Category: Weight Loss Exercise

A while back I was thinking of a more holistic way of working out, cardio, eating, sleeping and all those other tasks that we do that are really more an idea of wellness than anything else.

I was thinking that there needs to be a way to break all of these down and put them together in one place and this is the result. Nine bodyparts to a better life.

Your Head, think about what you want and move towards it
Everyday we have several opportunities to make a change for the better, the worse or just say the same and everytime we make a decision in one of these directions.

At breakfast you could have oatmeal, or toast and jam, or you could have a coffee and a donut, your decision could often be better. When you get to work you could take the elevator only part way and climb a few flights in the very empty stairwell or you could choose to take an elevator to your floor.

Don’t feel too terribly bad about all of your decisions as you should know that not many others are making a great decision every time either. I ride my bike to work every day and in a building of 1000 people I am one of three bike riders.

Look at these decisions one at a time and if it is a little easier carry around a notebook and write down things to do better. Try to resolve today to just do a few things a little better than you did yesterday.

Your Heart, have passion in your life
There was movie a few years ago called ‘Pay It Forward’ where the child in the movie gave something to a homeless man with the explicit command that he had to pay it forward.

Pay it forward means that you do good things for others with the expectation that they will follow through and do good things for others as well. This is the way that great societies invigorate and continue to revitalize themselves. What are you doing through work of the heart to make things better for the others around you?

Can you send an uplifting email to someone you have not seen in a while? Can you send flowers to an enemy, anonymously? Can you make sure that your family knows today as well as tomorrow that you love them? Resolve today to think of the feelings of others more often

Your Mouth, be careful of what you put in your mouth
Try to look at all of the food going into your mouth. Are you eating a lot of fatty foods that your body will have to fight to digest? Are you eating a lot of sugar that is making you THINK that you have a lot of energy?

Are you drinking a lot of water instead of pop or coffee? And finally are you eating a lot of nice clean food, fruits, vegetables and lean meats? Changes in our diet are often hard but we forget about that after a week or so when we are feeling better than we have felt for years and have energy to burn to do great things with our life.

And again the water, your mouth waters when you think about food for a reason, we need lots of water to help us digest and to keep our metabolism at an even keel

Your Arms, make sure you do exercise with your arms
Anytime that you exercise with your arms you are doing more work than usual. Riding a bike you use you arms to steer, playing tennis you are using your arms to toss and swing, swimming you are using your arms to propel yourself.

You can see also that anytime you use your arms you are more engaged in the activity. I always think of sports that you use your arms in as being a lot more fun.

Your Legs, make sure you do exercise with your legs
Your legs are the part of your body that propels you. The biggest muscles in your body are in your legs and they are the key to improving your fitness.

If you get started using your legs more you will be stronger, no overnight but in as soon as a week.

You should begin by taking a leisurely walk for a half an hour in the morning or evening and then move up to a faster pace, a longer time or both and before you know it you are looking forward to that quiet time as well as feeling great before, during and after your exercise.

Your Eyes, see what is possible
Some people look at changes in their lifestyle as being impossible, do not do that! Have some passion in living a better life. Too often we see people living a life of common destiny where they live within the lowest common standards. What if you stopped watching TV every night?

What if instead of just reading a book you wrote one instead? What if you woke up one hour earlier in the morning every day and had some quiet time and a great workout while listening to music that only teenagers are supposed to listen to.

Look at everything in your surroundings. What is possible? what are others doing? What do you currently think is possible? Just as we can make a decision on what we eat and what we do we can also go out and change our lives by making changes that we have seen. Any expectations that we have are ours alone.

Today remember that we can do whatever we want just by deciding that ‘Yes, today I will see this as possible and do it now!’

Your Ears, hear everything and move the info to your head
Listen to your surroundings; make sure that you are listening and not just interpreting what you want to hear. The truth is only our perception of the stories we hear and the things that we believe we have seen.

Make sure that today you try to hear the other persons point of view and instead of thinking of a response in a disagreement try instead to see why the other person it thinking the way she is.

Your Stomach, your abs are the key to your core strength
Most people hate situps, there is something really uncomfortable about cramping up your stomach to get a stomach exercise to work. Instead of situps always do crunches, a crunch is done by putting your lower legs up on a chair, lying down like for a situp and then just raising your shoulders a few inches off of the floor.

After you do this a few times you will feel it in your gut but over a couple of weeks of doing this three times a week you will feel much stronger and your posture and breathing will improve immensely.

Your Back, lie back and relax
Always take the time to lie back and relax. Sleep is always important especially when the regular and irregular stresses of life get you down or drive you crazy.

Another important thing to do is just to lie back in a quiet room or a field or in the car on the side of the road and just let all of the stresses of life wash away.

Think of the ways to fix for your life’s problems not when you are trying to fall asleep but after dinner on the couch or while lying in the backyard under a warm sun when you don’t have anything pressing that needs to be done.

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A food allergy is a reaction by the body’s immune system. When a person is sensitive to a food, such as peanuts, the immune system overreacts when the person comes in contact with that food.

True food allergies are quite rare, affecting only about 1 % of adults and about 5% of children.

Food Allergy or Food Intolerance?

Many people think they have a food allergy, but what they really have is a food intolerance, which is a problem in the digestive tract and does not involve the immune system.

In someone with a food intolerance, either the food irritates the digestive tract or the body is unable to digest that food properly.

While the symptoms of food allergies and food intolerances are often similar, there are important differences between them as well.

Eating even a tiny amount of a food can trigger an allergic reaction, and the reaction will happen every time the person eats that food.

On the other hand, a food intolerance may not cause a reaction unless a large amount of the food is consumed.

