Problem: Article: Your pancreas produces the most insulin when you consume a carbohydrate-rich meal. This is bad, especially when you're aiming to lose abdominal fat. Controlling the amount and type of carbohydrates you eat throughout the day can help you manage your insulin levels.  Carbohydrates are found in the following foods:  grains, starchy vegetables, legumes, fruits and dairy products.  They are also found in sweets and sweetened beverages. Carbohydrates are found in a wide variety of food groups.  Because they are so widespread, it's not realistic or healthy to completely avoid carbohydrates. There is no right or wrong diet style when it comes to limiting your carbohydrates.  You may choose to follow a diabetic diet, a low-carb diet or come up with your own specific diet plan to help manage your carbohydrate intake and insulin levels. Some foods cause a quick spike or rise in blood sugar and insulin levels.  Simple carbohydrates are known to be low in fiber and include:  sweetened beverages, sweets or desserts, refined grain products (like white rice) and foods made from white flour (like white bread).  Instead of drinking sugary, sweet beverages, stick to no or low calories beverages.  Try:  water, flavored water, decaf coffee or tea. It's most likely unrealistic to completely give up sweets and desserts.  Limit them in your diet and stick to smaller portions. Also limit refined grain products.  These are not only low in fiber, but also low in a variety of other healthy nutrients.  Try to choose 100% whole grain as often as possible. Foods like bread, rice or pasta are significantly higher in carbohydrates compared to other food groups.  Although these foods are considered a healthy part of a balanced diet, they will raise your blood sugar and insulin levels quicker and higher than other food groups.  Limit your consumption of grain-based foods.  You do not have to completely avoid them, but it may be ideal to limit yourself to only one to two servings daily. One serving of grains is about 1 ounce or 1/2 cup.  When you're choosing to eat grains, try to choose 100% whole grains.  These are higher in fiber and other nutrients that can support a healthy diet.  Whole grain foods include:  quinoa, barley, brown rice or 100% whole wheat bread. Fiber is typically found in more complex carbohydrates.  These are carbohydrates that digest slowly and release blood sugar or glucose into your bloodstream more slowly.  This helps prevent a spike in insulin.  Foods that are high in fiber include:  beans, lentils, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. In general, women need about 25 g of fiber daily and men need about 38 g of fiber daily.  Aiming to meet these minimums can help you manage your insulin levels more efficiently.  Try to include a fiber-rich food at each meal and snack.  This will help you manage insulin levels throughout the entire day. Healthy fats, like omega-3 fats, not only support a healthy heart, but also slow the digestion of food like carbohydrates.  Including healthy fats throughout your day can help slow the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates and manage insulin levels.  Healthy fats are found in a variety of foods including:  olive oil, fatty fish, avocados, nuts and seeds. Other sources of omega-3 include vegetable oils such as soybean, canola, and flaxseed.  Include these with your salads and cooking preparations. Include one to two servings of healthy fats daily.  One teaspoon of oils, 3-4 ounces of fish, 1/4 cup of nuts or seeds and 1/2 cup of avocado counts as a serving. While you may need to limit or avoid certain foods, you need to make sure you're still getting all the nutrients necessary to a healthy body. Eating a well-balanced diet will support weight loss and insulin control.  Examples of well-balanced meals to help manage insulin levels include:  scrambled eggs with vegetables and cheese, a mixed green salad with grilled salmon and a chicken and vegetable stir fry with 1/3 cup quinoa. Some nutritionists recommend that half of your dinner plate be made up of vegetables. In addition, eat regularly throughout the day.  Skipping meals or going too long without eating can cause low blood sugars and decreased stability in insulin levels. Increase your fiber and healthy fat intake will help manage insulin levels.  A Mediterranean style diet typically promotes the consumption of high fiber fruits and vegetables, fatty fish, dairy products and whole grains.  This type of diet or eating pattern has also been shown to help reduce high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.  Those following this diet eat poultry or eggs only one to two times weekly and limit red meet to less than once a week or just occasionally throughout the month.
Summary: Limit your daily intake of carbohydrates. Avoid simple carbohydrates. Consume moderate amounts of grains. Increase your daily intake of fiber. Eat healthy fats. Eat well-balanced meals. Follow a Mediterranean-style diet.

Problem: Article: Take a look at the plant from all angles so you can identify problem areas. Look for areas where there aren't many leaves, dead areas, and lopsided areas. Determine where you'll need to prune in order to give your geranium a healthier and more attractive shape.  Pruning actually spurs new growth of stems and flowers, so trimming back a particular place won't necessarily leave a hole. If a large part of the plant is dead, you'll need to do some drastic trimming. The plant should survive as long as the central stalk is still green. However, it might take a few weeks before new leaves and flowers emerge. This pruning method is an important way to encourage the plant to create new flowers. Taking off the dead blossoms allows the geranium to direct energy toward producing new ones. It also clears your view of the plant's stalks, so you can better see what you're working with. You can deadhead your geranium any time you see languishing blossoms; it's a quick way to maintain the health of the plant, and doesn't even require tools.  Grasp the flower stem just behind the dead blossom with your thumb and forefinger. Pinch the stem and sever it with your thumbnail, then discard the dead flower. Alternatively, you may want to wait until a whole flower cluster is spent, then remove the whole cluster further down the stem down at the next leafy area. The next step is to get rid of dead or dying leaves and stems. Trimming them back will keep the plant from wasting energy trying to keep them alive. Use a pair of hand clippers to trim dead or dying stems to the base of the plant. This is an important step to take in the spring in order to encourage good growth during the growing season, but you can trim back dead foliage any time of year. Don't bother trying to save foliage that seems on the verge of being dead, even if it's not quite there yet. It's better to trim it back and let the plant produce strong, new stems. In the spring, trimming back healthy flower stems will encourage the plant to produce more flowers. Follow a flower stem to where it's joined to the main stem, then use a pair of hand clippers to trim it against the base of the main stem. This will activate dormant buds and you should see new growth in no time. If you don't want to make such a drastic cut, follow the flower stem back to 1⁄4 inch (0.6 cm) above the top of a node, which is a ring around the stem on a geranium. The new growth will sprout from the node. "Leggy" stalks refer to those that have grown long and tall without any leaves, or with just a few leaves. Trimming these back almost to the base of the plant will allow it to produce new growth low down, creating a fuller, bushier look. Use a pair of hand trimmers to cut the stems close to the base, 1⁄4 inch (0.6 cm) above the lowest node. Keep the cuttings for propagation! At the end of the growing season, trim back at least 1/3 of the plant in this way to prepare it for winter dormancy.
Summary:
Examine the plant. Deadhead the spent blossoms. Remove dead foliage. Trim healthy flower stems. Trim back leggy stalks.