Linkin Park

Originating from the city of Agoura Hills in the state of California, the rock band Linkin Park is often hailed as one of the best, if not THE best, rock band of the century.  Originally created in 1996, Linkin Park gained international fame when they released their groundbreaking album Hybrid Theory, which eventually became certified Diamond due to its overwhelming level of popularity.  After Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park followed up with an equally successful album, Meteora.  In 2003, Linkin Park was named the 6th best band of the music video era as well as the 3rd greatest band in this millenium.

Aftering the huge success of their first two albums, Linkin Park decided to explore new genres and came out with an entirely different style of album called Minutes to Midnight.  The band’s most recent album, A Thousand Suns, was made available back in 2010.  All in all, Linkin Park has sold well over 50,000,000 total albums and has even been awarded 2 Grammies.

Kesha

Born in March of 1987 as “Kesha Rose Sebert”, the girl known as “Ke$ha” is an American singer (although a few of her compositions are more raps).  Kesha was signed to a record label called “Dr. Luke’s” at age 18.  However, while she continued to sing during the time she was with Dr. Luke’s, it wasn’t until 2009 where she really began to rise to fame.  The first she was ever heard of amongst most music listeners was not until she was featured in the soung “Right Round” by Flo Rida (which was featured in the movie The Hangover).  Later that year, her single Tik Tok became the most popular song not only in America, but in 11 other countries as well.    After rising to fame with this song, she began to produce more popular music, including “Blah Blah Blah”, “Your Love is My Drug”, and “Take it Off”.  In 2011, her new album cannibal was released, which featured the popular song We R Who We R and became incredibly popular.

Justin Bieber

One of the most popular singers to come out of Canada since Avril Lavigne has been Justin Bieber.  Bieber was discovered by a man named Scooter Braun back in 2008 who happened to catch a glimpse of one of his videos and became eager to become his manager.  Scooter saw to it that Bieber became familiar with the popular pop singer Usher and was eventually signed to his record label.  His first single, called One Time, became one of the most popular songs in Canada and gained the body numerous fans all across the globe.  After this single became so popular, he was commissioned to produce a full album called My World, which would soon be certified as a Platinum album, bringing him to international fame.

Bieber’s soon to be released single, which would be part of the studio release of My World 2.0, became one of the most downloaded songs of all time.  The music video was considered to be the number one most disliked video of all time, with over 400 million people disliking it.  Unfortunately for Bieber, he would soon be replaced by someone with a superior voice as the most disliked Youtube Vide, Rebecca Black’s “Friday”.  After the album became so popular, Bieber began going on tour with his My World Tour and debuting in many prominent cities.  Afterwards, he produced a 3D style movie called “Never Say Never” (based off of 1 of his song titles) that featured all of his songs and became immensely popular.

Over the years, Bieber has received an enormous amount of awards, including being named the “Artist of the Year” by the American Music Awards.  Additionally, Bieber was even nominated at the grammies for being the Best New Artist and having the Best Pop Vocal Album, although he did not win either of these (thankfully).  Bieber has been labeled a teen heartthrob, which is significantly attributed to his silky, attractive hair.  He has also received numerous criticism from many people, and is generally disliked heavily outside of the teen girl/homosexual male demographic.

Rebecca Black

Born in 1997, Rebecca Black is a singer who became infamous after her single “Friday” became the most disliked video on Youtube and was labeled by many as “the single worst song ever written”.  This single was not a commissioned single, but instead Rebecca’s mother had to pay thousands of dollars to have the single recorded by the now infamous ARK Music Factor.  The video ended up receiving over 160 million views, nearly all of which were dislikes.  Eventually, the video was removed due to a copyright dispute between Rebecca and ARK Music Factory (or at least their lawyers).  The song was later featured on television shows such as Glee and America’s Best Dance Crew, and Rebecca was later given a cameo in Katy Perry’s song about Friday.  Recently, she came out with another single called “My Moment” in which she openly scuffs all the haters who have been hating on her Friday song.  Needless to say, this song was mired in controversy as well, which naturally has brought Rebecca even more publicity.

Katy Perry

Born in 1984 as “Kathryn Elizabeth Hudson”, Katy Perry is a popular pop singer and actress.  Katy was raised by devout Christian pastor parents who only permitted her to listen to gospel style music as a kid.  During her childhood, she became the star of her local church choir, and felt so strongly about her singing talents that she chose to drop out of high school, receive a GED, and move to California in hopes of becoming a music star.  In 2001, she attempted to release a gospel album, which of course was the genre she was most experienced with.  Unfortunately, this album flopped, as did her next album that she made with the production team The Matrix.

