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Reading food labels can overwhelm us, especially when we rely on them to help us make the right decisions about food that will help our weight loss program. We can however learn to interpret food labels as part of our portion control eating plan. If you know what information to look for on pre-packaged food you can chose wisely and avoid being mislead.

Make sure that you understand the information provided about the content and number of each serving in your package. Don’t be fooled by details of fat in one serve if you plan to eat more than one at each sitting. For example, if there are three servings in one pack and each contain 7gm of fat, be sure to realize that 2 servings will contain 14 gm fat and if you eat the whole package, you will consume a staggering 21gm all at once. When you are really clear about how much fat each serving contains you can decide how much you will eat and how you will remove and store any remaining servings. Getting a clear idea of the content of each serving requires a careful look followed by sensible action. This is how portion control eating works best!

Label-reading doesn’t have to become an obsession but doing this the right way will assist you to make good use valuable information pre-packaged foods. The guidelines below will help you to read these food labels. By doing this, you’ll make more informed decisions about the best foods for you and the portion size you should eat.

There are some things like salt and sugar that you will want to diminish in your diet. Others like fiber will need to be increased. The checklist below provides some simple guidelines for label reading.

Always count the servings per container and check the content of each of these

Note the calories

% daily values are 5% or less = low / 20% or more = high

Search for low percentages of saturated and transfats

Limit salt (often referred to as sodium)

Eat plenty of fiber and protein

Reduce your sugar intake

Food labels should indicate the amount of saturated fats and transfats. Look for those foods that contain a low percentage of both of these. Keep a close eye out for foods where the salt (sodium) content or the sugar (sometimes referred to as glucose) content is low. Food labels on foods containing healthy fats will show ’polyunsaturated fats’ or ‘monounsaturated fats’. Whatever the fats, minimize your total fats to between 20%-35% of your daily calories.

Plan your portion control diet with the help of food labels. Details of the fat, sugar, protein, fiber and salt in this food is crucial for your decisions about what to eat and how much. Use this information to allow yourself the pleasure of eating some of every type of food as you lose weight. Don’t eliminate whole sections of the food pyramid in a dramatic and unbalanced eating regime.

This balanced eating program is a breath of fresh air after so many fad diets that can’t provide your body the nutrition it needs as you lose weight. Add this advice on interpreting labels to your portion control checklist.

Warm Regards

Rowena French

For The Team @MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French uses responsible portion control to successfully manage her own weight and her family’s health. Tired of dieting without success? Sign up to my free magazine to learn more about how to use portion control for healthy, permanent weight loss. If you haven’t already subscribed to my free product sample, watch my preview video for more information about the whole portion control package.

‘First Docking Opens Juneau Cruise Season Early’ headed up yesterday’s on-line edition of Anchorage Daily News. Yes, Juneau is starting the Alaska cruise travel season early this year. How great is that? Alaska has ‘opened up’ again!

The 1400 passenger cruise liner Balmoral from the Fred Olson Cruise Line with a 500-member crew is on a world cruise with its final destination England. It will call in to Juneau on Monday morning. This is a week ahead of the normal beginning of the cruise season by the Norwegian Star on April 29.

The benefit of early (or later) Alaskan cruise travel is three fold. Firstly, it’s the best way to avoid the summer crowds. Alaska’s window of opportunity for most visitors is generally from very the end of spring till the end of summer. This is certainly likely to provide travelers with the best weather but the dilemma about traveling then can be the arrival of many, many visitors generally to the same destinations and then their departure from these all at the same time.

Our first visit to Juneau was one spring and it is still our most memorable. It coincided with the annual Alaskan Folk Festival that year. We stumbled on this event and enjoyed great entertainment and a fascinating insight into the Alaskan folk scene. We still talk about that night which we discovered to our great surprise on arriving was free of charge. Juneau’s wide array of shops was opening at that time so we enjoyed pondering about our purchases and had plenty of assistance with this. Juneau locals had time to provide directions and share their beautiful city. So, if you prefer a less crowded Alaska travel experience, make your visit there in the off-peak seasons on either side of summer.

Travel to Alaska in summer doesn’t always guarantee weather any warmer than spring. We’ve enjoyed warm summers in Alaska but during last spring and summer there, we experienced much the same temperatures across both seasons. The beauty of Alaskan cruise travel is that it is a great way to travel regardless of the weather. Traveling on a cruise ship pretty well negates the effect of changing temperatures. If the wind blows up or temperatures drop, views from inside the viewing deck of cruise liners look just as spectacular as they do outdoors.

