Aug, 2011

In our quest to find success and meaning in life, we strive hard in every possible way to excel in all aspects of our lives. This has become the main reason why people get very busy at home and at work. Sedentary lifestyles have been very common causing many health diseases and problems. With the changing lifestyles and work demands, one should seek for ways to stay fit and healthy. Here are a few ways to achieve them.

Will and discipline should be at the top of everything else. You need to make sure that you have enough dedication and you are willing to do every possible way to become healthy. This means you need to have the right motivation in order to succeed. Motivation should last for a lifetime, not just for a few weeks or months. Your ability to distinguish and choose good habits against the bad ones are very crucial as well. If you have been stuck to bad habits such as smoking, drinking, and other vices, undo them as early as possible.

Be active. Having a busy life is not an excuse for one to be less active. There are many other ways to stay active that does not require much of your time. Walking a few blocks to the office instead of taking the cab can help your endurance and exercise your lungs as well. You can also spend a few minutes jogging every morning around your estate or on a treadmill in the comforts of your home, before you get ready for work.

Enjoy your weekends. Weekend is a perfect time to forget the worries of work by indulging in active pastimes. You can enjoy your favorite outdoor activity such as soccer, swimming, volleyball, and other hobbies. Regular exercise is important in maintaining a healthy body and wellbeing.

Choose the right food. Having a healthy diet will help you fight against diseases and equip you with the proper energy required by the body. Eating too much fatty and calorie-rich food such as chocolates, burgers, fries, and ice cream can cause obesity. Processed and instant food including junk food, canned goods, and processed meats are not the right choices either. They are rich in sodium and oil that can cause lifestyle diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and even cancer. Turn your focus to food that provides good benefits to your mind and body. A healthy diet is a well balanced diet. You can find professional help from doctors or dieticians in this area. But as a general rule, loading up with fruits and vegetables are preferred more than anything else because they are rich in essential vitamins and minerals. Whole grains and fiber rich choices are also very advisable because they help sweep away the toxins through a healthy digestion.

Because most of the jobs nowadays require people to stay long hours, there is a big tendency to embrace a sedentary lifestyle. But there is always a way to break out of the mold, if you choose to. Staying active and eating a well balanced diet coupled with your dedication and discipline can help you successfully achieve a healthy and fit lifestyle.

http://healthytimes.com.sg/category/c57-articles/c39-fitness/

Sept, 2012

Myth: If you stop eating, you’ll lose weight and look sexier.

Fact: Yes, if you stop eating, you will become smaller. That’s because the body is basically eating itself from the inside out. That’s NOT good. It starts by depleting your muscle stores before it moves on to the fat stores.  This is very bad news for you if you’re relatively toned and want to lose that last layer of fat. You’ll lose all your muscle tone before you even begin to lose fat.

Myth: If you eat just once a day and workout more often, you’ll burn more fat.

Fact: The only thing that’s correct about the above statement is the “workout more often” portion. Starving yourself not only rids your body of good muscle, but it slows down the metabolism. A slower metabolism can be a product of lack of food intake. When you eat less or go on a “crash diet”, your body is forced to deal with the lack of food by slowing down the digestion and absorption processes. You want it to do the opposite – you want a faster metabolism so that your body gets used to constantly burning the food that you eat.

The key to a faster metabolism is building more muscle. More fat-free muscles means more calories burned.

Myth: Food eaten earlier in the day gets burned, while late-night snacks will take longer to digest and will just sit in your system.

Fact: The body will digest food at the same rate throughout the day, whether it’s morning, noon or night. That’s not to say that you should have midnight snacks because more often than not, we tend to eat unhealthy snacks when we’re tired and lazy. Cutting back on midnight snacks means cutting back on excess calories that could amount to a few pounds lost each year.

Myth: Low intensity workouts at longer intervals burn more fat.

