Exercise and The Brain

It goes without saying that besides nutrition your brain will benefit from exercise. One thing we should focus on when exercising is the amount of exercise we need each week because too little or too much might backfire in the long run.

For a healthy brain, you need to get fit and in shape. Staying in shape can also help protect your brain's motor functions. Regular exercise, besides helping your overall health, has also been associated with improve memory and thinking skills.

Exercise, especially aerobics, get the heart pumping and keeps your brain sharp! The brain is important and we should do everything to keep it fully functioning throughout our lifetimes!

For The Health Of Money

I was torn by whether to write this post here or in my financial blog. This is about how staying healthy can help out your wallet's health, too. Here are ways to get healthy on the cheap. According to the article, the one thing exercise can't fix is weight loss. I have been saying that for years, because your caloric intake on food is what will help you lose weight. Exercise will help you tone up. I started seeing weight loss when I finally started eating healthier.


To those who don't understand the implication of that statement, it means that your eating habits determine your weight. I always worked out throughout my life. Weight loss wasn't easily achieved no matter what I did. Once I started eating healthier, over time I lost 85 pounds!


Although I believe that paying for a gym membership keeps me motivated, I hope to save the $150 a year membership. That is relatively cheap as far as memberships go, and I do get my moneys worth. I'm hoping to start using Isometric training into my routine and eventually wean myself off the gym. More information here.


Of course there are other ways to get your exercise without a gym. More ideas for no gym workouts just keep on coming. The bottom line is that whether or not you belong to a gym, as long as you are exercising, you are doing your overall health a lot of good. With good health comes less illnesses, less doctor's visits, longevity, well being, etc., all that help out your finances.

Staying Motivated To Exercise

If you made a resolution to get in shape, my hope for you is to stay motivated and reach for that goal. The benefits you get from  exercise may surprise you. Still too many people have the good intention to exercise, but begin to lose it at some point. Some sign up for a gym membership and others buy their own equipment. Both eventually start to gather dust.


Usually what happens is that you do too much from the start. You know you overdid it, if you are sore and no longer look forward to exercising. Fitness is a skill and it takes knowledge and motivation.


If you want my opinion, I'd say save your money, for the most part, until you are sure you can stay motivated. Gyms are hopping with people signing a contract for a 1-3 year membership, that will prove costly to get out of before the term. See about monthly contracts that may be a few dollars more, but will save you in the long run. Always make sure you can have at least one complimentary workout, before committing to anything.


Home equipment can be costly, but save you from a gym membership in the long run. The problem with home gyms is that they take away the motivation to the point that you start procrastinating and end up not using the equipment.


If you haven't thought about it, think kettlebells for strength and core. A pull up bar will tone the arms and the back. Both are inexpensive and very effective. Climb stairs, buy or rent a bike, walk, run, jog, do yoga, pushups, etc., any activity counts as long as you stay motivated. Start slow and take one baby step at a time. 


Make sure you consult your doctor before starting any new exercise program.


In closing, don't stop trying even if you lose your motivation for whatever reason.

Live Long and Prosper

Is there a secret to living long and aging well? The keys to accomplish this are exercise, baby aspirin, intimacy, calm and self-esteem. Weight is not a factor when it comes to longevity. This is not to say to let yourself go, but rather to use common sense and eat sensibly.


The real exercise that will prolong your life is running just 5 minutes a day.

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Do you know what your Basal Metabolic Rate, or BMR, is? Your BMR is basically how many calories you burn doing things you normally do from breathing to moving. If you are watching your calories learn to calculate your BMR.


The power of Vitamin D for overall health has been getting noticed over the years. It is truly a necessity in our daily lives. Our main source, more so than food, is the sun. In winter many of the northern locations get less than needed. Make sure that you are getting enough vitamin D, even if it is through a supplement.


Exercising and not losing weight? There might be a food-exercise combination that is sabotaging your weight loss goals. Read more.


In order to have a healthy lifestyle we must have healthy relations with other people. Some may need to sharpen their people skills!


Finding what works for us in fitness is essential for our health. Having a workout routine will keep us fit. It helps to know what myths are associated with fitness.


Don't let a tight budget keep you from eating healthy.

