Posts Tagged ‘health’
Healthy eating tips are necessary for most westerners because we’ve forgotten why we need to eat. Eating food is something we all must do to receive the life giving and sustaining nutrients our bodies need. Too many people are eating as a crutch to cover depression, loneliness, low self-esteem or simply for the pleasure a good meal provides. Healthy eating is looking at food as the provider of the dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and nutrients you need instead of a substitute for something lacking from your life.
Healthy eating is necessary to give your body the fuel it needs to prevent illnesses, diseases, heal, provide they energy you need and to help maintain the proper weight.
- Drink plenty of water.
Proper hydration is necessary in digestion, delivery of the nutrients to the areas that need them and expulsion of the waste. - Chew each bite of food until it liquifies in your mouth.
This practice serves two purposes. 1. The brain takes about 20 minutes to catch on to the fact that you are eating, process this information and tell you that you are full. (By taking the time to chew each bite to a liquid and talking with a dinner companion, you are letting your brain catch up.) 2. Digestion starts in the mouth as saliva mixes with the food you are eating. When you chew your food to a liquid, you are helping your body get all the nutrition it can out of the food before it passes from your digestive system. - Eat 5 or 6 small meals rather than 3 large meals
The energy you get from the food you eat at breakfast will not last your body 5 or 6 hours until lunch and the midday meal will not provide enough energy to last another 5 or 6 hours to the evening meal. The snacks you often get out of vending machines or convenience stores should prove you crave the extra energy. - Eat locally grown organic foods as much as possible.
Locally grown foods like honey will not only have the nutrients available in oney everywhere but it will also have pollens specific to your area so your body can naturally build defenses against these allergy causing agents. Read the labels on organic foods as well because the government is allowing some foods to be called organic even when some ingredients aren’t all natural. Organic foods often have a shorter shelf life so buying locally not on saves on shipping but you can buy smaller quantities to prevent spoilage. - Learn to prepare your foods the healthier ways.
Baked, broiled, boiled, grilled, steamed and stir fried are much healthier than fried or deep fried. Using fresh herbs and spices to flavor your food is better than salt and processed spices. Remove the skin and trim away fat and before eating meat and choose leaner meats over the fatter options. - Reduce or eliminate foods with processed sugar.
The processed sugar you eat delivers empty calories. Very little, if any, nutrition is gained but calories are packed on. Artificial sweeteners may not offer as many calories, if any, but the effects of those chemicals isn’t known plus the sweetness makes the body think it has sugars to break down. - Forget diets exist.
Diets usually deprive you of enough calories to avoid starvation or they avoid one or more important food groups or both. Before cutting your calorie intake, switch to eating multiple small meals spaced 2 – 3 hours apart, add more water to your diet, add more fruits and vegetables to your diet and start an exercise program that includes both strength training and cardio training. If the dietary and exercise change alone doesn’t help you with fat loss, reduce your calorie intake by no more than 20 percent.
Incorporate these healthy eating tips into your daily life and you’ll have all the energy your body needs to be healthy, fight diseases, manage your weight and enjoy activities that you choose to engage in.
Eating for Excellent Health IS Possible if you are willing to make the effort to learn what’s needed.
Disclosure of Material ConnectionPresented by Natural Remedies Products Staff - Natural Remedies Products
Ask Dr. Wayne Garland a specialist in natural remedies and natural products.
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Your motivation for starting a weight loss or exercise program will determine the success or failure you experience. You will only stick with something if you are doing it for the right reasons. Losing weight to please someone else is a nice thought but you will not stick with it long term because it isn’t your goal. Exercising to please another is also going to end with you quitting after a period of time. Set yourself up for long term success by starting your weight loss or exercise programs for the right reasons.
- Set goals that you want to achieve.
- Write those goals down and place them where you can review them regularly.
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Make your goals clear and measurable. (I want to lose weight is not a good goal. I want to drop 2 pant sizes in 6 months is a clearly stated goal.)
