Many of you heard that there was a major fire at the Havey house, and 90 percent of the contents and interior was destroyed. It has been 2 weeks and a day (October 16th - a day that won't soon be forgotten by us) since the fire took most of our belongings and many cherished items. But through all of this, you quickly learn to take inventory of things that aren't tangible, but far more important - family, friends, your health, and ok, even pets! As I'll explain in a minute, even though Medifast can't save your life in the event of a fire, it sure has helped get the nutrition we need in a time when pans, utensils, most kitchen appliances, and just time does not permit preparation of a healthy meal.

Reflecting on the incident 2 weeks after the fact, it is easy to see how having fitness and health matters more in situations like this, most notably on the different types of stress that ensue during and shortly afterwards. Just responding to the event takes a certain degree of fitness. Thinking the fire could be put out or somewhat contained, Julia grabbed the outside hose not knowing how bad it was blazing on the inside. This wasn't going to work, and endangered her own life. Even the dogs got out after the firemen entered, and ran off. Chasing them wasn't easy (that lasted for a minute, since they ran too far away, and too fast). And the stress that sets in afterwards isn't easy to deal with either. We thought about the people affected by Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, and how this pales in comparison. This perspective helps reduce the potential stress level, and makes us thankful that a) no one was hurt, and b) that we still have our dwelling even if the contents were destroyed.

The many things that have to be done after this kind of incident were unbeknownst to us (as I'm sure most people, unless you go through it), and are nothing short of tedious and time-consuming. From finding a place to live in the interim, to making a list of every single item that was destroyed (down to the last box of bandaids!), sure can put stress on your life while trying to maintain the 'work as usual' modus operandi.

All this gets me thinking about the quality of health and fitness that is so important in helping deal with these added stresses. A poor diet and lack of fitness would add an exponential amount of unnecessary stress to the situation. We've managed to get to the gym 3 times in the past two weeks, while also keeping to a relatively good diet. When you're use to eating healthy and exercising regularly, you can definitely feel the difference if you get off track even for a few days. Having peace of mind and maintaining a level head is much easier when you're feeding yourself healthy food, and taking the time to sweat for an hour. Family and friends have helped with food and meals in the first few days. Preparing meals is not something that time has permitted, so having the Medifast Shakes and Oatmeals have been very helpful in getting some good nutrition, fast.

Now with moving to a rental house, organizing it, going through the potentially salvagable clothes, setting up computers, internet connections, and trying to communicate with everyone again - all requires a minimum level of health and fitness. Let's face it, the more energy and fitness that you have in your life, the better able you are to deal with unfortunate circumstances. I guess the message here is that you just can't put a price on your health and wellness. It should be something that we all value, cherish, and take the time to not just have, but have at the most optimal level possible. You just never know what life will throw at you where you'll be glad that you are able to respond accordingly, because you have the strength, the energy, and the mindset that says I know I can, and I know I will get through this tough time.

Thanks to all who have sent their thoughts and prayers. It's always in times of trouble of difficulty that brings out the caring, good-nature of everyone. Now, be sure you don't wait for an unfortunate event to make you decide to take action to lose weight, get fit, or just improve your health. There's no time like the present!

Dr. Patrick and Julia Havey

Medifast is something we have endorsed and believe to be beneficial in supporting good health and assisting with weight management. Medifast is now a meal plan that has a good balance of macronutrients (i.e. more protein), and makes it easier to avoid the unhealthy foods that are so prevalent everywhere in 'fast foods' (one mistake that many people make in situations like this, but is even more important to avoid!). Medifast is not a healthy lifestyle, but healthy foods (you can get a full meal plan or get specific items) that will help you get to or maintain a healthy weight.

By the way, the neighbors caught the dogs four hours after they went missing. : )

You can't keep spending money and expect more people to have better health and live at a health weight. Medifast is a meal and diet plan that can help with weight loss and a healthy weight, but more must be done for overall health. The solution for better health is not just Medifast, but getting more people educated that they have to be responsible for their own health, and health care if needed. Here's more from WSJ...

The McCain health-care insurance tax credit may well be one of the most misunderstood proposals of this presidential election. Barack Obama has been ruthless in his attacks. But the tax credit is highly progressive and will provide a powerful incentive for people to purchase health insurance. These features under normal circumstances should endear Democrats to the proposal.