Workout Smarts

Do you want to cut out wasted time on getting fit? Then learn 8 moves to keep you fit. For women there are workouts for specific body types. For men there are training guides.


Most of us can use all the tips on fitness that we can get.


There are no more excuses to working out no matter where we find ourselves. The trick is to take the 'short-cuts' and 'lazy' out of it. Working out at work, for instance, just got easier.


No matter what our age, strength training is an essential regiment to our wellbeing. Learn about the benefits and  equipment in a strength training user guide.


When it comes to working out, safety should be a given. The proper execution of beneficial exercises and knowing the exercises that do more harm or are useless will help you reap the rewards. I've had to eliminate exercises, and also change my execution because I was doing it wrong. Here are exercises that can do more harm than good.

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.

Getting The Most From Workouts

I try to talk to the common man in a way they can relate to. I talk to the couch potato, the weekend warrior, the gym fly, the many people from the unhealthiest to the healthiest. I give you a sort of bottom line to health from research, personal experience and the knowledge of my years.


The verb factor of health is exercise. We all need an active verb in our lives because we can not become sedentary or our health takes a nose-dive.


At the very minimum one's activity must include 10000 steps a day which equals approximately 5 miles. Remember people's height and length can vary the distance of their steps. Overall the 10000 steps, whether a giant or a little person, is the minimum you can possibly do for your health.


Regardless of your exercise level, whether you're a beginner or a veteran, you can never know everything about fitness and exercise. Times are a changing" in everything from technology to cooking. You can never know it all and nobody is an island.


At the gym, I would do exercises that I would later find were ineffective and possibly dangerous, especially on machines. I wrote about these before in this blog, and today I am still being enlightened.


Here are ways to get the most of your workouts.

Back To Fitness

I hope you have some idea by now on an exercise routine. Remember to shake things up every two or three months by changing a couple or most of your routine exercises.



An overlooked and neglected but important exercise routine should focus on Core-Strengthening. This is a must as you get older because it can strengthen muscles in the core which can result in better flexibility. My favorite core exercise involves the use of kettlebells.




Women's training style can be the same as men's without becoming as muscular as a man. There are after all myths about women and strength training. There are good reasons why women should lift weights. Like any exercise routine, we each must find what works for our individual need.


So what is the king of all exercises? The Deadlift may very well be the best exercise for the overall body. The key is to do it right!




I would spend a half-hour in the gym at the most. Now I have upped it to 45 minutes to an hour. The reason is that I am doing my sets and routines slower and maybe I'm onto something. There still are effective 15-minute workouts. It would be a 5-minute workout for me in the earlier days!


We should learn the basic difference between exercise and physical activity. Each one contributes to one's overall physical fitness.

Beating Stress With Exercise

Exercise can benefit our overall health in more ways than we can even imagine. I may have said this elsewhere, but exercise can reduce stress. By exercising and putting our bodies in motion, we can reduce stress from our everyday lives.


We can argue about not getting motivated to exercise, even if just for a mere 20 minutes a day, but exercise can help reduce stress and other less severe mental disorders.


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I went to the gym today and wasn't surprised that it was pretty packed. I see every year what I call the 90-Day-Cycle, meaning that by April, the gym won't be so crowded. People are trying to fulfill their New Year's Resolution of getting fit for 2014. Most join gyms, others buy equipment, and others use what they have around the house, or other means to exercise.

As far as joining a gym, make sure you get your money's worth and don't sign for a plan you pay for and hardly ever go. I know people who never attend the gym, but signed a contract that still commits them to payment. The funny thing is that they don't bother cancelling it after it expires. Yes, these people do exist!

Do your research and test the waters before you commit when it comes to a gym and a contract. This topic is for another blog of mine on finances. Here we talk HEALTH. Sticking with an exercise program requires doing your homework before you begin.

OVERTRAINING

Although overtraining is often associated with athletes that push their training too far, it is also what makes people quit when they start exercising. Starting low and slow is better than taking on more than you can chew on your first day. If you workout and wake up with aches and pains, you may have over done it. Don't act like an invincible Superman before you've done one exercise.

When it comes to exercising, you need to define your goals and have a plan how to get there. 

You should also know why I say what I say!

