Self-Improvement For The Body!

Poet Dessa Byrd Reed often spends holidays alone as a widow. However, she doesn’t see this as a depressing circumstance. In a November 2000 POETIC VOICES interview, she said, “Because I am single and live alone, I eat out a lot. I love to talk to strangers. That’s one of my favorite things. I go out for breakfast and talk to people.”

Another talented writer, Leslie Lafayette, dealt with being a childless woman by choice in WHY DON’T YOU HAVE KIDS?: Living a Full Life Without Parenthood. You can bet that because of her choice many people would pity her. She writes the “Alone Again, Naturally” column for the outstanding magazine THE DESERT WOMAN. Observers might conclude she’s miserable on the holidays.

Both Leslie and Dessa have full lives and radiate Christmas cheer, not just in December but all year round. While we all need human contact, it’s a mistake to conclude that people without the traditional family dinner are all on suicide watch. Anyone who has negotiated where to have Christmas and which family members can come when, not to mention refereed in-law and spouse disputes, knows that the allure of having a table for one at Christmas is powerful.

But Christmas can be lonely if you didn’t choose to be alone. A woman I know has Christmas dinners every year with lonely widows, widowers and divorced people. This is very encouraging for the loners who are not so lucky as others are.

Similarly, having children around, even with the relentless gimmes and commercialism, lends a special magic to Christmas, which is why playing Santa appeals to so many.

The holidays can be joyous if you’re alone, or they can be difficult. As with so much, your feelings depend on your personality, your circumstances, your childhood, and in many cases on medical or psychological conditions.

Some tips to remember if you’re alone or without your support system:

• Take advantage of counseling services in your community, including from your local church, synagogue, temple or other place of worship.
• Take time out for spirituality. You might attend services just to experience human contact and community. People are generally nicer at Christmas.
• Do all the things you wanted to do but couldn’t in your former life. Travel. Even in this post-9/11 world, you can visit faraway places. There are many tour groups for singles.
• Attend art walks, holiday concerts, lectures, and movie screenings alone. Or invite a friend you haven’t talked to in a while.
• Volunteer—it’s a wonderful way to make friends, stay active, and feel fulfilled.
• Go out to dinner alone! While women in particular feel uncomfortable, project an air of confidence. You are a strong, vital woman. This doesn’t mean that you should go bar-hopping or take risks alone at night. But you have the right to ask for a table for one without feeling as though people are judging you. (Most people are too preoccupied with their own lives to notice.)
• Gather a circle of friends or people in the same situation—just make sure the evening doesn’t turn into a pity party.
• Don’t overdrink, overeat or do drugs. It’s just not a good tradition.
• Bake cookies if you’re so inclined. Cookies make wonderful Christmas presents and ways to reconnect with your friends.

You may be tempted to think of yourself as Ebenezer Scrooge. Don’t, and boil anyone in his own pudding who calls you “Scrooge.” You are honoring Christmas in your own heart and keeping it always. Christmas for one, anyone?

There are a lot of people who would give a lot to increase their metabolism. Having a high level of metabolism enables one to maintain fat burn and lose weight fast with the least amount of activity. Metabolism is the rate by which the body produces and consumes energy and calories to support life.

There are several factors that affect the metabolism of a person, such as the amount of muscle tissue, the frequency of the meals one consumes, genetics, stress levels, personal diet and activity levels. Metabolism slows down due to the following: loss of muscle because of not enough physical activity, the tendency of the body to cannibalize its own tissue because there is not enough food energy to sustain it, and the decrease of physical activity that comes naturally with old age.

Here are several ways to fire up your metabolism:

1. Build up on lean, mean body mass. It is only natural that metabolism decreases along with age, but it is possible to counter the effects. The amount of muscle a person has is a very strong determinant in the ability to burn calories and shed fat. So it goes without saying that exercise is essential. Build strength and resistance by working out at least twice a week, preferably with weights. Do easy exercises in between workouts. Simple tasks such as walking the dog and using the stairs in place of the elevator can already take off calories. The key is to match the amount of eating to the amount of activity you have. Here are some guidelines in getting the right exercise:

For strength training

-Increase the amount of repetitions of a particular exercise.
-Add the level of resistance
-Utilize advance exercise techniques if possible

For cardiovascular training

-Insert intervals between exercises
-Perform cross-training and combine the exercises
-Add up on resistance and speed

2. Eat breakfast. A lot of people are ignoring the fact that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Surprisingly, the ones who eat breakfast are thinner than the ones who do not. Metabolism can slow down considerably if breakfast is taken during mid-morning or if you wait until the afternoon to eat.

