Monday, December 28, 2009

7 Basic Everyday Health Tips


“He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything.” -Arabian Proverb

Move extra: Make it a daily challenge to find ways to move your body. Climb stairs if given a choice between that and escalators or elevators. Play with your kids; throw balls with friends, trim the lawn. Anything that moves your limbs is not only a fitness tool, it’s a stress buster. Think ‘move’ in small increments of time. It doesn’t have to be an hour in the gym. But that’s great when you’re up to it. Meanwhile, move more.

Cut Fat: Avoid such as fried foods, burgers and other fatty meals. Dairy products such as cheese, cottage cheese, milk and cream should be eaten in low fat versions. Nuts and sandwich meats, mayonnaise, margarine, butter and sauces should be eaten in limited amounts. Most are available in lower fat versions such as substitute butter, fat free cheeses and mayonnaise.

Give up Smoking: Smoking is harmful to your health.

Reduce Stress: Easier said than done, stress busters come in many forms. Some techniques recommended by experts are to think positive thoughts. Spend 30 minutes a day doing something you like. (i.e; walk on the beach or in a park; read a good book; visit a friend; play with your baby; listen to soothing music; watch a funny movie. Get a massage, a facial or a haircut. Meditate. Count to ten before losing your temper or getting aggravated. Avoid difficult people when possible.

Protect Yourself from Pollution: If you can’t live in a smog-free environment, at least avoid smoke-filled rooms, high traffic areas, breathing in highway fumes and exercising near busy thoroughfares. Exercise indoors in air conditioning when air quality is good. It’s a good pollution and dirt from the street deterrent.

Floss Your Teeth: Recent studies make a direct connection between longevity and teeth flossing. Nobody knows exactly why. Perhaps it’s because people who floss tend to be more health conscious than people who don’t? Thought for the day: Floss and be your body’s boss.

Keep a optimistic Mental point of view: There’s a definitive connection between living well and healthfully and having a cheerful outlook on life.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Foods That Can Help Protect Your Eyesight


New research reveals foods that help protect against three leading age-related vision thieves:
Glaucoma. Just one serving a month of kale or collard greens or more than two servings of carrots a week reduced the risk of glaucoma by more than 60 percent in a UCLA study of 1,000 women. Scientists believe that high levels of vitamin A and other antioxidants in these veggies help protect crucial cells in the optic nerve.

Cataracts. Adults who regularly drink orange juice and also include C-rich foods such as red and green bell peppers, tomatoes, and broccoli in their daily diet are 45 percent less likely to develop cataracts, according to new research from Australia. Vitamin C may help counteract the lens-clouding effects of light and heat.

Macular degeneration. Eating oatmeal, high-fiber cereals, and whole-grain breads cuts the risk of macular degeneration by about 39 percent, shows a recent study. Complex carbs prevent blood sugar swings that can damage delicate cells in the center of the retina.

Impacts and Some Tips on Reducing Stress Levels

Stress is a common word people hear everyday. Generally, people associate stress with work, family, finances and relationships. In fact, stress is just a normal reaction of the body to something it feels threatening. Stress prepares the body for the necessary response to a situation.

Positive Impact of Stress

Most people consider stress to bring negative effects to their mental and emotional health. Contrary to this belief, stress is actually useful for appropriately dealing with different kinds of situation. An office secretary will push herself to work harder to meet her deadlines. An athlete stressed to win will keep himself training hard for competitions. A student stressed in getting A's will strive to focus more on his studies.

If handled very well, stress can bring positive impact on a person in dealing with crises. A person will find himself thinking in a clearer mind or making himself more energetic. It is not different from the adrenaline rush when an individual becomes aware of present danger.

Negative Impact of Stress

Although stress brings positive effects to a person, it is not always good to be under it. A person dealing with stress for a long period can lead to serious overall health problems. A person may suffer in both mental and emotional disorders if stress is not managed properly.

Reducing Stress Levels

To avoid the long-term adverse effects of stress a person must learn how to manage or reduce it. There are several ways to reduce stress and there is no single effective method in doing it. However, there are easy and simple ways that any person can do to relieve himself from stress.

Short Breaks

When under a lot of work pressure it is a good option to take short mental breaks. A five-minute break is enough to ease off the pressures from the job. Too much work can burn you out and you will less likely to be productive. Taking short breaks will help refresh your mind and energy.

Learn Relaxation Breathing

Relaxation breathing is done by using the abdominal muscles to breathe. This technique is used by yoga practitioners for relaxation and meditation. Slow and deep breathing helps the body circulate more oxygen that helps in relaxing the body.

Love Comedy

Laughter is the best medicine - this is an old saying that many people believed and applied in relieving their stress. Try reading comedy stories or watching comedy films and you will see how much stress will be relieved.

Allan enjoys writing up on a variety of subjects. Other than the above topic, he also likes to set up sites on different topics. Do check out his new site which covers useful information on electric train sets.

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

Control Panic Attacks in 4 Steps

4 steps is all it takes. Is it simple? Yes. But it does take work and persistence on your part. Will it come quick? Perhaps. If you are willing, you will be able to control panic attacks.

Is it a cure-all? No.

It requires will power on your part to defeat the panic attack monster. I call it a monster because that is what it is. It's a monster that gets in the way of your enjoyment of life. It comes from the darkness, from the unknown. Unknown because you feel powerless against it because you don't know which door to close to shut it out.

It won't be unknown for much longer.