Fact: Remember, the key to the amount of calories burned is the total energy cost. The more energy you expend, the more calories burned. The problem with this principle is that not everyone can sustain high intensity workouts for an extended period of time, especially those who are just beginning to exercise, or those who are coming back from an injury or disease. In those cases, it’s better to start back up and gradually work yourself up to high intensity training.

Which is More Important – Diet or Exercise?

Neither diet nor exercise is more important than the other. If you want to lose weight and burn fat simultaneously, there is no substitute for proper diet and exercise combined. Try doing one without the other, and it won’t come close to the results you would have achieved had you stuck with a combination of both.

Exercise is not just a means to burn fat, but should also be a lifestyle choice. Exercising releases endorphins that will leave you feeling invigorated and more energetic than usual. This could lead to a brighter outlook on life and overall, just make you feel better about yourself. That, in itself, is reason enough to make the leap towards a healthier lifestyle.

http://healthytimes.com.sg/diet-vs-exercise-which-is-more-important

Nov, 2012

Menopausal is a critical stage in women where their hormones take a deep plunge and cause a lot of symptoms such as sadness, depression, mood swings, irritability, and even hot flashes. As it is a normal course of nature, there are actually ways to prevent, improve, and treat symptoms experienced by menopausal women through exercise.

Yes, exercise not only helps in losing weight, it prevents diabetes, heart disease, and high levels of fat in the blood. Exercise helps menopausal women by improving mood and wards of depression, as exercise gives off happy hormones in the body which gives a mood boost. Moreover, it can strengthen core muscles and bones, prevents central obesity, and provides good sleep at night. These are the right exercises menopausal women should do:

• Brisk walking – brisk walking 30 to 45 minutes for at least three times a week can lower blood pressure, improve mood, and give better rest at night.
• Swimming – a very good aerobic exercise to strengthen the lungs as well as the rest of the body without applying tension to the joints. This must be done for at least three times a week.
• Dancing – a fun alternative to repetitive exercises, it builds stamina, endurance, and trims down belly fat.
• Weight training – supervised weight training can help in strengthening bones and muscles, and boost the fat burning capability of our body.
• Tai chi – tai chi is an exercise art originating from China that can help improve flexibility and sleep patterns.
• Yoga – another relaxing form of exercise, it helps one to meditate, improve core muscles and flexibility, and can lower down stress levels when performed daily.
• Kegel’s exercises – this can help tone your muscles in the nether region in order to improve urinary incontinence and bowel movement, as well as one’s sex life.

Doing these exercises as a combination at most days of the week can help in improving the symptoms experienced during menopausal.

http://healthytimes.com.sg/the-right-exercises-for-menopausal-women/

Calcium is a primary mineral needed by the body not only to build and strengthen bones, but to influence even the most basic cellular processes. Underlining the importance of calcium, what are other best alternatives to this important mineral aside from milk? Since almost half of the current population suffers either from milk allergy or lactose intolerance, here are other good sources of calcium to meet your needed daily dietary intake:

• Dark leafy vegetables – broccoli, spinach, Chinese cabbage, collards, turnip greens, dried figs, mustard greens, bok choy, cooked lentils, and artichoke.

• Beans and seeds – almonds, garbanzo seeds, sesame seeds, prunes, dates, kidney beans, pinto beans, baked beans, and navy beans.

• Oranges – orange juice and orange

• Fish – sardines with bones and salmon with bones

• Other sources – soy milk, soy cheese, tofu, rice milk, soy yogurt, almond milk, nondairy sour cream, blackstrap molasses, and whole wheat bread.

