For Active Lifestyles On The Go!
Archive for Health
April 21, 2011 at 12:43 pm · Filed under Health
Swimming, cycling, jogging, skiing, aerobic dancing, walking or any of dozens of other activities can help your heart. They all cause you to feel warm, perspire and breathe heavily without being out of breath and without feeling any burning sensation in your muscles. Whether it is a structured exercise program or just part of your daily routine, all exercise adds up to a healthier heart.
Here are some tips for exercise success:
If you’ve been sedentary for a long time, are overweight, have a high risk of coronary heart disease or some other chronic health problem, see your doctor for a medical evaluation before beginning a physical activity program.
Choose activities that are fun, not exhausting. Add variety. Develop a repertoire of several activities that you can enjoy. That way, exercise will never seem boring or routine.
Wear comfortable, properly fitted footwear and comfortable, loose-fitting clothing appropriate for the weather and the activity.
Find a convenient time and place to do activities. Try to make it a habit, but be flexible. If you miss an exercise opportunity, work activity into your day another way.
Use music to keep you entertained.
Surround yourself with supportive people. Decide what kind of support you need. Do you want them to remind you to exercise? Ask about your progress? Participate with you regularly or occasionally? Allow you time to exercise by yourself? Go with you to a special event, such as a 10K walk/run? Be understanding when you get up early to exercise? Spend time with the children while you exercise? Try not to ask you to change your exercise routine? Share your activity time with others. Make a date with a family member, friend or co-worker. Be an active role model for your children.
Don’t overdo it. Do low- to moderate-level activities, especially at first. You can slowly increase the duration and intensity of your activities as you become more fit. Over time, work up to exercising on most days of the week for 30-60 minutes.
Keep a record of your activities. Reward yourself at special milestones. Nothing motivates like success!
December 16, 2010 at 5:08 am · Filed under Health
Did you know that almost 25% of the population is obese? There are many people around the world who are trying to lose weight so that they can develop a good body physique. Being overweight does not only compromise your appearance but it compromises your health as well. The presence of too much fat in the body makes a person unhealthy and experience ailments such as high blood pressure which might lead to strokes and heart attacks. Smoothies are low in fat and a good way to get a healthy meal without the fat.
If you are obese, you need to lose weight and the way to do this is to avoid using fad diets. Fad diets make your body go into starvation mode. When the body is in starvation it starts to burn muscles instead of fat so that it is be able to generate energy. Due to the loss in muscle a person’s metabolism decreases. When your body metabolism decreases you are unable to burn many calories and this will make you gain weight.
If you want to lose weight you should get rid of your scale. This is the best decision you will ever make as far as your quest to lose weight is concerned. The scale lacks the capability of telling you what you need to know about your body. A scale cannot determine the amount of fat you have plus it cannot tell you just how much fluid you have in your body. It cannot help you determine how much muscle your body has. You should just throw it away.
The other thing you need to do is make sure your weight training program concentrates on techniques which will increase your lean body muscle. The factor that determines your rate of metabolism is your muscles. The more muscle you have the higher the rate of your body metabolism is going to be. That is the reason why men burn faster compared to females. Men have more muscles than females. When you lift weights you are able to increase your muscles. Weight training involves the use of free weights or cable machines. The use of free weights and cable movements require a person to be very skillful compared to the use of machines. The use of free weights and cable movements also requires you to create more muscular balance than the use of machines.
Your general focus when it comes to losing weight should be weight lifting since this leads to a permanent loss in weight.
June 28, 2010 at 5:00 am · Filed under Health, Nutrition
America is in the midst of a health craze. Wherever you go, you just can’t escape it. Wherever you turn your confronted with information about healthy foods, exercise and healthier life choices. Undoubtedly, one of the most effective ways to benefit your health is to opt for healthy foods. Wait a minute, I hear you cry, healthy foods are boring and tasteless. Think again! Healthy foods can be foods you eat every day already, sometimes just preparing them differently can make the difference.