Finally, after hooking up with the Capitol Music Group (which was fourth label in only seven years, reflecting her initial failures), she decided to change her stage name to “Katy Perry”, which she thought would be more catchy than “Kathryn Hudson”.  At this point she attempted to release the song titled “You’re So Gay” which gained some media attention but was never very popular.  Finally, in 2008, Katy eventually was able to make it big with her groundbreaking snigle “I Kissed a Girl”.  Additionally, her single “Hot n Cold” also became popular, although it was “I Kissed a Girl” that gained most of the popularity.  At this point, all of her future albums became huge successes.  Her next album, Teenage Dream, contained the songs Teenage Dream (obviously), California Girls, ET, Last Friday Night (featuring Rebecca Black), and Firework, all of which became immense successes.  At this point, Katy became the first artist to ever spend an entire fifty-two weeks straight in the Billboard Hot 100′s top ten.

Easiest Way to Lose Weight

For those who struggle with excess body fat, attempting to lose weight can be an incredibly frustrating and difficult process that often fails to produce success. In many cases, the reason people fail to lose weight is not because they did not stick to their plan closely, but instead because their plan was idiotic and unsubstantiated by science.

Fortunately, however, those who consistently adhere to an intelligent strategy, rather than attempting to follow the latest fad diet, can significantly increase their chances of success.

Is exercise the easiest way to lose weight?

When many people think about losing weight, the first thing that comes to mind is exercise. Many alleged “experts” continue to blame decreased physical activity for the increasing obesity rates in the country and most people are led to believe that the key to weight loss is endless hours on the treadmill.

Unfortunately, however, exercise is very poor at burning calories when compared to dieting. The reality is that it takes about an hour of jogging to burn off a small piece of food, such as a bagel or can of Coke. For example, the following video shows that in the amount of time it takes for a jogger to burn 33 calories on the treadmill, it is possible to consume over 800 calories of pizza:

In some extreme cases, such as those portrayed on television shows such as “The Biggest Loser”, it is possible to lose an incredible amount of weight through very large amounts of exercise. Although this may be possible for those who have the time and determination to commit eight hours per day to exercise, most people lack the financial resources to quit their day-job for exercise, as well as the mental fortitude to stick to an 8 hour/day workout regimen.

To make matters even worse, in some circumstances, exercise could actually make you GAIN weight. The reason for this is that in many cases, people attempt to “reward” themselves for exercising by treating themselves to extra food. Unfortunately, research in the “Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness” has shown that people have a tendency to exponentially overestimate the amount of calories they burn from exercise, as well as underestimate the amount of calories in the “treat” they reward themselves with, and may actually add more calories to their diet than they burned during exercise (1). Naturally, this will cause weight gain.

Although exercise does have advantages, the reality is that when it comes to burning calories, it is significantly easier to eat less than to attempt to lose weight through exercise.

Are low carb diets the easiest way to lose weight?

When it comes to losing weight, the most effective method is to engage in a low carb diet. In a low carb diet, fruits and vegetables are completely acceptable and encouraged, but starches such as bread, pasta, rice, and other processed sugars are avoided.

According to many alleged “experts”, the reason that low carb diets are effective is due to their effects on insulin. In reality, however, this could not be further from the truth (2). Instead, the reason that low carb diets are effective is that they naturally cause people to consume less calories. Macronutrients such as protein and fat are very satiating, and allow consumers to feel full with ease. Conversely, numerous research has shown that one must consume significantly more calories of high-glycemic carbohydrates in order to feel full compared to protein or fat (3,4).

Consequently, the easiest way to lose weight is to eat a diet high in protein, fat, fruits, and vegetables while avoiding any processed foods or starches such as bread, pasta, rice, etc. This way, you will feel full on less calories and will naturally lose fat without excessive amounts of exercise or suffering from immense hunger.
References

1 Willbond SM et. al. Normal weight men and women overestimate exercise energy expenditure. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. (2010) 50(4):377-84.

2 Krieger J. Insulin… an undeserved bad reputation. Weightology. 2010 Jul; Retrieved from http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=319

3 Chaput JP, Tremblay A. The glucostatic theory of appetite control and the risk of obesity and diabetes. International Journal of Obesity. 2009 Jan; 33(1): 46-53.

