Last day of May's Month of Health Awareness!

Maybe, I will take a refreshing walk today.

Maybe I will not eat fast food at lunch for a change.

Maybe I will eat some nice fruits and vegetables today.

Maybe I will stretch every part of my body while breathing deeply,
bathing all the cells of my body with life sustaining oxygen.

Maybe I will not eat directly before bedtime, allowing my body to
cleanse and rebuild as I sleep.

Or maybe I will neglect my health and disregard all forms of self
discipline.

Yours in "Choices for the rest of the year" - Coach

Everything has a Purpose...

And it doesn't always have to be moving forward.

Rest has a purpose, the revitalize and rejuvenate.

So does exercise, it gets the body moving the way it was meant to.

Eating has a purpose, to replace the cells that need consistent
replacement that involves virtually all the cells in our body.

Giving or serving others...has a powerful purpose, as we all know.

If we are purposeful with our purpose - the rest falls into place.

Yours in "Understanding" - Coach

Fast food...

For every meal?

Probably not the best idea, as there is not a lot of good stuff to keep
us healthy and strong, but sometimes it tastes great and really hits
the spot.

We give our bodies all sorts of resistance to stay fit, why not
occasionally give our bodies what we are hankering for and do the same
thing?

We may lift weights or exercise, which gets the blood flowing,
exercising our muscles, expanding our blood vessels and putting our
joints through increased range of motion.

So eating fast food once in a while, gets
the gall bladder and the pancreas to increase their output as well as
the making rest of our internal organs shift into high gear...we just
don't want to keep them
working at an increased level...but from time to time, we may just need
to exercise our insides...just to make sure.

Your in "A Little Resistance" - Coach

Maybe the most under rated system...

In our body is the Lymph system? Could be.

Not a lot of people know that is is as big as our circulatory system -
but since it has no pump, like the heart, it doesn't get much
recognition.

But it sure is important. There are so many organs and systems in our
body that produce waste and by-products and they don't just
evaporate - they are carried away by the lymph system.

The only challenge, since there is no pump, this system can only work
through movement of the body and muscles to help carry things away - so
if we don't move or exercise - the waste and by-products, stay
put...backing up our bodies and creating a "toxic situation" that can
breed other challenges.

Cats don't move much - but they stretch a lot...so if we aren't moving
the way we need to - maybe do what cats do...it's the next best things
to get things moving;

Yours in "Move it" - Coach

Time for some...

Spring cleaning within our bodies?

Sure, Spring is the time for "spring cleaning everything".

And nature has prepared everything for us to do just that.

Warming weather and sunshine is there for us to move more and get all our organs, tissues and muscles to get moving again, and to help us
clean our body from the inside, after a, most likely, cold and
sedentary winter.

Fruits and vegetables which are also in season, contain more water than
other times of the year, also helping our bodies to cleanse.

That's just a few of natures gifts that are for us to use...and there
are many more...we just need to flow with the season and flow with what it gives us.

Yours in "Spring Cleaning" - Coach

Oxygen in the Air...

We breathe, is the perfect mixture to to keep us healthy, but how can
we get more of it?

Oxygen, in the right ratio, has wonderful health effects...bacteria has
a hard time living with oxygen, and most every organ and tissue in our
bodies function better with it...and the more the merrier.

The only way we can get more of it is to breathe more deeply. We can
concentrate on every breathe, focusing on filling up our lungs so that
we can get more oxygen in our bodies, but regretfully, since breathing
is an unconscious act, when we focus on something else, our breathing
falls back to it's normal range.

We can overcome this obstacle by simply doing things in our lives that
would automatically take our breathing to the "Next Level" without
thinking about it.

And exercise is a perfect venue to set the stage for increased health. We
just need to choose an exercise which allows us to breathe more deeply, that works for
us, and then the increased oxygen that our cells, tissues and organs crave... comes automatically.

Yours in "Breathing Deeply" - Coach

Give me some water!

Our bodies are mostly water and we should really replace about 2.4
liters of water through drinking and the foods we eat, or take your
body weight, cut it in half and that's the amount of ounces daily, of fluid intake recommended.

