As winter weeks get busier, fitness resolutions often fade as quickly as memories of a restful holiday. But it’s important to take steps outside of the gym to sustain our fitness-focused goals. Gail Rampersaud, a registered dietitian, shares her top planning tips to keep up motivation.

1. Set it in stone.
   Plan your workouts in your agenda like you would work meetings, appointments, and evening events. Before the week begins, update your calendar with times and dates you’ll dedicate to fitness. By concretely adding it to your schedule, you’ll be more likely to stay committed and active.

2. Plan to plan.
   To make sure you have enough energy pre, post and during workout, it’s important to stay properly fueled and well-fed. But busy schedules can keep us from whipping together a nutrition-packed meal. Try planning meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks ( on a weekly basis. At the beginning of the week, determine your well-balanced recipes, shop for ingredients, prep where possible (chop vegetables, divide and cut meat, etc.), and re-organize your fridge and freezer using colour coded post-its, bags or Tupperware to identify which ingredients go with which meal.

3. Snack well.
   Between workouts and carefully planned meals, it can be tempting to reach for non-nutritious snacks or beverages. When these moments strike, be prepared by having nutrient-rich choices ready for the picking at your workplace or home. Rampersaud suggests having a daily glass of Florida orange juice to refresh your body after a long day or workout. Every glass has 100 per cent of our daily recommended vitamin C, without the added sugar. As a bonus, you’ll get potassium, folate and other nutrients that can help support the immune system.

www.newscanada.com

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According timeanddate: “Valentine’s Day is a time when people show feelings of love, affection and friendship. It is celebrated in many ways worldwide and falls on February 14 each year. Many people see Valentine’s Day as a special day to express one’s love for another. What Do People Do?
Many people around the world celebrate Valentine’s Day by showing appreciation for the people they love or adore. Some people take their loved ones for a romantic dinner at a restaurant while others may choose this day to propose or get married. Many people give greeting cards, chocolates, jewelry or flowers, particularly roses, to their partners or admirers on Valentine’s Day.
It is also a time to appreciate friends in some social circles and cultures. For example, Valentine’s Day in Finland refers to “Friend’s day”, which is more about remembering all friends rather than focusing solely on romance.” Read more…

Valentines Day- Most Romantic Marriage Proposal. A Muppet proposing, just a little fun and romance for your Valentines Day.

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artverau / Pixabay

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Okay we are all getting older no matter that they try to say “ 50 Is the new 30” etc. and so on. We are all avoiding the inevitable. So you have a couple of options. You can either gripe and moan about it or you can get on with it and find your way to stay fit and healthy for as long as possible.

Huskyherz / Pixabay

You can take the alternative choice of having work done if you fancy having chunks hacked out of your body. But let’s talk about common sense solutions. Things we can all do that don’t cause pain or create further health risks.

The biggest challenge we all have is admitting that we are getting older. I know personally I dread looking too close in the mirror and I have 50 year old family members working very hard to look like their 18 year old daughter. This is fooling no one.

Many of the recommendations are vague. “Get fit”, this depends on your definition of fit. Eat healthy… so does that mean carbs , protein, low protein, high carbs it’s confusing ? Hard to know these days with all the misinformation.

Much of the info is totally conflicting such as the “fact” that we are now to stay out of the sun, it is a deadly killer, yet most of us are suffering from vitamin D deprivation that the sun provides.

So here are some common sense Ideas for your health and wellbeing. They should also help you to improve your wealth since attitude is everything. This is what I work on and And hopefully you will also add some quality suggestions to the blog.

1/ Don’t join a gym. Gyms promote lots of weight training and aerobics.

As we get older, tighter in our joints and more contracted we usually need to stretch more not contract . So exercises that are gentle, stretch and tone us are better for over 40’s. Yoga, Tai Chi, Swimming. You want to open things back up, gently and tone them. Pilates is another good one and walking is the best exercise of all. Focus on 30 minutes a day 6 days a week.

