“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” – Bob Marley

 

Healthy Lifestyle Tip: How Music Can Enhance Your Workout

Music fuels your workouts. It's no wonder many fitness buffs and endurance athletes put their headphones on and tune the world out during physical activity. No matter what their training routine entails, music can help all gym enthusiasts to get into the "zone" and perform at their physical best.

 

So how does music enhance workouts? Research exploring the link between music and exercise began in the 1920s and continues today. According to Robert Sewak, PD, author of the article Striking the Right Chord With the Music You Choose, scientists in 1935 discovered a simple tempo change in music caused the listener’s respiration rate to change.

 

As they observed more data, scientists also noticed that music:

• Changed the heart rate
• Affected blood pressure
• Changed the metabolic rate
• Reduced physical and mental stress
• Reduced fatigue

All of these things aid the flow of energy in the human body. The sound waves of music enter your ears and turn into pulses or vibrations, which travel to the nerves in the brain. The pulses influence the brain, which then translates to the body's movement.

 

Music with a fast beat subconsciously travels through your brain down to your fingers which allows them to tap to the rhythm. Pay attention next time you're listening to music at your desk. Notice how your body moves without any thought.

 

Think about the activities you do. Running is often fast paced, whereas yoga is slower; the body's pace is vastly different depending on the activity. When you create your next playlist, make sure to pick songs that correlate to the activity's tempo. The song's bpm (beats per minute) should match the heart rate you wish to reach during your workout.

 

Source: http://www.active.com/fitness/articles/how-music-can-enhance-your-workout

Source: http://www.active.com/cycling/articles/crank-it-try-faster-tunes-for-a-better-workout

Each of us has had a good relationship end when we didn’t want it to.  Or maybe you’re just going through a rough patch in a marriage.  Where do some turn to obscure their sorrows over this pain?  Food!

Unfortunately, food tends to become your friend when you need a shoulder to cry on or just need a comforting sensation.  Food can become the crutch you lean on for steadfast support during a turbulent time.

Although it’s normal for some to turn to food for comfort, it’s not always a healthy option - physically or mentally. When a relationship faces hardship, or is terminated, the only help food will bring is the extra weight that’s gained while we wallow in our sorrow.

There are healthier choices to consider turning to because of a tumultuous relationship.  Lean on one of your friends for support.  Being with good friends can help boost your self-confidence as well as keeping your mind off of what’s in the fridge.

Try doing something fun, if you want to be alone. Go shopping to find something special that you’ve always wanted or, perhaps, get a makeover to feel better about yourself. Anything that can help you build confidence will help you get over the chaotic emotions you’re feeling.

You could also try a new hobby or resume one you’ve been putting off for so long.  You could join a local sports or fitness squad.  Keeping busy in body and mind helps you to ignore the unfortunate events that have ensued.

If the temptation for food is too strong for you to resist, make sure that you keep some healthy foods or snacks in your home. Stay away from chips, candy, cookies and ice cream that are beckoning you. Have low fat, sugar free or low calorie items on hand to alleviate any craving.

Everyone knows what it’s like to lament over a lost relationship or a bad marriage.  Using an abundance of food to cope with this heartache may be an effective short-term fix, but it won’t satisfy your feelings (or your health) in the long-term.

#weightloss #diet #fatloss

Ever heard of METHYLATION? ... This is the latest buzzword in the health industry, and for good reason. It's a biochemical process involved in almost all of your body's functions!

Think of billions of little on/off switches inside of your body that control everything from your stress response and how your body uses food to create energy, to your brain chemistry and detoxification. That's methylation and demethylation!

What is methylation and why should you care? Approximately 40% or more of the population has the MTHFR genetic mutation, which can inhibit the breakdown of toxins in your body and, very importantly, inhibit metabolization of B-vitamin folate (also called B9 or folic acid). The methylation in my Multivitamin with aloe actually drives the nutrients into the cells where they work, instead of staying in the blood! AND with the patented aloe blend some nutrients have shown to be up to 300% more absorbable!

Basically the quality of these ingredients and the results they give never cease to amaze me!

Exercise is essential, but you can also burn more calories at rest by watching what and when you eat.

#1 Don’t Skip Breakfast 

The morning meal jump starts your metabolism and helps to prevent bingeing later in the day.  A cup of coffee does not count – the caffeine and added sugar may give you a bit of energy and suppress your appetite for a little while it is sure to back fire into severe hunger and you will be more likely to overeat later.  Breakfast should include complex carbohydrates like whole grain (granola or oatmeal), along with some protein and fat (low-fat yogurt or milk), will keep your energy levels even and hunger in check.


