Carrots are healthy because they are very low on calories. They keep your waistline slim and keep body fat at bay which protects to you against some serious diseases. At the same time carrots give you lots of the immune defense friendly beta carotene, plus food fibre which is good for your stomach and circulation.

Tip: Carrots are renowned for their ability to stabilize your blood sugar level. For this reason snacking on carrots is a good good way to prevent your blood sugar level rollercoasting during the day.

Energy per 100 grams: 36 kcal
Protein: 0.7 grams
Fat: 0.4 grams
Carbohydrate: 8.8 grams

The Recipe of the Day:

This soup has enough in it to serve as a meal for 4. Nice with some whole grain bread.

Carrots and beer soup

Ingredients:

* 12 carrots

* 1 leek

* 1 large fennel

* 6 potatoes

* 3 chicken breasts

* 2 cans of beer

* 2 pints of chicken stock

* salt, fresh ground black pepper and olive oil

(Vegetarian variation: substitute chicken with mushroom and chicken stock with veggie stock)

Directions:

1. Chop up the veggies and the peeled potatoes not too fine. Chop the chicken into bite size bits.

2. Put a big pan on the hob, and heat the oil. Stir frythe chicken for about 4 minutes, then add the veggies, beer, stock and a lot of fresh ground pepper. Bring to the boil, and turn down heat. Cover and allow to cook for about 25 minutes. Take care the veggies don’t get over cooked.

3. Add salt and pepper if needed.

Exercise of the Day

Tones lower stomach muscles.

Lie on your back, flat on the floor, legs stretched out, toes pointing away from you, hands by your sides, palms facing down. Raise your heels 12 inches from the floor. Spread your feet as far apart as you can. Hold for a count of 5. Feet together again. Lower your feet to the floor. Rest. Then repeat 5 times.

Over the course of a few days, increase the number of repetitions.

[Credit: Photographer of the carrot house is Stéphane Vandenwyngaert]

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Your life is built on three pillars – your spirit, your mind and your body. You only have one of each. All three need your constant love and care.

But, when did you last tell your body that you love it? Not recently I suspect.

Why not? Isn’t that what a lover would do? Say: “I love your body!”

So, if you don’t tell your body that you love it, is it a sign of how little you love and notice it?

If, for a long period of time, your lover failed to tell you that they loved you, would you start to suspect that their ardour had cooled, that they were taking you for granted?

Don’t feel bad. Most people take their body for granted until pain tells them something is wrong. Or until they cannot fit it into a special item of clothing they want to wear.

But, is it right to take your body for granted? Would yours perform better if it felt loved and cared for?

That depends on the nature of your love and care. If you treat it like a spoilt child and buy it everything it demands like chocolate, fatty foods, cosmetics and expensive clothes, you may gratify it in the short term, but over time it will degenerate, grow fat, become lazy and wrinkly.

But if you truly love it and care for it thoughtfully, feed it with healthy, nutritious foods, exercise it and tone its muscles, it will certainly look better, provide more energy, last longer and make you more proud and confident.

It is the difference between inconsiderate, self-indulgent love and thoughtful, caring love.

Try this exercise now, tell your body, “I love you.”

Stop reading and let the feelings flow.

How did that feel?

Did it seem unnatural, or uncomfortable? Did some parts of your body feel left out? Did they feel that you weren’t talking to them because they’re not worthy of your love?

Is this telling you that some parts of your body are not in as good a shape as you know they could be? Would they be more loveable if you toned them up a bit? With better nutrition and exercise could you make them more attractive?

Love is a powerful motivator. People will travel to the ends of the earth to be with those they love. They will spend fortunes to adorn those they love. They will labour long and hard to provide for those they love. Many vendettas have been caused by love.

Simply by declaring your love for your body, by treating it like a well-loved friend, you will find strong motivation to take the action necessary to get your body into great shape.

