I’ve been reading a little book called The Dip by Seth Godin. It’s all about how the biggest marketing results are often achieved after a struggle. Unfortunately, many people quit during the struggle and never achieve success.

This is very true not only of marketing but of fat loss, working out, and eating right. (You might be able to relate.)

After all, it’s not too hard to get through the morning or even the early part of the afternoon without “cheating” on your diet. But late in the afternoon, sticking to your healthy eating plan becomes an effort. And while sitting around after dinner, it’s practically impossible to resist the siren call of cookies or chips. But those who make it through WIN. They end up eating fewer calories and losing fat for the day.

Same with workouts. The warm-up is fine, and the first few sets are tough but manageable. But further into the workout, some folks want to quit… even though it is often the last set, the last rep, that gives the most results. If we didn’t experience discomfort and fatigue while exercising, we wouldn’t change our bodies.

As Godin says, “It is human nature to quit when it hurts.” And human nature is why you see more lard bodies than hard bodies.

We have to get through what he calls “the dip.” And the two worst things you can do when you are in “the dip” are to…

(a) Quit. (That’s obvious.)

(b) Jump to another program. Every time you jump, you are starting over again. Always give a program a full four-week trial period to see if it really works for you.

How do you beat the dip when the struggle is so hard? By reminding yourself of how good life will be on the other side of the dip – how good things will be once you make it through the struggle.

You can get to a point where you’ll prefer whole, natural foods over junk food. You can get to a point where you’ll look forward to your workouts, rather than finding excuses to blow them off.

But you must have the right mindset. You must stay strong. And the best way to do both is to get help from your social support network. Surrounding yourself with positive social support is the most important thing you can do in your weight-loss program.

[Ed. Note: Social support can help you stick with your diet and exercise program until you have the body you've always wanted. Meet up with other health-minded people at ETR's SpeakOut Forum right here.

And discover a proven exercise system that can help you burn fat and build muscle here.]

Last spring, I made the mistake of wearing flip-flops on a couple of long walks with my dog. “What does it matter?” I thought. “It’s just an hour walk.” But after doing this a couple of times, I noticed that my knees were sore and my ankles were stiff.

Fortunately, I was bright enough to make the connection between the flip-flops and my discomfort, so I tossed the flip-flops. After switching to a good pair of walking shoes, my joints were no longer sore.

Every summer, thousands of folks slip out of their regular walking shoes and start piling on the miles in flip-flops. As a result, many end up having to visit a doctor.

I asked Dr. Michael Sommers, a chiropractor in Roncasvilles, Toronto, to explain why this innocent-looking footwear can lead to such a dramatic onset of pain.

According to Dr. Sommers, “There is nothing remotely healthy about wearing flip-flops, especially during long walks. They provide little or no support to the ankle and only minimal shock absorption during weight-bearing activity – leading to wear and tear in the joint surfaces of the ankle, knee, and spine. Flip-flops were designed for the beach. That’s really only where they should be worn.”

A study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine found: “When people walk in flip-flops, they alter their gait, which can result in problems and pain from the foot up into the hips and lower back. When subjects wore flip-flops, they took shorter steps and their heels hit the ground with less vertical force than when they wore athletic shoes.”

The researchers concluded that you should wear flip-flops only for a short period of time. So chuck your thong sandals and replace them with walking shoes. Your feet will thank you.

[Ed. Note: Sometimes, super-simple lifestyle changes can have a major effect on your health. Learn how to start feeling better and getting healthier right here.

If you're looking to lose weight and get fit, try fitness expert Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training Program.]

You may think you’re doing yourself a favor by drinking spring water. But new research shows there could be danger lurking in the bottle.

A recent study published in Toxicology Letters found that polycarbonate water bottles, exposed to regular conditions, contain harmful levels of bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is an endocrine disruptor that acts like estrogen in the body, triggering hormonal changes and encouraging the growth of breast and prostate cancers.