But many of us follow this daily program:

Breakfast: Coffee (diuretic - which usually gets rid of more fluid than
is consumed), and toast or a bagel.

Lunch: Soda (diuretic) and a sandwich.

Dinner: - Wine or alcohol (diuretic) and meat and potatoes.

Where is the water?? In practice, I found
the less water one drank - the more health challenges they had, with
virtually no exceptions.

Yours in Choice - Coach

Cooking healthy?

Sure, we can all do it.

Sometimes we equate eating or cooking healthy with poor, or no taste,
but it doesn't have to be that way.

We all know what tastes good to us, and many of us eat too much of what
tastes good and is not too healthy for us.

We can change that by simply putting good foods together for our meals
and just "doctoring" it up, with spices or condiments that match our
taste buds.

That way, we can create meals that tastes good and the way we want it,
but have the main ingredients that are good for us.

Yours in "Cooking Healthy" - Coach

Building muscle...

Is not as easy as it's sounds.

Because every time we exercise in an effort to build muscles, we
actually "tear down" our muscles...building muscles is a process.

Once we exercise, we must "rest" the muscle to allow for it to build
back stronger, in accordance to the stress put on it. And since the
muscles cellular composition consists mainly of protein, increased
protein intake is necessary for the building process.

So if you want to build muscle, remember rest, in between exercise, and
increase your protein intake.

And the cool side effect of exercise in an attempt to build muscles,
the surrounding metabolism is accelerated, so the fat stores in the
immediate area gets used up at an accelerated rate:)

Yours in "Building Muscles" - Coach

Positive Thinking and Health?

Yes there is a nice correlation.

Positive thinking can help our body naturally release endorphins,
giving us that euphoric feeling, the same way opiates do, but without
the harmful side effects.

Even feeling positive about things, or believing something to be
positive...or will work, does the same thing. Just like a
placebo...where you
believe it will help you, your body produces endorphins, and you feel
better.

Along with positive thinking, other things that will produce endorphins
are exercise, laughter and a little sunshine.

So maybe plan on taking a nice run on a sunny beach, while thinking
positive thoughts and laughing...and you're good to go!

Yours in Health - Coach

If we had a Car Worth...

A Billion dollars, we would probably wax it and take care of it with
great pride..

On the front on the30 Day Goal piece that I give out is a Billion
Dollar bill. It represents that we are ALL worth at least a Billion
Dollars.

It may sound strange, but I ask the ones that are making the goals "If there were a place that
they could go to and cut both their arms and legs off and trade them in
for a Billion Dollars, would they do it"?

They all say they wouldn't - goes to show...just our arms and legs are worth a
Billion Dollars!

So are we taking care of ourselves, and the folks around us like we are
all worth at least a Billion dollars, or a $10 dollar bill?

Your in Thought - Coach

Exercise should get the...

Body moving and the mind to slow down.

In the last century, we have transitioned our daily routine from our
bodies doing most of the work, to our minds doing most of the work.

It's due mostly by advancements of machinery and technology and we've
become more of intellectually driven society compared from a physical,
task driven society...

In keeping up with the shift, we need to focus on balancing our minds
and bodies to attain the "right mix".

So giving a break to something that seems to be always engaged - our
minds - while we get the other thing working - our bodies - is a great
plan to balance out what needs to be balanced out.

Yours in Balance - Coach

Smell and Dreams?

Yes there is a correlation between the types of dreams we have, and
smell.

Studies were conducted where a rose scent was administered, and it resulted
in dreams that were "tinted" as pleasant, where as a sulfuric scent of
rotten eggs, resulted in dreams that were "colored" negatively.

The understanding was that smells and odors influenced dreams through
emotion, rather than through the direct incorporation of smells.

That is because smell and emotion are in the same part of the brain,
the limbic system and there is a link between this system and the
sleep centers of the brain.

So it may be wise to have some nice smelling items around our bed or bedroom
that will give us the pleasant dreams and sleep we all like to have.

Yours in "Pleasant Dreams" - Coach

Eating Junk Food...

...on a consistent basis, drains the body of it's vital energy.