To be able to meet your daily needs, at least a cup of these calcium-rich sources should be consumed. Moreover, it can be noted that a good exposure to Vitamin D early mornings can help in building stronger bones for your body. How do you also incorporate calcium into your diet without noticing a difference? These easy meals can include calcium in your diet and actually taste good:

• Cereal with berries and soymilk

• Pita pockets stuffed with garbanzo beans and soy yogurt sauce with a glass of orange juice

• A full bowl of fresh oranges mixed with navy beans

• Black beans soup with sour cream

• Chinese veggies with a generous serving of tofu over rice

• Peas and collard greens over rice

• Bean chili bowl with broccoli over corn bread

• Almond butter spread over a whole toast sandwich or toast

Beautifying and improving the conditions of our skin has always been a front liner in beauty industries worldwide. When you look at health stores, you can see the myriad of products created to improve texture, clarity, and take away blemishes, but these products costs hundreds if not thousands of dollars. But did you know that skin care and skin health is very easy? It is because you are what you eat. Yes, the food that we eat directly affects our skin health. What then are foods that greatly boost our skin to become smoother and more beautiful? Listed below are the foods that can help you most: Low fat yogurt – rich in Vitamin A, it helps replenish old cells with new ones and increase your skin’s ability to heal

• Berries – whether strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries, these are rich in antioxidants that take away harmful toxins from the body to give a beautiful glow.

• Salmon – very rich in Omega 3 and 6, this can help moisturize your skin to ultimate suppleness (another alternative is walnuts, canola oil, or flax seed oil). • Green tea – another good source of antioxidants, it prevents premature aging of your skin as well as decrease inflammation in the body.

• Avocados – versatile due to its rich contents of B vitamins and other oils, it works to moisturize, decrease inflammation, and give clarity to the skin.

• Mangoes – also rich in Vitamin A, it is a fruit with very little calories that is ideal for those who wish to lose weight in the process.

• Almonds – very rich in Vitamin E, it helps regenerates cells, give a youthful glow, and repair underlying imperfections of our skin.

• Cottage cheese – contains selenium, a mineral necessary for proper cell processes to remove toxins from the skin. With all this, it is also noteworthy to remember to consume atleast 8 to 10 glasses of water a day to provide that suppleness, hydrate the body, take away toxins, and give skin a youthful glow.

If you’ve realised that you’re at high risk of developing osteoporosis or simply to prevent
this condition, you can do a lot of things.
Some surefire ways of osteoporosis prevention as recommended by experts are as:

• Diet

Your diet should contain adequate amounts of calcium and other important minerals for bone health.
– Most of us know that milk has a high calcium and mineral content. Go for low-fat and
skim milk, non-fat yogurt and low fat cheeses.

– Love your fish! Canned sardines and salmon with bones are rich in calcium.

– Eat your veggies! The best sources of calcium are leafy green veggies and herbs.
Essentially, they also have potassium and other trace minerals that make up your bone and Vitamin K, which stops calcium bone loss. Broccoli, kale, turnip greens, spinach are loaded with calcium. Bananas are potassium rich. Chew your veggies well so that the calcium and minerals inside the plant cells will be available for absorption into your body and bones.

– Soy is rich in calcium plus plant estrogen. Opt for soy floor instead of regular flour.
Make malts or smoothies with soy. There are numerous ways of using soy such as tofu, miso and others.

– Stick to your recommended allowance for protein. Too much protein leaches calcium
from your bones and out of your body. The recommended allowance in women is 50 grams
and 63 grams for men.

– If you love coffee there’s no harm in limiting it to three cups a day. More than that
causes calcium to be excreted from your body easily.

– Eat your onions. Onions reduce bone breakdown that results to osteoporosis

– Include fresh veggie juices and vegetable powders to ensure that calcium and other
needed minerals reach your blood stream and into your bones.

– Eat foods loaded with Vitamin C. Vitamin C synthesizes collagen which provides
tensile strength for your bones. Citrus fruits and veggies are packed with vitamin C.
Vitamin D is very important for calcium to be absorbed from your food. Go out in the
sunlight regularly at least 30 minutes a day before 10 A.M. and after 3 P.M. Use of sunscreen
can block sunlight from acting on your skin to produce vitamin D. If sunshine isn’t available as what happens in the northern and southern latitudes, then eat foods rich in vitamin D such as wild salmon, sardines, cod liver oil or a supplement. Increase your intake of quality fats and good cholesterol that are sourced from extra virgin olive oil, avocados, coconut oil, eggs, nuts, seeds, cold water fish or fish oils. Healthy cholesterol maintains the integrity of your intestinal lining to absorb minerals into your bloodstream and into your bones. Now, if you have good cholesterol in your body, sunlight will act on it and produce vitamin D.

