Your cells depend on your food intake to maintain effective health through toxin reduction and cell repair. Processed foods pass through your body providing insufficient nutrients and high fat. High fat leads to reduced toxin reduction and results in low energy and a feeling of heaviness. The best weight loss plan is one that works towards regular detoxification of the body. It may be advisable to go through a detoxification under expert guidance and understanding your physical reactions to different foods. Regular consumption of water is another necessity in helping your body to heal itself. Dry fruits and fresh fruit consumption is essential to increase your energy levels and feeling of well-being.
Sleep Right
Regular rest habits along with good breathing techniques are essential to support your efforts towards finding the best weight loss option. Excess sleep is as ineffective as a lack of it. You will know that you have slept well when you wake up feeling fresh. Ensure that you stretch your entire body as soon as you wake up in the morning. This will help you determine whether you are feeling good after your night’s rest. If you feel drowsy after your lunch, allow yourself a ten minute nap and start work immediately after that.
Manage Stress
Stress is a state of disequilibrium that affects you at a physical and mental level. Poor food and rest habits are a source of stress and if you add mental stress to this, the body steadily weakens and regularly breaks down. Immunity is compromised and weight gain seems to occur without reason. The best weight loss method to be followed in this case is one that allows you to focus on finding methods to reduce your stress through meditation. Choose creative outlets that allow you to find alternatives to spend your time.
Exercise right
Your day should start with a set of stretching exercises that cover all your limbs. These should be done slowly to avoid injury. The best weight loss method is one that allows for higher focus on maintaining flexibility and less on high impact exercise. Any exercise that involves jerky motions is likely to lead to painful joints. Instead, choose dancing and yoga as methods to keep your body supple. If you enjoy games like football or badminton where impact on the joints is inevitable in varying degrees, support the joints and ensure that you give yourself a massage twice a week to strengthen your muscles and cleanse your skin.
By: Alan Chai
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
We spend one third of our life in sleep, but without that we would not be able to work for the other two thirds. Sleep is the rejuvenating mechanism of the body. As the sun sets and darkness falls, we naturally tend to feel sleepy and when we wake up with the sun, we are again full of energy. Why we sleep is still a subject of scientific investigations.
Advantages of sleeping
• After rest, the brain is better able to concentrate during the day
• Sleeping allows the brain to organize memories collected during the day. If we go without sleep, we may not be able to remember many things.
• During sleep, the body repairs nerve cells which get damaged from the day's activity and stress. The skin, which is exposed to U-V rays during the day, also rejuvenates during the night.
• Many hormones are active when we are asleep, especially growth hormones.
• It is a recent finding that sleeping also reins in the appetite hormones as a result of which we feel less craving for energy rich food, thus preventing causes of obesity.
Sleep deprivation for long periods can cause hallucinations. Irregular sleep patterns greatly affect blood pressure and levels of cholesterol, which are directly related to heart attacks. Sleeping less also contributes to other diseases like diabetes, colon cancer and obesity.
Many people cannot sleep or if they sleep, they wake up early feeling exhausted. This is known as insomnia which results in poor performance in job, mood swings and inability to maintain good relations with people.
Tips on correct sleeping habits
• Hormonal activity is high during early hours of the night, so it is advisable to go to sleep before 10 pm.
• Waking up at different times of the day causes disruptions in the body's biological cycle, so make a habit of getting up at the same hour everyday.
• A sedentary lifestyle does not make the body tired enough to sleep. Therefore, walking for 30 minutes before sleeping can promote a good sleep.
• Eating just before sleeping keeps the digestive system in operation preventing the body from doing other tasks.
• Uncomfortable clothes and a noisy environment create disturbance in sleep so make sure these factors are taken care of.
• Working on something stressful just before sleeping causes the mind to continue its work thus causing sleep disorders.
• Since coffee or caffeine based drinks make you alert, avoid them before going to sleep.
• Breathing exercises can help to induce sleep
A good sleep can help you to work more, decide better, prevent injuries, and recover from illness faster.
By : Angela Giles
Article Source : Http://ezinearticles.com
We breathe in pairs, except for two times in our lives. At birth, we take our first breath; at death we exhale for the last time.
