Deciding what is the best yoga DVD can be challenging, especially for those beginning their yoga journey. There are many yoga DVDs in today’s market. Not all yoga DVDs are effective for practicing yoga at home.

For those beginning yoga the best yoga DVD for you should be one that can help you achieve success in integrating the practice of yoga into your life. If you are a yoga newbie, consider these points to help you determine what is the best yoga DVD for you:

1. A factor for determining what is the best yoga DVD is that it should contain easy to follow instructions, as well as easy to understand demonstrations. When you view a DVD you need to have a clear understanding of the required breathing techniques and be able to comprehend the basics to accomplishing each pose.

2. For the beginner yogis, a crucial point to consider when selecting the best yoga DVD for you is the quality of the DVD. A good way to determine this factor is that it must be easy for you to understand and follow. To identify what is the best yoga DVD for a newbie you should look for the following:

* Be sure you can easily understand what is being said in the DVD.

* You should be given clear instructions on how the yoga poses are achieved.

* Clear guidance should be given on how long you should hold each pose.

* Should be provided with clear instructions on the number of times for you to do the pose.

3. Learning yoga can be challenging. When you are new to yoga, modifying your practice sessions may be something that you will need to do frequently. Offering easy modifications to the yogis is an important factor for a best yoga DVD. When this is provided you can easily adapt the DVD to your ability level and still use it as you advance in your yoga journey.

4. Look for an instructor who is prominent and well qualified. Learning yoga from someone who has achieved a high level should definitely be an important consideration when determining what is the best yoga DVD.

5. An important consideration for a best yoga DVD is that yoga is taught in a student based center. You do not want a DVD that is centered toward showing off the instructor’s yoga ability. Helping you achieve success in yoga should be the fundamental aspect of the DVD.

If you are the one who has decided to go on a diet and lose weight, then you can opt to follow the Engine 2 Diet. Rip Esselstyn who is the author of the Engine 2 diet book has mentioned various ways of losing weight and reducing cholesterol in just 28 days. The Engine 2 Diet has the meals readily planned for you. You have to only shop for the ingredients as per the items that are mentioned in the diet plan and prepare easy meals. The items are available at most stores selling natural foods. Then along with this planned meal plan and with the planned exercise regime mentioned in the Engine 2 diet you can find yourself on becoming a new you. If you are a first timer, it is best you get the help from others who have opted to follow the Engine 2 Diet plan.

Whole grains, nuts and seeds, vegetables and fruits, all are sources of low-fat protein and are the main ingredients to be consumed while following the Engine 2 diet. The author himself agrees that it is very difficult to follow this diet. You are used to the regular diet of eating so many different varieties which you have followed for so many years, which makes following the Engine 2 diet a bit difficult. To make the diet more interesting chicken and fish have also been included which can be eaten in the initial stages of the plan. Whole grain crackers and whole grain pastas, as also tofu, soy yoghurt and vegetable burgers are allowed. In this diet every 1000 calories you consume will have just less than 2.5 grams fat content. You are not allowed to add oil while making these foods. Sugar used will also have to be the natural sweetener only.

In the Engine 2 diet plan you are required to consume less salt. This diet is a vegetarian diet and concentrates mainly on plant proteins. People usually tend to consume dairy products, meat and eggs which are considered as rich sources of protein. Proteins which exist in the form of chains are actually made up of around twenty amino acids out of which only eight amino acids can be ingested from the food that we eat. These amino acids are important for our body and as per the Engine 2 diet plan the plants also can give us the necessary amino acids. Carbohydrates provide energy and fuel to the body and our body absorbs at least 70 percent calories from the carbohydrates that we consume daily.

There are a variety of plants containing different quantities of amino acids. In the Engine 2 diet different vegetables containing different amino acids are put together in various quantities so that your body can get just the right amount of proteins. Non vegetarian foods also contain protein, but the proteins obtained in the vegetables are considered to be much safer. Carbohydrates provide energy to the body, and all the various bodily functions like breathing, exercising, the digestion process etc. all require energy to function. Both the simple and the complex carbohydrates are sugars and get converted into glucose after the digestion process.

