Health Journal 14

For every hour you sit, get up and move for 5 minutes. That should be a new rule of thumb to reverse arterial damage, just for starters. Problems from sitting for long periods can affect other parts of the body. Consider the toll from sitting on your lower back. I just went and got my mail and walked up 15 flights of stairs and I still go workout regularly.




In case you haven't noticed, or are in complete denial, the Holidays are at our door...again! It's a time to indulge, live unhealthy, gain weight, and try to reconcile with the culminating New Year's resolution to get healthy again. There really is nothing wrong with overindulging as long as it doesn't interfere with putting in your 'healthy' time. Start by watching your portion control. Next continue to exercise. Tips can be found here and here.


While I'm at it, I would like to draw your attention on TOO MUCH of a good thing when it comes to a healthy lifestyle. Sometimes too much healthy can have an opposite affect. Although I try to live as healthy as possible, my true success comes from occasionally crossing over to the unhealthy lifestyle. The key is to always return to a healthy routine IMMEDIATELY! I'll have the occasionally ice cream or cake, but next day I'll hit the gym and eat healthier.


Nutrition and activity play a part in preventing cancer. Speaking of nutrition, I have increased the days that I go meatless. My record is 7 days straight without meat.


How to maximize your grocery budget while still eating healthy sounds like a needed plan!

Weighing In On Weight Loss

Sometimes no matter what we do to maintain a healthy lifestyle, we have trouble maintaining a healthy weight. The first thing to do is to check and see if you may be sabotaging your weight loss.


If you want to start small, there are little things you can do to lose weight.


If you add exercise, as you should, to your weight loss plan, here are ways to burn 150 calories. You can also get tips from Dr. Oz. You can still eat and lose weight with the right foods if done right.


The important thing about losing weight is to do it in a healthy manner. Not only is it about diet and exercise, but it is also about lifestyle change.


When looking for weight loss foods, start with a high protein and high fiber content. If the fiber is greater than the sugar, that is a plus. Low fat and sodium are on the opposite side, but potassium is a plus.


Eat smaller meals throughout the day and consume them in 2 or 3 hour intervals. I start with yogurt at 6 am followed by an egg at around 8 am. By around 5 or 6 pm I am no longer hungry for the rest of the night. I highly recommend meatless days, where no meat is consumed. It does help in weight loss and I go meatless at least 1 and as many as 4 days a week.


If I were to pick the best exercise to lose weight it would be something that can't really be duplicated in the gym. It involves stairs and/or hills. I live on the 15th floor and at least a couple of days a week, I use the stairs. When I worked in a park, I would briskly climb the hills. At first I was out of breath, but after awhile I wouldn't even work up a sweat. The reason was because I was losing weight.


I know what you're thinking. There are gym equipment that can duplicate them. True, and they do burn the calories and shed the pounds. I am getting away from most machine training because they aren't as effective as free weights and kettlebells. There is also a problem with some machines possibly being dangerous. More here.


So you can use the treadmill and stair climber at the gym, and you will get a good workout. Try real hills and stairs equivalent to your gym workout and you might be surprised at the difference.

Health Journal 9

Now your healthy nutrition can be put on autopilot at Eat This Much. You just put how many calories you want to consume in how many meals and it will generate a variety of meal ideas. It can also take in account the various 'diets' that are out there.






A new study has found that you increase your cancer risk and shorten your lifespan if you get high animal protein during middle age. In your senior years, the opposite is true.




So how is that Daylight Saving Time/Spring Ahead going for you? It is funny how the hour-ahead time is increasing over time and nobody notices. It is all about time and making society more productive. Don't believe me? A few years back DST went from April to October. Now it's from March to November. Although I may be proven wrong on timelines, we have lost at least 40 hours of sleep per time change. But we are ever changing to suit our needs. Employers look at it like a weeks worth of work, and as warped as that sounds, it is a productivity issue. The only advantage of DST is that it stays 'lighter' longer in the evening. Still DST is a time to approach with caution since workplace injuries rise at this time.


Your weight loss attempts may be getting sabotaged by your coworkers and loved ones. As hard as it is to believe, your friends may be your enemies!

Health Journal 7

In this edition, exercise takes the front row. With winter in full swing, it is easy to become sedentary and lazy. It's the season for excuses. I am already noticing a drop in gym attendance as it is easy to do your routine uninterrupted. While I'm talking about it, maybe we should catch up on our health club etiquette.


Here are fitness mistakes you should avoid.


I'm leaning toward doing more kettlebell workouts. It is easier to handle and grip than traditional weights, plus kettlebells give a great core workout. More can be found here.


If you use a treadmill, here are ways to improve your workout.


Pilates is an easy way to strengthen and tone your body.


Make sure you know your fitness myths. Even I was surprised because I found a couple of myths I actually believed to be true.


If you need help establishing a fitness program, start here.