The body channels it's healing forces to repair tissues...sustaining
life, and it also is forced to clean up the sub-natural waste that that
is left, when a diet high in junk foods is continually pumped into it.

As a result, the body becomes weakened and less able to fight off
infection, prevent degenerative diseases, build healthy tissue and restore health.

Junk food once in a while, should be OK, but with a constant diet of
junk food and the body goes down hill.

We all probably know it, just sometimes we all need a reminder:).

Yours in Health - Coach

Cutting Calories...

Out of our daily diet, can be a more difficult task than adding them.

Our daily diet consists of around 2000 - 2500 calories a day - give or
take, depending on size, age and gender.

And 1/4, or more, of our daily caloric intake, in many cases, can be
the amount of calories in a "snack":
Mocha and a scone...over 800 calories.
A couple of Pop Tarts...around 400.

And for meals:
Big Mac - 590, large fries - 539 and large soda - 300...total - 1429
calories.
Double Whopper - 1,060, large fries and large soda...total - 1899
calories

Researchers also say that one-fourth of many Americans' calories come from
soda.

Just adding high caloric foods by snacking or combining meal items, can
raise our daily total and sometimes the only way to get back into our daily range,
is to skip a meal (or 2)...which is very difficult to do.

Yours in "Being Mindful" - Coach

Weight gain Secret?

You bet - Salt.

Our bodies produce histamines when we are dehydrated and when we are
hungry.

When we are not mindful, we can't tell the difference if we are hungry
or thirsty.

And snack food and fast food folks know it, that's why they "salt it
up". Since salt helps retain water in our bodies, eating snack food and
fast food muffles our urge to drink water by the histamine suppression
of salt intake, and it results in the calories that are eaten, instead of the water we were supposed to drink

We're not saying to not eat fast food or snack food, just knowing the
difference if you are hungry or thirsty, by what you have recently
eaten or drank - is the important message.

Yours in "Being Mindful" - Coach

We would all like to get...

Healthier overnight, but it doesn't work that way

By making healthier choices in our daily routine with regards to food
and water intake, along with choices that will get our body moving a
bit more than before, is really all that is needed to become healthier
over time.

You see, our body is continually being built by replacing cells in all
parts of our body, as a matter of fact, virtually every cell is
replaced within a year and most, even sooner. You are basically in a
body that doesn't have the same cells it had a last year.

So by making healthier choices today, you will be building and
replacing your body with healthier cells in the future.

Yours in "Health" - Coach

Sleep comes and goes...

And with out it, we can get a little short in the fuse.

Knowing that without much sleep, we can get short, cranky and feel like
junk, is the first step.

Understanding what comes after little sleep is the easy part...but a
bad nights sleep doesn't have to turn into a bad day.

Option # 1 - "Spin it and Win it" - Because the next night of
sleep will probably be deep and restful, #2 -You can embrace the
feeling of sand in your bloodshot eyes, as it doesn't happen all that
often, and # 3 - You can feel empowered by thinking you have just run a
marathon.

All in all, life is pretty good, and with much sleep, it's not that
bad.

Yours in "Choice" - Coach

Pounds released...

Or pounds gained - all up to us.

We've said in the past that 100 "extra" calories a day is 10 pounds
gained over the course of a year.

So in reverse, 100 "less" calories a day is 10 pounds released over the
course of a year.

What we didn't talk about is that an increase or decrease in exercise
is also a factor in whether we want to gain or release weight.

So it's really a game of numbers and exercise...to get ourselves where we
want to be...and it's all up to us.

Yours in "Choices" - Coach

May is Health Awareness Month!

It's that time of year again, to focus a bit on our physical health, so
we will be blogging about health in the month of May.

Why not, the weather is warming up a bit, and it's time to get outside
and move the gift that we were born with, while examining other things
that can also affect our health.

Throughout the year we seem to focus on all that life brings us,
whether it be work, relationships, family, or just plain getting things
done...which are all great, but if our bodies and our health are going
down hill, those things become less important...when they don't have to.

Let's all unite in month of May and focus on our health, so that all
the other things that are so precious in our lives can be experienced
and appreciated for years to come:)

Yours in "Focus on Health" - Coach