Health tip # 61


Tropical fruits, especially pineapples and paw paw are very good foods to protect you against cellulite. They're extremely rich sources of beta carotene, which is very important for healthy skin and contain natural enzymes that are extremely good for the digestions and help break down fat deposits.

More Energy Everyday – 15 Simple Steps to a Healthier, Happier You

It’s late afternoon, you still have tons to accomplish, yet you can’t keep your eyes open.  Your focus is gone, and all you can think about is how you will possibly get through the rest of the day.  When you do get home, you’re too tired to enjoy your family, cranky and irritable, and all you want is to have some dinner and collapse in front of the TV.  Sound familiar?

You are not alone.  So many friends of mine tell me the one thing they really want is more energy! Amazingly, small changes in your daily habits can produce big changes in how you feel. Try on some of the suggestions below, and see if you don’t begin feeling more alive, productive and energized throughout your day.
Action Steps to Energize Your Days

1. Eat often and eat light.  Food is fuel for the body.  Without it, we just don’t function well.  Eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, and never go more than 4 hours without eating. This will keep your blood-sugar levels even, and give you the constant fuel needed to get through your day.

2.  Never skip breakfast. When you awake, you come off a 10-12 hour fast. All foods convert to glucose, and glucose equals energy. Give your brain and your body the fuel it needs to begin the day with energy and focus.

3.  Have a mixture of complex carbohydrates, lean protein and a small amount of healthy fat at every meal and snack.

4.  Minimize simple sugars to avoid spikes in your blood glucose that are followed by an energy crash. If you must have a sugary snack, eat a small amount of protein with it.

5.  Drink water and no-sugar beverages all day. Energy slumps are often the result of dehydration. Your urine should be light or pale yellow. Anything darker means your not getting enough fluids.

6.  When working at your desk, take a break every 90-120 minutes. Get up, walk around, take a snack, get some fresh air, or call a friend. Even five minutes will bring you back to your task feeling refreshed and energized.

7.  Get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night, preferably at the same time, to keep you feeling rested and alert.

8.  Exercise. It seems like the last thing you would want to do when feeling exhausted and drained. However, energy begets energy. Even 10 minutes of brisk walking will refresh you and make you feel more awake.

9.  Switch your exercise routine to mid-afternoon when energy levels are most likely to plummet.

10.  Practice deep breathing. When we are rushed and stressed, often we breath fast and shallow, and we don’t even know it. Taking a few minutes to relax your body and take a few long, deep breaths, will refuel your cells with oxygen, leaving you feeling more refreshed.


11.  Try a power nap. Set your alarm and don’t sleep for more than 20 to 30 minutes or it might interfere with the quality of you evening sleep.

12.  Avoid toxic relationships as much as possible. If you notice whenever you spend time with a particular friend or colleague you leave feeling exhausted, it’s a sure sign that they are an energy drainer.

13.  Commit to a time and finally complete that big project that’s been on your to do list. If it’s been constantly nagging at the back of your mind, getting it finished will release an enormous amount of energy.

14.  Stop multitasking. Stay completely engaged until one job is complete and then move on to the next.

15.  Build in some down time every day. Sitting in silence, meditating, journaling, praying or enjoying nature are all powerful ways to refresh and recharge your batteries.

It’s hard to change our habits, but when we take small steps, one at a time, we reach success. Choose one or two tips, and incorporate them into your routine every week. Within a couple of months, you should notice a huge difference in how you feel.  Everyday holds opportunities to love, learn, and enjoy life with those around you. Don’t be too exhausted to notice!

Health tip # 22


It may stress u out just to think about exercising,once u actually start working out,you'll experience less stress in every part of ur life.

Why is Exercise Important?

Have you ever heard the expression "use it or lose it"? It's true! If you don't use your body, you will surely lose it. Your muscles will become flabby and weak. Your heart and lungs won't function efficiently. And your joints will be stiff and easily injured. Inactivity is as much of a health risk as smoking!

Helps Prevent Diseases 
Our bodies were meant to move -- they actually crave exercise. Regular exercise is necessary for physical fitness and good health. It reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases. It can improve your appearance and delay the aging process.

Improves Stamina 
When you exercise, your body uses energy to keep going. Aerobic exercise involves continuous and rhythmic physical motion, such as walking and bicycling. It improves your stamina by training your body to become more efficient and use less energy for the same amount of work. As your conditioning level improves, your heart rate and breathing rate return to resting levels much sooner from strenuous activity.

