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.)

Breathing and Oxygen

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Yes, we have to breath to live. However, did you know there is a strong connection between the elements of breathing, exercise, and eating. They are all interrelated and affect the body both individually and jointly. You already know the connection between eating and exercise, but are you aware of the role proper breathing plays in providing the body with the oxygen needed for maximum metabolism? 

BREATHING & OXYGEN

This is how the process works.  In order to metabolize food, the body needs certain elements to come together and create the right conditions for food breakdown.  Oxygen is one of the elements.  The more oxygen we add to the process, the better our metabolic process can work to properly utilize the energy from the food we have consumed.

It is here that our breathing plays a key role in the metabolic process.  The deeper, and more efficiently we breathe, the more oxygen we consume.  The more oxygen we consume, the more we supply to the metabolic process. Breathing properly affects so many other bodily functions, as well.

Better breathing not only assists in the metabolic process, it keeps our organs healthy and functioning properly by supplying them with enough oxygen. Do you see how vitally important proper breathing is to the health of your body?

EXERCISE

What role does exercise play in this process?  Exercise conditions our body to keep it in optimal shape.  It keeps muscles functioning correctly and builds muscle mass.  The more muscle we have, the more calories we burn; the more calories we burn, the better our metabolism is at using up the calories we take in through food consumption.

Exercise not only makes our metabolism work more efficiently, but participating in regular aerobic exercise reduces your risk for many diseases and conditions. The number one health benefit of regular exercise is that it reduces your risk for heart disease. It also reduces your risk for stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis, and reduces your risk for developing certain types of cancer.


THE BODY AS A MACHINE

Can you begin to see how our body is really a well functioning machine?  If you think of your body as a machine that needs to be constantly maintained in order to function well, you will be more inclined to treat it with more care.  Your body is a continual and constant circle of events, each one feeding off of the others.  When all the events come together properly, our bodies are healthy and in prime condition.  When abuse of the system begins to occur, we put our bodies and our lives in jeopardy.

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN

We need to educate our children, while they are young, about the dangers of abusing their body. We educate them constantly about the dangers of the world and of the things around them; the household appliances that are incorrectly operated and the danger of driving a car recklessly. We just don’t take the time to educate them about the most important piece of equipment they will ever operate, their own body.

Exercise, healthy eating and breathing properly are the necessary ingredients to the proper operation of the body.  Of all the things we ever learn, of all the thoughts we ever entertain, or the abilities we acquire as we grow, our health and the means to maintain it, are the most important.  Nothing else works unless our mind and body have been kept in working condition. 

Have you ever noticed someone who is paralyzed?   So many choices they could make about how to spend their time, playing sports, skiing, or swimming, have been taken away.  The same is true for someone who has abused their body to the point of being an invalid. So many of the choices that could have been made to enrich their lives have been taken away. 

There is nothing more important in life than taking care of your body. If you don’t, you will experience sickness and poor health. Taking care of yourself physically also helps you feel better emotionally and mentally. Healthy eating, exercising, and proper breathing are small prices to pay for a healthy, happy life.

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