Best-Ever Detox To Boost Start Weight Loss

I found this very easy detox while browsing through a magazine. It seemed to be something I could try and see if it would jump start my weight loss. The regular diets help but this detox offers much more than just losing weight fast. It also will help your body organs. Read up on what it says.

Lose those stubborn pounds before New Year's Eve!!!

BEST-EVER DETOX melts 9 lbs in 3 days!!

Great news! There's still time to squeeze into that sexy dress hiding in the back of your closet and wow everyone at the last parties of the season. The key is to nourish and heal your liver4 using this phytonutrient-rich three-day cleanse.

Day One is a super-simple juice fast. Days Two and Three include a bounty of nutrient-dense liver-healing foods. You won't go hungry--the fruit juice's sugars provide sustained energy while the cinnamon and ginger reduce cravings--and you'll lose up to nine pounds of fat in three days.

DAY 1 CLEANSE THE LIVER WITH THIS MIRACLE JUICE

For one day you will abstain from food but drink large qualities of a cleansing "cocktail." Its main ingredient, cranberry juice, is rich in organic acids and anthocyanins, which stimulate liver detoxification. The drink also contains lemon juice and orange juice. Both are rich in ascorbic acid (vitamin C), an antioxidant that deactivates liver-damaging free radicals, improving this organ's ability to excrete fat and toxins by as much as 35 percent, researchers at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital report. And UCLA studies suggest that this brew's cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger improve the liver's breakdown of fat and environmental pollutants by as much as 25 percent.

THE RECIPE:

To make one day's supply, combine 8 oz. all-natural cranberry juice with 56 oz. of water in a pot. Bring to a light boil. Place 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4tsp. each of ginger and nutmeg in a tea ball and steep in the liquid for 15 minutes. Allow to cool, then stir in 3/4 cup of fresh OJ, 3/4 cup of lemon juice and StreviaPlus or another natural sweetener to taste.

THE PLAN:

Upon waking, stir 2 Tbs. ground flaxseed into 1 cup Miracle Juice and drink. One hour later, drink 8 oz of water. Every hour for the next 12 hours, alternate drinking a glass of juice (no flax) with a glass of water. Before bed, mix another 2 Tbs. ground flax in the final cup of juice and enjoy.

DAYS 2 & 3 TURBOCHARGE FAT BURN WITH THESE SUPER-FOODS

This phase of the detox carefully reintroduces foods proven by researchers at Boston's Tufts University School of Medicine and elsewhere to aid the liver in more than 100 metabolic reactions involved in fatty-acid metabolism and energy production.

Eating these delicious comfort foods can restore your liver's full fat-burning potential within 48 hours. What's more, including these foods in your daily diet after your detox ends will keep this weight-controlling organ functioning at its peak.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, veggies, water with lemon
Snack: 1 cup yogurt with berries and ground flax
Lunch: Salad with beets, artichokes, 6 oz. protein (meat)
Snack: Baked apple with cinnamon and nutmeg
Dinner: 6 oz. lean protein meat, broccoli and cauliflower veggies


Here is the shopping list with the food/ingredients you need.

Groceries:

8 oz. all-natural unsweetened cranberry juice
5 quarts filtered water
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1 box of SteviaPlus or another natural sweetener

Produce:

Vegetables:
1 large bunch of spinach
Assorted vegetables of your choice for flavoring breakfast
scrambled eggs (2 cups total)
2 large bunches dark leafy greens
Cruciferous vegetables of your choice,
like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts,
bok choy and/or kale (enough for two generous dinnertime servings)
1 can beets
1 can artichoke hearts

Fruit:
2 large apples
3 oranges or small bottle of natural orange juice
4 lemons or small bottle of natural lemon juice
2 cups berries (fresh or frozen)

Meat:
24 oz. (1 1/2 lbs.) lean protein, like chicken, fish, turkey and/or beef
4 eggs
2 cups natural yogurt

Pantry Staples:
Olive Oil
Bottled seasonings; cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg

Ok...this is all you need to get that jump start for a slimmer and more healthier new year. I followed this detox program and lost 12 lbs in 3 days. Can't wait to see the faces when I show up on New Year's Eve!