3. Avoid sugar. Sugar enables the body to store fat.

4. Eat spicy foods. Hot cuisine with peppers can increase metabolism.

5. Sleep more. According to research, if you don’t get enough sleep, you are more likely to gain weight. Also, muscles are regenerated during the last couple of hours of slumber.

6. Increase water intake. Water flushes out toxins that are produced whenever the body burns fat. The majority of bodily functions involve water, and lack of water causes the body operations to decrease its speed, and produces unneeded stress as a result.

7. Eat smaller meals. Try eating 4 to 6 small meals that are timed 2 to 3 hours apart.

8. Never skip meals. People tend to skip meals in order to lose weight, which is a big mistake since it slows down metabolism.

9. Plan meals in detail. Always prepare the right amount of food to be consumed at the designated intervals. Do not commit the mistake of eating meals in sporadic patterns.

9. Ditch the stress! Stress, be it physical or emotional, triggers the release of a steroid called cortisol, which decreases metabolism. Also, people tend to eat excessively when stressed.

10. Guzzle up on green tea. It can be used as a substitute for coffee. Tea has the ability to stimulate metabolism, and unlike coffee, it has no undesirable side effects when too much is consumed.

11. Include more energy foods in the diet, such as fruits and vegetables, beans and whole grains.

Achieving the desired body weight is possible if you have the determination and patience needed to stabilize the metabolism level. You need to realize that eating right and working out is not just a passing fancy, but a way of life.

Here’s the DISCLAIMER portion of our post: Never start a diet and/or exercise program without checking with your health care provider.

Be well!

Normally, I don’t pay much attention to “stars.” However, considering how they always look so fabulous, I figured it would a good time to find out how they do that!

Whether appearing in television or films or strutting down the red carpet during movie premiers and awards, they never cease to fascinate us with their larger than life presence. The truth is, it takes a lot of effort to look the way they do, and being the public figures that they are, they cannot afford to slack off when it comes to taking care of their physical appearances. Their livelihood largely depends on how they look. Aside from the clothes, the hair and the makeup, celebrities have to take good care of their bodies.

So it is no surprise that these stars have their own secrets when it comes to staying fit and gorgeous. Their health agenda can range from extreme workouts to well-planned meals. Who doesn’t want to know their secrets in staying absolutely sexy? Here are some of the diet secrets of seven women celebrities.

1. Jennifer Aniston
The star of the phenomenal television show Friends not only mesmerized audiences with her adorable comic sense and her famous hairstyle, she was also known for having one of the sexiest bodies in Hollywood, as she appeared in countless magazine covers. To stay trim, Jennifer follows the 40:30:30 diet method. The diet consists of:

40% Low glycemic carbohydrates
-Foods such as beans, fruits and vegetables, legumes

30% lean proteins
-Tofu, fish, chicken, turkey, beef and low fat dairy products

30% essential fats
-nuts and seeds, fish and olive oils

It is essential that every meal should contain macronutrients to attain the balance of hormones and maximum weight loss.

2. Kate Hudson
The gorgeous daughter of actress Goldie Hawn gained 60 pounds during her pregnancy, which she needed to shed quickly before commencing on her next film. From her previous eating plan, she switched to a higher protein diet. She consumed high protein meals in smaller portions, and she combined this diet with an exercise program that includes weight training and cardiovascular workouts. After getting a lot of flak because of her post-pregnancy figure, Kate removed all that baby weight in only four months and has gained abdominal muscles that gained the envy of many in Hollywood.

3. Oprah Winfrey
As one of the most successful talk-show hosts in the world, there is no question that Oprah needs to maintain her physical appearance for her millions of audiences. Known as one of those celebrities who are constantly battling weight gain, she has recently toned up her figure and has never looked better at age 50 by combining a regular exercise regime and diet plan. Oprah works out five days a week, spending 30 minutes on the threadmill and doing free weights. Her eating plan consists of legumes, fish, nuts, fruits and vegetables, chicken and dairy products that are lowfat. She limits her consumption of white sugar and flour. Oprah also credits her trim figure to her habit of not eating anything after seven in the evening.