Then you’ll get a great benefit, as your body looks better and better, so you’ll become more attracted to it and love it more and more. Then you’ll want to do even more for it. You’ll find yourself caught up in a never-ending upward spiral of bodily improvements which will help create a longer and happier life.

A good place to start your good intention is to sign The Slim Pledge.

Is the reality of your body in conflict with your self-image?

When this question first occurred to me I quickly did a body audit.

I see myself as tall, slim and elegant. But I needed to check whether the reality was in line with this self-image. Every morning, when I emerge naked from my bedroom, all I have to do is look to my left, down the landing, to where there is a full-length mirror on the wall. There I see my body in profile, as it really is.

It was the shock of seeing my protruding belly that kick-started my weight loss campaign.

The frightening point here is that only a few days before my doctor had issued me with a warning about my cholesterol level. That was a bit of a scare, but it didn’t really get me going.

It was the shock of realising that other people were not seeing the image of me that I was seeing, and was hoping that I was portraying, that really got me going.

Try This Ideal Body Audit

You need to be somewhere quiet to do this. It will work best if you are lying flat on your back or sitting, relaxed in a comfortable chair. Close your eyes and focus your attention on your body.

Start with your feet, how large are they? Not much you can do about them.

Move up your legs to your calf muscles. Is there any muscle showing there? Are they fat or lean and shapely?

Now your thighs, are they fat or lean and muscular?

Your butt, how large is it? Is it fat and wobbly or lean and firm?

Your gut, does it protrude or hang over your belt, or is it flat?

Your breasts, are they firm and the right size for your frame or are they large and flabby?

Is your back firm and muscular or fleshy?

And your arms, particularly your upper arms, are they firm or flabby.

Now, ask yourself these questions: “is your body the body you really want?” “Is this the body you wish to see when you look in the mirror?” “Does it make you feel proud when other people look at your body, or do you hope that they will focus more strongly on your hair style or your clothes?”

The acid question is this: “If you had to appear in public without makeup, clothes or well-styled hair, would you feel proud of your body or would you be trying to hide?”

How To Put Your Body Right

I guess you wouldn’t still be reading this if you’re entirely happy with the way your body looks right now. So, what can you do it put it right.

The best place to start is by remembering what you have done to get your body into the state it’s in now.

If you’ve got excess fat anywhere, it’s because you’ve eaten too many fatty foods and consumed sugar and allowed it to turn to fat. So the first action you need to take is to stop eating so much fat and sugar and start eating fresh, healthy foods.

There’s a lot of sugar and calories in sodas and alcoholic drinks, so they need to be replaced with water and natural juices.

You have probably neglected exercise. Remember that man is descended from apes who are very energetic. He then became a hunter who needed strength and energy to survive. He then became a hard working gatherer and farmer who used his muscles daily. So your genetic make-up dictates that you need to work your muscles daily.

Use These Motivation Techniques

You may have made resolutions to lose weight before only to find that temptation and a lack of willpower caused you to backslide.

Doing your first body audit gave you some powerful Away Motivation – a body you would like to change away from.

Now do another body audit. Close your eyes and run your mind’s eye over your body from toes to head. See each part of your body the way you would truly love it to be.

Once you have a clear image of your Ideal Body, fix that picture in your mind. Then stand back and look at your whole Ideal Body. Allow yourself to feel really good about how your Ideal Body looks. Big smile now, feel the joy of looking the way you want to look! This is your objective. Keep it clearly in mind, always. This is your Towards Motivation, the goal you are moving towards.

When you feel tempted to snack or have an alcoholic drink you should instantly bring to mind your Ideal Body and tell yourself that what you really desire is not a chocolate bar but your Ideal Body.

Recommended Resources

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If You’re Serious About Losing Weight and Creating Your Ideal Body you should consider becoming a member of our Elite Weight Loss Fraternity. We test it constantly and believe it to be THE most powerful weight loss programme on the Internet because you learn how to hypnotize yourself to generate strong willpower and help people overcome temptations. Membership is strictly limited, so you should check immediately to see if you can join. It will ensure that you achieve your weight loss goals. Discover The Elite Weight Loss Fraternity now.

