Doctorina - Beauty and Fitness

Message for good morning

2020-06-03T21:23:00.001-07:00

Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others. Rosa Parks

Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. Conan O’Brien

The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power. Mary Pickford

Persistence overshadows even talent as the most valuable resource shaping the quality of life. Tony Robbins

I don’t dream at night, I dream all day; I dream for a living. Steven Spielberg

Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around. Henry David Thoreau

Ten reasons why should you exercise

2017-01-07T02:12:00.002-08:00

We know we should exercise because it’s good for us, but why? A lot of us think that our weight is fine and we have no desire to change how our bodies look, but the benefits of exercise are more than just shedding a few pounds.

So why should you exercise?

Metabolism

During a workout your metabolism increases and after a workout it is higher than it would be without exercise.

Endorphins

After a workout, you body releases endorphins. These are hormones that increase pleasure and happiness. It’s basically a mood enhancer without having to take anything.

Sleep

A few hours after you workout, and your blood pressure normalizes, you will sleep much better.

Improved Immune System

After a few weeks of somewhat regular exercise, the number of lymphocytes in your blood increases so you are better at fighting off infection.

Stress

Not only is a workout a great way to calm yourself down in the moment, but after weeks of training, you actually become less prone to getting stress.

Brain Activity Increases

Since you are improving your muscular function, your brain is making more and more neural connections which improves your brain function and memory!

Energy Boost

Exercise increases lung capacity, muscle strength, and endurance. Now, those flights of stairs or trip to the grocery store won’t cause your energy to be completely drained.

Confidence Boost

Even before you start seeing results or changes in your body, you will feel more confident. You start noticing “oh hey, I couldn’t run that far/lift that much/ do that move last week”. It gives you a sense of accomplishment.

Higher Life Expectancy

Our bodies are made to move. Studies are starting to find that exercising regularly can help improve life expectancy as much as quitting smoking (which is quite a lot!).

Quality Of Life

Sum all of this up and you start living a healthy and happy life. You feel great, you sleep great, and you are fretting about everything.
Now, what does “regular exercise” entail? Basically, just aim to do something active for an hour a day! Do some yoga, go for a walk, dance, run, lift weights. Just get off your couch and move!

Source

A Look on Fitness Diet

2016-10-16T08:59:00.001-07:00

Many people nowadays are very much conscious about their own health and fitness. In addition to that, these people, and many others as well, are now having that desire to sculpt their bodies to ahieve that magazine-cover look. As a result, gyms, health spas and other fitness centers have proliferated all over to cater to the needs of the fitness buffs and afficionados.

Even on television exercise machines, weight loss products, and other paraphernalia to improve fitness have more or less gained control over the airwaves and made their way into the households. But exerise is not the only way to build that body beautiful. It also entails certain amount of responsibility on the foods one chooses to eat. Being healthy and fit requires one to observe diet fitness.

Diet fitness is as essential as exercise itself. Diet for fitness provides the essential nutrition one needs to restore worn-out muscles and for healthy growth. Diet fitness should never be taken for granted. With the popularity of keeping fit, many different views, methods, programs and dieting strategies have been formulated by many professionals. Among these are high carb diets and high fat diets. Whih one is more effective and which one should one choose to follow?

First thing to know would be the fundamental differences between these two diet approaches. As the name implies, high carb diets concentrates on taking in carbohydrate-rich foods while high fat diets endorses fat-rich foods. High carb diets are utilized to glycogen stored in the liver and muscles. Glycogen is a glucose complex that provides large amounts of energy ready for use in anaerobic exercises.

Fats, on the other hand, is well-nown for being the richest source of calories. It actually contains 2.5 times more calories than carbohydrates and proteins alike. Studies also show that it takes the body 24 calories to metabolize carbohydrates while it only takes 3 to burn down fat. So which one to follow? A person can follow a high carb and low fat fitness diet or the other way around. It is absolutely not recommended to follow both at the same time; unless of course if you want to gain body fat.

But then diet fitness is not all about losing fat, one must also consider his diet in order to keep fat away. Research shows that sustainable loss of weight can only be achieved on a diet which suits the individual food preferences, lifestyle, medical profile and satiety signals.

Diet programs all over can help you shed off excess pounds, but only one diet can help you stay sexy, and it is the one that satisfies you most. Other important aspects of having a fit diet are moderation, balance and variation. One must be careful not to leave out important nutrients and other substances necessary for healthy body functioning. health organizations are clear about the amounts of nutrients an individual should have in the body.

Low fat high carbs, high carbs low fat; the question is not which diet program will work out but which is it that will work for you. Striving for a sexy and healthy body does not have to burden an individual, diet fitness does not have to mean sticking to the same kind of food for life. One may even try to be adventurous and try out new foods out there. Who knows? one may even discover spinach interesting.

All about Facial skin care

2016-10-16T08:43:00.001-07:00

‘Facial skin care’ is more a matter of discipline than anything else. A facial skin care routine is what you need (and you need to follow the facial skin care routine with complete seriousness). So let’s check what comprises an effective facial skin care routine.

Well, very simply, a facial skin care routine can follow the following 4 steps:
* Cleansing
* Toning
* Exfoliating
* Moisturising

Cleansing is the first thing in facial skin care routine. Cleansing helps in removing dust, pollutants, grease and extra oil from your skin, thereby preventing damage to your skin. Just spot your face and neck with a good cleansing lotion or cream and gently massage it into your skin using upward strokes. Use a soft face tissue or cotton wool to wipe your face in a gentle patting fashion (do not rub). Cleansing should be done at least twice a day i.e. morning (as part of complete facial skin care routine) and evening (on a standalone basis). Water soluble cleansers are the best for inclusion in your facial skin care routine.

Toning is the next in a facial skin care routine. However, this is the optional part of the facial skin care routine. Mostly, proper cleansing can compensate for toning. Toning helps remove all traces of dirt, grease and excess cleanser. Instead of making it part of your daily facial skin care routine, you can using toning occasionally i.e. when you have been exposed to particularly harsh environment/pollution.

Exfoliation is again, kind of, optional step in everyday routine for facial skin care. However, exfoliation is necessary at least once a week (or twice, depending on the skin type and the environmental conditions). Exfoliation finds its place in facial skin care routine because of the natural tendency of skin to replenish the skin cells every 3 or 4 weeks. As a facial skin care technique, exfoliation helps in removing the dead skin cells that block the pores, thus assisting the skin in the natural process. However, excessive or harsh exfoliation can cause damage to your skin; so you need to balance it out.

The next thing in facial skin care is moisturising. In fact, moisturising is the most important part of facial skin care routine. Moisturisers prevent your skin from getting dry. Dry skin is really undesirable since it cause the upper layer skin to break, leading to dead skin cells. Again, use light upward strokes to make the moisturiser more effective. Moisturisers work the best when applied on warm and damp skin. So do not try to remove all the moisture in the previous steps of facial skin care routine.

Besides the normal facial skin care routine, you should also exercise the following for facial skin care:

* Use proper make-up remover instead of just washing it away
* Pay heed to your skin type and the environment, when choosing facial skin care products.
* Before you start using a new facial skin care product, test it by applying it on a short patch of skin e.g. ear lobes.
* Never rub your skin too hard.
* Use sunscreen lotions for protection against sun.

