1) Eat Whole Grain Foods

Processed and refined grains, such as white bread, white rice, cereal, pasta, and other foods made with white flour have a high glycemic index, low amounts of fiber, and less vitamins and minerals as foods made with whole grains. Making the switch to whole grain foods, including whole wheat bread, whole grain pasta, brown rice, and cereals made with whole grains, are an easy and healthy way to make your family’s diet more nutritious.

2) Limit Soda and Fruit Drinks

Soda and fruit drinks have low nutritional value and a lot of calories. At about 150 calories per 12 ounce serving, your kids will gain an extra pound about every 3 weeks if they drink just one can of soda each day.
Cutting back or eliminating soda, fruit drinks, and even fruit juice, can be a good way to get rid of a lot of extra calories and leave room for your kids to eat more nutritious foods.

3) Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

Most children don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables and that usually means that they are eating other less nutritious foods. With a high fiber content and lots of vitamins and minerals, fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. And because they have lots of water in them, eating fruits and vegetables can help you to feel full and satisfied so that you don’t overeat.

4) Eat More Foods with Calcium

A common mistake people make when trying to lose weight is that they stop drinking milk, eating cheese and yogurt. Calcium is important to build healthy bones and to help you lose weight. You should encourage your kids to drink low-fat milk, eat portioned amounts of cheese and yogurt to help lose weight and maintain a healthy weight.

5) Be More Active

Everyone knows that part of the cause of the current obesity epidemic is that people are much less active then they used to be. Getting kids involved in organized activities, which can be either team or individual sports, and cutting back on the amount of time in front of the TV, computer and playing video games will burn calories and improve fitness levels.

Family activities are also a good way to be more physically active. Even simple things, like walking across a parking lot, using stairs, and going for short family walks or bike rides, can make a big difference.

6) Know Where Calories Come From

While you don’t necessarily need to do daily calorie counts, keep a diary of what your family eats for a few days can help you see where extra calories are coming from. Are your kids overweight because of the calories they get from a bedtime snack or those two glasses of Kool Aid or soda he drinks? Or maybe because his portion sizes are too large?

If you know where your kids’ calories are coming from, you will know where to make changes and how you can cut back, especially on foods that have a lot of empty calories.

7) Learn About Carbs

Carbs get a bad wrap, especially with all of the proponents of high protein diets, like the Atkins and South Beach Diet. Not all carbs are created equal. While it is a good idea to avoid foods that have refined such as white bread, foods made with white flour, and foods and beverages sweetened with sugar, other carbs should be part of a balanced diet.

Instead of avoiding all carbs, just learn about how to choose foods with ‘good’ carbohydrates, which includes fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grain foods.

Learn About Fats

Like carbs, there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ fats. Instead of making the mistake of trying to stick to a low fat diet, and simply substituting other foods that are often just as high in calories, you should eat foods that have ‘good’ fat in them. This includes foods with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. On the other hand, you should avoid saturated fats and trans fats.

9) Choose Healthy Meals when Eating Out

Even if your family eats healthy at home, if you eat super-sized fast food meals a few times a week, they are probably still at risk for becoming overweight. If you eat out a lot, review the nutritional facts of the restaurant’s menu and watch your portion sizes. Calories and fat quickly adds up when eating out!

10) Stay Motivated!

Most people know what they need to do to be healthier however, eating healthy and exercising is not easy. Education about the specifics of a healthy diet, getting the whole family involved, and setting goals, can help your family stay healthy and fit. Hire a personal trainer or seek the counsel of a dietitian to keep you on the healthy track.

Creating a nutritionally healthy home is one of the most important steps you can take to ensure the health of your child. To start, make smart food choices, and help your child develop a positive relationship with healthy food. Your children will learn their food smarts from your example.

Here are the top 10 tips for getting children to eat healthy food:

1. Do not restrict food. Restricting food increases the risk your child may develop eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia later in life. It can also have a negative effect on growth and development.   Also by restricting food you will actually increase the risk of overeating later in the day which will cause weight gain.

2. Keep healthy food at hand. Children will eat what’s readily available. Keep fruit in a bowl on the counter, not buried in the crisper section of your fridge. Remember, your child can only choose foods that you stock in the house, by limiting ‘junk food’ you will, by default, teach your child how to choose healthier foods.

