Weight Loss Tip: Attack Body Fat

Body fat forms when calories are converted into fat and stored for future energy needs. The human body is very efficient at forming and storing body fat. Since it's your main protection from starvation, human physiology is set to save and store fat rather than burn it for energy.

And this is the problem: long term weight loss is almost impossible because body fat is so difficult to lose.

Forming Body Fat

Extra calories (calories not needed for immediate energy) are converted into fat. This newly formed fat is then stored for future energy needs.

Fat stored for the future is called body fat.

Your top priority is to lose body fat when dieting to lose weight.

It makes sense...you're overweight because you eat more calories than are needed to supply immediate energy needs. Any extra calories are quickly converted into fat and then are stored as body fat.

The amount of body fat you store is a direct reflection of the amount of "extra" calories you eat each day. So, if you want to lose weight, attack body fat and get rid of the stuff keeping you overweight.

Reversing the Calorie-to-Fat Formation


Protein is the key component in reversing the conversion of calories into fat. Luckily, it's very simple.

Drink protein shake supplements with a 50:50 ratio of casein to whey protein.

Drink them during times of fasting over 3 hours (for most people this occurs twice...after waking up in the morning and in between lunch & dinner).

The shakes raise the blood levels of certain amino acids, the building blocks of protein. When the amino acid level reaches a threshold, it signals the brain to start mobilizing body fat and burn it for energy.

Perfect! You lose body fat by drinking Optimized Protein Shakes.

You can lose more body fat by making three changes to your diet.

• Eat 5-6 Smaller Meals per Day
• Eat A Lean Source of Protein with Each Meal
• Eat Healthy Fat, Like Omega-3 Found in Certain Fish
  

Combined with the protein shakes, you'll lose body fat and and the weight that comes with it.

To Healthy Living! Michael A. Smith, MD

Yoga Anti-Aging Health Benefits

The most common definition of aging is not what really determines it.

In reality, misusing our bodies over a long time causes the body to degenerate and consequently look older.

A lifetime of remaining sedentary, consuming non-nutritious foods or having poor posture while working can cause the stiffness or aches and pains commonly attributed to getting old.

Regular care and maintenance of the human body is required as much as all other types of machines ever made by man.

One of the major things that make the bodies of humans unique is the ability to renew or regenerate themselves at the cellular level.

Yoga is an important tool that works to help maintain the health of the human body.

Many people have started using this form of exercise even at the age of fifty or more years. The success of turning back the clock on the process of growing old and the ability to feel young again has inspired the baby boomer generation.

Quite often people who begin using Yoga in their older years discover that they feel even better than they did in their younger years.

One of the rewards from starting a Yoga program is the ability of the body to recover greater flexibility and regain health that had turned poor.

Patience and the determination to try is all you need to get started.

Yoga has been shown to be a perfect exercise to help prevent osteoporosis. Arthritic pain felt in feet or hands has been alleviated from arthritis sufferers with the use of Yoga poses. Seniors often feel depressed due to the lack of energy and flexibility which plays a large part in their daily lives.

But yoga can help folks who were previously unable to get up on their own to feel energetic again and have a renewed flexibility and freedom from joint pain.

It is difficult to remain motivated to exercise if very little movement has been done on a regular basis. This causes muscles to lose their strength and tone and joints to become inflexible.

However, seniors can use chairs, blocks, straps or other props to help them do yoga exercises –even those who have had a regular habit of misusing their bodies over the years.

Folks fifty and over may think they are more fragile than they really are, but once they begin using Yoga, they will reap the benefits of renewed flexibility of their bodies.

There is no good excuse not to try since there are many different modifications of Yoga positions that are available to those in their 50’s and over.

People over fifty need to challenge themselves not to stop with the beginning poses which are relatively easy, but to keep going with the goal in mind of attaining their highest possible success. If seniors keep on practicing breathing correctly, flexing their muscles that have not had much use and the various postures that they learn, the rewards will be theirs to enjoy. They should keep in mind though that their bodies can tell them when they need to slow down.

If people in their older years desire to keep their muscles and joints strong and supple, yoga can help with this and more. It helps improve balance and keep minds active with a more positive attitude, especially when they feel younger and more agile than before they began an active Yoga program.

Even people in their 70’s and 80’s can strengthen their bodies and gain a renewed sense of general health and happiness by beginning to practice Yoga in the latter years of their lives.

By Dennis Harris

Worksite Wellness

Employers increasingly are realizing the value that worksite wellness programs deliver as an effective tool to improve:

• employee health
• increase productivity
• reduce absenteeism and
• lower health care costs.
  

A 2003 report published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) highlighted how important it is for employers to incorporate health promotion as part of their business strategy.

The report asserts that preventable diseases place a heavy toll on business, including lower productivity and higher health insurance costs.

The HHS estimates that $1.66 trillion was spent on health care in 2003 and it attributes a majority of those costs to chronic diseases and conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and asthma. Sadly, the money allocated for preventing or controlling these conditions is negligible.

In a recent article, American Cancer Society CEO John Seffrin reported two thirds of cancer deaths in the United States could be prevented through lifestyle changes in diet, exercise, cancer screening and “especially” tobacco use.

A well-designed worksite wellness program, provided by your health benefits company, serves the best interests of both employer and employee.

Bottom line return on investment

Ron Goetzel, a nationally recognized expert in the field of health management, data analysis and applied research, said in a recent interview that with an investment of $100 to $150 per employee per year in health promotion, an employer can expect an average return on investment of approximately $3 for every $1 invested ($300 to $450 savings per employee per year).

Goetzel says, however, that these returns are not typically realized until two to three years into the wellness program.

Legislative incentives

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has been an outspoken proponent in seeking legislative solutions for a strained health care system.

“As a nation, we have a ‘sick care’ system that is focused on helping people after they get sick, rather than a ‘health care’ system which focuses on keeping healthy people healthy,” he says.

Harkin introduced the Healthy Lifestyle and Prevention (HeLP) America Act of 2004.

One of the initiatives under Title II - Healthier Communities and Workplaces, provides tax credits to businesses that offer comprehensive programs to promote employee health and grants for small business.

Worksite wellness, getting started

Implementing a worksite wellness program with your health insurance carrier can be accomplished with simple, low-cost strategies.

• Offer incentives for participation.
• Create a wellness campaign.
• Schedule seminars on nutrition, diabetes and cholesterol.
• Establish programs such as fitness, sleep diary, smoking cessation and injury prevention.
• Offer chair massages or simple stretching exercises to do at the desk.
• Change vending machine options to offer healthier, low-fat snacks and drinks.
• Work with a health insurance carrier that can implement, manage and maintain your program.
• Actively promote employee participation.

A successful worksite wellness program can boost company morale, enhance productivity, reduce organizational conflict, attract superior workers and lower the rate of employee turnover.

The case for establishing a worksite wellness program is well worth the effort.

By CATHY AGUIRRE

Yoga & Its Benefits to Health

Yoga is the perfect exercise blend for many active people. It is a balancing regimen that strengthens the body, focuses the mind, and helps create a felt sense of spirit.

Yoga is an ancient philosophy of life as well as a system of exercises that encourages the union of mind, body, and spirit. In fact, the word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word meaning "yoke" or "union."

The ultimate goal of yoga is to achieve a state of balance and harmony between mind and body.

Yoga is the only science that teaches us to introvert in both body and mind, emerge freshed.

Yoga is a system of spiritual, mental and physical training that is suitable for people of all ages. It calms the mind, attuning us to the environment, and enhances concentration and mental clarity, thus reducing stress and anxiety. A true yoga practitioner tries to develop an attitude of humility.

Health is a god given priceless gift. We need to protect it all time not to achieve worldly goals alone, but to serve the divine.

Purpose of Yoga. Yoga's purpose is to strengthen the body and make it more flexible, as well as awaken the spirit - in effect, to provide a physical, mental and spiritual system of health.

Yoga improves posture, increases the intake of oxygen, and enhances the functioning of the respiratory, digestive, endocrine, reproductive, and elimination systems. It does this through physical poses (asanas), breathing techniques and meditation practice. Yoga is gentle because your mind and heart are involved.

Yoga can help reduce blood pressure and improve the efficiency of the lungs. People of all ages can do yoga, almost anyone can benefit from yoga, including the elderly, children, pregnant women, and those with chronic health problems.

Nevertheless, there is a mass of evidence to show that yoga can have a beneficial effect on a variety of conditions, for example, high blood pressure and diabetes. Usually obesity is one causes of Diabetes.

Obesity and Diabetes are also termed as twin epidemics.

Both Obesity and Diabetes is highly preventable through proper diet, exercise and lifestyle change. Yoga Lifestyle will be most suitable to facilitate treatment for this twin epidemic. Yoga cannot “cure” diabetes, it can complement the lifestyle changes necessary to keep diabetic symptoms in check, and it can help you feel more in control of your health and well-being

Benefits of Yoga Practice. Life today is full of stress and strain, of tension and nervous irritability, of passion and hurry. If man puts into practice a few of the elementary principles of Yoga, he would be far better equipped to cope with his complex existence.

Yoga brings in perfection, peace and lasting happiness.

• You can have calmness of mind at all times by the practice of Yoga.
• You can have restful sleep.
• You can have increased energy, vigour, vitality, longevity and a high standard of health.
• You can turn out efficient work within a short space of time.
• You can have success in every walk of life.

Yoga will infuse in you new strength, confidence and self-reliance. The body and mind will be at your beck and call. Body is the temple of god. So it is our duty to keep it clean, fresh, and fragrant through developing compassion and love.

Yoga gives you the capacity to face up to life's challenges. Similarly, when you respect your body, you tend to do things that will enhance its vitality. Many people who practice yoga become vegetarians and follow a macrobiotic diet. Apart from other exercise practicing yoga is more effective. It is not that we need to practice yoga daily try finding a once-a-week yoga class.

Yoga is highly recommended for people in competitive, stressful working environments, for those who suffer from headaches, back and shoulder aches, allergies, and asthma; and for anyone over the age of 40 (although the younger, the better).

How to practice Yoga. Yoga helps people feel calmer and more relaxed, as well as being mentally alert and energetic. Although yoga is an excellent form of self-help therapy, one would be well advised to begin by attending a course of classes run by a qualified teacher. Nothing prevents you from practicing yoga at home; there are many illustrated books on the subject.

However, you will benefit far more, especially as a beginner, by joining a class. When you're starting up, you shouldn't do anything your body isn't ready for. No head stands, backward bending or forcing yourself into a cross-legged position.

A typical beginners' class works on freeing up the spine, shoulders and hips and will consist of five or six standing positions, some floor positions, then relaxation and breathing at the end. Part of yoga practice is deep breathing, which helps make the body more alkaline.

A good class should have a structure: the teacher should explain a pose and then come and correct you if you are doing it wrong. When you come out of the class, you should feel good, whole and stretched, never strained. You can find yoga classes in cities and towns all over the world.

Very little is needed by way of equipment, and a yoga session can be effective even the sessions are only for short periods of time. It is however, more beneficial if you can manage daily sessions of 30 minutes or an hour. It is recommended that sessions take place either in the morning or evening. Allow three hours to pass after consuming a meal before you practice yoga.

Do not take a bath or shower for at least a half-hour before or after practice.

In life, it is necessary to learn how to relax after a period of activity. People spend approximately one third of their time in sleep, trying to recoup the energy and vitality they expended during the day. Pleasurable relaxation is often mistaken for the “true” type of relaxation.

When we are calm, even soothing music is noise. Those who have practiced Yoga can appreciate total silence. Natural lovers are more sensitive to silence and one has to develop this quality from childhood. But mostly people now days think that relaxation and peace of mind can be got in clubs and pubs. After what they consider as a day of hard work, people go to drink and ultimately ruin them.

Unfortunately, many never achieve this objective because they haven't learned the essentials of relaxation. This can be achieved by practicing yoga.

Hence Yoga is a wonderful tool for becoming better acquainted with your body, whatever your age, yoga can enhance your lifestyle.

Yoga is a philosophy, not a religion. For some, the potential of union with a "supreme consciousness" is appealing; for others, it's a supreme turnoff. Embrace as much or as little as you like ... but keep practicing.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sathya_Mohan

Why Diets Fail

Maybe it happened to you. You were overweight and watching television at one in the morning, feeling down about yourself. You knew you had to make a change for the better, and fast. Then on the screen appeared an infomercial touting the latest diet craze.

Guaranteed, you could lose up to ten pounds a week, maybe more! All you had to do was either take this supplement twice daily, or drink a certain shake in place of breakfast. Maybe you had to forgo food altogether for 48 hours and just drink a specially formulated juice cocktail designed to cleanse your colon.

Whatever it was, it looked good to you. The screen was filled with before and after pictures of people who tried the diet and were happier, thinner, and healthier. So you called the toll-free number, bought the product, followed the instructions and...nothing.

What went wrong? Why did the diet fail? Why was the only thing lost money from your bank account?

