How many people do you think would attend a trading seminar that advertised teaching to lose small? Or, how popular would a workshop be that was dedicated to extolling the virtues of preventing big losses in the financial markets? My guess is that unless there were a lot of incentives (perhaps a free trip to Vegas or a flat screen TV), not many people would show up to these events. The reason - no one likes to hear about losing.
Losing conjures up feelings of failure and pain, and since most human beings would rather avoid those two experiences, it's no surprise that anything dealing with these emotions would have very little appeal to the masses.
Now, on the other hand, if there were a promotion on how to trade with zero risk, great profit potential, and hardly any work, there wouldn't be a venue large enough to hold all the attendees. In reality, most of us know that no such thing exists (as much as we'd wish it did). This brings us to the reality of trading.
In class, I like to draw upon many analogies; one of my favorites when discussing the psychology of trading is to liken a trader to a boxer: A trader who hates, or fears, losing is akin to a boxer who feels similarly about taking punches. This, let's refer to him as the timid boxer, is the pugilist who always has his elbows close to his body, and his hands covering his face. Always on the defensive, this fellow rarely throws a jab as he is always on his heels. He's the one that's always clinching, hoping to stem the onslaught of punches being hurled at him. There's a commonly used quote in boxing: The clinch can keep you from losing, but it can't make you a winner.
The parallels in these two areas of endeavor are striking. For example, a trader must accept small losses, just as a boxer must know how to take a punch. However, neither one must let their guard down because just one blow to the chin (one big loss) could mean "game over." Likewise, the skilled boxer dodges and weaves, taking a few innocuous punches, until he sees an opening to strike his opponent where the most damage can be inflicted. A trader, in the same fashion, will incur those modest losses until he nails the trade that reaches his target.
The usual victor in a fighting match, or in any competition for that matter, is the one who can sense their opponent's weakness, and then exploit it. In boxing, it's referred to as the "killer instinct" or "going for the jugular." This occurs when you see a boxer backed into a corner, and the aggressor does not let up on his assault, until either the referee stops the fight with a technical knockout, or the timid boxer ends up supine on the canvas. This can also be seen in other professional sports like a football game in which one team has a fourth-and–goal, the winning team usually goes for the touchdown in that scenario. Meanwhile, the team playing "conservatively" settles for a field goal. I find that aggravating to see.
In the day trading arena, this goes on every day - the difference is that in trading, most of the beatings are self-imposed.
Put another way: Winners play to "win," as opposed to "not to lose." When a trader begins to love to take small losses, then, and only then, can he/she begin to play to win. Those of you that have been reading Lessons from the Pros for a while probably have read comparable themes from me or other writers at Online Trading Academy. Nonetheless, some subjects bear repeating, and this is one of them.
I believe the only way to begin embracing the losing aspect of trading is to gain the skill that will enable you to compete. I always tell my students, "The successful traders that I'm acquainted with are some of the smartest people I know and that's who you will be competing with." I also tell them that in my many years of trading I've only known two types of traders - traders that have lost money, and traders that are going to lose money. The difference between the survivors and the ones that have gone by the wayside is in how they've reacted to their losses and the size of those losses.
All told, fortify your mind to withstand the inevitable losses that will come from trading, just as the boxer will have to strengthen his abdominal muscles to better-defend against the inevitable body blows. If you find yourself being one of those who trade "not to lose," then I challenge you to change your way of thinking. Perhaps a more constructive way to view trading is to believe that small losses are simply the price to be paid for being a consistent winner in the markets. So ask yourself, do you really want to be a winner?
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Losing To Win
The hardest, but also most important lesson to learn in trading is how to handle losses gracefully. Most traders will inevitably encounter a string of losses at some point, so those who can't lose without being thrown off their game won't survive the market. The traders who have realistic win/loss expectations and a trading system they trust have the best chance of prevailing over tough market conditions. Here we look at what kind of losses traders can expect and how they can adjust their focus and strategy to deal with these losses.
Losing Battles …
Every trader worth his or her salt knows that trading against the trend is not a good idea. So it seems logical that the best trading systems would be those that follow the trend: when the trend is going up, take long trades only, and when it's going down, it's time to go short. That being said, you'd think that trend-following systems would have the best win/loss ratios, right?
In his book, "A Short Course in Technical Trading", Perry Kaufman offers some sobering statistics on the matter. According to this veteran program-trading expert and author, "You can expect 6 or 7 out of 10 trend trades to be losses, some small some a little larger." And yet, Kaufman says that trend-following systems are some of the best trading systems around. In other words, trend-following systems won't yield huge profits, but they'll still do better than most systems.
It will probably come as a shock to those who have spent countless hours searching for a winning system, but Kaufman makes it absolutely clear in his book that having realistic win/loss expectations means expecting losses - lots of them. He states, "As a trend trader, you should expect mostly small losses, some small profits, and a few large profits."
If it gets across this point alone,"A Short Course" is a worthwhile addition to your library. Kaufman provides an example to demonstrate a phenomenon traders in the game for the long haul have come to learn the hard way:
"In a normal distribution of 1,000 coin tosses, half of them would be single runs of heads or tails. Half of those, 25%, would be a sequence of either two heads or two tails. Half of the remaining, 12.5%, would be sequences of three in a row, and so on. Therefore, in 1,000 coin tosses, you can expect only one run of 10 heads or tails in a row."
In other words, in 1,000 trading days - or about four years - a trader could expect to experience 10 wins (or losses) in a row only once, that is, if trading were as random (normally distributed) as a series of coin tosses, which it is not.
So, your odds of winning with trend-following systems are better than your odds of winning a series of random coin tosses, but there are other challenges to having more winning than losing trades. Although markets are not random, you can still expect short-term random movements within a trend, major reversals at the end of each trend, and the time lag most trend-following systems experience when getting into and out of the market.
As a result, thanks to lags and unexpected short-term random movements, you are still subject to the effects of randomness. Given enough time, an experienced trader can expect to suffer 10 or more losses in a row. It is not a matter of if, but when.
When asked about realistic trading expectations, Thomas Stridsman, author of "Trading Systems That Work" and "Trading Systems and Money Management", had this to say:
"What is more important than how large your winning trade is when you win, or how many winners or losers you might have in a row. It is the mathematical expectancy of your strategy. That is, how much are you likely to win on average on all trades, winners and losers combined, and how much this value is likely to fluctuate in the short term.
"For an even further increase of peace of mind, you also probably are better off looking at profitable time periods, such as weeks or months, rather than profitable trades. Simply looking at a win/loss ratio is not enough."
If you think that doing either more or fewer trades would be a more successful strategy, think again. Kaufman demonstrates in "Short Course" that the more trades the trader performs, the lower his or her profits over the long haul. On average, longer-term trades generate more eventual profits. However, if you're a long-term trader, your risk of getting one or more big losses is increased, since you are in the markets longer and therefore exposed to risk for more prolonged periods. Bottom line, no matter what your trading style or preferred time in a trade, you will lose and lose big on more than one occasion.
Kaufman has the data to back up his claims. He has performed thousands of tests on various systems, and some of these are presented in Short Course. In one example, he tested Microsoft for 10 years ending Jan 2001 and covering a period when the stock moved from a pre-split price of $1.04 to a high of $60 in Dec 1999. It should be pretty easy to beat the odds following that kind of trend, right?
Using an 80-day moving average during the period to generate buys and sells the system, trading both long and short positions, generated a total of 88 trades. Of these, only 36 trades - or 41% - were profitable. And Kaufman comments in the book that "[t]hat's actually good for a trend system, which often has closer to 35% good trades".
These depressing stats are echoed by John Murphy in his book, "Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets". Murphy says that professional traders, on average, experience losing trades about 60% of the time. In other words, they win only about 40% of the trades they enter. Given the grim facts, rookie traders may wonder how it's possible to make money in the markets. All of this begs the question: how can a system that has more losing than winning trades be profitable?
…While Winning the War
Let's look at an example of a system that does very well in a relatively short period, but falters over time. I ran a number of tests to determine if using commercial commodity traders' net positions - published each week by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the Commitment of Traders (COT) reports - was useful in trading an index. Tests were performed for the period of 1999 through 2003 using the S&P 500 Index futures and results were impressive.
Using a five- and 22-week simple moving average of commercial traders' positions, buying each time the five-period SMA crossed above the 22-period SMA and selling when it crossed below, the strategy earned 804 points. Contrast this to a loss of 245 points for a buy-and-hold strategy during the four-and-a-half-year period between Feb 12, 1999, and Oct 3, 2003. If we assume the trader traded one S&P 500 e-mini contract with a margin (risk) of $1,800, the profit would have been more than $40,000 after commissions. Out of a total of 12 trades, seven were profitable - that's a win/loss ratio of 58%.
The same tests were performed for the 13-year period from Feb 16, 1990, through Oct 31, 2003. Results were far less impressive. The system returned a total of 555 points, whereas a buy and hold over the same period returned 696 points. Our win/loss ratio also dropped: only 26 out of 55 trades were profitable, giving a ratio of 47%. Not only was the system not nearly as impressive over the longer period, but it was also significantly outperformed by a simple buy-and-hold strategy.
The moral of the story? Whenever you see claims that systems generate outstanding returns over short periods, remember that such statistics are worthless without looking at the bigger picture. Even worse, these claims often create unrealistic expectations in the mind of the new trader who takes them at face value.
Stridsman explains how to compare a trading system to a buy-and-hold strategy:
"The trick here is to analyze the system for its effective time spent in the market. For example, if a system is in the market only 50 percent of the time, you can put on twice as many contracts each time the system enters into a trade, as compared to what you would have in a buy-and-hold situation over the entire period to achieve the same amount of contract hours spent in the market. Looked at this way, in the 50 percent case the profits made per contract traded should be at least half that of the constant-contract, buy-and-hold strategy. Proper money management also allows you to increase the number of contracts traded as your equity grows, whereas a buy-and-hold strategy doesn't give you the same flexibility."
When you approach trading with the assumption that there will be more losing than winning trades, your primary focus shifts dramatically. Instead of spending inordinate amounts of time buying, testing and discarding systems that fail to meet your unrealistic expectations of 70 to 80% (or more) wins to losses, you can concentrate your efforts in the more important but far less sexy area of money management.
On average, traders spend at least 10 times more time and effort on seeking the magic formula for trading than on learning to manage the trade. This is obvious if you compare the number of trading signal systems available to the number of money management systems available. The same is true for best-selling trading books. When was the last time you saw a best-seller that concentrated on money management? This may explain why so few traders actually graduate to the point of being consistent in the trading game.
Conclusion
Since a large number of professional traders experience more losing than winning trades, learning how to lose is essential to making it as a trader. Furthermore, an effective money management program is absolutely necessary to a trader's survival and long-term profitability. A key part of any money management program is having an effective trading plan and sticking to it. (For more on constructing a trading plan, see the article Ten Steps to Building a Winning Trading Plan.)
Consider what veteran trader and market teacher Larry Williams said in a 2004 e-mail: "Since losses are an integral part of this game, a strategy is as essential as the proper attitude. All jobs have good days and bad days so deal with it. There are no 100% certain trades."
Looking for a system that will win 80% of the time or more is a fool's game. Those who adopt a hope-for-the-best-but-plan-for-the-worst mentality and concentrate their efforts on far more important issues will set themselves up for long-term success. It is the difference between taking a short-term view to win a few battles at any cost and marshaling resources in the battles you lose to ultimately win the war.
If you're serious about getting a handle on this topic, check out the books by Kaufman discussed in this article. You will also find Thomas Stridsman's book, "Trading Systems and Money Management", a worthwhile read for its detailed discussion of win/loss ratios, realistic expectations for various trading systems, and money management strategies. Consider it a reading assignment with potentially big dividends!