At the Hypnothon on June 1 on online TV I will introduce The Ideal Body Challenge.

I just dropped by our online TV studio and made a quick video about this Challenge. You can have a look below.

For the past 60 days I have been on The Ideal Body Challenge myself to test it out to make sure it works as Susanne and I believed it would.

What has happened to me?

Well, I have lost weight, my waist has shrunk by one inch, my butt is smaller, my whole body is better toned, I feel more energetic and much better about myself. And hypnosis has made this a whole lot easier to accomplish.

Can’t stop because it’s Sunday and I am off to a birthday party which promises: drinks, food and dancing and I plan to do all three.

More details about the Hypnothon here:

Talk to you tomorrow after my cholesterol test.

Recommended Resources

If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe via RSS feed or by email updates. You will receive fresh, new content free of charge!

Receive the new eBook: Eat Yourself Beautiful a collection of healthy, tasteful foods and recipes that will help you lose weight, improve your complexion and boost your energy. The book is a reminder that it’s not about dieting; it’s WHAT you eat that counts. Just send your email address under Sign Up To Lose Weight and we’ll send you the book by return email.

If you’re serious about losing weight and keeping a slim figure for the rest of your life - join the Private Weight Loss Success Formula today and begin creating your ideal body.

Just how much do you love your body?

This is serious because you need your body to get around, to enjoy life and to attract members of the opposite sex. And it you don’t love your body, why should anyone else?

So these questions have been devised to help you ascertain just how much you really love and care about your body:

Q. How many McDonalds do you eat at a sitting?

A. Quarter Pounder with cheese contains 510 calories. A medium portion of French Fries adds another 380 calories, total 890 calories. For a healthy diet you should be aiming to consume around 2,000 calories a day. So one 7 oz burger with 4 oz of fries is using up nearly half of your daily allowance. Makes you think, doesn’t it.

Q. How many portions of fruit and vegetables do you eat a day?

A. Fruit and veggies are your best source of essential vitamins and minerals. If you’re not eating yours it’s like NOT putting good fuel in your car, your body won’t run as well as it could.

Q. How much chocolate do you eat a day?

A. Chocolate is good for you, hurray - but only in limited quantities of dark chocolate. 2 ounces of dark chocolate up to 3 times a week is good for you.

Q. How much alcohol do you drink a day?

A. A glass of wine probably does you good. Medical opinion seems to be divided on whether it should be red of white, so have whatever you like. But more than one glass and you’re starting to damage your body cells, particularly your brain cells, and that’s not good.

Q. Do you drink water, when you’re thirsty?

A. When you’re thirsty your body needs water and not energy. So save your calories that you would get from a soda for your food. Water gives your skin moisture, so you don’t get dry skin and (gasp) deep wrinkles.

Q. Do you eat too little?

A. When you eat below 1200 kcal per day you body goes into hunger mode because you’re not giving it enough energy. This causes it to try to conserve energy, which actually makes it harder for you to lose weight. Your body’s not like a machine; you can’t just decrease calorific intake and expect to lose weight; a body needs a balanced diet to lose weight. Most women need to eat around 1500-1800 kcal per day.

If you’re not feeding your body to the best of your knowledge and ability you’re telling it you don’t love it.

If you don’t love your body, how long do you expect the relationship to last?

For a longer life, look after your body.

Recommended Resources

If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe via RSS feed or by email updates. You will receive fresh, new content free of charge!

Receive the new eBook: Eat Yourself Beautiful a collection of healthy, tasteful foods and recipes that will help you lose weight, improve your complexion and boost your energy. The book is a reminder that it’s not about dieting; it’s WHAT you eat that counts. Just send your email address under Sign Up To Lose Weight and we’ll send you the book by return email.

If you’re serious about losing weight and keeping a slim figure for the rest of your life - join the Private Weight Loss Success Formula today and begin creating your ideal body.