Eating habits and healthy foods can be very enjoyable to eat, as well as being particularly good for you. With healthy foods, it’s good to remember that the nearer the food is to its natural state, the healthier it will be for you. You can start by cutting out the number of pre-prepared foods in your diet. Pre-prepared foods are packed with salt, sugars and synthetic ingredients. Although they may be convenient, you can also prepare healthy foods in no time at all when you know how.
Healthy foods can be very easy to prepare, requiring very little time and effort. It does not necessarily take longer or cost more to live on healthy foods. Here’s an example of a really easy meal that is quick and cheap and includes healthy foods and ingredients. Grill lean hamburger patties until they are fairly well cooked. Put the patties on a whole grain natural seeded buns. Serve with tossed salad drenched in olive oil. For desert, include a serving of fresh fruit or a fresh fruit salad. This is so easy to prepare, it can be on your table in under twenty minutes and involves wholly healthy foods. Grilling lean meats, chicken or fish is certainly not time consuming. Tossing a salad can be done during the cooking time. A good tip is also to fill out the meal with some fresh vegetables which again are very good for you and taste great. You can spice up your mealtimes by trying different healthy foods each time, and experimenting with a range of ingredients you’ve never tried before. Even your local supermarket is packed full of these healthy ingredients for you to select, and many even hand out tips and recipes telling you how to prepare thir produce. This can be a great, healthy way to expose your children to healthy foods which not only taste great, but are good fuel for their growing bodies. You can also try to incorporate herbs into your meal which add flavour and are again very healthy foodstuffs.
Healthy foods can easily be used daily in easy, nutritious meals. You can even use healthy foods in more experimental recipes if you have time to spare. Healthy foods can also be prepared before meal times and frozen for a rainy day. When preparing your own frozen foods, you can have peace of mind in the knowledge that they contain no additives or preservatives, and they are purely healthy foods for you and your families. Another good idea is involving your kids in the preparation of the healthy foods they eat each day. Eating healthy foods can be cheap and timely, so there are benefits all round.
So give it a go. By eating more healthy foods in your diet, you will truly feel the difference. You’ll feel and look better physically, as well as having stronger bones, teeth and muscles, not to mention clearer skin. For such little effort, you can really see the benefits of living a healthier lifestyle.
June 24, 2010 at 11:47 am · Filed under Health
Do you ever get so snug and warm inside your comfort zone that, at some point, you feel like you can’t get out of it? Sometimes you don’t even realize it until you’re in a full-blown rut and you wake up one day and realize, if you have to do that same workout one more time, you’ll probably yank out all your hair.
Getting out of your comfort zone is a great way to push your limits a little. Pushing yourself will make you stronger, not just physically, but mentally and you’ll go back to your old workouts with a fresh perspective and a new appreciation for how strong you really are.
Take the Challenge
I’d like to offer you a challenge. This week, I’d like you to push yourself at least one time. How you do it is up to you – it can be a big challenge or a small challenge but, either way, do something new and see what you’re really capable of. Some ideas:
- Try a new activity. If you tend to do the same exercises all the time, try something new this week – a class at the gym, a machine you’ve never tried, an exercise you never thought you could do.
- Try heavier weights. When strength training, many of us don’t lift as much as we could. If that’s the case with you, for just one exercise, pick up those heavy weights and see if you can really fatigue your muscles. Make that last rep difficult, but not impossible. Always make sure you’re safe and have good form, of course.
- Add a burst of intensity. At the end of one of your usual workouts, tack on some high intensity exercise – run up and down the stairs, do as many pushups as you can, sprint as fast as you can for a minute or try a full minute of squat thrusts. Do something that really gets your heart rate up, even if it’s just for a few seconds.
- Set a new goal. If you’re really ready for a challenge, set a new goal for yourself – sign up for a 5K race or join a local cycling or running club. You could even set a goal to be able to do a certain number of pushups or chin ups – whatever it is, make it something you’ll really work for.
Obviously these ideas don’t cover every situation and each person has to decide what’s challenging for them. For some, just taking a walk for 10 minutes is a challenge. For others, signing up for a marathon might be a good challenge. Wherever you are, make your goal to challenge yourself this week to see just how far you can go when you put your mind to it.