Losing Battles …
Every trader worth his or her salt knows that trading against the trend is not a good idea. So it seems logical that the best trading systems would be those that follow the trend: when the trend is going up, take long trades only, and when it's going down, it's time to go short. That being said, you'd think that trend-following systems would have the best win/loss ratios, right?
In his book, "A Short Course in Technical Trading", Perry Kaufman offers some sobering statistics on the matter. According to this veteran program-trading expert and author, "You can expect 6 or 7 out of 10 trend trades to be losses, some small some a little larger." And yet, Kaufman says that trend-following systems are some of the best trading systems around. In other words, trend-following systems won't yield huge profits, but they'll still do better than most systems.
It will probably come as a shock to those who have spent countless hours searching for a winning system, but Kaufman makes it absolutely clear in his book that having realistic win/loss expectations means expecting losses - lots of them. He states, "As a trend trader, you should expect mostly small losses, some small profits, and a few large profits."
If it gets across this point alone,"A Short Course" is a worthwhile addition to your library. Kaufman provides an example to demonstrate a phenomenon traders in the game for the long haul have come to learn the hard way:
"In a normal distribution of 1,000 coin tosses, half of them would be single runs of heads or tails. Half of those, 25%, would be a sequence of either two heads or two tails. Half of the remaining, 12.5%, would be sequences of three in a row, and so on. Therefore, in 1,000 coin tosses, you can expect only one run of 10 heads or tails in a row."
In other words, in 1,000 trading days - or about four years - a trader could expect to experience 10 wins (or losses) in a row only once, that is, if trading were as random (normally distributed) as a series of coin tosses, which it is not.
So, your odds of winning with trend-following systems are better than your odds of winning a series of random coin tosses, but there are other challenges to having more winning than losing trades. Although markets are not random, you can still expect short-term random movements within a trend, major reversals at the end of each trend, and the time lag most trend-following systems experience when getting into and out of the market.
As a result, thanks to lags and unexpected short-term random movements, you are still subject to the effects of randomness. Given enough time, an experienced trader can expect to suffer 10 or more losses in a row. It is not a matter of if, but when.
When asked about realistic trading expectations, Thomas Stridsman, author of "Trading Systems That Work" and "Trading Systems and Money Management", had this to say:
"What is more important than how large your winning trade is when you win, or how many winners or losers you might have in a row. It is the mathematical expectancy of your strategy. That is, how much are you likely to win on average on all trades, winners and losers combined, and how much this value is likely to fluctuate in the short term.
"For an even further increase of peace of mind, you also probably are better off looking at profitable time periods, such as weeks or months, rather than profitable trades. Simply looking at a win/loss ratio is not enough."
If you think that doing either more or fewer trades would be a more successful strategy, think again. Kaufman demonstrates in "Short Course" that the more trades the trader performs, the lower his or her profits over the long haul. On average, longer-term trades generate more eventual profits. However, if you're a long-term trader, your risk of getting one or more big losses is increased, since you are in the markets longer and therefore exposed to risk for more prolonged periods. Bottom line, no matter what your trading style or preferred time in a trade, you will lose and lose big on more than one occasion.
Kaufman has the data to back up his claims. He has performed thousands of tests on various systems, and some of these are presented in Short Course. In one example, he tested Microsoft for 10 years ending Jan 2001 and covering a period when the stock moved from a pre-split price of $1.04 to a high of $60 in Dec 1999. It should be pretty easy to beat the odds following that kind of trend, right?
Using an 80-day moving average during the period to generate buys and sells the system, trading both long and short positions, generated a total of 88 trades. Of these, only 36 trades - or 41% - were profitable. And Kaufman comments in the book that "[t]hat's actually good for a trend system, which often has closer to 35% good trades".
These depressing stats are echoed by John Murphy in his book, "Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets". Murphy says that professional traders, on average, experience losing trades about 60% of the time. In other words, they win only about 40% of the trades they enter. Given the grim facts, rookie traders may wonder how it's possible to make money in the markets. All of this begs the question: how can a system that has more losing than winning trades be profitable?
…While Winning the War
Let's look at an example of a system that does very well in a relatively short period, but falters over time. I ran a number of tests to determine if using commercial commodity traders' net positions - published each week by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the Commitment of Traders (COT) reports - was useful in trading an index. Tests were performed for the period of 1999 through 2003 using the S&P 500 Index futures and results were impressive.
Using a five- and 22-week simple moving average of commercial traders' positions, buying each time the five-period SMA crossed above the 22-period SMA and selling when it crossed below, the strategy earned 804 points. Contrast this to a loss of 245 points for a buy-and-hold strategy during the four-and-a-half-year period between Feb 12, 1999, and Oct 3, 2003. If we assume the trader traded one S&P 500 e-mini contract with a margin (risk) of $1,800, the profit would have been more than $40,000 after commissions. Out of a total of 12 trades, seven were profitable - that's a win/loss ratio of 58%.
The same tests were performed for the 13-year period from Feb 16, 1990, through Oct 31, 2003. Results were far less impressive. The system returned a total of 555 points, whereas a buy and hold over the same period returned 696 points. Our win/loss ratio also dropped: only 26 out of 55 trades were profitable, giving a ratio of 47%. Not only was the system not nearly as impressive over the longer period, but it was also significantly outperformed by a simple buy-and-hold strategy.
The moral of the story? Whenever you see claims that systems generate outstanding returns over short periods, remember that such statistics are worthless without looking at the bigger picture. Even worse, these claims often create unrealistic expectations in the mind of the new trader who takes them at face value.
Stridsman explains how to compare a trading system to a buy-and-hold strategy:
"The trick here is to analyze the system for its effective time spent in the market. For example, if a system is in the market only 50 percent of the time, you can put on twice as many contracts each time the system enters into a trade, as compared to what you would have in a buy-and-hold situation over the entire period to achieve the same amount of contract hours spent in the market. Looked at this way, in the 50 percent case the profits made per contract traded should be at least half that of the constant-contract, buy-and-hold strategy. Proper money management also allows you to increase the number of contracts traded as your equity grows, whereas a buy-and-hold strategy doesn't give you the same flexibility."
When you approach trading with the assumption that there will be more losing than winning trades, your primary focus shifts dramatically. Instead of spending inordinate amounts of time buying, testing and discarding systems that fail to meet your unrealistic expectations of 70 to 80% (or more) wins to losses, you can concentrate your efforts in the more important but far less sexy area of money management.
On average, traders spend at least 10 times more time and effort on seeking the magic formula for trading than on learning to manage the trade. This is obvious if you compare the number of trading signal systems available to the number of money management systems available. The same is true for best-selling trading books. When was the last time you saw a best-seller that concentrated on money management? This may explain why so few traders actually graduate to the point of being consistent in the trading game.