The facts about oily skin care

2016-10-16T08:39:00.001-07:00

To start the discussion on oily skin care, it’s imperative to first understand the cause behind oily skin. Put simply, oily skin is a result of excessive production of sebum (an oily substance that is naturally produced by skin). As is known to everyone, excess of everything is bad; so excessive sebum is bad too. It leads to clogging of skin pores, resulting in accumulation of dead cells and hence formation of pimples/acne. Moreover, oily skin spoils your looks too. So, ‘oily skin care’ is as important as the ‘skin care’ for other types of skin.

The basic aim of ‘oily skin care’ is the removal of excessive sebum or oil from the skin. However, oily skin care procedures should not lead to complete removal of oil. ‘Oily skin care’ starts with the use of a cleanser. However, not all cleansers will work. You need a cleanser which contains salicylic acid i.e. a beta-hydroxy acid that retards the rate of sebum production. Cleansing should be done twice a day (and even more in hot and humid conditions).

Most of the oily skin care products are oil-free; however, it is always good to check the ingredients of the product, before you actually buy it. This is especially important if a product is marked as ‘suitable for all skin types’, instead of ‘oily skin care product’. ‘Oily skin care’ is also dependent on the degree of oiliness, if you aren’t too oily, so some of these ‘suitable for all’- type of products might be work for you too. For extremely oily skin, only oily skin care products are suitable. Your oily skin care routine can include an alcohol based toner (for an extremely oily skin). This can be the second step in your oily skin care routine i.e. just after cleansing. However, excessive toning can harm your skin.

The next step in your oily skin care routine can be a mild moisturiser. Again, the degree of oiliness of your skin will determine whether you need to include this in your oily skin care routine. If you do decide to include a moisturiser, be sure to use one that is oil-free, wax-free and lipid-free.
You could also use a clay mask (say once a week) as an oily skin care measure.

As far as the oily skin care products go, you might need to try out a few before you arrive at the one that is really suitable for your skin.

In case these measures don’t give you the desired result, consult a good dermatologist for advice. He could prescribe stronger oily skin care products like vitamin A creams, retinoids, sulphur creams etc , which can help counter the problems of oily skin.

Top 10 skin care tips

2016-10-16T08:36:00.003-07:00

Healthy skin is really one of the most important ingredients for beauty-enhancement.
This article on skin care tips is an effort to bring the 10 best skin care tips to you. The list of skin care tips has been restricted to 10 because anything more that that would not only be difficult to remember, but also shadow the more important skin care tips.

So let’s see what these top ten skin care tips are:
* Knowing your skin type is one of the most important skin care tip. This is important because not every skin care product suits everyone. In fact, all the skin care products specify the type of skin they cater too.

* ‘Drink a lot of water’. This will not keep your skin moist but will help in overall upkeep of your health (and in turn your skin). It might seem a bit awkward to some, however, this is an important skin care tip.

* Cleanse your skin regularly (1-2 times everyday). A very effective skin care tip that helps in getting rid of the dirt and other harsh elements from your skin. Cleansing is especially important when you have been out of your house (and hence exposed to pollutants, dust etc). This skin care tip also advocates the use of Luke warm water for cleansing (hot and cold water, both, cause damage to your skin)

* Be gentle, after all it’s your skin. Don’t scrub/exfoliate too hard or too often. Similarly, don’t apply too much or too many skin care products. A must-to-follow skin care tip.

* Keep your skin moist at all times. This is one of the most important skin care tip. Don’t let your skin get dry. Dryness causes the outer layer of your skin to break, leading to a rough and unattractive appearance. Use moisturisers/ emollients. Moisturisers work best when applied while the skin is still damp.

* Avoid the use of soap on your face. Soap should only be used from below the neck. A small but important skin care tip.

* Use sunscreen to protect yourself from sun’s harmful UV radiations. You can use day-time moisturisers that have sunscreen built into them. Use them even when it’s cloudy. UV radiations are known to cause skin cancer, so follow this skin care tip without fail.

* A bit of exercise and good sleep are essential too, not just for skin care but for your health as a whole. Lack of sleep can lead to formation of wrinkles below your eyes and lack of exercise can cause your skin to slack. Moreover, exercise and sleep also help in beating stress. So besides being a skin care tip, this is also a health care tip.

* Treat skin dilemmas with care. This skin care tip is about not ignoring any skin dilemmas. Consult your dermatologist before you go on to use a skin care product (lest you do end up harming your skin even more).

* Beat the stress. The harmful effects of stress are known to everyone, however, sometimes stating the obvious is essential too (and hence this skin care tip found its place here). Yes, stress harms skin too. So, take a break or indulge in a warm bubble bath or just get good sleep.

10 ways to be a better you

2016-07-24T02:44:00.001-07:00

Lose weight
Lose weight by going on a safe weight loss plan. Just by losing weight, you will feel better and healthier. You will look good and feel great. That should be your Mantra. ‘I look good and I feel great.’

The main thing is to set your goals so that you lose weight, surely, safely and you will like what you see in the mirror. People will start complimenting you.

And you will be able to wear clothes you pushed to the back of your wardrobe, as they had shrunk. You might even find you have a brand new wardrobe.

Take More Exercise

If you are able, do more exercise to burn the calories. Walking is extremely good. Or put on a CD and dance to the music. Don’t put on fast music that you can’t keep up with. You don’t want to die of exhaustion.

Exercising will help you lose weight, increase your energy, and you will get the feel good feeling as your endorphins will come into play. Endorphins are your friends.

Eat Sensibly With A Well Balanced Diet

Eat a well balanced diet. Or if you do not eat as you should, use supplementation. Few people eat a well balanced diet. So by taking supplementation you will be getting all the right vitamins and minerals in the right amounts that your body needs.

Look After Your Heart and It Will Look After You

Your heart is the one thing that keeps you alive. Look after it and it will look after you. If it is too late and your heart is giving you problems eg High Blood Pressure, you need to take Omega 3, 6 and 9. Capsules are readily available from your Health Food Shop.

And most importantly, if your GP has prescribed medication, keep on taking them regularly, no matter how well you feel.

Increase Your Energy

Increase your energy by eating foods that help speed up your metabolism. Using the Mediterranean Diet is ideal. It will also help you to lose weight.

The Mediterranean Diet means you will be eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, especially dark green leafy ones.

Be Kind To Yourself by Making Time For You

Pamper yourself every so often. Love your self.

Spend an evening manicuring your nails, use a mudpack.

Put on your favourite music, or watch a video. The point is to choose what you want to listen to or watch, not what someone else tells you to do.

Get someone to give you a massage. Aromatherapy can be very beneficial.

You may have to promise to give him or her a massage in return. But not on the same night as your pampering session.

Be Positive. Your Thoughts Are What Make You What You Are

Keep a positive mental attitude. Don’t let negative thoughts take over your mind. When this happens, think of something good instead.

Keep telling yourself you feel wonderful, even if you don’t. If you tell your subconscious mind something enough times, as it does not reason, it will believe it to be the truth.

Enjoy Family Life

Enjoy family time. Show your family that you love them. Play games with the kids.

It is said that a family that play together stay together.

And arrange things so that you can spend an evening alone with your partner.