#2 Eat more often 

Get into the habit of eating every three to four hours or at least four times a day.  Eating frequently stabilizes blood sugar, when blood sugar drops too low you want to eat…a lot.  By keeping your blood sugar stable you can control your appetite and keep you metabolic rate high.  When you go many hours without eating your body will compensate by slowing down to conserve energy…this effect hurts your weight loss efforts.

#3 Eat protein at every meal


Protein will help to reduce your appetite, it takes more energy and time to digest, in effect you feel full longer than eating carbohydrates alone.  Research shows that eating more protein can help you lose weight without cutting calories.  Try these protein possibilities: turkey on whole wheat; hummus and pita; vegetarian chili; fruit and nuts; or protein snack bars that contain 12 or more grams of protein.





#4 Hold off on snacking 

Many of us grab a snack for quick energy when we are feeling tired.  But do not confuse true hunger with fatigue.  If you are feeling tired go for a 15-20 minute brisk walk.  This will raise your heart rate and give you a boost of energy.  Follow it up with a large glass of cool water.  If you are truly hungry have a protein and complex carbohydrate rich snack like; whole wheat crackers and peanut butter or cheese. 

#5 Consume enough for your body’s needs

Eating too little slows your body’s metabolism the same way eating to infrequently does.  If you want to lose weight, do not slash your calories too drastically.  Instead, cut out some of the extras in your diet – things like soda, juice, packaged goods or candy.  Processed foods tend to be high in fat and calories and low in vitamins, minerals and fiber.

#weightloss #kids #children #fat #diet #food #exercise #fitness #health

Whether quitting your addiction to snacking, too much sugar, or quitting smoking it starts with knowing what you want, checking obstacles then handling them in advance. Follow these six steps and you'll more easily reach your goals.

A client wrote, "Help me! I thought I was finally getting a handle on my weight issue but the sugar is killing me. I had an awful day. I won't even tell you what I ate today because it is just so unbelievable. All I will say is that 90% of my food today consisted of sugar! I really, really need some help getting past these cravings. I am no doubt a sugar addict. If I could get past this there is no doubt that I will reach my goal."

If you see a little of yourself in this message, you're not alone. Many describe themselves as sugar addicts. They believe if it were only for that one thing, then they could reach their weight loss goals. If you believe only one thing stands in your way of losing weight, consider this: What if that one thing (an addiction to sugar for instance) were gone? Do you really believe, "If I could get past this, there is no doubt that I will reach my goal," or is it an easy excuse to stay stuck?

If I told you I could show you a way to stop craving sugar, would you want me to show you how?

Think about that for a moment. Close your eyes and really think it through. You've said if only you didn't crave sugar, then you could lose weight, but is that really true for you? Ask yourself these questions:  

1. Would you eat differently, and if so how?
2. Would you eat differently, and if so how?
3. Would you act differently, and if so how?
4. What else would change, and what would stay the same?
5. What would you lose?
6. What would you gain?

Until you know what you want, know you can achieve it, and know what else will change (i.e. how your life may be different), you can't discover any obstacles that first must be considered. For instance, you may want to stop eating anything after 7 PM yet your husband doesn't come home from work until 8 and he wants you to join him for dinner. That's an obstacle.

If you've got a habit of watching your favorite TV show with a bowl of ice cream, then breaking that habit is another obstacle.

If you don't work out ways to overcome your obstacles perhaps through discussion and compromise with your husband, or habit breaking exercises for your ice cream habit, there's bound to be a problem. Just saying you're not going to do something any more rarely works. Instead determine what might stand in the way of achieving your goals, find a way around them, and you're much more likely to actually achieve those goals once and for all. 

The statement, "if this one thing were handled, then everything else would fall into place" is an "If Then" statement and gets people into trouble. They want a fairy godmother to make it all better. A strong belief that one single thing such as, "eating sugar is my problem," sets you up to fail, especially if you really like eating sugary foods.

Getting a handle on your cravings is not an all-or-nothing proposition. You must leave room for occasional deviations. It's not the occasional side trip that causes weight trouble, it's the road we usually travel.

In NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) a good starting point is the exercise called Establishing a Well Formed Outcome. "Well formed" means it meets all criteria of a well thought-out end result.

NLP: How to Create a Well Formed Outcome & Get What You Want

Here are the steps to creating a well formed outcome:

1. State what you want (not what you do not want). "I want to weigh 135 pounds."
2. Determine whether you can achieve it (do you believe it is possible?).
3. What resources do you have and what do you need (time, money, gear, clothes, equipment, coaching, whatever).
4. Check whether anyone else is involved and any potential obstacles that may come up regarding others. Think of everyone involved in your day-to-day life.
5. Picture yourself "as if" you've obtained what you say you want and see if that picture fits. Do you like what you see?
6. Put together a plan of action for the achievement of your outcome.