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If fat (weight) loss is your goal, get a caliper so you can measure your body fat. Scales measure weight and not your body fat percentage. There are skinny people with high fat levels. You will only be able to judge your progress by measuring your fat. Measuring fat is especially important when you incorporate strength training into your exercise routine because muscle weighs more than fat. The scale might show you heavier but the caliper might show you’ve lost fat which means your diet and exercise program is working.
The caliper is especially important if you aren’t seeing any changes over a two week period. Your body works to stabilize and as you enter a routine where your diet and exercise routines become the norm your body expects, you will level of or plateau. As soon as you see a plateau developing, you can adjust your diet and exercise routines so you continue towards your goal.
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Combine strength training and cardio training on alternating days so you don’t tire your muscles or get bored. When you include walking, jogging, swimming, weight lifting and other activities you enjoy into your exercise routine; you will be less likely to lose interest.
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Get a friend or family member to work with you as your moral support, workout partner, cheerleader and coach.
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Reward yourself when you reach your short term goals.
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Build flexibility into your diet and exercise programs so you don’t get bored. Eating the same thing repeatedly gets boring and we start looking at what we think we are missing. Don’t deprive yourself anything you really crave but acknowledge there will be more work required to compensate for straying. When starting your diet or exercise program focus on 80% compliance to it rather than 100%. Everyone will stray at some point. By acknowledging that to yourself and by keeping your goals in mind and where you can see them written, you’ll feel less stress when you do stray.
Staying motivated is easier when the reasons for your actions are ones you chose. Writing down your goals makes them easier to visualize, measuring your progress helps you stay focused on your goals, eating a variety of foods you enjoy and doing a variety of exercises help you stay on track towards your goals. Getting another person to support you and keep you honest gives you a little extra incentive to make your goals your reality. Building flexibility into your diet and exercise regime and rewarding yourself when you have small successes lets you acknowledge both slips and successes so you can easily get back on track towards your long term goal.
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Ask Dr. Wayne Garland a specialist in natural remedies and natural products.
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Cross training is the integration of multiple disciplines or exercises into a single exercise routine. Many people know and accept the fact that exercise is needed for good health. Fat loss is maximized by your healthy diet, the exercise program you’ve chosen and the consistency of your actions in both your diet and exercise programs. The reasons for incorporating cross training into your exercise routine vary from person to person but two of them are to relieve boredom and another is to maximize the benefits of exercising.
Resistance (strength) training is important because strong and healthy muscles burn more calories when exercised properly. Strong and healthy muscles are also important in many of your daily activities. Some of the activities that require strength are carrying groceries, children, laundry, walking and good posture. Combine resistance training with a diet that provides fewer calories than you burn with your activities and your body will get the energy it needs by burning fat.
Adding cardio workouts to your exercise program lets you benefit in multiple ways.
1. You will be using different muscle groups than you do while doing your resistance training. Resting a muscle group for two days after exercising it gives the muscles time to both rest and grow. (Your muscles, rest, heal and grow during the downtime after you exercise them.)
2. Adding rowing, cycling, walking, jogging or some other discipline to your exercise program gives you variety so you will be more likely to stick with your exercise program to achieve your fat loss and health goals.
3. By using strength training every other day and focusing on different muscle groups, you are maximizing your efforts. When you add cardio training on the off days of your strength training, you are building up your heart muscle strength, lungs and increasing your blood flow which will help with your strength training.
Reserve the seventh day for rest so your body can return to its normal resting state. This gives your mind, body and nerves a chance to relax and heal or grow.
Make a lifelong commitment to cross training and eating healthy and you’ll be rewarded with a longer and healthier life
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Ask Dr. Wayne Garland a specialist in natural remedies and natural products.
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Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘You are what you eat.’? It is a very true statement because what you put in your mouth goes a long way towards determining your health. What you think is just as important especially when you are ill and trying to heal.
I’ll bet you’ve seen a lot of people that are consistently talking about their illnesses like they are a badge of honor. You might hear in depth discussions about the disease, the medication being taken, the tests that were run, and a variety of other topics.
What too many people don’t realize is that your mind cannot distinguish between reality and imagination. Because your mind cannot make this distinction, it works to make your reality what you talk and think about most.