Improve Your Knowledge

Never stop learning. Be like a child, keep asking why. Curiosity does not kill the cat; it just makes it cleverer.

Drink More Water

Drink enough water to flush the toxins out of your body. Also not drinking enough water can cause you to be constipated.

Copyright Eva Moffat

Why women need to exercise?

2016-05-24T11:18:00.001-07:00

Women know they need exercise, but who has the time? Balancing a career, a family and everything in between often causes women’s personal needs to take a back seat to other concerns.

There are numerous reasons why women need to include exercise into their daily routines. Of course, there is the obvious benefit of shaping a slimmer body but did you know that exercise for women has also been proven to alleviate depression, help prevent colon cancer and boost your immune system?

In addition, regular exercise for women helps prevent osteoporosis by strengthening their bones.

Many women find that exercise relieves the symptoms of premenstrual tension (PMT), painful periods as well as pre- and post-menopausal symptoms.

Women who are physically fit before and during pregnancy often have less severe back and labor pain and experience easier deliveries than women who are unfit. Further, fit mothers-to-be are less apt to become overweight and regain their pre-pregnancy figures much more quickly after giving birth.

In addition to improving their appearance and overall health, many women say that exercise helps to boost their self-confidence in all aspects of their lives.

Mary McElroy, professor of kinesiology at Kansas State University says, “Exercising gives women a sense of accomplishment, which is related to self-esteem. It can have a powerful effect on self-image. I would take the benefits of exercise beyond health. Exercise is an important component of one’s quality of life.”

In recent years, there has been a boom in the variety of workouts for women as well as an increased availability of exercise and physical recreational options, including online fitness programs–primarily because more and more women are taking a serious interest in keeping themselves fit and strong.

Studies have shown that a combination of cardio and strength and flexibility training including walking, running, climbing stairs, kickboxing, yoga, cycling at a moderate pace and other recreational pursuits help women to stay healthier, happier and more productive as compared to their sedentary counterparts.

Note: Always consult with a professional health care advisor before beginning any physical fitness program.

5 Healthy Ways to Weight Loss

2016-05-06T10:57:00.001-07:00

The world is fascinated with weight loss, some for health reasons and others for cosmetic. No matter the reason, many people try harsh diets that never work, extreme exercise regimens that result in injuries or other weight loss program that end without success. The reason that none of these weight loss methods seem to work is because in order to stay with a program, you have to enjoy it. Not only that, but it has to be safe as well.

Below are 5 genuine tips to weight loss, which almost anyone can do without tossing out their favorite food or spending every spare minute in the gym. Realistically, any weight loss program will take time. If anyone promises you different, they are either not being completely honest or are simply uninformed. Follow one single weight loss program for 30 days, whatever it may be, and see if you have results. If not, move on to something else. In the meantime, check out several tips to getting started today.

Walking
If you can set aside 30 minutes every day to enjoy a leisurely stroll, you will be strengthening your legs and your heart while burning some calories in the process.

Use a mini cycle.
These portable little exercise units offer the look of bicycle pedals set up on a metal bar, but without the high price or weight of a standard exercise bike. With a min cycle, you can pedal at your desk, on the couch or anywhere else that you can comfortably set and reach the pedals.

Walk or take the stairs instead of an elevator.
This is a terrific weight loss exercise without even noticing the extra effort. Something as simple as a few extra steps every day can go a long way where weight loss is concerned. The next time you go to the store, park in the middle of the parking lot and walk to the store. Avoid parking in the closest spot to the door, which is tempting, but opt to walk instead.

You don’t necessarily have to cut out all of your favorite foods, but you should eat them in moderation. There is no single food that will completely hinder your weight loss attempt but, if consumed excessively, it may. For instance, simply limit your intake to one candy bar or, if you are being really careful, a miniature candy. There is no reason to cut out your favorite food when a conservative amount of the things we love can still have a place in our lives, including during the times that we are focusing on weight loss.

Whatever your exercise routine, set aside a certain time each day to do it. Individuals who set a routine are much more likely to stay with it and find success than those who simply exercise whenever they have time. The goal to successful weight loss is to make time.

Staying Healthy And Staying Young

2016-03-30T04:06:00.000-07:00

There are many ways to stay young. Many resort to cosmetic surgery at the expense of several hundred dollars. Some ingest medication designed to eliminate free radicals in the bodies. Some even experiment with different cosmetics and apply these on their skin, face and other parts of their bodies, hoping to gain the youthful benefits of staying young. However, these are artificially done and may pose some side effects.

Staying healthy and staying young at the same time is hard to achieve with these artificial means. Unless one is fortunate enough to be gifted with youthful genes, one is posed with this dilemma.

Nevertheless, there are natural, and risk free ways for one to slow down the effects of aging on our
body's systems. Believe it or not, some of these pertain to the psychological effect of a person's
disposition. Some of the studies conducted have revealed that the individual's outlook result to a
more youthful appearance.

Smile The Wrinkles Away

Smiling a lot at appropriate times are beneficial to the individual as it projects an image of positive
outlook both for the self and for those whom the person meets. Not only does a smile projects such
positive energy, but also allows the individual to refrain from worrying too much, as compared to when a frown or perplexed and anxious face is made.

Furthermore, a smile in practice does not distend the skin on the forehead which would have caused and increase the stress folds on the skin. This skin on the forehead causes wrinkle flaps, and frowning or worrying defines these folds every time an individual practices otherwise.

Laugh The Problems Away

It may be said that laughter is the best medicine, and actually holds some truth in it. In addition to the
positive perspective which a smile can project, actually laughing at a problem deep inside can pep up the psyche and increase the confidence level of the person. By not seeing the problem as a burden but
rather as a challenge to conquer, the method in which the solution is carried out requires less effort, less energy, and therefore better efficiency in overall body functioning.

Ever tried a sport such as ice skating for the first time? The effects are similar wherein the stressor of
a problem is analogous to the pure and extended effort of the skater to try and balance on the two blades. As soon as the individual is able to get a hold of the stressor and accepts it as it is, the numbing of the foot is lessened because less amount of muscles are now needed to maintain the same output of being able to balance on the skating shoes.

Basically, being able to laugh off problems and stressors promote the release of endorphins which gives a sense of simple euphoria on the person, and therefore promotes a healthy psychological state

Run Towards Your Opponent

Normally, passive people who have no desire to be aggressive at things would tend to shy away at the
first sign of an aggressor. They would find other means to go around an issue and avoid conflict while
still attaining resolution. Though the idea of avoidance of conflict may seem to be good as a means of staying healthy and staying young by disallowing major stressors to affect the psycho-physiological
framework of a person, there is still the risk of the stressor to actually follow from behind. This would cause increased risk of psychological disturbance on the part of the person, especially if the individual has not totally resolved the main issue.

The only way to go around a problem is to go through it. Facing a problem does not mean that the person has to fight head on. The virtue of facing a problem and laughing at it to signify confidence of self would be more long lasting. Think of it this way. A little sailboat is caught in a storm and the waves are quite big. The only way to survive a big oncoming wave is to charge and slice right through it. Trying to expose the broadside and trying to outmaneuver such a wave would easily topple the small sailboat then.