Each year thousands of people begin a diet program with the intent of seeing it through to success.

Oftentimes, people do lose the weight and keep it off, but sadly a great number of people become frustrated and quit early in their programs. Discouragement leads to depression, which in some cases leads to a backlash in eating habits...and more weight gain.

What causes these diets to fail? Why is it so difficult to follow a diet plan and lose the weight? Why is it, even when the plan is followed to the letter, nothing happens?

• Frustration - In the world of the quick fix, if you don't see immediate results you assume it's not working. Dieting is not a quick fix, losing weight takes time!
• Starvation - The body needs food to survive. Diet plans that begin with an initial period of food restrictions can prove difficult for some people to handle, causing them to "fall off the wagon" and binge on the same snacks the body craves.
• Nausea - You took a pill, it made you sick. You stopped the taking the pill. You just spent $100 for nothing. Did you follow all instructions when taking the supplements? You'd be surprised to know how many people don't!
• Time - Your plans calls for home-cooked meals and time set aside for exercise. But between work, kids, recitals, etc. there isn't time. You become distracted, the plan ends, and you're back to square one. Failure often leads to depression, which triggers hormones in the body that cause you to eat, even when you're not hungry.

What started out as a plan to improve your life only tailspinned into further damage to your body and self-esteem.

It doesn't have to be this way! You can follow a program to success!

One important thing to remember when researching diet programs is that not every plan tailored to the public as a whole will work for everybody the same way. When you go to a department store to buy a new shirt, you notice how the racks aren't stocked with identical shirts, right? You will see shirts of different colors and sizes; some shirts will have long sleeves, some short. Some shirts will have pockets, and others will have buttons. Every shirt is designed for the same purpose - to cover you up - yet accomplishes this goal in a different way.

Diet plans work on a similar plane. A person allergic to grapefruit wouldn't go on the grapefruit diet, right? Consequently, a person suffering from celiac disease shouldn't follow a program that prescribes wheat products.

For a diet program to work, you need to know what regimen works best for your body and lifestyle.

Read up on all programs before making a sound decision. Set aside time to do what is necessary, but don't feel frustrated if you skip a day in your regimen - start over again!

Above all, never feel frustrated about having invested time researching weight loss options.

Everything is a learning experience, and as time passes and you learn more about how your body works, you will find the answers you need.

By Kathryn Lively

Health Symptoms You Should Not Ignore

A friend of mine began running a slight fever every evening. It didn't go higher than 102 degrees Fahrenheit. In the morning she would wakeup without the fever and felt well enough to go to work and do her daily routine.

After a few weeks of continued fever in the evening, she decided to see her doctor and check what might be wrong with her. Her medical record shows that she has a history of heart murmur. Upon learning that she underwent dental treatment without taking any prophylactic antibiotic, it then became clear that the persistent fever was probably caused by the dental work.

During the dental procedure, bacteria were released from her mouth to her bloodstream.

Later on, a blood test revealed Bacterial Endocarditis. Had she totally ignored the signs and the infection not been treated in time, it could have created damage that would have required an open-heart or valve-replacement surgery. The worst scenario could have been death.

Outlined are several health symptoms laid out by leading health experts. These are the signs and symptoms that we should all know and should not ignore.

• 1. Persistent, low-grade fever can be a sign of a number of ailments, including Hodgkin's disease. You should seek your doctor's advice if you have a persistent low grade fever that runs for a week. Early diagnosis of what might be the cause of the fever might just save you from any debilitating disease that might accompany it.
• 2. Brief lapses in sight or in speech which usually last between 30 seconds to 24 hours. Transient Ischemic Attack or TIA is a brief period when blood fails to reach a specific area of the brain. This symptom is so fleeting that more often than not, it is just ignored. It is estimated that one third of people who experience TIA later suffer a stroke. Aside from lapses in sight and speech, other symptoms include dizziness, tingling and numbness, weakness in the limbs, difficulty to comprehend or properly use the right word when speaking.
• 3. Changes in a mole. Constant itching of a mole should signal you to seek your dermatologist's opinion. This could be a sign of a deeply rooted melanoma. Malignant melanoma is often fatal. Early detection and removal often offers favorable prognosis. The ABCD of warning signs that you should watch for in a mole: "A" for asymmetry. Usually melanomas have an uneven shape. "B" for border irregularity. Irregular border edge that could be ragged, blurred or notched. "C" for color. Nonuniform shades of tan, brown and black. More often, there are also mottled dashes of red, white and blue. "D" for diameter. Normal melanomas usually measures six millimeters, any increase in size should be a warning sign.
• 4. Recurrent coughing. This is usually not a symptom of a life-threatening illness but it can also signal an obstructed airway, congestive heart disease, asthma or even lung cancer. If the coughing persists for two weeks or more with no obvious medical explanation such as a cold then it is best to see your doctor.
• 5. Persistent itching can be a symptom of Hodgkin's disease. Although itching is a minor dermatological problem, persistent itching on the other hand with no visible cause such as a skin rash requires attention. It can be also be a sign of diabetes, liver disease or several blood disorders.
• 6. Unexplained bruising can signal leukemia, a problem in the blood's clotting mechanism or an underlying liver disease such as hepatitis or idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or ITP, a disorder in which the platelets are attacked by the body's immune system.
• 7. Blurry vision and eye pain can be a symptom of glaucoma. Glaucoma is an eye disease wherein the peripheral vision deteriorates while the central vision remains in top condition.
• Symptoms may not exactly tell us what's wrong but these are signals that something's wrong somewhere and we should take notice.
  
• By Michael Russell

Building a Profitable Online Personal Training Business

Building any business is difficult. It takes guts, perseverance, dedication, time and money. Actually if you want the truth, it takes a lot more than that. It takes a toll on your life. Your family suffers, your bank account dwindles and your stress levels shoot through the roof.

Regardless of all these scary emotions and scenarios, there are some major benefits to starting your own business.

You are in control, you are following your dreams, you are creating something from scratch and you are a leader. You have the ability to hire workers and you alone can create an empire.

The feeling of working for yourself can be compared to nothing else.

Personal trainers are used to working long hours for minimal pay. Most personal trainers wake up each morning ready to help their client lose weight and feel great for only 40% of the session fee. Sometimes personal trainers are treated as if they are the bottom of the totem pole.

If you are a personal trainer and you are looking at ways to boost your income without drowning in debt and taking massive chances with starting your own personal training business then read this article closely. It will show you the basic elements of creating a successful online personal training business.

The very first step in creating your online personal training business is to create a fantastic website. This does not mean one that flashes and sparkles with ads. It means creating a website that has a clean, professional look and feel. It means creating a website that has a ton of information about you, your service, and fitness.

It is so very important for your personal training website to receive free targeted visitors from search engines like Google and Yahoo. Many online personal training businesses pay to have their site put in front of thousands of people. Why not create a tightly focused web business that ranks well at the search engines? This gives you warm, pre-sold, targeted visitors for free.

Once visitors find your site, you must impress them. You must tell the more than the standard who, what, where, when and why. You must develop a relationship with them. You must create trust with your potential online personal training clients. There are many ways to do this.

You could create an ezine or a free e-course that explains the best weight loss methods. Providing answers to your customer's questions will make them trust you. It will also provide you with something rather priceless- expert status. Your visitors will view you as the expert in online personal training and fitness.

Once you have a clean website, free traffic and a trustworthy relationship with your visitors you can begin to let them know about your online personal training services. Of course you do this in a warm and friendly manner. No hard sales necessary because your visitors already trust you. They already want to buy from you so long as you help solve their problem.
Read that last line again because it is the basis of all successful businesses.

Your online personal training business will succeed so long as you convince your visitor that you can solve his or her problem.

Many online personal training businesses contract third party programs to create fitness routines and/or nutrition programs. Some business owners like to create their own programs using Excel spreadsheets. Whatever you choose, do what is best for your customer.

The ultimate goal for any personal trainer should be to train more clients, but spend less time doing it. Online personal training is the answer. Starting your own online personal training business is a lucrative business opportunity for many weight loss professionals.

Just remember to start with a fantastic website. Without a successful online personal training website that attracts loads of warm pre-sold visitors you will waste your hard earned cash. Be wary of get rich quick schemes and those hosting companies that offer free or low cost web space. If you want to build an online personal training business that is successful, then do it right the first time.

Plan for success and a profitable online personal training business can be the answer to more income and a better quality of life.

By Lynn VanDyke

Good Health In The Summer

Hot and humid weather in the summer can affect your health badly, easily make you feel irritated and uncomfortable.

Follow the following simple tips to always feel cool and healthy in the summer.

Drink a lot of water. This sounds simple but is very important and effective. Drink at least 2 liters of water a day and more if you have to go out frequently. Bringing a bottle of water along wherever you go is a good way to cope with this hot and sunny summer.

Do exercises. You should take part in more outdoor activities in the summer. Summer is the time when you can try different kinds of sports and enjoy nature. Those activities will keep you fit and healthy, as well as make your mind sound and fresh.

Keep away from intense sunshine. Don't go sunbathing when it is intensely sunny. Your skin will be hurt and irritated. You should always wear hats and use sunblock when going out into the sunshine. This is very important to keep your skin from aging and getting spots. Remember to wear loose and light coloured clothes and choose for yourself a good pair of sunglasses. It will help you feel cooler and more comfortable in the hot weather.

Rest and breathe more. Summer is the time for resting and vacations. You shouldn't bury yourself in work but should spend more time relaxing with your friends and family. A long winter has passed by and this is the time to enjoy the sunlight. Let your mind and body relax by taking interesting vacations with your beloved.

Eat healthily. Summer is the season of activities, therefore your body needs a lot of energy. You have to supply it with more vitamin B and C, which will help in reducing stress and releasing energy. To cope with the intense sunshine, you should eat more vegetable and drink more fruit juice. Summer is the season of many kinds of vegetables and fruits so don't let this chance to improve your health pass by.

Don't wear too much makeup. Your skin is very oily in the hot weather of the summer. Heavy makeup just clogs your pores and creates good conditions for bacteria, which will result in ugly pimples on your face. Leave your skin clean, fresh and just wear light makeup.

By Michael Russell

High Blood Pressure - Lifestyle Changes

In this article we're going to discuss in detail lifestyle changes that should be made for people who have high blood pressure. Not all of these will apply to everyone.

Because everyone is different not all of the changes listed below will apply.

However, these are the most common problems associated with high blood pressure that most likely could have been avoided if only the patient kept these things in check or eliminated them completely.

Not only will eliminating these things help reduce their blood pressure but it will also help their blood pressure medication work better.

The first thing is alcohol. People who drink alcohol in excess (over 2 drinks per day) have a one and a half to two times higher change of developing high blood pressure. When the alcohol consumption exceeds five drinks per day this number goes up significantly.

Also, the correlation between alcohol and high blood pressure is dose related, meaning the more alcohol that is consumed the higher the blood pressure and the more likely the person is to have high blood pressure.

By lowering the amount of alcohol consumption per day (under two drinks) a person can greatly increase his chances of lowering his blood pressure.

Next is smoking. Even though smoking does not significantly raise a person's blood pressure by itself, the risks of cardiovascular disease are greatly increased and this in turn will ultimately raise a person's blood pressure.

Smoking itself will produce a slight temporary rise in blood pressure of about 5 mm hg but nothing significant. In actuality, smokers have a lower blood pressure than non smokers because the nicotine causes them to lose their appetite which in turn lowers their weight which then in turn lowers their blood pressure.

Coffee is another thing that contributes to high blood pressure in people who drink over 5 cups per day. The rise is slight in elderly people who already have high blood pressure but is still noticeable. It doesn't affect people who have normal blood pressure.

Salt is another contributing factor to high blood pressure. A person should have less than six grams of salt in their diet each day. People with high blood pressure already should have less than four grams of salt. A person should refrain from adding salt to their food which most likely already has more than enough salt in it.

Another contributing factor to high blood pressure is obesity. Obesity is what determines the overall rise in blood pressure as a person gets older.

Obesity contributes to high blood pressure in several ways.

• It causes a greater flow of blood because more blood is needed to feed the extra tissues in the body.
• Also, obese people have greater stiffness in their arteries which also raises blood pressure.
• Also obese people's kidneys have a greater tendency to retain salt which in turn causes a rise in blood pressure.
• By lowering your weight in almost all cases your blood pressure will go down.
  

Finally, a regular exercise program of 30 to 45 minutes per day will help reduce your blood pressure for several reasons. First of all, if you're overweight you'll lose weight which in turn will lower your blood pressure.

Also, exercise helps blood flow easier which also in turn will lower your blood pressure.

By following the tips above a person with high blood pressure has an excellent chance of lowering it significantly.

By Michael Russell

Health: Naturally

Health shows in a natural vitality

• eagerness
• spontaneity
• interest in life
• freedom from pain and discomfort
• and in expressions of good cheer
• kindness and affection.

It is also demonstrated in clarity of mind and a clear sense of purpose in life.