2/ Swim, this deserves it’s own point. Swimming tones your muscles and protects your joints as you roll in the water. It helps you to build stamina and flexibility. It also soothes, smoothes and destresses the body. After a 30 min. swim you will walk taller, be calmer and little aches will have vanished if only for a short while. Swimming in a pool you will need googles. A good healthy idea.

3/ Walk, in fact buy a pair of Nordic walking sticks to further cushion joints. After about age 30 the last thing we all really need is exercise that pounds the joints. Swimming, walking, are good non pounding aerobic exercises. Believe it or not yoga and tai chi are also aerobic as well as stretching and toning the muscles while protecting joints. You don’t have to do the pretzel thing and there are lots of yoga videos and online yoga classes as well these days with good variety. These types of exercise knit your joints together while running, tennis, squash and other fast moving sports pull your body apart and ultimately damage health.

4/ Drink water, preferably reverse osmosis water as it seems to be the most pure. Your body is 70% water. It flushes your system, improves the look of your skin and alleviates hunger and feelings of depression. Many folks who feel depressed simply don’t get enough water. Some folks say 8 glasses a day and others 10-12.

Well it’s your body and you know best. Drink until you are feeling really good and then do it every day. You can overdo anything and if you overdo it you can weaken your kidneys, so be sensible.

5/ Be positive. Drinking lots of water helps with this since your energy and mood pick up.. If you have pals that never have anything good to say about anyone then dump them. Don’t allow yourself to be surrounded by negative people .

6/ Look after your teeth. Teeth seem to be the windows to health. (Eyes the windows to the soul) So keep up with the 6 month maintenance, floss regularly and eat your fruits. Remember your gums are now in recession and that can cause lots of mouth misery so floss, floss, floss.

7/ Stop moaning. If someone asks how you are say, “ Great How Are you”? Have you ever noticed that it’s those with the minor creaks and ailments that are always cranking on. The person with cancer plays it down or says nothing and has far more grace than the cranky complainer. No one wants to hear about it and it helps to perpetuate your ill health and ill temper.

8/ Wine is good for you. Some say red, but both will do the job as far as I can see.

Drink up.

9/ Go out and have a good time. Be Sociable . Don’t stay in your comfort zone, say yes to the new and unusual. Travel with a pal if you can.

10/ Eat lots of Greens. They will keep you slimmer and your digestive system will work much better so top up your plate with 2/3 greens ( note greens not carbs) and 1/3 protein. Stick to carbs that are root vegy’s ( squashes, turnips, routabagos etc.)in small portions. Reduce the fats unless they are omega 3’s and cut the salt in half.

11/ Find a partner and have sex. Yes this is one of the things that those who get to blow out 100 candles participate in until late in life.

12/ Get your finances in order. To live long and be happy you will need a nice big fat nest egg, or it could be a living hell. Buy a home and as soon as you can, purchase a second. (while renting out one of them) Or teach yourself about the stock market, take courses or get outside help ( advisor) to help you invest and plan for your future wisely. You will need resources and must learn to preserve them and save or invest for your future.

Develop what if scenarios… “ What if something happened and I couldn’t work anymore at my chosen vocation”, “What if I want to travel 2 months per year.”

13/ Get your weight down. Most centenarians are not obese. In fact most male centenarians are really lean. Obesity is linked to heart disease and higher degrees of cancer. So improve your food choices, cut out the pasta dinners, bread, potatoes and rice.

Choose small amounts of proteins and top up with veg. Generally just cut back your portions and have small sweet treats. I just take one or two bites and put the rest back.

One of the secrets to eating well is home cooked meals. I remember my grandparents always cooking their own meals. They wouldn’t eat out. Everything we get out today seems to be full of hidden fat and salt. All processed foods are full of sodium. If your at the grocery store take a look at the sodium count per serving. If it’s over 160 grams put the item back and buy something you will have to cook from scratch. Get a small “slow cooker “and cooking will become much less of a chore. Just freeze the extra portions in meal size containers for days you are not in the mood to cook.

However, looking at the New England Centenarian Study Dr. Valese says that “ attitude is one of the most important predictors of longevity”.

So look forward to getting older, decide now that the changes it will bring will open up new opportunities and vistas for your life.