Whenever a rush to the opponents proves as a failureon your part, you will still have several chances to think about how to efficiently go through him. By practicing facing of fears, one is able to have first hand knowledge in handling with similar situations in the future.

Staying healthy and staying young is a simple psychological conditioning of a person to practice
looking at life as more than problems and obstacles and instead as challenges and conquerable events to feed the ego and soul of an individual. A healthy mind should then be able to handle a healthy body properly.

The best Fitness Program

2016-03-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

Better Work Out

1.Stop and Go

If you play a sport that requires a full sprint, remember that a full sprint strains the muscles of the lower body. To combat this, do stop-and-go exercises. For example, run 30 meters at about 80 percent of your effort, slow to a jog for five to 10 meters, then run again for another 30 meters. Repeat this process five times.

2.On bended knees

Almost 3 out of four ACL injury occurs when players are landing or turning. If your knees are bent instead of straight, the risk of injury is greatly reduced according to a report in the JAAOS (Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons).

3.Cool down

Heatstroke is not something that can be easily cured like headache. To avoid it, stay cool and hydrated. Be sure the combined temp an humidity is less than 160. This is according to Dr. Dave Janda of the IPSM.

4.Get the proper equipment

Badly fitting gears or ill sized equipment can be a cause of training injuries. The extra money spent on proper equipment goes a long way.

5.Do it the right way

Bad technique is just as bad as, well, bad equipment. Seek advice from pros and trainer, this advice are invaluable to your exercises or training.

6.Go West (or whichever direction)

If you're playing or training in multiple directions, your warm up should also. Move sideways, backward, forward and all the motions you might be doing. This allows your body to be prepared.

7.Have yourself filmed

The camera doesn't lie. Show your video to a person well verse in your training, so he can give a critic of your fitness regimen.

8.Loosen the shoulders.

Even a slightly injured rotator cuff can shut down the function of a shoulder. You might want to include stretching to protect your rotator cuffs.

9.take An early dip

Schedule your swimming sessions early. The less people in the pool means less of everything in the pool.

10. Protect yourself

Wearing custom-fitted mouth guards reduces the risk of injuries by as much as 82 percent, according to a study at UNC at Chapel Hill. Plunk out the cash for a custom-fitted mouth guard and it'll last for years including your smile and teeth.

11. Smooth out your tendon

Inquire about ultrasound needle therapy. These procedure is minimally by using ultrasound to guide a needle. The needle smoothens the bone, breaks up calcifications, and fixes scar tissue. Thirteen out of twenty patients saw improvement, and the session takes only about 15 minutes of your time.

12. Buy your running shoes after work.

Shop in the evening, the feet are swollen after a day of work. It approximates how your feet will be after three miles of running.

13. Do off road running.

If the surface is unstable, it trains the ankles to be stable.

14. Know where you're going.

Whether its biking, or skiing, be sure to have a dry run down any path first. A lot of injuries can be avoided when you're familiar with the route taken.

15. Train hard.

Anxiety reduces your peripheral vision by three degrees and slows the reaction time by almost 120 milliseconds, according to an article of the Journal of Sports Sciences. When the going gets difficult, the veteran athlete rely on skills they've trained for and practiced. It keeps them cooler under pressure, widening their vision so they can see react much faster.

5 Helpful Things to Do to Start Your Personal Fitness Program

2016-03-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

The most common challenge that people I talk to face is how to incorporate fitness into their lives. They know they have to do something to get in shape but they really don’t know how. It can be discouraging because of the abundance of information out there. So much that you may not know where to begin.

Our society has so many food choices that it is easy to pack on the extra pounds. Also our day to day jobs are less physical as they where 100 years ago so we have more sedentary life styles. We know there are benefits involved when we exercise and cleaning up or diet. However, most of us know don’t know how or where to start.

So where do we begin? Or is the question: How do we begin?

The very first thing you need do is go to your doctor and get the approval to start exercising. Your doctor may also provide some helpful tips as well.

After you get the “OK” from your doctor, try these 5 things to help you get started:

Make the Choice to Start Exercising and Eating Right

Making the decision to do something provides a form of commitment you made to your self. Deciding that you need to change behavior creates new possibilities. When you say to your self “I need to get in shape”, it means something. You should be answering these questions in your mind: When can I work out? What exercises do I need to do? What foods should I be eating? Make your self think about the commitment you just made. Only then you can let go of the past and take steps to move forward.

Write Down What You Do

You need a reference that is realistic towards your weekly activity. Write down everything you do during the week. This should include work hours, commuting hours, nights spent with your spouse, your child’s activities and anything else you can think of that you do. You should also include what you do on weekends. You should make a list for each day of the week. Here’s why…..

Some people set lofty goals like working out for 2 hours a day. This can be due to an old saying, “More is Better”. However, this is not the case. Knowing your schedule will help you set realistic goals and help you find a few hours a week to start exercising. You’ll have a visual perspective on what you can and can’t do with your routine.

Research and Get Information

Most people do not have enough information before they start a work out program. So how do we get the information we need? The good news is we live in the information age. Take advantage of your favorite search engine and learn a little bit about fitness and nutrition. However, do not go overboard and lose focus. Find a source of information you like and take notes. Find the simplest and easiest workouts and nutrition tips. Don’t over load yourself with information.

If you have the money, hire a personal trainer for a few sessions to help you get started. Hiring a personal trainer is a great way to get started because you have made a commitment to meet someone to workout. Your goal is to have the trainer show you the basics on exercise and eating healthier. It may also be safer to learn how to perform the exercises (especially if you have not exercised for a while).

Create a Simple Plan and Set Realistic Goals

Keep it Simple! Following a simple plan while on a hectic schedule is much easier than following an elaborate plan. You should have a plan of which days you want to work out and one goal to change your eating habits for the next few weeks. For example, “I will work out for a half an hour for 3 days this week. I will eat a little less each meal.” Simple is success.

Execute Your Plan

Now that you have a plan, all you need to do is follow it. This is another big step. You should look at your plan every day upon waking. You need be mentally prepared for the great day ahead of you. Having your daily schedule in hand will help you achieve your goals for the day. When you complete your workout for the day, highlight it or cross it off your list. It will show you that you accomplished something for yourself. No matter what you must execute. This will be the hardest (and most rewarding) step.

I hope these things help you get started on a new life of physical fitness. Life is filled with making decisions, knowing your commitments, getting information, planning and execution. Try these approaches for yourself and you will see that having your own workout and nutrition program is not as far fetched or complicated as you think.

5 Great Tips On Exercise

2016-03-26T10:21:00.001-07:00

Have exercise misconceptions prevented you from starting an exercise program? Clear up any confusion and let these exercise tips improve your workout routine. Hopefully none of these common exercise myths, mistakes and misconceptions have prevented you from working out.

1. Common Mistake: Failure to set goals. Do you exercise without a clear goal in mind? Having a clear goal set is a critical step in exercise and weight loss success. Tracking your progress in a journal will help ensure you see your improvements, will help motivate you and help you meet your ultimate goal.