Dr. James LaValle has recommended, in ETR, that you avoid drinking or eating from heated plastic. And that’s one step you can take to protect yourself against BPA. However, while you can keep your water bottles cool after you’ve purchased them, there’s no knowing their past history of heat exposure or storage time – which also affects the amount of BPA that leaches into the water.

To limit your exposure, avoid bottles with the recycling number 7, as most contain BPA. Instead, opt for recycling numbers 2 and 4 or cloudy-colored plastics, which are usually free of BPA. You can also use a high quality reverse-osmosis purification system (which removes other harmful things, too), and store your water in glass bottles in the refrigerator.

[Ed. Note: Now that you're aware of this potential threat, you can do more to protect yourself and your family for years to come. You can get more advice from nutrition expert Kelley Herring and ETR's team of health professionals, every week, for free. Discover what's bad for you and what you can do to get leaner and healthier right here.

And for delicious recipes that taste nothing like "health food," check out Kelley's website, HealingGourmet.com.]

Monday to Friday, you are a fat-burning robot. You work out first thing in the morning, eat breakfast, have a high-protein salad for lunch, a healthy afternoon snack, and then a sensible dinner. It all adds up to a pound of fat loss per week.

Or so it should, if it were not for the two fat-loss killers, Saturday and Sunday.

Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine recruited 48 men and women who were losing weight during the week but gaining on weekends. The subjects – who reported eating more and/or exercising less on Saturdays and Sundays – were put on a yearlong weight-loss program. Half were put on a calorie-restricted diet, while the other half were put on an exercise program.

Both groups lost weight during the week, but stopped losing on weekends. The researchers say it’s because both groups ended up eating more calories on the weekend.

Here’s what you need to do to prevent weekend weight gain from catching up with you.

First, identify all the problems that come up on weekends that cause you to eat more or exercise less.

Second, brainstorm two solutions for each one of those problems.

If you plan and prepare for your weekends just as hard as you do for your weekdays, you’ll continue to lose fat week in and week out.

[Ed. Note: You won't get fit automatically. But once you have a system, you can melt away fat and get the lean body you've always wanted. Learn how you can feel better than you have in years.

Getting healthy is a lot easier when you have a team of health experts helping you out. Get free motivation and advice right here.]

Green tea is a healthy drink. It’s been shown to boost brain health, protect against Parkinson’s, increase metabolism, protect the prostate, and reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. But, contrary to claims made in many ads making the rounds these days, it does NOT cause weight loss.

• Researchers from Taiwan randomized 78 overweight women into two groups for a 12-week study. One group took green tea extract (491 mg catechins containing 302 mg of the powerful antioxidant EGCG), and the control group took a placebo.

The average reduction in weight in the green tea group was insignificant – only 0.3 percent (0.15 kg). About the same as it was in the placebo group. However, the green tea extract did improve the subjects’ health by reducing their LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, while increasing HDL ("good cholesterol"). The placebo group saw a reduction only in triglycerides.

So the bottom line is this. Green tea is healthy, but it doesn’t cause fat loss.

There’s no such thing as a magic pill for weight loss. So forget about trying to find an easy way out. Burning fat takes work. It requires planning. It requires following a proven, structured workout program. But if you put those structures in place, you will see results.

[Ed. Note: You won't get fit automatically. But once you have a system, you can melt away fat and get the lean body you've always wanted. Learn how you can feel better than you have in years.

Getting healthy is a lot easier when you have a team of health experts helping you out. Get free motivation and advice right here.]

You may have never bothered to wonder why a cat grooms itself all day. But you should. The answer could impact your health.

Princeton researchers inserted electrodes into the brainstems of cats, and then recorded what was happening over the course of the cats’ day. Not much. Until they started grooming themselves. Then their levels of serotonin – a feel-good neurotransmitter involved with stress-reduction and overall well-being – went through the roof. It actually increased 40-fold! How’s that for a stress reliever?

There’s a lesson here. Concentrated, repetitive motion raises serotonin activity. Which brings us to one of the best stress reducers in the world: qi gong.