3. Don’t label foods as “good” or “bad.” Instead, tie foods to the things your child cares about, such as sports, academics and hobbies. Let your child know that lean protein such as turkey and calcium in dairy products give strength to their sports and academic performance, the antioxidants in fruits and vegetables add luster to skin and hair and the carbs in whole grains will give them energy to play.

4. Praise healthy choices. Give your children a proud smile and tell them how smart they are when they choose healthy foods. Kids thrive on positive reinforcement!

5. Don’t nag about unhealthy choices. If your child chooses unhealthy foods infrequently, ignore it. However, if your child always wants fatty, fried food, redirect the choice. You might try roasting potato sticks in the oven (tossed in just a bit of oil) instead of buying french fries. Or, if your child wants candy, you might make fresh strawberries dipped in a little chocolate sauce. Too busy? Then keep naturally sweet dried fruit at home for quick snacks.  With consistent effort taste buds change and soon your child will be craving healthy foods.

6. Never use food as a reward. This could create weight problems in later life. Instead, reward your children with something physical and fun — perhaps a trip to the park or a quick game of catch.

7. Sit down to family dinners at night. If this isn’t a tradition in your home, it should be. Research shows that children who eat dinners at the table with their parents have better nutrition and are less likely to get in serious trouble as teenagers. Start with one night a week, and then work up to three or four, to gradually build the habit.

8. Prepare plates in the kitchen. There you can put healthy portions of each item on everyone’s dinner plate. Your children will learn to recognize correct portion sizes.  Too often people go for seconds and even thirds just because the food is right there.  You might notice that you need less food to feel full!

9. Give the kids some control. Ask your children to take three bites of all the foods on their plate and give it a grade, such as A, B, C, D, or F. When healthy foods – especially certain vegetables — get high marks, serve them more often. Offer the items your children don’t like less frequently. This lets your children participate in decision making. After all, dining is a family affair!

1. Consult your pediatrician. Always talk with your child’s doctor before putting your child on a diet, trying to help your child gain weight, or making any significant changes in the type of foods your child eats. Never diagnose your child as too heavy, or too thin, by yourself.  If weight change is recommended seek the help of a Dietitian.

1) Walk with deep awareness of how it feels to move your body.
2) Experience the act of walking as if you’ve never, ever done it before.
3) Be aware. Be present in the moment. Really feel your body as you’re moving.
4) Pay attention to how your feet feel with each rolling step on the earth.
5) Notice the strength and power in your muscles.
6) Feel yourself moving in space.
7) Observe the wind on your skin and the temperature of the air.
Have a beauty feast while you’re out. Notice the light coming through the leaves. See the flowers with fresh eyes.
9) Take a fresh look at the world as you move through it. Assume nothing. Experience the wonder of life as if you’ve never seen anything before. Watch the people as if you’d never seen a human before.

Let walking become a cherished and enriching part of your life. Turn it into something wonderful that you look forward to with both body and soul.

1. Eat more frequently during the day-
Skipping meals or waiting too long between meals can have a negative impact on your metabolism and results in overeating later in the day. It’s best to have 3 small meals and 1-2 snacks throughout the day. You will feel more satisfied and eat less. Plan to have a snack or meal every 4-5 hours.

2. Watch portion sizes-
Appropriate portion sizes are still quite misunderstood. Most Americans are eating 2-3 times the recommended portion sizes. Limit your grains, cereals, pastas, and rice to ½ – 1 cup serving sizes. Keep meat, poultry and fish to 4-ounce portion sizes. Restaurants are notorious for giving extremely large servings of food. Keep this in mind when eating out. Eat half of the food on your plate or take the rest home for lunch the next day. Studies show that when people are given large portion sizes, they eat up to 56% more calories without realizing it. To add insult to injury, our portion sizes are larger than they have ever been. Start to become more aware of the portions you are served wherever you are.

3. Eat the right fats-
Yes some fat is important. Omega 3 fatty acids are an important strategy for weight loss success and yet most Americans are not eating enough of these healthy fats. Some reports show these fatty acids may be helpful in increasing your metabolism. They are also shown to be a wonderful mood supporter and people report significantly less food cravings and triggers to eat when they incorporate omega 3 fatty acids on a daily basis. This is especially important for any emotional eaters out there. Omega 3’s are found in fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, cod; they are also found in canola oil, walnuts, and ground flax seeds.

