Five great exercises to tone your aging arms.
You can sag anywhere in your body, but if you’re a woman, one of the biggest areas of saggy concern is often your arms. Even young women may start to notice a loss of muscle tone and weight gain, especially on the upper backside of their arms.
Thankfully, there is good news for those who have flabby arms or for those who want to avoid developing saggy arms like their mother or grandmother. By building up strength in your triceps (muscles on the upper back of your arms), biceps (muscles on the upper front of your arms), and shoulders, you can help tone of your arms and reduce their flabby appearance.
Here are five great exercises you can do at home or at the gym to reduce the sagging and tone your arms. All you need are a couple of small dumbbells (5 to 12 pounds each depending on your strength) and some time. Aim for 15 to 20 minutes of exercise, three to four times a week, and start each workout with a few minutes of arm stretches. (more…)
Regaining full function after an accident isn’t easy, and it can take a long time, but it almost always requires plenty of exercise.
What does a sprained ankle have in common with heart attack, hip replacement, and stroke? They all reduce a person’s ability to function and all require exercise for a full recovery and return to normal life. Despite the power of exercise, many people decide to forego their doctor’s instructions and laze about in lieu of getting appropriate exercise.
So what’s the big deal about exercise, and what can you expect to be facing after a life-changing accident or event? You’re about to find out.
Why Exercise?
When you’re hurting, exercise may be the last thing on your mind. But it may be just what you need to recover after surgery or a frightening event. Without exercise, your body will grow weaker and weaker. As a result, it will become increasingly more difficult to get up and exercise, which will make the recovery process take even longer.
By performing appropriate exercises, you encourage your hurting body to buff up and grow stronger. On top of looking better, working out will also help speed up the healing process and ensure you regain maximum range of motion in your shoulder, knee, hip, or other joint that underwent an operation. Even with exercise, you may never regain the athletic prowess you once had, but if you choose to skip exercise, you may as well kiss your chance at making it into the elite world of professional golf goodbye.
Common Choices
The types of exercises you will be prescribed for rehabilitation depends on the injury or procedure you experienced. For issues affecting a specific joint, you will perform exercises that target the specific area that was injured or operated upon. This means knee-strengthening exercises after knee surgery, arm exercises to rehab an arm issue, and core exercises to help prevent a hurting back from a future injury.
In case you suffer a heart attack, stroke, or other condition that affects your entire body, the exercise you will be recommended will be less specific and more beneficial to your entire body. Walking, jogging, riding a bicycle, swimming, and other aerobic exercises are often prescribed to help people overcome past events and strengthen the body against similar issues in the future.
Wait Just a Minute!
Regardless of the health issue you’re trying to overcome, doing it on your own is a recipe for increased pain and suffering. In the event you’ve suffered a serious illness or injury, consult your physician for the right exercises to target the damaged area without causing more problems later on.
By coming up with a rehab plan of your own, you risk pushing your body too far too fast or performing an exercise that can actually increase the problem. Instead, talk with your physician and taking his or her advice about how you can best rehabilitate after an injury. Your body will feel better faster and will stay that way.
Almost every woman is blessed with the capacity to bear a child at least once in her lifetime. It is considered to be one of the greatest gifts that a woman can give her husband. Bearing a child would make the couple more closer together, and at this certain point in their lives they can actually call themselves a family. Upon learning that the woman is pregnant, most couples enthusiastically start planning for her pregnancy and eventual childbirth.
When talking about pregnancy, it is important to know about preconception issues regarding on giving birth. A check up with the physician or midwife would be advisable for the woman in order to face facts on childbirth. Physical preparation is needed for giving birth, since this could really change the normal function of the woman’s body. A caregiver would be helpful in preparing the woman’s body in conceiving, and also impart information concerning potential problems in pregnancy. Anxiety is felt at this point, since the woman would really have to follow certain precautions in order to conceive a healthy baby. By seeking advice regarding on preconception, safety, lifestyle changes, prenatal vitamins, and the importance of folic acid, the woman could really prepare for giving birth.
In preparing for pregnancy, a change in the woman’s lifestyle is needed. Smoking cigarettes is a definite no-no, and also the consumption of alcohol. These addictions can affect the health of both the woman and her unborn baby. A woman might need to lose or gain weight, according to her present weight relative to her height and build. Being too fat or too thin might bring complications for both the woman and the baby. A good start in preparing for childbirth would be to establish a fitness regime for the period of the pregnancy. Asking the physician about nutrition and working out would be recommended for possible questions regarding exercise and food intake.
Learning more about the woman’s body while on the early stages of giving birth is essential for proper knowledge of the situation. Various parts of a woman’s body have specific roles when it comes to pregnancy. Certain disorders from both prospective parents should be discussed with the physician for additional health background information. Anxiety and stress is also felt by the couple since this is a very critical stage for the woman. Preconception stress is normal in women about to give birth, considering factors such as scheduling, sexuality, and self esteem, among many others.
