Health tip # 47

 Studies show that eating a proper breakfast is one of the most positive things you can do if you are trying to lose weight. Breakfast skippers tend to gain weight. A balanced breakfast includes fresh fruit or fruit juice, a high-fibre breakfast cereal, low-fat milk or yoghurt, wholewheat toast, and a boiled egg.

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 # 40


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

Consumed – Hunger is the Best Seasoning

You were born knowing exactly how much to eat. Hunger is your body’s way of telling you that you need fuel. By reconnecting with your instinctive signals, you can reach and maintain a healthier weight without restrictive dieting and obsessing over every bite of food you put in your mouth.

Perhaps you’ve ignored hunger for so long that you’ve forgotten how to recognize it. Maybe you even blame hunger for your weight problem and see it as the enemy. Perhaps you confuse hunger with all the other reasons you eat, like mealtime, boredom, stress or tasty food.

At the same time, you may have learned to ignore the feeling of satisfaction so you eat until you’re stuffed and very uncomfortable. Perhaps you “clean your plate,” “never waste food,” and “eat all your dinner if you want dessert,” instead of stopping when you’ve had enough. And you’ll perpetuate this cycle if you teach your children the same things.

Hunger is your instinctive guide to effortless (well almost) weight management

Reconnecting with your hunger signals helps you reach a healthier weight. Here’s how:
• You’ll eat less food when you’re eating to satisfy physical hunger than if you eat to satisfy other needs. Think about it. If you aren’t hungry when you start eating, how do you know when to stop? When the food is gone of course!

• You’re more likely to choose foods that nourish you. If you aren’t hungry but you’re eating because you are sad, mad or glad, what kinds of foods do you want? That’s when you’re more likely to want chocolate, cookies, chips, or other snacks and comfort foods.

• Food actually tastes better when you’re physically hungry. Hunger really is the best seasoning—so you eat less but enjoy it more.

• You’ll feel more satisfied because food is great for reducing hunger but not so great for reducing boredom, stress or other triggers.

• You’ll notice you’re hungry before you get too hungry and decreases overeating!

Trust Your Gut Instincts

To break out of the pattern of eating on autopilot, get in the habit of asking yourself, “Am I hungry?” every time you feel like eating. This simple but powerful question will help you recognize the difference between an urge to eat caused by the physical need for food from an urge to eat caused by head hunger.

Look for symptoms like hunger pangs, gnawing, growling, emptiness, low energy, shakiness, or headache. Notice that hunger is physical. It’s not a craving, a thought or a temptation. By focusing on hunger as your guide, you can become your own internal expert about when, what and how much to eat.

Food for Thought

• What specific signs of hunger do you usually have?

• What other thoughts and feelings do you confuse with hunger at times?

• What else could you do besides eat when you feel like eating even though you’re not hungry?

Health tip # 37


Relax For 20 Minutes a Day - Relaxing for at least 20 minutes a day will go a long way to reduce blood pressure and your reactions to stress

Health tip # 36

Quit smoking, manage stress, eat a healthy diet, avoid illegal drug use and limit alcohol use to reduce the risk of fertility problems. 

Women's Top 5 Health Concerns

Imagine living without illness to slow you down. While there are no lifetime guarantees, enough scientific research has been done to make long, healthy living a possibility.

To help women boost health, these are the five medical conditions that are of great concern to them: heart disease, breast cancer, osteoporosis, depression, and autoimmune diseases.

We looked at the risk factors for each disease and asked the experts what women could do to prevent such ailments and encourages women to take charge of their health. women need to work in partnership with their doctors by finding out their family medical history, educating themselves on health issues, and paying attention to their bodies.

You know what makes you feel good, you know when you don't feel well. Understanding your body is key..

Heart Disease

Heart disease is the leading killer of both men and women. In women, the condition is responsible for about 29% of deaths, reports the CDC.

Yet death in itself isn't the biggest problem for women with heart disease. The real trouble is in premature death and disability. There are far too many women dying of heart disease in their 60s, when no one expects to die because that's too young in this country. There are (also) women, who, for many years, are really ill with heart disease -- being out of breath, not being able to walk up one flight of stairs … because heart disease impairs their ability to get around."

Although more men die of heart disease than women, females tend to be under diagnosed, often to the point that it's too late to help them once the condition is discovered.

The symptoms for women are typical for women, and they are often missed by doctors and the patient themselves. We often think of symptoms … like chest pain. Some people may have that, but others may just have a little bit of jaw pain, shoulder ache, nausea, vomiting, or shortness of breath."

·        The risk factors for heart disease as:

·        Increasing age

·        Male sex (men typically develop heart disease at a younger age)

·        Heredity (including race). People with family history of the disease have greater risk. So do African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and some Asian-Americans.

·        Smoking

·        High blood cholesterol

·        High blood pressure

·        Physical inactivity

·        Obesity and overweight

·        Diabetes

The burden of heart disease in women is very great. The earlier folks adapt healthier behaviors, the lower their overall risk for heart disease or stroke outcomes."

Burke says people can reduce their risk of heart disease by modifying lifestyle to include a well-balanced diet and exercise

Health tip # 33


Eat More Protein - Protein stimulates the major brain chemical dopamine which keeps us alert, try chicken or tuna salads for lunch.

Health tip # 30


Strength training should begin with largest muscle groups (legs,back,hips,chest) and then proceed to smaller groups (shoulders,arms,neck).

Love Your Body

Ask any woman you know how she feels about her body—no matter what her weight, and get ready for an earful. Odds are, she'll launch into a laundry list of what she doesn't like about her looks. For some the big problem is the tummy pooch from her second pregnancy. They say  it's been two years and the bulge still don’t  go away. "My belly is so embarrassing,It makes me feel sloppy and uncomfortable with myself." Sometimes they  rather just stay home in baggy sweats than go out. And their self-consciousness is also taking a toll in the bedroom. "It's very hard for me to feel at ease getting intimate with my husband because of how I look," they admit.

Whether it's occasional or constant, nearly every woman struggles with the way she feels about her body. A Cornell University study found that 87% of normal-weight women wish they were a size smaller. The vast majority of women have what's called normative discontent—dissatisfaction with the size and or  shape of their bodies, even if it's just a wish for flatter abs or a rounder butt.

In fact, tummy, hips and thighs top our most-hated list—and that's true whether we're 25 or 65, according to research published in the journal The New School Psychology Bulletin. What else is on that list of dislikes? Everything from the bump on your nose to your size 10 feet.

One thing all these complaints have in common: They can do a real number on your self-esteem. When you hate such an integral part of who you are, it can have a profound effect on your confidence, even leading to depression and eating disorders. In effect, you start to believe what you think you see in the mirror. You begin to like yourself less, which makes you feel uncomfortable in social situations, ill at ease sexually and a lot less assertive.

Health tip # 23


When u stand up,if u didn't have valves in ur veins,all the blood in your body would literally fall downward, filling up your legs and feet.

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 # 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.

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..