4. Increase fruits and vegetables-
Fruits and vegetables are not only packed with important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, they are also loaded in fiber and low in calories. Include 5-8 fruits and vegetables every day. This is one of the most important diet changes you can make. When you fill your plate up with fruits and vegetables you eat less of the higher calorie foods. For example, let’s take a sample steak dinner.

Original meal:
8 ounce steak
Whole baked potato with fixings
½ cup steamed broccoli

Meal Makeover:
4 ounce steak
½ baked potato with fixings
½ cup steamed broccoli
Side salad with mixed greens, tomatoes, and 1 tbsp light vinaigrette dressing

By changing the balance of this meal to include more vegetables while decreasing the steak and potato we saved approximately 350 calories. Saving 350 calories daily can result in almost a 1 pound weight loss per week. Small changes are the key.

5. Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full-
Our bodies have an innate weight management mechanism. It performs this task by making you feel full when it is time to stop eating. Every time you eat past full you are taking in more calories than your body needs which will result in weight gain. Start to become more aware of your internal cues for hunger and satiety (fullness). You will be amazed how many times you wait too long to eat and how often you eat past full and enter into stuffed. It’s common for all of us to do this from time to time. However, it’s time to check in with yourself and see how often you are falling into these food patterns. Listen to your body, it will tell you when you are physically ready for food and when you are ready to stop.

6. Exercise regularly-
I know, this isn’t anything you haven’t heard before but it is a crucial part of weight management. It is important to engage in regular aerobic and weight bearing activity. The aerobic exercise helps you to burn the fat and weight bearing activity increases your metabolic rate. Muscle burns up to 90% more calories than fat. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you will burn in a day. By adding three to five pounds of muscle you could actually burn 100 – 250 additional calories a day. This combination of aerobic and weight bearing activity is what really kicks weight loss into gear.

7. Limit sugar-
Sugar becomes a major issue for many people wanting to lose weight. Not only does it add calories, it also causes insulin spikes leading you to store more calories as fat, it stimulates your appetite, and is a major food trigger for emotional eaters. However, it doesn’t mean you need to go all or nothing. When people try to omit all sugar from their diet they can become obsessed about sugary foods and end up in a binge. Find the right balance for sugar. Avoid daily use of sugar and instead have some guiltless treats once in awhile. A little cake at a birthday party or some ice-cream with friends is a good way to incorporate sugar once in awhile to avoid the negative outcomes.

8. Pamper yourself regularly-
Who wants to argue with that?! The reality is many people eat for emotional reasons. Food makes us feel good on many levels. The problem occurs when eating becomes the only coping mechanism your subconscious knows of. This is why that pesky urge to emotionally eat is so strong. It is hard to reason your way out of it. For many people food is the only thing they know that makes them feel better. When you start to do other things that make you feel good on a regular basis such as taking a hot bath, going for a walk, having a hot cup of tea; then your subconscious starts to register these activities as coping mechanisms as well. Over time this will decrease the constant urge to use food. You can’t expect to have a bad day, go take a bath and not have an urge to eat. It is something you need to do regularly and something you truly enjoy so your subconscious starts to recognize it as a new choice.

© 2005, Meri Raffetto

1. Be a ‘healthy’ role model. The number one thing that parents can do is to be a good role model for their children, Parents so often unknowingly set their kids up for failure. If there are chips, cookies and Twinkies and no fruit or vegetables when your kids look for snacks, how can they succeed? Line your refrigerator and cabinets with fresh fruits, nuts, low-fat cheese, easy things for kids to snack on besides ‘junk food’.

In a 2000 survey conducted by the CDC, close to 80% of adults reported eating fewer than the recommended five or more servings of fruit and vegetables daily — not good role-model behavior.

2. Be positive. Don’t tell your child to ‘lose weight’ say, ‘Let’s be healthy and start taking care of our bodies’. Focus on the foods you can eat, not the ones that you should limit eating. Say, ‘Let’s go pick out fruits and make a fruit salad,’ not ‘Don’t eat this or that.’ Instead of saying, ‘We have to exercise,’ say, ‘Lets go to the park.’ Use positive words and phrases when talking with your kid.