A Nondiet Approach To Lose Weight

A Nondiet Approach

Principles:

1. Focus on your total health and well-being, including mind, body, and spirit, instead of focusing on weight loss or striving to reach an unrealistic weight.

2. Respect and accept the diversity of the physical attributes of your own body as well as the bodies of others.

3. Develop a true awareness of the pleasures of eating -- rely on internal hunger cues.

4. Enjoy a variety of foods rather than relying on limiting diets or strict meal plans.

5. Celebrate the joy of physical activity. Include a wide array of activities, rather than follow rigid routines or regimented exercises.

6. Honor and love yourself fully and authentically.

Learn to Care for Yourself

Get acquainted with your internal caretaker, the inner part of you that nurtures you, loves you unconditionally, and always treats you with kindness and respect. Listen carefully. Your internal caretaker gently coaxes you to eat when you're hungry and to stop when you're satisfied.

Respond to your small needs, such as putting on hand lotion when your hands feel dry, getting a drink of water when you're thirsty, or taking a moment for time alone, rather than waiting until you finish one more task.

A Dozen Little Luxuries for Self-Care

• Buy yourself a luxurious new robe.
• Read a novel or one of your favorite magazines.
• Meditate or take a meditation class.
• Paint your toenails or give yourself a foot massage.
• Buy a new cookbook and treat yourself to a gourmet meal. (Yes, it's OK!)
• Take a nap in the middle of the day.
• Take the afternoon off and rent a favorite movie.
• Slip out of the office for a manicure.
• Treat yourself to some exquisite new undergarments.
• Meet a dear friend for cappuccino.
• Play with a child or a pet.
• Sit and do nothing.

Taking care of yourself is important not only for yourself, but for your family as well. Once you are happy with who you are, everything else falls into place. Dieting is no longer a chore!

Do The Math While Dieting

Counting Calories: Doing the Math Discover how many calories you need to maintain a healthy weight.

You want to know how many calories a day you can take in and still lose weight? Well here is some pointers on how to do it. Dieting can and is simple when you do the math.

How to Start

To tip the energy balance in favor of weight loss, start by determining how many calories you should consume each day. To do so, you need to know how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. Doing this requires a few simple calculations.

First, multiply your current weight by 15 -- that's roughly the number of calories per pound of body weight needed to maintain your current weight if you are moderately active. Moderately active means getting at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day in the form of exercise (walking at a brisk pace, climbing stairs, or active, physical gardening). Let's say you're a woman who is 5 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs 150 pounds, and you need to lose about 12 pounds to put you in a healthy weight range. If you multiply 150 by 15, you will get 2,250, which is the number of calories per day that you need in order to maintain your current weight (weight-maintenance calories). To lose weight, you will need to get below that total.

For example, to lose one to two pounds a week -- a rate that experts consider safe -- your food consumption should provide 500-1,000 calories less than your total weight-maintenance calories. If you need 2,250 calories a day to maintain your current weight, reduce your daily calories to 1,250-1,750. If you are sedentary, you will also need to build more activity into your day. In order to lose at least a pound a week, try to do at least 30 minutes of physical activity on most days, and reduce your daily calorie intake by at least 500 calories. However, calorie intake should not fall below 1,200 a day in women, or 1,500 a day in men, except under the supervision of a health professional. Eating too few calories can endanger your health by depriving you of needed nutrients.

Meeting Your Calorie Target

How can you meet your daily calorie target? One approach -- probably the most accurate -- is to add up the number of calories per serving of all the foods that you eat, and then plan your menus accordingly. You can buy books that list the calories-per-serving of many foods. In addition, the nutrition labels on all packaged foods and beverages provide calories-per-serving information. Make a point of reading the labels of the foods and drinks you use, noting the number of calories and the serving sizes. Many recipes published in cookbooks, newspapers, and magazines provide similar information.

