Health tip # 55


Make changes gradually,  Just as there are no "superfoods" or easy answers to a healthy diet, don't expect to totally revamp your eating habits overnight. Changing too much, too fast can get in the way of success. Begin to remedy excesses or deficiencies with modest changes that can add up to positive, lifelong eating habits. For instance, if you don't like the taste of skim milk, try low-fat. Eventually you may find you like skim, too

Choosing The Right Diet!

While the new flashy sports car that everyone is driving can be appealing to you, it may not be right for you depending on your situation. There could be the obvious obstacle that you must overcome to obtaining it, and that is its cost. Or, if you have a family of five, it’s simply not a reliable form of transportation. So why do some choose to follow “fad” diets, diets that everyone else follows?

Diets are a lifestyle choice, and as such, they should be very unique to your overall lifestyle and should not simply mimic what those around you are doing. The countless fad diets you hear being advertised on television are simply not for everybody.

To figure out the diet that is right for you, there are a few standard questions you can ask:

1. Does it match the style in which I eat?

While it may be healthy to eat several meals a day and the diet suggests this, but you know you can realistically only eat lunch and dinner – you won’t last long. Alternatively, if you travel a lot and have to eat out and can’t eat the diet’s recommended home cooked meals or spend a lot of time preparing your own dinner, you should avoid it.

2. Can truly I exercise this much?

Some diets mix in a lot of physical activity, while others keep it simple to aerobics. If you’re the kind of person who can’t stand exercise, or isn’t very active, following a diet that requires 5-6 visits a week to the gym won’t be something you can realistically follow.

3. Am I willing to deal with this forever?

When many people start a diet, they have a goal in mind to lose X amount of pounds. This is the incorrect mindset to have – a diet isn’t a temporary thing, it’s a lifestyle decision. So, if you think to yourself, “Well, I only have to deal with this for 6 months to lose 20 pounds” you’re wrong. As soon as you go off your diet, you will quickly regain those lost pounds.

To keep the weight off permanently, you need a weight loss plan that you can follow every single day for the rest of your life.

4. Are the foods practical?

There are multiple parts to this question. First, don’t pick a diet that excludes your favorite food groups or is simply not something you like, As said previously, a diet isn’t a temporary thing – you should be comfortable with following it for the rest of your life. Secondly, can you afford the food? While eating fresh fruits and vegetables all day can be rewarding to your health, fresh fruits tend to be much more expensive than other types of diet food.

5. How serious am I about this?

Do you go out to bars with your friends on weekends? Or do you want to have a little bit of birthday cake at your child’s birthday party? Diets only work because we can stick to them. The fact is, we don’t like to be chained down by them either and you need to consider that when choosing a diet. Some diets allow you some flexibility, while others make you eat nothing but cabbage soup for every meal.

Take your goals into consideration, your lifestyle, and your ability to follow a diet and you’ll be sure to select one that is right for you.

Health tip # 49


 Experts say weight training should be done first, because it's a higher intensity exercise compared to cardio. Your body is better able to handle weight training early in the workout because you're fresh and you have the energy you need to work it.  

A regular eye and neck exercise can benefit you to relieve your eyestrain, stiffness and muscle tension.  

Health tip # 46


Having a good sob is reputed to be good for you. So is laughter, which has been shown to help heal bodies, as well as broken hearts. Studies in Japan indicate that laughter boosts the immune system and helps the body shake off allergic reactions.

Walking: an insurance against crumbling skeleton

Exercise plays an important role in building bone in childhood and adolescence, maintaining bone before 50, and slowing down bone loss after 50. But exercises are not equal. Brisk walking (as if you are late for an appointment) for 30 minutes four days a week can help reduce bone loss before and after menopause. A study found that women who regularly walked 7.5 miles a week lost bone at a slower rate (four to seven years longer) than women who did not walk.

 

Many doctors recommend walking at least 20 minutes a day. Walking is the easiest exercise program to begin. You can walk anywhere, any time, without health club expense or high-priced equipment. Committing to just 30 minutes a day, three days a week, assures us of adequate aerobic conditioning. Walking is also an insurance policy against a crumbling skeleton as it minimizes and combats osteoporosis by actually strengthening our bones.

A healthy walk workout starts with good posture.

 

Maintaining correct posture shaves years off our appearance. Combining posture with exercise brings us an appealing, years-younger look. For proper posture, stand erect, keep chin parallel to the ground, and pull your head back so your neck is in alignment with your spine. Pull shoulder blades together, and relax your shoulders and hips. Tuck in your tummy and straighten your back, and pull your buns in so the small of your back doesn’t sway or bow. Expect to feel uncomfortable and awkward-looking for a while as you practice good posture. To test your posture, stand with your back against a wall and see how much of your back and shoulders touch the wall. Lifting your arms out to either side provides stretch as well as an additional posture checkpoint.

With posture in place, begin your walking experience. Proper shoes, designed for walking, are a good investment. Beyond that, dress appropriately for the workout, expecting to shed a layer as you warm up. After gently limbering up, start moving!

 

Take quicker and shorter strides for less jarring of the body. Walk with the heel leading. Bend arms at 90 degree angles, and allow swinging naturally.