Alaskan wildlife is acclimatized to varying temperatures much better than visiting humans, so in spring your Alaska travel cruise will still provide opportunities to see orcas, humpbacks and salmon swimming, bald eagles flying and bears searching for something to eat. With a backdrop of amazing snow capped mountains and glaciers that look breathtaking year round, you are bound to enjoy these creatures on your cruise to Alaska as soon as the cruise ships start to embark on their journey to this magical place.

There are a number of good reasons that may see you preferring an Alaska cruise travel experience earlier or later in the season than mid-summer, so consider this as an option when you take the plunge and go!

Warm regards

Rowena French

For the Team@MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French has enjoyed a life-time love affair with Alaska, returning often, ‘just once more’, to experience another aspect of this spectacular part of the world. Want to venture to ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’ and not sure how? Hooked like me and want to return again? Stay updated through my blog posts here and go to my website alaskatravel4U

Everyone knows that Vitamin D is good for you – but how good is it and what does it do for stress reduction? Having just returned from a week in beautiful San Diego I was struck by the differences in the two climates. Alaska is experiencing what I call Ugly April. The snow is melting, the ice looks dirty, and there is still volcanic ash on the ground. On the other hand, San Diego was warm, clean, bright, and fresh. So, having soaked up lots of water San Diego sun, I thought I would write a lighthearted piece about the benefits of Vitamin D in reducing stress. My mistake was to look up Vitamin D and stress – the topic became way too complex.

I went to one of my favorite information sources, Wikipedia, where I learned that there are two major types of Vitamin D – D₂ and D₃. It is D₃ that we commonly refer to when talking about sunshine deprivation as D₃ is the prohormone produced when we get ultraviolet B radiation from sunlight on our skin. Vitamin D helps our immune system by helping with immune regulation and by promoting anti-tumor activity. Lack of Vitamin D causes all sorts of problems especially bone, liver, and kidney problems. Then I found some recent research from The International Journal of Cancer which suggests that intake of Vitamin D can be helpful in protecting prostrate cells from cancer.

Sometimes it’s a mistake to read too much. My simple aim was to talk about the positive benefits in terms of emotional health and psychological well-being of exposure to warm, friendly sunshine. We all know that vitamin D intake is important to our health. I think a positive outlook and a lovely climate does a lot to reduce stress. My problem now is that I have to worry about prostate cells, too much Vitamin D, and the possibility of skin cancer. I think my stress levels have risen dramatically from my newfound information.

For more strategies on stress relief refer to some of my other articles: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr_Jeff_Bailey

Warm regards

Dr Jeff

For the team at mightydigitaldownloads.com

Dr Jeff Bailey, psychologist, helps stressed patients. Why put up with stress? Learn stress management skills now.  Click here for the free What is Stress by Dr Jeff. Don’t waste another minute stressed and burnt out. Act now – learn how to relieve stress.

I get a lot of information from the Harvard Business Review papers. Here I find much of the latest research about stress, workplace stress, work behavior, emotional intelligence and a range of other important organizational factors. There is a consistent theme that emotional intelligence is one of the most essential attributes promoting (or denying) your effectiveness in the work place. Their recent research points to the important role of what they call ‘group emotional intelligence’ in meeting organizational goals and objectives. Given the amount of emphasis in most organizations on collaboration and team work this is not surprising. Obviously, if people working on a team have high levels of self-awareness and ‘other’ awareness (being able to understand and use strategies to work with the personal styles of team members) then the team will have greater harmony and increase productivity.

Many of us work in teams that are very productive; some of us work in teams that are hostile and interfere with productivity and satisfaction. Some of the key characteristics that I will describe briefly about emotional and group intelligence include the following: social responsibility versus irresponsibility; impulse control versus uncontrolled outbursts; and stress tolerance versus stress in tolerance.

Social Responsibility

At work, as in relationships, you have certain choices you can make. You can act like a mature, thoughtful, empathic, and responsible person or you can indulge what Freud called in his personality theory the id. This nasty little piece of who we are was described by Freud as blind, instinctual, irrational strivings. If you give in to your id responses, you will show very little social responsibility and you will become an aggravating and difficult colleague. Being prepared to give and take, to understand the other person’s point of view, to maintain perspective and keep a larger view, and be generous in your relationships with others will increase harmony and decrease workplace stress for you and your colleagues.