3. Make healthy eating a family affair. Create family meals together and for the entire family. Do not single out an overweight family member with special diet food. Your entire family can benefit form healthy eating regardless of weight.

A family that eats together, eats better, according to a recent study in the journal Archives of Family Medicine. The study showed children who report frequent family dinners have healthier diets than their peers who don’t.

4. Avoid portion distortion. When serving food you must use portion control, buffet-type or family-style situations tends to promote overeating. Fill up on salads and cooked vegetables at meals and always wait 10-15 minutes before having a second helping. Second helpings should only be taken if truly hungry.

5. Start the day off right with a good breakfast. A bowl of low-sugar cereal with low-fat milk, low-fat yogurt with a granola or breakfast bar, or an English muffin with peanut butter, rather than a doughnut or muffin. A healthy breakfast will put your family on the healthy track for the rest of the day.

6. Make time for physical activity. Make physical activity a family activity. Every night after dinner in the summer, go for a half-hour walk and make it an activity that kids look forward to. If you can afford it, enroll your kids in dancing or a sporting activity that they enjoy because they need to enjoy it to keep doing it. Or just turn on some dance music and have a dance party around the house.

7. Try again. Weight loss and healthy eating is not easy. There will be times when you and your family will struggle with this new lifestyle. It is important to keep trying. Failure is certain if you are not trying.

1. Oatmeal: A fabulous breakfast food, full of B vitamins, iron, zinc and calcium. Old-fashioned oatmeal offers plenty of carbohydrate for quick energy and high fiber. Add berries and honey to make it a delicious perfect food for those fast-paced school day mornings!

2. Yogurt: Kick your child’s dairy consumption up a notch and include yogurt on the menu. A great source of calcium, yogurt is easier to digest than regular milk, and the cultures (check the label to make sure they’re in there!) are very beneficial to good colon health. Watch it on the sugar content though. A great idea is to buy plain yogurt and sweeten it yourself with fresh fruit!

3. Broccoli: it is one of the best vegetables for anyone, especially growing kids. It has loads of calcium, potassium, beta-carotene and a wide variety of the B vitamins. If your child is not a fan of plain vegetables include broccoli in a casserole or put a little shredded cheese on top to add flavor.

4. Protein: One size does not fit all when it comes to protein. The fact is that growing kids need protein to keep growing. How you’re going to give it to them can vary widely, according to your preferences. Good choices include legumes, beans (combined with a grain to make a complete protein), soy products like tofu, eggs or lean meat, fish or poultry.

5. Whole Grains: The best nutrition is found in whole grains. Brown rice and whole wheat bread are a quantum leap over their white counterparts and offer necessary fiber, minerals and vitamins. Choose grain products with the words “whole”, “unbleached” and “intact” or “ground”.

6. Nut Butters: Peanut butter and other nut butters are great fast and easy foods for kids. Kids need fat (it’s a good fat if it doesn’t have hydrogenated oils mixed in it) and they need the protein. Try spreading almond or sunflower seed butter on crackers, toast or celery sticks for a quick and nutritious snack.

7. Fresh Fruit: My personal choice would be cantaloupe in the melon department. Vitamin C, beta-carotene, bits and pieces of B vitamins and trace minerals and calcium fill every juicy bite. Any in season fresh fruit is sure to be packed with healthy goodness!

2 Be Positive- No one enjoys receiving negative feedback. Talk to your child with compassion and encouragement. Instead of saying, ‘Lose weight’, say, ‘Let’s be healthy and start taking care of our bodies’. Focus on the foods you can eat, not the ones that you cannot. Say, ‘Let’s go pick out fruits and make a fruit salad,’ not ‘Don’t eat that.’

3 Make healthy eating a family affair – A family that eats together, eats better, according to a recent study in the journal Archives of Family Medicine. Children who report frequent family dinners have healthier diets than their peers who don’t, the study showed. Also fill your refrigerator and cabinets with fresh fruits, nuts, low-fat cheese, and things for everyone to snack on.

4 Eat Breakfast – A breakfast that consists of protein, starch and fat will keep your children more alert during school. Studies have shown that weight loss is much more difficult in people who skip breakfast.

