Tuesday 14 December 2010

Top Tips for A Healthy Body

Don’t dwell on the past or future – continuously thinking about past events does not allow you as a person to progress and grow. By all means you should process and accept what has happened and in turn learn from them, but then move forward. The same goes for the future, it is important to have plans and goals, but excessive worry about events that have not yet happened will not allow you to fully achieve what you wish.

Meditate – Taking time out every day or even every week to meditate, quietly think about events or if experienced in meditating think of very little. There are many cd’s and books that assist with how to meditate.

Embrace family – Your family is your support network, although you may not always think that they are doing the right things or giving the best advice, generally they have your best interests at heart. Allowing them in; or turning to them when you are in times of need will give you added support and not have you be alone in times of need.

Confront emotion – Bottling up emotions is a habit that many have, in the short term it may appear to be a wise thing to do. However over an extended amount of time, these pent up emotions fester within, you need to let them out when they occur whether they are happy, sad or angry emotions.

Reduce stress – Stress is a major factor in ill health, everyone should try to reduce their stress levels. Again, there are many books on the subject of reducing stress, a good starting point is to identify when you get stressed and resolve the matter then to avoid future episodes.

Avoid alcohol – Alcohol is a contributor to stress, as well as a toxin within your body. There are various medical reports stating that a certain amount is good for various ailments or to prevent certain illnesses. However, a healthy moderate intake is advised.
Protect from the sun – The sun is aging, it can cause medical problems and while having a daily dose of vitamin d is a good thing, over exposure is not. So cover up, put on sun cream and protect your eyes.

Drink water – Your body is made up of majority water and on a daily basis you lose some of this water, therefore it is vital that you rehydrate your body with water, both in pure form and from fruits and vegetables.

Dental check ups – When something in your mouth goes wrong, such as having a bad tooth, it really can affect your whole mood. A great way to combat this is to have regular dental check-ups.

Tuesday 7 December 2010

Why lose weight?

At some time in most people’s lives they may wish to lose weight, this may be a small amount like a few pounds or could be a much more sizable amount. The desire to lose weight can be for many different reasons and if the reason is valid then finding the right way is essential.

Before embarking on losing weight you should first consult a doctor to ensure that there is a need, rather than you just needing to tone up a little or even put some weight on. It may be that there is a medical reason for your size so this needs to be ruled out of the equation.

If it has been agreed that weight needs to be lost then the next question is to figure out why, is it that not enough exercise has been done, that too much food is being eaten, or a happy medium of the two.

Not enough exercise

One of the key issues with weight control is not doing enough exercise; this does not mean that you have to embark on a vigorous exercise regime. The exercise can consist of any form of movement for around 20 to 30 minutes every other day. Easy examples to ease yourself in can include walking, whether it is getting off the bus a stop earlier or parking your car a little further away from your destination to have a brisk walk. Once you have got on the right track to fitness you can pick up the pace a little by including some aerobic exercise and strength training. By increasing your movement you should notice a change in your body shape over time.

Food

The other key factor is to keep an eye on your food consumption. It may be that you have a healthy eating habit but that you are simply eating too much. In which case you need to manage your food portions to ensure you are not over eating. You may think that you are not actually eating that much, you may have only one main meal a day; however this also can have an effect on your weight. By not having regular meals you tend to over eat when you do; the quality may also be lacking within the one meal, consisting of high fat food or not enough nutrients from fruit or vegetables.

Why loose weight?

Not having an ideal weight for you can cause a number of problems that range from feeling tired and sluggish, being more prone to colds or can lead to more serious health problems. You may find it is the smaller things such as not being able to fit into your favourite jeans or get down on the floor easily to play with the little ones. Whatever your motivations and reasons are for wanting to keep fit and healthy it need not be a hard task. The sooner you start the sooner you will see and feel the differences.

Wednesday 6 October 2010

How to keep mentally alert

Does your mind tend to wonder from time to time? Do you forget what you were doing or why you went into that room of your house? There are many reasons as to why you may not seem to be as ‘with it’ than normal and many of them have little cause for concern.

When you are feeling a dip in your day there are some small techniques you can use to help keep you mentally alert.


When able take a power nap, having a half hour to hour nap in the day can help improve your concentration levels. Thus making you more productive than you would be if you had kept going through the day.

To prevent the need for power naps it is vital to make sure that you get adequate sleep in the night. Giving your body the right amount of sleep helps to restore your body and refresh you. A rested body includes a rested mind.

On a daily basis you should stimulate your mind, this can be in the form of small activities, mind games and most importantly socialisation. Interacting with other people is a key tool to keeping your mind alert, you require the communication to provide stimulation.

Exercise provides a release of chemicals to your brain and gives you a general feel good vibe, a little everyday will give you a great boost.