When preparing for pregnancy, the couple should be confident enough to know how to handle a child. Knowledge of early pregnancy symptoms are also important since these are signs that giving birth would happen in due time. When the couple feels that they are ready, then a visit to the Obstetrician/Gynecologist (OBGYN) would help in gleaning more information on pregnancy. At this point, the couple can make use of a pregnancy calendar in order to follow the due course of giving birth.
Anxiety is often felt by women when they know that they are pregnant. Feelings of worry and tension are usual signs that shows her being anxious about giving birth. But by spending time with your husband, regular visits to the OBGYN, finding time to relax and unwind, with good exercise, anxiety should not be a problem at all. All you have to worry about is what to name the baby?
Eating more blueberries, apples and pears may be linked to lower risk of diabetes, according to a new U.S. study.
These fruits are loaded with flavonoids, a natural compound present in certain fruits, vegetables and grains, which some research has tentatively tied to heath benefits such as a lower risk of heart disease or cancer.
“People who ate a higher amount of blueberries or apples, they tended to have a low risk of type 2 diabetes,” said An Pan, a research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health who worked on the study.
The findings show an association, he added, but don’t prove the fruits, themselves, prevent diabetes. (more…)
How you can use your diet to lower your cholesterol.
Do you have high cholesterol? Did you know that on top of avoiding high cholesterol foods, eating the right foods can help lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol and protect your heart? In fact, research has shown that a diet with the right combination of cholesterol-lowering foods works better at bringing down high cholesterol than a diet low in saturated fat and high in fiber and whole grains. Of course, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat high-fiber foods and avoid saturated fats, but it does mean you should include cholesterol-lowering foods in an already healthy diet.
What are the top foods that will help lower your bad cholesterol levels? Great question. Now to the answer! (more…)
Why and how to give your kids chores.
Following a busy week of work or school, housework often falls by the wayside. After all, who has enough time in the day for all that needs to be done to keep a house in tip-top shape? That’s where Saturday morning chores come in. But did you know you don’t have to be the only one doing the cleaning? Your kids can help, too.
Kids learn valuable lessons from doing chores. However, most children would rather play outside or watch cartoons than do their share of chores. While it can be like pulling teeth to get you child to clean their room, there are ways to motivate your kids to do those dreaded chores.
Valuable Lesson Learned
Doing chores help children feel needed. If your son is responsible for setting the table, he knows that if he doesn’t do his job, he will be missed. When a child is taught to do a job and to do it well, he will not only learn a new skill, but will feel good about himself for his accomplishment. Chores teach children responsibility and the value of hard work. When your kids learn how to wash the dishes or do the laundry, they are learning how to take care of a home. Chores, in a true sense, help prepare kids to be responsible adults.
Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. – Phyllis Diller
Parental Pitfalls
Many parents make mistakes when it comes to chores. If you are a perfectionist when it comes to housework, you may not want your kids to lend a helping hand. Or you may criticize your child’s efforts or redo what he or she has already done. Though this may seem minor to you, redoing chores your kids already completed makes your little helpers feel inadequate and want to quit. (more…)
Sidestepping those things that can set your migraine loose.
If you’ve ever experienced a migraine headache, you know how horrible they are. Migraines are intense headaches that cause throbbing or pulsing in your head and often come with nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, lightheadedness, and sensitivity to sound and light. They can last for hours and even days. Sometimes, you’ll be warned several days in advance that one is coming on by depression, constipation, diarrhea, irritability, or other signs. Then you many experience a flash of light, tingling in your leg or arm, or blind spots. Up next comes the pain of the migraine headache. Finally, during the final phase, you may feel drained or even euphoric. Medications, home remedies, and lifestyle changes often make a big difference in the severity and frequency of migraines, but as with most painful things, it’s better to avoid migraines than to recover from them.
So what causes such horrible headaches? Here are some of the most common. (more…)
Understanding the basics of plyometric exercises.
While weight training will make your muscles bigger and stronger, training with plyometrics will make your larger muscles faster. If you are an athlete interested in increasing your speed and muscle power, you should consider adding plyometrics to your exercise routine.
Developed for athletes in the Soviet Union and brought to the states in the 1970s, plyometric training, also known as jump training, is now a popular workout for any sport, at any age, and for males or females. Through plyometric exercises, you’ll improve the stretch reflex of your muscles, making them move faster. Want more? Keep reading.
Benefits of Plyometrics
Whether you play soccer, tennis, or track, plyometric training can improve your abilities. Research has shown that with proper plyometric training, athletes will exhibit improvements in the following: (more…)
If I were to ask you which foods temp you, most likely they wouldn’t be ones that are very healthy. I bet they would be ice cream, potato chips, pizza, or something along those lines. In fact, in your mind right now as you’re reading, you are probably thinking about a food that isn’t healthy. Well, aren’t you? Stop for a moment and think about it……………….. The point I’m going to make in this article is that you can change what you crave by changing how you think.
Every new client that comes to my office for weight-loss has a “craving problem.” But I don’t see it as a problem at all. I see it as a solution. Cravings are over-rated. They are hodge-podge and we don’t have to be controlled by them. We don’t have to feel temped by ice cream, cookies or 20-ounce prime ribs. Instead, we can be tempted by watermelon, pineapple, oranges or apples; foods like that. Think that sounds crazy? Well it isn’t and you’ll see why.