Total health is great! But total health is rare.

There are few people who seem happy with their lot, who suffer no physical disease, who are loving and kind, clear minded and purposeful and who are ideal examples.

When we are young, we generally experience good health.

What happens to change things?

If good health is indeed natural and we suffer problems because we don't keep to the natural health rules it could be simply argued that we should strengthen the education of children so that they can maintain their health and co-operate with us when we attempt to restrain them from indulging in habits which are contrary to nature.

Whatever our present age, it is the knowledge that our body cells change in cycles of approximately seven years, that encourages us to make changes in our habits NOW.

It is never too late to change and improve our health for the future. For some people it may require great changes and for others it will require minor readjustments.

We need to refresh our own thoughts as to what these health rules are, keeping in mind that 'Balance' best describes what nature requires and what is the final objective in Good Health.
Nature requires natural foods in order to function - with variety and fresh produce providing the major part of the diet.

The body requires adequate sleep and rest.

Exercise is the means of stimulating all the body functions and ensuring good circulation of blood. Also for good muscular tone and strength.

Respiration feeds the body with oxygen and ensures oxygenation of all the body cells. We need to practise breathing properly and deeply in fresh air.

Upright posture should be used in walking, standing and sitting.

We should have times of sunshine directly on our skin - but in moderation.

If we live by these rules which also depend upon us maintaining positive emotions and clear thinking we should enjoy good health and a peaceful state of mind.

BUT we also know that for this to be experienced we must overcome stress, particularly emotional and mental stress or our good efforts will be undermined.
We need to be relaxed.

MANKIND IS SICK

Undertaking personal responsibility regarding our health is imperative but there are problems in the environment and in our social climate which affect us negatively and make community health such a problem. It is a problem which no amount of medical skills and knowledge has alleviated to the extent that we see an improvement in the general level of public health throughout the world.

Rather it is the reverse, with intensification of new infectious diseases to take the place of the old, there is the general dependence upon drugs and the need for surgery is on the increase.

There are few families in all the millions in our society which have not a member suffering a serious accident, or having had a condition requiring surgery. The following disturbing facts are evidence of our deteriorating health -

There are few who die a natural death through wear and tear, old age and fatigue with life and who pass into death in their sleep.

Most people die in hospital and a high percentage in agony or under drugs.

There are few who die healthy.

Many women are unable to conceive. There are many mothers who are not able to breastfeed their babies. There are many who cannot proceed with a natural birth. Many women are having hysterectomy before mid life.

Thousands of women are operated upon for breast cancer, cervical cancer and other forms of the disease.

Men in great numbers suffer prostate problems and cancer.

Skin cancer is a national problem and incidence is on the increase.

Statistics in this country indicate that in the community

• One person in four dies of cancer
• One in four dies of heart disease
• One in four dies of kidney failure

This leaves us with only one quarter of the population therefore, to die from any other causes.

Mental disease is on the increase with many young people having psychiatric treatment from their teenage years.

Drug addiction is claiming the lives of many of our youth. Suicide victims, mainly young people, are increasing - choosing to take their own lives and considering themselves as worthless.

Alcohol destroys the health of a high percentage of the population directly through physiological damage to the brain and liver and indirectly through accidents caused by alcohol.

Our hospitals are increasing beyond the population increase and proving incapable of proper services.

Our mental patients and those with are increasing and admitted from earlier age.

Our aged people are suffering dementia and other negative symptoms of senility beyond any extent of previous decades.

The vision we have is not of a happy healthy community, but possible prospects of an undignified old age inside places which do not deserve to be called 'homes'.

It must be that we have taken the wrong track in passing over to modern medicine the responsibility of giving us good health.

There must be a better way - and that is that we build our own health - the natural way.

By Michael Russell

Fitness - It Doesn't Come In A Pill

Fitness is basically the process of doing physical activities, to keep your body in shape.

Fitness can include anything from

• swimming
• running
• exercise
• weight training and aerobics.

Everyone should try to incorporate some form of physical activity, into their daily lives.

You don't need to run a marathon, just choose some activities, which you are comfortable with, that allow you to gradually increase your heart rate and breathing.

Why is fitness important? Because people, especially in the US, are becoming obese.

Staying fit isn't about losing weight, although that maybe a by-product.

You can be big and still be fit; professional football is loaded with big people, who are fit.

Exercise has been shown to be beneficial, to certain problems, including, hypertension, anxiety and depression.

Regular physical activity can help slow down the aging process, of the body.

A regular fitness routine will improve your quality of life, not just physical, but also mental.

The bigger concern isn't why you need to be physically active, but what happens when you're not.

Less active people tend to gain weight and their weight gain will put more pressure on their hearts.

Without regular exercise, the heart has a greater chance of developing cardiovascular disease.

A lack of physical exercise can lead to an increase in blood pressure, reduction in bone mass and limit flexibility.

A lack of physical activity can cause disuse atrophy, which is a condition where the body starts to deteriorate because of non-use.

Who's responsible for your fitness?

Should it be the government, because they know the Social Security system is a mess and they need you to live a long time, so they can continue to push back the retirement age?

Is it the health care industry, who have more patients then they can handle and realize that the more you stay fit, the less of a chance you'll need them?

Or is it your employer, who knows that a fit employee will probably be more productive at work and won't be taking a lot of sick days and costing the company money?

Although those organizations will greatly benefit from your continued good health, they're ultimately not responsible for it, you are.

You normally have a lot of activity, when you're young. You're constantly running around and playing. Your parents usually have to stop your activities, so they can put you to bed.

Maybe it's because you're a kid and you have all that pent-up energy, but your body seems like it can go non-stop, at that age.

But, as you grow up, your activities change. Now your activities are centered around work and home and the responsibilities that come with each.

Maybe that's why you lose fitness, as you age, because its not a normal part of your life. When you're young, exercise is included, whether it's recess or sports at school, or playing with your friends after school, staying active isn't a problem.

But, as an adult, you need to schedule physical activities into your life.

By Michael Russell

Treating Back Pain Inexpensively

Some physiologists often claim that we human beings pay for our upright posture with painful back problems. Yet it's never socially acceptable or practical to crawl or walk on all fours.

We are so unlike our upright distant ancestors who strengthened their posture is by running, hunting and gathering.

We sit at workplaces or desks or drive cars, trucks, or busses more than we run or stretch. So, it is only inevitable that the back and stomach muscles that hold our spine in place have become weak.

Back problems are easy to recognize and can be quite common among the young and the old.

The usual symptom is an unceasing aching along the spine or a crippling pain in the neck area or on the upper or lower back.

The pain is aggravated particularly when bending to lift a heavy object or taking part in strenuous movements.

For some people, simply standing up can trigger lower back pain.

Back pain is usually caused by weak or stressed back or abdominal muscles. An x-ray can reveal a herniated disk, which is the bulge in one of the cushion light shock absorbers that separates each of the 24 vertebrae. When the disk presses against the nerve, it can cause pain.

Other underlying causes of back pain include
a poor diet
weak bones made weaker by the lack of calcium
the lack of physical exercise
strain of pregnancy
wrong lifting techniques and poor posture.

You can take a variety of vitamin and mineral supplements to help ease back pain.

The most important supplement to take would be 600 mg of calcium daily before bedtime to strengthen the bones. In addition, 1000 mg of vitamin C daily can also strengthen the bones and cartilage while 400 IU daily of vitamin D enhances calcium absorption.

The effect of calcium is also enhanced by taking additional magnesium and manganese. A small amount of boron taken daily is also helpful in rebuilding damaged or brittle bones.

Bromelain, an enzyme derived from pineapples, taken three times daily can help reduce inflammation and pain.

Glucosamine sulfate taken after each meal can strengthen cartilage and spinal discs.

Omega-3 fish oil is can also help ease back pain. If you prefer the natural method, white willow extract taken three times a day can relieve back pain like aspirin.

To support your vitamin regimen, regular exercise can boost muscle flexibility and strength.

Walking and swimming are your best bets to help reduce back pain.

A simple exercise that you can to is to lie down and draw your knees up to your chest. Then stretch out and relax. Repeat this several times unless pain strikes.

When you feel excruciating pain, it is advisable to take only one or two days of bed rest.

You must make the effort to slowly become more active as much as possible.

Use a hot water bag or heating pad on the site of the pain before taking any medication for it.

Sometimes, an ice bag placed on the site of the pain five minutes at a time can also help reduce the inflammation.

Do some gentle stretches and stop smoking to speed up healing.

Try to add more calcium-containing foods to your diet like broccoli, story genes, salmon, pinto beans and almonds. If you're not allergic or intolerant, milk is also a good calcium source.

Put aside tight fitting jeans and slacks in favor of loose-fitting garments that permit free and normal movement.

You may also have to give up wearing high heels unless your doctor allows it.

When lifting objects, remember to bend your knees and keep the object is near to your body as possible.

At night, sleep on a firm mattress on your side or back, never on your belly.

At work, stand up and stretch frequently to break the monotony of sitting.

Make sure your chair supports your lower back when you were seated.

When your back pain is accompanied by a fever or vomiting, see your doctor immediately and get a second opinion when he suggests surgery.

By Michael Russell

Overcome Your Anxiety

Everybody at one point experiences anxiety when faced with a stressful or worrying situation.

Anxiety is the feeling of fear, apprehension and worry, accompanied by nausea, palpitations, chest pain, and breathlessness. Sometimes this can interfere with your normal life.

Excessive anxiety can be linked with other psychiatric conditions, such as depression.

Anxiety can be in many forms. It may be a fear of snakes, a fear of heights or stage fright, or it could also be nonstop worry about your parenting skills or constant fretting about success at work, etc.

Components:

Anxiety is said to have four components:

Cognitive components: This imposes fear of uncertain danger.

Somatic components: When faced with a frightening situation your blood pressure and heart rate are increased, you tend to sweat, and blood flow to the major muscle groups is increased.

The somatic signs of anxiety might include pale skin, sweating, trembling, and pupil dilation.

Emotional components: The emotional components of anxiety cause a sense of dread or panic, nausea, and chills.

Behavioral components: This would lead to both voluntary and involuntary behaviors, and you maybe directed at avoiding the source of anxiety which is quite common.

Types of Anxiety and the symptoms:
There are various types of anxiety
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Post traumatic Stress Disorder
Social Anxiety and specific phobias

Anxiety Disorder is very common throughout the world. It is a chronically recurring case of anxiety that can seriously affect your life. People with this disorder feel afraid of something but are unable to articulate the specific fear.

If you are constantly worrying, and have a hard time controlling your worries then you might be suffering from anxiety disorder.

Some of the common symptoms of anxiety disorder are:
• Muscle tension
• Heart palpitations
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Shortness of breath
• Sweating
• Nausea
• Cold hands
• Jumpiness
• Difficulty falling asleep
• Hot flashes or chills
• Diarrhea and irritated bowel syndrome

Anxiety can make you cranky and irritable. You may get tired easily and often suffer from insomnia.

It is very important that you seek professional medical help. For the initial diagnosis of this problem, a good assessment is required by taking a standardized interview or questionnaire procedure with expert evaluation.

There should be a thorough examination to find out the cause that could have triggered this condition. If the patient has a family history of anxiety disorders then this could be a possibility.

Treatment:

You can get help and come out of your fear. There are four types of therapy that have proved to be helpful and they have been used successfully to address the symptoms of anxiety disorders.

Behavior Therapy: Here you are made to face your fear in a planned environment, and using different relaxation techniques, you are made to accept and overcome your anxiety and panic. This helps you to become more confident about managing fear and anxiety and also prepares you to face any kind of inducing situations.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy: This is the most popular and effective type of psychotherapy to overcome your anxiety. The goal is to understand your thinking process and help you to develop coping skills before your anxiety takes over.
This helps you:
• Challenge false or self-defeating beliefs
• Think positive

Psychodynamic psychotherapy: This therapy helps those who have fear because of unconscious mental conflict. You are made to uncover the conflict as a means to stop the fear-causing anxiety and panic.

Alternative therapies: Different therapies have been developed for treating anxiety, like

EMDR - a therapy that utilizes rapid eye movement, repetitive sounds and tapping to reintegrate an “out of sync” brain.

Even acupuncture is being used to treat anxiety.

All these therapies depend on various subjective factors, such as therapist competence. It is advisable to go to only a well known and experienced psychotherapist.

Self help and relaxation techniques also play an important role in relieving anxiety symptoms. Improving your eating habits and reduction in caffeine and sugar intake also helps.

Exercise and a relaxation technique such as yoga, is also very helpful. Try to reach out to your friends and family and share your troubles; do not let it get accumulated before it hits you hard.

Anxiety is very common and you are not the only one, so don't hesitate to seek help.

By Paul MacIver

Managing Stress - It Can Be Learned

Stress seems to be such a part of our lives today. Our personal lives are more complex and we seem to work harder than ever before. Support systems are often not readily available either.