5 Make time for physical activity – Make physical activity a family activity. Every night after dinner in the summer, go for a half-hour walk and make it an activity that kids look forward to. If you can afford it, enroll your kids in dancing or a sporting activity that they enjoy because they need to enjoy it to keep doing it. Or just turn on some dance music and have a dance party around the house.

6 Don’t say diet – Put your child on any diet and you are setting them up for an eating disorder – whether binge eating or closet eating or another type of disorder. Lifestyle changes have proven to be the most effective to lose weight and keep it off.

7 Avoid portion distortion – When serving the food try to portion out meal on dishes and avoid buffet-type or family-style eating. When exposed to so much food it is easy for your eyes to be bigger than your stomach. Resist the first temptation to have seconds then check in with yourself to see if you are really hungry.

Stress brought on by dieting is added to the personal and work life stresses that we face every day, often resulting in a “vicious cycle” of increased stress and increased food intake. People under stress tend to engage in self-defeating and unhealthy behaviors such as binge eating and there is strong biologic evidence that stressed-out people may tend to put on the pounds faster. “I’m stressed, therefore I eat.” Many people complain that they overeat in response to workplace or personal stress. If this sounds like you, read the following tips for managing stress-related overeating to help you check this unhealthy habit.

1. Practice waiting. Postpone your instant gratification when hunger hits. Tell yourself you’ll wait 10 to 30, minutes to eat. Chances are good if your cravings are only stress-related, they’ll disappear when you allow yourself to become distracted.

2. Keep a food journal of what you eat each day. Knowing you have to write down every snack or nibble can be a good way to remind yourself to think before eating.

3. Enlist a friend’s help – ideally one who also is tempted by stress-related cravings. When you feel like eating, write him/her a quick note or make a phone call.

4. Keep yourself nourished. Eat regular, healthy snacks to maintain your energy level. Skipping meals while under stress only prompts you to eat more, and unhealthily, when you do get around to eating.

5. Post some reminder messages wherever you’re likely to see them when stress-related cravings begin. Use any message that works for you. Examples might be “Are you really hungry?” or “Think about why you’re eating.”

6. Physically remove tempting food items from your home or office. Never go shopping while hungry and always make a list of food items prior to shopping; bring home only what you feel good about eating.

7. Take time for yourself every day. Whether it’s 10 minutes to reflect and relax, or whether it’s some fun activity that will revitalize you, it’s critical to do it. Health is not just physical, mental well-being is just as important, you deserve to mentally de-stress everyday!

1) Move More

Sedentary people burn about one-third less calories per day. By simply taking every opportunity to move can make quite a dramatic difference to the amount of calories you burn in one day. Small movements will add up over time to lots of calories. The trick is to keep moving throughout your day. Write the word ‘move’ on post-it notes and put them in places you’ll notice them when you’re sitting still. Then, take every opportunity to move – here’s some ideas for burning extra calories:

Tap your feet
Swing your legs
Stand up and stretch
Move your head from side to side
Change position
Wriggle and fidget
Pace up and down
Use the restroom upstairs
Park in the furthest corner of the parking lot
Stand up when you’re on the phone and step from side to side
Clench and release your muscles

2) Eat Little and Often

Evidence suggests that eating small meals every 2-4 hours will keep your metabolism burning faster than larger, less frequent meals. When you eat small amounts often your body is constantly working to digest and absorb food which requires energy.

3) Eat Fat

If you want feel good and keep the fat off you need to first put it in. Fat not only tastes good our bodies need it to work efficiently. By consuming several servings of ‘healthy’ fats every day you will actually increase your calorie burning potential. Try incorporating fats like Flaxseed oil, hempseed oil, olive oil, avocados, salmon, albacore tuna, nuts and seeds into your diet daily.

4) Drink Cold Water

Evidence shows that your body might expend more calories trying to raise cold water to the temperature of your body then hot beverages. And overall being well hydrated will help your body’s metabolic processes burn quicker.

5) Exercise With Weights

Training with weights boosts your metabolism in a number of ways. By lifting weights you will build muscle tissue. And muscle tissue is metabolically active, so it requires calories even when at rest and so it helps to increase fat-burning enzymes in your body.