Every day, we breathe about 23,040 times moving over 438 cubic feet of air. It takes but two seconds to inhale and three seconds to exhale. During those times odors flood our smell receptors with information.
Smells swirl around us, enter our bodies and emanate from us. Whether the smells are dispersed in the environment or delivered discreetly through an aromapod, we are in a constant wash of them. The sense of smell is thousands of times more sensitive than any of our other senses. In less than a millisecond, just one whiff of a familiar smell can trigger memories of childhood, home and family. Smell impulses travel faster than signals from sight or sound because the olfactory system is the only part of the brain that is directly exposed to the air.
The brain processes sensory information delivered through sight, sound, taste and touch by identifying the incoming information first, which in turn generates an emotional reaction. But our sense of smell is different. It does the opposite. The information of incoming odors is first processed by the emotions and subsequently identified. This places our sense of smell at the root of our emotional being.
Aromas delivered directly to the smell receptors in our brain have a powerful effect on behavior. Just think of your response to the smell of a cup of coffee in the morning or your reaction to a dead skunk on the side of the road.
Since birth, our smell receptors have catalogued every scent that passed through our nostrils in an area of the brain the size of a postage stamp. The average adult is able to process approximately 10,000 different smells with each odor having the potential to evoke a memory.
Smell influences our moods, our emotions and the choice of our mates. It is the main organ that contributes to our enjoyment of our sense of taste. Smells warn us of dangers, such as fire, poisonous fumes and spoiled food and gives us awareness of our place in the environment. Our sense of smell contributes enormously to the quality and enjoyment of our lives, our health and our well being. It is the mind-body interface.
But we take our sense of smell for granted. There are no galleries displaying smells like paintings. There are no concertos written for nose. We do not have special menus of smells created for grand occasions. Odors cannot be measured on a linear scale like those used to measure the wavelength of light or the frequency of sound. We have not yet developed a smell scale because odorant molecules vary widely in chemical composition and three-dimensional shape.
Our culture places such low value on olfaction that we have never developed a proper vocabulary for it. We have names for all the pastels in a hue but none for the notes and tints of a smell. It is almost impossible to explain how something smells to someone who hasn't smelled it. We go through our daily lives paying little attention to this enigmatic sense.
But this is all about to change. Research into the power of our sense of smell is a new medical frontier. It will provide consumers with sophisticated products that use the sense of smell to analyze, manage and enhance behavior, treat diseases, improve performance and deliver an endless range of exotic scents to pleasure this forgotten sense.
We are at the beginning of a smell revolution.
Luke Vorstermans is the Founder and CEO of The Sense of Smell Lab, a world leader in pioneering products that use the sense of smell for health, wellness and sheer smelling pleasure. The SOS Lab developed the Sniff n Go aromapod, the Scentuelle libido patch and Scent Therapy product line.
Article Source : http://ezinearticles.com
What is a healthy amount of body fat? This depends on who you are and what you do. Athletes on strict training and diet regimens may have as little as 14-18% body fat for women and 6-12% for men. The healthy, fit range is from 18-22% for women and from 12-17% for men. Having over 30% body fat for women and 20% body fat for men increases the risk of disease and is considered obese. If your body fat percentage is higher than the healthy, fit levels yet is lower than the obese levels, you may benefit from a healthy diet and exercise, but are not at health risk related to body composition.
Now that we've covered the basics on body fat, let's move on to what's left, which is collectively termed "lean body mass." Lean body mass includes everything in your body but fat - muscle, bones, organs, fluids, etc. By exercising regularly and eating a healthy, balanced diet, it is possible to achieve and maintain a desirable ratio of fat to lean. Resistance training can increase muscle mass, which thereby increases your lean body mass. And since your muscles are what gives your body shape and form over your skeleton, building strong, healthy muscles can make you look good, too!
Another benefit of increasing lean body mass is that it can help your body become a better calorie-burning machine! It's true - by increasing muscle mass, you will increase your resting metabolic rate (RMR) and burn more calories all day long! How is this possible? Because muscle tissue contains little organelles called mitochondria, which put simply, are little energy producing machines. The more muscle tissue you have, the more mitochondria you have. And yes - you've got it - the more mitochondria you have, the more calories you burn!
