Ôªø 2007 December 05 | Healthier Nutrition

Archive for December 5th, 2007

5
Dec

Aerobics - More Than Meets the Eye

Author: Webmaster

When I used to think of “aerobics,” bad unitards and Olivia Newton John came to mind. However, aside from the bad pop-culture rap, aerobics really is one of the best forms of exercise. Think of it as a gift for your body. The word “aerobic” literally means “with oxygen,” and we all know that oxygen is an extremely important part of life. To broaden your view on all things aerobic, here’s the rundown on some different types of aerobic activity. One of them you’re sure to fancy!

-Punk rock aerobics. Yes, you read that right. Based in Boston, punk rock aerobics is not your typical aerobics class, as you may have guessed. This month’s featured move is called “The Squatter” and the website boasts, “Free your mind and the ass will follow.” Something to look into if spandex just isn’t your thing.

-Water aerobics. I’m sure we’ve all heard of water aerobics and associated it with something our arthritic grandmothers may be fond of. In reality, water aerobics is a less stressful, yet still effective, way to work out. You use the water’s resistance to your advantage while walking, jogging, and even lifting weights. A 30 minute session of “deep water jogging” can burn as many as 340 calories. This is just one example of a good water aerobic workout.

-Jazzercise. One of those exercise regimens I mentally lumped in with pole vaulting and stilt walking (i.e., one I would probably never get around to doing), jazzercise has been especially intriguing lately. Maybe I’m just getting older, but I think jazzercise would be a good girlfriends-bonding experience. Besides, it’s an excellent workout. Aside from the cheesy moniker, jazzercise is one tough workout that combines cardio, strength, and stretching. Also, the classes are typically choreographed to top 40, jazz, country, funk, etc. And an added perk - when you get home, you can show off your moves to your friends, family, or those people always sitting outside your apartment stoop!

khi-bae-aerobic-kickboxing-workout-vhs-silk-manning-new KHI BAE Aerobic Kickboxing Workout VHS Silk Manning NEW
US $0.99 (0 Bid)
Auction Ends: Saturday Jul-04-2009 18:41:40 PDT
Bid on this Item   | Watch this Item
carmen-electra-aerobic-striptease-discs-1-2-and-5 CARMEN ELECTRA - AEROBIC STRIPTEASE DISCS 1, 2 AND 5
US $1.75 (2 Bids)
Auction Ends: Saturday Jul-04-2009 18:48:39 PDT
Bid on this Item   | Watch this Item
new-carmen-electra-aerobic-striptease-disc-3- NEW CARMEN ELECTRA - AEROBIC STRIPTEASE DISC 3
US $0.99 (0 Bid)
Auction Ends: Saturday Jul-04-2009 18:52:29 PDT
Bid on this Item   | Watch this Item
aerobic-pedal-exerciser-home-bicycle-gym-leg-arm-muscle Aerobic Pedal Exerciser Home Bicycle Gym leg arm muscle
US $15.99 (0 Bid)
Auction Ends: Saturday Jul-04-2009 19:04:46 PDT
Bid on this Item   | Watch this Item

I’ll stop there, but the list doesn’t. These are just a few examples of some ways to exercise that can fun and exciting. There are lots of other group exercise classes that make your workouts a little less painful. Most Gold’s Gym’s have great aerobics programs with truly unique classes that are for anyone.

Now, get out there and MOVE people! Try a class at your local gym.

Pat King is a Nationally Renowned Health & Fitness Expert and Creator of http://www.FitnessLifeClub.com

He has worked in the Health & Fitness field for 12 years and has dedicated his life to spreading the importance of living a conscious healthy life. You can help Pat by joining his FREE membership site at http://www.FitnessLifeClub.com

He had been a teacher in the field and last year started his own Health & Fitness training and developing company. Pat teaches seminars in several states which include Professional Development & Leadership trainings for Fitness Professionals and Health Empowerment seminars for corporations and the general public. Pat’s passion for Health & Fitness proves true in the TRULY TRANSFORMATIONAL seminars that he teaches. Pat hopes to release the first of a series of books in January of 2008 which are what he says to be the answer to the Health Crisis in America. Pat believes that he holds the secrets that will change the way people view there health and how it effects others.

Filed Under ¬ª  Aerobics    |   No Comments ¬ª
5
Dec

Stop Smoking - Three Steps

Author: Webmaster

If you’re reading this, chances are you are at least thinking about giving up smoking. That’s the first step. And let’s be clear - it’s a reasonable place to start. You won’t quit smoking unless, or maybe until, you make the decision. So, step two is deciding. This is harder than step one, but even more important. The final step is the actual act of quitting. Undoubtedly the most difficult of the 3 steps.

stop-smoking-website-internet-business-make-money Stop Smoking Website - Internet Business Make Money
US $0.99 (0 Bid)
Auction Ends: Saturday Jul-04-2009 19:19:30 PDT
Bid on this Item   | Watch this Item

Let’s look at each of the three steps in more detail.