While it may seem like a lot of effort simply to decide what you really want, going through these steps at the beginning helps you find potential obstacles which previously stopped you from moving forward. For example, if you decide you want to join a gym and start exercising every day but you've forgotten you don't even own a car and just lost your job, that exercise plan might not work out right now. If you did join a gym, you'd end up not going and then you'd think you'd failed, yet it was the plan that failed, not you. You didn't think it through.

A better plan in this instance may be doing exercises at home, or within walking distance (or simply walking for exercise). Later, when you do have transportation, you can rethink the plan and perhaps join a gym then. There are always options.

It's better to look at what you want from every angle, then put together a plan you know can and will work. Then when you know what you want, you'll also know you can make it happen and begin by taking that first step toward making it a reality.

"Achieving a Well Formed Outcome" is one of the sessions in the Ending Emotional Eating 8-Week Workshop. You can also find more information on this popular and well known NLP process by searching for "NLP Well Formed Outcome" in your favorite search engine.

#weightloss #nlp #wellformedoutcome #losingweight #dieting

How often have you embarked on your new diet program only to quit after being on it for a few days or weeks just because you couldn’t resist temptation for your favorite treats?  You make that mistake and feel that you haven’t only failed your diet, but failed yourself as well.

Although this is a common feeling that any human would go through, it’s not a reason to quit your diet altogether. There’s the old saying - “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” This holds true for your diet as well.

Small setbacks in your diet are to be expected. There’s a difference between a setback and giving into your temptations in moderation.  Unfortunately, quite a few people have let that failure become a reflection of who they are. You can bounce back from this way of thinking when your diet fails you.

It’s not easy, but if you’re passionate about your weight loss goal, then you can do it. If you fail on your diet, pick yourself up and brush yourself off. Analyze what set you back and decide ways that you can prevent it from happening again.

Gain some support from those around you. Friends are usually more than willing to come to your rescue when temptations become too overwhelming for you. They can also be that shoulder to cry on when you succumbed to a temptation.

Analyze the diet program you’re currently on. Maybe this one just isn’t right for you. Check out other options and see if maybe they’ll work better. Or, maybe you don’t need an official diet at all – but a dose of healthy eating education so that you can make smart choices most of the time.

Read some success stories from other people who have dieted and succeeded in gaining their weight loss goal. The Internet is chock full of them. Maybe all you need is a little inspiration and a proof that it can actually work for you if you just keep moving forward with it.

Diet failures happen all the time. You’re not the first person it’s happened to and you won’t be the last person, either. Keep your goal written down if you need to and have it placed prominently where you can always see it.

Make sure you reward yourself for being a better eater and working toward your fitness goals.  It’s important to celebrate the small successes and stop focusing on insignificant setbacks.

#diet #weightloss 

This is the importance of not quitting and consistency!! Katie Doran has experienced such a life change! These pictures say more than words ever could! She looks amazing and I know she feels better too!! 

She has lost 100 lbs. using Plexus products!! 

She shares: 'I take the TriPlex combo, Xfactor and Boost. I ended up gaining weight in the first two months, but felt amazing and kept going, and thank goodness!'

Need to lose weight? Dreading the thought of another diet program? You don’t have to follow diets to lose weight. There are many people discovering this for themselves and they are the ones who are finding long term weight loss apposed to short term fixes. The key to weight loss is finding the right balance of what you eat, what you think, and what activity you do. It is not about following a perfect plan. It is impossible to be perfect every day! Finding the right balance helps you to decrease your calorie intake, increase your metabolism and keeps the self-sabotage at bay. Here are 8 steps to bring more balance into all corners of your life so you too can find weight loss success.

1. Eat more frequently during the day-

Skipping meals or waiting too long between meals can have a negative impact on your metabolism and results in overeating later in the day. It’s best to have 3 small meals and 1-2 snacks throughout the day. You will feel more satisfied and eat less. Plan to have a snack or meal every 4-5 hours.

2. Watch portion sizes-

Appropriate portion sizes are still quite misunderstood. Most Americans are eating 2-3 times the recommended portion sizes. Limit your grains, cereals, pastas, and rice to ½ - 1 cup serving sizes. Keep meat, poultry and fish to 4-ounce portion sizes. Restaurants are notorious for giving extremely large servings of food. Keep this in mind when eating out. Eat half of the food on your plate or take the rest home for lunch the next day. Studies show that when people are given large portion sizes, they eat up to 56% more calories without realizing it. To add insult to injury, our portion sizes are larger than they have ever been. Start to become more aware of the portions you are served wherever you are.