Fat cells, on the other hand, do not have any such amazing abilities. In fact, body fat above the level of essential fat is considered storage fat and is actually a source of fuel that can feed the mitochondria and help keep your body running. A certain amount of storage fat is also important for cushioning and protecting the bones, muscles and organs, and for temperature regulation. However, high levels of body fat can adversely affect temperature regulation, as well as overtax the body's organs and systems over time.
A last point to note is that your body weight is about 60-70% water, with muscle tissue being 70-75% water and fat 10-15% water. Women will be slightly less hydrated than men, due to the higher level of essential fat. Water is essential to life - it is present in all of your body fluids and tissues. In blood, it transports nutrients and oxygen to your cells, and picks up waste products for elimination. In sweat, it helps cool your body and in saliva and digestive fluids it helps break down the food you eat. Water is even a key ingredient for healthy, radiant skin!
While height and weight are valuable numbers to know, your body composition will tell you much more about your overall health, and it gives you some insight into what is going on inside you!
References:
Jordan, P., ed. (1995) Fitness: Theory & Practice. Aerobics and Fitness Association of America.
Clark, N. (1995) Water: the Ultimate Nutrient. Physician and Sports Medicine, 23:5: 32g-32h.
You Can Get A Healthy Body Composition By Doing Pilates Classes In New York. If you decide you need Pilates Certification NYC, This Same Studio Is A Great Resource
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.comBy now, we all understand that regular exercise is good for everybody. Its good the heart, it helps us maintain a desirable body weight, and has a positive effect on relieving stress. But, there are many exercise myths that have repeatedly been presented as fact, either by those who are trying to sell us something, or by those who mean well, but haven't gotten their facts straight. Here are five myths about physical fitness that some readers may find surprising.
Myth #1
You can reduce fat in specific areas of the body, by doing exercises that target those particular body areas.
On the face of it, that seems to make sense, but trying to burn fat in a precise spot where you want to lose it, simply doesn't work. The only way to burn fat is through exercise, expending more calories then you've ingested. And exercise burns fat gradually, and from all areas of the body simultaneously, not just around the muscles you're using. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't work the areas where you have extra fat though. Doing so will build muscle there, and that will give that area a more toned look, when the fat over the muscle is reduced.
Myth #2
You must exercise regularly, in order for the exertion to benefit you.
There's no doubt about it, getting truly physically fit requires many weeks of diligent effort. With that in mind, many people believe, that if they can't or don't have the willpower to exercise several times per week, any lesser effort is wasted. But, any amount of exercise is beneficial.
Even if you only take a walk occasionally, the effort can help lower your blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol. It probably won't help you lose weight or build muscle, but it's certainly worthwhile, from an overall health point-of-view. And psychologically, sometimes when we start off exercising every now and then, we soon realize, that's it not as difficult as we thought, and making time for exercise on a regular basis, is not as difficult as we might have believed.
Myth #3
Strength training will make your body too muscular.
Some people use weight training to develop large muscles. Many others participate in order to increase their strength and tone their overall musculature, but are not interested in "bulking up." But if you follow a sensible strength-training regimen, there's no need to end up looking like a bodybuilder. On the contrary, without a positive genetic disposition for large muscle growth, any strength training results will be positive, but not excessive.
The "bodybuilders" pictured today spend many hours a week in the gym, performing many sets, with increasing weight resistance. A more mainstream strength training program consists of 10 - 12 different exercises, at between 8 - 12 repetitions, utilizing all major muscle groups, twice-a-week.
Myth #4
Muscle turns to fat, if you stop exercising that muscle group.
Muscle cannot magically transform itself into fatty tissue. There is no need to worry about your hard-earned, six-pack abs turning into jello, if your exercise routine is interrupted. Muscles will shrink (atrophy), if not challenged regularly, with resistance exercises, and this may create a flabby, less-toned appearance, over time. The missed exercise routine, with fewer calories burned, will also cause a reduced metabolism, making it much more likely, you will gain weight, as fat.
Myth #5
I'm too old to start exercising.
Aging, in many cases, brings an inevitable decrease in personal health status. With that in mind, many people believe that, if they haven't followed a regular exercise routine, starting later in life is futile. Research has showed that nothing could be further from the truth. Exercise can assist in the management of many health problems, common among the middle-aged and elderly. As always, it's extremely important to consult your physician, before embarking on a strenuous regimen, as they understand your physical condition better than anyone. Unfortunately, although exercise is incredibly beneficial to most, because of prior medical conditions, certain individuals may not be able to participate safely.
