Tips for a Healthy Life
Good effort, at least you’re started, try and make it to the end!
If you get tired reading this, go back to bed, as on average we need to have 8.1 hours of sleep to re-charge our bodies.
People who have less than 6 hours sleep a night have a 70 % higher mortality rate, according to Californian studies.
When sleeping in your own, or someone else’s bed, make sure the mattress is firm enough to support your body weight. With sufficient material, within the mattress that will act as a cushion to allow for the contours of the body to be supported.
Have a glass of water by your bed, and attempt to drink eight 8 oz glasses of water a day. At breakfast mix fruit juices with 50% water, to aid absorption, prevent rapid sugar levels in the blood, and to save money.
Make sure you don’t skip breakfast, unless you get out of bed after 12 o’clock, then go straight for lunch.
Spend time at breakfast to plan out your day, take each day one day at a time, but make the most of them, planning is the key to success.
Take a good quality multi-vitamin / mineral supplement each morning. A recent survey by the American National Food Council revealed that not one person from 21,500 consumed their optimum RDA of vitamins.
If you feel tired just after eating lunch, (the 2 o’clock slump), you are probably eating too much refined/processed carbohydrates, and your body has become carbohydrate sensitive. Try and eat more complex carbs, and add more protein and fiber to your meals. Oh yeah, don’t forget to drink that water.
Remember every gram of alcohol has 7 calories, so if your aim is to have a flat stomach or lose weight, practice acting drunk or simply cut back on your alcohol intake.
Alcohol is a depressant, if feeling depressed don’t take a drink, try and make yourself laugh, invite your friends round, and watch them get drunk, and fall all over the place.
When managing your weight avoid anything that is not in a measurable quantities.
Remember low fat foods, are often laced with sugar, which also has calories, just look at a low fat yogurt.
Eat a balanced diet, lower in fat, lower in sugar salt and processed foods, eat more fiber and whole food products.
Diets usually don’t work. Long term health and weight management should include healthy life style changes such as exercise and healthier whole foods.
When trying to lose fat, aim for a maximum of 1 1/2 pounds a week.
Crash dieting, over exercising and fasting will slow down your metabolism.
It’s easy to lose weight. Keeping it off, is the hard part, exercise works.
When you exercise, remind yourself, “I’m building a better body to live in”.
The best aerobic exercise is the one you’ll do, the best time to exercise is when you will do it.
Exercise is one of the best ways to reduce stress, ask yourself how you feel, after working out.
Exercise for the older age group, helps to keep you young, by maintaining muscle tissue and bone density, the older you are, the more important it is that you exercise.
Upper body weight training will help you maintain a total lean body mass; more muscle equals a higher resting metabolic rate.
If you get out of breath when you exercise, you’re probably going too fast.
Training too hard, may lower your fitness, resting your body, allows it to recover and rebuild itself properly. Don’t over train, you’ll just burn-up or melt.
After eating the last slice of cake, all overweight people will decide to go on the tomorrow diet, why don’t they decide to exercise it off, as the tomorrow diet never comes?
If you are always surrounded by food, and can’t stop picking, chew gum. Every time you put the food in your mouth you will ruin the gum.
Researchers have suggested that people who are deficient in various vitamins and minerals may overeat in an attempt to obtain the missing nutrients. Obesity is the unfortunate outcome.
Performing cardiovascular type activities (i.e. running, cycling, swimming, etc.) five times a week decreases your risk of type II diabetes by 45%.
Exercising two to four times a week reduces your risk by 40%; once a week, 25%. Exercise decreases your risk by reducing fat tissue in the body and making cells more responsive to insulin.
If you smoke, why don’t you give up? I’m not going to lecture you on all the bad points that smoking has, as I’m sure you know it’s a great provider of deaths in the family.
Stress lowers the immune system and exercise helps to counter stress. Over exercising puts pressure on the immune system, make sure you take those vitamins and minerals, and remember get fit to play sport, not play sport to get fit.
If you get a painful blister, studies have shown that piercing it within the first three hours can be effective. Aim to lance the blister in two places at opposite sides, taking care, as the fluid can spray out up to eleven feet. Check and clean regularly, don’t use dirty needles, as this can lead to amputation.
Garlic rich diets, may be bad for your breath, but garlic causes your body to release nitric oxide, which keeps your arteries more pliable, resulting in a increase in circulation.
Diesel fumes have been found to contain 41 dangerous substances, they can give you more miles to the gallon, as well as cancer.
Chewing sugar free gum increases saliva flow which helps to neutralize plaque acidity.
Avoid eye strain by looking away from the screen and focus on something in the distance, then focus on something close to you, do this now and whilst at work.
Relax with a glass or two of wine. The antioxidants it contains can give protection against heart disease.