4. Gwyneth Paltrow
A lot of people may find it hard to believe that the perpetually slim Academy award-winning actress actually needs to diet. Gwyneth actually follows a healthy eating plan that resembles Oprah’s, avoiding sugar and white flour. She usually follows a macrobiotic diet, eating foods like vegetables, brown rice, and lean meat. She also eliminated dairy from her diet, and does yoga everyday.

5. Madonna
The pop star known as the Material Girl has always flaunted a body that is to die for, and has become a true fitness paragon over the years. She keeps herself in tip-top shape by having Ashtanga Yoga, and follows a strict diet that mostly shuns junk foods. She adopted a macrobiotic eating plan that includes organic foods rich in lean protein.

6. Claudia Schiffer
The bodacious German supermodel eats salad and steamed vegetables for dinner and eats only fruits before the afternoon. While on locations, she prefers to eat black grapes and drinks tomato juice and herbal tea.

7. Christie Brinkley
Long-time supermodel maintains her all-American good looks by being a vegetarian. She does not keep junk foods of any kind inside her home to make sure that she does not eat them when cravings occur. She snacks on sweet potatoes in place of candy bars, and she adopts a liquid juice diet when she needs to slim down fast.

Celebrities are just like ordinary people. They need to maintain their figures just like anyone else, and there is more pressure on their part since they are constantly in the public eye. Ordinary folks can have celebrity-like bodies, too, and perhaps by following these diet and fitness plans, they can also look like red-carpet worthy.

A common physical symptom of stress is the inability to have a good night’s sleep. This can take the form of problems falling asleep, the inability to stay asleep, or waking up at 5:00 a.m. for the day. After awakening, thoughts arise that keep one up and result often in inner conflict.

Some people of course do wake up in the middle of night to run to the bathroom and then they fall back to sleep. There is no weight of thoughts that keep them up by reviewing disturbing issues or conversations from the day.

Tools are available such as cds with breathing techniques, calming music and nature sounds that are helpful aids for falling asleep. It also takes discipline to decide to put the troubling thoughts away till later. You can tell yourself you’ll think about it during the next day to try to satisfy your mind. Sometimes we need to cut a deal with our minds because they wish to pursue things and gain control. Bring the mind to something it can merge with whether it is music, breathing or nature noises. For some people doing a math problem even is enjoyable as a way to get one’s mind off the problems at hand.

Exercising is a good thing to integrate into one’s week to help the body release stressful emotions as well as to create strength and relaxation inside oneself. Doing a physical activity is important for both physical and mental health wellness. Releasing stored up emotions helps the body to refresh itself.

When healthy measures are taken to deal with stress during the day, it is easier to overcome and not have it plague you during the middle of the night. Talk out an unresolved argument before bedtime rather than letting it grow inside of you. Spend ten minutes before going to bed doing
something that gives you inspiration and a level of elevation as that will assure a good night’s rest. Remember that the things we worry about today we don’t worry about three months from now. Keep a perspective on things so they don’t get exaggerated and taken out of proportion.

Have you looked to see if your employer is offering any wellness programs at your job? This can be in the form of a lunch time yoga class, after-work fitness class or a seminar presented on stress reduction. Sometimes employers will have an in-service or even Saturday morning program.

Many companies now are learning the benefits of offering these on-site to reduce employee sick days, burn out and many other reasons why people miss work. This also makes people tend to not need a “mental health day” off from work to recover from stress.

If your employer isn’t offering any programs, you can show him some articles that outline the benfits. One motivation employers have is the reduced cost of health insurance which can really sky rocket. A second benefit is that employees that are less stressed have reductions in reacting
to other co-workers with anger, resentment or other flare ups . This decreases enmity and leads to team work, cooperation and less office gossip.

Psychologically one reason why people dread work is due to the “water cooler” talk that can be at times petty. The less gossip a work environment has, the more comfortable everyone feels. This will create a relaxed ambience and one that will seem friendly.

As an employee, having a wellness class on-site also is a nice way to associate work with health and fun. When we are less stressed our presentations go better, we cooperate more with others and can feel more connected. Often at work there may be people you think of approaching but don’t. A wellness course can be a nice way to have a common ground for conversation and future interactions. People tend to dress casually and there isn’t the type of strain that may be present in an environment where people feel pressured by meeting deadines.

Here’s a short video of simple exercises you can do at your desk if there is no other outlet.