Conclusion
Since a large number of professional traders experience more losing than winning trades, learning how to lose is essential to making it as a trader. Furthermore, an effective money management program is absolutely necessary to a trader's survival and long-term profitability. A key part of any money management program is having an effective trading plan and sticking to it. (For more on constructing a trading plan, see the article Ten Steps to Building a Winning Trading Plan.)
Consider what veteran trader and market teacher Larry Williams said in a 2004 e-mail: "Since losses are an integral part of this game, a strategy is as essential as the proper attitude. All jobs have good days and bad days so deal with it. There are no 100% certain trades."
Looking for a system that will win 80% of the time or more is a fool's game. Those who adopt a hope-for-the-best-but-plan-for-the-worst mentality and concentrate their efforts on far more important issues will set themselves up for long-term success. It is the difference between taking a short-term view to win a few battles at any cost and marshaling resources in the battles you lose to ultimately win the war.
If you're serious about getting a handle on this topic, check out the books by Kaufman discussed in this article. You will also find Thomas Stridsman's book, "Trading Systems and Money Management", a worthwhile read for its detailed discussion of win/loss ratios, realistic expectations for various trading systems, and money management strategies. Consider it a reading assignment with potentially big dividends!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
怎样才算慢活？
城市人匆忙上班，吃饭狼吞虎咽，如厕草草了事，就连休息都得争分夺秒。如此节奏混乱的生活是养生大忌，英国《每日邮报》载文指出，平日生活节奏会直接影响健康，应学会快慢、张弛、紧疏有度。中国《生命时报》采访数位医学专家，总结出呼吸、喝水、吃饭和走路等行为的最佳速度，从今天起，不妨尝试着改变自己的生物钟。
呼吸
静下心来，对着手表，测一下自己的呼吸（一呼一吸为一个周期），看看一分钟有多少次，一个周期多少秒？
一项研究显示，大多数人用3.3秒呼吸一次。你知道吗？古人一次呼吸是6.4秒。
伦敦理疗师菲奥娜·特鲁普说，健康成年人每分钟呼吸10至14次，如果每分钟呼吸次数超过20次，氧气不能被释放到肌肉及器官，就会出现指尖和嘴唇刺痛、心悸、疲劳、注意力无法集中、肌肉痉挛及肠易激综合征等问题。
只要这些症状出现，表明你平时是通过口腔，而不是用鼻子来完成呼吸。一般来说，压力大、颈痛、背痛、受到情感打击或手术等，都会增加呼吸急促几率。伦敦大学医院呼吸医学教授史蒂芬·斯皮罗博士说，虽然呼吸太快不会导致长期健康问题，但容易引发肺病，或者哮喘和支气管炎。
最佳节奏：一呼一吸用6.4秒。
研究发现，书法家、太极拳师以及性情温和的人，呼吸节奏是缓慢而深沉的，他们的平均寿命普遍较长。一般来说，山区的长寿者多于平原，主要原因是，高山的低氧空气能降低血氧浓度，减缓新陈代谢的速度。
中国中医科学院教授杨力建议，想长寿不妨学学古人深长而缓慢的呼吸形式。正确的呼吸方法要做到四个字：深、长、匀、细，这期间注意用鼻而不要用嘴呼吸。
初练阶段，晚间睡觉时平躺，全身放松。呼气时略屏气，呼气时间是吸气的3至4倍。呼完之后不要马上吸气，应紧接着稍稍屏气，然后再吸气。就这样“吸—呼—屏”循环，直至不知不觉地入睡。接下来，不只睡前，白天、夜里、工作、走路、坐车……潜意识里都得要求自己按上述方法做。
喝水
喝水是件再简单不过的事，但一杯水“咕嘟咕嘟”下肚的同时，心脏也承受着不小的负担。
因为喝水太快，水分会快速进入血液，使血液变稀、血量增加，尤其对老人或心脏不好的人来说，会出现胸闷、气短等症状，严重的可能导致心肌梗死。
北京医院心内科主任医师沈瑾提醒，喝水时应特别注意喝的频率和量。特别是洗完热水澡后，身体受热，血管扩张，血流量增加，心脏跳动也会比平时快些，不应大量喝水或喝得太快。
运动过后，也不宜一次性大量饮水。因为这时胃肠血管处于收缩状态，需要一个恢复过程，立即大量饮水会导致肚子发胀，影响消化。
不仅是喝水，喝酒也不能太快，否则身体无法及时处理，容易导致饮酒过量。伦敦大学初级护理教授保罗·华莱士说，肝脏每小时只能处理大约1杯酒的酒精量，一次醉酒就足以导致肝脏损伤，一旦酒精中毒，还会影响大脑功能。
最佳节奏：跟着心跳喝。
合理的喝水方式是，每次100至150毫升，间隔为20至30分钟。喝下一口水的时间，最好与心脏跳动一下的时间接近，这样才能使心脏有规律、平稳地吸收进入体内的水分。
运动后最好过几分钟，等心脏跳动稍微平稳后，再着小口小口地喝些温开水。
上班族每工作半个小时就要休息一会儿，并喝100毫升左右的水；室外工作者最好随身携带水杯，稍觉口渴就喝；老人则应在家定个喝水时间表，不妨上个闹钟，至少每小时提醒一次，每次喝几口水。
吃饭
狼吞虎咽地吃完一餐饭后，是否意识到：癌细胞正躲过唾液这第一道健康卫士，趁虚而入。
据统计，40%的癌症与食物中的亚硝酸类化合物、化学合成剂、防腐剂等致癌物质有关。唾液在阻击这些坏物质的过程中，起了不可忽视的作用，咀嚼可促进唾液分泌。
一项统计显示，现代人吃饭太快，已从40多年前每餐咀嚼900至1100次、用时20至30分钟，下降为目前的每餐咀嚼500至600次、用时5至10分钟。
此外，日本大阪大学研究发现，吃饭速度快会导致肥胖几率翻倍。美国南卡罗莱纳医科大学研究人员指出，如果咀嚼不细，粗糙的食物会增加胃的负担，增加胃食管反流病的危险。
最佳节奏：一口饭嚼20次。
中国疾病预防控制中心营养与食品安全所副所长马冠生建议，吃饭一定要细嚼慢咽，最好用15至20分钟吃早餐，半小时左右吃中晚餐；老年人则应咀嚼25至50次，才能给饮食中枢足够的兴奋时间，帮助食物消化。
试验显示，两个人同吃一种食物，一人细嚼，另一人粗嚼，结果细嚼的人比粗嚼的人多吸收蛋白质13%、脂肪12%、纤维素43%。
细嚼慢咽可增加唾液的分泌量，让它与食物充分混合，增进营养的消化吸收。
此外，吃饭慢还能解毒。高温油炸、烧烤食物中产生的致癌物苯并芘等，能在人体唾液酶的作用下被部分分解。
苹果等水果若吃超过15分钟，其中的有机酸和果酸就有足够时间杀死口腔细菌，有效清洁口腔。
走路
生活中不是所有事情都要按下“慢进键”，有些动作快点反而更好。美国匹兹堡大学研究人员对3万4000名65岁以上老人的研究发现，结合个人病史、吸烟和血压等情况，走路速度大体可以预测老年人的剩余寿命。
一般来说，步伐80厘米／秒的老人能达到70至75岁，步伐超过1米／秒的老人寿命可超过75岁。
北京体育大学运动人体科学学院教授陆一帆认为，走路速度和身体机能是相辅相成的。一般来说，走得快的人，心脏、肌肉、骨骼等各方面机能都比常人强，平衡能力、协调能力也比较好，对疾病的抵抗能力和对意外事故的防范能力自然更佳；反过来说，长期有规律地快走，也能提高人体各方面生理机能，如减缓老年人的血管老化，让他们显得更年轻。
最佳节奏：每分钟120步。
寿命是“走”出来的。随着年龄的增长，人的走路频率会逐步下降，步幅也会变小。年轻人一般7至10分钟走1公里，步幅在0.75米左右，四五十岁以上的人走1公里就需要10分钟以上了。
陆一帆提醒，老年人尽管步履蹒跚，但在保证安全的基础上，还是应该尽量把步子放快一点。日本东京保健体育教授波多野则建议，快速步行时间一般要持续半小时左右，速度以每分钟120步左右为宜。步行时，身体要略微向前倾斜，双臂自然下垂，协调地前后摆动于身体两侧。全身着力于脚掌前部，步态要均匀、沉稳而有节奏，走到微微出汗即可。
呼吸
静下心来，对着手表，测一下自己的呼吸（一呼一吸为一个周期），看看一分钟有多少次，一个周期多少秒？
一项研究显示，大多数人用3.3秒呼吸一次。你知道吗？古人一次呼吸是6.4秒。
伦敦理疗师菲奥娜·特鲁普说，健康成年人每分钟呼吸10至14次，如果每分钟呼吸次数超过20次，氧气不能被释放到肌肉及器官，就会出现指尖和嘴唇刺痛、心悸、疲劳、注意力无法集中、肌肉痉挛及肠易激综合征等问题。
只要这些症状出现，表明你平时是通过口腔，而不是用鼻子来完成呼吸。一般来说，压力大、颈痛、背痛、受到情感打击或手术等，都会增加呼吸急促几率。伦敦大学医院呼吸医学教授史蒂芬·斯皮罗博士说，虽然呼吸太快不会导致长期健康问题，但容易引发肺病，或者哮喘和支气管炎。
最佳节奏：一呼一吸用6.4秒。
研究发现，书法家、太极拳师以及性情温和的人，呼吸节奏是缓慢而深沉的，他们的平均寿命普遍较长。一般来说，山区的长寿者多于平原，主要原因是，高山的低氧空气能降低血氧浓度，减缓新陈代谢的速度。
中国中医科学院教授杨力建议，想长寿不妨学学古人深长而缓慢的呼吸形式。正确的呼吸方法要做到四个字：深、长、匀、细，这期间注意用鼻而不要用嘴呼吸。
初练阶段，晚间睡觉时平躺，全身放松。呼气时略屏气，呼气时间是吸气的3至4倍。呼完之后不要马上吸气，应紧接着稍稍屏气，然后再吸气。就这样“吸—呼—屏”循环，直至不知不觉地入睡。接下来，不只睡前，白天、夜里、工作、走路、坐车……潜意识里都得要求自己按上述方法做。
喝水
喝水是件再简单不过的事，但一杯水“咕嘟咕嘟”下肚的同时，心脏也承受着不小的负担。
因为喝水太快，水分会快速进入血液，使血液变稀、血量增加，尤其对老人或心脏不好的人来说，会出现胸闷、气短等症状，严重的可能导致心肌梗死。
北京医院心内科主任医师沈瑾提醒，喝水时应特别注意喝的频率和量。特别是洗完热水澡后，身体受热，血管扩张，血流量增加，心脏跳动也会比平时快些，不应大量喝水或喝得太快。
运动过后，也不宜一次性大量饮水。因为这时胃肠血管处于收缩状态，需要一个恢复过程，立即大量饮水会导致肚子发胀，影响消化。
不仅是喝水，喝酒也不能太快，否则身体无法及时处理，容易导致饮酒过量。伦敦大学初级护理教授保罗·华莱士说，肝脏每小时只能处理大约1杯酒的酒精量，一次醉酒就足以导致肝脏损伤，一旦酒精中毒，还会影响大脑功能。
最佳节奏：跟着心跳喝。
合理的喝水方式是，每次100至150毫升，间隔为20至30分钟。喝下一口水的时间，最好与心脏跳动一下的时间接近，这样才能使心脏有规律、平稳地吸收进入体内的水分。
运动后最好过几分钟，等心脏跳动稍微平稳后，再着小口小口地喝些温开水。
上班族每工作半个小时就要休息一会儿，并喝100毫升左右的水；室外工作者最好随身携带水杯，稍觉口渴就喝；老人则应在家定个喝水时间表，不妨上个闹钟，至少每小时提醒一次，每次喝几口水。
吃饭
狼吞虎咽地吃完一餐饭后，是否意识到：癌细胞正躲过唾液这第一道健康卫士，趁虚而入。
据统计，40%的癌症与食物中的亚硝酸类化合物、化学合成剂、防腐剂等致癌物质有关。唾液在阻击这些坏物质的过程中，起了不可忽视的作用，咀嚼可促进唾液分泌。
一项统计显示，现代人吃饭太快，已从40多年前每餐咀嚼900至1100次、用时20至30分钟，下降为目前的每餐咀嚼500至600次、用时5至10分钟。
此外，日本大阪大学研究发现，吃饭速度快会导致肥胖几率翻倍。美国南卡罗莱纳医科大学研究人员指出，如果咀嚼不细，粗糙的食物会增加胃的负担，增加胃食管反流病的危险。
最佳节奏：一口饭嚼20次。
中国疾病预防控制中心营养与食品安全所副所长马冠生建议，吃饭一定要细嚼慢咽，最好用15至20分钟吃早餐，半小时左右吃中晚餐；老年人则应咀嚼25至50次，才能给饮食中枢足够的兴奋时间，帮助食物消化。
试验显示，两个人同吃一种食物，一人细嚼，另一人粗嚼，结果细嚼的人比粗嚼的人多吸收蛋白质13%、脂肪12%、纤维素43%。
细嚼慢咽可增加唾液的分泌量，让它与食物充分混合，增进营养的消化吸收。
此外，吃饭慢还能解毒。高温油炸、烧烤食物中产生的致癌物苯并芘等，能在人体唾液酶的作用下被部分分解。
苹果等水果若吃超过15分钟，其中的有机酸和果酸就有足够时间杀死口腔细菌，有效清洁口腔。
走路
生活中不是所有事情都要按下“慢进键”，有些动作快点反而更好。美国匹兹堡大学研究人员对3万4000名65岁以上老人的研究发现，结合个人病史、吸烟和血压等情况，走路速度大体可以预测老年人的剩余寿命。
一般来说，步伐80厘米／秒的老人能达到70至75岁，步伐超过1米／秒的老人寿命可超过75岁。
北京体育大学运动人体科学学院教授陆一帆认为，走路速度和身体机能是相辅相成的。一般来说，走得快的人，心脏、肌肉、骨骼等各方面机能都比常人强，平衡能力、协调能力也比较好，对疾病的抵抗能力和对意外事故的防范能力自然更佳；反过来说，长期有规律地快走，也能提高人体各方面生理机能，如减缓老年人的血管老化，让他们显得更年轻。
最佳节奏：每分钟120步。
寿命是“走”出来的。随着年龄的增长，人的走路频率会逐步下降，步幅也会变小。年轻人一般7至10分钟走1公里，步幅在0.75米左右，四五十岁以上的人走1公里就需要10分钟以上了。
陆一帆提醒，老年人尽管步履蹒跚，但在保证安全的基础上，还是应该尽量把步子放快一点。日本东京保健体育教授波多野则建议，快速步行时间一般要持续半小时左右，速度以每分钟120步左右为宜。步行时，身体要略微向前倾斜，双臂自然下垂，协调地前后摆动于身体两侧。全身着力于脚掌前部，步态要均匀、沉稳而有节奏，走到微微出汗即可。
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Using ratios to assess my financial position
The personal financial ratios aim to serve as warning signals and help detect any deterioration in my financial position. And if situation arises, I can take any necessary actions such as altering my expenditure pattern or evaluate my goals.
Here are some ratios to use which I have classified them accordingly:
1) Solvency
Purpose - indicates the probability that an individual will become bankrupt
Equation - net worth / total assets
Implication - the higher the ratio, the stronger is my financial position
Warning bell - negative = insolvent
2) Liquidity
Purpose - measures my ability to pay off the short-term liabilities
Equation - current (liquid) assets / current liabilities
Implication - the higher the ratio, the stronger is my current financial situation
Warning bell - lower than 1.0
3) Savings
Purpose - measures the proportion of my income saved in a year
Equation - cash surplus / total annual income
Implication - 40% of my net earned income which should translate to higher ratio
Warning bell - negative = over-spending (except for one-off, big-ticket items)
4) Debt Service
Purpose - measures my ability to service loan payment in a prompt and timely fashion
Equation - total annual cash loan payment / total annual income
Implication - the smaller the ratio, the better is my ability to service the loans
Warning bell - more than 0.4 = too highly leveraged
5) Gearing
Purpose - measures how much leverage I have undertaken to acquire my assets
Equation - long-term liabilities / total assets
Implication - the higher the ratio, the higher the probability of bankruptcy
Warning bell - current cash flow can't pay off monthly loan repayment
For myself, I use the ratios monthly when I consolidate my personal financial figures (of income, expenditure, cash budget etc.)
But I do make it a point as not to get too disappointed should one of the ratios fall below the benchmark due to specific circumstances. Otherwise, we will be living in a highly regulated personal system that literally adds more stress, just like a pressure-cooker.
My objective is to keep within the framework as much as I can while focusing on my financial targets. My achievements are documented when I exceed my expectation.
