XLPharmacy January 2009 News Archives

We tend to think that motivation is the key, but motivation for losing weight will not magically happen. What motivates us will change from day to day. We have to recommit to our goals each day, tweak them to fit changes in our lifestyle and attitude and find new ways to motivate ourselves over the course of your life.

We will not always want to exercise and eat healthy. Even the most committed exerciser doesn't always want to do it. Know that you will have to work on it every day.

Diets don't work. We really need to stop wasting our time following someone else's plan for our bodies. We must make our own plans based on realistic changes--if we can't follow our chosen diet for the rest of our life, we're wasting precious time.

Our next step is to adjust our lifestyle so we have the best chance of success.

I love a new year. It almost seems like we can start all over, finally become that wonderful, productive, healthy, happy person we've always wanted to be. The trouble is, the enthusiasm to make changes, especially with exercise and diet, tends to fade once we realize we can't change everything overnight. If we want to make lasting changes, there are three things we can do to make our resolutions work all year long:

If we have the wrong attitude about fitness, we're already setting ourselves up for failure. Most people look at exercise as:

If any of these sound familiar, how long do you think you'll stick with your program? Nobody wants to do something painful, boring or obligatory. Before you throw yourself into weight loss, think about your attitudes on exercise and figure out whether these attitudes are true or just lies you've been telling yourself for years.

Willpower won't work. Willpower is for short-term success. Long-term success requires planning, discipline and finding ways to motivate ourselves every day.

Never forget that losing weight and maintaining that weight loss is a lifetime prospect. We will never stop working to maintain our fitness and weight. So, before we start that same old diet or exercise program, lets ask ourselves this question: Can we sustain this diet for the long term? Is this exercise program something we can do every day?

Once we recognize the gravity of permanently losing weight, we'll need to change our lifestyle to accommodate this goal.

Figure out our bad habits. We can keep a food/activity journal for an entire week. Do it without judgment or shame--we're simply trying to figure out what we're doing every day that may be hurting our weight loss goals.

Replace those bad habits, one at a time, with different habits. Experts know that we can't break bad habits without forming new ones. If we take away our daily McDonald meal and don't replace it with something else we'll drift right back into the old McDonald's habit.

This may sound too simple, and it is. Giving up something yummy for something healthy isn't easy. We have to change our environment to make it impossible to have or even want that McDonald's meal.

Decide what we'll eat instead of fast food. Stock up on breakfast foods we like, keep meal replacement bars in the car or try healthy fruit shakes or smoothies.

Eat before we get in the car so we won't be starving and, therefore, tempted to hit the drive thru.

Don't carry cash in the car (even if we DO have the urge to indulge, we won't be able to), write down our weight loss goal and tape it to our steering wheel or our glove compartment so, when we're reaching for our wallet, we'll immediately be reminded of our goals.

Our best chance at making our resolutions last is to make a plan for success. A few simple steps taken ahead of time can save us time and energy.

For some people it may help to talk to their Doctor about weight loss medications to help. But be sure to talk to your Doctor before contemplating medications like Xenical or Acomplia. Not everyone is going to need medications to help them succeed. Your doctor will know what's right for you.

We've figured out how to change our bad eating habits by replacing them with good ones and we've learned to create an environment that doesn't allow those bad habits to exist. Now, we need to make a plan for what we really want.

Write down specific goals we have (not just 'I want to lose weight.'). List everything, for example:

How much weight do we want to lose. Make sure the amount of weight we want to lose is reasonable for our height and frame. This Ideal Weight Calculator will give us a starting point for setting our goals.

To set up a good routine, we'll need to know the basics of a complete program. Our program will involve cardio, strength training and stretching. The resources below provide in-depth information about these different components and how to combine them for a complete workout:

Success involves using every resource we have to keep going. Do whatever it takes to be consistent including:

The important thing to remember is that losing weight requires that we change our lifestyle. We have to change the way we think about exercise and eating, change the way we schedule our day and how we prioritize our tasks. It's easy to lose a few pounds, but it's hard to keep them off for good. Being prepared for what's ahead is our first step in the right direction.

Aging men who have sex at least once a week have only half the risk of developing erectile dysfunction as do men who have sex less often.

But once-a-weekers shouldn't gloat. More sex means even less ED risk. Men who have sex at least three times a week are only one-fourth as likely to get erectile dysfunction as are men who have less-than-weekly sex.

The team found that regular sexual activity preserves potency in the same way as physical exercise maintains functional capacity. The findings come from questionnaires mailed to Finnish men aged 55 to 75. Only the 989 men who did not have erectile dysfunction at the beginning of the study, and who returned a second questionnaire five years later were included.

Men with erectile dysfunction were found to have sex less often than do more potent men. But by including only men who did not have erectile dysfunction to start with, the Finnish team believe their study strongly suggests that sexual intercourse lowers the risk of ED.

The average man in the study was 59 years old. Four out of five of the men were married or cohabitating. More than half of them were overweight, and nearly half had at least one chronic medical condition.

For such men, the team found that sex less than once a week significantly increases the risk of erectile dysfunction. And compared to sex once a week, sex at least three times a week significantly decreases risk of erectile dysfunction.

Interestingly, the study found that men who have less than one morning erection per week are 2.5 times more likely to get erectile dysfunction as are men who have two or three morning erections per week. But having a morning erection every day did not lower a man's risk of erectile dysfunction.

One major limitation of the study the team found is that they did not ask the men about masturbation, which might conceivably have the same healthy effect on erectile dysfunction as intercourse. So as far as the researchers can tell, the study findings apply only to sex with another person.

Featured Stories II - Oral Viagra

Sildenafil is used to treat male sexual function problems (impotence or erectile dysfunction) by blocking a certain enzyme in the body. In combination with sexual stimulation, Sildenafil works by helping the blood flow into the penis to achieve and maintain an erection.

Use of this drug does not protect against sexually transmitted diseases (e.g., HIV, hepatitis B, gonorrhea, syphilis). Practice "safe sex" such as using latex condoms. Consult your doctor or pharmacist for more details.

How to use Viagra Oral

Read the Patient Information Leaflet provided by your pharmacist before you start taking Sildenafil and each time you get a refill. If you have any questions, consult your doctor or pharmacist.

This drug is taken by mouth as needed, at least 30 minutes, but no more than 4 hours, before sexual activity (1 hour before is the most effective). Do not take more often than once daily, and take as directed.

A high fat meal may delay the time of onset of this drug.

Avoid eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice while you are being treated with this medication unless your doctor instructs you otherwise.

The dosage is based on your medical condition, response to therapy, and other medications you may be taking.

Viagra Oral is used to treat the following:

Increased Pressure of Pulmonary Circulation, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, Inability to have an Erection - Erectile Dysfunction