Thank You For Visiting Our Blog, FEEL BETTER AND LIVE LONGER!

The purpose of our blog is to share what we have learned about nutrition, weight loss, fitness, and health, in order to help you find ways to feel better and live longer. It is amazing how much our diet and lifestyle affect our health and well-being.

Did you know that you can reduce your risk and even prevent many diseases and health conditions simply by making some changes to your diet? Check back often for valuable tips and information.

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT & KEEP IT OFF:

For the first time in my life I have found weight loss success. During my adult life I have tried dozens and dozens of so-called "diets" and none of them worked over the long-haul. Oh, I was able to lose weight with some of them, but once I went off of the "diet" I quickly gained back all of my weight (plus some).

I have finally learned that losing weight has to be a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. Crash diets and all the other crazy diets will not only cause you to fail, they are harmful to your health. To lose weight and keep it off you must NOT go on a "diet." What? Why? Because we all consider a "diet" a temporary thing. For example, how many times have you said, "Oh, I will go on this low-fat diet until I lose 20 pounds." Okay, what happens after you lose the 20 pounds? Or you simply give up? You go back to your old habits and gain that 20 pounds back.

The only way you will ever be successful at losing weight, with the added benefit of improving your health, is to make healthy changes that you can live with for the rest of your life. Period. Not for a week, a month or 3 months, but for life. For me, my initial goal was to lower my cholesterol level. I had to have a blood test for my insurance coverage and my cholesterol level had to be lower than the previous year's levels or I would have to pay a much higher premium. Well, that was a pretty good incentive for me make some positive changes.

I sat down and figured out what I needed to do. I knew I had to change the way I ate and I knew I had to exercise in some form or other every day. So, I made a list and I stuck to it. It was difficult at first. To make matters worse, I am a compulsive eater. However, as the days went by, it became much easier because my body stopped craving sweets and processed foods. For the first time in my life, I was never tempted to binge because I never felt deprived.

Use the list below and make whatever changes you need to make in order for it to work for you. FYI, my cholesterol level dropped 65 points after 7 weeks, and my triglycerides dropped 70 points! Another benefit that I hadn't planned on was that after being an insomniac since my teen-age years, I now sleep like a baby every night!

MY LIST FOR WEIGHT LOSS SUCESS:

1. Avoid "white" Foods & Processed Foods. These foods have no nutritional value and are "empty" calories. Sweets, anything made with white flour,and anything that comes in a package with a long list of ingredients. Always read the food labels. Stay away from those long lists of ingredients. The longer the list, the more chemicals and additives are present. These are extremely toxic to your body.

2. Drink Lots of Water. Water keeps your body's organs hydrated and flushes out unhealthy toxins. It helps to fill you up and reduces your urge to over-eat.

3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast. Instead of coffee and donuts, try fruit, yogurt, grains like oatmeal or whole grain toast, and lean protein. NEVER skip breakfast. By eating a large, healthy meal when you get up in the morning, your metabolism will "rev up" and you will not be hungry by mid-morning. If you skip breakfast, your body will go into starvation mode and store calories in your body as FAT, yes FAT! So do yourself a big favor and eat breakfast.

4. Reduce Your Stress Level. So many of us live with too much stress. Stress lowers your immune system, making it easier to get sick. It also makes us lethargic, tired, and depressed. There are a lot of simple things you can do and a lot of ways to feel better about yourself and your life. Take a long, hot bath, read a book, listen to music, get a massage. Do something nice for yourself. Giving yourself something to look forward to is a tremendous mental incentive.

5. Move! Oh my gosh! There are so many ways to incorporate movement into your day, even at work. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Get up every hour and walk around your floor, your hallway or your desk. Park your car in the farthest space from where you need to be. Walk or bike to work. Skate, dance, golf, jump rope, clean house, play tag. The best exercise you can do is to walk. Try to take a walk every day! The more you move, the more your metabolism will be your friend. (I walk 3 miles every day whether it is raining, snowing or freezing.)

Exercise and Hypertension

7:23 AM  ,  No comments

Today, many Americans are living a lifestyle that leads to high blood pressure or hypertension. As people age, the situation gets worse. Nearly half of all older Americans have hypertension. This disease drastically increases the risk for stroke, heart attack and heart failure.

Many people who have hypertension do not know it because they do not feel any direct pain. This presents a deadly risk because over time the force of the internal pressure damages the inside surface of your blood vessels.

REDUCE THE RISK OF HYPERTENSION

Hypertension is not predestined. There are changes you can make to reduce your risk. Reducing salt intake, adopting a desirable dietary pattern, losing weight and exercising can all help prevent hypertension.

Quitting bad habits and eating a low fat diet will help, but the most significant thing you can do is exercise. Just as exercise strengthens and improves limb muscles, it also strengthens and enhances the health of the heart muscles.

HEART AND EXERCISE

Exercise stimulates the development of new connections between the impaired and the nearly normal blood vessels. People who exercise have a better blood supply to all the muscle tissue of the heart.

The human heart basically supplies blood to an area of the heart damaged in a “myocardial infarction.” A heart attack is a condition where the myocardium or the heart muscle does not get enough oxygen and other nutrients, so it begins to die.

For this reason, some researchers have observed that exercise can stimulate the development of these life saving detours in the heart. Moderate exercise several times a week is very effective in building up these auxiliary pathways.

Such information has led some people to think of exercise as a panacea for heart disorders, a fail-safe protection against hypertension or death. This is not true. Even marathon runners who have suffered hypertension cannot overcome the combination of other risk factors.

WHAT CAUSES HYPERTENSION?

*Abnormalities of the kidneys
*Heredity
*Obesity
*High stress levels
*Poor diet
*Lack of physical activity.

Use the following tips to help you reduce your risk for hypertension.

Eat a low-fat diet. Try making the bulk of your diet fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains, and healthy fats. Limit your intake of refined sugars and processed foods.

Reduce stress. Find ways to reduce your stress level. Take time out every day, no matter how difficult that may be, to do something that you enjoy like reading, listening to music, taking a walk, meditating, etc.

Start an exercise regimen. Check with your doctor before beginning an exercise program. When you begin, take it slow. Start at a low, comfortable level of exertion and progress gradually. Over-exercising is both dangerous and unnecessary.


Exercise regularly. You need to work out a minimum of three times a week and a maximum of five times a week to get the most benefit. Cardiovascular fitness requires consistent and regular activity.

Obviously, you have no control over heredity but following the above guidelines will significantly reduce your risk for hypertension. If you feel that you do suffer from hypertension, see your doctor immediately. He/she will help you create a plan for treating it.

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