 

3. Eat the right fats-

Yes some fat is important. Omega 3 fatty acids are an important strategy for weight loss success and yet most Americans are not eating enough of these healthy fats. Some reports show these fatty acids may be helpful in increasing your metabolism. They are also shown to be a wonderful mood supporter and people report significantly less food cravings and triggers to eat when they incorporate omega 3 fatty acids on a daily basis. This is especially important for any emotional eaters out there. Omega 3’s are found in fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, cod; they are also found in canola oil, walnuts, and ground flax seeds.

4. Increase fruits and vegetables-

Fruits and vegetables are not only packed with important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, they are also loaded in fiber and low in calories. Include 5-8 fruits and vegetables every day. This is one of the most important diet changes you can make. When you fill your plate up with fruits and vegetables you eat less of the higher calorie foods. For example, let’s take a sample steak dinner.

Original meal:

8 ounce steak

Whole baked potato with fixings

½ cup steamed broccoli

Meal Makeover:

4 ounce steak

½ baked potato with fixings

½ cup steamed broccoli

Side salad with mixed greens, tomatoes, and 1 tbsp light vinaigrette dressing

By changing the balance of this meal to include more vegetables while decreasing the steak and potato we saved approximately 350 calories. Saving 350 calories daily can result in almost a 1 pound weight loss per week. Small changes are the key.

5. Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full-

Our bodies have an innate weight management mechanism. It performs this task by making you feel full when it is time to stop eating. Every time you eat past full you are taking in more calories than your body needs which will result in weight gain. Start to become more aware of your internal cues for hunger and satiety (fullness). You will be amazed how many times you wait too long to eat and how often you eat past full and enter into stuffed. It’s common for all of us to do this from time to time. However, it’s time to check in with yourself and see how often you are falling into these food patterns. Listen to your body, it will tell you when you are physically ready for food and when you are ready to stop.

6. Exercise regularly-

I know, this isn’t anything you haven’t heard before but it is a crucial part of weight management. It is important to engage in regular aerobic and weight bearing activity. The aerobic exercise helps you to burn the fat and weight bearing activity increases your metabolic rate. Muscle burns up to 90% more calories than fat. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you will burn in a day. By adding three to five pounds of muscle you could actually burn 100 - 250 additional calories a day. This combination of aerobic and weight bearing activity is what really kicks weight loss into gear.

7. Limit sugar-

Sugar becomes a major issue for many people wanting to lose weight. Not only does it add calories, it also causes insulin spikes leading you to store more calories as fat, it stimulates your appetite, and is a major food trigger for emotional eaters. However, it doesn’t mean you need to go all or nothing. When people try to omit all sugar from their diet they can become obsessed about sugary foods and end up in a binge. Find the right balance for sugar. Avoid daily use of sugar and instead have some guiltless treats once in a while. A little cake at a birthday party or some ice-cream with friends is a good way to incorporate sugar once in a while to avoid the negative outcomes.

8. Pamper yourself regularly-

Who wants to argue with that?! The reality is many people eat for emotional reasons. Food makes us feel good on many levels. The problem occurs when eating becomes the only coping mechanism your subconscious knows of. This is why that pesky urge to emotionally eat is so strong. It is hard to reason your way out of it. For many people food is the only thing they know that makes them feel better. When you start to do other things that make you feel good on a regular basis such as taking a hot bath, going for a walk, having a hot cup of tea; then your subconscious starts to register these activities as coping mechanisms as well. Over time this will decrease the constant urge to use food. You can’t expect to have a bad day, go take a bath and not have an urge to eat. It is something you need to do regularly and something you truly enjoy so your subconscious starts to recognize it as a new choice.

#weight loss #increase metabolism #wellness #health #fitness #diet

Obesity is the second leading cause of death after smoking. It is associated with an increased mortality rate of all ages including children. Losing weight though commercialized is still to your benefit if you carry more weight than you should.

Obesity and overweight are term often used interchangeably. However, technically they refer to two different states.

Being overweight technically means excess body mass. This includes all the body tissues. Obesity on the other hand refers explicitly to excess body fat e.g. a professional heavy weight body builder is overweight because of excess muscles but is not obese.

Obesity is what should concern you. Losing weight is no longer an issue you can afford to procrastinate, and probably a good health scare is in order.

