Do You Make These Mistakes in Choosing Your Health Care Plan

There are a lot of details to consider when you are choosing a health care plan, whether it’s one offered through your employer or one you buy on your own. No matter what age you are, your health should be a primary concern, although young people often act as if they will live forever and sometimes postpone making health care decisions.

Here is a list of common mistakes that people make all the time when choosing a health care plan. They are in no particular order, and all are important to consider, carefully and completely. If you are not conversant with all the terminology or are finding it difficult to make the decisions, you should ask for help from a neutral third-party such as family member or friend. Don’t ask a health insurance company unless you want to hear a sales pitch!

Common mistakes
- You don’t check out your doctor, or any others – Although some healthcare plans require you to use a physician in their own network, other plans are more inviting. If you already have a physician, and are buying your own insurance, check with the doctor to see what plans he is a member of. If you do have to choose a new doctor, you should look into the health plan doctors’ credentials by contacting the AMA.

- You forget “location, location, location” – The location of your doctor or clinic, and the travel time required, are other factors you should consider when considering health care plans. Find out where the doctor is located and also look into the regular and emergency hours of the facility.

- You don’t consider specialists – If you already need specialist care, or think you may need to in the future, you need to know the health care plan’s procedures on using them. Some plans require you to contact a primary care physician, while others allow you to make specialist appointments directly.

- You don’t consider your own specialist – You should definitely find out if your current specialist is in the health care plan you are considering. If not, perhaps your specialist can refer you to one who is.

- You forget to check the policy on “pre-existing conditions” – Even though this should be a “no-brainer,” people forget to ask about the policies on pre-existing conditions. Coverage for pre-existing conditions varies widely among health plans. Some exclude them entirely, and will not even consider coverage, while others cover them fully. Many health care plans fall somewhere in the middle, offering coverage after a certain amount of time, or for a certain amount of time or expense. Rules promulgated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act guarantees you coverage for your pre-existing conditions if you join a new group plan offered by your employer after being insured the previous year.  Do your research to make sure you know what your policy covers.

Less common oversights
- You don’t ask about physicals and health screenings – Again, it seems an obvious thing to ask, but if you appreciate getting regular physicals and health screenings you should ensure that they are covered. Most “managed care” plans do cover these types of procedures, usually on an annual basis, but there are some plans that do not cover them. If you have children, make sure to ask if “well baby” check-ups, physicals and immunizations are covered.

- You forget about additional services – Everything, from prescription drug coverage to mental health care, is an important consideration. You need to consider which of the various additional services that you may need are, in fact, covered when you are comparing health care plans. Other examples of these additional services that may be important to you are drug and alcohol counseling and treatment, home health care, nursing home or extended care, hospices, experimental treatments, alternative and complementary medicine, chiropractic care and physical therapy.

Bottom line considerations
- You don’t price things out correctly – Once you know what you want in your health care plan you need to compare costs, and you need to do it right, which means covering all the bases. You will need to know exactly what deductibles must be paid first before the health care plan coverage starts paying, and don’t forget to ask if the deductible needs to be met before certain services can be utilized. Find out about “out of network” charges if you anticipate having to go beyond your plan facilities or physicians. Finally, there are co-payment, cap amounts and total-care limits you need to know about. Some plans have lifetime limits, some have lifetime and annual limits, and others have mixed formulas for making this determination. Get all the facts.

- You don’t check the exclusions – If you don’t read the exclusions list, you will not know what is not covered. You need to see if any condition you currently have, or that you expect to contract in the future, is included. This is an important bottom-line consideration since, if you don’t get this settled and dealt with up front, you will likely spend a great deal of money down the line to treat excluded conditions.

It is a difficult thing to look at your health in a dispassionate, dollar-oriented way, but that’s life. As we age, more of our energy goes into thinking and planning against death and disability, but the subject need not be morbid or depressing. Do your best to get a health care plan that covers what your particular needs are, and remind yourself that you are worth the trouble – and the expense.