Glucose obtained from carbohydrates remains in our blood in the form of glucose. Carbohydrates are stored in the form of glycogen in the liver and muscles. But since the body knows how to regulate itself, any excess carbohydrates in the body are converted into fats. Health friendly complex carbohydrates are found mainly in vegetables like sweet potatoes and beans and also in fruits and different other grain cereal breads. Complex carbohydrates release sugar in a very controlled manner in our system so that we have enough energy in our body to carry out our daily activities throughout the day. One can now know and understand from the Engine 2 diet, that even plants can supply our body with the necessary fat content.

Our body can obtain high and instant energy from simple carbohydrates. But these simple carbohydrates get converted into fat and get stored in our body and make us look fat. Such fats are very dangerous to our health and well being. A number of fruits and vegetables do contain good fats like poly saturated or mono saturated fats. Soybeans contain a great 41% fat content, whereas, vegetables such as spinach contains 11%, bell peppers contain 6%, broccoli 8%, and fruits such as strawberries contain 5% fat content. Good fats are available in fruits and vegetables and these are very good sources of fat for the body.

Esselstyn has given examples of Tony Gonzalez, who beat breast cancer to win more than a thousand triathlons, Salim Stoudamire, NBA player, Dave Scott, who won the famous Ironman triathlon, held in Hawaii, and Martina Navratilova, tennis champion as hugely competitive athletes whose diet was plant based. It is plants that provide the most nutrients and what’s more, the best nutrients. Plants generate essential calories as well. Vitamin B12 is an essential supplement, which are accessible via fortified soymilk, yeast, or even a pill. Good nutrients are always released slowly into the body’s system.

To enjoy good health, it is better if one can substitute fish oil with soybeans, flaxseed and walnuts and other leafy vegetables. Rich omega 3 supplements can be obtained from these and also from plankton. Plants contain high fiber content and are packed with nutrients. You may enjoy tasty food containing margarine, sour cream and butter which are all sources of high fat content, but then you will not be able to enjoy good health.

We all develop certain tastes, right from our childhood. So when we try out the natural plant food, in the beginning, we find the taste a bit different, but as the time goes by one can get used to it and it becomes a kind of a habit. Once you find that you are fitter than before you realize the actual benefits of plant food in comparison to non vegetarian foods.

Some people have to try to make your life miserable, if you let them. It was obvious to everyone that I looked and felt better, but some people just have to try to spoil it. I was told: lots of people have died of kidney or liver failure after being on Atkins I read it in the newspaper; you will have a heart attack, it’s not natural; your cholesterol will climb sky high and you will need your toes amputated or you will have a stroke; it will affect your eyesight. All sorts of rubbish. So, I went to see my GP, who admitted that he did not know anything about the Atkins diet, but he also added that he had heard nothing bad about it either. He sent me for a series of tests at the hospital and the results were all satisfactory. He was happy that I’d lost 18 lbs and so was I. Six weeks later, I went for another cholesterol check-up, because of the high fat levels in the diet and, although my cholesterol level was up very slightly, the doctor said there was no cause for concern at all.

The book warns that you might suffer from bad breath (halitosis). I don’t know whether I did or not – no-one mentioned it, but I started brushing my teeth four or five times a day just in case. I guess that’s another benefit of Atkins: increased awareness of oral hygiene. It also warns of constipation. I didn’t get that either, although I didn’t give up black coffee, which has always had a laxative effect on me. But how can you become constipated if you’re allowed to eat well over 1lb of greens a day? I wasn’t eating that well before the diet! So my two main concerns were unfounded.

A couple of weeks later, I was getting bored not going out so much. I was still happy with the diet, but because I am single and am used to going out and drinking beer. So, I decided to go about this scientifically. One day, after work, I drank three pints of Guinness and felt great – the taste was wonderful. Before the diet, I would have drunk five or six pints. To my surprise and delight, the next morning the ketone stick told me that I was still ‘on the diet’. Over the following weeks, I really enjoyed experimenting to find out what would ‘work’ and what would not. I discovered that even a small amount of cider would ruin the Atkins diet; some beers and some lagers were all right; red and white wine were OK. Consuming alcohol does not knock you off the Atkins diet, but it slows down your rate of progress. Even slow progress is progress, I say. Better than giving up the diet or not going out.

