Author: blogger

Make health Your Number One Priority

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Ill tell you why. We are focusing on the wrong goal. For whatever reason, we must not perceive our weight loss as being “important enough” to achieve. So what would be “important enough” to stick to our new healthy eating habits? Your HEALTH! Nothing in this world is more important than the state of your health. Think about it, your health affects everything else in your life. Once our health is compromised we automatically change our lifestyle habits. Just look at President Clinton. Not until he had the ultimate health scare did he really change his eating and exercise habits. Lets not wait until our bodies completely have a break down before we decide to take care of ourselves. If you feel lousy, everything you do that day is lousy. Likewise, if you feel great, everything you do that day is great. So this year, lets not focus on just losing a few pounds, lets focus on Health, the #1 thing in our lives.

So ask yourself, “How important is my health to me? How do I want to live the rest of my life? Sick and feeling horrible or healthy and feeling vibrant? Do I want to play golf and tennis in my retirement or do I want to spend it in the hospital?” The answer to these questions will ultimately dictate your weight and your health for the future. Any lifestyle habit that affects your health in a positive way will automatically cause you to lose weight or maintain a good healthy weight.

Follow this checklist towards health and you will see weight come off automatically.

1.Make the time to focus on health.
The number one reason people do not eat healthy or exercise is because they “dont have the time”. But why is it that once we get sick, have a heart attack, are diagnosed with heart disease, diabetes or cancer, we all of a sudden have the time? This doesnt make any sense. We wait until our bodies have become so ill to finally take measures towards taking care of it. This is the equivalent to never getting an oil change or servicing your car and letting it completely break down before doing anything about it. Prioritize your day. What could possibly be more important than your health? Your children, yes, I agree. But guess what? If something happens to you, who will be there for your children? I know that sounds terrible but its true. How many times have we heard stories of young children losing parents to heart attacks and strokes? Choose health not only for yourself but for your children as well. Prioritize your day so that making healthy meal choices and exercising are right at the top.

2.Take a long hard look at what you are putting into your body.
For one week, read every ingredient of every food you eat. This could potentially be a scary experience. Some ingredient labels on packaged foods sound more like a college chemistry class than anything we should be eating. As a golden rule, if you cant pronounce it, chances are you shouldnt be eating it. The majority of the foods you should be eating shouldnt even have an ingredients label. They should be vegetables, fruits, raw nuts, chicken, fish, eggs, meat. If you make 90% of your diet, fresh food, I guarantee you will significantly change your weight and your health. No time to make fresh food? (please refer back to #1). Cook more than one portion at a time when you do cook so that there are always healthy leftovers in the fridge. You can always have for lunch leftovers from the night before. Cook several portions of one meal and freeze some. A good example of this is healthy soup or turkey chili. Put a portion of chili in a small Tupperware and freeze. You can grab this when in a hurry for lunch or dinner.

3. How much are you eating?
In the United States, our perception of one portion is extremely distorted. Restaurant portions are about 3 times more than what we should be eating in one sitting. If we become accustomed to seeing this much food on our plate at a restaurant we tend to do the same when we are at home and serve ourselves. According to a study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, women are eating 300 more calories a day and men 168 more calories than 20 years ago. All it takes is 100 extra calories a day to gain 10 pounds a year.

For one week, reduce your portions at lunch and dinner by half. There is no need to “clean your plate”. Most times whats on your plate is double what you should be eating anyway. If you feel some hunger in the afternoon, add one small apple with a handful of raw nuts as a snack. Your body will quickly become accustomed to the smaller portions and you will eventually not be able to eat as much in one sitting as you did before. Remember, you have access to an abundance of food every day. You dont need to eat it all at once.

3.Drink WATER!
Dehydration has directly been linked to several forms of diseases including colon cancer, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol levels. Many people also mistake thirst for hunger. So it may not be that youre hungry all day, you may just be thirsty and dehydrated. In due time, dehydration will cause a gradual gain in weight from overeating as a direct result of confusion of thirst and hunger sensations.

Take a look at what you are drinking each day.

Coffee or Soda (Diet Coke included)? The caffeine in both will dehydrate you even more and will cause you to feel hungrier during the day.

Diet drinks and sodas? The artificial sweetener actually enhances your appetite and increases food intake.

Orange Juice and other Fruit Juices? The sugar and calories can add up to 10 teaspoons of sugar per drink, which can be anywhere from 150-200 calories. Not to mention the fact that sugar eventually makes you crave more sugar.

Every person should be drinking half of their body weight in ounces of water each day. So if you weigh 150 lbs, you should be drinking 75 ounces of water each day. If you drink coffee or any other caffeinated beverage during the day, the ounces of water needed increases.