It feeds on your own anxiety, so curb that and you will be one step closer to defeating it.

So, the 4 steps are as follows.

Recognize the beginning stages. This means learning to feel when your anxiety level starts to increase and you feel the fear of yet another panic attack coming on. Pay attention to yourself and you will be able to pinpoint the exact moment when this happens and you will learn in what situations it comes out the most in. You don't want to completely stay away from those situations because then that will hamper your enjoyment of life. That is not good. When you can pinpoint when things start going downhill, then you know at what point you need to start combating it.
Be willing to change. This is important. All the help in the world cannot help unless you yourself are willing to heed it. It might be a tough journey, but if you feel it is worth it, then you will be successful. As tacky as that might sound, it is the truth!
Change your thought process. This is where the change needs to happen. You know that you feel a certain way in certain situations where you get panic attacks. The moment you start feeling like that, you need to tell yourself to change how you feel and think. Yes, it is easier said than done. But it is most definitely possible if you want it.
Shift your thoughts toward the positive. This is very helpful. The moment you feel safe, your body will start to release calming chemicals to ease your anxiety and you will feel less worried. This in effect will help reduce your panic attacks. If done every time with success, you can effectively stop them.

Win Yourself - Manage Stress For a Life Changing Success

How to win over every situation that you face in your daily life? How to manage your stress levels at all times to be able to give the best of your true potential? How to create a healthy wealthy and happy peaceful life?

These are some of the common questions that most of us find it difficult to answer.But its not as difficult as it sounds when you go about your life with a perfect planning,vision and dedication. Life always gives us many sorts of problems and issues to face, be it work related, social, health or family related. This sometimes can give rise to stress,anxiety or depression in the form of adverse reactions we show when we have to face excessive pressure.

Its not the stressor that bothers us its rather our reaction to it that troubles us. Say for example, you are caught up in the middle of a traffic and all of a sudden some vehicle is moving towards you rapidly. What would you do? If you become nervous and stressed about the situation and do nothing, you are sure to meet an accident. Rather you should overcome the stressor, think quickly and act instantly to move yourself away from the vehicle.

Stress is a part of our daily life, we come across many situations and circumstances that create stress in us. It is quite impossible to eliminate all such circumstances that cause stress, anxiety and depression.So we need to reduce our response to it. All that we need is a physical, mental or emotional adjustment whenever we face a stress situation.

The key here is to change yourself from the bottom of your heart before you change the circumstances or else it would be hard for you to adjust to the environment. Below are some simple but very effective strategies to successfully manage your stress levels at all times

1) self care: honor yourself well to make you happy and efficient. Before retiring from your day, relax thoroughly both mentally and physically, think of your problem, think it through but do not fear it. Gain a success attitude. After you have gone this far, remove all thoughts of the problem from your conscious mind, knowing that the solution will be forthcoming at the right time. Lastly... Sleep well and sound.

2) love your environment: adapt yourself to your environment be it your workplace or home. Do what ever that makes you comfortable.When something is bothering you, try to divert yourself and maintain your cold head. You can try listening to your favorite songs,videos or any good memories that will make you feel good and happy. A stressed mind can never take good decisions.

3) practice emotional independence: it is very important for you to make yourself emotionally strong and independent. Know yourself first, discover your traits and work to overcome them.You can practice your choice of stress therapy that suits you well. It could be meditation, yoga, acupressure or any of your hobbies that can make you feel good and happy whenever you are to face stress.

So to sum up, stress management is all about managing your 'self' first and developing a positive attitude with confidence, courage and love to be able to win over everything that you get to face daily in your life.

Lastly,I would like to refer you to a wonderful eBook wherein you can find indepth explanation and solution to Personal Stress,Anxiety and Depression that will lift your Life towards a Success Altitude... http://stresspersonalmanagement.com/

Wishing you the best of Your abilities..!
Win Your-'SELF'
Tanmi Gold

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

Why Can't I Relax? Problems and Solutions

So many people from problems related to not feeling like they can relax. "Why Can't I Relax?" is a question many people face. There are several things to consider when someone asks this question. What is their normal day like? How do they handle the things they have to do? Are they behind in tasks? Are there problems financially or within the household? All of these things can be related to not being able to relax.

Someone's daily activities can have a great impact on their inability to relax. If they feel like their day is constantly in control of them instead of them being in control of it. Time is always an issue as much as we may think it isn't. If someone feels like they don't have enough time in one day to do the things they feel they need to then they're going to feel that extra stress. This stress is only going to lead to worse problems down the road and an inability to feel relaxed.

If this is something that you feel you may be experiencing that you can do one of several things. Start with trying to set a schedule for yourself that has to include some time to relax. It doesn't matter what the activity is as long as it actually feels like a break for you. If this doesn't work or you continue to feel anxious and stressed than perhaps it is wise to consider counseling. Counseling can help with a wide variety of issues and overall help make you feel better.

Finances are another large part of why people feel like they can't relax. If other factors aren't stressing them out then there is always the issue of finances. We can never seem to have enough money. Whether it happens to be bills, events, fun activities, whatever really can lead to lots of unwanted stress. In order to fix a problem revolving around financial situations is to begin by balancing your budget. If it comes to extras they are nice to have but not required. Make sure to pay off the things you need first then see what's left.

These are only some of the concerns that can face someone when it comes to not being able to relax. As there are many problems there are also many solutions. Just do your research here and you are sure to come up with a solution that can lead to a better lifestyle for yourself.