2. Common Misconception: No Pain, No Gain. Pain is your body’s way of letting you know something is wrong. Do not ignore this. When you go beyond exercise and testing yourself, you will encounter physical discomfort and need to overcome it. An example of this would be training for a marathon. It is important that you have the “base training” before getting into the advance training. The base training develops the body and gets it ready for extensive training. You need to learn to “read” your body. Is the heavy breathing because you are pushing your body or could it be the beginning of a heart attack. Exercise is important. Do it correctly and you can do it for the rest of your life.

It is normal for you to hurt after you exercise, but it must be done gradually with a good amount of rest periods to allow proper healing. There are two common problems here with beginning exercisers. You can cause long lasting damage to muscles, tendons and ligaments if you work out while you are in pain, without allowing enough rest time to heal. You might find yourself in constant and long lasting pain if you do this which means that you will no longer be able to exercise.

If you wake up the next morning after you exercised and can barely drag your aching body out of bed because everything hurts, you are going to be less motivated to exercise at all. Constant pain is a sure way to kill your exercise program.

3. Common Mistake: Sacrificing Quality for Quantity. When you are ready to increase the number of reps of a particular exercise, and strengthen the corresponding muscles, instead of forcing yourself to do a little more each time try decreasing the number of reps in a set but increase the number of sets. Also, back off to half your usual number of reps but add a couple of more sets. You will feel less tired and will be able to gain strength in your fast-twitch muscles.

4. Common Myth: Weight Training Makes Women Bulky. Weight training for a woman will strengthen and tone muscle, burn fat and increase metabolism, not build mass. Women do not produce enough of testosterone to build muscle mass the way that men do.

5. Common Mistake: Over-Emphasizing Strengths. You should start focusing on your points rather then what you are good at. This will help you balance things. For example, if your lower body is stronger than you upper body, then try to work only on this area one day a week.

Being smart about how you exercise will take you a long way. It is important to have a healthy body so get out there and start exercising today.

5 Components of Physical Fitness

2016-03-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

Physical fitness is the ability to function effectively throughout your workday, perform your usual other activities and still have enough energy left over to handle any extra stresses or emergencies which may arise.

The components of physical fitness are:

* Cardiorespiratory (CR) endurance - the efficiency with which the body delivers oxygen and nutrients needed for muscular activity and transports waste products from the cells.

* Muscular strength - the greatest amount of force a muscle or muscle group can exert in a single effort.

* Muscular endurance - the ability of a muscle or muscle group to perform repeated movements with a sub-maximal force for extended periods of times.

* Flexibility - the ability to move the joints or any group of joints through an entire, normal range of motion.

* Body composition - the percentage of body fat a person has in comparison to his or her total body mass.

Improving the first three components of fitness listed above will have a positive impact on body composition and will result in less fat. Excessive body fat detracts from the other fitness components, reduces performance, detracts from appearance, and negatively affects your health.

Factors such as speed, agility, muscle power, eye-hand coordination, and eye-foot coordination are classified as components of "motor" fitness. These factors most affect your athletic ability. Appropriate training can improve these factors within the limits of your potential. A sensible weight loss and fitness program seeks to improve or maintain all the components of physical and motor fitness through sound, progressive, mission specific physical training.

Principles of Exercise

Adherence to certain basic exercise principles is important for developing an effective program. The same principles of exercise apply to everyone at all levels of physical training, from the Olympic-caliber athlete to the weekend jogger.

These basic principles of exercise must be followed.

Regularity

To achieve a training effect, you must exercise often. You should exercise each of the first four fitness components at least three times a week. Infrequent exercise can do more harm than good. Regularity is also important in resting, sleeping, and following a sensible diet.

Progression

The intensity (how hard) and/or duration (how long) of exercise must gradually increase to improve the level of fitness.

Balance

To be effective, a program should include activities that address all the fitness components, since overemphasizing any one of them may hurt the others.

Variety

Providing a variety of activities reduces boredom and increases motivation and progress.

Specificity

Training must be geared toward specific goals. For example, people become better runners if their training emphasizes running. Although swimming is great exercise, it does not improve a 2-mile-run time as much as a running program does.

Recovery

A hard day of training for a given component of fitness should be followed by an easier training day or rest day for that component and/or muscle group(s) to help permit recovery. Another way to allow recovery is to alternate the muscle groups exercised every other day, especially when training for strength and/or muscle endurance.

Overload

The work load of each exercise session must exceed the normal demands placed on the body in order to bring about a training effect.

3 Secrets and Tips For Anit-Aging

2016-03-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

Enjoy life, stay young mentally, emotionally, physically and you'll see an anti-aging process that you'll be happy about. That will give you the motivation and momentum to continue the lifestyle of anti-aging.

Staying Young, looking younger or just feeling younger is a multimillion dollar industry. There's a really good reason for it. We have an ever-aging generation. This generation is one of the largest generation on the planet. Naturally, there's a huge number of this population that do not want to grow old. Therefore, anti-aging products are rampant in the marketplace. But don't get 'taken' by the unnecessary products that play on the emotions of those who wish to look young.

The following are three secrets and tips that will allow you to avoid the risks of buying certain products that are not needed.

Secret Tip #1: Feed Your Face
If you feed your face with anti-aging food on a consistent basis, you'll find it easier to stay young. Another way to say this is to just make sure you're not feeding your body full of junk that is sure to perpetuate the aging process. Also, know that if you try to escape the eating step, you'll grow older faster. The body knows what it needs. Just give it to your body.

Secret Tip #2: Pick Something or Go Somewhere
In other words, get up off the couch, turn the TV off and do some anti-aging activities. This doesn't have to be work either. Find an activity or two that you enjoy. Walk, run, weight train, ride a bike, get on a pogo stick. Do anything that causes your body to move and exert some activity. This will allow your body to stay young by stretching muscles and keeping you limber at the same time.

Secret Tip #3: Don't Be A Party Pooper
Mentioned above for the #2 Anti-Aging Secret Tip was finding something you enjoy. That's the whole secret of this entire article. Find something you have fun doing. Just know this, if drinking alcohol into a drunken stupor is the one thing you enjoy, you are not going stay young for very long. In fact, if you're older in age and you're doing this you may not even enjoy staying old. The key to the entire process of anti-aging is to treat your body right and have fun doing it.

It's time to start a Healthy life

2016-03-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

How many times have you gone to sleep at night, swearing you'll go to the gym in the morning, and then changing your mind just eight hours later because when you get up, you don't feel like exercising?
This is your 7 days program.

While this can happen to the best of us, it doesn't mean you should drop the ball altogether when it comes to staying fit. What people need to realize is that staying active and eating right are critical for long-term health and wellness -- and that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The more you know about how your body responds to your lifestyle choices, the better you can customize a nutrition and exercise plan that is right for you. When you eat well, increase your level of physical activity, and exercise at the proper intensity, you are informing your body that you want to burn a substantial amount of fuel. This translates to burning fat more efficiently for energy.

In other words, proper eating habits plus exercise equals fast metabolism, which, in turn gives you more energy throughout the day and allows you to do more physical work with less effort.

The true purpose of exercise is to send a repetitive message to the body asking for improvement in metabolism, strength, aerobic capacity and overall fitness and health. Each time you exercise, your body responds by upgrading its capabilities to burn fat throughout the day and night, Exercise doesn't have to be intense to work for you, but it does need to be consistent.