This means that everyone that focuses most on their illness or disease is telling their minds they want to be ill or have that disease. Constantly feeding your mind the right affirmations that you are healthy and healing will go a long way towards making that your reality.
If you need proof of this, you need to look at cancer patients. Almost everyone that sees cancer as a death sentence will not beat their cancer even with chemotherapy or other treatments. Those that have the mindset that they will beat their cancer either do or they live longer with a higher quality of life.
You can use your mind to heal, to improve your life or to transform it in many different ways so it is more enjoyable for you and your loved ones. I invite you to register for your free ‘life transformation kit’ so you can see for yourself how powerful of a tool your mind is and how you can harness its power. You may have trouble accepting the idea that your mind can help you improve just about every aspect of your life but I can tell you it has made a big difference in mine. The only thing you have to lose by checking out the ‘life transformation kit’ is a few minutes of your busy life BUT you may gain MUCH more just by looking.
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Yes! People exercise for many reasons with a few being health, weight loss, weight management and pleasure. Whatever your reason is for exercise, you want to get the maximum benefit out of the time you spend exercising. You will not get the most out of your efforts without warming up and cooling down.
The Role of the Warm Up.
The stretching and warm up exercises you do before you start your full workout let you prepare your muscles and body for the changes that take place during strenuous activity. Exercising requires more fluids, more nutrients to the cells, more oxygen, a higher heart rate and an increase in respiration.
You should drink plenty of water about 20 minutes before you plan to exercise. You’ll lose water during your exercising so proper hydration before you start will help you prevent muscle cramps due to dehydration. Proper fluid levels before during and after exercising will let your body more efficiently deliver the oxygen and nutrients it needs.
Slowly stretching the muscles you’ll be using will loosen the muscles you’ll be using, loosen up the joints involved, prepares the nervous system for exercise and heightens your mental awareness and focus. Slowly stretch and hold your position for about 20 seconds before relaxing. Do not bounce or do a quick stretch and release because these resemble muscle contractions and you can actually cause damage to muscles or joints that aren’t naturally lubricated yet.
The kind of warm up you do should be influenced by the exercises you will be doing. Runners my do twists and extensions in place. Slow riding on a stationary bicycle may be another warm up method in addition to the twisting. Martial art participants may go through the movements used in slow motion to let the body remember and get acclimated to the moves. Weight lifters may start out doing the full number of reps they intend to do during their session but at half the weight that will be used during the peak. A second set of reps may be done at 80 percent of the full workout weight but only 2-3 reps. A third set at 90 percent with 2-3 reps will complete the warm up. Rest for about 30 seconds then do your full workout with the full weight load and your body will experience less stress and you’ll get the maximum benefit out of the workout.
Warming up before you exercise helps your body function at its best which means you burn the most calories and have a reduced risk of injury.
The Role of the Cool Down.
The cool down helps your body return to its normal blood flow, oxygen levels and heart rate to reduce the risk of muscle cramps or a heart attack.
Drink more water after you exercise. Water will help the body cool itself and help eliminate toxins.
Stretch your core muscles plus the muscle groups used during your exercise and hold each position for at least 60 seconds during your cool down. This stretching session while your muscles are heated helps cool them and increases your flexibility. Do not forget to stretch you neck while doing your warm up and cool down. You may not realize it but these muscles will be tensed during your exercise and they deserve the same stretching attention as every other muscle group.
Your cool down stretches also give your mind and body a chance to relax from their focused and stressed states to their normal working levels. You may find these cool down stretches as a way to relieve your tired mind and body so you can more fully enjoy the workout you just completed.
Getting the most that you can out of your exercise program you’ve chosen is your goal and warming up before exercising and cooling down after that exercise will help you get the most benefit for the time spent which should be the most rewarding and pleasurable.
If you really want to take control of your exercise program to burn fat and gain muscle, I recommend the book Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle written by Tom Venuto who is a natural body builder, certified personal trainer, certified strength and conditioning specialist and nutritionist.
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Ask Dr. Wayne Garland a specialist in natural remedies and natural products.
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