Impulse Control

One of my research areas is ADHD and a key characteristic of some people with ADHD is a diminished capacity for impulse control and self-regulatory management. Unfortunately, there are too many people in the workplace who show a reckless disregard for even a small amount of impulse control. They seem to believe that they have an incontestable right to vent their emotional eruptions whenever they feel like it and without regard to others. The converse of this is the responsible person who doesn’t elevate other people’s stress levels but carefully and effectively deals with the pressures and stress that they are experiencing.

Stress Tolerance

Everyone has a different capacity to deal with stress and anxiety. Some people have, as they say, a short fuse and are unable to tolerate even the smallest amount of stress. This is a pain and misery to everyone around them who has to put up with their limited capacity to manage stress. We can improve our capacity to deal proactively and effectively with stress; we can increase our stress tolerance mechanisms. This requires us to be mature and thoughtful and not indulge ourselves in juvenile expressions of frustration and impatience.

My message is fairly simple – if you want to manage personal stress and reduce workplace stress you have a responsibility to behave in a mature, emotionally intelligent way. I agree with the Harvard research that highly skilled work teams do reflect high group emotional intelligence and are much more productive. I’m also certain that people lucky enough be working in groups with high emotional intelligence and strong interpersonal responsibility have much lower personal stress levels and cope much more effectively with workplace stress.

For more strategies on stress relief refer to some of my other articles:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr_Jeff_Bailey

Warm regards

Dr Jeff

For the team at mightydigitaldownloads.com 

Dr Jeff Bailey, psychologist, helps stressed patients. Why put up with stress? Learn stress management skills now.  Click here for the free What is Stress by Dr Jeff. Don’t waste another minute stressed and burnt out. Act now – learn how to relieve stress. 

I enjoy Heidi Klum’s Project Runway. The success of this show was a surprise to Heidi herself and you have to wonder what it is that captures audiences. Is it (a) the diva of design and modeling herself? Is it (b) the impressive credentials of the expert judges? Is it (c) the concept of undiscovered talent – small town gal makes good in the fashion world? Or, sorry to be a bit cynical, but is it (d) the bizarre comments, attitudes and behaviors of the contestants?

The answer is, of course, (d). We have become a community of armchair voyeurs peeking into the lives and behaviors of normal, everyday people. Wait – to be truthful I would have to say that it is a BIG stretch to describe some of the people on reality shows as normal, everyday people. I don’t want to do a personality appraisal but the behavior of many of the reality contestants, inflamed by producers’ desire for high ratings, are outlandish and often disgusting. But that is not the theme of this blog.

I was amused on a recent Project Runway episode to see the amount of attention paid to the attitude of one of the finalists. The episode had more to do with attitude than design. This designer had a serious ‘attitude’ problem and was attracting a lot of negative criticism – not for her design work but for her attitude. She was constantly critical of her peers; put them and their work down at every opportunity; did and said things that made them dislike her; and upset the judges.

One of the obvious characteristics of people who stand out from the workplace crowd for their hostile attitudes is a serious lack of self-awareness. They use a style of defense called external attribution. It is always someone else’s fault that things go wrong; someone else failed to pull their weight; someone else didn’t meet the deadlines’ someone else failed to tell her what was required and when. I’m sure you get the point.

Self-awareness is one element of emotional intelligence, the father of which was Dr Daniel Goleman. EI as it is called, and self-awareness, are two of the most important indicators of successful leadership in an organization. To be healthy, collaborative, and productive in the workplace, we need to be honest with ourselves. We need to objectively audit our strengths and weaknesses. We need to work hard to present a positive and cooperative approach to our colleagues. We need to be an effective contributor on the work team. We must be respectful and courteous of our colleagues.

What happens when you have a person who is unaware of the negativity they bring to the workplace? You have work to do or else this person will stress you out of your mind. You have to develop coping skills that mean that you do not get workplace stress. After all, why should this person cause you personal stress and upset? You have to accept that this is their problem, not yours; you need to maintain a professional and respectful approach to this individual. You need to find their particular strengths and give clear support to these strengths.