Three decades ago, Herbert Benson, MD, the pioneering doctor who helped introduce the concept of mind-body medicine to the U.S., studied qi gong while he was researching what he termed “the relaxation response.” He concluded that to reach a state of deep relaxation, all you have to do is control your body, your breathing, and your mind.

Qi gong is a family of mind-body exercises that share all of those elements: regulation of the body, regulation of breathing, and regulation of the mind. In qi gong, as in many meditative practices, you control your mind by concentrating on a single thought. It can be a word, a mantra, a sound, a letter. You regulate your breathing in some controlled way (such as breathing in on a slow count of 4 and breathing out on a slow count of 4), and you add some regular, specific movement to handle the body part of it. Those three components are the trifecta of increased serotonin activity – and with it, greater energy and well-being.

At the University of Southern California, Irvine, Dr. Shin Lin (a visiting professor from Shanghai University) has found significant, measurable beneficial effects on the nervous system from doing qi gong. Other researchers have demonstrated that when you practice certain movements – such as those in qi gong – you get enhanced blood flow. Couple that with an increase in serotonin levels, and you’ve got a great prescription for lowering stress while increasing your overall energy.

[Ed. Note: You can increase your energy, decrease your stress, and feel healthier just by making a few simple changes to your diet and lifestyle. Learn how to feel better and live longer right here.

And get more ways to improve your health naturally with health expert Jonny Bowden's latest book, The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth. Learn more at www.jonnybowden.com.]

I’ve been talking for years about the effect of various environmental toxins on our metabolism. And now, almost every day, we read news headlines that validate what I’ve been saying about the importance of reducing our exposure to toxic chemicals.

Today, let’s focus on a biggie – perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA. This chemical is used in the manufacture of non-stick pan coatings, food wrappers, personal care products, and stain-resistant coatings on carpets and other materials. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has become concerned about PFOA because it has been found in the blood of 90 percent of Americans, as well as throughout the environment.

PFOA is persistent in the environment, meaning it doesn’t break down with water or biodegrade in other ways, and it may not be eliminated well from the body. The health problems from PFOA include diminished thyroid function, decreased immune function, liver toxicity, and higher cholesterol levels (leading to potential weight problems and heart disease).

In cooperation with an initiative by the EPA to phase out PFOA emissions by 2015, most companies that use PFOA in their products are looking for alternatives. Just how much exposure you get directly from water and oil-repelling products is not known. In the meantime, boycotting products manufactured with PFOA may help stop environmental contamination sooner. So, here’s what you can do:

• Avoid using Teflon and other non-stick coated pans, especially over high heat and/or if the coating is chipped or flaking.

• Avoid food in packages with slippery surfaces, including fast-food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, and bakery and candy support liners.

• Choose solid-surface materials for flooring instead of carpets treated with stain-resistant coatings.

• And when choosing personal care products (such as lotions, nail polish, makeup, and shaving cream), avoid those with ingredients that have "-fluoro" or "-perfluoro" in their names.

[Ed. Note: It truly is possible to improve your health just by making a few simple changes to your diet and lifestyle. James B. LaValle, RPh, ND, CCN - founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute and a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies - can give you easy-to-understand directions for living the healthy life you've always wanted. Learn how to feel better and live longer right here.]

If you do a lot of traveling for business, you’ve probably already discovered melatonin. It eases jet lag and lets you get some precious sleep in those cramped airplane seats. But nature’s sleep regulator holds another little-known secret: It can reverse the effects of aging.

Melatonin holds not one but nearly half a dozen age-fighters. They can help you look and feel younger longer. And this hormone can protect your cells against deadly diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Today, I’m going to tell you how you can add melatonin safely and easily to your anti-aging program, and why you should.

Boost Your Physique, Energy, and Sexual Performance With This Anti-Aging Supplement

Your body produces melatonin naturally. It’s the main hormone made by your pineal gland. This is a tiny, pea-sized gland at the base of your brain. One of the most important jobs this gland has is regulating your sleep cycle. It works like this: The pineal gland monitors changing light levels throughout the day, and when darkness falls it excretes melatonin to bring on sleep.

