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.

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. 

Four Missing Moves that every woman should be doing for a better workout.

If you’ve been pumping iron at the gym with little to no results, it may because you are omitting some very important moves from your workout. I don’t mean dance moves, although dancing is a great form of cardio exercise, I mean THESE moves:

1. High-intensity Training: Coasting along, singing a song on the elliptical trainer isn’t going to melt the pounds away as quickly as high-intensity training. Also called, HIIT, High intensity training is typically 10 to 20 minutes of short, high-impact workouts. This is one of the best ways to burn fat and improve your overall fitness.

2. Heavier Lifting: It’s better to do 8 reps per set with a 15lb dumbbell, instead of 15 reps with an 8 pound one. Lifting heavier quantities will not only increase your strength, it will create better muscle tone, and who doesn’t want that!

3. Upper Body Focus: You can’t spot-reduce fat by JUST focusing on the areas where fat is store, which for a woman is thighs, hips and waist. By working on your upper body, not only are you converting stored fat into muscle, but you are also building strength, which is very important for women to have mainly for good posture.

4. Train with a barbell: Again, this improves posture and can also lend a hand in toning up the lower parts of your body as well.

Overall it’s important to work out the entire body -and to switch up your routine as much as possible. This way you optimize your workout time and make it count towards your fitness goals.

Health tip # 29


Benefits Of Exercise - Exercise is the best medicine for preventing illness and prolonging active life .

Health tip # 28

Try drinkin more tea instead of coffee to help protect ur body from damaging effects of free radicals & plays big role in protecting cancers

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 # 27


Except for professional athletes, most of us do not have the mental discipline to keep exercising by our- selves. Join a group, a gym or get your husband to go with you. If a bunch of your friends get together to exercise you will be motivators and conscience-keepers for each other

Health tip # 26

Almost as Fast as a Speeding Bullet. It takes only about 23 seconds for blood to circulate throughout your entire body. 

Health tip # 24


Exercise as a Drug. Aerobic exercise is one of the best preventative medicines available and one of the cheapest.

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.

10 Steps To Help You Avoid Losing The Thrill


What's your excuse for not making it to the gym on a consistent basis? Locker room too smelly? Music volume making your ears bleed? Feeling intimidated by buff bodies crowding the free-weight area?

Most people start off strong with an exercise program, and then within a few weeks they've got an excuse for not being there.

The majority of people will stop participating in a new workout program within the first 90 days which is why health clubs that are packed in January can seem virtually empty by March.

Which brings us to you.

If you're starting a new exercise program, you're probably very excited about it, which is great. But that excitement is going to wear off, at which point you'll begin to notice how much time and effort a workout plan really requires.

And that's the point where you may be tempted to start pulling back, or even to quit entirely. But we're not about to let that happen. Follow these steps from the very beginning, and you'll be one of those dedicated gym members who really get their money's worth.\

1. Make workouts a key part of your schedule. Many people see exercise merely as recreation, not a necessity, which means it's the first thing to go when daily schedules get crunched. YOU NEED TO DECIDE that working out is as important as ANYTHING in your life, even as important as LIFE ITSELF.

If you don't, as soon as the initial excitement of a new program is over, everything else will get in the way; business appointments, family obligations, TV, sitting on your duff. Write your workout times into your calendar and stick to them just as you would a vital business meeting.

2. Keep it mellow. You're a lot more likely to keep your program for the long term if you avoid letting going to the gym become a hassle. Choose a gym you can get to in a reasonable amount of time at the time of day you're going to train.

If you're fighting gym traffic, you'll be a lot less motivated. Find a place where you won't have to line up to use the equipment you want. And unless you'll be going at the end of the day and can wash up at home, make sure it has clean showers and a comfortable changing environment.

3. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Many people often start out too aggressively, going to a level that's higher than they're capable of. As a result, they injure their muscle fibers, so for 48 hours they're walking around like a mummy. Then they stop going to the gym because they find themselves dreading the pain.