How about you? Did you try the ratios? If not, go on....take 15 minutes break and do a quick calculation. See the results personally.
You might also like:
Here are some ratios to use which I have classified them accordingly:
1) Solvency
Purpose - indicates the probability that an individual will become bankrupt
Equation - net worth / total assets
Implication - the higher the ratio, the stronger is my financial position
Warning bell - negative = insolvent
2) Liquidity
Purpose - measures my ability to pay off the short-term liabilities
Equation - current (liquid) assets / current liabilities
Implication - the higher the ratio, the stronger is my current financial situation
Warning bell - lower than 1.0
3) Savings
Purpose - measures the proportion of my income saved in a year
Equation - cash surplus / total annual income
Implication - 40% of my net earned income which should translate to higher ratio
Warning bell - negative = over-spending (except for one-off, big-ticket items)
4) Debt Service
Purpose - measures my ability to service loan payment in a prompt and timely fashion
Equation - total annual cash loan payment / total annual income
Implication - the smaller the ratio, the better is my ability to service the loans
Warning bell - more than 0.4 = too highly leveraged
5) Gearing
Purpose - measures how much leverage I have undertaken to acquire my assets
Equation - long-term liabilities / total assets
Implication - the higher the ratio, the higher the probability of bankruptcy
Warning bell - current cash flow can't pay off monthly loan repayment
For myself, I use the ratios monthly when I consolidate my personal financial figures (of income, expenditure, cash budget etc.)
But I do make it a point as not to get too disappointed should one of the ratios fall below the benchmark due to specific circumstances. Otherwise, we will be living in a highly regulated personal system that literally adds more stress, just like a pressure-cooker.
My objective is to keep within the framework as much as I can while focusing on my financial targets. My achievements are documented when I exceed my expectation.
How about you? Did you try the ratios? If not, go on....take 15 minutes break and do a quick calculation. See the results personally.
You might also like:
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Acid Reflux Diet Plan
If you have suffered from acid reflux, you know how much of a difference your diet plan can make in reducing your symptoms. The acid reflux diet offered below reveals a lot of great tips that you can use to reduce your heartburn.
I have split up this acid reflux diet into two parts: foods you will want to avoid as well as foods to add to your diet to reduce your heartburn.
Acid Reflux Diet - Foods to Avoid
Alcohol
Chocolate
Carbonated Beverages
Mints (both Peppermint and Spearmint - can include things like toothpaste - so keep an eye out for mints)
Citrus (though some people report lemons actually reduce heartburn)
Tomatoes (includes things like salsas and spaghetti/marinara sauce count here!)
Spicy foods (any sort of hot food)
Coffee (including decaf)
High-fat foods
Dairy (of all sorts; casein (a type of milk protein) and lactose can cause a lot of people digestive distress)
To reiterate the previous point, a lot of the foods on this acid reflux diet plan are individual; some people for example may tolerate tomatoes but be unable to have mints, or vice versa. You will have to try this out for yourself to see which particular foods are problematic for you.
While these foods are a good starting place, you can get more in-depth acid reflux diet plan in Heartburn No More, which you can check out by clicking here.
Acid Reflux Diet - Foods Good for Reflux
While some foods you will definitely want to avoid on your acid reflux diet plan, there are foods that may help you out. The benefits of the foods listed here include helping improve digestion as well as reducing the damage acid reflux inflicts.
With that said, here is a list of foods you can include on your acid reflux diet plan:
Papaya - Papaya contains papain, which is an enzyme that helps digest protein (also called a protease). This can reduce reflux and be especially beneficial for people who use acid-reducers.
Pineapple - Pineapple is rich in bromelain, another protease which benefits digestion in the same way as papaya.
Protein - any protein-rich food can increase the pressure exerted by the lower esophageal sphincter (the muscle band which helps seal off the stomach), stopping heartburn cold. Protein rich meals for this reason are very good for those suffering from reflux.
Good sources of protein include lean animal meats as well as even protein powders or other supplements. Sometimes fatty meats can help contribute to heartburn, so stick to leaner sources of protein on your acid reflux diet, such as chicken breasts and fish.
Fiber - People who eat high fiber diets have been shown to suffer less esophageal damage than their low-fiber counterparts. Many foods are rich in fiber, but some good sources include non-starchy vegetables and fruits (particularly berries).
By adding some tropical fruits like papaya and pineapple to a protein and fiber-rich diet can really help reduce heartburn as well as improve your overall health!
I have split up this acid reflux diet into two parts: foods you will want to avoid as well as foods to add to your diet to reduce your heartburn.
Acid Reflux Diet - Foods to Avoid
Alcohol
Chocolate
Carbonated Beverages
Mints (both Peppermint and Spearmint - can include things like toothpaste - so keep an eye out for mints)
Citrus (though some people report lemons actually reduce heartburn)
Tomatoes (includes things like salsas and spaghetti/marinara sauce count here!)
Spicy foods (any sort of hot food)
Coffee (including decaf)
High-fat foods
Dairy (of all sorts; casein (a type of milk protein) and lactose can cause a lot of people digestive distress)
To reiterate the previous point, a lot of the foods on this acid reflux diet plan are individual; some people for example may tolerate tomatoes but be unable to have mints, or vice versa. You will have to try this out for yourself to see which particular foods are problematic for you.
While these foods are a good starting place, you can get more in-depth acid reflux diet plan in Heartburn No More, which you can check out by clicking here.
Acid Reflux Diet - Foods Good for Reflux
While some foods you will definitely want to avoid on your acid reflux diet plan, there are foods that may help you out. The benefits of the foods listed here include helping improve digestion as well as reducing the damage acid reflux inflicts.
With that said, here is a list of foods you can include on your acid reflux diet plan:
Papaya - Papaya contains papain, which is an enzyme that helps digest protein (also called a protease). This can reduce reflux and be especially beneficial for people who use acid-reducers.
Pineapple - Pineapple is rich in bromelain, another protease which benefits digestion in the same way as papaya.
Protein - any protein-rich food can increase the pressure exerted by the lower esophageal sphincter (the muscle band which helps seal off the stomach), stopping heartburn cold. Protein rich meals for this reason are very good for those suffering from reflux.
Good sources of protein include lean animal meats as well as even protein powders or other supplements. Sometimes fatty meats can help contribute to heartburn, so stick to leaner sources of protein on your acid reflux diet, such as chicken breasts and fish.
Fiber - People who eat high fiber diets have been shown to suffer less esophageal damage than their low-fiber counterparts. Many foods are rich in fiber, but some good sources include non-starchy vegetables and fruits (particularly berries).
By adding some tropical fruits like papaya and pineapple to a protein and fiber-rich diet can really help reduce heartburn as well as improve your overall health!
Acid Reflux Diet and Breakfast
With the frequency that people have reflux problems through the night while they are sleeping, chances are they are waking up with heartburn. And in that case, they are more likely to go eat antacids for breakfast, than they are food that is going to make them feel worse.
However, breakfast is also the most important meal of the day. Breakfast helps stabilize your blood sugar levels after sleeping, and provides energy to start the day. It has also been shown that people who skip breakfast will eat more throughout the day. And what is one of the biggest problems for acid reflux and heartburn – eating fewer and larger meals, as that is shown to cause and/or make your problems worse. Deleting breakfast from your acid reflux diet is not a heartburn remedy.
Acid Reflux And Life Style
Preventing acid reflux and heartburn is going to entail making lifestyle changes. You eat breakfast, and then what happens? That overnight heartburn that you may have already had, coupled with the food that you just ate for breakfast [you just couldn’t resist ‘wolfing’ down that Egg McMuffin while you were driving] get together and give you more reflux and worse heartburn. Start your day with more energy, not hardly; you are starting your day in pain, and just want to go turn around and go home. But instead, there goes another round of antacids to try to keep you going.
How is that for breakfast and an acid reflux diet – acid reflux trigger foods ‘washed’ down with antacids to try and get rid of the heartburn pain. Lunch and dinner tend to be easier meals for heartburn sufferers. You have a wider range of food choices that are more appealing later in the day than they are for breakfast.
And you also aren’t in such a rush, giving you more time to prepare a good meal – and not having to eat it so fast, which of course is one of the heartburn don’ts.
Yes, acid reflux diet and breakfast is quite a problem, because so many of the breakfast food choices cause heartburn. Your fried eggs, with toast and butter, and orange juice and coffee – or that rush through the fast food restaurant, are of the worst foods that can be eaten. These can be expected to cause heartburn, certainly negating the benefits that eating breakfast are supposed to give you.
Breakfast Food Choices For Acid Reflux
So what are you going to do – you need to eat breakfast, but you aren’t going to do so if it is only going to make you feel worse. To begin with, how about getting up 15 minutes earlier so you aren’t in such a rush and fast food becomes your only breakfast alternative. And then, how about if you quit brain washing yourself into thinking that you need caffeine to get going? I remember my old routine, get up and skip breakfast except for 2-3 cups of coffee, have a diet coke at my desk, and then eat tums throughout the morning – I have chipped teeth from tums.
There are many acid reflux diet food choices for breakfast that don’t take much time to prepare, and that can actually help to reduce reflux and heartburn instead of causing it. And you can adapt to some changes in food choices that will help you even more – you really don’t need to eat that last piece of cold pizza for breakfast to keep it from going to waste.
Good food choices will include whole-grains, fruits and vegetables, and protein – just like any well balance healthy meal. In fact, that is one of the major benefits of an acid reflux diet, besides helping prevent or getting rid of heartburn, it is also a diet that promotes good health.
Whole grain breakfast food choices can be found in oatmeal, whole grain cereals, or whole grain breads. These are important for your acid reflux diet. They have fiber which makes them easier to digest, they don’t require as much acid during digestion, and actually they break down during digestion in a way that can absorb excess acid.
Additionally, whole grains include the antioxidant selenium, which has been shown to help protect the cell lining in the esophagus.
Fruits and vegetables are great for breakfast – what could be better than starting the day with an apple, or eating some fruit on your whole grain cereal. Just remember to stay away from the citrus fruits or juices, and especially no tomato juice as it is very highly acidic. Drink natural apple or grape juice as something that helps reduce acid. And if you can eat pizza and drink coke for breakfast, then you sure could get used to eating some broccoli – or how about some steamed broccoli with some egg whites.
Protein is an important food choice. It makes you feel more full and thus can help prevent overeating. And protein is the food source that helps build and repair muscles – this could include strengthening the muscles associated with your esophagus. As in all acid reflux diets, make sure that your proteins are low in fat content, because fat takes longer to digest and needs more acid to do so, thus increasing the likelihood of reflux heart burn. This means skim milk instead of whole milk, egg whites instead of the whole egg – and no more of that bacon or the fatty meats and fried foods in those breakfast sandwiches.
Breakfast And Lifestyle Changes
My lifestyle has changed the last few years; I was gaining weight as I was getting older, and I had heartburn that became acid reflux disease. Besides making some very big acid reflux diet changes, it now includes going to the gym in the morning before starting work. So, breakfast is very important to me after working out, but I also lose some extra time that I could have had for eating.
I eat a banana on the way to the gym, which helps settle my stomach. And then for breakfast I want a lot of protein, and to be sure that I have a relatively high protein to carbohydrate ratio; I want energy and not a spike in my blood sugar level. I usually drink a vanilla protein powder shake, and eat a cup of Greek yogurt [it is low fat and has extra protein], and an apple – delicious.
I feel very good throughout the morning, and with no more coffee and diet cokes to ‘help’ me through – if I want something else to eat, I have another apple. Breakfast is very important to our health, and you have lots of food choices that not only won’t cause heartburn, but can actually help control it. But like in the case of all acid reflux diet choices, there are tradeoffs and lifestyle changes to be made to get rid of heartburn, and to get health benefits from what we eat –vs- eating in a way that makes heartburn become worse, and even have it lead to acid reflux disease.