Be very wary of people encouraging you to ‘just try a little bit’. They don’t understand or don’t want to understand the trouble they’re causing you. Your body can hold two days worth of carbohydrates. One chocolate, one slice of bread, a bowl of cornflakes or one sugar in your coffee will cost you TWO days to put right. Don’t let them do it to you. This is not a diet for the weekends, in fact I think that it probably could be dangerous to keep ‘falling off the wagon’, because of the high fat content of the diet, which is not dangerous if you stick to it, because you body devours fat and cholesterol in the absence of carbohydrates.

The story ends so far, with me having got down to under 16 stone and keeping it there, until very recently when I moved to the Far East to live. Once I get used to the food and my own house and own kitchen, I will go down to 15 stone, I know I will ” with very little effort.

Well, there you have it … My grateful thanks to you, Mr. Blackwell, wherever you are these days, you changed my life and my understanding of food and drink with that book and thank you, Mr. Atkins too.

I read my first Atkins Diet book when I was working in an office in Barry, south Wales. I had been working there for about five years and had put on a lot of excess weight. I had never enjoyed taking part in sport, but my previously, I had worked on building sites, which meant a fair bit of physical activity ” enough anyway to keep me in decent shape. After five years on the office computer, I weighed 18 stone 12 pounds (264 lbs or 120 kg), three stone more than I had before and neither I nor my GP were happy about it.

One day a representative of a legal firm came in for an appointment, and, while we were waiting for the other directors to arrive, we got talking about office life and its propensity to put on weight. He said that he had had the same problem before, but that now he made sure he got out of the office regularly and walked everywhere time would allow. He also said that he’d read a good book on losing weight while on holiday in America and that he would send me a copy. I thought nothing more of it and never saw the man again. Mr. Blackwell, I think his name was.

The book duly arrived as promised, but it stayed on my desk unread for months, until one day, I had a dental appointment and had forgotten to take a book to work to read while I was waiting ” the magazines are always so old and boring. Anyway, I read several chapters that day and I was fascinated. I had never been on a real diet before and I thought I’d give it a try. I had stopped eating pastry, cakes and chocolate months ago, but it didn’t seem to have had much effect and my weight was still rising, albeit more slowly.

It seemed to me that it was a ‘thinking person’s’ diet There is a huge amount of scope for individual tastes and lifestyles and self-discipline did not seem to be much of an issue because of that. The book warned of addictions and fads and how best to overcome or prevent them. These did not seem to be an issue for me. I liked coffee, but could take it or leave it and I had already given up chocolate. Beer and bread could be a problem though.

The only requirement in the seven-fourteen day induction phase is to eat not more than 20 gram of carbohydrate per day. The book has a clear list of almost every foodstuff and their carbohydrate content. I found it really very easy. In fact, I was eating in a more healthy way in the induction stage than I had been eating before it! I bought a carton of Ketone sticks from the local chemist to make sure that the Atkins Diet was working and I found that I was in ketosis on the third day. It was very gratifying to know that I would be slimming down whatever I did and wherever I was all day long from now on.

I gave up bread (and Guinness!) for a fortnight and felt great. I actually felt ’springy’ or ‘bouncy’ like a boxer in the ring before a fight. I had no trouble whatsoever staying within the 20 gram limit, although I did miss fruit more than I’d expected or some fruits anyway. But I found ways to make up for everything. There are many, many recipes and recommendations in the book so I won’t go into them here, but I started eating breakfast before I went to work and dinner in the evenings. I really took great care and attention over preparing lunch for work the next day, usually consisting of a salad, some cheese and various nuts to snack on. You can eat a few strawberries too. In the evening, I would cook up something like a curry (no flour) eating it with green beans instead of rice; or a traditional British meal without potatoes followed by cheese and strawberries and cream. I lost 18 pounds in two weeks and felt really great.