If you hate counting calories, a different approach is to restrict how much and how often you eat, and to eat meals that are low in calories. Indeed, new dietary guidelines issued by the American Heart Association stress common sense in choosing your foods rather than focusing strictly on numbers, such as total calories or calories from fat. Whichever method you choose, research shows that sticking with a regular eating schedule -- with meals and snacks planned for certain times each day -- makes for the most successful approach. The same applies after you have lost weight and want to keep it off. Sticking with an eating schedule increases your chance of maintaining your new weight.

Reducing Fat

Some people focus on reducing the fat in their eating plan because, at 9 calories per gram, fat by weight contains more than twice as many calories as carbohydrates or proteins (4 calories per gram). By substituting lean cuts of meat for fatty ones, avoiding high-fat packaged foods and snacks, and refraining from fat-rich products such as butter, mayonnaise, and salad dressings, you can cut out dozens or even hundreds of calories per day. On the other hand, many people mistakenly think that cutting fat always means cutting calories. Some fat-free foods actually contain more calories than the regular versions because manufacturers use extra sugar to make up for the flavor lost in removing the fat. Moreover, low-fat or nonfat foods are not low-calorie if you consume them in large quantities.

If Calorie Counting Is Impractical

Here are some guidelines to follow when straight calorie counting is impractical.

• Eat foods that are filling and low in calories. That means meals and snacks made of whole grains, such as rice, whole-wheat bread, and oatmeal, as well as legumes, such as lentils and other beans.

• When you eat meat, cut out fat and cut down portion sizes. Choose lean cuts of meat and modest amounts -- about 3-1/2-ounce or 4 ounces per serving. Depending on how they are prepared, the leanest cuts of beef are eye of round (155-217 calories per 3-1/2-ounce serving), top round (169-277 calories per 3-1/2-ounce serving), tip round (170-274 calories per 3-1/2-ounce serving), and flank steak (207-263 calories per 3-1/2-ounce serving). Use ground meat labeled 10% fat, the lowest fat content in ground beef. The leanest kinds of pork are roasted tenderloin (166 calories per 3-1/2-ounce serving), roasted top round (150 calories per 3-1/2-ounce serving), roasted lean top loin (245 calories per 3-1/2-ounce serving), and lean ham (120-157 calories per 3-1/2-ounce serving). Light-meat poultry has less fat than dark meat: Stewed light-meat chicken without skin has 159 calories per 3-1/2-ounce serving, while stewed dark-meat chicken without skin has 192 calories per 3-1/2-ounce serving.

• Avoid fried foods. Frying foods adds fat and calories. For stovetop cooking, it's better either to stir-fry foods in nonstick pans lightly coated with a cooking-oil spray or to braise them in broth or wine. Baking, broiling, and roasting leave no extra fat in your meals.

• Use low-fat or nonfat dairy foods. Milk, yogurt, and cheese are good sources of protein and calcium, but the whole-milk versions of these dairy products are very high in fat.

• Avoid fast foods. Hamburgers, chicken nuggets, French fries, and other fast-food meals and snacks tend to promote weight gain for two reasons. First, they are high in fat or calories, or both. Second, the "value meals" are often excessively large, and thus they tempt you to overeat.

• Avoid high-fat and high-carbohydrate snacks. Both types of snacks are high in calories. Even snacks labeled "low-fat" are often high in calories because they contain large amounts of sugars and other carbohydrates.

• Watch what you drink. Regular sodas, fruit juices, and, especially, alcoholic beverages are high in calories. For example, a 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola contains 154 calories, and an 8-ounce glass of lemonade, about 60-110 calories. A can of beer is about 130-170 calories; a 7-1/2-ounce gin and tonic is 171 calories; and a 3-1/2-ounce glass of white wine is 70 calories.

• Eat scheduled meals and snacks. It may seem that skipping meals or cutting out snacks is a smart way to cut out calories, but doing either of these things can work against you. You need to eat regularly, even when you're on a diet. If you don't, you'll feel so hungry that you may give up in frustration.