However, breakfast is also the most important meal of the day. Breakfast helps stabilize your blood sugar levels after sleeping, and provides energy to start the day. It has also been shown that people who skip breakfast will eat more throughout the day. And what is one of the biggest problems for acid reflux and heartburn – eating fewer and larger meals, as that is shown to cause and/or make your problems worse. Deleting breakfast from your acid reflux diet is not a heartburn remedy.
Acid Reflux And Life Style
Preventing acid reflux and heartburn is going to entail making lifestyle changes. You eat breakfast, and then what happens? That overnight heartburn that you may have already had, coupled with the food that you just ate for breakfast [you just couldn’t resist ‘wolfing’ down that Egg McMuffin while you were driving] get together and give you more reflux and worse heartburn. Start your day with more energy, not hardly; you are starting your day in pain, and just want to go turn around and go home. But instead, there goes another round of antacids to try to keep you going.
How is that for breakfast and an acid reflux diet – acid reflux trigger foods ‘washed’ down with antacids to try and get rid of the heartburn pain. Lunch and dinner tend to be easier meals for heartburn sufferers. You have a wider range of food choices that are more appealing later in the day than they are for breakfast.
And you also aren’t in such a rush, giving you more time to prepare a good meal – and not having to eat it so fast, which of course is one of the heartburn don’ts.
Yes, acid reflux diet and breakfast is quite a problem, because so many of the breakfast food choices cause heartburn. Your fried eggs, with toast and butter, and orange juice and coffee – or that rush through the fast food restaurant, are of the worst foods that can be eaten. These can be expected to cause heartburn, certainly negating the benefits that eating breakfast are supposed to give you.
Breakfast Food Choices For Acid Reflux
So what are you going to do – you need to eat breakfast, but you aren’t going to do so if it is only going to make you feel worse. To begin with, how about getting up 15 minutes earlier so you aren’t in such a rush and fast food becomes your only breakfast alternative. And then, how about if you quit brain washing yourself into thinking that you need caffeine to get going? I remember my old routine, get up and skip breakfast except for 2-3 cups of coffee, have a diet coke at my desk, and then eat tums throughout the morning – I have chipped teeth from tums.
There are many acid reflux diet food choices for breakfast that don’t take much time to prepare, and that can actually help to reduce reflux and heartburn instead of causing it. And you can adapt to some changes in food choices that will help you even more – you really don’t need to eat that last piece of cold pizza for breakfast to keep it from going to waste.
Good food choices will include whole-grains, fruits and vegetables, and protein – just like any well balance healthy meal. In fact, that is one of the major benefits of an acid reflux diet, besides helping prevent or getting rid of heartburn, it is also a diet that promotes good health.
Whole grain breakfast food choices can be found in oatmeal, whole grain cereals, or whole grain breads. These are important for your acid reflux diet. They have fiber which makes them easier to digest, they don’t require as much acid during digestion, and actually they break down during digestion in a way that can absorb excess acid.
Additionally, whole grains include the antioxidant selenium, which has been shown to help protect the cell lining in the esophagus.
Fruits and vegetables are great for breakfast – what could be better than starting the day with an apple, or eating some fruit on your whole grain cereal. Just remember to stay away from the citrus fruits or juices, and especially no tomato juice as it is very highly acidic. Drink natural apple or grape juice as something that helps reduce acid. And if you can eat pizza and drink coke for breakfast, then you sure could get used to eating some broccoli – or how about some steamed broccoli with some egg whites.
Protein is an important food choice. It makes you feel more full and thus can help prevent overeating. And protein is the food source that helps build and repair muscles – this could include strengthening the muscles associated with your esophagus. As in all acid reflux diets, make sure that your proteins are low in fat content, because fat takes longer to digest and needs more acid to do so, thus increasing the likelihood of reflux heart burn. This means skim milk instead of whole milk, egg whites instead of the whole egg – and no more of that bacon or the fatty meats and fried foods in those breakfast sandwiches.
Breakfast And Lifestyle Changes
My lifestyle has changed the last few years; I was gaining weight as I was getting older, and I had heartburn that became acid reflux disease. Besides making some very big acid reflux diet changes, it now includes going to the gym in the morning before starting work. So, breakfast is very important to me after working out, but I also lose some extra time that I could have had for eating.
I eat a banana on the way to the gym, which helps settle my stomach. And then for breakfast I want a lot of protein, and to be sure that I have a relatively high protein to carbohydrate ratio; I want energy and not a spike in my blood sugar level. I usually drink a vanilla protein powder shake, and eat a cup of Greek yogurt [it is low fat and has extra protein], and an apple – delicious.
I feel very good throughout the morning, and with no more coffee and diet cokes to ‘help’ me through – if I want something else to eat, I have another apple. Breakfast is very important to our health, and you have lots of food choices that not only won’t cause heartburn, but can actually help control it. But like in the case of all acid reflux diet choices, there are tradeoffs and lifestyle changes to be made to get rid of heartburn, and to get health benefits from what we eat –vs- eating in a way that makes heartburn become worse, and even have it lead to acid reflux disease.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Will Wednesday's 5% Surge Kick Off a Year-End Rally?
Wednesday's surge was impressive. A quick thumbnail technical analysis allows for only one conclusion: Stocks will rally further.
The Dow soared nearly 500 points, the S&P and Nasdaq finished up 4.2% and small caps led the charge with a 5.8% gain. The VIX is 27% lower today than on November 1.
Trading volume on the NYSE clocked in at 1.66 billion, over 60% above the 10-day average. Up volume accounted for 97% of that day's trading. Assuming that this rally has further to go seems like a slam-dunk.
But a little bit of perspective is never bad. We saw a similar price and volume surge on October 27 when the S&P pushed as high as 1,293, and the Dow as high as 12,284. NYSE trading volume that day was almost 40% above the 10-day average.
The October 27 explosion lifted 94.5% of stocks above their 10-day average while Wednesday's squirt propelled 93.6%, but (and that's a big but) stocks tumbled more than 10% following the October 27 performance (more about what that means in a moment).
High Probability Profits
When it comes to trading, it's all about identifying high probability entry or exit points. There are always new trading opportunities, but the best opportunities are those where all stars (indicators) are aligned for a profitable trade.
The three best indicators, in my humble opinion, are a composite of technicals (support/resistance levels, Fibonacci analysis, trend lines, patterns, buy/sell signals, etc.), sentiment and seasonality. A high probability trade sees all three indicators pointing in the same direction.
Along with a few minor setups, we've gotten two major high probability signals this year. A sell signal in May and a buy signal in October.
In April, the S&P was closing in on major technical resistance, investor sentiment was outright bullish (which is bearish from a contrarian point of view) and seasonality was turning bearish (sell in May and go away).
The April 15 ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter warned that: 'A major secondary market top is forming. It would simplify our forecast if the S&P would be able to reach the ideal 1,369 - 1,382 target for a major secondary market top before the summer doldrums.' The S&P topped on May 2 at 1,371. The rest is history.
Exactly the opposite was true at the October lows. The September 23 ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter provided this outlook: 'From its May high at 1,370 to its eventual low, the S&P will likely have lost about 300 points (22%). This kind of move validates a counter trend rally. Any drop below 1,088 may mark the end of the 2011 bear market leg. Such a drop may be only on an intraday basis.'
The S&P exploded 20% from its 1,075 intraday low on October 4 to its 1,293 high on October 27.
It's A Bit Murky
Based on a number of technical indicators and patterns (such as the 2008 decline), stocks were supposed to decline thereafter. Sentiment was also bullish enough not to prevent any further declines.
Seasonality however didn't agree. Pre-election year strength and a seasonally strong November/December/early January pointed towards higher prices.
A developing triangle in November also could have led to a breakout to the up side, but it didn't. I stated in the November 18 ETF Profit Strategy Newsletter that: 'Due to bullish November, December and early January seasonality, I would have preferred a bullish triangle breakout. This would have kept prices afloat for another few weeks, sparked further enthusiasm and ultimately aligned 'the stars' for a nasty January decline. Seasonality remains an issue, so we'll look to profit from lower prices but we'll be cautious and won't buck the trend if stocks decide to rally past important resistance levels.'
Courtesy of the Wednesday rally, we are above those resistance levels now and won't buck the up side trend.
But not bucking it doesn't mean we can't try to figure out what stocks will do next.
Short-Term Outlook
At the onset of the article I compared Wednesday's seemingly bullish spike with the October 27 spike, which turned out bearish (see chart below).
I don't want to make a big deal out of a sample size of one, but it will take some follow through buying to get excited about Wednesday's bounce, at least over the short-term.
The technical picture remains long and mid-term bearish even if we get enough buyers rushing in. Additionally, the bullish seasonality won't last too much longer and higher prices will turn sentiment bullish, which will be bearish for stocks.