Strengthens and Tones 
Exercising with weights and other forms of resistance training develops your muscles, bones and ligaments for increased strength and endurance. Your posture can be improved, and your muscles become more firm and toned. You not only feel better, but you look better, too!

Enhances Flexibility 
Stretching exercises are also important for good posture. They keep your body limber so that you can bend, reach and twist. Improving your flexibility through exercise reduces the chance of injury and improves balance and coordination. If you have stiff, tense areas, such as the upper back or neck, performing specific stretches can help "loosen" those muscles, helping you feel more relaxed.

Controls Weight 
Exercise is also a key to weight control because it burns calories. If you burn off more calories than you take in, you lose weight. It's as simple as that.

Improves Quality of Life 
Once you begin to exercise regularly, you will discover many more reasons why exercise is so important to improving the quality of your life. Exercise reduces stress, lifts moods, and helps you sleep better. It can keep you looking and feeling younger throughout your entire life.

How Often Should I Exercise?

The benefits of any exercise program will diminish if it's disrupted too frequently. A "stop-start" routine is not only ineffective, but can cause injuries. Being consistent with exercise, therefore, is probably the most important factor in achieving desired results.

People often assume that more is better. Wrong! Doing too much too soon or performing intense exercises on a daily basis will have deleterious effects, such as muscle/tendon strains, loss of lean tissue, and fitness-level plateaus.

If you are a beginner, start off slower than you think you should. Three days per week is realistic, safe and effective. If you are experienced, do cardiovascular (aerobic) exercises such as walking, jogging and bicycling for no more than 200 minutes per week with no more than 60 minutes per session.

Weight training should be done no more than three times per week targeting the same muscle groups. Exercise the same muscle groups on non-consecutive days because muscles need adequate time to recover and cannot be effectively trained if they are tired or sore.

Many people forget to stretch or make the excuse that they don't have the time. Flexibility is important, so make the time! Stretching can be done every day, but stick to a minimum of three times per week in order to reap the benefits. When the body is warmed up, such as after a workout session, perform five to 10 stretches that target the major muscle groups. Hold each stretch for 10-30 seconds.

Health tip # 21


Increase your protein intake and also have more of carbohydrate in your diet.

Health tip # 19


It's important to be involved in some sort of fitness social support web. If you are currently in a regime with no fitness community, you may find that your workouts are lacking or not that successful. A social support can bring a greater sense of camaraderie, kinship and even healthy competition. If you normally workout alone at home, try visiting a gym for a sample workout, or joining a yoga, Pilates or sailing class. Running clubs and golf courses are other ways to keep in shape and meet new people.

Avoid Gaining Weight This Holiday Season
...While Still Enjoying Your Holiday

I know what you are thinking – the holidays are a time for fun and indulgence. You don’t want to think about fitness during that time. You want to enjoy yourself. Don’t worry! The festivities don’t have to be eliminated or avoided. You can have a fabulous time while also maintain your weight and your fitness regime.

The secret to achieving a holiday season that is both full of fun and also includes fitness is found in moderation. There are two typical approaches to the seasonal festivities: 1) throw all healthy habits out the window and indulge in every guilty pleasure 2) starve and binge approach (for example, you eat nothing all day long to allow yourself to overindulge in party food). Of course, neither approach is successful at maintaining a healthy, fit lifestyle throughout the holiday season. But some how we should manage, because holidays should not be a disaster for our health.

As mentioned above, the key is found in moderation. With a moderate approach both to what you eat and how much exercise you do, you can avoid packing on extra weight and also take part in all the fun of the season.

Here Are Some Tips On Maintaining Your Health And Fitness:

Create a plan ahead of time. Before the holidays sneak up on you, create a plan for incorporating fitness and good nutrition into your daily routine. Evaluate your holiday schedule and then determine how much time you will realistically have available to devote to working out and/or eating healthy meals.

On the day of a party, be sure to eat regularly all day long. If the party is in the evening, eat breakfast, lunch and a snack before hand. Once you are at the party, go ahead and indulge in some of the fun, delicious foods. Since you have eaten meals earlier in the day, you probably will find that you aren’t tempted to go overboard and eat everything in sight. However, if you starve all day long attempting to save up all your calories for the party, you will be so famished by the time it begins that it will be difficult not to overeat.

Schedule your workouts. Mark them on the calendar and set-aside time to complete them. Consider them as important as any other appointment or event you have marked on your calendar.