Exercise myths may hinder people from embarking on a personal fitness program. Knowing the truth, behind the myths, may alleviate those fears, and make it easier for individuals to pursue a healthy lifestyle correctly.
By : Gregory Camp
Article Source : http://ezinearticles.com
There are certain things that can cause depression - but not each of us will be privy to the reasons of why the people we love are going through them. Maybe they have experienced some intense accident or psychical trauma that will impact them for the rest of their lives. Or possibly they have been distressed with emotional troubles.
People who suffer from clinical depression frequently have thoughts of desolation and will no longer have the want to spend time with others or even eat. But what some of us do not realize is that the depression is able to extend past this and impact them to such a degree that they have the want to commit suicide.
There are definite signs and warnings that you can look for in someone to determine whether or not they are considering suicide. If you distinguish any of these signals it is important that you search for medical attention and guidance for them.
Common Signs
Numerous individuals who have thoughts of killing themselves will talk a good deal about death. They will discuss shooting themselves, running away, or jumping off of high buildings.
People who have lost somebody who was close to them through death, divorce, or separation. Likewise people who have lost their jobs, homes, self esteem, or who do not enjoy any of their common hobbies or activities.
They will have a serious switch in personality that will cause them to be sad, distressed, drained, and apathetic. Likewise their behaviour will change and they will not be able to concentrate on normal projects, school, or work.
They will not be able to sleep at night or may have nightmares that will arouse them during the early hours of the morning.
One of the most average signal of suicide is the urges that they have to give away their preferred belongings to people close to them. They may likewise produce a will or have someone take care of their pets.
By : Naomi West
Learn how to Treat Depression and Prevent Suicide in someone you love. Also learn what can Cause Depression.
When you make the decision to eat healthier, to get into shape, and become more fit, you also need to consider eating better for the health of your heart. You need to include more fresh vegetables and fresh fruits and stick with leaner proteins to promote your heart health.
Also in order to maintain the health of your heart, consider the following:
Stay away from canned and prepackaged foods. These typically are high in sodium and eating too much salt will lead to high blood pressure and eventual problems with your heart.
Choose to eat smart protein foods, including fish, chicken, and lean meats. Non or low-fat dairy products and legumes are also heart-smart sources of protein.
Don't skip out on fat. You should stay away from trans-fats and saturated fats but consume monosaturated fats such as those found in olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids, which you can get from fish, certain vegetables, and nuts.
Increase your intake in soluable fiber, which is found in oat bran, green vegetables, beans, and citrus fruits. These soluable fibers help to lower levels of cholesterol, leaving your heart in better shape.Leading a sedentary lifestyle is one of the main risk factors for heart disease. You need to work at strengthening your heart and improving your cardiovascular system. Other reasons that exercise and activity is important to your heart health is:
In addition to eating better for your heart, you also need to incorporate heart-healthy fitness activities into your daily routine.
- You will improve your circulation so your body will be able to use oxygen more efficiently.
- You will increase the levels of your energy so you'll experience less fatigue and incidents of shortness of breath.
- You will lower your blood pressure levels.
- You will build up your levels of endurance.
- You will learn to improve your balance and body flexibility.
- You will strengthen your bones.
- You will improve your overall strength and muscle tone.
- You will reduce the amount of your body fat and enable you to maintain a healthy weight.
- You will also give your heart a break from stress, anxiety, tension, and depressive episodes.
- You will be able to get more rest at night and improve your quality of sleep.
Types of Exercise
Stretching
Make sure you start out each activity with the proper amount of stretching. Stretch your arms and legs to prep your muscles for the exercises you are able to perform. This prep work helps to prevent injury or muscle exertion. It will also help keep you more flexible.
Aerobic and Cardiovascular Workouts
Using the large muscle groups, these types of exercises will strengthen the heart and lungs so your body can use oxygen more effectively. Examples of aerobic exercises include walking, running, cycling, jumping rope, and water aerobics. Perform routine exercises for 20-30 minutes a day.