The result being that a major factor in a lot of people's lives is stress. A certain amount of stress may be beneficial, as it motivates some people to perform at their best, but excessive and unmanageable levels of stress with no resolutions in sight, is unhealthy and is when problems begin to arise.

Fortunately it is possible to recognize when stress levels are unmanageably high, as it tends to manifest in either psychological or physical symptoms and sometimes both.

Psychological signs and symptoms of stress:
• Fluctuating mood swings
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Difficulty sleeping
• Difficulty concentrating and poor memory
• Problems in your relationships

Physical symptoms of stress:
• Stomach acidity
• Alternating bouts of diarrhoea and constipation
• Breathing problems
• Asthma
• Heart palpitations
• Migraines

As soon as you begin to feel that you are no longer coping, things are getting on top of you and physically your health is starting to suffer, try some or all of the following approaches.

This will help to identify and deal with the stress in your life.

1) Try to identify the source of your stress and consider whether any changes can be made that will leave you in greater control.
2) Learn to manage your time better. Make your work more manageable by writing a list of goals for the day in order of priority. Once these tasks are complete, tick them off. This will leave you with a sense of achievement.
3) Focus on your breathing and learn to make your breaths progressively deeper.
4) Avoid taking any illicit drugs such as crack, cocaine or ecstasy. They will worsen your feelings of anxiety and add to your stress.
5) Become more health conscious and eat healthily. Drink alcohol and caffeine in moderation. By remaining in good health you reduce the tendency to illness and increase your ability to cope.
6) Avoid substances that might increase anxiety, such as strong cups of coffee.
7) Exercise more frequently and make it a habit. Exercise helps to calm you down by utilizing excessive amounts of adrenaline caused by the stress.
8) Include some positive relaxation techniques into your daily routine. There are various therapies available such as yoga, massage, shiatsu, aromatherapy, reflexology and acupuncture.

The following stress 'ratings' are linked to various events in our lives.
This will also help you focus on the factors causing stress in your life.

• Very high stress - Death of a spouse; divorce; marital separation; job loss; house move; personal injury or illness
• High stress - Retirement; pregnancy; change of job; death of a close friend and serious family illness
• Moderate stress - Large mortgage debts; parent-in-law problems; spouse starting or stopping work; problems with your boss and legal proceedings because of debt
• Low stress - Change in work conditions; new schools; change in diet and eating habits; small mortgage or debts; Christmas or other family holidays

Get a good night's sleep is very important. Our body and our mind need adequate period of rest to function properly. The number of hours required for complete rest is different from one person to the next.

Studies have shown that long-term sleep deprivation will eventually lead a person to a range of physical and psychological problems.

If you are having difficulty sleeping then discuss this with your doctor. A mild hypnotic drug may be prescribed to help re-establish a sleep pattern.

Overtiredness causes reduced productivity at work, as well as a major cause of road accidents. Insomnia may also be a manifestation of anxiety or depression, in which both require specific treatment.

Avoid eating heavy meals, and avoid too much alcohol and caffeine late at night.

Exercise during the day, which will leave you with a calming effect on your mind and body. Never exercise too late in the evening, as it will keep you awake rather than help you sleep.

Practice meditation, yoga or relaxation exercises in the evening to help relax your mood leading up to bedtime.

By Michael Russell

Got Stress

I know it’s a silly question. We all have stress. Its source can be positive or negative and it helps us to meet the challenges we face in life.

If you balance stress with relaxation you can avoid a myriad of health problems from tension headaches and skin irritations to heart disease and stomach problems.

This balance can also help to lessen any health conditions you already have.

Throughout time many methods of relaxation have been practiced: acupuncture, prayer, hypnosis, massage (my personal favorite!) and meditation to name a few.

Exercise is undeniably a very effective method of relaxation.

“What? I wouldn’t call that Stairmaster workout relaxing!” I can hear you saying. But think back and you likely remember feeling refreshed after your workout and yes, even relaxed. It makes sense.

Most relaxation techniques focus on breathing. Exercise produces a rhythm of breathing which can divert attention from the stress that disrupted your breathing pattern. Voila – relaxation!

Find an activity that you enjoy. Your colleague may insist yoga is best for relaxation but if you find it more stressful than relaxing to hold those poses, forget it.

Think of the concept of play or what best suits your personality. For me rollerblading on the beach is the most fun activity I can think of – I finish relaxed and with a big smile on my face. If you find running a 10K relaxing or T’ai Chi is your thing, great.

The more enjoyable the exercise, the more effective. But whatever you do, just do it!

By Heather Moreno

Beginners Guide to Personal Trainers

We've all seen them in the gym taking care of their clients. Giving expert advice and due encouragement.

But what can you expect from a personal trainer and how do you find a good one?

Here we provide the answers to those questions and more.

Why have a personal trainer?

After all some are not cheap and it's you doing the exercise not them.

However, are you doing the right exercise, at the right frequency and with the right technique?

A personal trainer can save hours of hard work done incorrectly.

A personal trainer can analyse your lifestyle and give you the perfect routine, encouragement and guidance. Then you can get the most from your workout efforts.

Personal trainer certification and qualification

Within the first conversation with a prospective personal trainer you should ask for their credentials. There are many governing bodies a personal trainer can be a member of. All of the following ensure the candidate can safely and knowledgeably instruct their clients by having them take various tests and courses:

USA
Aerobic and fitness association of America - AFAA
American college of sports medicine - ACSM
American council of exercise - ACE
American fitness professional & associates - AFPA
International sports sciences association - ISSA
National federation of personal trainers - NFPT

United Kingdom
Lifetime dynamic training - LDT
National register of personal trainers - NRPT
Register of exercise professionals - REP
YMCA fitness industry training - YMCAFIT

Look for these plus any further qualifications gained at college or university.

Any personal trainer should be glad to show you these.

How to find a good personal trainer
Before even choosing a personal trainer while you're in the gym observe them at work. See who give their clients good encouragement and are attentive. Look also for someone you'll get on with personally.

Also talk to some clients and get there recommendations. Some personal trainers specialize in long distance running or body building, ask around and see if you're goals match with any specialists. All in all get a feel of their reputation and combine this with your observations to find the best one for you.

What a personal trainer will do
Before any activity takes place the personal should discuss your general health and fitness goals. They will discuss your body type and find out how much time you're willing to spend. He/she will also need to know of any relevant health concerns you may have had in the past.

Your personal trainer should then draw up a fitness program to suit you. This will include fitness aims and a schedule to undertake during the week until the next personal training session. There should also be a comment on good nutrition toward a healthier lifestyle, all in keeping with your goals.

The personal trainer will then walk through a fitness routine with you. This will start with stretching and a gentle warm up followed by some cardio work (treadmill, bike, etc). He/she may then go through some resistance training. All of this is to check you're using the machines correctly and to go through your fitness routine so you can workout yourself until your next session with the personal trainer.

Personal trainers overall

Personal trainers are not always needed, you could do some training research yourself and focus yourself on your goals. But it is much safer and easier with the guidance and motivation from a personal trainer. You will also reach your goals far quicker and without injury with the professional help.

Overall be sure to check out all the personal trainers available, ask for their qualifications and, as long as you put the effort in, then your fitness and lifestyle goals should start to become a reality.

By Simon Gould

Personal Fitness Training Can Be Affordable

Personal Fitness Training is not only for the wealthy; it surely doesn’t have to be. Having a solid fitness program designed specifically for you to suit your individual needs can be done without breaking the bank.

You don’t need expensive gym memberships or thousands of dollars of expensive equipment to work with a Certified Personal Trainer and receive an excellent workout.

In Home & Online Personal Training makes quality Health and Fitness training accessible to most everyone, all with the guidance of a Qualified Trainer.

In Home Personal Training is excellent for those individuals too busy to get to the gym regularly or those who are intimidated training around others.

In home training can be successful with a minimal investment in the basics; such as dumbbells, resistance bands, stability ball, mat, and some quality footwear. With these few items and the guidance of your Trainer, you can receive an excellent workout without leaving home.

No fitness routine is complete without a cardiovascular workout. To accomplish this you would benefit from having a good piece of equipment such as a stationary bike, treadmill, or elliptical machine.

No equipment…no worries, many indoor cardiovascular exercises are available, or the great outdoors and your footwear can take you where you need to go to complete the cardiovascular portion of your workout.

Online Personal Training allows the client to work with a Certified Personal Trainer with no intimidation, at their own convenience, and at a fraction of the cost of being trained in person.

Your personalized programs are designed to suit your specific needs and goals to accommodate any variety of equipment, from limited home equipment to the individual who wants to have their workout designed around the equipment at their local gym.

You have access to your customized program by email or online from any computer; simply enter your login information and click on your personalized workout for that day, print it if you wish and begin.

Upon completion of your workout you enter your results for your Trainer to evaluate and any comments or concerns you may have…it’s that simple.

Online Personal Training programs can include your exercise routine, nutritional guidance, unlimited email support and regular progress modifications.

Working with a Certified Personal Trainer can be made very affordable with an In Home training program, Online training program or a combination of both to suit your needs.

© Copyright 2006 by Bob Cater
Bob Cater, PTS, CAPT, is a Certified Personal Trainer Specialist and a Certified Advanced Personal Trainer. With a passion for endurance sports, Bob is also Certified as an Endurance Sports Trainer and Fitness Nutrition Coach

Yoga: Simplify Your Life

The thought that life can be simple for many of us is a hope and a dream that we can't afford to wait to happen.

We have to make an effort towards it. And as many would agree, it starts with avoiding the pains, problems and frustrations of disease by changing to habits which result in good health.

It is only in good health that life seems worth living anyway.

No matter how much we would want to rely upon outside influences, people, doctors or medicines, we all begin to realize, more than ever before, that we each have to do our part in building and maintaining our own health. This has to be done in spite of so many factors that are against us, such as environmental pollution, water problems, chemicals in food and many others.

Hygiene was once a very basic and important health measure to avoid contagion of every kind.

That laxity that now exists throughout many medical institutes and hospitals and also out in the community is quite distressing and makes good community health even more difficult.

But it remains first on the agenda of yogic disciplines.

Most of us realize that the simple life is usually the healthiest and that it is sensible to eat healthy fresh, natural food and to avoid the processed and refined commercial products, each of which usually contains chemicals and preservatives one would not choose to eat - that is, if we read the label!

Anyway, there is nothing as enjoyable as simple fresh food prepared in the home kitchen.

Exercise is a bit of a problem but we are generally fortunate to have access to health farms and fitness establishments that encourage exercise.

Body building also encourages us to exercise, as well as the local walks and our yogic exercise disciplines. But we never seem to be able to do enough exercise as there never seems to be enough time.

We must make time!

We know to breathe deeply to get enough oxygen for our body cells. But pollution of the atmosphere in the cities and suburbs makes it more difficult particularly for those who already suffer from asthma. So we have to practice yogic breathing exercises in the best possible outdoor situation we can manage as it is inadvisable to practice in air conditioned environments.

Yoga teaching gives breathing deeply and gaining control of the breath top priority. It's interesting to discover how much more control of the breath and how much more energy we seem to have after practicing for a few weeks.

We may have forgotten to consider the importance of an erect body posture when walking, sitting or at times of rest but through practicing the Yoga asanas one becomes very much more aware that the body can only function well if the vital organs are not under constant pressure. So we begin to stand tall.

So it seems for improved health and as a simple natural health insurance program, we should consider hygiene, fresh food diet, body posture, exercise and our breathing habits.

To these well known factors, the yogic teaching adds an occasional fast, the addition of herbs as food supplements, some special body postures or asanas to improve health problems and the practice of relaxation.

But these relate to physical health measures to help us feel vital.

What about the psychological factors which will help us to feel happy?
In yoga classes we are taught how to relax our minds and bodies for two reasons.

One is to become free of stresses and strains.

The other is to enjoy a whole range of pleasant moods and feelings when we are quiet and there is nothing to do. We begin to be aware of other parts of our nature that have been neglected because of our constant activity.

Relaxing out on the floor isn't as difficult as it sounds, in fact it becomes quite comfortable after getting used to being without mattress and pillow! When you lie there with your eyes closed instead of going to sleep as is tempting sometimes, you feel so calm and almost floating and it is so pleasant you seem to be all feeling instead of thinking - just by lying still! It's much better than taking sedatives.

Meditation is a kind of relaxation for the mind but we have to sit upright to do this.

Some people cant manage to sit cross legged, in fact not many are able to in a class, but classes have alternative positions and they can find one that's suitable. Then we do the same thing, keeping still, shutting our eyes, breathing rhythmically and when we get tired of that just sit there a little longer and it feels really pleasant. You'll even stop thinking about whether you left the gate open and other things that generally come into your mind. You may like to practice this at home.

Somehow when we are relaxed we begin to feel more content. Then we begin to think more clearly in deciding what we really want with our lives. Then we find we have the energy and vitality needed to go ahead and do it. In living fully, we realize that we are happy. It is simple!

By Michael Russell

Easy Weight Loss - Without a Diet!