When at a party, start by eating some of the healthy offerings. For example, vegetable sticks , fruit pieces, plain chicken pieces, etc. Then move on to some of the less healthy offerings. You will be less likely to overindulge on these foods if you have already filled-up on some of the healthier items. Yet, you will not feel deprived or unsatisfied.

On days that you really lack motivation or simply do not have time for your complete exercise routine, commit to do just 10 minutes of exercise. You’ll probably end up doing more than that once you get started. Even if you only end up completing 10 minutes, that is still a lot better than zero minutes.
When presented with a large variety of food options, it’s tempting to want to eat everything. Rather than eating one large slice of chocolate cake or a huge plate of meatballs, select a sampling of bite size pieces of several of the desert or appetizer offerings. This way you get the enjoyment of trying many different foods without overeating.

Exercise at home. You’ll be more inclined to follow-through on your exercise commitment if you don’t have to drive somewhere to do your workout. Plus, you won’t waste any time on driving, parking, the locker room or waiting to use equipment. Working out at home requires very little equipment (even can be equipment-free) and is quite inexpensive.

Avoid wasting calories on alcoholic beverages. The average alcoholic drink contains 150-200 calories per glass. Indulge in just 2-3 drinks and you’ve drunk the equivalent calories of an entire meal. If you partake in these beverages, choose wisely. For example, instead of having a full glass of wine, try mixing half a glass of wine with sparkling water or with a diet cola. This will help cut your calories in half.

When running errands or shopping be sure to pack some healthy snacks to have on-hand. Then after you work-up a big appetite, you won’t be tempted to grab something at the mall food court or the fast food restaurant on the way home. 

Hopefully these tips will help you find a balance between staying fit and also enjoying the fun of the season. Remember, moderation is the key. 

Have a great holiday season!

Health tip # 17

Every morning on an empty stomach make it a habit to drink 2tsp of honey with warm water and a half spoon of lemon extract...this acts universally as a best blood purifier and also a good drink to keep the cholesterol and your weight under control..

Health tip # 14


You must drink lots of water. At least 8 -12 glasses of water consumption should be done by an adult women.

                     

                           Vitamin D : Key to your strength 

Vitamin D, also called the sunshine vitamin, is a fat-soluble vitamin. It is needed in the body in large quantities, as it is responsible for the health of our bones and teeth, helps in fighting off infections and even improves mental health. Not only is it a vitamin, it is also a hormone and helps regulate insulin and calcium levels in the blood.

The human body makes vitamin D when exposed to sunlight, or more specifically UVB rays. Plants have vitamin D in the form of ergosterol while cholesterol is the corresponding basic building block of vitamin D in humans. When a leaf of a plant is exposed to sunlight, it converts ergosterol into ergocalciferol or vitamin D2. In the same way, when human skin is exposed to sunlight, the body converts cholesterol into cholecalciferol, a form of vitamin D3. In humans, unlike in plants, this conversion is not the final step before vitamin D can be utilised by us. Cholecalciferol is converted into hydroxyl vitamin D in the liver, kidney, skin, brain and prostate. Next this is converted to dihydroxy vitamin D in the lungs, colon, spleen, liver, kidney, stomach and lymph nodes. This is the most active form of vitamin D required by humans and it lasts for a short time before it is eliminated so we constantly need vitamin D, much more than we thought was earlier required.

Sales of Vitamin D have continued to skyrocket for the past decade,  as scientific research demonstrates a wide array of Vitamin D benefits that also takes  care of our bones . In response to the overwhelming body of research, the Institute of Medicine recently boosted the recommended dietary intakes (RDI) of Vitamin D.

With the release of the new RDIs, sales of the sunshine vitamin are likely to soar even higher in 2011.Nutritionists believe that it will be difficult to meet the new RDIs for Vitamin D through diet alone, particularly if you eat only limited dairy products or do not regularly include fish in your diet. A dietitian in Boston, says "There's no way that people will satisfy those recommendations for vitamin D without supplements." Not many foods contain Vitamin D which is why most people will need to modify their diets to include Vitamin-D fortified foods and beverages along with an increased intake of milk, eggs and fish. Consuming 600 IUs a day of Vitamin D from a single food would require drinking 6 cups of milk or eating 15 servings of Vitamin-D fortified cereals.3

Some experts even believe the new RDIs for Vitamin D are still too low. In response, Dr for the Council for Responsible Nutrition said, "While an increase in the recommendations for vitamin D will benefit the public overall, such a conservative increase for the nutrient lags behind the mountain of research demonstrating a need for vitamin D intake at levels possibly as high as 2,000 IU/day for adults." Doctors who concur with this view may consider prescribing a higher daily dose of Vitamin D to their patients as the upper safety limit has been set at 4,000 IUs for those aged 9 and above. 