Don’t discount the importance of thinking about stopping the smoking habit. The problem with smoking is that it has become a habit, maybe even a comforting habit. So giving it up is not an easy thing to do. You have to prepare your subconscious for the change that you are contemplating. The way to do this is in very small bits.

Spend some time thinking about maybe smoking less, before you introduce the idea of completely quitting. This will get your subconscious used to the idea of cutting down on tobacco. Now you may be thinking that this sounds kind of crazy. But along with the physical addiction to nicotine, your mind has also become used to the habit of smoking because you do it so often.

Next, start thinking about some of the negative effects that smoking has on your body. Even look at pictures of diseased lungs, or imagine yourself dragging an oxygen tank along with you as you struggle to breathe. After awhile, your subconscious will begin to accept the idea that smoking is bad for you. Once this happens you have a strong ally working with you in your quest to quit smoking.

Somewhere along the thinking process, smoking will become less appealing. At this point, you will start thinking that maybe you should try to quit smoking. This is decision time. You’ll probably do a lot of wrestling with the idea before you are ready to actually make the decision to quit smoking. You’ll go back and forth between yes, I am going to do it, to well I’m not sure if I am really ready, or maybe I’ll try next week or next month. This is natural.

Although some people talk about how they just up and quit one day, it really doesn’t happen often that way. They too went through the process we have been talking about, they maybe just weren’t consciously aware of doing it. Awareness is another weapon for you to use in your battle to quit smoking.

Give yourself lots of time. Don’t commit to the decision until you are firm in your resolve to quit. Because if you wait until you are truly ready, your chance of success increases.

Which brings us to the final step - quitting. A daunting process without a doubt. But you have arrived here well prepared to stop smoking. Now you just need to decide on how you want to do it. Strategies range from cold turkey to medical assistance. There is no right or wrong way to stop smoking. You may even fail a time or three, but don’t let that stop you from trying. Just remember, quitting is a journey. The destination is a smokefree life.

My name is Carolyn Langlois and I know how difficult it is to quit smoking. If you have made the decision to stop smoking, but need help, please visit my blog http://stopsmoking-tips.com/blog
View Carolyn’s Squidoo lens to learn about the Easy Quit System at http://www.squidoo.com/easyquitsystem

Filed Under ¬ª  Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Quit Smoking    |   No Comments ¬ª
5
Dec

The Health Benefits Provided by the Practice of Yoga

Author: Webmaster

Yoga is about the unification of both the mind as well as the body. People who practice yoga believe that both the mind and the body are one. If this union exists and is perfect then along with the proper tools and environment, a body will be perfectly able to heal on its own.

These claims may seem unfounded but they are not. Medical studies have proved that yoga actually has its health benefits. After completing a yoga class a lot of people agree that they tend to feel full of energy, happy and peaceful at the same time. How can yoga promote these feelings and help the body heal on its own?

harem-yoga-top-model-hippie-gypsy-boho-pants-brown Harem Yoga Top Model Hippie Gypsy Boho Pants BROWN
US $15.91 (0 Bid)
Auction Ends: Saturday Jul-04-2009 18:39:53 PDT
Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item
unique-yoga-website-online-business-for-sale UNIQUE YOGA WEBSITE ONLINE BUSINESS FOR SALE
US $0.99 (0 Bid)
Auction Ends: Saturday Jul-04-2009 18:41:22 PDT
Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item
women-s-thousand-mile-yoga-pants-brown-large-new WOMEN'S THOUSAND MILE YOGA PANTS - BROWN - LARGE - NEW
US $7.99 (0 Bid)
Auction Ends: Saturday Jul-04-2009 18:41:46 PDT
Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item
yoga-for-wimps-poses-for-the-flexibly-impair-*new-dvd YOGA FOR WIMPS - POSES FOR THE FLEXIBLY IMPAIR *NEW DVD
US $4.48
Auction Ends: Saturday Jul-04-2009 18:44:18 PDT
Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

Yoga allows you to be more aware of what your body can do as well as its movements and alignment. Back pain is one of the most common reasons why people tend to seek out medical attention. Due to the fact that yoga started in India, you can’t find a person who complains of back pain in the entire country. Yoga is capable of curing and preventing back pain by enhancing strength and flexibility at the same time. It also helps people who suffer from arthritis because it provides relief to aching joints and provides joint lubricants at the same time. It also tends to relive tensions in muscles as well.