There are many different reasons why someone may want to lose weight. You may want to feel healthier, look better, fit into your old clothes or even have been advised by a medical practitioner to get in shape.

However, if you are one of those people who battle constantly with your weight then you already know how hard it is to stick to a diet. In the majority of cases they just don't work!

All the current slimming pills and weight-loss fads are of extremely limited effectiveness. When you take into consideration the dangers of surgical procedures and the lack of long-term studies of new-fad diets a safe, reliable alternative is needed.

Although many claim that there are painless ways of losing weight the simple is truth is that weight-loss, like everything else worth achieving in life, requires some effort on your part. However there are techniques and tools to make your transition to health much more enjoyable and easy.

A great example is the Paul McKenna famous system which was tested on British television with remarkable results. It didn't even involve hypnosis!

McKenna spent 13 years analyising the behaviours of naturally thin people in order to devise his weight-loss system and found some amazing things.

Every person has an inborn weight control mechanism, a set point that attempts to maintain a particular amount of fat on the body. Based on this premise Paul McKenna formulated his easy to use weight-loss system which as I mentioned earlier had an enormous beneficial affect on the British TV viewing public. He even allowed people to eat what they wanted and they still lost massive amounts of weight!

Normally when we go on a diet we are forcing the body to adjust to a new way of eating. This is in effect resisting the powerful totally natural urges the body has to prevent energy deficit. So appetite suppressants may help to reduce these drives, and forcing a change in eating habits may retrain the body and mind into a new eating regime but the body will still has these urges because they are inherent and totally natural.

In addition many people overeat due to stress or the desire to suppress negative emotions or feelings of discomfort. Everyone knows the classic 'comfort eater'. This is why the use of self hypnosis is so effective for weight-loss because it can retrain the mind to view food, fitness and eating in more healthy ways.

However, McKenna's research shows that, if you follow your own body's natural rhythm and don't force yourself into strict eating habits or deny yourself the food you want most then you will be much more successful at losing weight. By denyng yourself certain things you set up resistance and you will make it much more difficult to stick to your weight-loss plan. The mind is tricky and I am sure you will agree that you always want something more when you know that you can't have it!

The key is to stop denying yourself the foods you really enjoy but to at them in moderation. I know this is easier said than done but McKenna has some simple yet powerful techniques to ensure your success. Basically you can eat what you want!

Stop eating once your full! Many of us, myself included, tend to keep eating after our body has sent the brian the message "right stop eating I'm satisfied". We need to learn to recognise these signs and take heed of them.

Take an extra 15 minutes of exercise a day. Spread it over the day so it is achieved in very small steps and you will be burning up more calories.

All the current slimming pills and weight-loss fads are of extremely limited effectiveness. When you take into consideration the dangers of surgical procedures and the lack of long-term studies of new-fad diets a safe, reliable alternative is needed.

Although many claim that there are painless ways of losing weight the simple is truth is that weight-loss, like everything else worth achieving in life, requires some effort on your part.

However, there are techniques and tools to make your transition to health much more enjoyable and easy.

So to outline:

Naturally thin people eat whatever they want! Now this may lead you to believe that they have a higher metobolism or have been blessed with fat burning genes but the truth is much simplier and applies to everyone. Which leads us to our next point.

Naturally thin people have a different psychological view about food and fitness. This is why they can eat what they want. By changing what food means to you at a deep subconscious level you change your automatic responses to food and exercise.

Naturally thin people don't have uncontrollable food cravings. McKenna teaches that any cravings you have are merely learned behaviour and they can be unlearned. He shows how it is possible to break all cravings and re-programme your mind in just minutes

If you follow these simple steps, as outlined in this article, you are guaranteed success and a new healthy, fit body.

Michael McGrath is the owner of several successful Internet businesses, a university computer graduate and he has over 21 years experience with personal development and self help.

Women’s Issues - Tips for Healthy Living

Women of all ages should visit their gynecologists for an annual physical examination to maintain optimum health. If they are sexually active, their annual physical should include a pap smear test, which is a test that detects cervical cancer.

The pap smear has played an enormous role in decreasing the cervical cancer rate among young women. In addition, women between the ages of 40 and 50 should include mammograms along with their annual physicals.

When women cross the age 50, they should include testing for colorectal cancer along with their physical examination.

Parents especially mothers, should teach their adolescent daughters about self-examination for breast cancer. Early awareness helps young women detect breast cancer in the early stages.

All women should follow the below mentioned tips for healthy living. Mothers should follow these as well as educate their daughters about healthy lifestyles, so both mother and child grow to have healthier and longer lives.

Women of all ages need the mineral calcium in their body. Research suggests that the Post Menstrual Syndrome (PMS) including cramps can be reduced by 50% if proper calcium supplementation is followed.

Osteoporosis after menopause can also be reduced drastically if proper daily calcium supplementation is followed.

The menopausal women can reduce hot flashes and night sweats by taking vitamin E 400-800 mg per day. This also helps them protect their immune system and cardiovascular health.

If a woman is considering having children, then folic acid supplementation reduces the chances of them giving birth babies with birth defects.

Stress is also one of the major factors that affect women’s health. Research has shown that women can add few more healthy years to their life by finding ways to reduce stress. One of the proven ways to reduce stress is practicing yoga for 20 - 30 minutes a day.

The chances of having hormonal imbalance increases after a woman reaches the age 30, so if you are at this age range, talk to your doctor so that he/she can recommend a prescription for over the counter hormone supplements.

Visits to dentists should also be done once in at least six months to keep your mouth clean and maintain your beautiful smile to help you look younger.

Quit or avoid smoking completely, as well as drinking alcohol. Try to drink at least eight ounces of water everyday. Drinking water prevents your body from dehydration and helps flush the impurities from the body.

When going out in the sun use proper sunscreen to protect your skin from harmful rays of the sun, potential skin cancer, and heat strokes.

Unless you are in a single healthy relationship, always use a condom and practice safe sex. This helps reduce the chances of developing cervical cancer and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Also, try to integrate exercise for 20-30 minutes everyday to lessen your chances of developing heart related illnesses while giving you more energy everyday.

By Michael Russell

What To Look For In A Personal Trainer

Personal training has come a long way in the past few years. Gone are the days of a trainer setting you up on a Nautilus machine, and counting repetitions while you perform the exercises.

A good personal trainer will have an initial appointment with you to find out your goals, assess any injuries, and find out your likes, dislikes and past exercise experiences. If you fill out a health questionnaire, make sure the trainer doesn’t just “collect it”, but make sure they look it over and discuss with you, any medical issues or potential problems.

A qualified personal trainer should be able to spot a person’s weaknesses, and assess and recommend exercises for rehabilitating and preventing common athletic injuries.

Today’s trainers should be able to provide a wide range of exercises for you with a variety of training equipment. This will target different muscle groups, and keep training challenging and fun!

“Functional Training” and “Interval Training” are two phrases that have almost become cliché in the fitness industry today. Interval training is exercising at a high intensity for a short period of time followed by a longer duration of lower intensity exercise. It is beneficial for people with less time availability, but should only be recommended for those already at a high level of fitness.

Functional training is performing exercises that simulate your everyday activities, or are specific to your sport.

Picking a Pro: Look for credentials. There are so many certifying bodies, that credentials can look like alphabet soup, and all certifications are not equal.

Five of the major certifying groups are: the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), the American Counsel on Exercise (ACE), and the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA).

Requirements for personal training certification vary widely, with those from the ACSM and the NSCA being the most rigorous. A trainer with a degree in fitness will be top notch!

People looking to hire a personal trainer can expect to pay anywhere from $60-$80 an hour and up.

Get References: Whether you are looking to train in a gym or you will hire the services of a private trainer, ask for references. A good trainer should have a portfolio of references, or at least be able to provide you with some contact numbers to reach past clients. Ask about results, demeanor, overall satisfaction of the client’s sessions with your trainer.

You are going to be paying good money for the services. Make sure your trainer comes highly recommended.

Fire Your Trainer! If you are not happy with your trainer, don’t be afraid to question them or seek the advice of another Fitness Professional. If your trainer is constantly late or cancels appointments, doesn’t give you their full attention during every session, or your personalities just don’t synch (too hard-core; too much talking), it’s okay to look elsewhere.

Keep in mind that results will vary from client to client, and you may not see results for even a month! If this is the case, ask your trainer why you are not seeing results yet, but don’t blame this one on the trainer right away!

In-Home Training: If you don’t belong to a gym, don’t worry! There are lots of trainers who will come to your home or office, many of whom will bring all of the equipment to you. Keep in mind that these trainers usually charge more, but you have to weigh out the convenience of training in your own home, and not having to buy equipment or a gym membership.

If any trainer tells you that you need to buy certain equipment before they train you, look elsewhere.

Medical History: Before you start training, you should go through an “interview” process with your potential trainer. The trainer should ask you your medical history. If they don’t, or if you fill it out on a sheet, but the trainer doesn’t even look at the medical history, beware.

During this interview, make sure you ask any questions or discuss any concerns that you have. Think of it as you interviewing them, not the other way around.

With over 300 National Personal Training certifications out there, it is important to know what you’re getting into. Take your time, do your research and check their references. If you do all of this, you’ll better your chances of having a successful outcome with your trainer.

Wes Norris is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). He has a Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science and over 5 years working in a Physical Therapy/Hospital setting. Wes currently works for Hartford (CT) Hospital as a Fitness Specialist and teaches for a National Personal Training Certification.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is one of the components of the health care system evolved in China at least 2,500 years ago. Acupuncture literally means “needle piercing” - the practice of inserting very fine needles into the skin to stimulate specific anatomic points in the body (known as acupoints or acupuncture points) for therapeutic purposes.

The general theory of acupuncture is based on the assumption that there are patterns of energy flow (Qi) through the body that are essential for health. The disturbances or disruptions in this flow are responsible for health diseases.

Acupuncture, as theorized, is meant to correct the imbalances of flow at identifiable points close to the skin.

Acupuncture involves stimulating. Apart from the usual method of puncturing the skin with the fine needles, the practitioners of acupuncture also use heat, pressure, friction, suction, or impulses of electromagnetic energy to stimulate the points.

The use of acupuncture to treat diseases in American medicine was quite rare until President Nixon visited China in 1972. This effectively opened the door from East to West, connecting America to the Orient.

Acupuncture has since come out as a strong substitute or augmentation for contemporary medical treatment methods.

To really understand how acupuncture works, it is necessary to become familiar with the basics of Chinese philosophy that underlines the essence of the theory of acupuncture. The way it has gained popularity in the developing and developed countries in the past forty years, it may ultimately prove to be a very important vehicle for maintaining good health and well-being.

By Kevin Stith

Pilates: Lean and Fit

Pilates developed from the hard work and mind of Joseph Pilates.

Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1880 and he was a sickly child who suffered from the rickets and asthma among other things. He was never very athletic and as a result of his early limitations, he became determined to help others overcome their disabilities. He worked with veterans during and after World War I, helping them to recuperate from injuries. At this point, he began experimenting with springs as a method of resistance to exercise the patient's muscles.

After arriving in America, he and his wife Clara opened the first Pilates studio in New York City in 1926. Joseph Pilates died in 1967, but his techniques continued on with his students who taught others.

The Pilates exercise system focuses mainly on resistance exercises to stretch and strengthen muscles throughout the entire body. Some of the ideas in Pilates originated in various forms of Yoga, but the way they are combined is rather unique to the Pilates method.

Many dancers use Pilates as a way to strengthen and tone their muscles. Athletes of all varieties have used these techniques to rehabilitate from injuries.

Although Pilates has numerous proven benefits to everyone, there are some who criticize the technique. One is that Pilates is not a complete exercise program in and of itself. It does not include effective cardiovascular training. Also, if you are looking to build muscle mass, Pilates is probably not for you. Since the system does not promote high impact muscle training, the muscle mass accrued with Pilates is usually less than that found in other exercise programs.

It has been proven however, to give you more flexibility and has proven benefits for your entire body.

Today, there are many variations on the Pilates method. There are those who were taught by Joseph Pilates himself and have handed that knowledge down to their students exactly as they received it from the master. There are many more who have added various exercises or changed some of the method, but they still call it Pilates. The advertising can sometimes be deceptive, so just make sure that you are going to get what you want out of the program with a trained, certified instructor.

Whether you are injured, disabled, a beginning exerciser or someone who has been exercising for years, there will be some form of Pilates that is right for you; just make sure you have a competent instructor whom you feel comfortable working with. After all, it is your body and you should have a say in the way it is trained.

By Michael Russell

Stop Smoking Through Hypnosis: How to Quit Smoking Using Hypnotism

Smoking is the biggest single preventable cause of death in most western countries and a major cause of heart attack, stroke and vascular disease.
The National Heart Foundation says that by the year 2025 – if the existing smoking trends continue – the world will see about 10 million deaths annually from tobacco, 3 million in developed and 7 million in developing countries. To put that in perspective, that’s about three times the population of New Zealand, or half the population of Australia.

