21 Tips to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

By Dr. Eddie Fatakhov (a.k.a. Dr. Fat-Off)

1. If you are invited to a holiday party, come late, leave early and stay away from the snack and dip dishes.
2. Bring your own sugar-free drinks to a party in case your host has none to offer.
3. Eat something, even if it’s an apple before arriving to a party, it will help take the edge off your hunger.
4. If the function, gathering or restaurant has a buffet, be careful and make sure you get at the end of the line behind everybody else. Take only 2-3 small items and return to your seat. Eat your selections slowly, with ample fluid intake between bites.
5. Repeat step 4 after waiting a short interval and return to the buffet for one or two more items.
6. Repeat step 5 but take ONE selection per trip. Each selection or item should be about the size of the average cafeteria selection of that food.
7. When visiting friends or family, be careful not to accept sweets or problem foods. Instead graciously decline, but do accept something, even if it is a sugar-free soda, unsweetened tea, decaf coffee, or water.
8. Never say you are on a diet, as this is an open invitation for your hostess to tempt you, or argue with you about whether or not something is permitted.
9. Consider eating lean turkey, ham, beef or similar moderate-fat proteins for your main dish at holiday parties.
10. Eat Slowly! Average person should chew 30 times before swallowing.
11. Don’t forget to add lightly-steamed vegetables to meat dishes as they are high in vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
12. When first seated at the table, the first thing you should spot is the WATER! Drink (8-10) ounces (or more) with each meal.
13. Always select fresh fruit and vegetables over spiced meats, hams, cheeses, crackers, and dips.
14. Try your best to avoid sugary pies, cakes, and cookies.
15. When eating, select smaller portions and use smaller plates.
16. Always leave food behind. Never clean your plate.
17. Deserts should be limited to sugar-free gelatins, alone or in combination with unsweetened chopped cranberries, or grated carrots.
18. If you use artificial sweeteners like Equal, add it after cooking since over heating it destroys its sweetness.
19. Saccharin and Splenda can be used in recipes that involve cooking, because they are stable molecules, even at baking temperatures.
20. Ambrosia can be made with no sugar, producing a guilt free holiday treat.
21. Fruitcakes, mincemeat pie and other rich calorie loaded confections should be avoided as if they were poison.

ABOUT DR. FAT-OFF…

Eddie Fatakhov, M.D., a.k.a. Dr. Fat-off, is a Board-Certified Physician, Nutritionist, and Best-Selling Author of "The Doctors' Clinic-30 Program. His latest book is “Dr. Fat-Off Simple Life-Long Weight-Loss Solutions.”

Email: eddie@drfatakhov.com

Office: 404-836-9906
Website: www.eddiefatakhovmd.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fatakhov

Instagram: http://instagram.com/eddiefatakhovmd/

• You can get pregnant only one or two days a month. There are six days of the menstrual cycle that a woman could possibly get pregnant. “Because a female egg lives 12-24 hours after ovulation and sperm lives up to five days in the female reproductive system, you can have baby-making sex up to three days prior to and the day of ovulation – even the day after,” Rodriguez says.
• All fertility apps are inaccurate. “The sheer numbers of different types are daunting, and there are doubters in the medical community,” Rodriguez says. “But a good number of apps get good results. There are numerous apps available to help chart basal body temperature, track their cervical mucus, monitor hormone fluctuations, and pinpoint the day of ovulation.”
• Women can ovulate twice in the same cycle. “In about 10 percent of cycles, you may ovulate twice,” Rodriguez says, “but it is going to be within a 24-hour period. Some people think they can ovulate on week two of their menstrual cycle and then again on week three, but that’s not possible.”
• Your diet does not have an impact on your fertility. “Diet makes a huge difference and is one of the most powerful tools you have for your fertility,” Rodriguez says. She suggests nutrient-dense foods, as close to their natural state as possible, because “the right diet can help regulate ovulatory function, increasing chances of pregnancy."
• If you have a regular menstrual cycle you won’t have any problems getting pregnant. Rodriguez says that even with a normal cycle, there might still be underlying fertility health issues, especially if a woman has been trying unsuccessfully to conceive. “One such issue is Luteal phase defect, in which the period of time from ovulation until menstruation is too short – less than 12 days,” Rodriguez says.
• Infertility is a woman’s issue. “This is a myth that is underlying our culture,” Rodriguez says. “There’s a 40 percent chance the fertility health issue resides with the woman and 40 percent it’s due to male-factor infertility. And sperm health is equally as important as egg health because these cells equally provide the DNA that will make up your future child.”