To deal effectively with personal stress and workplace stress you have to rise above yourself. You have to understand the problems the stress-causer is experiencing. You have to distance yourself from the person and the stress. You have to take a ‘so-what’ attitude and attend to your own business. The more you invest in the negative, stressful person, the more you will elevate your own stress levels and fail to get stress relief. Don’t be afraid to help them but don’t let them upset your good mood and turn your workplace into stress hell! Good luck!

Kind regards

Dr Jeff

for thte team at www.mightydigitaldownloads.com 

There are plenty of reasons to experience Alaska on board a magnificent cruise ship.  These come to mind most readily. Help with Planning Yes, Alaska cruise travel reduces the amount of preparation your vacation there may require. Your accommodation, food and itinerary are provided and there is sufficient flexibility for you to individualize these aspects of your vacation. But you need to make a number of important decisions about your cruise. There will be plenty of cruise time to relax and soak in the scenery and spectacle of the Alaskan coastline but before you leave make sure you spend time investigating the different cruises available and seek information about them from reliable sources. Check out individual cruise line websites and ask your friends about their cruise recommendations. Word of mouth is still one a reliable way to discover the best deal. Follow these investigations up with a visit to a reputable travel agent. They will be able to assist you to decide on an Alaskan cruise that will best meet your particular needs. Provide them with details of the extent of your budget and any health limitations or special needs that may impact on the advice they will give. Anyone Can Do It Alaskan cruise travel is a great way for the young and the old to travel. The beauty of seeing Alaska from a cruise ship is that these grand ‘floating hotels’ are well positioned to give a clear view of the enormity as well as the spectacle of this incredible part of the world. Glaciers and mountains along with wildlife in the ocean, on land and in the air can all be seen from vantage points on any Alaskan cruise ship. This form of travel allows you to behold this from on deck or even in lounge viewing rooms inside. Remember to pack your binoculars! Great Fun Regardless of Weather Severe winters in Alaska mean that the best time to take a cruise there is from May to early September. June and July is peak season so if you prefer a quieter visit you may opt for a trip in late Spring or during the end of summer. Even if the weather cools down during a cruise in Alaska’s summer, you can continue to view the scenery from the comfort of inside the observation deck of your cruise ship and not miss a thing. Interesting Company to Enjoy As your daily itinerary is in the hands of your cruise staff, there is always plenty of time to enjoy the grandeur of the passing scenery and wildlife, learn more of this from on-board instructors and if you wish to enjoy your fellow travelers. Make use of the facilities on board keeping up your fitness levels or just relax and look outside! Alaska cruise travel is always enhanced by the quality of the crew aboard these ships. They are renowned for being very helpful and generally really enjoy their job. Who wouldn’t on such a journey? Their pleasant disposition is certain to impact on your experience as a cruise traveler. Along with the staff, you’ll find other travelers from all over the world, who like you have been enticed to undertake this most exciting of vacations. Enjoy them while you are together. You may feel inclined to maintain contact after you return home. Alaska Cruise vacations have a way of continuing on in this way. Warm regards Rowena French For the Team@MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French has enjoyed a life-time love affair with Alaska, returning often, ‘just once more’, to experience another aspect of this spectacular part of the world. Want to venture to ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’ and not sure how? Hooked like me and want to return again? Stay updated through my blog posts here and go to my website alaskatravel4U

1. Consider whether or not you really are hungry or perhaps something else instead of eating in response to your next set of hunger pangs? You may be anxious or depressed or stressed or even bored. Eating food may not be the best response for you. Taking a walk, reading a good book, calling a special friend, or some other activity satisfies your needs just as well, or better, than food!

If you take long enough to consider your hunger signals, you will find that your common sense will inform you whether or not you’re really hungry. Consider an alternative to the kitchen pantry or the nearest drive-through when stress or loneliness attack for greater satisfaction mainly because you are listening to your common sense and making better choices.

2. If hunger not other feelings are causing your hunger signals, when you do drive up to a fast-food restaurant, think about the size or portion of the food you’ll consume not just what type of food you’ll eat. This is the basis of portion control eating. Consider a child sized meal or order a salad and fruit with your burger instead of high-fat fries. A small hamburger and fries go a long way toward satisfying hunger.

Over eating is generally brought about by eating those extra large, super-size, portions on offer when your body doesn’t need them. Regular eating of portions that are too large causes you to feel tired and unhappy. It also causes blood sugar levels to rise quickly and fall sharply leaving you tired and zapping your energy shortly after you eat. Your common sense tells you to think about the size of your meal! Listen to yourself and you’ll make better choices! Common sense and an understanding of how much you need to eat through portion control is a vital tool for helping you manage your weight and your life.