Exposing yourself to sunlight is the most important source of vitamin D because sunlight is far more likely to provide you with your vitamin D requirement than food is. Mushrooms that have been irradiated and yeast are vegetarian sources of this valuable vitamin. Other non vegetarian sources of vitamin d are Fish like salmon, mackerel, catfish, sardines and tuna, eggs, Fortified milk, cheese, butter, Oysters, Fortified breakfast cereals, soymilk and margarine.

Health tip # 12


People who eat breakfast are more likely to maintain a healthy weight and generally feel better throughout the day. Skipping breakfast can put your body into "starvation mode", causing your body to store your next meal as fat

Health tip # 10


Foods rich in antioxidants, such as vitamin C and beta-carotene, help ward off ab fat.

Health tip # 9


Regular physical activity can help lessen a diabetic's need for insulin and boost the level of "good" HDL cholesterol in the body. 

 Facts about Women’s health & fitness

1. Women can't get as strong. Not true. Women have a potential for developing muscular fitness (particularly in their upper bodies) that often remains untapped. In fact, the average woman gains strength at a slightly faster rate that the average man does.

2. Strength training de-feminizes women.  Fortunately, the wide array of potential benefits of strength training (functional, physical, mental, and health) is just as appropriate and available to women as they are to men. Tight, firm, muscles have nothing to do with the objectionable term "de-feminize."

3. Lifting weights will cause women to develop relatively large muscles.  In reality, women don't have the genetic potential to develop large muscles because, except in very rare instances, they don't have enough testosterone, which is needed for the development of muscle bulk.

4. Strength training will make a woman muscle-bound. Muscle-bound is a term that connotes lack of flexibility.  Not only will proper strength training not make a woman less flexible, in most cases, it will make her more flexible.

5.  A woman's muscles will turn to fat when she stops training.  Muscles cannot turn into fat.  Muscles simply don't have the physiological capacity to change from one type of tissue to another.  Muscles have the property of "use it or lose it."  If a woman doesn't use a particular muscle, that muscle will literally waste away (atrophy).

6. A woman can take protein supplements to enhance her physique.  A woman cannot enhance how her body looks by using protein supplements, because her body can't use the extra protein.  An excessive amount of protein is not used to build muscle tissue. Rather, it is converted to fat and stored in the body.

7. Rigorous strength training can help a woman rid her body of fat. Research shows that, although strength training can firm and tone muscles, it does not burn away fat.

8. Strength training increases a woman's need for vitamins.  The vitamin needs of a physically active woman are generally no greater than those of a sedentary one.  Because vitamins do not contribue significantly to a woman's body structure and do not provider her with a direct source of energy, a woman who engages in strength training receives no benefit from taking an excessive dose of vitamin supplements.  Eating a variety of healthful foods will ensure that a woman's intake of vitamins is adequate.

9. Strength training is for young women.  It's never too late for a woman to enhance the quality of her life by improving her level of muscular fitness.  Proper strength training offers numerous benefits to women of all ages and fitness levels, including the fact that it can help extend a woman's functional life span.

10. Strength training is expensive for a woman.  Not true. Muscles respond to the stress applied to them, not to the cost of the machine.  All other factors being equal, muscles can't discern 50 pounds of stress on an inexpensive barbell from 50 pounds of stress imposed by a high-tech machine costing thousands of dollars.

Health tip # 8

Eating a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder will save u 80 calories than if u 

drank a Starbucks     Tazo Green Tea Frapuccino.Check it out for yourself.

Health tip # 7 

Treadmills don’t get you anywhere – take a hike or walk around the city. The changing terrain under your feet will actually strengthen and tone different muscles as it’s forced to adapt. This could even be as simple as a couple of laps around the block in your lunch hour.

Remember to keep your head high, bottom tucked in and abdominal muscles pulled in towards the spine to increase the effectiveness of the walk and cushion the impact on your back.  

Health tip # 6 


HEART RATE: Scientists have found that people with faster resting heartbeats tend to experience more anxiety and stress and low mood.

Health tip # 5 





Our bodies lose potassium whenever we sweat.After a particularly strenuous workout many exercisers eat a banana, which is high in potassium.

Health tip # 4 


When you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins, which give you a natural high

Health tip # 3


Studies have shown that there is a definite mind/body connection and many benefits of exercise also include enhanced memory and creativity.