4 Holt SH, et al. A satiety index of common foods. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1995 Sep; 49(9): 675-90.

IVF Process, IVF Cost, and IVF Success Rates

For those who are having difficulty conceiving a child, the thought of continuing on without anybody to continue your legacy may often feel unbearable. Few events in one’s life are more fulfilling and meaningful then having children, and few people wish to be deprived of such a significant experience. Luckily, thanks to numerous advancements in scientific technology, those who are having difficulty conceiving a child can still experience the numerous joys of being a parent through a procedure known as “in vitro fertilization” (IVF).

What exactly is the IVF process?

In order for those who are having difficulty conceiving a child to become pregnant, it is often necessary to undergo the IVF process.  IVF is a very advanced, complicated procedure that is only used when other types of infertility treatments have proven unsuccessful.  During IVF, a woman’s eggs must first be harvested from the womb. Next, a male partner’s sperm is collected and combined with the eggs in an incubator in order to allow the eggs to grow. Once the embryos have been formed, they then must be injected into the women’s uterus. Before this process can begin, however, the female must undergo multiple treatments to prepare her.

The first treatment of the IVF process is intended in order to increase a female’s fertility. During this treatment, the female is administered a drug that will induce the ovaries to produce more eggs. In addition to the first drug, it is not uncommon for females to also be given the hormone Lupron in order to prevent the egg from being released prematurely. By taking these steps, the chances that healthy eggs can be harvested successfully will increase dramatically.

After the first treatment, the next step of the IVF process is to remove the eggs. When the eggs will be removed can depend on multiple factors and is best determined by maintaining regular visits with your doctor. Once the eggs are ready to be removed, the female must then be anesthetized and have a special needle inserted into her. This needle is guided by advanced ultrasound technology to carefully extract the eggs from the womb and remove them without damaging them.

The final step of the IVF process is to insert the eggs back into the uterus. At this point, the eggs will have been combined with sperm and will have formed an embryo. In order to insert them, a special catheter is used that enters through the cervix and safely deposits the embryos. Multiple embryos are saved after the egg and sperm have been combined so that in the event the first try fails, the last step of the IVF process can be repeated multiple times in order to increase IVF success rates.

What is the average IVF cost?

Before committing oneself to the IVF process, one essential factor to consider is the average IVF cost. Although the IVF cost can vary dramatically depending on the region and the specific circumstances of the female, the average cost tends to be a base of $10,000-$12,000 per cycle.

Although the base IVF cost typically ranges between $10,000-$12,000, it is not uncommon for clinics to charge additional fees for extra services that can be highly beneficial for your baby. For example, many potential mothers will wish to receive a preimplantation genetic diagnosis to help determine any genetic problems that may arise, which will add roughly $3,500 to the IVF cost. Additionally, when the male partner is suffering from infertility problems, it may be necessary to perform an intracytoplasmic sperm injection in order to maximize chances of a successful fertilization. Unfortunately, performing an intracytoplasmic sperm injection will add roughly $1,500 to the IVF cost.

Additionally, it is imperative to note that $10,000-$12,000 is the average IVF cost per cycle. Sadly, it is not uncommon for a potential mother to require multiple cycles in order to increase IVF success rates and have a successful pregnancy. If a mother must go through the IVF process three times before she is successfully able to become pregnant, this will bring the total IVF cost up to $30,000.

Fortunately, one way to dramatically decrease the IVF cost is through the help of insurance. Many insurances exist that will cover a large portion of the fees for those who cannot conceive a child due to medical reasons.

What are typical IVF success rates?

In addition to the average IVF cost, another essential factor to consider before undergoing the IVF process is the average IVF success rates. In the past, the level of success that could typically be achieved with IVF was disturbingly low. Fortunately, numerous scientific advancements have increased the average IVF success rates dramatically.

Above all, the most prominent factor to affect IVF success rates is the age of the female. In general, females who are below 35 years of age have between 41%-47% chance of becoming pregnant due to the IVF process. Those between 35-37 years of age have between 31%-38% chance of becoming pregnant. Those who are older than 37 years old have roughly 20%-30% chance of getting pregnant.

In addition to maternal age, numerous additional factors can affect IVF success rates as well. Duration of infertility, bFSH and number of oocytes, alcohol and caffeine intake, and number of embryos transferred are each noteworthy factors that can also play a large role in one’s outcome.