For decades, travelers have used melatonin to ease the transition between time zones with great success. But melatonin has other, more important, health-enhancing secrets.

Melatonin is one of the best-studied and most effective anti-aging nutrients available today. Surprised? Don’t be. For one thing, it is one of the only oral supplements that stimulates your body’s release of human growth hormone (HGH). This is the hormone that keeps you young.

In your youth, your body produces lots of HGH. But production slows down as you age. When you reverse this decline, you reverse aging. In fact, studies reported in Grow Young with HGH show that improving HGH levels heightens energy, sexual performance, muscle gain, fat loss, and skin appearance.

And melatonin works well to increase HGH levels even at small oral doses. What’s more, when you double the dose, HGH levels double. No wonder melatonin increases lifespan in study after study.

Bring Your Dying Cells Back to Life

Melatonin is also one of the most potent antioxidants ever discovered. It destroys disease-causing molecules called free radicals at an incredible pace. And it does something most other antioxidants can’t: It stimulates extra antioxidant enzymes that can protect against everything from wrinkles to illness.

One thing that causes aging and the diseases of aging is the death of cells. Your cells depend on their energy powerhouses called mitochondria. If the mitochondria are damaged, you fall victim to conditions like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, even cancer. Protect the mitochondria from damage and you keep millions more cells alive. That means you’ll stay healthy and more youthful.

Melatonin is also quickly gaining a reputation as a cancer killer. In fact, it works so well at blocking tumors that doctors are already using it to treat cancer. And the results are promising. Melatonin enhances the effectiveness of other cancer treatments, reduces side effects of those treatments, and increases survival rates.

Melatonin may do more than just protect your body from aging. Studies show it may actually reverse aging where it matters most: your brain. (After all, what good is a younger looking body if you’re not "all there" to enjoy it?) Studies reported in the journal Neurobiology of Aging have shown that melatonin can reverse aging in the brain tissues of mice. Obviously, that’s not the same thing as reversing brain aging in people. But with all its other benefits, there’s no reason not to try melatonin. And if it helps keep your brain young in the process, so much the better.

Melatonin Helps Stop the Midnight Urge to "Get Up and Go"

Like human growth hormone, natural melatonin levels fall sharply as you age. To give you an idea of how low they get, take a look at this chart:

It’s a drop you can feel. For example, one of the most common complaints I hear from my older patients is that they’re not sleeping as well as they used to. This is often caused by a deficiency of melatonin.

And, as a side benefit, just a couple of milligrams will work wonders for men suffering from prostate trouble. Benign prostatic hyperplasia sufferers find they don’t have to get up and go as often at night when they’re taking melatonin.

Putting Melatonin to Work for You

If you’re over 50, you should think about supplementing with melatonin. There has been no evidence to tarnish its perfect safety record.

I recommend a small anti-aging dose of 0.5 mg at night. For jet lag, take 1 mg for every time zone crossed.
 
If you have cancer, I recommend a much higher "antioxidant dose" of 20 to 40 mg every night before bed. Of course, be sure to discuss this with your doctor first.

You can find melatonin in most health food stores and vitamin shops. It comes in tablet, liquid, and spray form. 
[Ed. Note: It is entirely possible to get a full, restful night's sleep without worrying about scary side effects from sleep aids. Dr. Al Sears - who has been working with sleep disorders for years - has come up with a quick, easy, and natural way for you sleep soundly each night. Sleep better than you have in years.

Sleeping well is one key to staying healthy. In fact, you can improve your health just by making a few simple changes to your diet and lifestyle. Learn how to feel better and live longer right here.]

It should come as no surprise that ETR, a newsletter on how to get "healthy, wealthy, and wise," doesn’t recommend watching TV. We all know that TV is detrimental to productivity. Even worse, it sets us up to eat junk food and increase our waistlines.