How to Manage Back Pain While Continuing Your Fitness Routine

Back pain can be disruptive to your daily life. Incessant backaches can make handling basic errands around the home hard. It can make getting to and from work daily tough, too. If you have back pain, however, you should do whatever you can to minimize inconveniences. Back pain doesn’t have to get in the way of your physical fitness goals, either.

Look into Physical Therapy Sessions

Physical therapy can in many cases benefit individuals who suffer from pain of the lower back. If you want to minimize or eliminate lower back pain, the assistance of a skilled physical therapist can help immensely. Managing lower back pain may even open you up to a more well-rounded fitness regimen. Back pain can often limit exercise options that are safe, after all.

Get Treatment for a Herniated Disc

Strong back pain in some cases signifies a herniated disc. If you have a herniated disc, you should schedule an appointment with a doctor as soon as possible. Herniated disc treatmentmay make it possible for you to pursue a workout plan that’s balanced and appropriate. Medication and surgical treatment options are also available. The aforementioned physical therapy path can often work, too.

Do Exercises that Can Minimize Back Pain

If you want to take charge of back pain, it may be a good idea to try a few suitable exercises. Be sure to get the approval of your doctor before doing so. Exercises that can be beneficial for back pain include various Pilates techniques, aerobics, pelvic tilts, and partial crunches. Be sure to steer clear of certain exercise moves that can often intensify back pain as well. A couple examples of these are leg lifts and sit-ups.

Pay Attention to Your Weight

Back pain in some cases can be traced back to immoderate body weight. If you want to enjoy a successful fitness regimen, shedding a few pounds may be advantageous. Extra weight can put a lot of pressure on the body. That pressure can make getting a good workout a lot harder than it has to be. Speak with your doctor about a healthy diet plan that can help you keep your weight in check. Lifestyle adjustments can often do a lot for back pain.

Physical fitness should be a priority for all humans. If you have back pain, you need to approach your exercise requirements with extra care. The guidance of a doctor is vital.

How to Make New Year’s Resolutions that Stick

 www.comprehendthemind.com 

Every year we begin a new year resolving to do (or quit doing) something and expect to be the game changer in our lives. For some it’s to workout, lose weight, cut out all carbs and sweets. For others, it’s a promise to save more money and get finances on track. Regardless of what you resolve to do, according to Dr. Sanam Hafeez, there is a way to set yourself up for failure or success. The mindset we are in when deciding on a resolution determines it's stickiness. Below Dr. Hafeez, a New York based neuropsychologist affiliated with Columbia University, shares key insights on how to make New Year’s Resolutions that stick.

1. Envision the end result and reverse engineer it.

According to Dr. Hafeez, neural pathways in the brain can be changed through a combination of visualization and aligned action. She encourages people to journal about what it is they want. Write it all out. “How would life improve? What would all the benefits be? Cut pictures out of magazines of what you want and post them to a wall (or if appropriate, the refrigerator). Get very clear on what you think you will feel like once you see results,” she recommends.

2. Get clear on your triggers.

Set yourself up for success by understanding what may potentially get you off track. “Sticky resolutions come with planning. If you want to lose weight then begin with clearing out your fridge and cupboards of junk food. That in itself is an action that will tell your brain that you are serious. Get recipes and write out a new grocery shopping list. Writing plans, micro goals and ideas that serve the greater accomplishment you're reaching for creates “buy in” from your brain, says Hafeez.”

For the people resolving to save more money Dr. Hafeez says to evaluate when and why you spend. If you notice you spend $40 a week on coffee, think of alternatives. “You don’t want to cut yourself off from anything cold-turkey. The brain doesn’t respond well to deprivation. It sends brain chemicals that signal displeasure which is what makes resolutions lose their stickiness. Shift to a possibility or curiosity mindset. Asking yourself, what can I do to save $5 per day invites in inspired thoughts and creative ideas,” explains Hafeez.

3. Pace yourself.

“The reason why resolutions don’t stick is because people set the bar way too high and expect achievement way too fast. Think of every week as a win! Break it down into weekly chunks and train the brain to value quick accomplishments,” she advises. The people who resolve to lose weight and get more exercise won’t stick to it if they don’t celebrate small milestones and try to do too much too soon. Resolve to lose 1 to 3 pounds per week. Do this by cutting out soft drinks or juices and drinking water instead. After 10 weeks you''ll be 20 pounds lighter with great skin just because you did one thing week by week until it became your new normal.