Cutting Calories Is Not Enough

If one person cut back on calories without exercising and another person increased exercise without cutting back on calories, the first person would lose weight more quickly. That's because it's easier to cut 500 calories from your diet than it is to burn 500 extra calories through exercise. You'd have to walk or run about five miles a day -- or 35 miles a week -- to lose one pound of fat. But if you only cut back on calories, you're more likely to regain the weight you lose. Why should that be so? The body reacts to weight loss as if it were starving and, in response, slows its metabolism. When your metabolism slows, you burn fewer calories -- even at rest. When you burn fewer calories, three things can happen. If you continue to take in fewer calories, you will either stop losing weight as quickly as you have been, or you'll stop losing weight altogether. If you increase your calorie consumption, you may actually gain weight more quickly than you have in the past. The solution is to increase your physical activity because doing so will counteract the metabolic slowdown caused by reducing calories.

A regular schedule of exercise raises not only your energy expenditure while you are exercising but also your resting energy expenditure -- i.e., the rate at which you burn calories even when the workout is over and you are resting. Resting energy expenditure remains elevated as long as you exercise at least three days a week on a regular basis. Because it accounts for 60 percent-75 percent of your daily energy expenditure, any increase in resting energy expenditure is extremely important to your weight-loss effort. The kinds of vigorous activity that can stimulate your metabolism include walking briskly for two miles or bike-riding uphill.

Any Exercise Helps

For people who are obese and who have been sedentary, any amount of physical activity is beneficial, including walking, swimming, and water aerobics. But start out slowly and gradually increase the pace and duration of such activities. Low-intensity activities -- such as taking a short walk or raking leaves -- won't raise your resting energy expenditure as much as high-intensity activities will, but they have other advantages. For one thing, they help reduce body fat and build muscles -- and muscle burns more calories than fat does. Regular weightlifting also builds muscle and has a similar effect.

Another benefit of regular physical activity of any sort is that it temporarily curbs your appetite. Of course, many people joke that after a workout they feel extremely hungry -- and promptly indulge in a snack. But because exercise raises resting energy expenditure, people continue to burn calories at a relatively high rate. Therefore, a moderate post-exercise snack does not erase the benefits of exercise in helping people control their weight.

So you can see, dieting alone is not enough. You need to get the exercise and apply it with a good diet program.

Calories Burned in Each Mile of Walking or Jogging

Body Weight (pounds) Calories
100 67
110 74
120 83
130 89
140 95
150 100
160 108
170 115
180 121
190 128
200 135
210 141
220 148

How Much Water When Dieting

How Much Water When You Are On A Diet

How Much Water Do You Need? Water is essential, especially if you are trying to lose weight or on a diet. Here are some easy ways to meet your daily requirement.

Water Is Essential

Water is one of the most important elements of the human body. It makes up approximately 70 percent of our muscles, and about 75 percent of our brains. It is also an essential part of a healthy diet and plays a vital role in the proper functioning of the body. Some of water's many benefits:

• Transports essential nutrients throughout the body and rids the body of waste

• Acts as a lubricant for the body, moistening eyes, mouth, nose, and skin

• Helps maintain adequate blood volume

• Helps regulate body temperature, especially in warm weather

• Helps prevent constipation

• Helps medications to work

• Helps prevent urinary tract infections

• Acts as an appetite suppressant

• Is calorie-free

• Boosts metabolism when drunk cold (we burn 2 calories per glass as we warm it up to body temperature)

A Dieter's Dream

Drinking water also forces fat to be used as fuel. How does this work? Without water, the kidneys are unable to function properly, so the liver picks up the slack. But the liver cannot properly metabolize stored fat as energy. The result is a decrease in fat metabolism, leading to more fat stored in the body. So, drinking lots of water helps avoid extra fat deposits. Which in turn helps your diet.

How Much Do You Need?

The standard advice from nutritionists is to get at least 64 ounces of water daily. This is called the 8 x 8 rule (eight 8-ounce glasses). If you are trying to lose weight, it is especially important to stay hydrated. A good rule of thumb, experts say, is to drink half your daily water consumption between the time you wake up and lunch, and the other half between lunch and bedtime. If you are exercising, you might want to drink a bit more. Drink 8-10 ounces approximately 30 minutes before exercising. You should also drink some water while exercising; about 3-4 ounces every 15 minutes. Finally, when you're through exercising, drink another 8-10 ounces to make up for the water you lose through prespiration. Healthy adults of all ages need at least 8 cups of water every day. Children should have 6-8 servings, but the serving size depends upon the child's age. For children age 2 and under, a serving is half a cup; for kids age 3-5, it's 3/4 cup. For kids 6 and up, a serving is one cup.