Strengthening
Repeatedly tightening the muscles with exercises until it tires out will help strengthen the body and the heart.
Tisha Kulak Tolar is a writer for Fit4EverYoung.com, where she writes about bodybuilding, exercise, general health and fitness, nutrition and supplements.
Article Source : http://ezinearticle.com
When you experience a panic attack, your body goes into overdrive. Your body is sounding the alarm and your heart starts to race faster, your breathing becomes shallower and quicker and blood flows to the core of your body, leaving your extremities tingling.
These sensations can be overwhelming and often only serve to increase the anxiety you are suffering with. Your body is prepared to fight or flee; this is an ancient survival instinct that kicks in when we feel cornered, vulnerable or scared.
It is our body´s way of protecting us. These powerful sensations can´t simply be dismissed or wished away. They have to be fooled into thinking everything is okay even if your mind is telling you it´s not.
People who suffer from panic attacks have these episodes strike them at unfortunate times and in unfortunate places. The stimulus that is causing the intense reactions is usually something that wouldn´t spark such an intense reaction in non anxiety sufferers.
Panic attacks can be triggered by a meeting with the boss, speaking in front of others, meeting with your child´s teacher, going to the theater. There are so many reasons that someone might have an attack, it is important to examine your particular triggers. Is it crowded places, meeting with authority figures, or fear of embarrassment.
Once you understand your triggers, you can more effectively work towards conquering them.
What you don´t want to do is to avoid activities and people because of your panic attacks. Don´t put off that meeting with your child´s teacher for months because you don´t want to talk to her, don´t refuse a promotion because you know you will have to go to more speaking engagements. Avoiding activities because of your panic positions you to develop more severe anxiety problems.
There are many ways to deal with panicked responses besides medication. While prescriptions may be a solution for some people and some people have had great results with drugs like Paxil and Zoloft, many people don´t want to become dependent on prescription medications or deal with their potential side effects.
There are ways, non-prescription ways to deal with panic which may better suit the needs of some anxiety sufferers.
Exercise is always a good place to start; it releases natural endorphins and provides an outlet for worry and aggression. It can also be a great self esteem booster and help you feel better about yourself. In addition, you can learn and utilize various relaxation techniques such as meditation, yoga, progressive muscle relaxation and deep breathing. All of these are a good way to spread positive vibes throughout your mind and body, triggering your body´s natural relaxation response.
Another great way to deal with the negative effects of panic attacks is to redirect your negative thoughts into positive ones. This is a simple premise but it takes practice and work to execute effectively.
Essentially you are turning your thoughts away from obsessing on doom and gloom and all the potential things that can go wrong in a given situation to focusing on prior successes in similar situations or the positive outcomes that might be achieved. By actively and consciously changing your thought pattern, you will lessen the natural physical response that your body goes through when feeling panicked.
By : Bertil Hjert
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Whether you think that you are in a health condition, it is much better for you to test your health to your medical doctor. By doing so, you could check health condition, as well as checking your cholesterol levels well.
It is also possible for its levels to rise if you experiencing gastro-intestinal problems, having a weight problem or you are diabetic.
A Quantity of Reasons for High Cholesterol Levels
Alcohol abuse, poor diet, sedentary way of life and also smoking can cause high levels.
As a result, a poor diet can extensively impact levels in the body. Eating animal foods, saturated fats and trans fats will all send the cholesterol levels higher. In consequence, it contributes to ill health and heart ailment.
It does so since carbohydrate will simply contribute to progress your bad levels.
It does so since this is an exceedingly effective means of keeping its levels at optimum levels. It also improves circulation of blood and helps in diminishing unwanted cholesterol and will also aids to keep body weight under check.
Smoking can raise its levels. Smoking is also a contributing factor to heart ailment. Quitting smoking is certainly the most wonderful way of keeping its levels in check.
You must make certain that your cholesterol levels are on the normal level. Cholesterol in its normal level will give you numerous advantages.
High levels are the major reason why people suffer from cardio-vascular ailments and even result in heart attacks. It is prominent for you to take a cholesterol blood test to discover how much cholesterol is in your body.
In the bottom line, leaving your high levels untreated is a big fault for you. Severe illnesses can be triggered if you have cholesterol in high level.
Don't make yourself in doubt, see more on cholesterol levels.