If all else fails and you feel that none of these work or your mind is more than just not alert, take a trip to the doctors to check yourself out for underlying conditions. Chances are however, you are like most and just a little forgetful and distracted.

5 Tips to a Healthy Body

Having the perfect body shape is not the easiest thing in the world, however, you can make a good start by treating your body right with some basics. The effect this has will gradually improve all aspects of your life.

- Eat well
Having a healthy and balanced diet is key, you are allowed to treat yourself on occasion however. Eating a decent amount of fruit and vegetables, maintaining a balanced meal plan and eating in moderation will provide your body with all the nutrients it needs.

- Vitamins
Should your body not be able to get all the vitamins it needs from your everyday diet, it is ideal for you to take a supplement. A multi vitamin will top up your body with what is required, if you happen to be feeling sluggish go check yourself out with a doctor for some blood works.

- Rest
Getting the right amount of rest is something that many take for granted. Although people vary with what they need from 6 to 10 hours, the general rule is to try and get 8 hours sleep every night. Having a set bedtime will help you to build a routine that your body becomes used to allowing the sleep that you get to be most beneficial.

- Exercise
Everybody should try and get some exercise every day, being mobile will keep your mood lifted and in turn give you more energy. When it comes to actual keeping fit it is advise to try and do 20 minutes of activity that raises your heart rate, three times a week and complement this with muscle toning exercise also.

- Water
Although the required amount varies based on who you ask, generally, people are under drinking where water is concerned. It is wise to have a glass before each meal at the very least, also ensure to hydrate yourself adequately during exercise.
These basic tips will allow you to have a good foundation for a healthy body.

Tuesday 5 October 2010

Benefits of a healthy mind

Your mind is with you forever, no matter what state it is in from the beginning to end; it functions all the time, even when you are sleeping. It processes all the information and feelings that you have come across on a daily basis. It suppresses some of these, helps you to remember others and generally keeps you going mentally speaking. Therefore having a healthy mind is essential.

For all the information that is processed by our minds, maintaining a healthy mind is the key to ensuring that we, as people continue to function as we should.
What easy methods can we use to assist us in this mammoth task?

Primarily we must ensure that we confront any issues and thoughts as and when they arise. By allowing problems to fester within, we are putting an unnecessary stress on ourselves. It may not be that everything should be addressed immediately or it may not be appropriate to confront a situation head on. In cases like these it is wise to talk to another person, someone who is not involved in the situation.

Partly as a method of gaining opinion, but mainly as a way to release any tension or stress that may be involved. Not doing this could mean that you are taking all these thoughts, tensions and sometimes even aggression to bed with you, thus affecting the quality of your sleep whether restless or dream filled.

Having an active mind will also be a huge benefit; this activity should be in the form of interacting with others, reading and challenging yourself. By regularly completing tasks like these you will stimulate your mind, improving the amount of knowledge that you can retain and preventing against some medical conditions including dementia.

Alone time is equally important, although much of your day is processed in your sleep, where all the information is processed; you rely on waking hours to allow you to personally to make sense of situations. Everyone needs to have a moment of time each day to gather their thoughts, prepare for the days ahead and assess the days gone. Allowing them to make choices going forward, be they work related, goal related or simply planning what food needs to go in your fridge.

Having a healthy balance where your body is concerned helps in ensuring you have a healthy mind, but balance is primary focus. As mentioned, your mind remains with you, so it is best to make the most of the one that we have.

Monday 4 October 2010

More than 3 meals a day

It has been a long standing tradition that every person should have three meals in every day, breakfast, lunch and dinner; while this is true there should be those three meals in a day, there should also be many smaller snacks.

The idea of having larger meals spaced out throughout the day is relatively new; traditionally the larger meals would start at the first meal followed by a smaller lunch to keep you going until a larger meal at the end of the day. Recently however, many experts have found that the best way to retain your size or lose weight is to in fact have up to five smaller meals throughout the day. This gives your body a chance to digest, not register as being completely full and in turn assists with losing weight.

Many people tend to think that by skipping a meal you are more likely to drop a few pounds, when in fact it is practises like these that help you gain those added pounds. When you starve your body of nutrients that it needs, it then goes into overdrive and you will find it harder to put good food and only good food back into your body. A person who is hungry is more likely to have a treat based snack to fill a gap, especially if out and about as many of the convenience foods to not tend to be on the healthier side. It is then that you are packing your body full of sugars, processed foods and fats that you could well do without. By having more than three meals a day, raising it to five eating three smaller meals and two sensible sized snacks, it helps your body stay regulated.

When considering the five meal option it is only necessary to reduce your main meal sized by a small amount and then replace this with the smaller snacks which could include fruit, nuts or vegetables.