Day 4

MEAL PLAN

MEAL PLAN

Remember: no artificial sweeteners!

You may increase the number of meals up to 8 meals (with one RECIPE meal) if you keep losing weight. Go ahead, experiment combining two meals and increasing intervals between meals.

Return to Day 1 (5 meals, no RECIPES) if you stopped losing weight. We know it is becoming dull, but we promise it'll not last too much longer!

Here are a few more meal suggestions to add to your meal list. Please let us know what food you would like to introduce to your diet this week and we'll calculate how you can have it.

Chicken meal suggestions
1 serving each:
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1) 1/2 cup fried chicken, boneless, with skin, diced
1 cup green raw cabbage, thinly sliced
Italian dressing made with vinegar and 1 Tsp olive oil
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2) 1 thick slice (approx 2" x 1-1/2" x 3/8") cooked chicken
1 Tb mayonnaise
10 flowerets raw cauliflower,
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3) 2 thick slices (1 slice =2" x 1-1/2" x 3/8") cooked chicken
1 cup raw cherry tomatoes
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4) 1 1/2 thick slices (1 slice =2" x 1-1/2" x 3/8") cooked chicken
1/3 cup mashed avocado
1 clove garlic, diced
Fresh dill, salt by taste
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5) 1/2 cup boiled chicken, boneless, diced
1 small egg, boiled, shredded
1/4 cup fresh dill
Italian dressing made with vinegar and 1 Tsp olive oil
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EXERCISE

Today, you are doing your aerobics routine plus BODY-MIND

Instant Image Improvement: Stand Up Straight!

Let's start with the quickest body image fix: improve your posture and look 5 pounds slimmer instantly! Here is how.

Posture and Weight Perception

Thinness is not perceived absolutely; two people may have the exact same body weight, but the taller person will look slimmer. You can appear taller - thus, thinner - if you learn how to align your spine. These exercises should help:

Exercise. To align your spine and stand tall:

1. Stand before a full-length mirror.
2. Raise your shoulders, then rotate them back and down.
3. Keeping your shoulders as far back and down as you can, relax your arms.
4. Make your neck long and straight by raising your head, keeping your chin tucked in slightly. Do not tilt your head.
5. Make it sure your pelvic is well aligned vertically.

The Anatomy of Good Posture

The aligned spine lets your spinal cord and spinal nerves occupy the correct anatomical position within the spinal column and between the vertebrae. Unaligned vertebral disks create asymmetrical pressure on the spinal part of the nervous system. Even if it is not pathological, this condition is not optimal for the nervous system's functioning:

- In terms of ‘charkas’ and meridians, this asymmetry and uneven position of the vertebrae interrupts the energy flow along the spine and creates places with energy stagnation.
- This asymmetry and tension can lead to various diseases, including scoliosis, pinched shoulder and low back nerves, etc.
- The pressure also affects those muscles that regulate your breathing. This can also lead to illness.

The Elements of Good Posture

Maintaining good posture is probably the simplest form of body awareness. It eases back pain, increases movement range, and gives you a longer, leaner, more confident look. In one survey, people were shown photographs of several models and asked to choose which model they liked the best. The subjects always preferred those models that stood up straight, saying that they perceived the models as more honest, confident and successful, compared to those who had poor posture.

There are many ways you can straighten up. A chiropractor can align your spine, but this will not develop the necessary muscle support for the correct position of the back. So, if you opt for a chiropractor's help in achieving good posture, you will need the alignment again and again. A massage therapist can improve the muscle tissue condition and temporarily increase the blood flow to the muscles. This will ease any back pain and enhance metabolism, but it's a passive process and, because of that, the effect is transient, too.

The Benefits of a Straight Back

A straight back should be a part of your true self; your everyday life. The Alexander Technique teaches you how to pay attention to your posture permanently, as it does not limit its focus on the spine. This is a good example of holistic approach, because -

... you are convinced in the necessity of straight back
... you learn how to keep it straight
... you realize that keeping your back straight is a part of feeling good
... you develop muscles to support the whole body permanently and, as a result, your breathing improves
... you gain an increase in movement
... you improve your state of mind and total body image.

Uprightness does not mean rigidity and tension. This is why the Alexander Technique focuses on reaching up, lightening the body and teaching your muscles how to relax. Moshe Feldenkrais wrote on posture: "The common association of good posture with poise - that is, mental or physical tranquillity - is in fact an excellent criterion... Neither excessive muscular tension nor emotional intensity is compatible with good posture."

Later, we'll learn how to do the "reaching up" and "reaching out" exercises.

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Contact us at:
http://bantadiet.com/mfeedback.html
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Until tomorrow,

= Banta Diet Team