At first glance some of these diet tips may seem downright silly. You may find yourself thinking, “That’s couldn’t possibly make enough of a difference. Plus I’d feel silly doing it.” I have a response to those negative thoughts. First, longest journey begins with a single step. And second, would you rather feel silly being overweight and unfit or doing something about it?

Diet Tip 1: Fidget

Every little movement burns calories. Twiddle your thumbs. Squeeze one of those little exercise balls while you watch TV to burn calories and tone your arms at same time. Take that more distant parking spot. Walk wherever possible. Even if you have physical limitations, you can tailor a program to your needs. Move whatever you can, whenever and wherever you can. And just think - laughing is good exercise. It’s like jogging on inside.

Diet Tip 2: Portions and Proportions

Pay attention to portion sizes according to eating plan you choose. Use a normal size plate – don’t supersize it! One plan suggests that ¼ of plate should contain protein and rest should be fruits and vegetables. You can weigh your food, at least until you become attuned to proper portion sizes or use some of simple guidelines like “3 oz. of protein is about size of your palm or a deck of playing cards” or “one serving of rice is size of a tennis ball”.

Diet Tip 3: Eat More Slowly

This allows your body several minutes it takes to signal your brain that it is full.

Diet Tip 4: Substitute Low Calorie Density Foods for High

Choose foods with a low calorie density – foods that have fewer calories relative to their weight. “If you decrease energy density of your diet, caloric intake will decline”, says Barbara Rolls, professor of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University and co-author along with Robert Barnett of The Volumetrics Eating Plan.

Allergies of all kinds seem to be on rise--both for people and for their pets. The exciting new science of Glycobiology points strongly to a common basis for many of these allergies; and revolutionary new nutritional technology of glyconutrition, which has developed from this new science, is proving to be a very effective--and natural--way to help both pets and their owners get marked relief from their allergies.

A recent 12-year longitudinal study with people who began study as young, healthy adults found that functional level of their immune systems declined, on average, at rate of about 3% per year. This rapid decline is correlated with a corresponding increase in incidence of auto-immune diseases and a proliferation of allergies of all kinds--including allergies to pets.

Ironically, however, pets also are commonly afflicted with stubborn allergies that are a source of much distress--and expense--for their owners. And, very commonly--just as with their owners--medical interventions that mainly focus on treating symptoms are quite ineffective.

The findings of Glycobiology suggest that this prevailing approach may be barking up wrong tree, so to speak, and that a nutritional intervention that, instead, supplies body with crucial micronutrients that are lacking is likely to be far more effective.

Glycobiology has now established that every cell in mammalian body requires eight necessary sugar molecules in order to function effectively. These sugars combine with protein and fat molecules into glycoforms that attach themselves to surfaces of every cell in body. Under an electron microscope, they look like weird trees growing on cell surface. One of their most important functions there is to allow cells to communicate effectively with each other.

To degree that these "super sugars" are deficient, cell-to-cell communication tends to break down and some form of illness starts to develop.

An insufficiency of these sugar molecules is particularly disastrous for immune system, because it causes cells of immune system to become, in effect, partially blind. These cells can then become over-reactive in attacking allergens of all kinds and even in attacking tissues of body; on other hand, ironically, they may become under-reactive in attacking true pathogens that are serious threats to body.

Unfortunately, six of these crucially-important sugar molecules are seriously lacking in modern diet. They are commonly found, however, in vine-ripened fruits and vegetables and also in many of wild foods that our stone-age ancestors consumed in abundance.

When these glyconutrients, as they are called technically (glyco from Greek word for "sweet"), are provided in adequate quantity to body through supplementation, all of cells in body start functioning much more effectively. This is especially true for cells in immune system. As cell-to-cell communication improves in this system, it tends to become better modulated--that is, less likely either to over- or under-react. Correspondingly, allergies and auto-immune conditions tend to diminish or disappear.