There has been a lot of rhetoric and misstatements, but what exactly does Sen. McCain have in mind? He would replace the current income tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance with a refundable tax credit -- $5,000 for those who purchase family coverage and $2,500 for individual coverage. Mr. McCain would also reform insurance markets to stem the growth in health insurance premiums.

What many may not realize is that the federal government already "spends" roughly $300 billion to $400 billion through the tax code to encourage people to pay for their health care through employer-sponsored health insurance. This subsidy takes the form of the exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance from both income and payroll taxes. Read more...

Botton Line: Continuing to spend money on so-called 'issues' or 'problems' is not always the solution, and most often not. (For instance, more money on Education is not the solution, but a full year-long school year without Summer's off for wasting of the brain!). Each individual must take responsibility for their health. Why is it that someone else (government) should be responsible for 'taking care of us'? The only person who is going to take care of you that you should always be able to count on is - YOU! A healthy diet, regular exercise, plenty of fruits and vegetables, plenty of water, avoiding the bad stuff - those are the things that will bring good health. The government won't bring you health, peace of mind, or anything else worth having (unless they stop taxing us at ridiculous rates!). Start making healthier choices for a better life!

HWI

If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

The subject of diet pills and weight loss drugs comes up more than we'd like to admit. We always like to provide a rebuttal for use of such 'diet drug' advances to make it clear of the repurcussions and consequences of putting your faith in such products for weight loss. With a healthy meal plan like Medifast for your diet, you can be assured that not only will you be supporting a healthy weight, but also avoiding the dangerous effects that can accompany diet pills. The Medifast Diet won't harm your health, but help it as well as your weight. Here are some reasons you may want to reconsider using diet pills or diet drugs.

First, the most obvious: diet drugs do not come without side effects, or unwanted effects that can do harm to the body. Your body is not deficient of these drugs. There is no lack of these substances in your bloodstream. There is just no need that your body has for them. The same could be said of acetaminophen, or aspirin, no matter what a drug company says about the many benefits. Second, there are always side effects that are unwanted and can cause harm, even death, to the user. And lastly, there are always other options that are safer, healthier, and most times more effective...for most any condition or health problem. Here's more on a new diet drug that has hit the market --

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 22 (HealthDay News) -- A new diet drug, tesofensine, produces twice the weight loss of currently available obesity drugs, Danish researchers report. "Tesofensine produces a weight loss of approximately 10 percent more than placebo and diet in obese patients," said lead researcher Dr. Arne Astrup, from the Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Life Sciences, at the University of Copenhagen. Other drugs produce only about 5 percent weight loss, Astrup noted. This drug could replace the need for gastric bypass surgery in some obese patients. "There is an enormous gap between the existing weight-loss compounds and gastric surgery," Astrup said. "Tesofensine could close that gap. If you combine the drug with an effective diet, you could probably reach the 20 percent weight loss seen in gastric surgery." "Tesofensine could compete with gastric surgery and be offered to those who are below the threshold for surgery or for patients who do not wish [to have] gastric surgery," Astrup said. "There are also patients who cannot tolerate gastric surgery." Read more...

Bottom line: When it comes to a diet or weight loss, the real need is to develop a healthy lifestyle. Medifast can be a healthy part of a healthy lifestyle, and with consistent healthy actions in place, weight loss will inevitably happen. The result of building a life with healthy habits is just that, overall good health. This will also reduce the chances for every other health problem. And wouldn't that be a better use of your focus, time, resources, and efforts? Or would you rather put your faith in a pill to lose weight, with no regard for what the effects may be on your overall health?

If you're not sure where to start, taking one step in the direction of better health is the easiest way to go. In the Vice Busting Diet Plans, drinking water in place of every other beverage is the first step that has a direct impact on weight and health, and may be the most important actions.

The Health & Wellness Institute

If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

Medifast is one plan that we recommend to help with the obesity epidemic. This is just a meal plan, while emphasis needs to be placed on overall lifestyle habits. With so many other issues at the forefront of political discussion, there aren't many political leaders who understand the importance of a healthy diet to the health of the nation - and not just the physical health, but the mental, financial, emotional, et al. Diet, healthy eating, and a healthy lifestyle are really the most important factors that transcend all other statistics, and have the greatest bearing on how stable a nation can be - one reason that Medifast diet may be a good choice. Let's face it, a healthy diet and lifestyle permeates every area of health of a nation - from thoughts to decisions, actions to productivity, and most of all stability. People who have a healthy diet are thinking more clearly, making better decisions, and providing intelligent contributions to the issues that pertain to their own person, their family, their community, and the nation. Here is one governor who is taking some action to combat obesity that is effecting the upcoming generations --

You may not know it, but one in four children are either overweight or obese. The First Lady of New York State is on a mission to prevent childhood obesity. Michelle Paige Paterson was in Buffalo at Sheehan Health Network luncheon on preventing pediatric obesity.

