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How to manage Bland Diet

What is a bland diet? It is a diet specially set to treat certain gastrointestinal or stomach problems such as heartburns, ulcers and gas.

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An answer to a question, what is a bland diet, is that it is a simple treatment for people suffering from any one or more gastrointestinal disorders such as chronic gastritis, ulcer, esophagitis and dyspepsia.

Bland diet is a dietary regimen for people suffering from stomach disorders. Hence, it is quite understood that ingredients of a bland diet are soft food items, which are easy to digest with a capacity to keep the acidity to low levels. Questions about diet may be asked to your physicians and he/she can suggest the diet or recommend a dietician to do it.

Diet medical questions may include the queries about the food stuffs to eat and food stuffs to avoid during the time while a person experien ces any gastrointestinal disorders. However, before a dietician could decide the bland diet for a person, he/she needs to seek answers to several medical questions related to the person such as any food allergies or irritations associated with any food items and emotions medical questions of people.

Bland Diet:

The diet prescribed as a bland diet will include food items that are easy to digest and low in fiber and acid contents. Even giving up alcohol and smoking is advised while patient is on bland diet. Also a patient is advised to have 4 to 6 light meals after regular interval to avoid heavy and large meals.

Chewing food properly and eating slowly helps in the digestion of the food. Adequate sleep, avoiding smoking and controlling anxiety are supportive treatments for the standard treatment of the problem.

Allowed Food Items:

• Dairy Products
Milk, cheese, yogurt with low-fats and other dairy products are easily digested and hence, can be included as a part of bland diet. However, there is no restriction on ice-creams and one may consume even ice creams during bland diet, but it should not have any product such as nuts that are not allowed in bland diet.

• Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Fresh vegetables and fruits are allowed to a bland dieter. However, while carrot, squash, green peas are good to eat in a bland diet, broccoli, onions and green peeper should be avoided as it forms gas. In fruits, oranges, grapefruits, and bananas are allowed.

• Proteins
Protein requirement of the body, while on a bland diet should be met with soy products and meat. Fried chicken and greasy hamburgers are not allowed to be consumed, while grilled and baked chicken is allowed.
Low-fat peanut butter and eggs are also efficient to meet the body’s protein requirement in a bland diet.

• Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are contained in whole grain breads, pasta, oatmeal, corn flakes, white rice and sweet potatoes. All these food items are allowed.

Bland diet is designed for treating certain medical circumstances such as gastrointestinal problems. Hence, to answer what is a bland diet, we can say that this is a diet that aims at improving the digestion with the help of a timed-routine diet and soft to digest food items. Once the problem is controlled patients can return to their normal diet.

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When You Want to Lose Weight and Your Relationships are

Change is hard for everyone. It’s human nature to want to stay where you are, to protect yourself and to preserve the status quo. In making deep and permanent lifestyle changes that affect your weight, you’ll encounter lots of “voices.”

First, there are the little voices in your head that say change isn’t necessary. Coaches call these voices “gremlins” and some of the things they might say are “I should be loved just as I am,” “Why should my weight matter?” or “I’m not as fat (or out-of-shape) as so-n-so.”

In addition to these little gremlin voices, there may also be some big voices! These are the people around you who also want to preserve the status quo.

Maybe your husband or wife doesn’t want to see you lose weight and then regain it again, like you’ve done in the past. Perhaps they hate to see the disappointment and sadness you feel when that happens. And they just might like to have chocolate cake in the house at all times too.

Your best friend might love having a binge-buddy or just someone who likes to eat as much as she does and she fears losing that companionship. I was waiting to be seated at a restaurant recently and there were two women standing in front of me. As the hostess approached, one of them turned to the other and said, “Let’s decide right now, are we dieting today or not?” Obviously, whatever they decided, they were more comfortable taking the same approach to lunch rather than following their own needs.

Perhaps your sister likes to control others. She gets her jollies by watching other people pig out. This is a dynamic I’ve witnessed in a lot of relationships when one person is thin but addicted to dieting and the other person is overweight. One of the ways the thin person stays motivated is to push food on others and (negatively) feel good because she’s NOT eating. This is the person who brings elaborate and high caloric dishes to the potluck and then sits in the corner with a few veggies on a plate and can’t take her eyes off people eating too much food!

No matter what the relationship might be, if you are trying to change your eating habits, your fitness lifestyle, or simply cut back on certain foods for health reasons, odds are you will encounter some relationship difficulties along with way.

Here are some things to watch out for:

1. Do you throw your efforts away when they aren’t met with excitement from friends or family?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard things like “I was doing fine until Susi showed up with donuts.” Remember, Susi doesn’t control the pathway from your hand to your mouth. YOU are in charge of that.

2. Are you attuned to subtle sabotage?

Subtle sabotage often appears just when your weight loss starts to show, usually around the 10-pound mark. You go shopping with a friend and she suddenly wants to visit the cookie shack. You’re at a family dinner and your mother keeps passing dishes of food to you every two minutes. Your wife backs out of a commitment to go to the gym, citing something vague like “I just don’t feel like it.” Chances are your weight loss is showing.

