We are pleased to announce the upcoming launch of the AstroNutrition Affiliate Program! This is an opportunity for you to earn residual income selling AstroNutrition health products. 

If you decided to take the winter off from the gym, you may feel a little unmotivated to get back at it.  But the time is now if you want to get in shape for the summer.  The first step is to make a date with the gym and just show up.  Sometimes buying some new gym clothes, protein powder or getting some frozen fruit and supplements for your power shakes will push you over the edge.

It's time again for a gentle reminder: that the best thing you could do for your health is quit smoking (if you smoke that is).

You probably don't want to hear the harsh reality of all the health problems smoking is causing yourself and others.  But if you do, check out this list.  Here are some other reasons that are not health related, but are still motivating factors:

Phase Three

Because you now have all the skills to properly maintain your weight, Phase Three allows you to go back to eating pretty much whatever you want. You will be able to determine the amount of carbs you can add back into your diet without gaining weight. If you see your weight does go up, cut back on carbs - you can even start the Phases over again.

Phase Two

In this phase, you can now start eating some of those once “forbidden foods” from Phase One. You will continue to eat the Phase 1 acceptable foods as well. Foods returning to your diet will include low-GI fruits, whole grain bread and pasta, and low-fat dairy. You will continue to follow the guidelines set forth in Phase 2 until you have met your goal weight.

Phase One

Phase Out Bad Carbs and Fats

Phase 1: First 14 days: This is the strict part of the plan that outlines what you cannot eat. Basically, if a food is on the Foods to Avoid list - even if it is a highly nutritious or low-fat - you cannot eat it. The goal is to build meals around a selection of nutritious foods (prepared in a healthy way) that have a low GI. The purpose is to relieve you of cravings for sugar and starches. In these two weeks it is also possible to lose a considerable amount of weight. It is important to stay on Phase One for the entire two weeks, no less and no longer.

Whether you have problem skin such as acne, dermatitis or rosacea, or simply want to age more gracefully; you need to eat right for beautiful skin.  The skin is our body’s largest organ, so taking care of the skin will also have numerous benefits to your overall health. Although problem skin can be genetic or caused by problems other than what you eat, you can't overlook the fact that what you put in your body is essentially helping to regenerate skin tissue.  So if you are digesting more processed foods or toxins, your body needs to work hard to cleanse these from your system, and they offer little, if any, nutrients to help provide new cell growth.

If you're over twenty five, you probably have experienced some form of joint pain. The bad news is that as we get older the more likely it is that we will have persistent joint pain of some sort.  If you play sports, jog or weight train you are likely to have tendinitis at some point, and as you age arthritis becomes a probability. In fact 68% of people over the age of 65 are living with arthritis.  It can be very debilitating. Now that many of us work on computers for a living, we are likely to develop tendinitis in our fingers and wrists, others may get lateral epicondylitis or tennis elbow if their work involves any type of lifting.

Like everyone else who is hitting the workouts harder and starting to run a bit more to get in shape for summer, your probably feeling the pain. Sore muscle are usually a good sign if you've been working out for awhile.  The soreness is caused by tiny tears in the muscles, which the body repairs and makes stronger. 

Do you live with a traffic jam in your head?  Need some open highway to cruise on for awhile? It is more of recent phenomenon that we are subject to stress, depression and anxiety disorders, and many adults and unfortunately youngsters are prescribed heavy medication to deal with these disorders.  Even the great Stephen Hawking says we are living in the "age of anxiety". 

If you’re going to lie about your age, you should at least try to get away with it. Although we can't slow down father time, there are a number of things we can do to slow down the affects of aging. At the top of the list is keeping your calorie and saturated fat levels to a minimum. A healthy diet is important, but so is exercise to maintain a target of 5-10% below your ideal body weight.  

Our bodies are complex but very efficient machines.  In a recent article in Healthology it has been described as 3 engines.  The first one providing us with bursts of energy we need for weight training.  This engine runs on protein and does not require oxygen, and therefore is anaerobic. The second one is for half marathons and runs on glucose and also does not require oxygen and therefore is also anaerobic.  The third engine is for running long distances and runs on carbohydrate glycogen and requires oxygen to produce energy; therefore, it is aerobic.

Our credit/debit card provider (NoChex) was performing critical updates on their systems which, unfortunately, resulted in the payment system failing. At the time of this writing  (8:30 WET), their site was still down, resulting in a "system error" when choosing payment by "credit/debit card." This issue should be resolved shortly.

In the meantime, you can still get your order through by using PayPal as an option. Please note that you do not need to have a PayPal account to have your credit/debit card transaction approved.

Once again, our apologies for this inconvenience.

Please enter coupon code spring2007 (all one word) to save 15% off your next order. Alternatively, you may enter coupon code astro100 (all one word) to save £5 on your order over £20.

Here you will find links to different diets.

The South Beach Diet Summarized

What is the South Beach Diet all about?

The diet was created by Dr. Arthur Agatston, a cardiologist in South Florida who was looking to develop a long-term diet plan for his chronically overweight heart patients. The diet involves building your meals around specific allowable and forbidden foods. After 3 unique phases are complete, the South Beach diet will help you achieve an optimal body weight and give you the necessary skills to maintain this new way of life.

If you’re trying to cut down your fat intake and get yourself in shape this summer, look out for foods with hidden fat. We know the obvious fatty foods such as chocolate and cookies, but what about some of your favorite foods that may be a little sneakier.

Looking for new ways to build and chisel the chest? Although you can't really beat the fundamental and most popular exercises for overall size and development, such as flat bench press, incline bench press and dumbbell flys - if you’re not already, you should add some other routines for better definition and further development.

You know you want to feel better, and cleansing could be the answer.  Although picking a cleansing system for you may seem a little intimidating with all the options out there?  Is it the master cleanse, the wild rose cleanse or specific products to deal with specific areas?

With nicer weather and your new commitment to get active, remember to warm up. As we all get excited this time of year to get outside and start running around and playing sports such as tennis or baseball or simply jogging, we sometimes overlook the fact that we have been less active through the winter months.  When we jump right into a new activity without a proper warm up, we are more likely to strain ourselves and get hurt.

Are you feeling sluggish from being kept indoors throughout the winter? Now that the warmer weather is coming you can shake off the cabin fever, and start enjoying some outdoors activities. In terms of keeping fit, there is nothing better then a getting into a daily routine of a brisk walk or light jog.  With warmer weather, you may also want consider joining a softball or volleyball team, or learn how to roller blade and kayak.  This is time to think about how you can make the most of the spring and summer. Don't stay in your comfort zone, try something new this year - you won't regret it.