For example, in someone with lactose intolerance drinking a cup of coffee with a small amount of milk in it may not cause a problem, but that same person might become sick after drinking a whole glass of milk.

The foods that most commonly trigger allergies are:

• cow’s milk
• eggs
• fish (such as bass, cod, and flounder)
• shellfish (such as crab, lobster, shrimp)
• peanuts
• tree nuts (such as almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, and walnuts)
• wheat
• soy

Symptoms of Food Allergies

Food allergy symptoms usually develop within an hour of eating the food, sometimes within minutes, and they can range from mild and annoying to frightening and life-threatening. People who are especially sensitive may have a reaction from simply touching the food or breathing in particles of it.

Symptoms of a food intolerance may be extremely uncomfortable, but they are typically less serious than the symptoms of a food allergy.

In severe cases of food allergy, the person may suffer from a life-threatening reaction known as anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock. This dangerous reaction can cause:

• tightening of the airways, including a swollen throat that causes breathing difficulties
• shock, with a severe drop in blood pressure
• rapid pulse
• dizziness, light headedness, or loss of consciousness.

Treatment of Food Allergies

These are warning signs of a serious problem and require immediate medical attention. There is a medication (epinephrine) that people with serious allergies should carry at all times.

It comes in a self-injecting device, and anyone who has food allergies or knows someone who does should know how to use the device. This can, quite literally, be a life saver. Even if the reaction is controlled quickly, immediate medical attention is still necessary. A single injection is not always enough to completely control the reaction.

People with severe allergies should also wear medical identification jewelry. During a severe reaction a person may not be able to speak, and this jewelry can identify the problem for emergency medical personnel so that the proper treatment can be given quickly.

When a child has a food allergy, the parents must take special precautions. Make sure that all caregivers (including family members, teachers, babysitters, and the parents of the child’s friends) all know how to use the epinephrine injection device. Older children should learn to use the device themselves.

Parents must also impress on children how important it is not to eat the food they are allergic to. Young children should be instructed never to eat food given to them by anyone other than a family member. Older children should be instructed to ask about any food someone gives them and to make sure the person giving them the food knows about their allergy and how serious it is.

What are food allergies?, 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

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The importance of setting goals is an open secret known by top caliber athletes, successful businessmen and businesswomen and all types of achievers in all the different fields.

The point of setting goals is that they give you short-term and long-term motivation and focus. They help you set your mind on getting to know what you need to know, developing your skills and planning and organizing your resources and your time so that you can get the best out of your life.

Why Do You Need To Set Goals?

Setting clearly defined short term and long term goals will enable you to measure your progress and achieve personal satisfaction once you have successfully met your goals.

Charting your progress will also enable you to see the stages of completion leading to the actual realization of your goals. This eliminates the feeling of a long and pointless grind towards achieving your goal because you know how far you have come. Your self-confidence and level of competence will also improve because you will be more aware of your capabilities as you complete or achieve your goals.

The basics of goal settings will involve deciding what you really want to do with your personal and professional life and what short term and long term goals you need to reach to achieve what you want.

Then you have to break down goals into the smaller and manageable targets that you must complete in your way to achieving your lifetime targets. Once you have your list waste no time in tackling the first steps toward your goals.

A good way to have a manageable list is to have a daily and weekly set of goals. By doing this you will be always in the position of going towards your life plan goals. It is easy to get distracted and having at least one goal for each day will keep you on track and bring you a feeling of accomplishment.

Here are some pointers that should be taken into consideration in setting goals and achieving them.

7 Goal Setting Tips

1. Attitude plays a very big role in setting and achieving your goals. You must ask yourself if any part of you is holding you back from completing your simplest goals? If there are any behavior patterns that are preventing you from reaching your goals, there might be some subtle reason like a fear of success. If you do have problems in these areas then it is important to address the underlying cause and not just go on struggling with the negative behavior. Solutions may include a visit to a doctor or psychiatrist to control your emotions.

2. Successful careers are built on good time management practice. Failing in a career is often attributed to bad time management. You may not always know how long a task will take you and you may need to reschedule some things. But always start the day knowing exactly what are your top priorities for the day, and do not let minor issues distract you from them for at least the first part of the day.

3. Education and training will be key in achieving your goals. Sometimes you can learn from experience but you will usually find there is at least one skill set where you need some formal training. Don’t get stuck on the thought that you don’t know how to do something. Go out there and find somebody to teach you how to do it.

4. Your family should never be left out of your plans. Involve them in your goals and help them see what’s in it for them. If you are a single person this may not seem so relevant, but your friends will still be important to you. Don’t become so wrapped up in achieving your career goals that you have no time for a personal life. Relationship goals are important too.

5. Personal financial situations also play a major role in achieving your goals. Have a realistic goal on how much you really want to earn. It’s a good idea to create plans or stages, mini goals by which you will be able to reach your earning potential.

6. To start achieving your lifetime goals, imagine where you want to be in 25 years, then break it down to 5 year plans. Take the first 5 years and break that down to 1 year plans, then 3 months, then the first month, the first week and finally the first day. Then create a things-to-do list for that day, and you are ready to take the first step toward your goal.

7. Always review your plans and prepare for contingencies. Remember, they are YOUR goals and nobody else’s. They may change as your life changes. You don’t have to do something just because the person that was you 10 years ago wanted to do it. On the other hand, don’t let the dream of a lifetime be destroyed by the petty grind of daily life. Continually remind yourself of what your true goals are, and you will find they are not so hard to reach.

As the saying goes -’All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’. Giving yourself a little pleasure should be included into your plans, as should rest and relaxation. Your goals are important but you can best achieve them if you are fit, healthy and happy.