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I have been fortunate that with Herbalife my training has been comprehensive and ongoing.
I now receive additional training from professionals at least once a month in the UK, where I am also fortunate to see for ourselves the amazing results that the ShapeWorks programme is having for people all over Europe.
Be assured that the concepts that are showing so many benefits today are not new or untested award-winning doctors guide product research and development to ensure the quality and safety of all products.
One member of the Herbalife Scientific and Medical Advisory Board has worked on these founding principles for thirty years. His name is Dr. David Heber. David Heber M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.N Dr. Heber is included in The Best Doctors in America and Who's Who in America, and his main research interests are obesity treatment and nutrition for cancer prevention and treatment. He is the Director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition at the University of California, Los Angeles.
I have received training from him on two occasions, and each time his knowledge and passion for improving the health of the world is commendable and outstanding. These words have been written by Dr. Heber. Hope you enjoy them. .........................................................
The Importance Of Shape
What is your shape? You may think you know when you look in the mirror, or you may be too busy trying to cover up unshapely areas to really see yourself as you are.
Do you know how much fat you're carrying, compared to how much muscle? Do you know where you tend to gain weight - upper body, lower body or around the middle? Understanding your body is the first step to reaching your best personal shape.
As someone who teaches both doctors and the public about obesity, I believe weight loss has been overemphasized and body shape underemphasized. You have probably read about the Body Mass Index (BMI), which is a weight-to-height ratio. If your BMI is greater than 25, you are considered overweight, and if it is greater than 30 you are obese.
This ratio has been a powerful way for scientists to document the obesity epidemic in the world and its effects on health and disease. However, when it comes to you as an individual, it can be misleading. A football player can be considered overweight on the BMI scale, but if the extra weight being carried is muscle, he is not really fat. A thin woman can have a normal BMI, yet still be over-fat. So, shape counts. Shape also helps determine goals. Women are very conscious of their shape and dress size, and for many women changing their shape is more important than just losing weight.
Men are often unaware of their excess weight around the middle, and simply buy larger trousers or tighten their belt below their stomach. Men may care less about a shapely appearance, but shape has many health consequences and improved health is a goal for many men. Losing weight around the middle can help reduce cholesterol levels, blood pressure and blood-sugar levels.
Three body types Shapes are personal and go beyond the usual 'apple and pear'. Women can have three typical body shapes - upper body fat, lower body fat and both upper and lower body fat. Men usually only get upper body fat. The upper body stores fat in times of stress and some people can lose and gain weight rapidly in the upper body.
The lower body fat in women responds to female hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone and stores fat for breast-feeding a newborn baby. Women who have both upper and lower body fat will lose their upper body fat first. Women with more upper body fat tend to have more muscle than women with lower body fat and will need more protein in their diet to help control their hunger.
Losing weight is harder if you have lower body fat rather than upper body fat, but the medical benefits of losing your upper body fat are greater. The upper body fat around the intestines, which is seen on the outside as an increase in waist size and on the inside with special x-rays called CT scans, is very specialized in function.
This fat tissue sends fatty acids to the liver and causes changes in your insulin levels that affect how much fat you store versus how much fat you burn. When you have too much of this fat in the body, it can also cause inflammation in many tissues, including the heart.
Losing weight around your neck, face, chest and waist usually goes along with losing fat on the inside as well. So as you look better, you are also improving your health tremendously.
Discovering your shape Finally, there are two more body shapes to consider: The shape you can change and the shape you can't change. It is important to know the difference, and work on the shape you can change, while adjusting your wardrobe and attitudes to the shape you cannot change.
People come in all different shapes and sizes. Due to low metabolism, many women with lower body fat can't lose weight just by cutting calories. These lower body-fat cells are resistant to both exercise and diet. Only a personalized program can help make sure you get enough protein to control cravings and build or maintain lean muscle.
For more information, see Dr. Heber's book, 'The L.A. Shape Diet', available from Amazon, contact me or follow the link to my website.
Have a great day !
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