Miracle Diet for Weight Loss

If you are going on a weight loss program, it is very important to focus on an effective diet plan. All your workout sessions and cutting down on certain food items or abstaining from food for several days will go waste if you don’t eat the right diet.

Almost all diet plans (effective ones!) are based on limited amount of carbohydrates, high caloric products and fats. When going on a diet plan, you can relish good food options such as roughages, green leafy vegetables and good stuffs with less calories.

Experts believe that one should follow a diet designed to lose at least 1-2 pounds in a week. Weight loss is easier at this rate. It is also healthy and provides long lasting results. You must plan accordingly and allot proper number of weeks for dieting the 1-2 pounds losing rule each week.

Under such a plan, if you want to lose about 10 pounds, you would require at least five weeks of dieting in order to guarantee healthy weight loss.

Things to eat

You should focus on eating a balanced diet. Here is the exact amount of food groups you should focus on:

Food Groups, Amounts, Serving, Days:

- Lean protein, 35-45%, 1 serving daily

- Complex Carbohydrates, 25-35%, 1 serving daily

- Fat, 15-25%, 1 serving daily

- Vegetables & Fruits, 2-3 servings daily

- Saturated fats, few servings weekly

- Trans Fatty acids, few servings weekly

Experts feel that you should not reduce your diet all of a sudden. You can start by reducing your daily in take to 250 calories. You can slowly start working towards reducing your daily in take by as much as 450 calories. They will work towards accomplishing your goal.

Another trick is to go for the cabbage soup diet. This diet plan has been used by dieters for a long time now. There are several versions to this diet. However, the simplest one is the one that include eating a cabbage soup when you are hungry. The soup will fill you up and also help you to stay on a low calorie diet for a long time. When on a cabbage soup diet you are not supported to take oily and fatty food stuffs. Cabbage soup diet consists of very low calories. Hence, this diet is supposed to be one of the most effective diets for weight loss.

You can also go for slim fast diet. This diet will help in controlling hunger for more than about four hours. The diet is well balanced and very nutritional. It is also rich in calcium and proteins. Experts feel that this diet plan is planned especially for in a way that the dieter takes it for about six times in a day. You can add good amount of fruits, yogurt and cottage cheese. Slim fast diet also includes fresh vegetables, meals and nuts. The diet also provides you good taste and flavor. It is the best diet for losing weight, especially for teenagers.

All the diet plans mentioned above would help you lose weight. It would be wise to consult a health care practitioner prior to going on a diet for weight loss.

Metobolizma mucize diyeti

Amerikalı ünlü beslenme uzmanı Diane Kress’in geliştirdiği bu diyetin kitabı haftalardır New York Times ve Amazon’un en çok satanlar listesinde 1 numarada.

İşte 2010’un en çok konuşulacak olan diyeti Metabolizma Mucizesi..

Son aylarda fazla kilolara sonsuza dek veda etmenizi sağlayacak yeni bir diyet, tüm dünyayı sarmaya başladı. ABD’li ünlü beslenme uzmanı Diane Kress tarafından geliştirilen özel diyet programının anlatıldığı Metabolizma Mucizesi (Metabolism Miracle) kitabı New York Times ve Amazon’un en çok satanlar listelerinde birinci sıraya kadar yükseldi.

Neden bazı insanlar hemen acıkırlar?

Kress’e göre kilo sorunu yaşayan insanların yüzde 50’si “metabolik sendrom”a sahip. Metabolik sendrom, kan şekeri seviyesinin dengesiz olarak yükselip düşmesine yol açarak iştahın kontrolden çıkmasına yol açıyor. Normal bir metabolizmaya sahip olan kişi örneğin bir sandviç yediğinde 4-5 saatlik bir süre için kendisini halen enerji hisseder. Ancak metabolik sendromu olan bir kişi sadece bir saat sonra kendisini tekrar yeme isteğiyle karşı karşıya bulabilir. Metabolizma Mucizesi ise yalnızca birkaç gün içinde kendinizi daha iyi hisetmenizi ve çok daha sağlıklı görünmenizi sağlayabilir.