Be aware. These people may have some personal investment in your being overweight! It’s like the potluck diva who never eats, they may negatively feel better about themselves if you are heavier than they are. Or they may be unhappy about their weight and feel powerless to change. Misery loves company but you don’t want to be miserable any more!

3. Are you strong enough to eat differently in group situations?

You’re having dinner with a group of friends. Everyone is ordering burgers and cheese fries. Are you focused enough to order grilled chicken and veggies? Do you feel too out-of-place?

Group situations will appear at work as well as with family and friends. Be prepared to deal with them. You might start by not following the crowd with a more sympathetic (or higher esteem!) group. Look for subtle saboteurs here too. There may be a coworker who’ll chide you “Are you dieting again?” but there’s also the friend who doesn’t say a word but eyes your plate with a nasty expression on her face.

The bottom line for all relationship issues that surround food and eating is that you are going to encounter them. And you’re going to have to deal with them.

As a coach, I help my clients deal with these kinds of issues on a daily basis. I’m often asked, “Will my friendships change?” To this, I say, “Yes, they will ALL change. The good ones will change for the better, the not-so-good ones will go away and you will build new ones that are healthier and more positive.”

Think about it. If all you have in common with a friend is that you socialize around eating, do you really have that much in common? Shopaholics encounter this too. If they have a change in income level and can’t shop for a while, their shopping buddies disappear! Well, there wasn’t a whole of deep connection or support happening anyway.

You may not have a whole lot of control over other people’s reaction to your personal change. But you can support yourself fully. Be open and honest about what you’re trying to do. Stay motivated no matter what. Never take on negative vibes from anyone else. Keep your goals in mind at all times. In short, be strong!

The longer you work on changing negative habits, the more successful you will be. It’s a persistence game. And, as you stay true to your goals over a substantial period of time, others will see that you are serious and either support you or… go away!

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5 Diet Plan Saving Tips !

Guilty and frustrated from cheating on your diet plan? These diet plan saving tips will keep you on track!

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It’s nine thirty at night and you have followed your new diet plan perfectly to a tee all day. A pizza advertisement comes on the commercial break of your favorite show and you notice it is close to your next mealtime.
Up to the kitchen you go to eat your next meal. When in the fridge pulling out your nicelyprepared diet plan meal, you notice some left over Fettuccini Alfredo your wife or roommate brought home. Sure looks good you think as you catch a little bit of saliva about to drip on your shirt!

“Just a little taste won’t hurt my diet plan,” you justify…

“ I’ve stuck to my diet plan all day……”

A little taste and before you know it you tell yourself the extra carbs and calories will be a good boost to your workout tomorrow!

An hour later your gut is stretching and Indigestion plagues you from cheating on your diet plan!!

“I should have stuck to my diet plan!” is going through your head as you lay down to have nightmares of a fat ass! “Tomorrow I’ll stick to my diet plan “, you chant in your head!But you fall from your diet plan only a day or two later!

The occasional stray from your diet plan can really add up!And billboards,tv’s, radios and people are everywhere pushing fast foods and junk to sabotage your diet plan!

Here are five diet plan saving tips to arm yourself against the onslaught of the Cheating War!

Diet Plan Tip #1 – Eat Slowly – Take your time when you sit down to eat.

The chances you will stuff yourself or overeat diminish and you will reach the point of satiety much more quickly if you eat slowly!

The more you are satisfied with what you have eaten the less likely you will continue to think of food. That chocolate Black Forest cake won’t be as tempting either!

Diet Plan Tip #2 – Have Delicious Meals That Fit Your Meal Plan Prepared Ahead Of Time.

Having meals prepared ahead of time makes it convenient to eat according to a plan and on schedule.

You can make it more convenient to stick to your diet plan than it is to eat that bag of candy by having your diet plan meals prepared and available when it is time to eat– and when you gethungry.

Diet Plan Tip #3 – Get Used To Eating For Your Purpose Instead Of For Your Taste Buds.

Satisfying your taste buds when you get the urge to gorge down a Big Mac will never develop a healthy, lean, muscular physique! Keep in mind you are eating to develop a lean, healthy muscular physique every time you open your mouth! The temporary taste satisfaction of a jelly-filled donut will be gone real fast but the empty calories you just devoured can defeat a whole day’s worth of bodybuilding effort!

Diet Plan Tip #4 – Be creative with your cooking to make sticking to your diet enjoyable.

Ideally, with proper preparation and some reciperesearch you can create delicious mouth watering meals that meet your diet plan criteria. Learn to cook. Employ spices from other parts of the world. India and China are twocountries with interesting choices to really spice up your diet plan. When you don’t have to force feed yourself with your nose plugged the chances are much higher you can stick to your diet plan more easily!

Diet Plan Tip #5 – Drink Water.

Drinking water between meals can help to reduce your hunger pains temporarily by giving a sense of fullness. For those of you that sabotage your diet plan munching here and there,keeping a water bottle with you wherever you go can really help.Just sip away when its oral satisfaction rather than hunger driving you.

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