4. Trick your brain by making it fun.

“Our language and self-talk is everything and determines if our resolution will fade or will become something we’re still doing in June,” says Dr. Hafeez. “When someone resolves to change their diet, exercise and lose weight they already envision how difficult it is going to be so they are already dreading it before they started. However, shifting the brain to doing something fun that is in line with the goal gets you more committed," she adds. Create a playlist of great music to work out to. Look up recipes on Pinterest to build your new shopping list. When you do the advance preparation that is more fun, and take small steps towards building the new lifestyle to support your resolution, you’re setting yourself up for a win.

5. Fuel your resolution with greater purpose worth committing to.

If you want to resolve to save more money, it’s is helpful to have a clear purpose for the money you plan to save. Resolving to save more money is vague making it hard to remain on track. Saving more money to take an amazing vacation or to purchase a home or car is something tangible you can stick to. “It’s common for people to commit to doing something when they connect it to a greater purpose beyond them or an experience they want to have. This explains why lifetime smokers can instantly quit when they learn they are pregnant. It’s not about them anymore. We see the man who is 75 pounds overweight lose weight when his daughter gets engaged. Whenever we can connect resolutions to a bigger purpose our minds get on board, and when the mind is all in, resolutions stick,” explains Dr. Hafeez.

About Dr. Hafeez:

Dr. Sanam Hafeez PsyD is a NYC based licensed clinical psychologist, teaching faculty member at the prestigious Columbia University Teacher’s College and the founder and Clinical Director of Comprehensive Consultation Psychological Services, P.C. a neuropsychological, developmental and educational center in Manhattan and Queens. 

Dr. Hafeez masterfully applies her years of experience connecting psychological implications to address some of today’s common issues such as body image, social media addiction, relationships, workplace stress, parenting and psychopathology (bipolar, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, etc…). In addition, Dr. Hafeez works with individuals who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), learning disabilities, attention and memory problems, and abuse. Dr. Hafeez often shares her credible expertise to various news outlets in New York City and frequently appears on CNN and Dr.Oz.

Connect with her via twitter @comprehendMind or www.comprehendthemind.com 

Expand Your Mind and Holiday Reading List with The Past Life Perspective
Learn how the practice of regression therapy can give you a new lease on life for the new year.

Ann C. Barham’s The Past Life Perspective is back in time for the holidays with a new softcover print run, giving mainstream readers a practical glimpse into the powerful self-discovery and healing tool of regression therapy.

The book shares the personal experiences of Barham and her own clients as they uncover the traumatic and pivotal points of their past lives and how these moments continue to shape their emotions, relationships, health, and actions in the present day.

“For decades past life regression therapy has been seen as something for the ‘New Age’ crowd,” said Barham. “My goal is to introduce readers to the process with true life accounts they can relate to, along with the emotional processing steps that make it such a valuable tool.”

The Past Life Perspective is a captivating read for over the holiday break, offering readers an alternative route for introspection, self-healing, and--ultimately--empowerment.

The new edition of The Past Life Perspective is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and BAM! Books a Million just in time for holiday gifting.

For those looking to learn more about regression therapy or delve deeper into their own past lives, Barham also offers a 40 minute Guided Recording for download at www.pastlives.org.

The recording leads listeners through deep relaxation techniques and gives them the opportunity to glimpse the personality and key events of a prior lifetime as well as tools for processing these unique moments.

About:
Ann C. Barham is a Marriage & Family Therapist licensed in the State of California, and a Certified Regression Therapist with the International Board of Regression Therapy. While making a mid-life career change from business management to counseling, Barham was drawn to past life therapy as a rapid and effective tool for emotional and spiritual evolution after her own dramatic personal experience. After training with the world’s foremost experts in the field, Dr. Brian Weiss and Dr. Roger Woolger, she established her own integrative approach and has been helping clients uncover the secrets of their past lifetimes for over 20 years. She has appeared on a national radio and television shows as an expert in the field, including CBS' The Doctors and George Noory's Coast to Coast AM Radio and TV programs.

The Children, the Caravan, and Health

by: Jane M. Orient, M.D.

There are three aspects to the caravan: what is shown by the media; what is there to be seen; and what is unseen.

The focus is on the innocent children, as in the widely circulated photograph of an obese woman with two children lacking pants or shoes, purportedly fleeing tear gas sprayed by cruel law enforcement agents. They are far from home, in a very dangerous place, in violation of the laws of Mexico.

Would Child Protective Services accuse an American citizen of child abuse and neglect, and take the children into foster care?