4.How much do you move each day?
Your body was designed to move! Your heart is a muscle and must be worked just like every other muscle in your body. You dont have to join a gym to move, you just have to challenge your body and your muscles each and every day.

The two best time saving exercise options I always suggest to clients are:

1.Go for a walk. You can go for a walk anywhere and anytime. No time you say? Please refer back to rule #1.

2. Set up your home with some free weights and an exercise ball. You will be amazed at the number of exercises you can do with just your body, some free weights and a stability ball. If you dont know how, hire a trainer to show you or get a good book. Get into the routine of scheduling your exercise time each and every day. No ifs, ands or buts. Make your exercise time more important than phone calls, laundry, errands or lunch dates.

Make a promise to yourself that this time will be about health, not about short term weight loss. Really evaluate how you are treating your body on an everyday basis. Is that the same way you would treat a highly valuable, expensive piece of equipment? Because thats what your body is. There is no amount of money in the world that will buy you another one, so you might as well take really good care of the one you got!

The Mystery Of Chia Seeds Health Benefits For Athletes

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Chia seeds and barefoot running are connected in an unusual way.

Firstly, both of these have got health benefits that were identified and taken advantage of by original peoples in ancient times and in the present day.

What’s more, the two may be linked. Barefoot runners just about everywhere count on chia seeds’ health benefits to give them the energy, stamina, and vitality they need.

Author and barefoot runner Christopher McDougall examines this topic in his book Born to Run.

According to McDougall, people of the Tarahumara tribe enhance their capacity to run by consuming chia seeds consistently.

Did you ever think to yourself, “I’m positive I’d be a great athlete if I only had better shoes?”

It’s hard to keep thinking that when you know about the Tarahumara.

The home of the Tarahumara tribe is Copper Canyons, a remote area deep in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. These tribal people are able to run incredible distances without exhibiting symptoms of low energy or overtiredness.

And they do it without training agendas, running coaches, elaborate running shoes, heart monitors, or any of the gadgets that runners in industrialized countries take for granted.

Thanks to McDougall’s book, the Tarahumara have gained celebrity as super-athletes.

But their athletic superpowers are not fully innate, nor are they out of reach for regular folks like you and me. The Tarahumara consume chia seeds, a fantastic superfood that you can conveniently enjoy in the comfort of your home.

You can consume chia seeds raw, bake with them, or stir them into soups and stews. There’s pretty much nothing you can’t add chia to. Its neutral, mild flavor means you don’t even notice it most of the time.

Why is chia so marvelous for runners and other athletes? Here are just a few of the chia seeds’ health benefits:

Omega 3 (ALA)

Chia contains the highest levels of omega 3 of any plant-based food. Omega 3 is specially crucial for a strong heart, and can decrease cholesterol. Chia seeds yield 25-30% extractable oil, mainly ?-linolenic acid (ALA).

Dietary Fiber

Chia is made up of 36% fiber. Taking soluble fiber can decrease cholesterol in the body. The dietary fiber in chia is mostly soluble with high molecular weight.

Antioxidants

Chia contains high levels of antioxidants. A diet rich in antioxidants helps to neutralise free radicals in the body, which supports heart health.

Protein

Chia seeds contain about 20% protein.

Gluten-Free

Chia seeds contain no gluten, so they’re a great choice for people with gluten allergies.

Chia has many more health benefits, but these are the main ones. You can have an understanding of why runners and other athletes could like to ingest chia! In ancient times, Mayans and Aztecs could run extensive distances through mountainous landscape with only a few spoonfuls of chia as provisions.

Try consuming chia next time you go for a run or do any exercise. You will be impressed at the amount of energy and vitality you have!

Is Usenet A Good Source Of Health Information

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Usenet newsgroups include a huge number of choices that have to do specifically with science. The service has always been like this, since its first days in 1981. Among the topics discussed quite actively on the Usenet system is the topic of health. You’ll find plenty of newsgroups dedicated to various ailments and, among those newsgroups specifically targeted at current events, you’ll find a lot of information about health issues that are in the news.

There are some very good newsgroups for basic health information. If you have a health issue, chances are that there are plenty of other Usenet users who share it. When you live with such a condition, it’s natural to want as much information as possible. A condition such as high blood pressure, diabetes or arthritis is a natural topic for these groups. These conditions are serious, but a lot of their treatment involves maintaining certain lifestyle choices that lead to a higher quality of life. Many people on newsgroups share this information quite freely and you may find something on these groups that can help you out coping with your condition.

