Guide to the Better you

  Let’s face it:   it is hard to stick to a healthy eating and exercise plan during the holidays.   Everywhere we turn there are tempting foods and drinks—from treats at office parties to our own traditional family favorites.   When you add in a busy schedule filled with shopping and get-togethers that make it tough to squeeze in exercise, you have a recipe for disaster as far as our scales are concerned. The good news is that you really can get through the holidays without gaining weight.   It will take some effort, but you will thank yourself a thousand times when January 1 st rolls around and you have no regrets! Your Goal:   Maintenance In order to greet the New Year without tipping the scale, it is wise to try to maintain your weight during the next few weeks instead of trying to lose.     Remember:   you want to enjoy the holidays, not be miserable from deprivation.   This means that you will allow yourself occasional treats...

  In just a few days, families all over America will be sitting down to a meal which looks back to that first Thanksgiving in which the Pilgrims commemorated the harvest after a harsh winter.   The year was 1621, and Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving, which the colonists celebrated as a traditional English harvest feast. George Washington declared Thanksgiving a holiday in 1789, and in 1941 Congress passed a resolution which decreed that the holiday should fall on the fourth Thursday of November. Feasting together is as old as the human race.   It is a way of celebrating and enjoying time with family and friends.   But if we are not careful, we can overdo the festivities and end up setting ourselves back over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Just how big is your meal? It’s hard to believe, but the average Thanksgiving meal contains 3,000 calories and 229 grams of fat.   And most of us don’t limit ourselves to one indulgent meal....

  It’s that time of year again—a time of cool breezes, colored leaves and holiday preparation.   Fall and winter are exciting times…   Unless you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).     If you struggle with winter depression, this time of year is not filled with joy and anticipation.   Instead, you probably feel like hiding under the covers until spring arrives in several months… What is Seasonal Affective Disorder? Everyone has the blues now and then.   But SAD is a depressive state that occurs seasonally, year after year, usually in the fall and winter.   If you suffer from SAD, you may feel perfectly normal during the spring and summer months, but starting around October or November, symptoms begin showing up. Because this type of depression come and goes with the seasons, you may wonder if it is all in your head.   It isn’t.   This is a real condition and can have a devastating impact on your life. Researchers...

  Do you know what your pituitary gland, thyroid, thymus, adrenal glands and pancreas have in common?   They are all endocrine glands, and their jobs are to make hormones. Hormones are chemicals that deliver messages throughout your entire body via the bloodstream.   These messages are delivered to your tissues and organs, but they are very specific:   only those cells which are sensitive to that particular hormone will accept it and be activated by it.   Because they are very potent, it only takes a very small amount to initiate a significant response in the body. Hormones cannot be stored; they have to be produced and released at the precise moment they are needed.   Therefore, in order to maintain balance within the systems in your body, this maintenance must continually be fine-tuned.   An ongoing, intricate system of checks and balances is happening every minute of every day. For example, if the level of one hormone increases too much, your...

  It’s Halloween, and you know what that means:   sugar, sugar, sugar!   Beginning in late summer, stores begin taunting and tantalizing us with prominently displayed festive treats conveniently packaged in small, easy to eat servings.   By the time the actual holiday rolls around, we’ve been wading through candy corn and “fun sized” candy bars for months. All holidays have their peculiar food traditions, but Halloween perhaps wins the prize for being the most focused on candy and other sweet treats as the center of attraction. And no matter how hard you try to avoid it, you will undoubtedly find yourself staring down a confection before all is said and done. Will you give in?   While one piece of candy won’t make or break your health, few of us stop at just one.   In fact, most of us see Halloween as we see every other festive occasion from Thanksgiving to our neighbor’s cookout:   as a perfectly good time to indulge in whichever kind of sweet t...

  Hiring a personal coach comes with a lot of benefits, and the truth is, you should definitely consider hiring one! It doesn’t matter if you are an absolute beginner or preparing for a bodybuilding or powerlifting competition. Having a coach means you will have a person who supports you in the most challenging moments of your training career. Sure, having your loved ones nearby might be helpful, but if they are not into the sport, the chance they know what’s going on in your head is minimal. That’s why having a person who has gone through all of this might be helpful. In today’s article, you will learn why it is crucial to hire a personal coach. Hiring a personal trainer as a beginner Remember the first time you entered the gym. How did you feel? Were you nervous? Did you have someone with you? You’ve probably gone with a friend who was more experienced than you. He showed you some of the basic movements, and he directed you throughout your training. Now, i...

  Chances are you have heard of adrenal fatigue, but you may not be quite sure what it is.   Understanding this condition is important however, because some experts suggest that 80% of the Western world will be affected by adrenal fatigue at some point in their lives. The adrenal glands are located above the kidneys and are responsible for secreting more than 50 different hormones that are essential for life.   Among these are adrenaline, cortisol, progesterone and testosterone.   Because they regulate so many important hormones, their proper function is critical for many functions essential to life such as producing energy, balancing electrolytes and storing fat. These glands also help you deal with stress.   When you are under stress, the adrenal glands engage many different responses in your body to make it easier for you to handle that stress. But during periods of intense, prolonged stress or chronic illness, the adrenal glands begin functioning below...

  If you have ever tried to ignore a box of doughnuts at work, you know how hard it is to keep your hands to yourself and walk on by.   And once you walk on by, the battle isn’t over.   Even if you are in a different room and down the hall, you can’t stop thinking about those doughnuts.   Why is it so hard to resist something as small and seemingly innocent as a doughnut?   It has to do with habit—and mind set. Hardwired habits The draw you feel from that doughnut goes way beyond just a mild interest:   you are wired to want it, and resistance is hard .   In his book, The End of Overeating , Dr. David Kessler MD explains the breakdown: When you taste foods that are highly palatable (such as foods containing excess sugar, fat and salt), your brain releases opioids into your blood stream. Opioids are brain chemicals that cause you to have intense feelings of reward and pleasure, as well as relieving pain and stress.   The pleasurable effect ...

  Fall is here, and that means that cold and flu season has arrived.   Have you ever noticed that some people seldom get sick?   Or maybe you have wondered why after being exposed to the same virus, one person gets ill while the other remains well.   The reason lies in the strength of the immune system.   And the strength of your immune system is largely dependent upon the condition of your digestive system. When you are exposed to bad bacteria or viruses, it is up to your immune system to protect you from being infected.   If your immune system is strong, your body will fight off the threat.   If your immune system is weak or compromised, you may end up sick. Microbes:   the good, the bad, and the ugly Inside your digestive system are many microbes.   Microbes are live organisms that affect your overall health.   Some of these organisms are beneficial and protect you from disease.   These good bacteria recognize when ill...