stuff.

Schnapps

This candy-like liquor is relatively low in calories, but it's usually no more than a mixture of alcohol and artificial sweeteners.

Try instead: Rum
Distilled from either molasses or cane sugar, this full-bodied liquor pops up most often in daiquiris and piña coladas, which, coincidentally, are some of the biggest calorie bombs at the bar. Try a Dark and Stormy instead: Mix 1 part dark rum with 2 parts ginger beer, plus a squeeze of lime. Refreshing.

Herb and spice liqueurs

Don't let the herbs of a Jägermeister or a Goldschläger fool you—these tipples usually contain more than 100 calories and 11 grams of carbohydrates per ounce.

Try instead: Gin
This liqueur packs an herbal wallop from the juniper berries that are added to the alcohol during distillation. You probably know it as a central ingredient in martinis, but it also tastes great mixed with club soda and a lime wedge. The less you do to a good gin, the better.

Coffee liqueur

Do you know why Kahlúa tastes so good? Yep, it's packed with sugar. That's also why it contains 91 calories per ounce. Combine it with Baileys and chocolate syrup in a Mudslide, and it's like drinking an alcoholic dessert.

Try instead: Brandy
Brandy is full flavored on its own, so there's no need to add mixers (and extra calories). At 70 calories per ounce, a good bottle is worth the extra dough.

Beer

Resist the urge to chug: Limit your quaffing to two bottles (one for women), and you'll reap the health rewards of beer while preventing yourself from carrying around a keg of your own.

Domestic beer

Just because American beers tend to be brewed up on the lighter side doesn't mean they always go easy on the calories. Aim for a beer with fewer than 140 calories. Budweiser, Pabst, and Samuel Adams Boston Lager don't make the cut. 

Try instead: Yuengling Lager (135), Busch (133), or Rolling Rock Extra Pale (120)

Light beer

Caution: The light beer you're drinking may have more calories and less flavor than some of its nonlight competitors. Bud Light has about as many calories as regular Keystone Premium.

Try instead: Miller Lite (96 calories), Michelob Ultra (95 calories), MGD 64 (64 calories)

Imported beer

Bass, Heineken, and Pilsener Urquell all contain 150 calories or more per bottle. With plenty of other imports on the market, look elsewhere.

Try instead: Amstel Light (99 calories), Beck's Premier Light (64 calories)

Wine

Wine can help you live a longer life, according to researchers. Resveratrol, a substance found in grapes, has been shown to protect the lining of arteries. Some wines have more benefits than others, but whatever bottle you choose, don't feel the need to finish it. A glass a day is all you need to do you wonders.

The wines to choose

Pinot Noir: This wine contains the highest levels of resveratrol. One study found that pinot noir had more than five times the amount found in other wines.

Sparkling Wine: Brut Natural, Brut Sauvage, and Ultra Brut have less than 3 grams of sugar per liter. Sec varieties can contain 17 to 35 grams of sugar. Doux wines contain more than 50 grams.

Cabernet Sauvignon: Moderate consumption of 1 glass of this red wine per day may help reduce your risk of Alzheimer's disease. Talk about having wine on the brain!

Chardonnay: Buy the cheap stuff. Research has found that amines, typically found in top-shelf barrel-aged wine, are the most common culprit in wine headaches. California and French whites tend to have the highest levels of amines.

A note on mixers

Adding the wrong mixers to your drink can inflate calories and fill your glass with unwanted artificial ingredients. As a general rule, stay away from sodas and energy drinks, which contain crazy amounts of calories, and go for no-calorie club soda instead. Avoid bottled mixers, too—they're often little more than sugary corn syrup and food coloring. Use real, 100 percent fruit juice as a swap.

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Train Your Tastebuds To Help With Your Weight Loss

It's the age-old saying: Your eyes are bigger than your stomach, and when it comes to dieting, it's one risky truth. While you may actually be physically full, your brain has not yet registered the feeling and your eyes will just keep searching for more. But you can finally kick that habit, once and for all, by utilizing and training your taste buds.

"Having a clean mouth reduces the desire to eat because most people don't want to mask that just-brushed freshness feeling," says Lydia Maree, dental hygienist and Tighten Your Tummy assistant fitness coach. 

So the next time you feel a craving or think you're still hungry and may overeat, try one or two of these proven strategies to dull the urge to continue munching:

1. Floss your teeth with different-flavored flosses (mint, bubble gum, cinnamon, cherry, or grape).

2. Brush your teeth with different-flavored toothpastes (bubble gum, spearmint, wintergreen, or cherry).

3. Scrape or brush your tongue with a toothbrush.

4. Have a stick of low-calorie or sugar-free gum when you feel the onset of hunger. 

5. Sprinkle cinnamon instead of sugar or sugar replacements. The antioxidants in the spice stabilize blood sugar and slow digestion. 