Sneaky Ways to Drink More

Here are some easy ways to work in more water each day:

• Take frequent water breaks throughout the day

• Start lunch and dinner with a cup of soup

• Drink 100 percent juice at breakfast. (Dieter's caution: while juice and other beverages count toward your fluid intake, they are often high in calories.)

• Never pass a water fountain without drinking

• Take a bottle of water with you wherever you go

• Remember that only decaffeinated beverages count toward your goal

Water helps your system in so many ways. Not just for dieting, but for keeping your skin hydrated. It may take you a bit to get use to drinking so much water, but if you start first thing in the morning and carry it on through out the day, you will find it much easier.

Pastries and Dieting

Pastries and Dieting

Who says we have to give up everything while on a diet? There are ways to still eat those things we like, such as pastries. All you have to do is change a few things in the ingredients and viola, "You can have your sweets and eat them too"

Being on a diet doesn't mean you have to kiss pastries goodbye. Instead of cooking with heavy pie crusts and homemade doughs, substitute phyllo dough in your homemade recipes. This light, thin Greek dough is traditionally used in baklava, and it has 79 calories per ounce and less than a gram of fat. Compared with piecrust at 110 calories and 7 grams of fat, phyllo dough is a bargain! Brush it with olive oil or a scant amount of margarine before you bake it for a healthy, flaky dessert.

Phyllo dries out easily because it is so thin. The secret to success with phyllo is keeping the dough moist. Start by thawing the phyllo while it is still wrapped. If you're only using half of the package, roll up the remaining sheets, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap, and return them to the freezer. As you prepare a recipe, keep the dough moist by covering it with plastic wrap. Triangles are a typical way to shape phyllo. To make triangles, cut the dough into strips, place the filling at one end, and fold.

Here is a basic Phyllo dough recipe.

In Greek: φύλλο, pronounced FEE-lo

Freshly made phyllo dough is always preferable, and it isn't difficult. If you have a pasta machine, using this phyllo will produce sheets of thin to thick dough to use for pitas and pastries. The alternative, rolling it out with a rolling pin, takes time and experience to master. This dough is ideal for small fried pitas (pies) and bourekakia (also small fried pies).

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of raki (or white vinegar)
• 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 1/4 - 1 1/3 cups of hot water
• flour for work surface and hands

PREPARATION:

Note: The key to the recipe is hot water. Use hottest tap water.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix by hand until it holds together. On a floured surface, knead by hand for 10-15 minutes until soft and malleable, with a smooth feel.

Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight before using.

Unused phyllo can be kept in the refrigerator, in air-tight wrapping, for up to 10 days after making.

Yield: approximately 2 1/4 pounds

With a pasta machine: To make phyllo sheets for pastries, run it through the pasta machine (with settings from 1-10, with 1 being the thickest), gradually working it down to setting mark 9 on your machine. For phyllo sheets to make small fried pitas, use setting number 6.

You can also freeze the phyllo sheets to be used at another date. Here is how you are to defrost and then use them.

The Five Rules of Phyllo

1. Never handle phyllo with wet hands.
2. Bake phyllo pies and pastries at approximately 350F (175C) on the rack just below the middle of the oven.
3. Defrost properly following package and/or recipe directions.
4. While working, keep unused phyllo covered to prevent drying.
5. Don't throw out damaged, torn, or unused phyllo!

