Monday, November 12, 2007

Tips for Creating a Fall Fitness Plan

Ah, the fall season! No more blistering heat to contend with, air conditioning and sleepless nights. Instead there is the changing of the leaves, the fuzzy warm feeling we get on a cold night and waking up to brisk fresh air and exercise. Yes, now is the time to prepare a fall fitness plan.

If just beginning a diet and exercise program, you are in luck because the time is ripe and the weather is perfect to begin enjoying the outdoors more frequently. Use this time to set up a regimen that you will stick to and are comfortable with.

Since the kids have returned to school, many have a bit more time to concentrate on themselves and what they need. Therefore, here are some tips to help prepare for an exercise plan that will keep you fit, healthy and happy.

If you have not joined a gym, you may want to consider it now. If you do belong to one, renew the membership. Ask a friend if he or she would like to join also.

Schedule a routine after dropping the kids off at school. Walking with other moms for 30 minutes, three times a week would be a great start. Smaller children at home can go along in a stroller that is conducive to a brisk walk. Having other moms come along makes the exercise experience more enjoyable.

Not able to get out as often as a brisk walking regime may require, then take out the workout DVDs. Participate in the exercises every other day. Take walks after dinner at night.

Call upon a few neighbors or friends and ask if they would like to join in an exercise program. Sit down together and make a schedule that is good for everyone.

More importantly, make out a schedule that can be lived with and that will allow the time needed to exercise on a continual basis. Enlist the aid of family members or friends to help with baby-sitting if necessary.

The fall is the perfect time of year to commence an exercise program. Be sure to have good walking and/or running shoes and comfortable jogging suits.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

5 Tips for Preventing Osteoporosis





When bones get old, they tend to become less dense, weakening their structure. These weak bones begin to get tiny fractures. Because of their size, one of these fractures isn’t really a problem; however, if your bones are fragile enough for you to have osteoporosis, you will have many of these tiny fractures. In the end, they add up to a big problem.

The thing to know is that most osteoporosis cases are preventable. By following a few tips, you can keep your bones strong and dense, keeping you healthy for a long time.

* Get plenty of calcium. Calcium is the building block of bones. If we’re short on calcium, then we can’t make our bones as dense and strong. You can get calcium through milk and yogurt, but also from green leafy vegetables and various soy products. If need be, you can also take a calcium supplement.
* Get other essential nutrients. Calcium is actually no good if you don’t have Vitamin D, which allows you to absorb the calcium. During the summer, the best source of Vitamin D is the sun. During the winter you can try tanning beds, or try fortified products like Vitamin D milk and certain breakfast cereals. Other nutrients that are essential to keeping your bones strong are: Vitamin K, phosphorous, Vitamin C, magnesium, copper, manganese, zinc, iron, boron, and , protein. Unless you eat the world’s healthiest diet, it’s best to start taking a daily multivitamin.
* Perform weight bearing exercise. You don’t need to start a weight training regimen at the gym. In fact, most women can get the appropriate amount of exercise simply by walking (you’re “bearing” your body weight). Getting up and moving for a few minutes every day is important for keeping bones strong. If you can exercise more, you should do so. Exercise is important for maintaining a healthy weight, another good way to keep osteoporosis away. Just remember, losing too much weight is a good way to lose bone mass as well.
* Drop bad habits. While having the occasional drink has actually been shown to improve the condition of your bones, you start to cause damage if you drink alcohol excessively. Smoking can also cause an increased fracture risk. Plus, quitting smoking is a good healthy choice all around.
* Start Early. Most women wait until the first signs of menopause to start worrying about osteoporosis prevention. While menopause is when bones start to deteriorate faster, if you have weak bones to begin with, adding preventative measure may not do a whole lot of good. You should take the steps above as early as possible, and pass them on to your daughters too.

The best part about taking these smalls steps is that they’ll also help prevent other conditions besides osteoporosis. In no time, you’ll be well on your way to a healthier, happier life.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Why Exercise is Important for Seniors



Why Exercise is Important for Seniors

To live an active, healthy lifestyle, as a young child or into your 90’s, you need to get proper exercise. While many seniors stop exercising due to various physical constraints, it is actually more important for older people to get regular workouts. It’s also important that these workouts encompass the 4 different types of exercise seniors need. They include: strength training, endurance exercises, flexibility exercises, and balance exercises.

Strength training
As we age, our bodies begin to lose bone and muscle mass. Loss of bone mass increases the risk for osteoporosis and larger, more serious breaks. Loss of muscles mass makes us weaker, slower, and less able to do things. A great way to prevent and perhaps even reverse some of the damage is to do regular strength training exercises. This doesn’t have to involve big fancy equipment; you can use resistance bands or things you have around the house. Just be sure to follow proper form to prevent injury.