Do you know what situations trigger overeating or excessive snacking for you? In psychotherapy it is useful to identify various triggers for different negative states such as depression , anxiety and stress. This can be applied to the problem of using food as a consolation or crutch.

Do you have certain people in your life that you find after an interaction you feel drained by and then resort to food as a coping tool? Are Friday or Saturday nights home alone a vulnerable time for you to overeat? What do you do when you feel alone and how does eating factor in? Do you tend to overeat while working on a school or work project?

If you can identify three typical times for you that lead to overeating, you really have your finger on something quite important. Gaining insight is the key to breaking a pattern or habit.

The second step is finding new responses instead of the habit you are trying to kick (whether it is eating ,smoking, drinking etc). In cognitive behavioral therapy, insight work is used to help the person identify factors at play and then techniques are utilized to counter these tendencies and
introduce ways to elevate moods.

Once you can identify the times that are vulnerable for you, you may see that it isn’t fruitful to have a weekend night all alone (if you tend to get depressed and lonely). This can be a good time to see a movie, be in a support group or spend time with friends. If friendships are difficult for
you at this time and you can’t find activities for Friday and Saturday evenings then that’s a perfect time to join a support group to help process the underyling feelings and reactions.

I know, it’s the “E” word again. It is hard to get excited about something that wears you out and you dislike. So, exercising needs to be something that you enjoy and the first week of an exercise program is pivotal in determining whether you’ll stick to it or drop out. When you drop your resolution it also has psychological consequences where you can beat yourself up, feel guilty and slide into old patterns. Let’s find ways to make your first week succeed.

First of all, don’t be too hard on yourself. You can use your first week as a way to break in slowly to the exercise routine you’ll be doing more rigorously in future weeks. If you’ve been inactive before this, expect to get a voice in your head telling you to quit shortly after you begin! It
can say things like, “Stop kidding yourself, you’re a couch potato. You won’t ever get change.” Your old self will object to changes, so just let it babble but don’t let it dictate to you your goals, schedule and future. You have probably heard the expression “people don’t like change.” Well, you’re a people and change is hard on everyone. Ignore that voice and keep going.

Remember that you’ll be a little sore after twenty four hours. Don’t let that set you back. It should make you feel good actually seeing that your muscles are responding and you began toning already. Exercise experts say that once you get past the first two weeks you’ve established a new
pattern and are well on your way now.

Of course trying to watch your food intake is also critical. Don’t beat yourself up about dieting at this point but try to drink water a couple of times each day instead of the snack you were about to grab.

Your first week’s workout can be thirty to forty minutes long to let your body get acclimated. During the first week your mindset is very helpful in establishing your determination and discipline . You want to enjoy it. It’s okay to feel bored or frustrated at certain points so expect
that. Look at how you feel after you finished your workout. Do you feel any difference physically in terms of your energy level, sense of accomplishment or purpose? Write this
down and keep a diary so you can keep your eye on your progress. Remember that your attitude is what will keep you going.

Yogi Bhajan says, “Keep up and you’ll be kept up”. The first week is the time to work on your consistency, but don’t beat yourself up if it isn’t perfect. I found after just a few days that I sleep better and have more energy. I still don’t like it, but I do like the benefits!

Here is the disclaimer: Before starting any workout program, please check with your medical provider.

Be well!

It’s been said that human beings are motivated to play any game they believe they can win. The inevitable inverse of this behavioral truism probably reveals much about why many people stop short of making their body improvement dreams a reality. They’re simply not convinced they possess the fortitude or know-how to bring to fruition what they’d consider to be “winning” at this game. Thus, they opt to carry on the seemingly painless status quo of remaining ‘out of shape’ rather than risk what they’d consider as “losing”; another failed diet or unfinished ‘get-in-shape’ resolution. This is often the deep-seated cause of procrastination.

Many times, this mental phenomenon is at the root of what has us put off taking action toward any life-improving yet challenging desire. The need to avoid what we perceive to be possible future pain can create an internal representation that’s infinitely more real than the picture we see of possible future benefit from taking action. It is for this reason that a powerful catalyst is often needed to get us from a “stuck state” into a state of movement toward a goal. And the best catalyst for doing just that has always been and always will be the power of ‘Reasons’.

We need strong and compelling reasons to start anything worthwhile. We need reasons that excite us and override the downward pull of intrinsic human complacency. Sometimes we need reasons that include the benefits to be bestowed upon people close to us. But regardless of the subjective structure or reach of our reasons, we need them to be personally powerful enough to light the fuse of our powder keg of passion that blasts us into movement from a dead standstill. In short, we need reasons that spawn action.