According to a study done by Australian researchers, the more TV people watched, the worse off they were for such health parameters as waist circumference, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels. The negative effects were even more pronounced in women, who also had higher triglycerides if they watched a lot of TV.

In fact, watching TV can even wipe out the health benefits of 2.5 hours of moderate exercise per week. So even if you exercise, you are not immune to the powerful, negative effects of TV on your health.

Instead, find a hobby that keeps you active. I have a chocolate Lab who fills my free time. You might take up dancing or a sport that you stopped playing years ago. Even use your reclaimed TV-watching time to re-connect with old friends and old activities. Pretty much anything is better than sitting on the couch and staring at the TV screen.

[Ed. Note: Getting fit doesn't have to be hard. Fitness expert Craig Ballantyne can show you how to lose weight without spending hours in the gym or giving up good food. Start your path to a stronger, leaner body right here.

Getting healthy is much easier if you have expert advice and motivation. Get both right here.]

Though my wife and I have very different parenting styles, one of the things we agree on is this: Give the kids lots of sun exposure and never slather chemical sunscreen on them. Here are three reasons why:

• Sunscreen blocks the production of melanin (the pigment causing a protective tan to form), resulting in a higher risk of skin cancer.

• Sunscreen blocks the production of vitamin D. A deficiency of vitamin D weakens the immune system and increases the risk of heart disease and cancer. In children especially, vitamin D deficiency is also correlated with tooth decay and crooked teeth.

• Many of the chemicals found in sunscreens are actually carcinogenic (cancer causing) and estrogenic. If you see any of the following ingredients, steer clear: benzophenones (dixoybenzone, oxybenzone), PABA and PABA esters (ethyl dihydroxy propyl PAB, glyceryl PABA, p-aminobenzoic acid, padimate-O or octyl dimethyl PABA), cinnamates (cinoxate, ethylhexyl p-methoxycinnamate, octocrylene, octyl methoxycinnamate), salicylates (ethylhexyl salicylate, homosalate, octyl salicylate), Digalloyl trioleate, Menthyl anthranilate, and Avobenzone.

Contrary to what sunscreen manufacturers wish you to believe, sunshine is not a death ray. It is a healing ray. Here are four main benefits of sun exposure:

1. It boosts neuropeptides that elevate mood and regulate appetite.

2. It reduces the risk of the deadly skin cancer melanoma and 16 other types of cancer.

3. It reduces the risk of osteoporosis and increases bone density as a result of enhanced "mineralization."

4. It increases sex drive. Not that I want my kids’ libido to be rockin’, but this is good info for the dad who needs to get his bedroom energy back.

Note that I am not suggesting that you or your kids should ever get sunburned. You can definitely get too much of a good thing. Cover up with clothing to block the sun and go indoors if your skin is getting pink. There are also several natural sunscreens on the market. The best one I have found is a brand called UV Naturals, which is made with green tea extract, bees wax, vitamin E, and grape seed oil. Not only does it protect your skin from excess sun exposure, it also helps your skin look and feel younger. I tested it on my kids recently in Florida. Worked perfectly.

[Ed. Note: Getting more sunshine is just one way you can improve your health. For 5 more ways to experience vibrant health without prescription drugs, follow this link.

You can get "People's Chemist" Shane Ellison's advice on how to live young naturally with ETR's free health e-letter. Sign up here.]

Last November, I traveled to Mesa, AZ to hear Bill Phillips speak at a seminar. Phillips is the creator of the Body for Life Transformation Challenge. But at the end of the conference, it wasn’t Phillips’ words that I remembered. Nor was it Richard Branson’s, who spoke to us via satellite. Instead, a man named Dave Kekich caught my attention.

Mr. Kekich has written something called "The Kekich Credos" – 100 success secrets that I’ve been reviewing and then figuring out how to relate them to my clients’ fat-loss goals.