Many people don't realize that long, drawn out workouts is NOT better. You're not giving your body enough time to recover between workouts. 60 minutes TOPS (if you're doing a strength and aerobic workout), or about 30 minutes of a strength OR aerobic workout. Make those minutes COUNT! You can still workout daily as long as you keep your workouts short.

4. Set achievable goals. It's inevitable that as you start a new program, you picture yourself looking like the models on TV or in the magazines. But if you set your sights too high, you may find yourself discounting the gains you are making. When you're starting out, go over your long-term goals with a trainer or coach, and decide what you can achieve based on your workout schedule.

Then, instead of looking far into the future, give yourself intermediate weekly and monthly goals, such as doing an extra rep or lifting 10 more pounds. If you always have new goals to shoot for, it stays interesting.

REMEMBER: You're not exercising to lose weight. You're exercising because of HOW YOU'LL FEEL as a RESULT of exercising regularly. You WILL get leaner, you WILL have more energy, you WILL have a higher self-esteem. If you don't achieve the goals in the time you first set, it's not the goal that's wrong. It's the time frame that was wrong. Keep focused on your goals.

5. Chart your progress. Gains from one workout to the next can be subtle, and the only way to know how well you're really doing is to write everything down. Keep a journal of your workouts, as well as what you eat. Even people who are diligent don't remember exactly how well things went if they keep everything in their head.

When you write it down, you can compare results, see what is and isn't working, and see that as time goes on YOU'RE REALLY MAKING PROGRESS.

6. Mix it up. Doing the same workout over and over again gets old fast, and your results won't be as good as if you try a variety of exercises. Instead of doing 40 minutes daily on the treadmill, try every darn aerobic machine in the gym and go on hiking, in-line skating and bicycling adventures whenever you get a chance.

Change your weight training routine regularly to keep things interesting and to help break through plateaus. A lack of variety leads to staleness. A good rule of thumb is to change your sets, reps, weight, and rest periods every 3-4 weeks. You'll have more fun if you learn new tools and keep doing different things.

7. Go one on one. One reason working out can seem less enjoyable than playing sports is that it lacks interplay with others. But there are lots of ways to have some spirited competition in the gym, whether it's racing on treadmills or competing with your weightlifting buddy. When two guys are on the same regimen, they can make things more fun by having "mini-contests."

Try going as many reps as you can on a certain weight. Or see who can lift the most weight for 4-5 reps. Just make sure the contest rules specify doing the exercise right, since sacrificing form to lift more weight can be dangerous.

8. Work with a trainer or coach. Workouts seem easier and are more effective with a professional prodding you on; plus, you're more likely to feel obligated to show up (especially if he's going to charge you anyway). When there's someone watching you and keeping an eye on your progress, there's incentive to keep going. If you can't afford to hire a trainer for every workout, just do it every couple of weeks or once a month and have him/her help you set goals for you to reach in between.

Also, consider getting a training partner - just make sure it's somebody who will show up every time, is dedicated as you are... in other words, a clone of you.

9. Force yourself to hang in there religiously for the first three months. Nothing sustains motivation better than results. However, whether you're a beginner or a competitive bodybuilder, your muscles must be given enough time to adapt to the growth and recovery periods that strength training requires.

Though you may see some results, like increases in strength, early on, noticeable changes in your physique can take up to three months. This doesn't mean that everyone will take this long to see results. I've had clients see results in the first couple of weeks; some waited a few months before things fell into place.

It also takes that long to establish a rhythm and discipline to your training schedule, but after three months of dedication, you'll be a lot less likely to fall off the training wagon.

10. As soon as you miss a workout, re-motivate yourself. This is the danger zone, the time when most people start giving up. You've missed one workout, so what's the big deal about skipping another, or all of them? Before you know it, your whole program could go down the tubes. If you miss a workout, you miss a workout. It's over. You can't bring it back. So it makes NO sense to beat you up about it.

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 # 18


The average women's health and fitness regime requires a workout of no more than an hour at a time. Spending too much time at the gym or doing the same exercises over extended periods can become tedious and boring. By focusing on the exercises and narrowing your time frame, your workout sessions will be more fun and more efficient

                     

                           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 # 11

Breathing correctly while exercising helps ignite the burning of 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.