Now, the details:

• When making a recipe that calls for 1 package (1 pound) of phyllo, always buy two just in case.
• If using frozen phyllo, thaw completely in the refrigerator for 24 hours and bring to room temperature before using or the dough can be gummy (if thawed too quickly outside the refrigerator) or crack (if still partially frozen).
• Prepare all other recipe ingredients before opening the phyllo package, and have waxed paper and a cool damp towel ready to cover it.
• Always work on a flat dry surface, and make sure your hands are dry. Getting the phyllo wet (with water) will make it gummy and sticky, and impossible to manage.
• Gently open and unfold phyllo. If any pieces stick together and cannot be gently separated, the usable part can be cut away, if large enough.
• Small breaks or cracks in phyllo sheets are normal.
• If a recipe calls for a certain size of cut dough, use a ruler.
• Phyllo sheets can be cut with a scissors, shears, pizza wheel, or pastry cutter.
• When brushing with butter or oil, or spraying with a butter-flavored cooking spray, start at the edges and work in. The edges dry out the fastest. And don't use too much - just a light coating, otherwise the end result is greasy.
• If you have several pastry brushes, use a soft wider one (2 1/2 - 3 inches) for sheets, and a smaller one for small triangles or rolls. Otherwise, a soft 1 1/2 to 2 inch wide brush works well on both sheets and small pastries or pies.
• If the recipe for a pastry needs a perfect top layer and the dough has not cooperated totally so far, just select a perfect sheet, brush it carefully with butter or oil (per recipe specifications), and use it as the outer layer or wrapping.
• Phyllo pastries should always be cooked in pans with a flat bottom.
• Never try to reheat phyllo pastries or pies in the microwave. If they've been refrigerated, either serve cold (if appropriate) or let them come to room temperature.
• If phyllo sheets get torn or don't defrost properly so they stick together at the edges, salvage what you can.
  

Then all you need to do is add your favorite low fat ingredients. I will cover some of those ingredients and recipes in my next posting of pastries and dieting. If you have some ideas on recipes to use with this, leave me a comment and I will share it.

Health Benefits of Weight Loss

It Helps Your Health To Lose Weight

Losing excess weight is beneficial for two reasons: It can make you feel better and it lowers your risk for illness and helps you live a longer, healthier life. Weight loss helps health conditions that often go hand-in-hand with obesity, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, esophageal reflux, arthritis, fatty liver disease, sleep apnea, and depression. It also raises levels of beneficial high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the so-called "good" cholesterol. Especially encouraging is that you don't have to lose a tremendous amount of weight to become healthier.

Even a modest weight loss of 5 percent-10 percent of your starting weight can lead to significant health benefits. In one study, people with hypertension who lost 10 pounds over six months reduced their systolic blood pressure by 2.8 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) and their diastolic blood pressure by 2.5 mm Hg. These reductions in blood pressure were equivalent to the reductions brought about by treatment with blood pressure medications. Weight loss is so effective that many people with high blood pressure can stop taking blood pressure medicine after they lose weight.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted two 12-year studies of overweight adults -- one of men, the other of women -- to find out whether intentional weight loss is associated with a decrease in mortality. The study of 43,457 women, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 1995, found that any amount of intentional weight loss was beneficial. The authors reported a 20 percent reduction in premature deaths among women with obesity-related medical disorders who intentionally lost some weight. In this group, the most dramatic effects were a 40 percent-50 percent decrease in deaths from obesity-related cancers and a 30 percent-40 percent decline in deaths from type 2 diabetes. The study of 49,337 men, published in the same journal in 1999, found a 32 percent-36 percent decline in deaths from diabetes among men with health problems who intentionally lost weight.

So you see, losing weight is not just important for appearance and how your clothes fit, but more so for your health. Dieting is not easy, but you can succeed.

Relieve Stress and Lose Weight

As many know, stress is one of the main contributors of gaining weight. Through the years I have noticed that when I was the most stressed about things in my life, I put on more weight.

Once I found out what triggered the stress and the weight gain I took control. Below you will find what I found helped me quite a bit. Yoga! It is more simple than you think. I'm putting down the steps to help relieve your stress and to help you with your dieting.

The daily pressures of home, family, and work can really start to add up. Before you reach your breaking point, take a few minutes to decompress with some simple yoga exercises. Find a quiet spot. Settle into a comfortable pose and clear your mind with some deep breaths. Then, take some time for yourself and your own well-being with these basic yoga poses.

Try these 10 yoga poses to reduce stress, ease lower back pain, and rejuvenate your mind and body.