Despite the possibility of higher prices, I believe that the next big profit opportunity will be to go short. The key is to get the right entry point and not prematurely swing the bat before the ball is thrown.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
有點像 08至09年
恒生指數在50天平均線前顯著反彈，代表歐洲問題已經解決嗎？還是中國真的放款嗎？我只覺得昨日回升的因素，太不成理由，所以11月份港股壓力會持續。
首先希臘的公投問題反映 出歐盟之方案，並沒有做好溝通，德國及法國只希望尋找自身利益，但從來沒有考慮方案之可行性，所以希臘的「反抗」十分正常，而且這只是一個開始，因為當葡萄牙、愛爾蘭，甚至意大利等國，考慮到歐盟對希臘的削債方案，根本未能有效解決希臘的財政問題，而希臘債券孳息仍然可以急速上升，那麼一旦歐盟要求債券持有人，對自己的國債進行削債計劃時，最終換來的可能是反效果，這些國家亦會開始考慮，是否應該接受歐盟之建議。
還有更嚴重的問題，為有多少家金融機構，會因為歐債的撇帳，而出現財政問題？雖然明富環球可能涉及違規行為，可是我不相信只是個別事件，如果希臘的債券價格繼續受壓，同時葡萄牙、愛爾蘭等債價受到拖累，又或者歐洲債券的相關CDS繼續出現異動，那麼只會有更多歐美的金融機構，盈利或財政受到壓力，屆時全球股市是否可以安然度過危機，還有待觀察。
當然，我相信港股就算再受歐債問題所影響，最差的情況亦可能只是回吐至10月份的低位，又或者在17,000點水平已找到支持，情況就如08年雷曼兄弟倒閉後，港股於10月份低見10,600點的水平後顯著反彈，但由於美國的市況仍然未穩定，所以恒生指數於09年3月，再度下試11,000點的水平，才正式完成調整，並開始新的升浪。
如果參考08至09年的例子，當時港股比美股早5個月見底回升的主要原因，為當時中國先行推出救市方案，所以令中資股先行獲得支持。而我相信恒生指數有機會已在10月份見到整個調整浪的底部，主要原因則是亞太區已經開始減息周期，因此令資金有機會再度流入香港金融市場，令港股在面對歐債危機時，會有較佳的表現。
可是，為何我仍然堅持投資者不應在早前貿然入市，主要原因有幾點：首先，澳洲當時的息率去向仍然未明，所以在未確認亞太區是否步入減息周期前，我對港股抵禦歐債危機的能力仍然有懷疑；第二、如果參考08至09年的例子，真正可以享受恒生指數超過10,000點升幅的入市時機，為09年3月，而非08年10月，因為當外圍不穩時，投資者持貨的心態會極受影響；第三、為歐洲一直都沒有以積極的態度，去面對債務危機，雖然我仍然不認同上周所推出的方案，但至少各國已開始作出讓步，所以金融市場的反應，會較之前正面。
故此，如果恒生指數真的在年內，跌至17,000點的水平，我會開始建議投資者買入一些具有質素之股份，當中會包括銀河娛樂(027)及IT(999)。不過，我要再一次強調，上述兩家公司，現在只在我的觀察名單內，不代表現時為買入此兩股的最佳時間。
首先希臘的公投問題反映 出歐盟之方案，並沒有做好溝通，德國及法國只希望尋找自身利益，但從來沒有考慮方案之可行性，所以希臘的「反抗」十分正常，而且這只是一個開始，因為當葡萄牙、愛爾蘭，甚至意大利等國，考慮到歐盟對希臘的削債方案，根本未能有效解決希臘的財政問題，而希臘債券孳息仍然可以急速上升，那麼一旦歐盟要求債券持有人，對自己的國債進行削債計劃時，最終換來的可能是反效果，這些國家亦會開始考慮，是否應該接受歐盟之建議。
還有更嚴重的問題，為有多少家金融機構，會因為歐債的撇帳，而出現財政問題？雖然明富環球可能涉及違規行為，可是我不相信只是個別事件，如果希臘的債券價格繼續受壓，同時葡萄牙、愛爾蘭等債價受到拖累，又或者歐洲債券的相關CDS繼續出現異動，那麼只會有更多歐美的金融機構，盈利或財政受到壓力，屆時全球股市是否可以安然度過危機，還有待觀察。
當然，我相信港股就算再受歐債問題所影響，最差的情況亦可能只是回吐至10月份的低位，又或者在17,000點水平已找到支持，情況就如08年雷曼兄弟倒閉後，港股於10月份低見10,600點的水平後顯著反彈，但由於美國的市況仍然未穩定，所以恒生指數於09年3月，再度下試11,000點的水平，才正式完成調整，並開始新的升浪。
如果參考08至09年的例子，當時港股比美股早5個月見底回升的主要原因，為當時中國先行推出救市方案，所以令中資股先行獲得支持。而我相信恒生指數有機會已在10月份見到整個調整浪的底部，主要原因則是亞太區已經開始減息周期，因此令資金有機會再度流入香港金融市場，令港股在面對歐債危機時，會有較佳的表現。
可是，為何我仍然堅持投資者不應在早前貿然入市，主要原因有幾點：首先，澳洲當時的息率去向仍然未明，所以在未確認亞太區是否步入減息周期前，我對港股抵禦歐債危機的能力仍然有懷疑；第二、如果參考08至09年的例子，真正可以享受恒生指數超過10,000點升幅的入市時機，為09年3月，而非08年10月，因為當外圍不穩時，投資者持貨的心態會極受影響；第三、為歐洲一直都沒有以積極的態度，去面對債務危機，雖然我仍然不認同上周所推出的方案，但至少各國已開始作出讓步，所以金融市場的反應，會較之前正面。
故此，如果恒生指數真的在年內，跌至17,000點的水平，我會開始建議投資者買入一些具有質素之股份，當中會包括銀河娛樂(027)及IT(999)。不過，我要再一次強調，上述兩家公司，現在只在我的觀察名單內，不代表現時為買入此兩股的最佳時間。
全城悲觀入市好時機
3年前金融海嘯，收到一位 88歲老伯伯來信，信中滿載悲觀情緒，原因是他手上的股票大幅貶值，當時讀了來信後，我在《蘋果日報》公開給這位老伯伯提點意見，及後，負責管理他所住屋邨的慈善機構，邀請我到該屋邨演說，我見到這位老伯伯， 88歲的老伯伯，笑起來像小孩子。
昨日，《蘋果日報》編輯部轉來一封信，原來是這位老伯伯寫的，老伯伯現在 91歲，仍健康快樂的生活，對投資依然有很濃的興趣，他在信中提起「曾氏通道」，他希望《蘋果日報》每星期刊登一次「曾氏通道」，不過我認為不可行。
《蘋果日報》版位很緊張很珍貴，不可能每星期撥出位置刊登「曾氏通道」，因此，我只能做不定期地向大家報告最新的情況，實際上我自己很忙，也不常查看「曾氏通道」，還記得 2008年 10月底，我是在「曾氏通道」見底後的第 3天，才因為有讀者來信通知我，說他發現「曾氏通道」已經見底了，問我是不是可以入市時，我方知「曾氏通道」已經見底；事實上，這是一個不錯的入市訊號。
別人瘋狂時要冷靜
昨日，我翻查最新的「曾氏通道」，發現上個月恒指一度非常接近「曾氏通道」的 95%悲觀線，然後反彈，算不上見底，但非常接近見底，非常接近見底或見底的意義，就是非常股市中悲觀氣氛太濃了，股價已經非常超值。
現在，恒指已經從低位反彈 4000點，昨日才出現一次比較像樣的調整，因此，已經很久沒有在《蘋果日報》旗下「港股王」出現的我，昨午就在「港股王」建議大家，不妨趁昨午的調整入市。目前，市場的悲觀氣氛依然濃厚，我翻了幾份報章，多數評論都在說歐債危機依然嚴重，仍未解決。
投資之道是別人全都悲觀時你樂觀，別人瘋狂入市時你冷靜。
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Use Time Wisely to Change Your Life
Time. I am writing this as I'm listening to a time management lecture by Randy Pausch, the guy who essentially wrote, "The Last Lecture" (Jeff Zaslow really wrote it, but it was based on the lecture by Randy Pausch). Great book... I definitely recommend it. Anyways, time. Time is ticking by right now. Sometimes it goes by so fast and sometimes it feels so slow. Why is that?
I also love the book Stargirl and Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. In Stargirl, there is this quote that always stuck with me...
“Nobody has the time. The time cannot be owned. Time is free to everyone!”
If you really think about it, time is the one thing we have that is always free, always there. Time never stops and always keeps going. Whether you want it to go slower, or faster, need more... it remains the same. Concurrently, we don't know how much of it we will have in our lives. Even if you receive a death sentence, a doctor cannot tell you the specific day in which you will die and your time here will cease.
In my opinion, here are the most important things that we need to remember as it pertains to time, or the management of it. If you leave with one thing, remember that even the smallest action, taking the shortest amount of time, can have great consequences.
- Get organized.
Okay, okay, I do work at a place named Organize-It, I've compulsively made my bed every day since I was 5 years old, and everyone knows how neat I am. But still, I think it is important to everyone. Think about a time when you couldn't do something because you couldn't find it. I strongly believe you will get a lot more work done if you just take the time to put things in order first. - Get the bad stuff done first.
Okay, I am definitely bad at this one sometimes. Jot down a to-do list and get done that dreaded homework, head off to work, or clean your room before you go out and have fun. I'd guarantee you might have more time to do the things you like if you get the other stuff done first. In addition, you won't be mulling over the dreaded tasks that you've been procrastinating! - Think about what you're doing right now.
Surfing the web mindlessly? Watching TV? Anything else you could be doing that would be more productive or more satisfying? I strongly believe you need your downtime so don't freak out claiming that I believe we all need to keep our heads down working. However, I know I spend more time doing 'down things' than I really need to. - I think a lot of people waste time being mad.
Don't hold grudges; argue and fix it. Spend lots of loving time with the people you love. You don't know how long you might have with them. - "Failing to plan is planning to fail."
Plan your day, plan your life, and plan to leave room for days or minutes when you have nothing at all planned to do.
"Dost thou love life? Then waste not time; for time is the stuff that life is made of."
Sunday, September 11, 2011
There’s Not Enough Time in the Day
That is a phrase that I hear often and has often come out of my own lips in regards to Jesus. I’ve heard: I don’t have enough time to pray, or to read my Bible, or to preach the Gospel, or on and on. But when you really think about it, it’s not that we don’t have enough time, it’s that we don’t make the time. Because we always have time, it’s just how we choose to spend our time. So the question is-how are you spending your time? Do you spend more time at school, hanging out with friends, watching tv, listening to music, or working out than you do with the Lord? I bring this issue up because the Lord has convicted me of it in my own life. I recently began to work out more (we’ll see how long it lasts) and I realized that if I spend an hour working out every day to improve my physical condition, than I better be spending at least an hour every day giving the Lord time to work on my spiritual condition.
So be honest with yourself. How many things do you prioritize before the Lord? What is always more important so that you don’t have time to read the Bible or pray except at Bible study or on Sunday? Remember that Jesus says you can’t serve two masters, you either love Him and hate the world or you love the world and hate Him.
Do you truly love Jesus every moment of every day? Because loving Jesus means giving your life completely to Him in every way; especially when it comes to your time.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
The Most Anabolic Meal of the Day: Post Workout Eating
The Low Down
Alright, you've probably heard and read many times before the importance of a post workout meal, and if you haven't, where have you been? The post workout meal is one of the most important meals for any bodybuilder, this is where you give the body the nutrients, protein and carbs it needs to rebuild muscle tissue and manipulate hormone levels for optimum growth, if you miss this meal that stuff isn't there and you've just wasted an hour in the gym.
Post workout nutrition is important no matter what a persons goals are, whether it is to lose weight, gain mass or just maintain your current body weight. So let's discuss why it is a crucial part of your training diet.
Why After Excercise?
Working out whether it's running, lifting weights, or playing sports burns energy and this energy comes from glycogen which is stored in the bodies liver and broken down into glucose which gives you that energy you just burned off. Therefore you need glycogen to boost your workouts, how do you get glycogen? From eating carbohydrates of course. There are lots of different types of carbs as well, some have more or less glycogen then others, to see which ones those are you should refer to the Glycemic Index of foods. That is why people see a decrease in performance when they are on reduced carb diets, their body simply does not have the same amount of energy as it did when they were carb loaded.
But carbs are not the only post workout food you need, there's also the importance of protein. Your muscles grow from a process called protein synthesis, and for this protein synthesis your body needs protein which contains nutrients and amino acids which are very important for that process. It's also important to get protein after your workout so your body is not catabolizing itself and breaking down proteins from your own muscles, which is the opposite of what anyone wants.
On a hormonal level this meal is also very important, meaning that if you eat the right balance of protein and carbohydrates post workout you can manipulate these hormones naturally for an increase in growth hormone and insulin. Growth hormone and insulin are both vital hormones that help the body to grow, so what does this mean? It means if you eat right, you get big muscles.
Why am I mentioning all this on the focus of post workout meals? It's simple, everything I just mentioned is increased, a window of oppurtunity some call it, the first 2 hours after you exercise. That's 2 hours of time, long enough for anyone, so there's no excuse, to get that food in them and watch their body grow and recover.
What do I Need?
Alright, so now you know why you should this after your workouts, let's take a look at what you should use to efficiently do this. Remember I mentioned the glycemic index? Well now's your chance to use it, the first thing you need is a carbohydrate that is high on the glycemic index to spike your natural insulin levels, your glycogen levels are depleted after working out, that's why this is ok to do, I wouldn't suggest eating high GI foods when your glycogen levels are full, this might cause a negative reaction, meaning your body will store the excess as fat. Why insulin? Because insulin is a protein hormone that is important for the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids (amino acids) and proteins. Having a high level of insulin, the reason why you want to eat a high GI carb, is because it slows down the decrease in amino acids and keeps your nitrogen balance at the positive level instead of the negative, which is usually the case post workout.
Since your muscles are breaking down during a workout it is not abnormal to see a negative nitrogen balance, so to get yourself into the positive nitrogen balance it is important to properly eat post workout or else you'll stay in that catabolic negative nitrogen balance state. Since this balance can only be achieved by cosuming protein it's not enough to just have carbs post workout. So make sure your meal or drink has protein in it aswell, remember you need both for this natural growth to occur. So find yourself a good, fast digesting protein such as whey isolate and a high GI carbohydrate, consume it after your workout, having both of them present will ensure your muscles grow.
There's also other things to consider as well, mainly free-form amino acids which you won't find in whole proteins, most you will get from whey isolate, but one you won't find in your whey isolate and the one we're going to look at is Leucine. Taking this single amino acid post workout has been shown in some studies to increase skeletal muscle growth, aren't you relieved to hear that you don't have to take all of the amino acids?