Find work, or a hobby or avocation that brings you joy. Sometimes we are in a bit of a boring job with a great pension and don’t want to leave because of the benefits. So start a part time side business and watch your energy go right up. Or find somewhere to help others who need your assistance. For me training and coaching give me that joy.

Hope this list of tips helps please feel free to share your great ideas on the blog as well.

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condesign / Pixabay

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in one of  my favourite local cafes out here in King township where I call home when I picked up a flyer for a talk given by a Dr. who had written the book Dead Drs. Don’t Lie. Seems he has sold 83 million copies of this book.

The title is based on the premise that Dr.’s generally die at the average age of 56 years old. And most of the population takes their advise… makes you wonder doesn’t it. You can probably guess that Dr. Wolloch doesn’t like Docs. I was okay with that as neither do I.

Needles to say I attended his lecture. Dr. Wolloch of course is a master of self promotion . I Don’t say that negatively as that is a necessary quality to do well in this day and age I just point it out as a prelude to the information he imparted which of course ultimately promoted his line of nutritional products… funny how they don’t mention these types of things on their flyers. But there is no free lunch and we all know it.

  Dr. Wolloch is a Dr. and therefore having a natural distrust of them because of my past experiences I automatically distrust him as well. LOL Doctoring is big business and they are all looking to make big money out of our hides. At least this one wants to do it without cutting me.

So enough of this and lets get on with what he had to say. First off I would say that he has a remarkable knowledge of the roots of diseases which is unheard of in western doctors as they only deal in symptomology. Dr. Wolloch fully understands that nutrition is at the root of all disease issues and discussed at length the differences in other cultures particularly cultures such as the Hunzas and other remote groups who have record lifetime lengths and yet have very few to none of our modern advantages in food and equipment.

In fact Dr. Wolloch discussed a rather life shifting concept that many of our health problems occurred when we switched from cooking with wood to cooking with gas, propane and electricity. This is because we stopped getting the wood ash in our foods which naturally occurred by using wood as a cooking fuel. Plus it was traditional to add a little wood ash into many foods as they were being made.

Wood ash is full of minerals and today we are mostly mineral depleted and cannot get it in our food as it is no longer in the soils in our countries. You will find old traditional gardeners will take wood ash from their fireplaces and dig it into their gardens. So if you have a fireplace this is something you might want to start to do. Your vegetables will have more minerals in them.

This switch in cooking methods about 1910. I have often noted that our older generations (my grandparents for instance) seem to be much healther and much stronger than I. They would never get sick while us younger folk would get plagued with colds and flews in the winter months.

 Although we are living longer there are endless joint replacement and parts replacement surgeries going on. Demonstrating that our bones are depleted of necessary nutrients.

I have a ladies group here in King Township. It seems that parts replacement surgery is all the rage in our group. Particularly knees… New knees are the new fashion statement. It’s like a mark that you have joined some club or something. Doesn’t matter if they only last a few years now you are at an age where you are allowed to be in the club and voice your complaints. The problem is that replacing the knees doesn’t stop the disease it is a temporary remedy and the disease rages on in the body. Personally I run from this whole mindset as it speaks to me of the I am getting ready to die mindset which I eschew. It also is a mark of our Canadian health care system.

 People here think they have free medicine and they don’t realize we are one of the most heavily taxed nations in the world and what the reasons behind that are. So no one wants to go out and buy a bottle of minerals and vitamins and take them. They run to the doctor who here in Canada will talk about nothing other than surgeries as this is how they make their money.

Even if they knew and understood good nutrition they wouldn’t make thousands of dollars giving out this advice.
It wouldn’t pay for their golf membership or their new luxury car.

  So enter Dr. Wolloch a medical Dr. who started out as a veterinarian went back to school and became an MD with 12 successful books on the market and a networking marketing company to boot selling a complete line of what looks to be very high quality vitamins and minerals all geared to fit together neatly and many in liquid form which is much easier to get down the throat.