March 25, 2010 at 6:53 pm · Filed under Health
It’s time to start ordering pometinis for your night out – A new University of California, Los Angeles, ranked 10 beverages by their levels of disease-fighting antioxidants - and pomegranate juice came out on top. Here are the healthiest beverage power-houses:
- Pomegranate juice
- Red wine
- Concord grape juice
- Blueberry juice
- Black cherry juice
- Acai juice
- Cranberry juice
- Orange juice
- Tea
- Apple juice
Stop by one of our MixStirs locations and try our healthy smoothies today!
November 23, 2009 at 6:00 am · Filed under Health
When you skimp on sleep, your brain thinks you’re low on fuel and sends a message to your stomach to start growling. A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that among 68,183 women, those who slept for 5 hours or less were an average of 5 pounds heavier than women who snoozed for 7 hours. Want to stay slim? Go to bed…
October 28, 2009 at 6:00 am · Filed under Health
It’s easy to get motivated to run in the first month of the new year, but how do you keep it going the other 11? Start now by setting goals that guarantee you’ll stay moving throughout the months ahead.
Bribe yourself. Set a mileage goal and treat yourself when you reach it. Vow to run 10 miles per week, perhaps, or 40 miles in a month. Then get yourself a new pair of running tights when you hit the mark.
Combine (running) business with pleasure. Pick a race at a fun destination this spring and make it a minivacation. Register (and request the time off from work) now, so you won’t forget to follow through. One of my favorites is the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon (held this year on May 10). But even making a weekend out of a run in a nearby city can be motivating, too.
Be progressive. Want to build up to running a half-marathon by the end of the year? Train for a 5K this spring and a 10K in the summer. Setting (and reaching!) successive goals of increasing distances will help you keep plugging away throughout the year. Find races near you at www active.com.
Say spa. As the year draws to a close, get away for a recharging run-spa weekend. Choose a spa that offers challenging trails, a wide variety of treatments, and yoga classes to keep you limber. My favorites: the Stepping Stone Spa in Vermont (www.steppingstone spa.com), Red Mountain Spa in Utah (www.redmountainspa .com), and Red Rock Spa in Nevada (www redrocklasvegas .com). Or create the same effect closer to home: Spend a relaxing afternoon at a day spa with a friend after knocking off a long run together.
September 30, 2009 at 6:00 am · Filed under Health
Genetics, biology and family history are not under your control. But here’s what you can do.
•Quit cigarettes.
Female smokers, even the only-at-parties variety, increase their chance of heart attack by 124 percent compared to nonsmokers, according to a 24,000-person study. Male smokers have only a 43 percent increased risk. The difference may be due to an interaction between women’s hormones and the smoke.
• Prevent diabetes.
Vigilantly controlling blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes may not reduce the risk of heart disease, but what does: never getting diabetes, according to a recent NIH study. “Uncontrolled blood
sugar is toxic to blood vessels, impairing their structure and function,” explains Hannah I. Lipman, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.
• Lose belly fat.
If your tape measure stretches to 35 inches or more around your middle, trim down. Abdominal obesity is not only linked to several heart disease risk factors, such as hypertension and insulin resistance, but increases your chances for heart disease itself.
• Make time for exercise.
Aerobic activity reduces your risk for diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and depression. But you knew that, right?
•Take the Pill wisely.
Tell your ob-gyn about any family history of stroke, heart disease or blood clots before filling your Rx, since the Pill may up your risk. Some birth control pills can affect your cholesterol, so be sure to have your levels checked and discuss results with your doctor. Finally, “If you are on the Pill to help with polycystic ovarian syndrome, have your lipid and blood sugar levels tested,” Lipman says. “PCOS puts you at increased risk for heart disease.”
September 16, 2009 at 6:00 am · Filed under Health
The following may increase metabolism—but at a price, warns Walt Thompson, PhD, professor of kinesiology and health and nutrition at Georgia State University.