Reason #1 to lose weight

Diabetes:- It is well known that 80 -90% of type-two-diabetes patients are overweight. Diabetes is the third leading cause of death in the U.S., as well as the leading cause of adult blindness in the world. One of the direct causes of obesity is eating wrong foods. Some of these wrong foods include high glycemic foods. High glycemic foods are energy dense foods that quickly increase the level of blood glucose in your body after been eaten. This results to the body reserving the unnecessarily high glucose/energy into fat. This makes losing weight very difficult.
Releasing a hormone called insulin does this. Type-Two-diabetes occurs because the body cannot produce enough insulin to remove the excess blood glucose and store it as body fat. This will occur after straining insulin production for some time. And that’s how you end up being fat and diabetic.

Reason #2 to lose weight 

Stroke: Obesity is associated with arteriosclerosis, the build up of fatty deposits in the arteries through out your body. This makes them narrow slowing blood flow and among other things increases risk of the blood clotting. Arteries at risk include those supplying blood to the brain. If clotting occurs due to narrowed artery, it blocks blood supply to an area of the brain resulting to stroke. Losing weight reduces this risk.

Reason #3 to lose weight

Cancer:- The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates between 25% - 33% of cancer world wide are overweight and physical inactivity related. Body fat evidently promotes higher levels of insulin production and excess estoregens, a hormone. Both insulin and estorogens accelerate cell division. [Probably to create adipose tissue; new fat cells to store fat, in addition to the regular cell division]

As research has indicated, the faster cells duplicate the more they increase chances of a cancerous cell developing. The situation is further complicated as the rapid cell division caused by the excess hormones lead also to rapid cell reproduction of the one cancerous cell, hence cancer starts to develop actively. In addition fat cells tend to keep carcinogenic i.e. cancer-causing agents, trapped in the body which increases chances of developing cancer. 

Types of cancers you will be at high risk to get include:-  

• Breast cancer- affecting the breast possibly in both men and women.
• Colorectal cancer- affecting colon and rectum.
• Prostrate cancer- affecting the prostrate gland in men.
• Endometrial cancer- affecting the uterus.
• Esophageal cancer- affecting the esophagus.
• Renal cell cancer, the cancer of the kidney, etc.

Reason #4 to lose weight

Respiratory problems:- Obesity causes lungs to “become smaller” in size and chest wall become heavier to lift in the process of breathing in. The most common respiratory problem is sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition where by an individual stops breathing for some time while asleep. A soft tissue in the throat collapses around the air way probably due to weight, blocking it. For the severely obese sleep apnea may get more complicated with hypoventilation. Hypoventilation is accumulation of toxic levels of carbon dioxide (the gas we breathe out) in the blood, due to inadequate breathing. Losing weight would be the only permanent safe and healthy solution to sleep apnea.

Reason #5 to lose weight

Urinary Incontinence:- This is involuntary release of urine. Being overweight can contribute to urinary incontinence. A heavy abdomen due to body fat deposit may cause valve of urinary bladder to be weakened. The weight also exerts pressure on the urinary bladder, trying to push urine out. This results to leakage of urine when coughing, sneezing or laughing. This is because of a slight relaxation of the bladder valve that normally will not result to leakage. It can even result to bed wetting at night. This particular problem can be a very effective motivator to lose weight.

Reason #6 to lose weight

Varicose veins:- Also known as Venous Stratis Disease. The leg and thigh muscles assist the heart in blood circulation just like most large muscles in the body. They are involved in pumping blood against gravity back to the heart with the help of valves that close to avoid a backward flow. Pressure as a result of a large abdomen may increase the work load on the valves eventually causing damage. Damaged valves then allow for blood to back up, due to gravity, causing high pressure in these veins leading to swelling, thickening of skin and skin ulcers.

Reason #7 to lose weight

High Blood Pressure: The BMI (Body Mass Index) and age together are the strongest indicator of risk of hypertension or high blood pressure. At least a third of hypertension is related to obesity.





Reason #8 to lose weight

Other Diseases:- Other diseases which MAY occur as a result of being overweight include; 

• Gout
• Coronary heart disease
• Lower back pains
• Osteoarthritis
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Gall stones
• Pregnancy disorders such as
• Neural tube defect,
• Prenatal mortality,
• Maternal hypertension,
• Gestational diabetes etc.
• Impaired immune response
• Liver disease
• Pancreatitis
• Bad body smell
• Depression  

Research shows that even modest weight loss of even 10 pound for the overweight significantly reduces the risk of developing these diseases. Weight loss is in fact a challenge taken by many every year.

Unfortunately many fail in this healthy endeavor. And all because of one thing; they lack proper information on effective weight loss. Effective weight loss is permanent, and a permanent weight loss depends fundamentally on four factors. These four are what we at Health-eMark call the ‘Top 4 Reasons for Weight Loss Failure’.

#loseweight #weightloss #obesity