I walked out with $275.00 worth of products and a commitment to try this series for 4 months and see what effect it has on my bone to bone knees. The good Dr. promised me knew cartilage growth for my achy knees in 90 days. So the cynical me bit. He must have said something right because I can usually smell a rat. I am also used to dealing with the eccentric geniuses out there in the health field. There are several in North America and they are not quacks.

One is David Slater at Healers Who Share. www.healerswhoshare.com. What David can do with common diseases is positively scary to the health business and if he didn’t stay very low key I swear they would do something to get rid of him. Am I paranoid… He seems to think the same thing.

If your disease has been diagnosed as hopeless you may as well give David a crack at it and if you can actually follow the program in my experience you will succeed 90% of the time.

Last year my most loveable little cat of 14 years got a brain tumour and could barely walk down the hall without falling down. The vet said it was hopeless just put him down.

I got in touch with one of David’s consultants who did a reading (not physicic) and gave me a short list of items required. Within 30 days I had a cat walking almost straight again. It is one year this month and I am thankful for a happy healthy little animal who seems to love me even more than ever for my efforts on his behalf. So I will be Dr. Wolloch’s guinea pig… As soon as I have a link for their product I will post it here in the product section. I will also post results as they come. So check back in 30-60 days for news on this one. By the way I also found a site refuting Doc. Wallachs claims and here is the link http://nutra-smart.net/al.htm#doctors . While I think the Doc is very busy being larger than life and wouldn’t care for anyone who doesn’t agree with him, I also find folks taking a complete opposite view to be too extreme as well. Somewhere in the middle will be the truth I am sure.

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Celiac Disease or Gluten Intolerance Making You Feel Excluded From Social Life?

4 Steps to Surviving Gluten Free.

When you first discover you have a problem with gluten from grains and possibly the casseine in dairy it can seem like the world just collapsed in on you, especially if Friday night at your house or out with the gang has always been pizza and beer. Yes you are up for a change. However, there is no point in moaning and moping about it and you need to do some learning about gluten free living and then view the change as a new fun challenge.

Steps To Surviving Socially with Celiac Disease

1/ Educate Yourself. In the last couple of years there are dozens of books on gluten free eating, plenty of you tube videos, and thousands of recipes on the web to inspire you to try new things. You will need to learn to read food labels on any kind of package or bottled foods and learn about the hidden gluten in items. I have become what I call a Food Nazi.

If you eat out a lot the #1 priority is to uncover the long list of foods that have gluten in them so you don’t get nailed at every restaurant you enter.

Many have gluten free menus and staff are becoming much more knowledgable about food allergies and are willing to accomodate your new gluten free needs.

2/ In the end it is up to you. Many restaurants understand what you can’t eat but they don’t understand about cross contamination in the deep fryer or on a wooden bread board or butcher block in the kitchen. You will need to educate them. You may want to take the bull by the horns and start experimenting with new types of foods. Rice based cultures such as Thai food, Vietnamese food, and Korean restaurants could serve you well. Also Greek food and middle eastern food is more rice based than Western style dining. These will still need some care and adjusting but will prove better bets for you.

3/ Before going to a restaurant I check their menu online. If it looks challenging I call ahead. If they don’t have a great attitude and a “we want to help you mindset” I simply book somewhere else.

4/ It’s all about attitude…. Yours … not anyone else’s . Make it an adventure and start trying out the many Raw Food restaurants and Raw Food Bars that are starting to pop up. Right now it is a fad. But as people start to feel better, have greater health , lose weight more and more folks are trying.

Take a Raw Food class and learn to make yourself a good Smoothie for the morning and maybe a big salad to take along for the day…. you will have more energy and you can ditch the coffee. You will soon find yourself grooving to a new beat and improving your friends health along with yours.

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dbreen / Pixabay

Jack Frost has finally put his wicked winter wizardry to rest and all the signs point to the arrival of spring. If you need evidence just take a look outside and take a moment to savour the picturesque image of blossoming flowers, the sounds of chirping birds along with buzzing of insects, and the distinct, musky smell of moist earth, no do doubt awaiting new seeds for it to nurture. It’s the perfect time to get your hands dirty and start that home garden you’ve been putting off for ages. Great! Now that we’ve established that it’s in your best interest to do some gardening the next step is to make sure our garden is an organic one. Now why organic? is the question I can envision many of you asking? My answer to you is, why not?

