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.)

Live a Healthy, Happy Life

8:27 AM  , , , , , , ,  No comments

In the fast paced world that we live in it can be easy to neglect our health and happiness. We’re so busy racing through our lives that we don’t take the time to look after ourselves. It’s no wonder that so many of us are tired and run down. What are some simple things that we can do to improve our quality of life?


DRINK MORE WATER!

You’ve heard it a million times – drink more water! Consider this. The human body is 72% water. A 5% drop in fluids creates a 25% loss in energy. A 15% drop in fluids causes death!

At this point in time 2/3 of us aren’t drinking enough water, so over half the population isn’t running properly to begin with – and this is before things like bad air, bad food and stress take their toll.

It’s not really a difficult thing to remedy. Just drink one glass of water every half hour or so – or 10-12 glasses of water per day – and you’ll notice a huge jump in your energy levels.

EAT LIVING FOOD

Did you know that heating food above 116°F destroys most of its nutrient content? Considering that we already aren’t eating enough veggies, that’s a fairly substantial problem. Nutritionists recommend five serves of fresh vegetables per day. How many of us are actually taking that advice?

A great way to get the nutrients found in fresh veggies is to juice your veggies. Make sure that you own a good juicer, grab some fresh vegetables and drink your way to good health. It takes a fraction of the time and it’s convenient.

Wheatgrass in particular is an excellent source of nutrition. It’s high in chlorophyll (sometimes described as ‘plant blood’ because it closely resembles human red blood cell molecules) and has over 100 elements that the body needs.


EXERCISE DAILY

Exercise is dirty word for most of us but it doesn’t have to be time consuming or boring.
Gyms offer aerobics classes, water aerobics, yoga, pilates, dance-ercise, and step classes.
If you don’t have the time or money for the gym then try an exercise bike or walker.

If you suffer from illness or injury or your level of fitness is quite low, it can be a mammoth battle to just do the minimal amount of exercise in a day. The danger is that inactivity leads to loss of energy that becomes a self-perpetuating cycle until you can barely get off the couch.

To get back into a physical routine, start slowly. For the first couple of weeks, walk/ride for 5 minutes per day – no more for 2 weeks. When the 2 weeks are up, increase to 7 minutes, then 10 minutes, 12 minutes… continue to gradually increase your activity until you’re at a level that you’re comfortable with.

In effect, you trick your body into producing more energy. You’re building your exercise time up so slowly that your body doesn’t really realize what’s happening. Follow this method and, before you know it, you’ll be comfortably exercising within your limits every day.

If you can rearrange your life a little to allow for better eating habits and a little exercise, and if you remember to drink a glass of water every half hour or so, you’ll be well on the way to living a healthy life.

Don’t forget to take some quiet time for yourself. Just give yourself 5 minutes of quiet time every day – even in the shower, and have a little catch up with yourself. Last, but not least, laugh – the louder the better! You’ll be amazed at how much such a simple thing can lift your spirits!

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