The Governor's wife is a firm believer in healthy eating and exercise. In her role, she plans to criss-cross the state encouraging young people to eat healthy. While speaking with 2 On Your Side's Claudine Ewing, the First Lady of New York, said she thinks "middle school is the age to reach out to kids." It was the age when Mrs. Paterson got interested in eating healthy and exercising.

For many parents the challenge is finding the tasty foods that kids will enjoy. "Kids can still eat a hamburger, maybe on whole wheat bread, or if you do some pasta, do whole wheat pasta," says Paterson. Read more...

Bottom line: We must stop ignoring the importance of a healthy diet, and a big part of that is providing education about the negative impact that an unhealthy diet has on a person, their family, and their finances. The problem with health care is that a majority of Americans don't have it. That's right, they don't have health care. If there was enough care, there wouldn't be so many health problems, and most likely the higher costs associated with it. Take responsibility for your health by making healthy choices in your diet.

If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed. It's a start.

The Health & Wellness Institute

Medifast is one choice that you can make with confidence, without having to worry that what you thought was healthy, isn't. Medifast is a healthy meal plan with a good balance of macronutrients. While some food products may fool you into thinking that they're healthy, you may unknowingly be getting more calories, sugar, sodium, or a lack of healthy nutrients. You don't have to worry about that with Medifast.

With any foods or diet products, it is important to read the label. Sometimes, it's just better to avoid most of these foods altogether because it's not about whether or not you can get away with the calorie content, but should be more about whether or not it's a healthy product. For instance, you'd be better off eating 3 grapefruits for a total of 300 calories, than it would be to, say, drink a 12 ounce soft drink that has 220 calories. Here's more on the subject of foods that may fool you and what might be a better recommendation --

If you want to lose weight, it may seem like a good idea to trade candy bars for granola bars or to swap bacon and eggs at breakfast for the classic bagel (it’s shaped like a zero; how bad could it be?).

Sadly, it’s just not that simple. Customers’ nutrition knowledge is rising, so food marketers are desperate to attract the right kind of attention from the eating public. So they’re twisting nutritional buzzwords to trick us into eating the kinds of foods that can actually help make us fat. We need to be more careful than ever to make sure we’re feeding ourselves and our families the very best real health foods — not sugar-infused calorie bombs disguised as weight-loss foods.

Read up for our latest batch of dietary phonies. They may look good on the front label, but they’ll get you in the end if you're not careful.

Granola Bar
200 calories
15 g sugars
 
Eat this instead!
1 oz cheddar cheese with Triscuits
150 calories
5 g sugars
 
Ever wonder what keeps a granola bar together? The answer: high-fructose corn syrup, which quickly raises blood sugar and cancels out most of the potential benefits the granola almonds and oats might give you. Switch over to good old-fashioned cheese and crackers, and you trade sugar and calories for protein and fiber. It's a big deal that will make you smaller, as will steering clear of the sugar bombs. By the way, these are the most sugar-packed foods in America.

Yogurt with Fruit on the Bottom
190 calories
30 g sugars
 
Eat this instead!
Plain yogurt with fresh fruit mixed in
110 calories
15 g sugars

Read more...

Bottom line: Choose the foods you eat carefully. There are really only 1% or less of the total food products on the market that are even worth considering. This is one reason that we recommend Medifast for those who need to lose weight, so there is no difficulty in choosing foods - healthy is not an issue. If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

The Health & Wellness Institute

A major focus that we place emphasis on for those who use Medifast diet and meal plan for their weight loss is to build a healthy lifestyle in the process. Just using Medifast to lose weight is not enough. We know from experience and observation that weight loss for the sake of getting to a healthy weight is likely to fail when there lacks motivating reasons for wanting to be fit. For instance, if you have always wanted to experience white water rafting, hiking, snow skiing, or similar outdoor activities that may not seem possible with an extra 75 pounds on your body, then you may have some tangible reasons for improving your fitness level. And enjoying things that require movement are a step to having a foundation for fitness and health.