The Enemy Within

Stress is a part of life in today's hectic world. We have too many responsibilities and demands placed on our shoulders and not enough time to do them. That is basically the stress factor that can skyrocket out of control unless you nip it in the bud. Stress comes hand-in-hand with anxiety at times and that can lead to depression. I do believe that stress is the cornerstone of most mental health issues.

So where can you start to eliminate and/or cope with stress? Start here. My mood boosting entry will give you a start. Here are some simple ways to reduce stress. The site is loaded with stress reducing ideas. Here are some common stress triggers and how to beat them.

Meditation seems to work along with the other relaxation techniques found at the bottom of the page. Stress relief can sometimes be surprising and simple. Need more?

When all is said and done, perhaps stress can be managed by managing time. My personal stress comes from being late. Giving myself some time, I may experience stress, but I end up conquering it.

For now try it once and if it works stick with it. There is also a product that seems to relieve stress and anxiety and it works.

Smokers Blues

The one thing that you can't do is tell a smoker why smoking is bad for them. They've heard it all. Sometimes something does come along to shock them, but it only is a Band-Aid solution, because they will continue to smoke. Just look at the affect that the NEW anti-smoking commercials are having on people you know who smoke. It may shock and disgust them showing people whose lives were affected, but smokers will only complain to a friend while they smoke a cigarette!

I can find many tips on quitting, but I'm sure smokers have tried them all. They probably tried the drugs. They also probably tried the patch, the gum, the acupuncture, the cold turkey, need I say more? If they quit, then it was worth it. If not, then you are going to hear me talk about smoking a lot!

Smoking WILL have an impact on your health, one way or another. It doesn't matter if you smoke 1 on occasion or more than 1 pack a day. Down the road you will pay the piper. The whole entire secret to quitting is really a simple one. YOU MUST WANT TO QUIT. Yes the addiction is much stronger than one's will, but unless you WANT to quit, you are already being defeated.

Once you want to quit, you will start a war to beat this addiction. War means you will fight battles. Just because you lose a battle doesn't mean you have to let smoking win the war. KEEP TRYING!

In order for one to WANT to quit, they must choose to do so. Pressure from others, such as loved ones, doctors and non-smokers, will eventually make the smoker doomed to failure. Many smokers will now try to hide it from others.

Although I'll touch on smoking again(and again and again), let me give you some tips that may make it easier.

First and foremost, the biggest mistake you can make to quit smoking is setting a date. Setting dates will only prove that you are doomed to fail. The big one is New Years, where resolutions fail rather quickly. I quit mid-February, when my doctor told me I had bladder cancer. He said I either quit smoking or I will die. I quit cold turkey in 1998 and never smoked again. I was smoking 3 packs of cigarette a day at the time, and I had wanted to quit but couldn't do it.

Lets do the economics, in other words, I'm going to pick your pocket. When I quit, a pack of cigarettes was$2.50 for my brand. If I was still alive today, my habit would cost $30 a day!

Sure smokers always say that once the price goes up they are going to quit, but lo and behold, those people continue to smoke. Nicotine is the most addictive drug of all, and the producers know how to fix the dosage to make you addicted. If not, they would cease to exist, but business is good$$$$$$$!

At $30 a day that would be $210 a week, which is more than half my paycheck. In a year that is $10950. Add to this your health care costs. If you see a doctor more than 3 times a year(including your physical) your ailments are more than likely from your cigarettes. Yes cigarettes and the smokers are skyrocketing health costs for the rest of us.

Another big mistake smokers make when they try to quit is they announce it to everybody. Although people may wish you well, they all await your failure to announce that they knew you couldn't do it. This is another reason why one must WANT to quit. Determination is your only weapon to beat addiction. Will power is what will feed your determination.

If you WANT to quit, there may not be an immediate solution like mine. People will try and fail. The best way to quit is to explore and see what will work for you. If you fail, my advice is to immediately continue to find a solution. Perhaps cold turkey may work, perhaps you need gum, patches, medication, counseling, etc., just don't keep smoking after a failure and try again tomorrow rather than next week!

It takes 10 years to actually break free of nicotine. I had quit for a number of years from time-to-time in my smoking history. The funny thing is that if I smoked one pack when I quit, I would start slow(the first one) and not only reach one pack a day within a month, but a pack and a half within three months!

Enlighten yourself about nicotine addiction. In other words, know your enemy that poses as your best friend. Nicotine makes you its puppet, and controls you. This is why I have seen too many dying people continue to smoke their cancer sticks. They are on chemotherapy and continue to smoke. When they die, their smoking buddies blame the chemo for their deaths!

Smokers come up with too many excuses to protect their habit. They become connivers as they look for ways to smoke where smoking is restricted, such as airports. They actually believe it is their right to smoke. The rude awakening is coming since smoking areas are being limited and fines will be enforced. Yet another hole in the pocket.

Smoking...you can bet I have a lot to say and some of the things I say will sound like a broken record!