In recent studies it's been shown that Leucine supplementation was directly responsible for stimulating recovery of muscle protein synthesis and wasn't completly dependent on insulin levels alone. That means taking Leucine with a high GI carb will only enhance recovery further. It's that easy, remember there are people doing the research for us, it's up to us to read about it and use it to our advantage. There isn't an excuse for not educating yourself.
In fact Leucine is so important that one study reported that the anabolic effects of a mixture amino acids can be recreated from taking just one BCAA (branched chain amino acid) leucine on its own.
There's more, although if you're taking a whey isolate after your workouts, which has glutamine in it already, it doesn't hurt to take an additional dose of this amino because excercise will lower your glutamine levels. Glutamine may not be responsible for any muscle growth, but on terms of recovery and health studies have shown that having a base level of glutamine can enhance your immune system, therefore preventing illness and infections.
How Much Should I take?
Ok so you know what you need and how to get it, but how much of everything should you take. A recovery drink post workout is not completly neccessary it's just a suggestion. So if you don't have the money or you don't have the time, don't worry, it's not the end all, it was just suggested.
As far as protein and carbohydrate intake there seems to be some controversy in the ratios. Some studies show a 2:1 ration, some 3:1, and some 4:1, which means for you might be taking only 1g of protein for either 2, 3, or 4 grams of carbs. Which one is right for you? Well that is up to your own disgretion, if you're a more muscular person you may need more protein, so a 2:1 ratio would be good. If you're trying to lose weight that ratio might be good for you as well, it's dependent on the person really.
Studies have also given us enough research to know that the right amount of Leucine to take is approximately 3 grams , and the amount for glutmaine is 5 grams to be most effective. If you eat a real food meal post workout it's up to you to figure out which foods contain these nutrients, or you could supplement one and get the other from real food, it doesn't matter how you get them just as long as you do.
It's also recommended that you do not comsume fat or fibre in this post workout meal because they will slow down the absorption of everything and you may miss that anabolic window. And as I mentioned before, high glycemic foods should only be taken during post workout meals, but don't avoid carbs all together trhoughout the day, eat whole grain foods which are low on the glycemic index.
If you can manage to get this right for your post workout meal then I see no reason you shouldn't grow, at least as far as nutrition is concerned. So don't let any workout go wasted, don't skip on your post workout meal cause it may prove to be the most anabolic meal you eat each day. But most of all you should enjoy eathing this way, cause not only will it result in more muscle, but it will also result in good health.
Alright, you've probably heard and read many times before the importance of a post workout meal, and if you haven't, where have you been? The post workout meal is one of the most important meals for any bodybuilder, this is where you give the body the nutrients, protein and carbs it needs to rebuild muscle tissue and manipulate hormone levels for optimum growth, if you miss this meal that stuff isn't there and you've just wasted an hour in the gym.
Post workout nutrition is important no matter what a persons goals are, whether it is to lose weight, gain mass or just maintain your current body weight. So let's discuss why it is a crucial part of your training diet.
Why After Excercise?
Working out whether it's running, lifting weights, or playing sports burns energy and this energy comes from glycogen which is stored in the bodies liver and broken down into glucose which gives you that energy you just burned off. Therefore you need glycogen to boost your workouts, how do you get glycogen? From eating carbohydrates of course. There are lots of different types of carbs as well, some have more or less glycogen then others, to see which ones those are you should refer to the Glycemic Index of foods. That is why people see a decrease in performance when they are on reduced carb diets, their body simply does not have the same amount of energy as it did when they were carb loaded.
But carbs are not the only post workout food you need, there's also the importance of protein. Your muscles grow from a process called protein synthesis, and for this protein synthesis your body needs protein which contains nutrients and amino acids which are very important for that process. It's also important to get protein after your workout so your body is not catabolizing itself and breaking down proteins from your own muscles, which is the opposite of what anyone wants.
On a hormonal level this meal is also very important, meaning that if you eat the right balance of protein and carbohydrates post workout you can manipulate these hormones naturally for an increase in growth hormone and insulin. Growth hormone and insulin are both vital hormones that help the body to grow, so what does this mean? It means if you eat right, you get big muscles.
Why am I mentioning all this on the focus of post workout meals? It's simple, everything I just mentioned is increased, a window of oppurtunity some call it, the first 2 hours after you exercise. That's 2 hours of time, long enough for anyone, so there's no excuse, to get that food in them and watch their body grow and recover.
What do I Need?
Alright, so now you know why you should this after your workouts, let's take a look at what you should use to efficiently do this. Remember I mentioned the glycemic index? Well now's your chance to use it, the first thing you need is a carbohydrate that is high on the glycemic index to spike your natural insulin levels, your glycogen levels are depleted after working out, that's why this is ok to do, I wouldn't suggest eating high GI foods when your glycogen levels are full, this might cause a negative reaction, meaning your body will store the excess as fat. Why insulin? Because insulin is a protein hormone that is important for the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids (amino acids) and proteins. Having a high level of insulin, the reason why you want to eat a high GI carb, is because it slows down the decrease in amino acids and keeps your nitrogen balance at the positive level instead of the negative, which is usually the case post workout.
Since your muscles are breaking down during a workout it is not abnormal to see a negative nitrogen balance, so to get yourself into the positive nitrogen balance it is important to properly eat post workout or else you'll stay in that catabolic negative nitrogen balance state. Since this balance can only be achieved by cosuming protein it's not enough to just have carbs post workout. So make sure your meal or drink has protein in it aswell, remember you need both for this natural growth to occur. So find yourself a good, fast digesting protein such as whey isolate and a high GI carbohydrate, consume it after your workout, having both of them present will ensure your muscles grow.
There's also other things to consider as well, mainly free-form amino acids which you won't find in whole proteins, most you will get from whey isolate, but one you won't find in your whey isolate and the one we're going to look at is Leucine. Taking this single amino acid post workout has been shown in some studies to increase skeletal muscle growth, aren't you relieved to hear that you don't have to take all of the amino acids?
In recent studies it's been shown that Leucine supplementation was directly responsible for stimulating recovery of muscle protein synthesis and wasn't completly dependent on insulin levels alone. That means taking Leucine with a high GI carb will only enhance recovery further. It's that easy, remember there are people doing the research for us, it's up to us to read about it and use it to our advantage. There isn't an excuse for not educating yourself.
In fact Leucine is so important that one study reported that the anabolic effects of a mixture amino acids can be recreated from taking just one BCAA (branched chain amino acid) leucine on its own.
There's more, although if you're taking a whey isolate after your workouts, which has glutamine in it already, it doesn't hurt to take an additional dose of this amino because excercise will lower your glutamine levels. Glutamine may not be responsible for any muscle growth, but on terms of recovery and health studies have shown that having a base level of glutamine can enhance your immune system, therefore preventing illness and infections.
How Much Should I take?
Ok so you know what you need and how to get it, but how much of everything should you take. A recovery drink post workout is not completly neccessary it's just a suggestion. So if you don't have the money or you don't have the time, don't worry, it's not the end all, it was just suggested.
As far as protein and carbohydrate intake there seems to be some controversy in the ratios. Some studies show a 2:1 ration, some 3:1, and some 4:1, which means for you might be taking only 1g of protein for either 2, 3, or 4 grams of carbs. Which one is right for you? Well that is up to your own disgretion, if you're a more muscular person you may need more protein, so a 2:1 ratio would be good. If you're trying to lose weight that ratio might be good for you as well, it's dependent on the person really.
Studies have also given us enough research to know that the right amount of Leucine to take is approximately 3 grams , and the amount for glutmaine is 5 grams to be most effective. If you eat a real food meal post workout it's up to you to figure out which foods contain these nutrients, or you could supplement one and get the other from real food, it doesn't matter how you get them just as long as you do.
It's also recommended that you do not comsume fat or fibre in this post workout meal because they will slow down the absorption of everything and you may miss that anabolic window. And as I mentioned before, high glycemic foods should only be taken during post workout meals, but don't avoid carbs all together trhoughout the day, eat whole grain foods which are low on the glycemic index.
If you can manage to get this right for your post workout meal then I see no reason you shouldn't grow, at least as far as nutrition is concerned. So don't let any workout go wasted, don't skip on your post workout meal cause it may prove to be the most anabolic meal you eat each day. But most of all you should enjoy eathing this way, cause not only will it result in more muscle, but it will also result in good health.
The Anabolic Window For Muscle Growth
To gain the most muscle growth from your workouts, you need to know how to eat before and after each and every training session.
In fact, the hour before training and the 3 hours after training will play a critical role in your success or failure at building muscle. This is the most productive window of time for nutritional enhancement.
From the time I've spent in the gym as a personal trainer, I can honestly say that most people don't reach their goals for one reason: they don't know how to eat to maximize muscle growth.
And the fastest way to start packing on muscle mass and increasing strength is to take advantage of the anabolic window of opportunity before and after weight training.
First, you can reduce the effects of muscle tissue breakdown by providing your body with protein about a half hour before training. The combo of amino acids and glutamine from this protein source can help provide the muscles with the nutrients it needs, so it doesn't have to get them from breaking down muscle tissue.
If you fail to provide your body with the nutrients it needs after training, it attacks muscle tissue in order to get these nutrients. It's called catabolism, the opposite of anabolism (muscle building).
Also, intense training depletes energy and nutrients that are stored in the muscles, which is why you want to replace these nutrients right after training. Your muscles are like sponges after training and will take in more nutrients after a workout than any other time.
Now, the nutrients you want after a workout are those that will help trigger muscle growth.
When you eat the right kinds of foods after intense training, your body is in a prime state to release muscle building hormones like testosterone, insulin, growth hormone, and cortisol.
High blood insulin levels increase protein synthesis in your muscles by up to 50%. Weight training can stimulate protein synthesis up to 100% and amino acids taken after a weight training workout can increase muscle building by 150%.
But the best thing is, taking in amino acids right after a heavy, intense weight training workout can stimulate protein synthesis by up to 200%!
That's why it's important to take a protein and carb combination right after training. It can be through whole food or you can use protein shakes mixed with juice or Gatorade.
You can also add some creatine and glutamine at this point as well.
About 2 hours after training, it's good to have a whole food meal. This will give your body more nutrients to stop any chance of muscle tissue breakdown.
Finally, 3 hours after training, take a meal replacement shake to continuously replenish lost glycogen stores, replace energy nutrients, and preserve the lean muscle tissue.
So, a total of 1 small protein and carb-rich meal about a half hour before training and then 3 meals within the 3 hour time period after training.
The combination of these will ensure your body is kept in a muscle building anabolic state throughout your workout and well after.
Try it and see how it's possible to gain 15, even 20 pounds of muscle growth within 3 months of using this muscle building tip.
In fact, the hour before training and the 3 hours after training will play a critical role in your success or failure at building muscle. This is the most productive window of time for nutritional enhancement.
From the time I've spent in the gym as a personal trainer, I can honestly say that most people don't reach their goals for one reason: they don't know how to eat to maximize muscle growth.
And the fastest way to start packing on muscle mass and increasing strength is to take advantage of the anabolic window of opportunity before and after weight training.
First, you can reduce the effects of muscle tissue breakdown by providing your body with protein about a half hour before training. The combo of amino acids and glutamine from this protein source can help provide the muscles with the nutrients it needs, so it doesn't have to get them from breaking down muscle tissue.
If you fail to provide your body with the nutrients it needs after training, it attacks muscle tissue in order to get these nutrients. It's called catabolism, the opposite of anabolism (muscle building).
Also, intense training depletes energy and nutrients that are stored in the muscles, which is why you want to replace these nutrients right after training. Your muscles are like sponges after training and will take in more nutrients after a workout than any other time.
Now, the nutrients you want after a workout are those that will help trigger muscle growth.