For example, here’s Kekich Credo #4: "Real regrets only come from not doing your best. All else is out of your control. You’re measured by results only. Trade excuses and ‘trying’ for results, and expect half-hearted results from half-hearted efforts. Do more than is expected of you. Life’s easy when you live it the hard way… and hard if you try to live it the easy way."

Here are my thoughts on how to apply this success secret to a fat-loss program:

• Who are the ones berating themselves every Monday for not exercising or eating properly over the weekend? The people who did not do their best to exercise and eat right on Saturday and Sunday.

• Most people fail to control themselves. They trade minutes of pleasure (i.e., fast food) for days, weeks, months, and years of regret.

• Focus on quality workouts, not quantity. Focus on planning ahead to overcome obstacles, rather than trying to "out-cardio" a bad diet.

• Always hit a personal best in each workout. This guarantees progress in both fat-burning and muscle-building.

• Fat loss is easy once you understand how hard it is… and it’s hard if you think it is easy.

To make fat loss easy, you must:

1. Plan and prepare your meals in advance.

2. Follow a professionally designed, structured workout routine that is more intense than anything you’d put together for yourself.

3. Get social support from others who have gone through the same trials and tribulations that you face.

Do those three things… and you will succeed.

[Ed. Note: To get the biggest fat-loss benefits of exercise, you need a specialized, structured workout routine. Craig has put together just such an exercise regimen that can help you drop fat and get fit. Learn more here.
 
And get a FREE weekly source of support and expert health advice right here.] 

One of my best clients grew up watching a lot of TV. In fact, he feels that he was practically raised by Cliff Huxtable (of the Cosby Show) and Meredith Baxter-Birney (from Family Ties). That’s how much TV he watched.

He finished college and started a real job. But he still rounded out his day with a nightly television marathon. So we shouldn’t be surprised that he "beefed up" to over 200 pounds. (He’s 5′10".) Especially when we look at the results of a recent Australian study.

The researchers examined the connections between watching TV, eating, and exercising in young adults (aged 26-36). They found that the young woman who watched more than three hours per day of TV had a higher prevalence of severe abdominal obesity when compared to the women who watched less than one hour of TV. For the men, only moderate abdominal obesity was associated with watching more than three hours of TV per day. Not severe – but still worse than the men who watched less than an hour per day.

The researchers also found that taking into account the daily physical activity levels of these men and women did not entirely explain the differences. What seemed to be more relevant was that the men and women who watched more TV also tended to consume more food and drinks.

Once my client eliminated sodas and foods from a bag or a box, he immediately started to lose weight. And fast. Plus, by adding three short strength-training and interval-training workouts per week, he got down well below his college weight, and is now as fit as he was more than 10 years ago.

The message for you? The same things we’ve been saying in ETR for years. Shut off the TV. Dump the soda. Eat fresh veggies and grass-fed meats instead of carbs. And get moving.

[Ed. Note: That TV contributes to weight gain should be no big shock. But you may be surprised to learn that you don't need hours in the gym to slim down. Discover 5 fat-loss myths you may be falling victim to - and what really works - right here.
 
And when you feel the urge to flip on the TV, turn to your computer instead. You can get a weekly source of support and motivation to help keep you healthy - for free. Learn more here.]

You know that water bottle you carry with you everywhere? Or the bottles you use to feed your baby? If they’re plastic, they could be making you or your baby very sick. Fortunately, there’s one easy step you can take to protect yourself and your loved ones from the "toxic" effects of plastic.

The bottles you use may contain bisphenol A (BPA), an "endocrine disrupter" used to add strength to clear plastics. BPA can mimic, mask, or interfere with the effects of the body’s natural hormones. It’s been linked to prostate and breast cancer, and to neurological disorders in children.

The growing body of evidence was sufficient for the U.S. government to issue a warning: "the possibility that bisphenol A may alter human development cannot be dismissed." The Canadian government went further, listing BPA as a toxic substance, and banning the use of polycarbonate baby bottles. Children are exceptionally vulnerable to BPA because they are still growing and developing, but adults are also at risk.