EPHEDRINE: Supplements containing ephedrine are still around, though they’ve been banned by the FDA. They dangerously speed up heart rate and raise blood pressure, increasing the risks of heart problems and stroke.
NICOTINE: It’s true that nicotine boosts metabolism. But those smokers may also be skinny because they have a form of emphysema, a disease that burns calories quickly—not in a good way.
CAFFEINE: Studies have shown that coffee may rev up metabolism, but the effect lasts less than 30 minutes. You’d have to drink gallons to have a measurable impact—not a good idea, since excessive caffeine consumption has risks, such as interfering with calcium absorption.
Metabolism booster #1
Trim the trans fat – You’ve heard they’re bad for you. But trans fats also slow down your body’s ability to burn fat. “They have an altered shape and make your biochemistry run funny,” Hyman says, explaining that trans fat binds to fat and liver cells and slows metabolism. Eating trans fat can also lead to insulin resistance and inflammation, both of which cripple metabolism and can cause weight gain.
Metabolism booster #2
Go organic – If you’re on the fence about whether to buy organic this news may sway you: Fruits, vegetables, and grains grown without pesticides keep your fat-burning system running at full-tilt because they don’t expose your thyroid to toxins, Hyman says. Nonorganic produce, on the other hand, “blocks your metabolism mainly by interfering with your thyroid, which is your body’s thermostat and determines how fast it runs, he explains.
Metabolism booster #3
Think protein – Your body digests protein more slowly than fat or carbs, so you feel full longer (this is especially true when you have it for breakfast). Plus, it may also giveyour metabolism a bump. In a process called thermogenesis, your body uses about 10 percent of its calorie intake for digestion. So, because it takes longer to burn protein than carbs or fat, your body expends more energy absorbing the nutrients in a high-protein diet. Another bonus: One recent study from Purdue University found that diets higher in protein may help preserve lean body mass, which is the best fat-burner of all.
August 26, 2009 at 6:00 am · Filed under Health
Get a leg up on varicose viens.
You can battle bulging blue veins by eating dark leafy greens such as kale. The vitamin K in these veggies activates a protein called Matrix GLA that supports vascular health, a recent study shows.
Rest up before hitting the road.
Labor Day weekend is one of the deadliest for drivers. Since 60 percent of people admit to driving while drowsy—a major cause of accidents—stay safe by catching some z’s (and, of course, skipping the booze) before you get behind the wheel.
Don’t buy into the highfalutin diet hype.
What’s up with the slew of new diet books named ”hardworking people who don’t have time to diet,” there’s The Wall Street Diet, and for advice on how the rich stay thin, there’s The Hamptons Diet. If it’s a lifetime of beauty and health you’re after, The Park Avenue Diet may be for you. The Sonoma Diet promises a trimmer waist and better health in only 10 days, while The Laguna Beach Diet says it’s a guide to painless and sustainable weight loss. Though most of these plans offer smart tips, some promise unlikely results. So why not choose a tried-and-true plan like the Mediterranean diet, or one that’s even simpler? It’s called “eat less, exercise more.”
Take a load off.
You know the shooting pain that comes from schlepping a heavy purse? Here’s why it happens: “Straps compress the auxiliary vein, causing high blood pressure, numbness, tingling, pain, and weakness in the arm,” says Tim Neuschwander, M.D. In a study he conducted, adults who wore a 28-pound backpack for 10 minutes experienced an almost 50 percent decrease in blood flow through the blood vessels in their arms. “And carrying a 13-pound purse for 10 minutes may have a similar effect, since it’s resting on only one shoulder,” he says. Try lightening your load a little, or distribute weight more evenly with an ergonomic purse.
Be a little catty.
It’s been said that cats have nine lives, and new research shows they can help extend your life, too. Owning a cat could slash your risk of heart attack by almost a third. How? Your kitty may help relieve stress and anxiety—two heart disease risk factors. So help save a cat’s life and your own: Now is the purr-fect time to adopt since shelters are overwhelmed with homeless cats. Visit petfinder.org or 1-800-save-a-pet.com for a list of rescue groups in your area.
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