Dramatically Improve Your Health
The good news is that by stopping smoking, a person can halve their chance of suffering a heart attack – the act of quitting nicotine is the most fundamental thing a smoker can do to dramatically improve their health.

It’s not your fault if you are a smoker – nicotine is a highly addictive substance. It has a grip on you both physically and psychologically. Some say that giving up smoking is harder than giving up heroin.

An analysis by New Scientist Magazine back in 1992, found that hypnosis, in one session, had a success rate of up to 60 per cent in helping people stop smoking. Acupuncture came in second at 24 per cent, followed by nicotine replacement therapy (10 per cent) and pure willpower alone; ‘cold turkey’ (6 per cent).

Become 'Fully Committed'
Research by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine has found that, on average, less than seven per cent of smokers who attempt to quit smoking on their own, are successful in being nicotine-free a year later. A massive 93 per cent fail, because they only used their conscious mind in their efforts and were therefore not ‘fully committed’.

What this means is that while a smoker may say to himself that he, or she, wants to quit, this is only the conscious mind thinking. If the subconscious already has an ingrained belief that ‘I can never give up smoking because I’ve tried before and it is just too hard’ then this will override any conscious thinking to the contrary.

Hypnotism can help convince your subconscious mind to install a new belief that you are really a non-smoker and to then to guide you to live your life that way.

Hypnotism is Painless
Under a hypnotic trance your subconscious can be convinced that you have a strong aversion to the taste, smell and sight of cigarettes. You need both conscious and subconscious will-power to kick the nicotine addiction and hypnosis can strengthen your motivation and help you sustain this will power. Under hypnosis you can overcome fears of gaining weight and change your habitual reaction to situations when you automatically reach for a cigarette.

Hypnosis can be used to discover the underlying needs that smoking attempts to satisfy for an individual, such as to justify taking a break or as a reward.
It can be used to reinforce someone's motivation to quit, to strengthen their resolve to make healthier lifestyle choices, to lessen feelings of anxiety, to reduce cravings, or to enable them to be less affected when around others who are smoking.

Hypnotism Audio - A Great Tool
Hypnotism is no ‘quick fix’ and many experts advise that it should only be one tool from the toolbox – including diet, exercise and developing a more positive outlook - that a smoker needs to use to quit the habit. The number of hypnotherapy sessions needed depends on the individual, their personal history and current situation. Some believe that quitting smoking with the use of hypnosis requires two to five sessions, and the cost can be allayed by using hypnosis CDs or tapes, with recordings of the hypno-therapist’s voice.

By Ross Storey.

Know When to Stop Exercising

After you have played a long tennis match on a hot summer day, you feel weaker and less accurate with your shots. The fatigue, muscle weakness, tired aching feeling and decreased coordination that you get in any sport lasting several hours is caused by low levels of fluids, salt or calories.

There are no early warning signals. By the time you feel hungry, you have already run low on calories and are ready to crash.

By the time you feel thirsty, you are already severely dehydrated and feel weak and tired.

By the time you are low on salt, you already have tired, aching or burning muscles; feel weak, tired and dizzy; and may already have muscle cramps.

The primary limiting factor in sports that require great endurance is the time it takes for your heart to pump oxygen in your bloodstream from your lungs into your muscles.

A study from the University of Connecticut (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, May, 2006) shows that with dehydration, your heart beats with far less force so it pumps far less blood with each beat, and is unable to bring as much oxygen to your muscles.

You can't depend on thirst to tell you when you lack fluids. Certain brain cells called osmoreceptors tell you when you are thirsty, but only after the salt concentration of your blood has risen considerably.

When you exercise, you sweat. Sweat contains far more water than salt in comparison to blood.

So you lose far more water than salt during exercise and blood levels of salt rise. By the time that a your blood salt concentration is high enough to trip off the osmoreceptors, you are severely dehydrated and it is too late for you to be able to drink enough during exercise to catch up with your water deficit. On the other hand, if you take salt with fluids, then your blood salt levels rise faster and tell you that you are thirsty earlier.

There are other reasons that you should take salt with fluids during prolonged exercise.

First, it helps prevent muscle cramps. Remember, during exercise you lose salt and water. If you are replacing only water, you can eventually take in so much water that your salt levels drop to cause muscle cramps.

Second, even though salt is a mild diuretic at rest, during exercise it helps your body to retain water. So when you are going to exercise for more than a couple hours, particularly in hot weather, drink small amounts frequently and eat salted foods such as peanuts.

Always stop if you feel sick, have chills, headache, severe muscle burning or aching, dizziness, or blurred vision. Seek help if your symptoms do not subside in a few minutes; you could be headed for heat stroke that can kill you.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine

What to Look For When Selecting a Fitness Trainer, by Jim O'Neill

There are many reasons why you might consider hiring a fitness trainer to help you with exercise and advice about nutrition.

One might be that you feel you need an expert in the field to help make sure you are doing all your exercises properly.

Another might be that you want this person to give you good, effective exercise routines so you can get the most from your exercise sessions.

Yet another might be that you want someone to help you manage your dietary needs.

All of these are good reasons to hire a fitness trainer, but how do you know if you will be hiring a trainer that will best suit your needs?

Here are a few guidelines to consider that will help you make the right choice when choosing a fitness trainer.

First and foremost, you need to make sure that the trainer you choose holds a current, nationally accredited certification in the fitness field. Some of the certification organizations that require a good, solid minimum knowledge base to earn their certification are the "ISSA" (International Sports Sciences Association), the "ACSM" (American Collage of Sports Medicine), the "NSCA" (National Strength and Conditioning Association), and on a somewhat lesser level, but still an acceptable certification is the "ACE" (American Council on Exercise).

Some others like the "NAFC" (National Association for Fitness Certification) or the "NFPT" (National Federation of Professional Trainers) are a lot less strict for their certification requirements.

While it is very important that the fitness trainer you choose holds one of the better certifications, it is certainly not the only thing to look for when choosing a trainer. There are a few other things you will want to be sure of to ensure your satisfaction.

One thing to look for is whether or not your fitness trainer has a plan to suit your individual needs. Some trainers get caught in a rut and train their clients with a "one size fits all" approach to exercise and while this may be alright for the raw beginner for the purpose of general muscle and connective tissue adaptation, they need to be able to branch out and have a vision of how to customize exercise routines that are best for your needs. In other words, what do they see possible for you. You might ask the trainer; what kind of a plan do you see for me and how will it benefit me?

Another point to consider is whether your fitness trainer can be objective about your training. Your trainer should always consider your needs during each training session. Sometimes the trainer may need to alter your exercise routine due to an injury or simply because you've had a hard day and do not have the energy you usually have. You might ask the trainer; how do you assess me each day before my session.

One of the most important things, of course, is whether you and your fitness trainer have matching personalities or simply put, you must get along with each other and you must feel comfortable with your trainer or it will be hard to work with him/her. You need to understand what your trainer is trying to do and so your trainer needs to give clear, detailed instructions. Your fitness trainer should be open to what you have to say and be able to listen to and respond to your concerns.

If you have made the decision to invest your time and money into an exercise lifestyle, and you are enlisting the help of a fitness professional, make sure you choose one who you know will give you everything you need to give you the results you want in a safe, enjoyable way.

Jim O'Neill gives you tons of valuable information on the subjects of weight loss, fitness, and nutrition to make it easy for you to live a healthy lifestyle.

Good Carbohydrates and Bad Carbohydrates

Some people increase their risk for heart attacks, cancers and other diseases by markedly restricting all carbohydrates because they think that all carbohydrates are harmful. Restricting good carbohydrates deprives a person of necessary nutrients which increases their susceptibility to disease.

Bad carbohydrates are ones that cause an immediate high rise in blood sugar levels. Good carbohydrates do not do this. A recent report explains the difference (Current Atherosclerosis Reports, November 2005).

Good carbohydrates are the ones found in nature and usually do not cause a high rise in blood sugar levels.

Bad carbohydrates are usually created by refining grains or other plants into "pure" starches or sugars (i.e., flour, white rice, cornmeal, table sugar and all other extracted sugars.) These refined carbohydrates pass immediately from the stomach into the intestines and cause a high rise in blood sugar.

Whole grains have a thick fiber coating that releases starches and sugars very slowly so blood sugar levels do not rise too high.

However, grinding a whole grain to form flour destroys the seed coat and allows the blood sugar rapidly to enter the intestines where it is absorbed almost immediately to cause a high rise in blood sugar.

When you eat an orange, the solid particles go into your stomach, where the pyloric sphincter closes and prevents all solid particles from entering the intestines until they are broken down into a soup that is then allowed to pass. However, liquid orange juice passes directly into the intestine where it is absorbed immediately.

If you are trying to lose weight or are diabetic, it is perfectly healthful to eat a wide variety of the good carbohydrates: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, seeds and nuts. The carbohydrates to avoid are foods made with flour, milled corn or white rice; fruit juices, sugared soft drinks or other beverages with sugar; and processed foods that contain added sugars.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine.

Lower Blood Pressure with Exercise and Diet

Blood pressure has two components: the higher systolic when your heart contracts, and the lower diastolic when your heart relaxes.

You have high blood pressure when your systolic is above 120 or your diastolic is above 80. Ninety-one percent of Americans will eventually develop high blood pressure, which increases their risk for heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, kidney damage and other blood vessel disease.

Doctors do not diagnose high blood pressure with a single reading because some people have reactive hypertension that is not as dangerous as persistent hypertension. If you get one high reading in your doctor’s office, check your own blood pressure daily and chart the results. You can use the self-test stations that are available in many pharmacies, or buy your own blood pressure cuff for about fifty dollars.

Healthy people have their blood pressures drop in the evening. The person at highest risk for heart attacks and strokes is the one whose high blood pressure does not drop in the evening. If your blood pressure is above 120/80 consistently, particularly in the evening, you have high blood pressure and are at significant risk for serious disease. Check back with your doctor who will usually evaluate you for other risk factors for a heart attack and may prescribe drugs.

Whether or not you take medication, you can improve blood pressure with lifestyle changes: diet and exercise. More than 80 percent of hypertensive Americans can bring their blood pressures to normal within a few weeks just by following a diet that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and other seeds (the DASH diet, NIH Publication No. 03-4082.)

A recent study confirms that exercising regularly lowers blood pressure to prevent heart attacks and strokes (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, August 2005). The researchers showed that you can lower high blood pressure on the first day of vigorous exercise.

However, if you are out of shape, a single bout of intense exercise can cause a heart attack. Check with your doctor, then get a personal trainer or join a health club and learn how to begin a safe and effective exercise program.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine.

Larry King's Heart Attack Saved His Life

For ten years, I told Larry King that he was a walking time bomb and should change his lifestyle before it was too late. At that time he was a radio broadcaster who smoked to stay alert while he worked day and night, and of course he ate a tremendous amounts of junk food.

His blood pressure was 150/100 and his total cholesterol was 280. He suffered chest pains that were severe enough to take him to a cardiologist, but since his electrocardiogram was normal, he didn’t see any reason to change his ways.

When he had his heart attack, I was the first person to see him in the emergency room. Now he eats the way I do, exercises regularly, has normal cholesterol and blood pressure, and never felt better. His heart attack saved his life.

Some people are not as lucky as Larry and don’t get a second chance. A heart attack has two components.

First you lay down fatty plaques in your arteries over the years and the flow of blood slows to a trickle. Eventually a piece of plaque breaks off, travels further down the artery and forms clots, which block the flow of blood. The clots (which might have passed through a wide-open artery) block the blood supply to a part of your heart muscle, depriving it of oxygen and causing it to die. The same mechanism causes strokes, with a plaque blocking blood flow to some part of your brain.

Taking in more calories than you burn leads to plaques in arteries in susceptible people. Fats are the most concentrated sources of calories, so a diet to lower LDL cholesterol limits fats, particularly saturated fats and partially hydrogenated oils. You need some fat, but for most people, it’s hard not to eat too much fat. Fatty foods are everywhere, because manufacturers know that fat makes food taste good. Too many calories in your diet translates into too much fat in your body and in your bloodstream.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine.

Instantly Quit Smoking with Acupuncture, by Oliver Turner

Acupuncture is a highly effective quit smoking method for all, and specially for those people who had been unsuccessful with other methods to stop smoking. People who go for acupuncture treatments are usually keen on quit smoking beliefs. Although they have failed with all previous programs, this 3500 years old Chinese remedy promises quick relief from chronic smoking habits.

Acupuncture works most effectively on human body to reduce chronic smoking habits.

Acupuncture is based on the belief that “chi”, a vital energy force flows through 12 key channels around the body. Within these channels, there are at least 365 acupuncture points, which can sometimes get blocked preventing the smooth flow of vital energy, thereby leading to chronic habits.

Acupuncture for stop quit smoking does not involve any “magic” acupuncture points. At least five needles are taken and inserted into the ear [particularly in the cartilage and not in the ear canal] and a few on the hands and wrists. With the needles pricked to your skin, you are left to relax for 30 to 45 minutes. These pricked needles provide significant effect on lessening cravings for smoking.