One of the advantages of a Usenet newsgroup is that, more often than not, you’ll find that the posters use better sources for their information. Online, there are vast marketing campaigns for plenty of alternative products, quite a few people who like to pretend they know things they don’t and precious few instances where forums and social networking sites manage to filter information for quality. Usenet is all about the users and, according to studies, Usenet users have a very low tolerance for bad information and tend to point it out rather quickly.

Make sure, however, that you do check the sources of the information that people provide. Oftentimes, they’ll provide a link in the article on the newsgroup. You can check out their sources and see if they seem legitimate to you. One of the coolest things about the Usenet service is that these links will be very unlikely to lead you to a camouflaged sales site and that people will actually encourage you to check them out, and to engage them with questions if you have them.

Usenet provides a nice safe harbor from the endless marketing and bad information found on the Internet. It’s very hard to “spam” the Usenet system, so you can be reasonably certainty that anyone who replies to your question was simply under the impression that they could help you out. This sense of community and, to an extent, accountability, makes this an excellent system.

If you’re looking for a source of information from your peers, the Usenet does have a lot to offer.

Health Insurance No Waiting Period Plan

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In most cases after choosing a health insurance plan, or after having made adjustments to ones current hospital cover or family cover, one may have a minimum waiting period that has been decided by the government. At this time the insurance company and/or government will confirm that the insured person or family will not discontinue the service after a big claim shortly after having joined. In general, people with pre-existing conditions or who are pregnant will have a waiting period of approximately twelve months, around two or three months for psychiatric or mental conditions, and about one or two months for most other health conditions. However, it is important to remember that different insurance companies may have different waiting periods.

Unfortunately not everyone can afford to wait for their insurance claim to be cleared, which is why so many people are interested in the health insurance no waiting period plan. With this plan, people can obtain a discount card which will help one pay for the visit to the doctor. Another name for this is the medical discount plan, and it will also work with dentist visits. The main advantage of this type of plan is that one may see a doctor within three or four days after joining, rather than waiting for a long period of time. In addition, with this type of health fund, one will obtain a discount on dentist and doctor’s fees.

There is also another option with the health insurance no waiting period plan. This type of plan may also be obtained through ones employer, and may include more options, prices and different types of coverage. For those people who are interested in a health insurance no waiting period plan, a good place to start at work is by asking the human resources department for more information.

Fortunately, for people who are having financial trouble or who are considered low income families, some hospitals and/or doctors are willing to look at other options for their patients such as the health insurance no waiting period. In addition, some doctors offer a discount if clients pay cash, or will work out a payment plan for visits which cost more.

Unfortunately, pregnant women may have a dilemma when considering a health insurance no waiting period plan. In general, health care providers do not categorize pregnancy as a pre existing condition, however there may be many loopholes in the contract which may deny a pregnant woman from health coverage for pre and post natal care. For women who do not have the time or patience to research a health insurance no waiting period, a better option may be to quickly look into a public option or government assist options. Since this type of insurance may require a waiting period, it is not necessarily the best option.

Silver Jewelry And Health

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Much is being said about the health benefits of wearing jewelry made of silver. This goes without saying that it is still a debated issue. There is definitely a long track of traditions, claiming that the wearing of silver jewelry is good for ones health.

The Greek physician, Hippocrates (ca. 460 BC ca. 370 BC), who is called the father of medicine, wrote that silver had beneficial healing and anti-disease properties. Silver is known to have a toxic effect on some bacteria, viruses, algae and fungi. Exactly how germicidal effect of silver works is still not entirely understood, although some theories have been brought forth. Some traditions attest that eating with silver spoons results in healthier lives when compared with those who eat with spoons made of other materials. Some also used to place them in water storage areas for purifying water.

Findings in scientific studies show that that silver rings reduce the symptoms of arthritis. The findings further show that there were some sure health benefits derived by wearing silver rings particularly for increasing blood circulation, and controlling hypertension and finger joint deformity. Some say that when silver is absorbed through skin, it cures muscular aches.

Many people in Asia also still strongly believes in the health benefits of wearing jewelry made of silver and other similar metals. Asian alternate medicine practitioners such as Reiki healers, chakra healers,Tibetan medicine practitioners and and new age energy healers have been using energy jewelry such as silver jewelry for many years past.

Though the health benefits of silver may still an ongoing dispute, it is a fact that silver is now often used in making medical equipment such as urinary catheters and breathing tubes. This is because silver will kill bacteria allowing for a faster healing process. Knowing all this, you can see that silver does indeed have properties that can have a positive contribution to your health. Wearing a piece of silver jewelry may not guarantee a perfect health, but it will most likely contribute to a better one.