Endurance exercises
While some seniors find it easy to walk, run, or do other strenuous activities for a long period of time; others find they have difficulty just walking down the hallway. For both types of people, it is important to participate in exercises that maintain or increase your endurance and stamina. This could include walking, using cardio equipment, or even doing some gardening during the spring and summer. Anything that makes you move and gets your blood pumping is good. Aim for 30 minutes a day at least 3 to 4 days a week. With regular exercise, you’ll find you can walk farther and faster, and do more during the day.

Flexibility exercises
You may find it harder to do things now that were easy for you when you were younger. Much of this is because our bodies lose their flexibility and become much more rigid. Even the simple act of walking or opening a door may become a challenge. You can combat this problem by pushing your flexibility. These exercises can range from yoga to simple daily stretches; just as long as you keep stretching and moving your muscles and the rest of your body.

Balance
Nothing can be more devastating to an older person than a serious injury, such as breaking a hip or dislocating a shoulder. Many seniors who have a major accident never recover. That’s why it’s important to exercise muscles to improve balance. Yoga, Pilates, and anything else that helps strengthen your core muscles can be helpful.

Even young people need to rest between workouts. This is even more important for seniors. The body needs time to rest and heal itself. Without proper rest, you risk causing an injury. You shouldn’t push yourself too hard with any exercise and remember to take time off between workouts.

When starting any exercise program, you should consult your doctor first. They can tell you if the exercises you choose are right for your body and may suggest something more appropriate.

Whether you’re already fit or have never worked out before, today is the day to go get some exercise.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

3 Herbal Teas and How they Benefit Your Health

3 Herbal Teas and How they Benefit Your Health

While herbal remedies have been used in some cultures for centuries, other societies have just begun to accept their benefits. Even now, some people still rely on modern medicine for problems that can be treated effectively with an herbal remedy because they are leery about them. A great way to get the benefits of herbs without taking supplements is to brew them into a tea. You then get the benefits along with a great tasting drink. Here are three great herbal teas and what they can do to help you.

Valerian Tea
Valerian has been used for centuries to help with a whole host of medical problems. Most recently it has been used to calm nerves and even soothe severe anxiety and restlessness. It is a great tea to enjoy at the end of the day when you want to unwind and relax. Because it acts as a sedative, Valerian is often used to cure insomnia and get a restful night’s sleep. It is commonly used to help with cramps and digestive problems such as irritable bowel syndrome.

You should also be wary of continued use because it can become addictive and produce withdrawal symptoms if you stop using it.

When making Valerian tea, do not use boiling water. You can decrease its potency; just use hot water.

Echinacea
Want to be able to strengthen your immune system and better fight off viruses like that flu? Or course you do. That’s why you should try to drink Echinacea tea regularly. This tea stimulates your t cells and helps boost interferon production; both essential parts of immune functioning

A few people may be allergic to Echinacea, so if you experience any signs of an allergic reaction or an asthma attack, see a doctor immediately.

Hawthorn
If you’re looking for a natural, effective way to help improve your heart function and circulation, you should try hawthorn tea. This herb has been known to help the heart, relieve blood pressure problems, lower cholesterol, and improve circulation. It’s also an antioxidant which means it helps prevent cancer and improves overall health.

Before drinking herbal teas, taking herbal supplements, or taking any medications, you should talk to your doctor. Herbs can have side effects, complications, and drug interactions; just like prescription meds. You doctor will be able to tell you if it’s safe for you to use certain herbs or not.

If used properly, herbal teas can be a great way to naturally improve your health and help you live a happier life. If you benefit from these teas, there are many other options that you can try to maintain good health.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Adding Exercise to Your Arthritis Treatment





Adding Exercise to Your Arthritis Treatment

Arthritis is an ailment which affects millions of people. While some people may experience mild discomfort, others are in horrible and debilitating pain every single day. No matter how mild or severe your pain is, you can probably benefit from some exercise. Not only will it improve your overall health, it may also help combat some of your symptoms, leaving you pain free and help you with your symptoms.

We all know the importance of exercise, but arthritis patients will probably benefit more from strength straining exercises targeting their affected joints. The best way to get this kind of workout is through a physical therapist. They can provide you with exercises designed specifically to improve endurance, and muscle strength. If you perform these exercises as prescribed, you will probably find yourself feeling better, or at least not deteriorating as quickly. You may be able to do more, or your condition may simply worsen more slowly. You can’t reverse the damage arthritis as caused, but you may be able to improve your quality of life.

Another type of exercise your physical therapist will probably recommend is flexibility training. Many arthritis patients lose flexibility and range-of-motion in affected joints because pain is causing them to use the joint less. Flexibility exercises can help keep the joints limber, enabling a better range or motion and increasing how much you can do with that joint.