Yoga has its physiological and psychological benefits. Yoga improves the lives of asthma sufferers because it stops them from developing attacks on their own without using medicines. Yoga can also help in controlling respiratory problems because it teaches people how to control their breathing. It also lowers blood pressure and heart rates. It improves lung efficiency and improves other situations like chronic fatigue, diabetes and digestive disorders.

The onslaught of aging can also be relatively slowed down through yoga. Aging is the result of autointoxication. By keeping the body clean, flexible and well lubricated helps reduce the deterioration of cells. Yoga also helps in weight reduction and it stimulates sluggish glands to. Practicing positions that focus on your thyroid gland can also have certain positive effects on the body metabolism too.

The medical community agrees with a number of these benefits and funding is currently ongoing to see the efficient of Yoga in the treatment of insomnia and multiple sclerosis. Studies of yoga effects on other conditions are also being conducted.

Many psychological benefits are also associated with yoga. Yoga has been known to help in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders. Yoga also helps in the reduction of stress, anxiety, depression and tension too. People tend to experience a feeling of well-being through yoga and they also feel invigorated and better about life too. These people also have higher energy levels and a better knowledge of whom they are and what they are capable of.

Other benefits include improved memory, attention, concentration as well as social skills and acceptance of self. It also lowers sugar, cholesterol and sodium levels while increasing hemoglobin and Vitamin C levels.

Darren Williger is an over-caffeinated, low carbohydrate eating, winemaking enthusiast who writes for MicroKarma.com, CoffeeZen.com, and PrimeYoga.com

Filed Under ¬ª  Exercise, Yoga    |   No Comments ¬ª
5
Dec

Exercise Made Easy - 9 Reasons Why Exercise Should be Fun

Author: Webmaster

I know I don’t need to tell you that anything that is fun will hold and keep your attention, and would therefore be more likely to be included in you life on a long-term basis. We love fun things because they make us happy, and we want to continue doing things which make us happy.

So why do so many of us continue to subject ourselves to “rote-routine” exercise programs that are non-engaging, flat and boring. I have never known boredom as ever succeeding in convincing anyone into doing anything for very long? Boredom in anything, especially exercise, is unnecessary and it should be avoided by all means necessary! Here are a few reasons why from now on “fun in exercise” should be your new motto:

40-trampoline-arobic-exercise-cardio-equipment-bouncer 40" TRAMPOLINE AROBIC EXERCISE CARDIO EQUIPMENT BOUNCER
US $49.99 (0 Bid)
Auction Ends: Saturday Jul-04-2009 18:39:00 PDT
Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item
40lb-weight-vest-exercise-equipment-athletic-weighted 40LB WEIGHT VEST EXERCISE EQUIPMENT ATHLETIC WEIGHTED
US $51.00 (10 Bids)
Auction Ends: Saturday Jul-04-2009 19:18:00 PDT
Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item
2009-gravity-inversion-table-therapy-equipment-exercise 2009 GRAVITY INVERSION TABLE THERAPY EQUIPMENT EXERCISE
US $117.50 (20 Bids)
Auction Ends: Saturday Jul-04-2009 20:10:00 PDT
Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item
2009-gravity-inversion-table-therapy-equipment-exercise 2009 GRAVITY INVERSION TABLE THERAPY EQUIPMENT EXERCISE
US $159.99
Auction Ends: Saturday Jul-04-2009 20:15:00 PDT
Bid on this Item   | Buy this Item   | Watch this Item

1. It gives you the impetus to do something that you probably wanted to try out, and now you finally have an excuse to try it out. Eg. Tennis, volley ball, dancing, etc

2. It puts you in the mode of wanting to do the activity which you find fun and enjoyable. Therefore you do it more often.

3. When others see you enjoying yourself and loosing weight, they ask questions and your single act of having fun in exercise may encourage others to be more active themselves.

4. Exercise on its own has been found to be a stress reducer, but when it is fun too, your heart is truly into it. This can be a true soul booster and you really feel the euphoria from the experience.

5. You look forward to something that you find enjoyable.

6. It is easier to solicit the involvement of family, friends etc. to become part of a fitness activity that is fun and enjoyable. Eg. Bicycling, playing basketball in the backyard with the kids, playing volleyball on the beach, going salsa dancing or taking a salsa class with the spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend.

7. It can open the door to like-minded people who help support you in your efforts to incorporate unconventional forms of exercise into your life.

8. Your exercise space is more likely to be in a ‘non-exercise’ environment such as your home, a dance studio, the beach, the park, your backyard etc. Therefore this removes the mindset of having to be in ‘exercise-mode’ as you would be in a gym for example; plus you are surrounded with the familiarity of your home, family, dog or whatever resonates comfort for you. When you exercise for fun, you are there to be in enjoyment of the activity and this is the primary focus. In fact it’s not exercise at all. It is just something you love doing.