Thousands of migrants are crammed together in Tijuana, many outdoors, and about a third of them are already sick. Without sanitation, outdoors in the rain, many more will become ill. Several cases of tuberculosis, chicken pox, and HIV have already been reported.

The unseen travelers also include measles, Chagas disease, hepatitis, and many other dangerous microbes. You can see the lice that serve as vectors of diseases such as typhus if you look closely. Workers in migrant reception centers have spent hours combing nits out of little girls’ hair—but they could be fired for talking about it.

Then there’s that mysterious polio-like illness—AFM for acute flaccid myelitis—that has struck hundreds of American children. Some would be in “iron lungs” if we didn’t use a different kind of breathing machine today. AFM was first noted in 2014, just coincidentally in time and space with the dispersal of thousands of Central American children into U.S. schools. More prominent at that time was an outbreak of a deadly respiratory illness that sent hundreds of American children to intensive care units. Both types of symptoms can probably be caused by enterovirus D68, which happens to be endemic in Central America. Any connection? The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says it doesn’t know.

Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) afflicts around 8 million people in Central America. An early symptom is to awaken with swelling of the eyelids on one side that persists for weeks. But most don’t know they have Chagas until, after many years, it destroys the muscles of their esophagus, colon, or heart. It is carried by the reduviid (“kissing”) bug, already present in the U.S. Packrats are hosts to these bugs. A high rate of Chagas is being found in dogs in Texas.

Many migrants have latent tuberculosis, which can become active at any time. What happens if a case of active tuberculosis is diagnosed in the U.S.? All the patient’s contacts must be identified, tested, and followed. The persons exposed while the patient was coughing on the bus will be impossible to locate. The patient requires treatment for at least a year, with careful follow-up.

How many patients with contagious diseases and their contacts can be effectively followed by U.S. public health departments? Not very many—these agencies are already underfunded and stretched thin. How many patients with active TB can be safely treated in U.S. hospitals? Last time I checked there were only two or three negative-pressure isolation rooms in my city. And what if the disease is resistant to all antibiotics, as is occurring in many countries? In the old days, patients’ lungs were collapsed by injecting air into the chest to cause a pneumothorax. A patient I cared for at Parkland Hospital in Dallas had a caved-in chest from the removal of several ribs (a thoracoplasty) to keep his lung collapsed permanently. This won’t help disseminated TB, such as meningitis.

The public health response to contagious diseases, especially deadly untreatable ones, is to make the diagnosis, isolate the patients, and trace the contacts. This means that for migrants we need a positive identification of the person, his country of origin, and his location. But while American citizens are increasingly under surveillance, illegals often disappear without a trace.

Public health can’t deal with a horde violently storming the border. What the mainstream press doesn’t show is that 80 percent of the crowd are men, mostly of military age. The threats they pose to the health of our citizens (and that of other migrants) include violence; sexually transmitted diseases from rape (a large percentage of the women have been molested); and illicit drugs that pour through while Border Patrol agents may be changing diapers.

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) 5,000 case workers won’t help, and I doubt that many would volunteer to serve. We need linguists to identify people who are lying on their asylum applications—observers from Judicial Watch identified Cuban accents. We need better laboratory facilities and public health surveillance throughout the country. And we need law enforcement to stop illegal entry. Children who were at least warm and dry in Honduras are being used as political pawns and human shields by those determined to trespass in or harm our homeland.

We need to protect children—especially our own.

We need a wall.

###

 Jane M. Orient, M.D. obtained her undergraduate degrees in chemistry and mathematics from the University of Arizona in Tucson, and her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1974. She completed an internal medicine residency at Parkland Memorial Hospital and University of Arizona Affiliated Hospitals and then became an Instructor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and a staff physician at the Tucson Veterans Administration Hospital. She has been in solo private practice since 1981 and has served as Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) since 1989. She is currently president of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. Since 1988, she has been chairman of the Public Health Committee of the Pima County (Arizona) Medical Society. She is the author of YOUR Doctor Is Not In: Healthy Skepticism about National Healthcare, and the second through fourth editions of Sapira's Art and Science of Bedside Diagnosis published by Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. She authored books for schoolchildren, Professor Klugimkopf’s Old-Fashioned English Grammar and Professor Klugimkopf’s Spelling Method, published by Robinson Books, and coauthored two novels published as Kindle books, Neomorts and Moonshine. More than 100 of her papers have been published in the scientific and popular literature on a variety of subjects including risk assessment, natural and technological hazards and nonhazards, and medical economics and ethics. She is the editor of AAPS News, the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness Newsletter, and Civil Defense Perspectives, and is the managing editor of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.