I recommend engaging in regular cardiovascular exercise four times per week for 20 to 30 minutes per session, and resistance training four times per week for 20 to 25 minutes per session. This balanced approach provides a one-two punch, incorporating aerobic exercise to burn fat and deliver more oxygen, and resistance training to increase lean body mass and burn more calories around the block.

Here's a sample exercise program that may work for you:

* Warm Up -- seven to eight minutes of light aerobic activity intended to increase blood flow and lubricate and warm-up your tendons and joints.

* Resistance Training -- Train all major muscle groups. One to two sets of each exercise. Rest 45 seconds between sets.

* Aerobic Exercise -- Pick two favorite activities, they could be jogging, rowing, biking or cross-country skiing, whatever fits your lifestyle. Perform 12 to 15 minutes of the first activity and continue with 10 minutes of the second activity. Cool down during the last five minutes.

* Stretching -- Wrap up your exercise session by stretching, breathing deeply, relaxing and meditating.

When starting an exercise program, it is important to have realistic expectations. Depending on your initial fitness level, you should expect the following changes early on.

* From one to eight weeks -- Feel better and have more energy.

* From two to six months -- Lose size and inches while becoming leaner. Clothes begin to fit more loosely. You are gaining muscle and losing fat.

* After six months -- Start losing weight quite rapidly.

Once you make the commitment to exercise several times a week, don't stop there. You should also change your diet and/or eating habits,' says Zwiefel. Counting calories or calculating grams and percentages for certain nutrients is impractical. Instead, I suggest these easy-to-follow guidelines:

* Eat several small meals (optimally four) and a couple of small snacks throughout the day

* Make sure every meal is balanced -- incorporate palm-sized proteins like lean meats, fish, egg whites and dairy products, fist-sized portions of complex carbohydrates like whole-wheat bread and pasta, wild rice, multigrain cereal and potatoes, and fist-sized portions of vegetable and
fruits

* Limit your fat intake to only what's necessary for adequate flavour

* Drink at least eight 8-oz. glasses of water throughout the day

* I also recommend that you take a multi-vitamin each day to ensure you are getting all the vitamins and minerals your body needs.

I suppose that's all I can think of for now. I should extend my thanks to a doctor friend of mine. Without him, I wouldn't be able to write this article, or keep my sanity.

Enjoy life, we all deserve it.

5 Myths about the Fitness Exercises

2016-03-26T09:53:00.001-07:00

1. Sport is for professionals. This idea applies only in the case of performance sports. The native qualities required for professional sportsmen (speed, skills, specific height, etc.) can only be developed, they can't be formed by training. As long as the aim of a regular person is not performance, almost all sports can be practiced for keeping the body in a good shape. It's all about dosing the training you chose, so that the benefits are bigger than wear and tear. Even the sports considered tough can be practiced in a 'soft' way (tae-bo, mini-triathlon, jogging, etc.).

2. Training is tiring. This idea is true as long as it refers to consuming all your energy (muscular and hepatic glycogen), but it doesn't mean that training gets you into that state of exhaustion which would slow down the process of recovery of the body. Even in performance sports, the purpose is to have rather effective than exhausting training, so that the body can get the stimulation necessary to qualitative progress from one training to the next.

Even more than in other sports, in fitness the sportsman is spared overexerting. However, the training must not become ineffective. People can come to the gym tired after a work day and leave relaxed (physically and psychologically) and not more tired. This is extremely useful for people with sedentary jobs, but also for those who make physical effort at work. They could use the training by choosing a type of effort meant to compensate the one involved in their job.

3. Training takes too long. Again, this idea is true if applied to performance, which can only be obtained by working a lot. But also in this case short and very intense training or training for relaxation and recovery are often performed. In fitness, you can get to 20-minute training, working only super-series of fast exercises, which could involve, directly or indirectly, all the muscles. Anyway, regular training shouldn't take longer than an hour and a half. Otherwise, the body will get into the catabolic faze, when the cortisone secretions 'cannibalize' the muscles.

4. Any type of exercise is good for solving your problems. What's true in this refers to some particular cases like excess of adipose tissue. This tissue can be 'melted' by any kind of aerobic exercise (running, cycling, swimming) if this is continued long enough. Even in these cases it was clear that some exercises are more effective than others. There are situations when only a combination of exercises with a certain amount of each, can provide you with the results you expect. More than that, repeating the same exercise all the time can have as a consequence not only losing balance in the antagonist muscles and in the joints involved in training, but also stopping progress or even regressing.

5. You're older? No more exercises! This is true only if we refer to extremely demanding efforts (really heavy weights, fast running, jumping, etc.). There are lots of exercises adapted to different ages. Their purpose is to keep and improve health and also to improve physical shape. The development of movement parameters for older people refers especially to muscular and cardio-vascular resistance as well as mobility of the joints. Because the final purpose of training is not preparing for a competition, the exercises can be organized gradually according to their difficulty, eliminating the risk of accidents. Because it's based on perseverance, fitness can be adapted without problems for older people and even for people suffering from different affections specific to old age.

The Importance of Physical Fitness

2016-03-26T09:44:00.001-07:00

One of the simplest and most effective ways to bring down blood glucose levels, cut the risk of cardiovascular disease, and improve overall health and well-being is physical fitness and exercise. Yet, in our increasingly sedentary world, where almost every essential task can be performed online, from the driver’s seat, or with a phone call, exercising and being physically fit can be tough case to sell.

In reality, everyone should exercise, yet survey shows that only 30% of the United States adult population gets the recommended thirty minutes of daily physical activity, and 25% are not active at all.

Inactivity is thought to be one of the key reasons for the surge of type 2 diabetes in America, because inactivity and obesity promote insulin resistance and other factors that trigger other kinds of diseases.

The good news is that it is never too late to get moving, and exercise is one of the easiest ways to start controlling the onset of any kinds of diseases. For people who are already candidates for some serious diseases like diabetes and heart failure, exercise and physical fitness can improve the condition of some parts of the body like insulin sensitivity, lower the risk of heart disease, and promote weight loss.

In 2003, the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism had published an issue regarding the result of their study and found out that lack of exercise and physical fitness were the key factors behind obesity and other serious diseases like diabetes.

Hence, it is extremely important for a person to stay healthy and be physically fit in order to avoid such illnesses.

Getting Started

The first order of business with any exercise plan, especially if you are a “dyed-in-the-wool” couch potato, is to consult with your health care provider.

If you have cardiac factors, your doctor may want to perform a stress test to establish a safe level of exercise for you.

Certain complications of some diseases will also dictate what type of exercise program you can take on. Activities like weightlifting, jogging, or high-impact aerobics can possibly pose a risk for people with diabetic retinopathy due to the risk for further blood vessel damage and possible “retinal detachment.”

Health experts also contend that patients with sever peripheral neuropathy or PN should avoid foot-intensive weight-bearing exercises such as long-distance walking, jogging, or step aerobics and opt instead for low-impact activities like swimming, biking, and rowing.

If you have conditions that make exercise and physical fitness a challenge, your provider may refer you to an exercise physiologist who can design a fitness program for your specific needs.

If you are already active in sports or work out regularly, it will still benefit you to discuss your regular routine with your doctor.