Heart disease, cancers etc. can run in the family. Check your family history and aim to get yourself checked out for any hereditary problems.
Buy, rent, borrow a dog. One of the best aerobic exercises for any fitness level is plain old walking. Remember to take the dog with you.
There are currently around 100,000 cases of food poisoning resulting in up to 200 deaths a year in the U.K. Make sure you wash and prepare food properly, check the sell buy dates, and if you get ill, drink plenty of fluid and stay in the bedroom closest to the bathroom.
Mobile phones increase your blood pressure if used for prolonged periods. Thought to be caused by blood vessels being constricted by radio frequency electromagnetic fields. My monthly phone bill raises my blood pressure.
Zinc gluconate lozenge’s sucked every two hours have been found to help cold sufferers reduce the time of their symptoms. Unfortunately zinc causes more nausea and doesn’t taste too good.
Dyslexics could improve their reading by wearing different colored lenses. Contact lenses help by noticeably reducing visual distortion.
Put more tomato sauce on your chips and other foods, it may not be good for your diet, but 3 to 4 serving a week can cut your risk of prostate cancer by a third.
Forget an apple a day keeps the doctor away; try a raw carrot and a banana. The beta-carotene and potassium can reduce your risk of heart disease by preventing plaque build up on the artery walls.
Do those sit ups, it is estimated that strengthening the abdominals can prevent 75% of lower back problems.
When training out in the dark, shutting one eye when a car’s head lights are on you, will help prevent sudden night blindness.
Pressing a wet tea bag against a cold sore acts as an antiseptic. The tannin from the tea will help reduce the condition.
Improve your posture, by answering the phone whilst standing. If standing against a wall, push your shoulders and buttocks into the wall, then aim to eliminate any gaps, by pushing the lower back into the wall. Hold for 20 seconds, and then carry on a normal conversation. Avoid breathing heavily during the exercise.
If embarking on jogging or running for the first time since your school days, invest in a good pair of sneakers to avoid physiotherapy bills. Shorter strides may help lesson the impact, if you have to use your old gym gear.
Wear socks when out running – this will help prevent blisters, and also soak up sweat.
Eating fat is not a problem; the problem lies in the type of fat you’re eating. Aim to eat the essential fatty acids (EFA’s) such as those found in oily fish, and avoid the so called healthier margarine’s made from hydrogenated vegetable fats.
Some 25 % of adults have bad breath, normally brought on by smoking or bad foods. Avoid this by brushing your teeth twice a day, using a tongue scraper, as a significant amount of bacteria live on the tongue. Flossing between your teeth to remove food debris, and seeing a hygienist every three months is also advised.
Consult your doctor or fitness instructor if you have any concerns about your health before embarking on any exercise routine.
After each work out, remember to stretch to help your body repair and recover. When doing this, keep yourself warm, and wipe away any sweat.
The common cold is the biggest reason for taking time off work. Dress well, exercise regularly, and above all take in those vitamins, especially vitamin C. The RDA is 60m.g. This will prevent you from catching scurvy but won’t help you against a cold. Increase your dosage to bowel tolerance, normally between 1 and 3 grams.
Avoid negative thoughts, and don’t put yourself down. Work on making your mind and body strong, remember its you inside that says you can’t do something, challenge those negative thoughts and make them positive.
Breasts cancer studies have shown that fish oil and olive oil may keep breasts healthier. Linoleic acid found in sunflower or corn oil may increase the risk of tumors. What is certain is that obesity and a high alcohol level in older women are linked to a higher risk of developing breast cancer.
When flying, drink plenty of water and fruit juice. The high altitude and dry pressurized air, sucks the moisture from your body, causing your mucous membranes to dry out, making you more prone to viruses.
Don’t think you can smoke and exercise. Exercise increases your lung capacity, giving carcinogenic contaminates more lung space to give you lung cancer.
Missed your workout, then think again. Research has shown that mental exercise can increase your physical strength.
Put your head back and daydream, scientists have shown it is a positive source of creativity – unlocking answers to your problems leading to better emotional and physical health. Daydreams can work in another practical way, as a form of motivation, encouraging us to try new experiences.
Exercise performance is improved by increasing your body’s water content – so for once drink more. Put poor performance down to being dehydrated, just a 3% loss in body fluid, can result in a 7% loss in physical performance.
Being alone is good for your health. So instead of seeing time spent alone as a punishment see it as a time to refuel yourself, a time to recover from the overload of life.
Organize yourself, set some time aside for yourself to complete all the paper work, at both home and work, remember take care of your admin – a little a day keeps the stress at bay.
Eat right with mood enhancing foods such as milk, yogurt, tuna and chicken, which contain high levels of brain food tryptophan.
Restrict your car usage anything 10 minutes or less walk – think of the savings in parking tickets.