6. Suck on a sugar-free peppermint. Several studies attribute physical and psychological benefits of peppermint, and some dieters swear that the minty taste helps them ward off hunger pains. For a similar effect, try dabbing a few drops of essential peppermint oil on your tongue. 

7. Close your eyes and imagine yourself eating the food you are craving ... very slowly. Think about the texture of the food and how it makes you feel afterward. Practice this visualization exercise repeatedly to reduce your cravings. 

8. Change up your food choices to alter the texture of foods that you eat to reduce hunger pains. Go from crunchy to smooth to sticky to tacky and alternate the patterns frequently. Textures of food become very important to dieters, so vary your choices to improve your chance for success. 

9. Use flavored lip balm like grape or cherry that you can taste when you lick your lips to reduce cravings. 

10. Chew your food well to benefit your mouth beyond the tasty-on-the-tongue factor. Not only does food taste better the more you chew, chewing also increases saliva production, helping to digest bacteria that can lead to plaque buildup. The more you break your food down in your mouth, the less work there is for your stomach and intestines. This can mean less gas and bloating and better elimination. Your intestines also have an easier time pulling micronutrients out of well-chewed food than big chunks, which provides your body with more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and amino acids. 

Adapted from Tighten Your Tummy in 2 Weeks

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6 BMI Myths With No Weight.

Society tells us that being overweight is bad. However, even though obesity is linked to many chronic health problems (i.e., type II diabetes, heart disease, etc.), the key word is “linked”, which means the medical community can’t come out and say for sure that being overweight is the cause of these diseases. One of the major purveyors of excess weight = bad myth is the body mass index (or the BMI), which states BMIs lower than 18.5 is underweight, BMIs between 18.5 and 24.9 is normal, BMI ranging 25 to 29.9 is overweight, and 30 or above BMIs are considered obese. Here are six BMI myths that we should stop giving any weight to…

Myth 1: Healthy Diet and Regular Exercise Means Low BMI

The major issue I’ve had time and time again with the BMI is that many of my very visually fit friends and family members report a BMI in the “obese” range due to muscle mass.

We all know that muscle mass weighs more compared to fat mass. It also makes perfects sense then that if we start working out and eating better we may gain muscle mass, and weigh more, not less. According to an official statement from the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, “People can be healthy at different body sizes.”

Myth 2: BMI is a Valid Measure of Health

Very obviously the BMI doesn’t work for every body, which is why many health experts assert that it can’t possibly be used as an accurate way to measure health.

Focusing on a number on the scale can cause health to be “oversimplified”, according to Dr. Rebecca Puhl, deputy director at Philidephia’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, “and [doctors] can ignore other pieces of information, and even blame or stigmatize patients.”

Myth 3: BMI and Heart Disease Risk

Many people, health care professionals included, believe that an overweight BMI reading means higher heart disease risk. However, that’s not always the case, according to this 2016 study out of Umea University, which was published by ScienceDaily.com.

The Umea University study monitored the instance of heart attacks, and deaths among 4,046 pairs of identical twins for a 12-year duration. The findings revealed that that those with high BMIs had no more increased risk than their thinner twins—researchers reported 203 heart attacks and 550 deaths among the high BMI participants and 209 heart attacks and 633 deaths among participants with low BMIs.

Myth 4: Health Can be Determined by a Scale

One of the first things I used to tell my personal training clients at the gym I worked at was, “throw away your scale”. I think scales can be of use when you’re baking and need a precise amount of ingredients, but as human beings our health simply can’t be determined by broad scales.

The BMI guidelines were re-established by the National Institutes of Health in the year 1998, based solely on government recommendations to establish a global standard for healthy and unhealthy weight, the reasoning behind it somewhat dubious. “There’s no single number that can represent a healthy weight,” says Dr. Rexford Ahima, medical professor at Philadelphia’s University of Pennsylvania, “it depends on starting weight, genetics and gender, [and so many] other factors.”

Myth 5: Low BMI = Healthy

Having a high BMI doesn’t necessarily mean you’re unhealthy, just like having a low BMI doesn’t necessarily mean you’re healthy.  OK, there may be a correlation between obesity and health issues like high blood sugar, blood pressure, and high cholesterol, but assuming a patient is healthy due to a low BMI can be problematic for health care professionals.

For instance, this 2011 weight study published by the Nutrition Journal studied the correlation between elevated BMI and health conditions like high blood sugar and high blood pressure. The study monitored the health of 40,000 adults and found that a large majority of participants who registered as “obese” on the BMI scale had perfectly healthy cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure numbers.

Myth 6: BMI Medical Assumptions

California-based nutrition, weight, and health professor, and author of the book Dr. Linda Bacon, PhD, author of the book Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight, is an expert on the effects of weight stigma and how it impacts our health.

According to Dr. Bacon, misdiagnosis by doctors is a major issue with weight stigma and tools like the BMI. [Many are] misdiagnosed,” she explains, due to doctors assuming patients with normal body weights are healthy and not examining these patients for issues like elevated blood sugar and cholesterol.

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