The bottom line is that physical fitness and exercise should not have to be a rigid activity and should not come off strong. Your exercise routine can be as simple as a brisk nightly neighborhood walk, walking the dog, or simply taking the stairs instead of the elevator. The important thing is that you keep on moving. Every little bit really helps a lot.

In the end, you will realize that the many things that good food can bring you are equally the same as what physical fitness can do for you.

Beauty and Fitness

2016-03-26T09:41:00.003-07:00

Health is wealth. By being physically fit, it can make a person look lean both inside and out.

There is a lot a person can do such jogging or walking in the morning, playing basketball or any other sport with friends but if a person wants to have muscles and look lean, the best thing to do will be to sign up and workout in a gym.

Just like taking any medicine, one should first consult the doctor before undergoing any form of exercise.

Physical exercise is beneficial because it helps maintain and improve ones health from a variety of diseases and premature death. It also makes a person feel happier and increases ones self esteem preventing one from falling into depression or anxiety. It has also shown to make a person with an active lifestyle live longer than a person who doesn’t.

The best exercise plan should have cardiovascular and weight training exercises. This helps burn calories and increase the muscle to fat ratio that will increase ones metabolism and make one either gain or lose weight.

A person who has never worked out before should do it gradually. Doing it too much for the first time can make one pull a muscle or have an injury making it worse. Endurance will never be built in a day and doing it repeatedly will surely be good to the person.

Focusing on certain portion in the body can help make it improve. A good example is going to the gym and doing a workout more often in a specific area such as the abs can give one a chest pack.

But beauty is not only about having muscles which is what people can see. It is also about enhancing the beauty within.

Here are some things one can do everyday to stay beautiful and healthy;

· Reading books and other reading material more often keeps the mind sharp just like working out keeps the body in shape.

· Work no matter what kind it is produces stress. One can reduce this by taking the time out to do something special like lying in a hot tub, shopping or watching a movie. Studies have shown it is reliever and helps one from looking haggardly.

· Pollution is something people cannot control given the size of the problem. When one goes out, it is best to put some form of protection such as beauty products that contain antioxidants that protect the skin from damage. There are also other beauty products available and choosing the right one with the help of a dermatologist can help the person.

· Another way to stay healthy is to give up some vices. Most people smoke and drink. Smoking has been proven to cause lung cancer and other diseases as well complications for women giving birth. Excessive drinking has also shown to do the same.

· For people who don’t smoke, it is best to stay away from people who do since studies have shown that nonsmokers are also at risk of developing cancer due to secondary smoke inhalation.

· Lastly, it is best to always start the day with a positive outlook. Just as studies have shown that exercise makes a person feel happier, smiling produces the same effect. A smile can do a lot and it is contagious in a positive sense. It brightens the day of not only one but others as well.

A Look on Diet Fitness

2016-03-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

Top 10 skin care tips

2016-03-26T08:13:00.004-07:00

Healthy skin is really one of the most important ingredients for beauty-enhancement. This article on skin care tips is an effort to bring the 10 best skin care tips to you. The list of skin care tips has been restricted to 10 because anything more that that would not only be difficult to remember, but also shadow the more important skin care tips.

So let’s see what these top ten skin care tips are:
* Knowing your skin type is one of the most important skin care tip. This is important because not every skin care product suits everyone. In fact, all the skin care products specify the type of skin they cater too.
* ‘Drink a lot of water’. This will not keep your skin moist but will help in overall upkeep of your health (and in turn your skin). It might seem a bit awkward to some, however, this is an important skin care tip.
* Cleanse your skin regularly (1-2 times everyday). A very effective skin care tip that helps in getting rid of the dirt and other harsh elements from your skin. Cleansing is especially important when you have been out of your house (and hence exposed to pollutants, dust etc). This skin care tip also advocates the use of Luke warm water for cleansing (hot and cold water, both, cause damage to your skin)
* Be gentle, after all it’s your skin. Don’t scrub/exfoliate too hard or too often. Similarly, don’t apply too much or too many skin care products. A must-to-follow skin care tip.
* Keep your skin moist at all times. This is one of the most important skin care tip. Don’t let your skin get dry. Dryness causes the outer layer of your skin to break, leading to a rough and unattractive appearance. Use moisturisers/ emollients. Moisturisers work best when applied while the skin is still damp.
* Avoid the use of soap on your face. Soap should only be used from below the neck. A small but important skin care tip.
* Use sunscreen to protect yourself from sun’s harmful UV radiations. You can use day-time moisturisers that have sunscreen built into them. Use them even when it’s cloudy. UV radiations are known to cause skin cancer, so follow this skin care tip without fail.
* A bit of exercise and good sleep are essential too, not just for skin care but for your health as a whole. Lack of sleep can lead to formation of wrinkles below your eyes and lack of exercise can cause your skin to slack. Moreover, exercise and sleep also help in beating stress. So besides being a skin care tip, this is also a health care tip.
* Treat skin dilemmas with care. This skin care tip is about not ignoring any skin dilemmas. Consult your dermatologist before you go on to use a skin care product (lest you do end up harming your skin even more).
* Beat the stress. The harmful effects of stress are known to everyone, however, sometimes stating the obvious is essential too (and hence this skin care tip found its place here). Yes, stress harms skin too. So, take a break or indulge in a warm bubble bath or just get good sleep.

Antiaging skin care

2016-03-26T08:12:00.001-07:00

Antiaging skin care is a very poplar concept in today’s world. Today everyone wants to hide their age using antiaging skin care procedures (and a number of people are successful too). However antiaging skin care is not achieved by any magic potion. ‘Antiaging skin care’ is about discipline. It is about being proactive.

Antiaging skin care is retarding the ageing process. Here are a few tips for proactive antiaging skin care:

1. Maintain healthy eating habits: A well balanced diet is the key to maintaining a proper body metabolism. Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables (raw), they are the best source of fibre and have a very refreshing effect on your body. Avoid oily and fatty food; not only do they lack in essential nutrients but also cause obesity and other diseases which aid the aging process

2. Beat stress: This is probably the most important antiaging skin care measure. Stress disturbs the body metabolism and accelerates the aging process. Sleep, exercise and a relaxing bath, are all good ways of beating stress. Aroma-therapy is also known to bust stress.

3. Drink a lot of water: Antiaging skin care can’t be any simpler than this. Water helps in flushing out the toxins from the body, hence keeping it clean and making it less prone to disease. Around 8 glasses of water (per day) is recommended by all doctors.

4. Regular exercise is a wonderful antiaging skin care procedure. Besides toning your muscles, it also helps in cleaning the skin by flushing out the toxins in the form of sweat. Exercise should be followed by a warm shower in order to completely remove the toxins.

5. Avoid the use of strong, chemical based products on your skin. Natural skin care products are a good option. Use of organic skin care products (home made or commercial) can be a very effective antiaging skin care measure.

6. Do not overuse skin care products. Excessive and harsh application, both are harmful.

7. Do not ignore skin disorders; it can lead to permanent skin damage. Try over the counter medication and if that doesn’t help, immediately visit your dermatologist and seek his/her advice.

8. Vitamin C based skin care products are very popular means of antiaging skin care. However, these seem to oxidise very quickly (which makes them harmful for the skin). So store them properly. If the product turns Yellowish brown, it means that vitamin c has oxidised and the prodct is no longer suitable for use.