It’s akin to self-control and the two are partners in how healthy or how poorly you eat. When you pair common sense and self-control, you have the power to overcome unhealthy eating habits and enjoy the foods you eat too. It’s all about thinking about what you should eat, how much you should eat, and realizing and stopping when you are full, or nearly full. And remember that it takes about 20 minutes after you eat to realize exactly how full you are.

On a visit to a McDonald’s restaurant in Thailand, Professor Steven Hawks from Brigham Young University had a revelation about the portion size of our food. ‘The portion size was about a third to what you get in the United States," he said. "My first reaction was 'What a rip off,' but then I started to see, 'Well, that was enough to be satisfied.'

To lose weight and control this weight loss over the long term, you do not need to restrict your food so much that there is little or no enjoyment in eating. Don’t feel guilty about what you eat, just manage how much you eat through portion control eating. This will see you stay within your nutritional plan to lose weight or maintain it. The occasional cake, cookie or cheeseburger is not what made you overweight to begin with. It’s the culmination of years of over-eating and indulging that created the problem. Those years of ignoring your common sense finally caught up with you in a big way.

The good news is that you can control what and how much your eat. Make a point of discovering the nutritional value of foods, understanding the importance of successful portion control, exercising self-control, and stepping into tomorrow with a healthy, positive attitude will make all of the difference!

Warm Regards

Rowena French

For The Team @MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French uses responsible portion control to successfully manage her own weight and her family’s health. Tired of dieting without success? Sign up to my free magazine to learn more about how to use portion control for healthy, permanent weight loss. If you haven’t already subscribed to my free product sample, watch my preview video for more information about the whole portion control package.

Have you ever wondered why hamburgers, French fries, fried chicken, pizza, and cheesecake are these so much worse for us now than they have been in past years? After all they have been around for a long time. Why do they appear to do more damage and why is the concept of food portion control becoming so important to us?

The answer to this question is related to the general health of our nation. The inclusion of these foods in our diet certainly is impacting on our lives. Obesity in the United States has just become a national epidemic in the past 20 years. Children are not exempt from this catastrophic obesity epidemic in our country. Childhood obesity continues to escalate in all socio-economic populations as children’s understanding of food portion sizes has been determined and controlled by large international food organizations. The marketing departments of these organizations increase the portion sizes of comparatively inexpensive food to increase their sales.

According to registered dietician, Dr Lisa Young, also an MSNBC reporting contributor, ‘When McDonald’s first opened, a soda was 7 ounces. Today, the child size is 12 ounces, a small is 16 ounces, and the large 32 ounces.’

So it’s not the inclusion of these foods in our diet today that is the real problem. Its how much of these foods we consume that’s at the heart of our health crisis. When you compare food portions 20 years ago with today’s extra generous super sized servings it helps to give some idea of the cause of the obesity epidemic in our country. Take a look at the change in caloric intake in foods today compared to 20 years ago below. You’ll be amazed at how different they are and understand how we need something as helpful as portion control to keep a today.

Food Portions Today Compared to 20 Years Ago

Information Source: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

So what can we make from these figures? The outcome is clear. The result is obvious. We are consistently and unwittingly consuming more food than we need. As we do this, we regularly stretch the size of our stomachs and condition our bodies to feel hungry when we should not feel this way. The more we eat like this the greater the likelihood that we will gain weight and the more calories we need to use to burn off excess and unwanted fat. Our desire for oversized food portions of have overpowered our good intentions to exercise more or get fitter.

How can we avoid becoming a victim of mega sized eating?

• Don’t be seduced by extra large size meals for only 39cents more! Decide how much food you need and only eat that much
• Find out what size portions of different foods is right for you so you can eat the correct amount of everything you enjoy without gaining weight
• Learn how portion control eating habits will help you do this as a way of life, and avoid overnight fad diets that generally don’t last much longer than that.

Reclaim Your Health. Start today.

You Can Do It!

Warm Regards

Rowena French

For The Team @MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French uses responsible portion control to successfully manage her own weight and her family’s health. Tired of dieting without success? Sign up to my free magazine to learn more about how to use portion control for healthy, permanent weight loss. If you haven’t already subscribed to my free product sample, watch my preview video for more information about the whole portion control package.