It is important to have a weight loss plan that helps you adjust your lifestyle accordingly so you develop the habits that will keep you fit, and at the same time give you more opportunity to do things that are fun, and many times are also fitness-related. This is why The Vice Busting Diet Plans, although named such so there is no confusion about the fact that it is for those who want to lose weight, has a specific step-by-step plan for improving health, improving diet, and making a transition to a healthy lifestyle. Not a lifestyle that we set for you, but a plan that allows you to grow into the lifestyle that is right for you. Here's more on the sujbect from Medical News Today --

The more you do, the more benefits you gain. That's the message of the first comprehensive science-based guidelines the federal government has issued for Americans to improve their health and reduce their risk of chronic diseases.

Many people know that regular physical activity over months and years can produce long-term health benefits. The guidelines were developed to inform policymakers and health providers about the amounts, types, and intensity of physical activity needed to help Americans aged 6 and older improve their health and reduce their risk of chronic diseases. Read more...

Bottom line: Enjoying activities that burn calories is the way to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight. And as you lose more weight and increase your fitness level, you will have the opportunity to engage in more activities that may be higher calorie-burners.

HWI

If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

Most people lack a healthy diet for many reasons. Medifast is one recommending plan that is available that may help get you back on track to a healthy diet, and body. Lack of fiber is one factor that seems to be missing in too many diet plans. Add to that the fact that too many people are consuming too many fat-filled products like hamburgers and hotdogs, and you're no doubt going to see problems with the gastrointestinal tract - constipation, diarrhea, and even life-threatening conditions like colon cancer. Medifast can help you get more fiber in your diet as well.

Fiber comes in many forms, but vegetables are the most common and healthiest. You can get fiber from fruits, oats, and even some products like milled flaxseed or psyllium husk. For that matter, a leather glove would provide a lot of fiber. In every diet, fiber is important for keeping the bowels 'clean', and also keeping the blood 'clean'. Oatmeal contains the best balance between soluble and insoluble fiber, and according to Harvard's health department, is 'the perfect balance...and the dieter's dream food'.

From the Dole Nutrition Institute -- Eating more fiber -- and less fat -- can triple your weight loss. Finnish researchers analyzed the diets of 500 middle-age obese men and women, and found that those who consumed more fiber and less fat lost three times the weight over a 3-year period than those consuming a high-fat, low-fiber diet. This same group was also 62% less likely to develop diabetes!

How does fiber work such wonders? For one thing, fiber helps with appetite control, because it bulks up in your stomach, so you feel fuller longer. Traveling through your digestive system, fiber carries away some fat. This -- plus the lower calorie count of fiber-rich foods like fruits and vegetables -- reduces total energy intake. Certain kinds of fiber -- like the resistant starch found in bananas -- directly increase fat burning by blocking conversion of some carbohydrates into glucose. Finally, the overall nutrient density of fruit and vegetables helps curtail deficiency-fueled overeating.

How much fiber (and less fat) is needed to get these effects? The "biggest losers" in the latest study consumed more than 32 grams per 2,000 calories. This is not as difficult as it sounds: Start with a banana with breakfast, have a medium pear as a midmorning snack, a small romaine salad and a bowl of chili for lunch, a half-cup of raspberries as an afternoon snack and add a side of broccoli to the baked potato you have with dinner and you're at 32 grams! In addition, reducing fat intake to less than 30% of total calories is easily achieved by favoring fish and vegetable proteins over red meat and full-fat dairy. read more...

Bottom line: It's a lot easier to get more fiber in your diet than you might think. Add a fruit, a vegetable, a bowl of Oatmeal, or even a small glass of psyllium husk each day for better health. This one action alone could start peeling the extra fat off you're body if you stick with it for a few weeks or months, consistently.

The Health & Wellness Institute

If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

In the world of meal plans for weight loss, Medifast offers a solution.