Cross-Legged Lower Back Stretch

1. Sit a few inches from the wall with your legs crossed. 2. "Walk" your fingers up the wall, stretching from the lower back. 3. Broaden your shoulders by separating and lifting your shoulder blades. Keep your throat and neck soft. Don't tense your shoulders, just lift them. 4. When you think you have gone as high as you can, rest for a moment while your body adjusts to the pose, then walk your fingers a little higher. 5. Rest and repeat several times. 6. If this is too difficult, try the next pose.

Upward Arm Stretch

1. Sit in a chair facing the wall. Place your hands as high on the wall as possible and walk your fingers higher up the wall, stretching from your lower back. 2. Broaden your shoulders by separating and lifting your shoudler blades. Keep your throat and neck soft. Don't tense your shoulders, just lift them. 3. Once you think your fingers are as high as they can be, rest for a moment in that position so your body can adjust, and then walk your fingers higher. 5. Rest and repeat several times.

Chair Lower Back Stretch

1. Sit in your chair and widen your legs so they are wider than hip distance apart. 2. From the hip crease, bend forward and allow your entire body to relax. Drop your head and completely relax your neck. 3. If you are not completely comfortable, try putting a rolled blanket or towel at the hip crease and lean over again. 4. Hold this pose as long as you like. With each exhalation, allow your body and mind to relax a little bit more. Sit up on an inhalation, pause for a few moments, and try again.

Right Angle Pose

1. Standing very close to the wall, place your hands on the wall at waist height, shoulder distance apart. 2. Walk back until your torso is perpendicular to the wall and your legs are directly under your hips. 3. Extend your arms by firmly pressing your hands into the wall, as though you want to topple it. Go ahead, try to push it over! 4. Extend your spine to its maximum length, and work on straightening your knees and elbows. 5. Hold for 30 to 45 seconds. To release the stretch, step toward the wall.

Downward Facing Dog

1. Place the back of a chair against the wall. 2. Kneel 2 to 2 1/2 feet in front of the chair seat, and place your hands on the edge. 3. Come up onto your toes, straighten your legs, lift your buttocks, and angle your torso downward. 4. Work on straightening your arms and legs, and lengthening your back as much as possible. 5. Think about moving the front of your thighs toward the back of your thighs. Having a friend pull the top of your thighs back can help you get the full benefit of this pose, by taking the weight off your arms. 6. Hold for 30 to 45 seconds. 7. If this is too easy, place your hands on some thick books or directly on the floor instead of on a chair.

Knees to Chest

1. Lie on your back, bring your knees into your chest, and hug them. 2. If you like, you can gently rock from side to side. 3. Breathe deeply into your lower back and with each exhalation, allow your entire back to relax just a little bit more. 4. If this position hurts your knees, roll up two washcloths and place one behind each knee.

Legs Up the Wall Pose

1. Lie down with your buttocks at the wall (or at least as close as possible). 2. Extend your legs up the wall. Flex your toes toward you and work on getting your knees straight by extending the hamstrings. 3. Stay in this position for a minute or two, then go on to the next pose.

Legs Up the Wall Wide Angle Pose

1. Start in the previous pose, then widen your legs. Go slowly -- you don't want to overstretch your inner thigh muscles. 2. You can place rolled-up blankets under your upper thighs to help support your legs. You will be able to stay in the pose longer this way. 3. Keep flexing your feet toward you and trying to straighten your knees. Use your hands, if necessary, to keep your thighs pressed against the wall.

Supported Chest Opener

1. Roll up a blanket or thick towel. Lie down with the roll placed under your upper middle back. 2. If you would like, use a pillow or a folded blanket under your head. 3. Close your eyes and relax. Stay in this position as long as you like.

Chair Pose

1. Lie on the floor with your calves on a chair seat. 2. Place a blanket under your head if you like. 3. Cover your eyes with a small towel or other soft piece of fabric, and insert earplugs if you wish. 4. With each exhalation, relax a little bit more. Stay in this position as long as you like. It is totally relaxing.

You don't have to do all of these at one sitting, but the more you can reduce your stress, the more it will help you with your diet and dieting.