When you eat the right kinds of foods after intense training, your body is in a prime state to release muscle building hormones like testosterone, insulin, growth hormone, and cortisol.
High blood insulin levels increase protein synthesis in your muscles by up to 50%. Weight training can stimulate protein synthesis up to 100% and amino acids taken after a weight training workout can increase muscle building by 150%.
But the best thing is, taking in amino acids right after a heavy, intense weight training workout can stimulate protein synthesis by up to 200%!
That's why it's important to take a protein and carb combination right after training. It can be through whole food or you can use protein shakes mixed with juice or Gatorade.
You can also add some creatine and glutamine at this point as well.
About 2 hours after training, it's good to have a whole food meal. This will give your body more nutrients to stop any chance of muscle tissue breakdown.
Finally, 3 hours after training, take a meal replacement shake to continuously replenish lost glycogen stores, replace energy nutrients, and preserve the lean muscle tissue.
So, a total of 1 small protein and carb-rich meal about a half hour before training and then 3 meals within the 3 hour time period after training.
The combination of these will ensure your body is kept in a muscle building anabolic state throughout your workout and well after.
Try it and see how it's possible to gain 15, even 20 pounds of muscle growth within 3 months of using this muscle building tip.
English
More accurately, that's the second person singular pronoun.
'Thou' corresponds to 'I/you/he/she'. (Nominative)
'Thee' corresponds to 'me/you/him/her'. (Accusative)
'Thy' corresponds to 'my/your/his/her'. (Possessive)
'Thine' -- 'mine/yours/his/hers'.
It's an archaic form, and its status was similar to the French vous/tu. At one time, it was the formal form, but became the familiar form around Shakespeare's time.
As for the archaic plural form...
Nominative / Accusative / Possessive
Ye (or you) / you / your, yours
'Thou' corresponds to 'I/you/he/she'. (Nominative)
'Thee' corresponds to 'me/you/him/her'. (Accusative)
'Thy' corresponds to 'my/your/his/her'. (Possessive)
'Thine' -- 'mine/yours/his/hers'.
It's an archaic form, and its status was similar to the French vous/tu. At one time, it was the formal form, but became the familiar form around Shakespeare's time.
As for the archaic plural form...
Nominative / Accusative / Possessive
Ye (or you) / you / your, yours
Understanding Pre-Market and After-Hours Stock Trading
Getting a Leg Up on the Competition
The U.S. Stock Market is open for business for six-and-a-half hours---from 9:30 a.m to 4:00 p.m. ET---nearly every business day, and it draws crowds of thousands upon thousands of investors as soon as the opening bell rings. Wall Street is crowded during normal trading hours, but some investors are finding a less crowded space to trade in: the pre-market and after-hours stock trading sessions.
That''s right...as you will see in the Pre-Market and After-Hours Stock Trading video, you can actually trade before the market opens in the morning, and you can keep on trading once the market has closed in the afternoon. Of course, the playing field is a little different during off-market trading hours than it is when the full stock market is open, but we''ll cover that.
After-Hours Stock Trading
As its name suggests, after-hours stock trading occurs after the regular stock market hours---9:30 a.m to 4:00 p.m. ET---are over. After-hours stock trading takes place between the hours of 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET.
But why would you want to trade stocks in the after-hours trading session?
According to Chris Concannon, an executive VP in the Transaction Services Group at NASDAQ, "Many companies report earnings either before the market opens or after the market closes. The intrinsic value of a stock is constantly moving whether the market is open or not, and people want to access the market when the intrinsic value is changing."
Pre-Market Stock Trading
As its name suggests, pre-market stock trading occurs before the stock market opens up for its regular hours of trading at 9:30 a.m ET. Pre-market stock trading takes place between the hours of 4:00 to 9:30 a.m. ET.
Investors like to trade in the pre-market session for the same reason they like to trade in the after-hours trading session...they want to get a leg up on the competition by reacting quickly to news announcements that occur when the regular market is closed.
Risks of Trading After Hours and Pre-Market
All investing involves risk, but the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) outlines the following eight risks that are specifically associated with trading in the after-hours and pre-market sessions:
1. Inability to see or act upon quotes: Some firms only allow investors to view quotes from the one trading system the firm uses for after-hours trading. Check with your broker to see which firms quotes you will be able to see and off of which quotes you will be able to trade.
2. Lack of liquidity: During regular trading hours, buyers and sellers of most stocks can trade readily with one another. During after-hours, there may be less trading volume for some stocks, making it more difficult to execute some of your trades.
3. Larger quote spreads: Less trading activity could also mean wider spreads between the bid and ask prices. As a result, you may find it more difficult to get your order executed or to get as favorable a price as you could have during regular market hours.
4. Price volatility: For stocks with limited trading activity, you may find greater price fluctuations than you would have seen during regular trading hours.
5. Uncertain prices: The prices of some stocks traded during the after-hours session may not reflect the prices of those stocks during regular hours, either at the end of the regular trading session or upon the opening of regular trading the next business day. This means that even if a stock price rises in after-hours trading, it may fall right back down when regular trading opens again and the rest of the market gets to cast its vote on the price of the stock.
6. Bias toward limit orders: Many electronic trading systems currently accept only limit orders in the pre-market and after-hours sessions. Limit orders may cause you to miss out on having a trade filled.
7. Competition with professional traders: Many of the after-hours traders are professionals with large institutions, such as mutual funds, who may have access to more information than individual investors.
8. Computer delays: As with online trading, you may encounter during after-hours delays or failures in getting your order executed, including orders to cancel or change your trades.
Conclusion: Understanding Pre-Market and After-Hours Stock Trading
If you are looking for an edge in your stock trading, placing trades in the pre-market and/or after-hours trading sessions may be a great place to start. Just remember that there are additional risks you need to be aware of.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Build Up Your Self-Confidence
God to Joshua: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."1
According to Samuel Johnson, "Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings." This is true for both the non-Christian and the Christian alike but what the Christian needs perhaps even more is God-confidence.
As another has pointed out, "Moses lacked self-confidence when God called him. Had Joshua had lots of self-confidence why would God have told him to not be afraid? Gideon certainly lacked self-confidence. And until the disciples of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit they had little if any self-confidence. When Jesus was taken captive, his disciples fled for their lives. Undoubtedly, just as I would have done had I been in their shoes. Had Paul had lots of self-confidence in all situations, why would God have sent an angel to him when he was in prison to tell him to fear not? And over and over God had to tell David not to fear."
Lacking self-confidence is par for the course for most of us for we all struggle with this to some degree. So how do we overcome?
First, we do this by building on our successes and not on our failures—and on what we can do, not on what we can't do! For instance, I may be a terrible bricklayer but that doesn't make me a terrible person.
Second, more importantly, building up our self-confidence needs to come from within; that is, building up my belief in myself. This comes mostly from being open, honest and transparent with at least one or two trusted friends to whom I reveal my total self—warts and all. As they love and accept me as I am, little by little I learn (in a healthy way) to love and accept myself as I am. As we grow in self-love, it is amazing how our self-confidence increases.
Third, and how do I build up my God-confidence? By choosing to trust him no matter how I feel. When I am lacking in self-confidence, I keep saying to God, "I’m afraid, but I choose to trust you in this situation." Eventually my feelings catch up with my choice to trust God.
Fourth, we also build up God-confidence through experience—by stepping out and practicing faith in God and doing what we believe he wants us to do. As we see God using us, our God-confidence grows.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you that you love and accept me as I am—and that you love me too much to leave me as I am. Please help me to accept myself as you do, and help me to grow to become the person you want me to be so that my God-confidence and self-confidence will increase greatly. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”
1. Joshua 1:9 (NIV).
Positive Self Talk for Positive Living
How is your self talk? Your words are powerful and they can be used to build a person up or tear a person down, and that includes the words that you say to yourself. If your best friend talked to you the way you talk to yourself, how often would you want to be around the person?
I want to share this free self talk audio with you today to help you break free of those negative self talk patterns and get into a positive, creative, powerful self talk cycle. (you can also click on the ‘smart talk’ graphic)
“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7
God gave us a magnificent and amazing brain, and we have access to a very powerful tool which when used regularly will enhance our self-esteem, help us break through those limiting self-imposed beliefs, and raise the thermostat of our comfort zone. I have condensed the audio file into the following points.
1. Begin with a clear picture of the desired outcome
By that, I mean have a clear vision of the end result. For example, if you want to break out of the negative pattern “I am so scared to speak before a group of people” then you must create a different picture of being a calm, organized and confident speaker. Avoid dwelling on the question, “How am I going to do this?”
Your subconscious mind is very creative and once you lock on to a new thought, you will be pleasantly surprised at how the creative mind actually goes to work to help move you toward this new reality.
2. Make it personal and remain in first person “I “…
3. Be positive
Use a positive spin when saying and writing positive self talk affirmations as opposed to a negative approach. Let’s look at an example. In a positive state, you would say, “I am confident when speaking before large groups of people. I feel energized. I feel focused. I have clarity.” Now, compare that to a negative approach that might sound like this: “I’m not as nervous or scared as I used to be when speaking to groups of people.” Do you hear the difference?
4. Stay in the present tense
You want to keep the statement in the “now” moment, the present moment, for your subconscious mind to fully comprehend that this change is happening today. It’s not a “some day” thing. You want to avoid using words like “I can do this; I will do this; I should or I could.” Instead, you want to use empowering words: “I am a confident, dynamic, captivating, and powerful speaker when addressing groups of people.”
5. Keep it simple
Yes, KIS formula! Use short, powerful sentences for programming that new behavior in your subconscious mind.
6. It’s got to be believable to you and attainable. For example, if you are expanding your comfort zone to feel comfortable speaking to large groups of people, you first begin to focus on creating ease and comfort when speaking to small groups of people. Once there, you can then move on to speaking before larger groups of people.
7. Feel the emotions
You want to use words that really trigger your emotions when you speak your affirmations out loud. An example is to use the word “confident” in your self talk before stepping out before a group of people to give a talk. “I am confident and at ease when I address groups of people.”
8. Write affirmations to reinforce your self talk
Some people scoff at the idea of writing out affirmations but I think it makes good sense. Take out your 3×5 index cards. I happen to like the multicolored ones. Write each affirmation on a separate index card. Use a color for each theme or each area of your life For example, I really like to use pink cards for the area of relationships because I associate pink with the color of the heart. I like yellow for health and nutrition because that reminds me of the sun.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2
9. Imprint the positive self talk on your mind
Imprinting is actually a very intentional action that you will take to read affirmations each morning and each evening upon awakening and before falling asleep. This is when your brain is most receptive and in the alpha state.
And as with any new habit, do this for 21 days. However, I like the number 40 because it’s right out of the Bible. Moses was in the desert for 40 days. Jesus was tempted for 40 days. So, for 40 consecutive days, read your affirmations every morning upon awakening and every night before you fall asleep. Take about 30 seconds for each affirmation. Read it. Close your eyes. Picture that end result. See the picture come to life. Enjoy all the vibrant colors in your mind and allow yourself to feel the emotion that goes with the affirmation. Breathe in deeply. Enjoy the moment. And then, go on to that next affirmation, and repeat the steps.
10. This last step may be the most challenging for some, and that is to BELIEVE.
Open your heart and your mind to the possibility that positive self talk will contribute to positive living. Expect to make positive changes in your life using these techniques. What have you got to lose? Try it! Forty days!
Studies show that, over a 21 day period, if you just read the affirmation, you can have a 10 percent impact on changing your negative self talk patterns. If you read the affirmation and picture the results of the affirmation, with vibrant colors and details, you’re looking at a 40 to 50 percent change in your self talk. And when you combine reading, picturing and feeling the emotion that goes with the affirmation, you increase your self talk pattern by an even greater percentage. The new self talk patterns then result in changed behavior.
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