There is something terribly exciting about change. Fall is a great time of year for visual changes. In many parts of the world, when fall sets in the trees change and the once green leaves transform into majestic shades of red, yellow and orange. It often seems like overnight that the leaves change, but it takes an entire year of the growing process to get the tree ready to show its glory. Like a journey of self-improvement, and the desire to lose weight, change takes time. Things cannot be rushed. If they are, mistakes are made, false hope is created for results that are not possible without the patience needed to realize a goal. Even the mere idea of change often stops us from doing what needs to be done to reach that goal. Even the goal itself precludes most people from taking action, because the goal is an endpoint, a finish line, a completion. The real goal should be more of a starting point to a new life that offers opportunity - to do, be, create, have, experience, and live a fuller life! Medifast can be a solution to get moving in that direction, for weight loss and better health.

As human beings, we really tend to greet change with a degree of discomfort, fear of the unknown perhaps or maybe it is just that we are set in our ways and WANT the benefits of what change may bring, but don't really want to DO what is required to realize that change.

Where do you stand on change? Most of us get comfortable in our daily routines and tasks. It's the life that we know and anything beyond that is the unknown, and that can be uncomfortable even if the results offer the possibility of great opportunities, more health, energy, happiness, and fulfillment.

Getting attached to the 'the way things are' can make for a very complacent existent, where we stop dreaming, creating, visualizing, and to some extent hoping for better things to come. Change is what makes those things possible. Change doesn't mean doing something different every day ahead of you. It may only mean one new action that is started and instilled as a daily habit, that in turn creates a ripple effect in other areas of life. In the example of Medifast, just changing what you eat is one step in the grand scheme of better health. For a bigger goal in life, maybe daily visualization for 10 minutes is one change that can open up the door to more ideas and dreams, and bring about a desire to take action for achieving something you've put off. (Weight loss should not be one of them; as it should be fitness that enables you the ability to achieve a goal!). In the end, change itself is a good thing.

A survey that was conducted on the juliahavey.com website showed that dieters have been dieting for an average of 20 years, and obviously not “solving” the problem - losing the weight and living healthy. That would lead one to think that we really must fight for a change to a permanently healthy lifestyle.

Are you afraid of what the change to a healthy lifestyle will do to your life as you know it? There was a woman who approached us with her weight issues, and conveyed her irrational belief that IF/when she lost weight, she would suddenly turn into a woman of ill-repute because men would desire her. This kept her from being the person that she knew she was on the inside because of the preconcieved notion that being fit means being sexy, and being sexy is a bad thing with negative consequences. Instead, she could focus on being healthy first, and if she didn't want to be sexy than so be it. Health is not an issue of looking good. Looking good is just one possible result of being healthy and fit, and even that is in the eye of the beholder.

Take these analogies: If you let the house go, it will get messy. If you don't do maintenance around your home, eventually it will fall into disarray. If a tree doesn’t get water and sunlight, it would not live up to it’s potential and could die a premature death.  Your body is no different. If you take pride in being your town's 'Martha Stewart', that's fine. But don't allow your attention to only be on your home, crafts and baking perfect cookies...make sure you pay equal attention to your real home! YOUR dwelling place....YOUR BODY!

By the time nature is ready for it’s springtime show, tulips can be popping up in your yard and a tone body can be popping out of your current body! With the proper care and nutrition, you can realize your potential, your dreams! You KNOW what you are capable of! Get busy and show the world!

If you worry that you can't live as you do now if you are a 'health nut', you are wrong. Another dieter explained to us that she is mourning the loss of life as she knows it and is not ready to let go and give in to healthy living. We discussed this issue and she came to the realization that time won't wait for her to decide. The real hesitation was in the effort that she believed was necessary to make the necessary changes. LIFE as you know it does not change just because you are eating healthier foods and getting some exercise. You don't suddenly go into seclusion because you are choosing healthy actions. You can still be the life of any party if you're not eating from the cheese platter and dessert trays.

Every success story is no different - they're just one more try beyond the last failure. Unfortunately, there isn't a 'Life Manual' that lays out the exact road to success. We all have the trials and tribulations to experience. That is what makes achieving any goal all the more satisfying.

Start with one change in the direction of better health, and build on it. Just one new action incorporated in your life each week is 52 new changes a year. That's a lot! Plan 10 new actions that you know will benefit your health and your life, and set a goal to make those a part of your daily life in 1 year's time. Now that is something that you should be able to digest, and realistically create. Get started today!

If you are interested in a meal plan to assist with your weight loss and health, Medifast provides a diet that makes it easy to plan the foods and meals you will eat. Click here - Medifast - to try the Medifast diet meal plan to help you get started losing weight. Medifast is physician-developed.

Step by step diet plans for making the transition to a healthy life!