 

One woman named, Dorothy, was diagnosed at age 60 with dangerously high blood pressure, took the pricey prescription until her insurance no longer covered the cost. With her doctor’s approval and monitoring, she bought good walking shoes and hit the road. Within one month of regular walking, Dorothy lowered her blood pressure and her cholesterol to a normal range, got off the medication, improved her overall fitness, and brightened her outlook on life. Now a spry, energetic, healthy lady, her walk is the highlight of her day. Also, a 60-second run in the middle of your walk should be enough to signal bones to add mass.

Exercise can help you build strong bones and slow bone loss. Exercise will benefit your bones no matter when you start, but you'll gain the most benefits if you start exercising regularly when you're young and continue to exercise throughout your life. Combine strength training exercises with weight-bearing exercises. Strength training helps strengthen muscles and bones in your arms and upper spine, and weight-bearing exercises — such as walking, jogging, running, stair climbing, skipping rope, skiing and impact-producing sports — mainly affect the bones in your legs, hips and lower spine. Swimming, cycling and machines such as elliptical trainers can provide a good cardiovascular workout.

Walking Facts:

1.    Walking a mile in 30 minutes burns 120-180 calories.

2.  Walking improves self-image.

3.  Walking decreases depression and stress.

4.  Walking exercises 200 bones and over 600 muscles.

5.  Walking increases energy.

6.  Walking regularly decreases risk of heart disease.

7.   Walking regularly reduces hypertension.

Health tip # 45


We need at least 90 mg of vitamin C per day and the best way to get this is by eating at least five servings of fresh fruit and vegetables every day. So hit the oranges and guavas!

Health tip # 44

 Don’t eat carbohydrates for at least an hour after exercise. This will force your body to break down body fat, rather than using the food you ingest. Stick to fruit and fluids during that hour, but avoid beer. 

Tummy Exercise Myths

Our bodies are genetically conditioned on how we lose or gain weight. Interestingly enough, the first place where we gain weight is the last place where we lose it. We cannot reduce only the part we do not like. Once we lose fat from our body, we lose inches everywhere even where we do not want to lose.

The problem with tummy muscles is that we do not generally exercise this muscle in daily life. It is not greatly challenged from climbing stairs, bending, stretching or walking. We, therefore, have to make a special effort to encourage it to come back into line. The movements have to be small and controlled and depend on the effort put in by the exerciser to get really good results. Secondly during pregnancy, as the baby grows inside the muscle (transverse) is pushed forward. A huge amount of stretching is going on and tends to leave the muscle loose and hanging forward after the birth. It is essentially the lack of strength left in this muscle which allows the tummy to sit in that rather round forward position Mothers would recognise from after birth.

In all cases it is the lack of exercise for this muscle which causes it to become loose and give the ‘pot bellied’ appearance.

Myth No: 1 
By doing some midsection exercises one can reduce "love handles".

Fact 
You cannot reduce fat from a certain targeted area of your body just by using exercise alone. And the abdominal area is no exception. So if you want to get a flat stomach and to reveal your abs, losing the fat covering them is the way to go. And the only way to do this is to lose fat proportionately from your entire body by burning more calories than you consume.

Myth No: 2 
You have to do tons of crunches. 

Fact 
Overuse of crunches will only shorten your abs, pull your head forward and gives you a bad posture. To reduce fat in your bodies, you need to do cardioexercise and eat nutritious foods in reasonable amounts. In simple language "burn more calories than you consume." The cardio helps to burn that stored fat and the lower calorie diet forces the body to use the accumulated fat for energy. In addition, the crunches and a total body workout (with weight training) helps the body to increase muscle mass. Muscles burn fat; fat does not burn itself so, the more muscle we have, the more fat our body uses for energy, so we lose weigh faster. If you only do crunches, you will develop your abdominal muscles and strengthen them. This will reflect in better posture and less back problems, but you will not be able to see your abdominal muscles because they will be covered with fat.

Myth No: 3
Exercise is more important that nutrition

Fact
Diet is one of the key factors when trying to get a flat tummy. Plan your nutrition in advance, to avoid dietary downfalls. Focus on protein, green vegetables, fiber-rich fruits, and zero calorie drinks such as Green Tea and water. Avoid all sugar.

Myth No: 4
you must do train your tummy every day

Fact
You don't need to do direct tummy training every day. Instead, train them twice per week and use non-conventional exercises such as Mountain Climbers and Stability Ball Jackknives to reduce the stress on your low back. Avoid the overuse of crunches and sit-ups in your training program. Instead, beginners, should focus on abdominal endurance with planks and side planks, and work up to more advanced exercises, but still avoid doing hundreds of crunches lying on your back.

Health tip # 41


Enjoy plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Surveys show most people don't eat enough of these foods. Do you eat 6-11 servings from the bread, rice, cereal and pasta group, 3 of which should be whole grains? Do you eat 2-4 servings of fruit and 3-5 servings of vegetables? If you don't enjoy some of these at first, give them another chance. Look through cookbooks for tasty ways to prepare unfamiliar foods.

Health tip # 40


If you're diabetic and preparing to head out for the holidays, take care to carefully pack your medications and supplies.