6) Spice up

Eating hot spices might speed up your metabolism. Just half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day can help boost metabolism and keep blood sugar levels in check. Can’t stand the thought of cinnamon in your morning cup of coffee? Spice up with cayenne, crushed red pepper or wasabi.

7) Eat More Protein

Protein requires a more complex chemical breakdown by your body in order to be digested and used as fuel. For example, 100 calories of protein may take up to 30 calories to process. Protein also takes longer to digest and helps to stabilize blood sugar for longer periods of time and this can help you to not overeat later in the day. Eat a portion of protein at every meal and as part of your snacks and you will increase the total number of calories you burn each day.

*Lose 5 lbs a week!

*Burn 30% more fat every day!

The magazine was Woman’s World.

Being in the business of health, fitness, diet and weight loss, this claim intrigued me so I threw a copy of the magazine in the buggy, and read the article when I got home.

Very briefly, here’s what the article had to say: Most people don’t get enough Vitamin C, and Vitamin C can help your body burn more fat.

Now, this was interesting, and since I believe most people don’t get the nutrients they need, I was willing to go along with the idea of increasing your normal intake of Vitamin C, either by increasing the amount of things such as orange juice, which is good for you anyway and it contains a lot of Vitamin C, or by use of Vitamin C supplements.

The information in the article made sense, and, when I did a little independent online investigation, I found that apparently the article was reasonably accurate. I don’t have a particular problem with the information in this article, and agree that increasing Vitamin C could help someone lose weight.

This brings us to the slightly exaggerated title of this article.

Everyday, it seems we are bombarded with all these claims about weight loss, fat loss, diets and health. One person says their pill will deal with cortisol, which is the cause of weight gain. Another says their diet will “melt” the fat. Someone else wants to hypnotize you, and that will do the trick. The covers of many other magazines at the checkout on the day I bought my magazine had different tips, hints, diets, and weight loss solutions.

All these people can’t be telling the truth, can they?

Is weight gain the result of cortisol, poor diet, lack of exercise, not enough Vitamin C, lack of sleep, stress, too much beer, or just bad genes?

Actually, the answer to both questions is, “Yes…sort of…”

The actual biological process by which people get fat is known. The solution is also known, and it doesn’t have much to do with Vitamin C, cortisol, genes, or a lot of other things…directly.

A runner who wishes to run faster gets there by training at running and trying to run faster. However, that runner can also strengthen his or her legs by using weight training. They can improve their performance, or perhaps reach their goal faster, by eating a certain type of diet…maybe even making changes in that diet at different points of their training or competition schedule. If stress is inhibiting their performance, learning to meditate might help them put that stress behind them or at least relieve it enough so that their times improve. If their home life or work schedule is such that it interferes with their training, rest, or nutrition schedules, then making a change in those areas may improve their athletic performance.

Even so, the main thing in their running training is…running! Everything else just helps with the speed of development or the amount of progress that is ultimately made.

The same thing applies to most weight loss situations and so-called solutions. Increasing physical activity and eating reasonably are the two major things that bring about healthy, permanent weight loss. If, in your exercise program, you choose to supplement with Vitamin C, or get more sleep, or take something which reduces the effects of cortisol, or quit your job because it interferes with your weight loss program, then you will probably enhance the results. You will lose more weight over time, lose the weight a bit faster, or just find the whole process easier. However, the major portion of the weight loss (and improved health and enjoyment of life), comes from the basics of exercise and nutrition.

So what about the people who DID lose weight by breathing properly, or taking Vitamin C, or adding Chocolate to their diet?

People are all different, and so are the facts and factors of their lifestyles, education, upbringing, and genetic makeup. Someone who is one dress size bigger than she wants to be may get all the weight loss she needs from increasing HER Vitamin C intake. That does NOT mean that every woman will experience the SAME results. Another woman may need to lose a lot more than one dress size, and taking Vitamin C, while it might help her shed a few pounds and be more healthy overall, will probably NOT produce anywhere near the total results she hopes to achieve. If, however, she IS doing the right things to bring about weight loss, adding the Vitamin C may speed the process a bit and help get her to her goal a little faster,

Just as in the title of this article, the key word in all these claims is “help” whether it is stated or merely implied. True healthy, permanent weight loss will be the result of a combination of activity and nutrition. All the other things, which may certainly be of value, are just helping.