A good cardio workout is just as important for people with arthritis as it is for everyone else. However, unlike everyone else, people with arthritis don’t skip aerobic exercise because they’re busy, or tired, it’s because they’re in pain. If performing everyday activities is painful, then you probably don’t want to consider doing anything more than that; however, there are exercises you can do to work your heart without severe pain or a worsening of your condition. You should work with your doctor to find exercises that don’t stress, or even involve, the affected joints. For instance, patients with severe knee arthritis can get aerobic exercise with table top bike-like devices which you pedal with your hands. While this doesn’t help your affected joints directly, it improves your overall health, endurance, stamina, and circulation, which can improve your ability to handle your arthritis. Exercise can also temporarily relieve pain through chemicals in the blood.

While exercise isn’t going to cure your arthritis, it may help to improve your condition. To work properly, exercise should be combined with proper diet, getting enough rest, medication, and other treatments your doctor may recommend. A combination of these therapies goes a long way for reliving arthritis pain.


Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Living on one income

Living on one income Part 1 - Setting a Clear Budget





There are lots of reasons why families have to live on one income, a new baby, single parent, husband loses his job or simply because one of you wants to spend more time with your children. Whatever your situation is, living on one income can mean it’s time to cut back, or it can mean that now is the opportunity to slice your spending in half by making a few clever budget changes.

To start at the very basics it is absolutely essential to look at your cash flow, what money is coming in and what money is going out. The first part should be easy, simply list every penny of income you receive on a regular basis every month. This might be before you give up a second income to see if you can afford it, or this may be your single income that you are living on now.

Then comes the slightly harder part of listing everything that you are committed to spending on every month, this includes your mortgage, car payments, loans, utility bills like electricity, cable and water. Make a full list of everything that you absolutely must pay for every month.

You should add a realistic amount for food and other essentials such as diapers for your little ones or any other costs that you have to pay on a regular basis. These are your essential monthly costs.

Then simply take away your monthly costs from your monthly income. The difference between these two amounts is you disposable cash or how much you have to spend on everything else. Of course this amount might actually be negative and this is actually more often the situation for many families where you suddenly realize you can’t afford your living.

But don’t worry because there are lots of things you can do to reduce the costs. The first place to start is on the list of items that you made for you essential monthly costs.

We all usually have a long list of essential monthly costs so if you can reduce each one by ten dollars here and twenty dollars there and it will eventually all add up to make a significant difference.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Saving Money Tips For Your Family

Family Money Saving Tips





Every family should have a budget, no matter what their financial status is. A budget tells you exactly how much your have coming in, and how much goes out on a monthly basis for the absolute necessities like housing, food, utilities, insurance, transportation and health care. But what about the future?

That's another place where a budget comes in handy. When you've allotted a portion of the household's weekly income to the necessities, what's left over is your discretionary spending amount. These are the funds available to you for short-term expenses, or long-term investments, like your children's education, and your own retirement funds.

When the children are growing and requiring more in the way of expenditures, there might not be a lot left over. But even 5% of your income can be a healthy start on an education fund. Extras like bonuses or perhaps half the amount of a raise, will make those future savings grow. Since they aren't in the budget to start with, they won't be missed, and you'll still have a portion of the unexpected income to add to your regular budget.

Consider financial counseling at your banking institution, or from a professional. They are often the best sources for learning how to get the most out of the dollars you have to save, and the most out of the future benefits they are going to earn for you.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Useful Water Facts

Hi Reader,

I have been very much interested in the effects of water and its purpose in our lives. The following is an article disclosing many interesting facts.
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Interesting and Useful Water Facts
By Pramod Kumar

1. Normally, a human body carries 70 percent water as its weight. An infant’s body weight comprises about 80 percent of water.

2. A healthy adult can consume around three gallons of water per day.

3. We should not drink water quickly because it can further cause water intoxication. Water intoxication occurs when water weakens the sodium level in the bloodstream and causes an unevenness of water in the brain. During the periods of intense athletic performance, the situation of water intoxication occurs.

4. Normally, a human body’s daily water requirement is eight cups per day. You can also get enough water from every food or drink item provides some water to the body. The purest form of water has a neutral pH of 7, which is neither basic nor important.

5. Cold drinks and other beverages such as coffee, and tea carry only water with caffeine. Caffeine is a gentle diuretic that prevents water movement to necessary locations in the body.

6. The amount of fresh water stored in artesian basin is much more than the level of water present on the earth’s surface.

7. The amount of water that existed on the earth millions of years ago is still present today as the earth has a system similar to a terrarium which means that it rarely loses or gains extra matter. The total amount of water on the earth is calculated at around 326 million cubic miles of water.

8. Human beings can use about three tenths of a percent of the total water present on the Earth in the form of groundwater aquifers, rivers, and freshwater lakes.

9. Water has the capacity to dissolve more substances than any other liquid.

10. An average person loses over 1 percent of its total water amount when he/she feel thirsty. The weight a person loses directly after intense physical activity is weight from water, not fat.

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