9. Fun in exercise fuels long-term desire. Most people say that they have a determination to exercise, but determination is greatly mind-directed. Let’s face it, we can easily get caught up in the “minefield” of our minds. Determination may seem great on the outside, but I feel it bears too much weight on the mind, and not as much on the heart and soul which really are our true driving forces.

While determination gets you pumped up for the task at hand, it is desire which keeps you going when your mind can’t reason with the pain or the obstacles that come in the way. This is what keeps you going when the diet plan is over or the gym membership has expired.

I wish you much luck in deciding which activities are fun for you. Some activities you may consider are dancing, kick boxing, marathons and walking for a cause activities, joining a walking or running online “meet-up” group, indoor “rock climbing” etc. Choose an activity which makes you feel good and always make it fun!

Karen Lugay is a Registered Dietitian living in the New York City area. On the subjects of nutrition and weight management, Karen believes that these are never one dimensional. Therefore overall nutrition should be eclectic and enjoyable at the same time. She also shares this view on the topic of exercise. Visit her website, http://www.bellymovesebook.com to sign up for her free nutrition newsletter and to discover one of the unconventional exercises of choice which she recommends, Belly Dance, in her compelling book “The Day I Heard My Hips Move-How as I did, You Too Can Transcend Limited Time, Zeal, Firsthand Knowledge, and Other Perceived Hurdles to Orchestrate Your Own Belly Dance Journey”.

Filed Under ¬ª  Exercise, Health & Fitness    |   No Comments ¬ª
5
Dec

Reversing Osteoporosis By Eating The Right Stuff

Author: Webmaster

If you think that your bones are merely some sort of framework or scaffolding for all the organs in your body, you are getting the wrong impression. The truth is your bones are living tissues, and they need nutrients to make them strong just like your muscles or skin. And if you can only take a look at bones on a cellular level, you will find that these tissues are in a constant process of being worn out and being rebuilt.

As you grow older, your bones wear out faster than they are rebuilt; this gives way to a disease known as osteoporosis. The overall effect of this disease is bone loss and it can turn anybody’s life into a tragedy. In fact, there are over one and a half million bone fractures in America caused by osteoporosis. But the real bad fortune that the victims of these fractures have encountered is the fact that they could have easily prevented or reversed the effects of bone loss. And the best part of it all is that you can beat osteoporosis by eating the right food.

Protein-Rich Food

Protein is important for the bone-building process in your body. And the best sources of protein are meat, fish and poultry. The body needs about two ounces of protein each day; this translates to about six ounces of fish, chicken, or red meat; and the keyword here is lean meat!

But surely you have heard about the bad things that meat can bring to your system. Well, the idea here is moderation. If you consume more than the required amount of meat protein in your diet, there is a big tendency that your body will produce acidic waste products from excess protein in your body. When this happens, your kidneys will have a hard time cleaning up your system.

And here’s the rub, when your kidneys are cleaning up excess acidic protein wastes in your body, they need the help of the mineral calcium to eliminate protein byproducts. The place where your kidneys can request for more calcium is in your bones; after all, your skeletal system is the biggest calcium stockpile in your body! If you do the math in all this, excess protein will give you calcium deficit and weaker bones. So take it easy with those meat products, keep your meat consumption to no more than six ounces a day.

Calcium-Rich Food

Fighting osteoporosis means maintaining a healthy amount of calcium in your bones. Always make sure that calcium is in the black if you do not want to deal with bone loss later in your life. To do this, you need around four servings of calcium-rich vegetables and low-fat dairy products. Cheese, yogurt, spinach and collards are some of the stuffs that are rich in calcium.

However, it is important to note that people who are in their adult years experience rising levels of lactose intolerance; this means, older people have become increasingly unable to digest most dairy products. To compensate, older people can source their calcium needs from food such as soy products, seaweeds, broccoli, salmon and several types of beans. These items can well answer for your daily calcium needs without giving you upset stomach.

Always remember that too much of a good thing can be bad. As for calcium, having large amounts of this mineral in your system, may impede or interfere with the way your body can absorb other important minerals like magnesium and zinc. Instead of attaining strong healthy bones, too much calcium may bring you weaker bones.

It is also important to remember that bone supplements can greatly help you in balancing the amounts of nutrients needed by your bones. You can use products like Osteozyne to complement your diet.

Sharon Bell is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and published author. Many of her insightful articles can be found at the premiere online news magazine http://www.healthnfitnesszone.com

For more details about preventing osteoporosis, visit http://www.osteozyne.com

Filed Under ¬ª  Diseases, Nutrition    |   No Comments ¬ª