• Calcium Supplements

If you think you’re not getting enough calcium in your diet, a calcium supplement can help
especially in midlife. 1,500 to 2,000 mg daily for women after menopause and for men at age 65 can help. Take your calcium supplement twice or thrice daily in divided doses with
Vitamin D. Vitamin D enhances its absorption.

• Exercise

Exercise isn’t only good for prevention of heart disease, hypertension and cancer. It helps
build bone and prevents osteoporosis too. Weight bearing exercises halts bone loss and can build new bone. Additionally, it improves your posture, flexibility and balance to reduce your risk of falling. 30 minutes of exercise a week is a good recommendation. Walking, running, stair climbing, weight lifting a tennis or volley ball are excellent exercise options. Stretch those muscles daily especially your largest groups of muscles. A couch potato lifestyle causes shortening of muscles, tendons and ligaments, and can cause undue stress on your bones.

• Undergo screening tests

1. Do bone density scans especially if you’re over 65 years old or you’re
postmenopausal with one or more osteoporosis risk factors. Some experts recommend
a dual energy x-ray absorptiometry test (DEXA). Early osteoporosis can be detected
and treatment and prevention efforts can thwart a full blown case of the disease.
2. Have your height measured annually and compare it with previous years. One or two
inches loss can mean osteoporosis or you’ve undergone vertebral fracture
unknowingly.

• Other important factors:

1. Drop that cigarette. If you aren’t into the habit, don’t start smoking. 80-year-old
smokers have lower-mineral bone density and are more prone to spinal fractures. In
women smokers, one in 8 hip fractures is linked to chain smoking.
2. Limit your alcohol intake to once a day for women and two for men. Excessive
alcohol prevents the absorption of calcium.
3. Limit table salt, artificial sweeteners, sugar, cookies, cakes and pastries baked from
white flour as they extract calcium from your bones.
4. Most of all – be happy. Manage your stress or depression. See a doctor or therapist if
you’re continually depressed. Depression increases the cortisol hormone in the body
and saps calcium and other minerals from you bones. These are simple steps to prevent you from developing osteoporosis and save your bones from debilitating consequences. Getting healthy bones throughout your life isn’t as difficult as it seems.

Eating disorders have defaced a lot of men and women across the globe due to the complications they bring. These are a group of serious conditions that can prove fatal if left untreated. If you suspect yourself or a loved one having an eating disorder, look at the tips listed below to help you manage it:

• Evaluate yourself Self-evaluation is the first step in diagnosing an eating disorder. Many people shrug off bizarre eating habits as just a sign of who they are. But ask yourself, do you often binge and feel guilty afterwards? Do you induce vomiting? Do you starve yourself because you think you’re too fat, when people tell you you’ve lost lots of weight? If you answer yes to any of these questions, then it’s time to head to step 2.
• Seek help Any “yes” to questions above need professional help. Seeking help can give you options on what therapy to undergo, and making sure you move forward to the path of recovery. Seek countless opinions if you must, and choose the one that you are most comfortable with and can work with to overcome your eating disorder.
• Involve your family Many people with eating disorders have families who are unaware of the turmoil going on through their life. Eating disorders are products of depression, low self-esteem, and lack of support. Talk to your loved ones and tell them the pain you are going through, and you will be surprised how much support you can garner from them.
• Keep a journal As you undergo therapy, you will notice how hard it is to keep on track. Keep a journal as you go on your way so that on days you feel low or lost, you can look back (or read back) how you’ve felt on other days too, and to inspire confidence in you to hold on and continue the program.
• Share your success. Every small success in your program to health is worth sharing. Studies show that the more people tell others of their success, the more they believe in themselves. So don’t be shy, tell your family how far you’ve gone, and sooner or later, you’re nearing the path to a health life.