Let’s go 7 Benefits of Organic Gardening

1. You’ll Save a Bunch of Money

If you’ve visited the organic produce aisle of your local supermarket or farmer’s market, you’ll find out soon enough that organic food is not cheap. This means organic gardening is also expensive right? So how do you save? It’s simple! When you compare the price of a seed packet, and a little compost which can be recycled organic material from your kitchen and lawn, to what you spend in the store you’ll recognize huge savings. Hey if you grow it, you don’t need to buy it.

2. You get more Nutritional Value

Organic foods contain a higher mineral and vitamin content than conventionally grown foods¹. Sounds good right? But what does all of this mean? Once the minerals in the soil have been depleted, then the food grown in it will also be devoid of these nutrients. To combat this regular farmers use fertilizers that contain macronutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. However some of the chemicals kill the bacteria in the soil designed to enhance the plant’s ability to synthesize or absorb nutrients.

3. You’ll know Exactly What You’re Eating

You’ve grown it yourself and you also have the satisfaction of knowing everything that went into turning that little seed to scrumptious ripe fruit or vegetable. By growing your own organic food you avoid the question as to whether what you are consuming is truly organic, you are precisely aware of what you’re eating.

4. Strengthened Immune System:

This sounds a little strange but research has shown that an exposure to garden soil, with its benign and disgusting micro-organisms, may lead to a healthy immune system. This is one of the healthy benefits of organic gardening that goes almost unnoticed.

5. No Pesticide Residue

One of the main benefits of organic gardening is that there are no pesticide residues on your food as it is grown without the use of synthetic pesticides.So you can eat with ease, knowing that your food is residue free.

And the final benefit is

6. Your Eating Local

This actually may be the most important of all. Locally grown food is the most powerful for you nutritionally as it contains the nutrients of the same environment that you currently live in hence the much acclaimed “ 100 Mile Diet” where people only obtain and eat food that has been produced within one hundred miles of their home.

http://www.amazon.ca/The-100-Mile-Diet-Local-Eating/dp/httpwwwriseac-20 Put my amazon code here.

7. Saving Time and Gas

When you simply step out the door to get your lettuce, spinach, herbs and edible flowers for your evenings dinner you’ve just saved time in your day and the gas in your car. Plus you have the joy of serving part of a meal that you have created yourself .

Time to start organic gardening…. Don’t you think?

Sources

1) Organic Gardening Almanac (1995) Are Organic Foods Really Healthier For You?
Walter J. Crinnion N.D.

2) Pearso, D. Henryks, J., & Jones H. (2010) Organic food: What we know (and do not know) about consumers.

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Different types of foods burn differently in the body. Partially as a result some foods are more satisfying. 
We have generally always clung to the calorie principal as being the underlying factor for weight loss…. Eat less of them and you will lose weight. This is turning out to not necessarily be correct.

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iHealthTube.com – Are You Acidic? Here’s How to Find Out

How To Reduce Acid In Your Body! The Simple And Easy Version

Reduce the amount of coffee, red meat, alcoho, wheat and dairy in your diet. In fact do your best to eliminate these 5 items. These items are highly acidic.

Increase the amount of vegetables, pulses, lentils and none acidic grains in your diet such as quinoa. Some fruit can be very acidic as well but generally up your non acidic fruit content. Eat fish, occasional chicken or a small piece of red meat… ideally go Vegan.

Here is a Great Chart Demonstrating The PH or Acid Alkaline Balance In The Body

Acid Alkaline Chart

Related Posts: https://riseandshine.com/study-reveals-foods-are-more-satisfying/

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Pezibear / Pixabay

I found the article below an interesting one with regards to the History of Fats in North America.
It seems that a healthy fat is defined as whatever the manufacturers or government wants to support selling at the moment.

Fats You Need For A Healthy Diet

We of course know different don’t we.

Give it a read and let me know your thoughts. I quite agree with what this article has to say about fats.

reblogged from press inside

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