Before beginning the steps toward any challenging goal, you will increase your odds of following through until its accomplishment if you consciously and exhaustively list the reasons you wish to achieve that goal. This can be done in your head or on paper. However, putting it down on paper will ensure the exhaustiveness that allows the weight of your reasons to override any tendency toward quitting prior to accomplishment of what you’ve set out to do. So a goal written at the top of your paper and a long list of the benefits of achieving it written underneath can both ignite and sustain motivational fire.

But what if you take that a step further? What if you write down every reason in the form of positive benefits that will come to you on one side of the paper and everything you’ll miss out on if you don’t accomplish the goal on the other side? In addition, you could write down indirect effects of each of these scenarios. So if your goal is getting your body into lean, hard, and muscular shape, your list of benefits could be like this:

1. More energy

2. More attractiveness

3. Better health

4. Higher self-esteem

5. Improved hormone ratios

However, your list of secondary beneficial reasons that are offshoots of the primary one’s could go on and on:

1. Increased career productivity = more promotions = higher income = better lifestyle…

2. Able to attract a mate or re-kindle a flagging relationship = more affection = security.

3. Increased energy/vitality = more enjoyable life = positive demeanor = better relationships.

4. Better performance at everything = more positive impact = more fulfilling life.

5. Better sex = ….. Improved sex life.

After writing out as many positive reasons as possible, you can create a lot of “moving-away-from motivation” by writing down the inverse of these benefits. You can make a list of all the great things you might never experience if you don’t get your body in to better shape. While some would argue that we should only use positive “moving-toward reasons”, many of us need the perception of future pain to jar ourselves out of a stuck state of no movement. So let’s just take the first two benefits above and use them as examples:

1. If I never get in shape, I could miss out on all the benefits of higher energy levels. I might lose countless hours of productivity that having more energy could produce. This lost productivity could equate to lost income, lifestyle, health and self-esteem.

2. If I get further out of shape, I could lose the opportunity to attract a special person in to my life, or (if “spoken for”) I might lose attractiveness in the eyes of my spouse or significant other.

I’m sure you get the idea. Whenever you have trouble mustering motivation to accomplish a challenging goal, start accumulating your reasons. Gather and internalize both the positive gains you’ll acquire when you’ve achieved the goal and everything you could lose if you don’t. Doing this can both shoot you out of the starting gate into action and give you seemingly unstoppable momentum once you’re moving.

Scott Abbett is the author of HardBody Success: 28 Principles to Create Your Ultimate Body and Shape Your Mind for Incredible Success. To see his personal transformation, visit http://www.hardbodysuccess.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Abbett

Have you ever seen people dancing on wheelchairs? No? Don’t believe it? Well, see for yourself in the following video that shows people on wheelchairs performing various types of dances. If they can do it, what’s stopping us? What’s YOUR excuse?

If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you have arrived? Get a journal you really like. It does not matter if it is a pretty $1 notebook, a bound journal or one of those spiffy leather bound things. You can even use blank space in your planner as long as you give it a separate tab. Take a few minutes to think about what being healthy will bring into your life. Better yet, set some time aside when you can really ponder what you want.

The questions below can help you visualize your goals. Don’t set any goals yet, just visualize what it will be like to feel healthy again. Picture how you will feel and what you will do.

* What does being healthy feel like? What is your energy level like?

* How do you feel when you get up in the morning? Are you energized or exhausted at the end of the day?

*What can you do that you couldn’t easily do before? How do your clothes fit? What do you wear now that you are pleased with your body? (Note, this is not the same thing as being “thin!”)

*What is the biggest change in your health?

*How does your skin look and feel?

*What other benefits does good health hold for you?

This is more than an exercise, the more you can visualize what being healthy feels like and looks like, the more likely you are to follow through when the going gets tough. Getting and staying well will require sustained effort. When you are discouraged you can look back at your vision of health as well as your progress notes.

Use your journal as often as possible to record your progress, your feelings about exercise and healthy eating, and any other issues that come up for you. You can and will achieve your goals if you give yourself the “write” tools.

Julie Renee Callaway is a life coach specializing in helping women achieve their health goals and create balanced, exciting lives. You can get a free newsletter with lots more great health and motivation information at http://www.composeyourlife.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julie_Renee_Callaway