Treatments involved in acupuncture To become a non-smoker, you have to follow a series of sessions. These sessions also focus on physical and emotional withdrawal symptoms occurring in the patient during the acupuncture treatments. While the needle-pricking treatments are going on you are also advised to undergo treatments with herbs. You can apply a mixture of oil of cloves and wintergreen, extracts of evodia fruits and Sichuan lovage rhizomes in the acupuncture points to get faster stop smoking results.

Other advantages of acupuncture - tips on stopping smoking Acupuncture tips on stopping smoking not only relieve you from permanent smoking cessation but also works advantageous for you. After the acupuncture series is over, even cigarettes taste foul. It takes a nasty burnt taste and you can thus proudly redefine yourself as a “non-smoker”.

Acupuncture therapy for stop smoking also reduces side effects of nicotine withdrawals like depression, cravings and anxiety. While the body actually improves in blood circulation and de-congesting the lungs, you also start feeling truly optimistic. Acupuncture is a definite method that helps you to quit smoking miraculously within a few days.

Try it out to experience instant success even if you are a chronic nicotine-smoker.

Yoga and Losing Weight: An Introduction, by Gelfey

Can you believe by practicing yoga in long terms can actually help you to lose weight? However, the result is not fast like other types of exercise. In fact, the long term benefits of yoga can help you to stay in shape and make you perfectly fit.

Yoga:

Yoga is an ancient system which is thousands of years old and was developed in India. It is now exercised worldwide. Yoga teaches meditation that can increase your concentration and sense of well being.

Therefore, if you like this idea of weight lose enroll yourself in a yoga beginner's class and go bit by bit. Initially, you may find it hard but with the time you will feel results very effective.

The basic phenomenon of Yoga is putting you into a variety of different positions, some more challenging than others. Yoga teaches to take those few positions and to do them properly -- as correctly and slowly as you possibly can so that your body can be trained in an exact expertise and control. And the various positions can have various benefits on your health and your mind, as well.

Advantages of Yoga Different positions have their own advantages. Especially, positions that bring the chin down to activate the thyroid gland are very helpful for losing weight. In fact, yoga system makes you more conscious of your body. It also accentuates your muscles and makes your body stretchier. Yoga is also used in treating anorexia, eating disorder especially in girls. It also lowers down the anxiety level of these girls making them more conscious of their bodies.

Therefore, yoga is a great natural treatment. It can help you to cope up with different body problems. So, if you are in mood to lose weight, yoga can be a good choice for you. Can you believe by practicing yoga in long terms can actually help you to lose weight?

However, the result is not fast like other types of exercise. In fact, the long term benefits of yoga can help you to stay in shape and make you perfectly fit. Yoga: Yoga is an ancient system which is thousands of years old and was developed in India. It is now exercised worldwide. Yoga teaches meditation that can increase your concentration and sense of well being.

Therefore, if you like this idea of weight lose enroll yourself in a yoga beginner's class and go bit by bit. Initially, you may find it hard but with the time you will feel results very effective. The basic phenomenon of Yoga is putting you into a variety of different positions, some more challenging than others.

Yoga teaches to take those few positions and to do them properly -- as correctly and slowly as you possibly can so that your body can be trained in an exact expertise and control. And the various positions can have various benefits on your health and your mind, as well.

Advantages of Yoga Different positions have their own advantages. Especially, positions that bring the chin down to activate the thyroid gland are very helpful for losing weight. In fact, yoga system makes you more conscious of your body. It also accentuates your muscles and makes your body stretchier. Yoga is also used in treating anorexia, eating disorder especially in girls. It also lowers down the anxiety level of these girls making them more conscious of their bodies.

Therefore, yoga is a great natural treatment. It can help you to cope up with different body problems. So, if you are in mood to lose weight, yoga can be a good choice for you.

Stress Management Program: What's your blood pressure?

Dr. Mehmet Oz & Dr. Michael Roizen authors of ‘You: An Owner’s Manual’ Say blood pressure is the most important number when it comes to health.

Here are their suggestions and what to work on:

• Manage your stress
• Exercise 30 minutes a day
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Eat nine servings of fruits and vegetables - every day

High levels of stress are directly linked to:

• heart disease
• increasing cholesterol levels
• diabetes
• obesity
• depression and
• a weakened immune system, hindering the healing process
  

A well balanced stress management program focuses on:

• acupuncture/acupressure treatments
• diet
• stress reduction techniques
• and physical conditioning
  

As an ex-commodities floor trader I understand stress - unfortunately too well.

Keeping and/or improving the physical condition of the body is imperative to reducing and managing stress levels.

Proper physical exercise and breathing techniques along with acupuncture/acupressure, dietary and/or herbal therapy will produce long lasting results.

Most importantly, the education and inspiration you receive from sessions will improve and change all aspects of your life.

Reducing your stress and maintaining appropriate blood pressure can be the single most important thing you can do for your health and the health and welfare of your family.

By Max Dente, L.Ac. visit us on the web at: http://maxdente.com/

Health Benefits of Aerobic Exercises

There are many health benefits to doing a regular daily aerobic workout. Taking part in any type of aerobic exercise greatly improves a person's health and fitness levels and of course, it can also be effective in weight loss since different types of aerobic activities help to burn more calories and for that reason can be combined with a healthy diet to produce even more health benefits.

The term 'aerobics' means 'with oxygen' since you take in oxygen when you breathe and when you are exercising your breathing is faster and you feel quite warm and sweaty when you are working out as a result of taking in more air. This type of workout is extremely good for the heart and helps in delivering oxygen to different parts of the body.

What Type of Activities are Aerobic Workouts? Aerobic activity can involve any type of exercise that raises a person's metabolism. Some of the more popular exercises include swimming, cycling, walking, jogging, running, stair climbing and general aerobic workouts.

However, any kind of activity or exercise will help to improve a person's fitness level and aid in a person's weight loss.

For instance, performing household chores such as vacuuming and cleaning can also contribute towards raising a person's fitness level. What about dancing or bouncing on a trampoline, skipping, rowing, basketball or skating? These activities are also very good at burning calories.

In other words, any type of exercise will help you to get fitter as long as you do it regularly and it does not have to involve activities that are exhausting to perform. In fact, doing regular light or moderate aerobic activities is easier to maintain and gives better results since they are more likely to be kept up than aerobic exercises that involve high intensity workouts. In any case, it is always best to start at a lower level and gradually increase your activity levels when you get fitter.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Aerobics. For a person who is new to exercising or someone who finds it difficult to get themselves motivated or stick to any form of aerobic exercise, the best place to start is with doing something you enjoy for around thirty minutes a day three to five times a week. One of the easiest aerobic exercises to perform is walking since a person can start off doing a low intensity workout that is easy to keep up and then gradually progress to a more effective type of brisk walking.

The only special requirement is a reasonably good pair of walking shoes and appropriate clothing. There are many people who enjoy performing this type of activity since it doesn't really feel as though they are doing any specific kind of aerobic exercise. Many have increased their fitness levels to the point where they actually enjoy going jogging or running.

The thing to keep in mind with exercising is that any type of aerobic activity is effective as long as it is adhered to regularly and when it is performed on the right fitness level to suit the person doing the exercises.

How to Make Exercise Fun!

Most people who start a new exercise program drop out within the first two to three months. You are much more likely to continue exercising for the rest of your life if you find an activity that you love.

When you are just starting out, it may be hard to visualize how exercise could ever be fun, because now it just seems like plain hard work. But as you get more endurance, meet like-minded people, develop your skills and start to pass a few people – instead of always being the last/slowest/least coordinated – you will start to see that exercise can be much more than a chore.

Here are some tips for making your exercise program more enjoyable:

- ADD MUSIC. That's what many people enjoy most about aerobic dancing or spinning classes. Moving to your favorite sound is much more inspiring than silence. Almost any sport can be done to music. Safety caution: if you add music outdoors with a iPod, radio or CD player, make sure wearing earphones does not interfere with your safety. You should always be able to hear what's going on around you.

- ADD PEOPLE. Find an exercise partner or a class, go to a gym, or join a club. You will find local clubs for almost every major sport or recreational activity. Get involved! You are much more likely to continue your program if it's a sociable time and other people count on your participation.

- GO PLACES. Exercise indoors when you must, but on beautiful days, take your exercise outside and enjoy the scenery at the same time. Use your activity as an excuse to explore your area's parks, monuments, historic spots and natural beauty. Go on a weekend tour or vacation with others in your sport. Or just breathe the fresh air in your back yard.

- BECOME AN EXPERT. Whatever activity you pick, you will enjoy it more if you learn all about it -- the latest fashions and equipment, who's who among the professional and amateur stars and so forth. Search the web for interesting sites; join a discussion forum. Every activity has its enthusiasts and you will be amazed at how friendly and helpful they are.

– REWARD YOURSELF. When you finish a particularly vigorous session, get a massage. Sit in a whirlpool or sauna. Go out to (a healthful) lunch with your exercise partner. Set goals and plan special rewards for yourself when you reach them.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine.

High Blood Pressure During Exercise

A study from Johns Hopkins shows that people who develop very high blood pressure during exercise are the ones most likely to develop high blood pressure in later years (American Journal of Hypertension, April 2004.) These people have arteries that do not expand as much as normal arteries when blood is pumped to them.

When your heart beats, it squeezes blood from inside its chambers to the large arteries. This sudden bolus of blood causes normal arteries to expand like balloons do when they fill with air.
The walls of arteries have sensors that allow arteries to expand with each pulse of blood. If the arteries do not expand enough when blood enters them, blood pressure can rise very high. Blood pressure is determined by the force of the heart's contraction times the resistance in the blood vessels.

Normal blood pressure is 120 when the heart contracts and 80 when it relaxes. During exercise, the heart beats with increased force to raise blood pressure. It is normal for blood pressure to rise up to 200 over 80 during running, and to 300 over 200 while doing a leg press with very heavy weights.

People with normal resting blood pressures who develop very high blood pressure during exercise are the ones most likely to develop high blood pressure later on. If your blood pressure rises much above 200 during running, you are at increased risk for developing high blood pressure.

Ninety percent of Americans will develop high blood pressure, which increases risk for heart attacks, strokes, kidney damage and sudden death.

High blood pressure usually occurs in people who have normal blood pressures when they were young. If you have an exaggerated blood pressure rise during exercise, you should go on a heart attack prevention program that includes a diet that is high in plants and low in saturated fats and refined carbohydrates, regular exercise, losing weight if you are overweight, not smoking, and avoiding stimulants and drugs that raise blood pressure.
Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

Best Sport for Overall Fitness

The best sports for fitness are the ones in which you exercise continuously, those that are least likely to injure you and the ones you enjoy the most. You become fit by exercising vigorously enough to increase the circulation of blood. It makes no difference to your heart how you increase your circulation.
The best sports for fitness use your legs because the blood vessels in your legs are so much larger that you can circulate far more blood with your leg muscles.

Furthermore, arm exercises tire you earlier because most people have weaker arms. Some sports require a great level of fitness just to start. For example, to jump rope, you must spin the rope more than 80 times a minute to keep it from tangling. Many people can't jump 80 times a minute.

The safest sports are low-impact aerobics, walking, swimming and pedaling a stationary bicycle.

Running causes lots of injuries because the force of your foot striking the ground can be three times your body weight, which can damage muscles and bones.

You are most likely to continue a lifelong fitness program if you pick an activity that you enjoy. However, sports that don’t keep you moving may be fun, but they won’t make you fit. Most tennis players spend about 80 percent of their playing time waiting for the ball; and golfers are often required to ride in carts, even if they would prefer to walk. Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

How to Start an Exercise Program

If you’d like to start a new exercise program, pick any sport or activity that uses continuous motion (such as running, fast walking, cycling, swimming, skating, rowing, dancing) that you think you might enjoy. Start out at a relaxed pace until your muscles feel heavy and then stop. For the first several days or weeks you may be able to exercise only for a few minutes.
Increase the amount of time gradually until you can exercise 30 minutes a day at a relaxed pace and not feel sore. Take a day off or go very easy any time you have any muscle soreness.
If you're happy with this program, you don't need to go any further.

However, if you want to improve, follow the training methods that competitive athletes use. When a 30-minute session is easy for you, you are ready to begin training for fitness. Try to increase the intensity of your exercise on one day a week. Do your jogging, cycling or whatever you have chosen as your sport at a slow pace to warm up. Then gradually increase the pace until you start to feel short of breath and your muscles start to feel sore, and then slow down. Then when you recover, pick up the pace again.
Repeat these surges until your muscles start to stiffen and then quit for the day. Take the next day off and go easy the rest of the week. Then once a week, keep on making your one-day-a-week hard workout harder and harder. You will be continuously increasing your level of fitness.