9. Protect your skin against UV radiation ; UV rays are known to speed up the aging process. So, a good sunscreen lotion should be a part of your antiaging skin care routine.

The Benefits of Walking

2016-03-26T06:28:00.002-07:00

Walking is one of the most productive forms of exercise, and causes a tremendous increase in our energy levels. The benefit seen from adding just 20 minutes of walking to your daily routine are unbelievable. I can attest to the tremendous increase in energy, as a participant in walking for exercise. I lost a total of 74 lbs. in one year, by simply adding walking to may routine. I had been dieting for almost two months, with very little in the way of results. Walking was suggested by my physician, and I’ve never been so impressed. My energy levels were three times what they were prior to beginning the walking, and I truly enjoyed the peace of mind that I achieved during those daily walks.

The added exertion of physical exercise is often the catalyst our bodies needed to boost weight loss into high gear. For the individual trying to loose weight, the benefits of walking far exceed an infringement on personal time, or detraction from television time that occurs. Not only is it good for your body, when you’re trying to cut back, it gives you something constructive to do with your time. Exercise also decreases our hunger pangs, increases our fluid intake, and helps our blood to circulate much better.

If there are any down-side effects to walking, it is the added pressure we put on our knees, ankles, and feet. If you already have a joint condition, such as arthritis, you might want to start very slowly, and add mileage only as you see that your body can handle what you are presently doing. Taking the time to buy good, supportive shoes, and wear leg bracing if needed can eliminate any further injury or harm. Talk to your doctor is you think you might have any of these conditions, and make sure that you are taking care of your body as you exercise it.

There are some excellent magazines and journals out there that provide a novice walker with all kinds of helpful advice and tips. Tips that offer assistance in what type of walking shoe you need, to what kind of walking sticks are best. There are many opportunities for you to participate in community events, national events, and even marathons, if you choose. From shoes to clothing tips, these magazines were a real inspiration for me, also. There are real life stories that you feel as though you could have written, that sing the praises of walking as a way of life.

The peace of mind that comes from taking a few minutes to stop and enjoy the sunset as you walk cannot be compared. Walking gives you the time we no longer take for private reflection. To ask yourself if you spent your day wisely, did you omit something that needed to be done, did you listen to your spouse when he needed to talk?

Twenty minutes out of your day to walk, contribute to your health, clear your mind, and get a glimpse of the most beautiful sunset, how can you not take advantage of an offer like that?

Fitness of the Mind

2016-03-26T06:24:00.005-07:00

Meditation, an exercise recommended for everyone, but especially those of us with hectic, stressful lifestyles, is defined as an engagement in contemplation, especially of a spiritual or devotional nature. Meditation has been shown to relieve stress, and promote overall good health, by simply reflecting upon our day, and finding happiness within ourselves. This and other mind exercises help us to keep our mind fit, and functioning at top performance levels

Our spirituality and meditation practices are the tools we have available to keep our mind as fit as we keep our bodies. The mind is a complicated and versatile machine, but it can become overwhelmed and unable to function correctly, if we don’t take the time to keep it cared for.

Our mind has varying levels of operation, known as brainwaves. As we pass through the different stages of our day, we enter various stages of brain wave activity. The brain uses this tool as one way to allow us time to rest our busy mind, and cope with all the pieces of information we’ve received, a way to kind of “mind file” for the day.

When we don’t give adequate time for these processes, or we simply don’t get enough rest, our mind cannot maintain its state of fitness, just like our bodies aren’t capable of fitness if there is no chance to rest and replenish.

Modern alternative medicine and holistic healers believe in the power of the energy that flows through our bodies; this energy radiates from our mind as well. It is believed to be the chief from of transportation for our body’s nervous system to carry out communication.

Breathing techniques, music, aromas, and candle therapy are all ways we utilize the opportunities to reflect on our day, allow our mind to rest and replenish itself for further use. But are these methods keeping us mentally fit? Yes, but they don’t work alone. The absorption of new information, new opportunities to learn, and creative play provide our mind the stimulus it needs in order to stay fit and functioning.

The onset of many age-related mental disorders occurs because we haven’t taken the time to keep our mind youthful, and involved in new learning. Learning new things forces our mind to form new neural pathways. We need those neural pathways for the transmission of information from the body to the mind, or with our ability to form new memories. If we don’t exercise the mind, we lose the fitness.

We must remember over the course of our daily routine, to make time to maintain mental fitness, as we strive to maintain physical fitness. The nice thing about the whole process is that, as we go about accomplishing these tasks, quite often the opportunities for preservation and care are interchangeable. We can help to quite our mind as we take our twenty minute walk. Or we have the opportunity to build muscle strength as we meditate.

Often just the opportunity to listen to music will allow our mind the chance it needs to relax and regroup. It’s not always the most formal of occasions that we find an available chance to reflect and listen to that inner voice. It can be in the middle of the day, with the wind blowing through your hair, and the radio turned up really loud!

Fitness of the Body

2016-03-26T06:13:00.000-07:00

Bodily fitness is being able to deal with and handle the daily stresses of life, good physical and mental health, especially when maintained by proper diet, exercise, and habits. Nutrition refers to the nurturing of our body, in our ability to keep it healthy and functioning as it is supposed to do.

Our ability to provide the body with all the necessary food, vitamins, and minerals so that we continue to thrive in our daily life processes is a part of overall fitness. Fitness refers to the condition of good physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Fitness of the body occurs when all the body processes, physical and mental are functioning as the peak levels. What does it take to achieve complete body fitness? It requires more than simply taking a trip to the gym, or a walk in the park.

Many factors come into play when we consider our body’s fitness. The daily intake of food, vitamins, and water are absolute necessities, and most often the items thought about. What about the conditioning of our body to deal with life each day?

Does our physical exercise have anything to do with the fitness of our body? Absolutely. For one condition without regard to the other, is not a complete whole. The body includes all of our physical processes, our mind, and our physical being as a whole. When we give thought to the fitness of the body, most often we contemplate our physical condition as it applies to our cardiovascular needs and our weight. But our bodies are much more than heart and a nice figure.

What about all of our other organs? Are they fit? How do we maintain a fitness of the entirety? Daily physical exercise that benefits the body as a whole, taking time to rest and restore what has been depleted from our body over the course of the day, and making sure that we adequately supply our entire body with the nutrition necessary for healthy function.

If we use our resources wisely and educate our selves about the things our body needs to maintain fitness, over the course of our life, it isn’t a difficult thing to attain. But you cannot abuse your body for years, and then hope for immediate results in trying to attain overall fitness. It didn’t become unfit overnight, and it won’t become fit again that quickly.

Proper attention to the physical needs of each part of your body results in the fitness of the whole. Every part of your physical body exists to work in unison with another part of the body. Two hands are necessary for optimal functioning of the limbs, two feet, two eyes, etc. The physical body is designed to work better than any machine invented to date. It is more complex and powerful than any piece of equipment we have on the market. It takes more abuse than believable, and continues to operate, even without the daily requirements being met, for several days. It is a fascinating machine, as machines go. But it is an even more fascinating subject, when we choose to care for our bodies as the temples they really are. They house our mind and soul, and when the body is fit, it does its job tremendously well.