But there’s one simple thing you can do right now to safeguard your family’s health. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati found high temperatures from exposure to boiling water produced a 40-fold increase in the rate of BPA release, regardless of the bottle’s age.

So don’t heat that plastic. Microwave your beverages and food in glass or ceramic dishes. Never heat plastic baby bottles, and wash your plastic containers by hand to avoid the high temperatures in your dishwasher.

And take that water bottle with you when you leave your car in the hot sun.

[Learning why your drinking water may not be safe is just one of the health warnings that is ignored by mainstream media.  When you subscribe to Dr. James LaValle’s The Healing Prescription, you’ll get the straight facts about the food you eat, the medications you take, and most importantly, how to take control of your health – information your doctor may not even know! If you want to discover a better way to stay healthy for years to come, click here.]

Would you knowingly go out and buy mercury or lead and put it on your skin? No. You are certainly smarter than that. But the important word here is " knowingly" – because, believe it or not, there are still cosmetics and skin care products out there in the marketplace that are made with toxic ingredients. Fortunately, one website is pointing out the offenders so you can keep yourself safe.

A recent report published by the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit research organization in Washington, DC, identifies these products on their sister website, SafeCosmetics.org. (Who knew that some companies put mercury in their mascara?) 

We tend to forget that the skin is the largest organ of the body. Your skin literally drinks in what you put on it. So before you buy any cosmetics or skin care products, check the SafeCosmetics website.

[Ed. Note: James B. LaValle, RPh, N.D, C.C.N., is founder of the LaValle Metabolic Institute, a nationally recognized expert on natural therapies, and the author of 13 books on healthy lifestyles and integrative care, including Cracking the Metabolic Code.

By modifying your diet, medications, lifestyle, and exercise habits, and with nutritional supplementation, your health is largely within your control. Dr. LaValle's approach to health has worked for thousands of patients, and it can help you, too. Learn the details here.]

I wish it were simpler, but a lot of things can cause you to gain fat. It’s not always just a lack of exercise and an overabundance of food. So if you are eating right and exercising, but still having a hard time burning off excess inches, maybe you should take a look at your sleeping patterns.

In a study of 30 Greek women, researchers found that those who slept less had more body fat. In fact, for every one-hour decrease in the number of hours they slept, the women saw an increase of almost three percent more body fat.

The researchers were unable to associate a lack of sleep with an increase in caloric intake, so the reason for their results remains a mystery.

But… if you aren’t getting seven or eight hours of sleep each night, this could be the missing link in your fat-loss program. Try going to bed 30 minutes earlier for the next week, and then go to bed even 30 minutes earlier for another week. See if that helps you lose more fat.

[Ed. Note: Fitness expert Craig Ballantyne is the creator of the Turbulence Training for Fat Loss system. For an online source of information, motivation, and social support to help you improve your health, lose weight, and get fit, sign up for ETR’s free natural health e-letter.]

Are your lifestyle habits killing you? Or are they ensuring that you "live young"?

Have you ever noticed that obesity, heart disease, and cancer seem to afflict several people in the same family? Genetics are usually blamed. However, poor health passed down through generations is the result of lifestyle habits. Those who share similar habits also share the same health – bad or good. And those who make the same lifestyle changes experience equivalent changes in health – regardless of genetics.

To make a health transformation, you must capitalize on healthy habits. Two dangerous habits that are infecting Americans are habitual sugar consumption and a continual lack of moderate sunshine. Combined, these habits create an environment within your body that’s conducive to cancer growth. By minimizing sugar and exposing your body to direct sunlight for at least 20 minutes daily, you help prevent this pandemic killer from decreasing the time you can spend enjoying life.

[Ed. Note: Shane "The People’s Chemist" Ellison is an internationally recognized authority on therapeutic nutrition. Learn about his "Foundational Health Education" program to beat obesity, heart disease, and even Type II diabetes by clicking here.

You can also read Shane’s insights into what you can do to lead a healthier life by signing up for ETR’s FREE natural health e-letter here.]