Before you start any new exercise program, check with your doctor to make sure that you do not have anything wrong with your heart or blood vessels. Intense exercise won’t hurt a healthy heart, but it can increase your risk for a heart attack if you already have a damaged heart.
Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

Arthritis and Exercise

When you have arthritis, your joints hurt you wake up, but you force yourself to get out of bed and as you keep on moving, the pain lessens. Is your body trying to tell you something when you feel better after you start to move?

Many studies have shown that bed rest worsens the pain of arthritis, and a strength training program can help to control it.

Most people with arthritis think they should rest their muscles and joints, but resting is the worst thing you can do. When you move around, the cartilage in your joints acts like a shock absorber. Resting weakens cartilage and increases its likelihood to break. Resting also weakens muscles so they can’t control the joints, allowing more wobble of the joints with each movement and increasing cartilage damage.

People with arthritis should exercise, but they should not jog, run or engage in sports that cause your feet to pound on the ground, such as tennis or rope-jumping. When you hit the ground hard with each step, your foot stops suddenly and the force is transmitted up your leg to your knees and hips. This force can break cartilage. Choose an activity with smooth motions such as cycling, swimming or rowing. You can pedal a bicycle because pedaling is done in a smooth rotary motion that does not jar your joints.

People with arthritis should also lift weights because this strengthens muscles to stabilize joints, and helps to strengthen cartilage to protect it from breaking. Ideally, everyone with arthritis should have access to weight machines and be taught how to lift weights with proper form, in sets of ten, two or three times week. The combination of a smooth, continuous exercise and a supervised weight lifting can help protect you from further joint damage and reduce your pain.
Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

Lack of Exercise Kills

Whenever I see people who are out-of-shape, I wonder whether they are uninformed or they just don't care. Even eighty- and ninety-year-olds should be able lift weights, cycle long distances and compete in athletic competitions.

Yet most people are in pathetic shape and suffer the consequences.

An expert group appointed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization met in Lyon, France to evaluate the evidence for the role of weight control and physical activity in preventing cancer, and to identify priorities for research and for public health action in relation to the primary prevention of cancer.

They concluded that limiting weight gain during adult life, thereby avoiding overweight and obesity, reduces the risk of postmenopausal breast cancer and cancers of the colon, endometrium, kidney (renal cell) and esophagus (adenocarcinoma).
Limiting weight gain also possibly reduced risk of cancer of the thyroid.

The working group also concluded that there was sufficient evidence for the role of physical activity in preventing colon and breast cancers, and limited evidence for the cancers of the prostate and endometrium. Taken together, the working group concluded that excess body weight and physical inactivity account for approximately a quarter to one-third of cancers of the colon, breast, endometrium, kidney (renal cell) and esophagus (adenocarcinoma).

Thus being fat and out of shape appear to be the most important avoidable causes of these cancers.

Weight loss among overweight or obese persons possibly reduces risks of these cancers, and we know that it reduces heart attacks, strokes and diabetes. If you have been gaining a few pounds each year, it's now time for you to start an exercise program and stop setting yourself up for cancer, heart attacks and diabetes.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine.

Know When to Stop Exercising

After you have played a long tennis match on a hot summer day, you feel weaker and less accurate with your shots. The fatigue, muscle weakness, tired aching feeling and decreased coordination that you get in any sport lasting several hours is caused by low levels of fluids, salt or calories.

There are no early warning signals. By the time you feel hungry, you have already run low on calories and are ready to crash. By the time you feel thirsty, you are already severely dehydrated and feel weak and tired. By the time you are low on salt, you already have tired, aching or burning muscles; feel weak, tired and dizzy; and may already have muscle cramps.

The primary limiting factor in sports that require great endurance is the time it takes for your heart to pump oxygen in your bloodstream from your lungs into your muscles.

A study from the University of Connecticut (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, May, 2006) shows that with dehydration, your heart beats with far less force so it pumps far less blood with each beat, and is unable to bring as much oxygen to your muscles.

You can't depend on thirst to tell you when you lack fluids. Certain brain cells called osmoreceptors tell you when you are thirty, but only after the salt concentration of your blood has risen considerably. When you exercise, you sweat. Sweat contains far more water than salt in comparison to blood. So you lose far more water than salt during exercise and blood levels of salt rise. By the time that a your blood salt concentration is high enough to trip off the osmoreceptors, you are severely dehydrated and it is too late for you to be able to drink enough during exercise to catch up with your water deficit. On the other hand, if you take salt with fluids, then your blood salt levels rise faster and tell you that you are thirsty earlier.

There are other reasons that you should take salt with fluids during prolonged exercise.

First, it helps prevent muscle cramps. Remember, during exercise you lose salt and water. If you are replacing only water, you can eventually take in so much water that your salt levels drop to cause muscle cramps.

Second, even though salt is a mild diuretic at rest, during exercise it helps your body to retain water. So when you are going to exercise for more than a couple hours, particularly in hot weather, drink small amounts frequently and eat salted foods such as peanuts. Always stop if you feel sick, have chills, headache, severe muscle burning or aching, dizziness, or blurred vision. Seek help if your symptoms do not subside in a few minutes; you could be headed for heat stroke that can kill you.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at.

Good Health--In Steps

In steps as in walking. Yes, Walking. While walking this morning, I kept the thought of my topic for my next article uppermost in my mind. As I turned the corner onto my street, the thought came to me—write an article about the health benefits of walking.

Walking at 5 a.m. year around in Phoenix Arizona, a.k.a. ‘The Valley’ is lovely—the majority of people are sleeping and the temperature is still cool. I remember the days I walked in South Dakota when the temperature was 50 below zero including the wind chill. I lived in New York and New Jersey metro area 28 years where the temperature reaches minus zero on occasion. Thus, walking in Arizona year around is a dream come true, even though the temperature reaches 110-112 (or higher) several days in the summer—5 a.m. is a cool 70-80 degrees.

According to researchers, if you walk 30-45 minutes twice a day, you will avoid heart disease, kidney disease, stress related diseases, diabetes or any metabolism problems. Don’t forget to hydrate while you walk—especially in the summer.

I heard those moans, groans and screams from here. Who has 60-90 minutes a day to invest in walking?” OK. Rephrase that. Who has 20-30 years to invest in poor health? That is the average number of years the majority of people suffer with various life threatening diseases. I know I don’t. I want to keep on until I am 110 and then decide when I will leave this earth plane. OK, that is me. You can live a healthy life into your 90’s and not die from a disease. You can die because you don’t want to be on this earth plane anymore by simply going to sleep and not waking up.

"Twenty-nine million Americans are in medical debt," says Jennifer Edwards of the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that supports research on health and social issues. A recent Commonwealth study defined those in medical debt as paying bills to health care providers or having large credit card debt or loans against their homes related to medical costs.
"Of those, 70% were insured when they got the health care that put them in debt, and nearly half had used up all or most of their savings," Edwards said.

I enjoy an early morning walk; the air smells fresher after a few hours with less air pollution and noise. Not to mention I enjoy seeing raccoon, rabbit, coyote, skunk, etc. scurrying to their hide-out for the day. They look at me as if to say, ‘What are you doing here?’
You can multi-task while walking—meditation, creative thinking, or soul thinking.

Now that you know from research that 30 to 45 minutes of walk twice a day will make a huge impact on your health or disease—you decide. If you can't walk 30 to 45 minutes every day even 30 minutes three or four days a week is beneficial.

Wow! Knowledge is power! You are empowered—it is your decision—and no one can take it away from you. Now is the time. Just Do It!!

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, author, international speaker and inspirational leader specializes in Mind, Body, Spirit healing and Physical/Sexual Abuse Prevention and Recovery. Dr. Neddermeyer empowers people to view life's challenges as an opportunity for Personal/Professional Growth and Spiritual Awakening. http://www.drdorothy.net

The Basics of Setting Your Fitness Goals to Lead Your Healthiest Life, by John Purfield

Are you a goal oriented person? If you are, then you probably know that all successful people in life know the basics of setting and achieving their goals. If you want to achieve a healthy life, then setting fitness goals should be no different than anything else you do.

Setting fitness goals gives you motivation and drives you for the short or long term success. Goal setting helps you obtain the knowledge necessary to achieve. If you plan and organize your time to exercise and eat the right meals, you’ll get the best out of your efforts.

Setting clearly defined fitness goals will also measure progress and provide accountability. Holding yourself accountable will help you through the challenging days (such as ordering pizza at work). Your self-confidence will sky rocket as you learn more about your capabilities.

The first thing you need to do when setting fitness goals is to have a vision of where you want to be a month from now or a year from now.
Your vision of yourself must be clearly defined. For example, a good short term goal would be “I want to lose 8 lbs in one month”. Then break down your goal into smaller targets so you can easily hold yourself accountable to complete it.

When using this weight loss example: you want to set weekly goals for that month to lose 2 lbs a week. Then write down the steps necessary to lose 2 lbs a week. Use these steps as your plan to success.

Having a good attitude has a big impact on setting and achieving your goals. You must be realistic with yourself and think about anything that would hold you back from loosing weight.
Realize any behavior challenges you may have ahead of time. It will give you a mindset to attack any issues you may encounter during your path to success. For example, if you love go out to eat with co workers, try to plan your order ahead of time so you eat clean and healthy for that meal.

Leading a healthy lifestyle is for the most part dependent on your time management skills. Most people fail because they often have bad time management skills and lack of persistence. Planning your work outs and meals ahead of time will decide success or failure.

Your family should never be left out of your plans. Do not to put your family aside. If you plan your workouts during family obligations you are setting yourself up for failure. Find out what time blocks you can control (such as waking up earlier) and use that time to plan your work outs.

I’m sure someone said, “A life filled with work really stinks”, or something like that, is very true. Take advantage of life’s pleasures: set up a cheat day once a week to eat what ever you want. Having a day with no rules provides the mental break needed to continue with your fitness objectives.

Create a fitness-to-do list for the day. Write down at least three things you want to do that will help you continue your new fitness lifestyle. This will help you set the tone for the day. In my opinion writing down your fitness objectives provides a mental agreement with yourself to complete those objectives.

Once you learn the basics of setting your fitness goals, you will be able to effectively lead a life of health and fitness. It will be more realistic to you and you’ll soon be an expert on achieving your goal of leading a healthy life filled with a new found energy that you will love.

As Seen on TV Exercise Equipment – Good Buy or Just a Bad Idea, by Gerald Gore

If you are considering investing your hard earned cash for exercise equipment or diet products that are advertised on TV then it is in your best judgment to do some research before you pay for anything. One general rule that everyone should keep in mind is that if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is. Any diet or body sculpting product that promises amazing results with very little effort on your part is feeding you a lie.

A lot of exercise equipment that is advertised on TV is good but the exercise equipment alone will not deliver the results that you are looking for. Both diet and exercise are the key ingredients to the body of your dreams and one without the other will only produce marginal results.

All “As Seen on TV” products are not created equal

Exercise machines are as unique as the individuals or companies that created them. No matter what body part you want to train, rest assured that there are a variety of exercise machines that are uniquely designed to train that specific body part. Each exercise machine’s manufacture has their own customized approach that they feel separates them from the competition.

Now keep in mind, even with the proper diet some of the products on the market are a complete waste of money and will not produce the results that you are looking for. If there is a product that catches your eye, you owe it to yourself to spend a little time researching whether or not the equipment is worth the money spent.

However, sometimes finding out if the equipment is any good is easier said then done. The key to effectively researching a product is to find unbiased reviews that outline both the positive and negative aspects of the item you are considering.

When you start looking at reviews for exercise equipment, take note that very few items are going to obtain perfect ratings. Any review site the spits out one perfect review after another more interested in selling versus reviewing the equipment.

Also, not all things are created equal and not all items are perfect for everyone. The exercise equipment review site should offer a detailed review that helps you decide whether the product in question is right for you.

So you have found a good review site, what are some key things you should consider before you make a purchase for exercise equipment?

Price – Is the product that you are considering within your budget? Yes, sometimes the more expensive exercise equipment can be a better buy but that is not always the case. Sometimes the extra features offered will not meet your needs and therefore would be an extra expense that would be worth passing up.

Functionality – Does the exercise equipment deliver what it promises or is it all smoke in mirrors? This is where doing some research pays off; if the exercise equipment does not deliver a good workout then no matter how cheap it is it really is not worth the money.

Storage ability – How much space does the workout equipment take up and can it be folded for ease of storage? Some people may be able to dedicate a full room to their workouts while others are limited on space. Make sure the product that you are considering meets your storage needs.

Warranty and guarantee – Make sure that your investment comes with a warranty and guarantee that you are comfortable with. If the manufacture really stands behind their product, rest assured their warranty will reflect that.

So the next time you are watching TV and an infomercial product catches your eye, take a little time and do a little research to really find out if that product is what you really need. As stated earlier, if the product claims sound too good to be true then there is a possibility that it is too good to be true. There are some great products out there but it still takes a disciplined diet and workout program to accomplish great results. For most people getting the body of their dreams is never easy but if done right, it is worth it.