When I first sit down and talk with a client about their eating habits, I gather everything I need to know about exactly what they eat and how they eat. The culprit to their weight problem always boils down to snacking, picking, eating foods that are unhealthy or just plain over-eating. Then I’ll ask them what fruits and vegetables they like. I’m yet to come across someone who hates fruit or hates every vegetable under the sun. Finally I’ll ask them how often they eat fruits or vegetables and it’s always a lot less often than the unhealthy stuff.
After I’ve gathered my arsenal of information, we do our thing. I’ll have my clients lay back in my recliner and close their eyes. I’ll direct their mind to a peaceful place, and within minutes they’ll be relaxed like never before. Then I start talking about their favorite fruits and vegetables. I’ll ask them to imagine taking a bite of their favorite juicy, ripe fruit and to feel the juices tickling their taste buds. I’ll say to their mind, “from now on anytime you have a craving for food, you will think of a juicy, ripe piece of fruit. And bingo!!! Next thing you know these are exactly the kinds of foods they start desiring. Why? Because anytime you close your eyes and bring yourself to a calm, relaxed place, your subconscious mind emerges, and it is this part of the mind that controls what you crave. Change your thoughts and you’ll change what you crave. Simple.
Let’s look at this from another perspective. Let’s say pineapple is your favorite fruit. Now, if you were sitting with me right now and I gave you a juicy chunk of it, you would enjoy it thoroughly. And you’d want more, right? Of course. Now, let’s say I reached into my refrigerator, whipped-out a piece of chocolate cake and said, “choose one.” Most likely you would opt for the pineapple because you just had a teaser-piece, which would make your mind want more. The fact of the matter is this: you enjoy your favorite fruits just as much as you enjoy your favorite junk foods, you just believe otherwise.
Again, cravings are over-rated. The mere mention of that devilish word always seems to conjures-up images of high calorie, high fat foods only because these are the foods you are most exposed to in our media driven world. Your subconscious gets accustomed to this and just doesn’t know any better. Change your minds images and you’ll change your cravings. Here’s a quick 5 minute mental exercise you can begin doing now to help you start changing the way you crave food.
Step 1: Find a comfortable, quiet place where there are no distractions. Begin breathing deeply until you are quite relaxed. Next, count backwards from 10-1, slowly. With each count, imagine that your mind is drifting deeper and deeper.
Step 2: After you have finished counting, imagine that you are relaxing by yourself in your favorite place. A secluded beach or a log in the woods will do the trick. Imagine yourself feeling so very relaxed and peaceful.
Step 3: Next, imagine a basket full of your favorite fresh picked fruit sitting right next to you. See it clearly in your mind, the color, the feel, everything about that fruit. Imagine taking a bite of that juicy fruit and enjoying it like never before.
Step 4: Repeat the following suggestion to yourself 10 times: “From now on, anytime I think of eating, I immediately feel a craving for fruit.”
Step 5: Count from 1 to 5, slowly, and when you reach 5 open your eyes.
About 16 percent of the total calories in American diets comes from added sugar.
By Elisa Zied, R.D.
How could something so sweet be so bad for you? That’s exactly the point.
Sugar in all forms — from the refined stuff in the bowl on your table to honey and high fructose corn syrup — is a key contributor to many of our diet-related diseases and conditions, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer, according to Dr. Robert Lustig, professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.
In an interview Sunday withDr. Sanjay Gupta on “60 Minutes”, childhood obesity expert Lustig cited sugar as the source of an American public health crisis. While Americans’ sugar intake has declined significantly since the 1970s, our diets are now filled with processed foods containing the artificial sweetener, high fructose corn syrup, the show reported. ”The problem is they’re both bad. They’re both equally toxic,” Lustig told “60 Minutes.” (more…)
Is Your Home Sick?
Your home—your castle—should be where you feel secure and safe. But what if your home is exposing you to harmful chemicals and pollutants?
Studies have shown that indoor air is often up to five times more polluted than the air outside. And that’s for homes in the country as well as the city. Even worse is that research has linked overexposure to toxic chemicals with behavioral problems, cancer, asthma, and brain damage.
Want to get your home in good health? Here are eight easy and inexpensive ways to improve the air quality in your home so you and your loved ones can live in a healthy and safe environment.
Get Out the Dust Mop
The tiny dust particles that collect on furniture and floors aggravate allergies and contain hazardous chemicals like lead, pesticides, and fire retardants. If you have an option, choose hardwood, tile, or non-vinyl floors over carpet, which harbors dust and allergens. Dust your furniture often and vacuum at least once a week with a vacuum that has as HEPA filter. Clean the vacuum bag and filter every time you vacuum.
The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. – Maya Angelou
Stop Smoking
Secondhand smoke is the greatest cause of asthma for children. The list of health problems associated with smoking is so long it is a wonder smoking is still legal. If you are at all concerned about your health, the health of your family, or the health of your home, it is time to kick the habit. (more…)
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