Üç temel adımla

Diyet temel olarak 3 adımdan oluşuyor. Karbonhidrat tükettiğinizde kan şekeri vücudun 5 saat boyunca zinde kalmasını sağlar. Diyetin ilk adımı 8 haftalık “arınma” süreciyle geçiyor. İlk adımda amaç vücudun karbonhidratları işleme sürecinin yeniden düzenlemek olacak. Karbonhidrat tüketimi geçici bir süre için önemli bir oranda azaltılacak. Birinci adımda yenilmesi gereken ve hiç ağza alınmaması gereken besinler bulunuyor. Karbonhidratlar diyetin iki ve üçüncü aşamalarında yeniden tüketilecek. Metabolizma Mucizesi diyeti sayesinde iştanızın kontrolünü elinize alabilir ve ideal kilonuza ulaşabilirsiniz.

Diyetin püf noktaları

SEKİZ hafta süren ilk adımda amaç kan şekerini dengelemek.

İşte mucize diyetin kuralları:

- İzin verilen gıdalardan isteğiniz kadar yiyebilirsiniz ancak elbette ki büyük porsiyonlar kilo verme sürecinizin yavaşlamasına yol açacaktır.

- Öğünler arasında 5 saatten uzun süre bırakmamaya özen gösterin. Atıştırmak serbest.

- Her gün en az 2 litre kafeinsiz sıvı tüketin.

- Uyandıktan 1 saat sonra ve yatmadan önce ara öğün yiyebilirsiniz.

- Haftada 5 kez günde 30 dakika egzersiz yapın.

- Tüketmenize izin verilen sınırlı karbonhidrat miktarını ara değil, ana öğünlerde tüketmeye çalışın.

- Bir gıdanın karbonhidrat değerine bakmak için paketindeki besin değerine bakarak toplam karbonhidrat değerini lif oranından çıkarın.

Metabolizmanızın sizi şişmanlatıp şişmanlatmadığını anlamak için, bazı belirtiler:

- Uyguladığınız rejim çok kısa sürüyor.
- Çok kolay yoruluyorsunuz.
- Akşamüstü saatlerinde enerjiniz düşüyor.
- Neredeyse her zaman gergin hissediyorsunuz.
- Canınız karbonhidrat bakımından zengin yemekleri çekiyor.
- Fazla kilolar özellikle bel çevresinde toplanıyor.
- Hızlı kilo alıyor ve çok yavaş veriyorsunuz.
- Uykusuzluk çekiyorsunuz.
- Cinsel isteğiniz oldukça düşük.
- Dikkatiniz çok çabuk dağılıyor.
- Çabuk sinirleniyorsunuz. Gün içinde sıklıkla başınız ağrıyor.
- İlk sekiz haftada yağ serbet, ekmek yasak!

Sağlıklı yağlar

Light margarin, light mayonez, light krem peynir, zeytin, fındık, ayçiçek yağı.

Yağsız protein

Yağsız kırmızı et, derisiz tavuk eti, balık ve kabuklu deniz mahsulleri, yağsız beyaz peynir, yumurta

Sebzeler

Enginar, kuşkonmaz, patlıcan, fasulye, Brüksel lahanası, brokoli, lahana, karnabahar, kereviz, kabak, salatalık, domates, soğan, ıspanak ve kara lahana

Yasaklı gıdalar

Ekmek, makarna, pirinç, krakerler, simit, cips, şekerleme, süt, tüm tahıllar, yoğurt, baklagiller meyveler, meyve suları, patates, havuç

5×5 besinler

- Çavdarlı kraker

- Light ekmek

- Light lavaş

- Light kraker

- Light ketçap

- Şekersiz tatlılar

- Şekersiz yoğurt

- Light meyve suyu

- İçinde 5 gram ya da daha az karbonhidrat bulunan diğer gıdalar

- (Bu listedeki tüm malzemelerin 5 gram karbonhidrat kuralına uyması gerekiyor.)

Rejimin ilk 8 haftasında her 5 saatte bir 5 gram karbonhidrat alınması gerekiyor.