Health Tips and More to Help a Healthy Lifestyle

I'm sure that after the holidays people will start to become healthier again. If you are still living healthy regardless of temptations and less exercise, more power to you. You can never get enough health tips and tricks, especially when you learn something new.

Since we are in winter, it is time to bust those health myths that most of us have come to believe. I knew about cold weather not making you sick, but I was stumped by the lack of sunshine causing depression. Others came as a surprise, and some I knew for years.

Here are some simple health tips for what ails you or can make you healthier. Here are some strange but true health tips. Dr. Oz chimes in. Although it is a strange claim, here are the best health tips EVER!

Exercise and nutrition go hand-in-hand for health and well being. Nothing like knowing what to eat when you exercise. Protein should be taken within 30 minutes after exercising.

Thus It Begins

We are now entering the holiday season where a healthy lifestyle is put to its greatest challenge. It is the time when we over-indulge and under-exercise!

There are ways to have a guilt-free holiday. I won't fill my plate and I won't go up for seconds. I'll continue to eat as healthy as I can on days that aren't holidays. I'll avoid many of the office parties.

Most importantly, I'll continue to keep my gym routine and perhaps do a few more exercises.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Energy Exercise Metabolism and More

There are so many factors associated with exercise, we can only touch on a few of them at a time. Sometimes it's tough to reach goals because we lack energy, have a hard time with certain muscles, or even end up with sore muscles to name a few.

If you need to shape and tone trouble parts, you can start here for certain muscle groups. Arms, legs and abs can always use an extra bit of attention.

A low metabolism can stop your weight-loss and other exercise program. Here are ways to help you boost your metabolism and increase energy.

Sore muscles go with the territory when it comes to exercising. Stretching before and after can help as can flax oil and Omega 3s. When it comes to injuries, it's not if but when they will occur when it comes to exercise. You may as well prepare yourself.

So little time and so many exercises for a variety muscles. Now you can name your target and your time available, and let this app set up a workout for the target part and time available.

Never underestimate the power of walking when it comes to your overall health. An hour walk or 10000 steps a day will help meet any health goal. There still are easy exercises you can do that don't require a gym.

Fitness and Motivation

When it comes to exercising, I can't say enough. It is a requirement if one is pursuing a healthy lifestyle. Moving helps us maintain our weight and benefits our overall health, particularly the heart. Exercise has other surprising benefits.

Starting an exercise regiment can be a challenge for those unprepared. When you're starting out, begin by finding the right exercise program for you. Don't be embarrassed to ask for help or use a personal trainer. They're free with most gym memberships. You should always remember to warm up before you start exercising.

Keep a journal and keep track of your fitness exercises and routines. This will give you an idea of what works. Make sure you consult your doctor before beginning any exercise routine. Start slow and don't just jump in, otherwise you might get discouraged.

Exercises don't have to be hard and some are so easy, a couch potato can do them. There are even ways to exercise at work. If you are lacking in motivation, maybe you should consider buddying up!

Interval exercise, where you alternate bursts of intensive effort with more relaxed ones, can benefit your weight, heart and lungs.

Our overall health relies on exercise as being part of the formula. There is no magic formula to avoid this aspect. We should strive to engage in some form of activity each and everyday.

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If a fruit is defined as a structure of a plant that contains its seeds, how good are you at naming your fruits? Find out here.

Caffeine is an addiction when we need it for energy and a way to boost us for a wake-up/pick me up. For those of us looking for caffeine alternatives, there are ways to boost your energy with alternative ways.

Refined sugars should be avoided as a whole. High Fructose Corn Syrup is just as bad, but the industry continues to make it out to be a natural source of sucrose, but avoids talking about the problems with HFCS as a name-change is on the horizon.

On your workout regiments, it is important to take into consideration what you eat before and after your workout. Protein is the key, but the intake can surprise you. For me, aside from protein drinks, yogurt is a pre-workout and an egg is a post-workout nutrition. Here are some unusual pre- and post-workout snacks!

More and more, I am considering the power of yoga when it comes to overall health. Eventually, so will you!

Although it is a no-brainer, your best tool in weight loss is your scale.

Gym? What gym? You don't need a gym to work-out.

Physical Activity and Health

Time to get the message that leading a sedentary life will destroy your overall health. As with nutrition, you must experiment and find the workout that works for you. You must also force yourself to move everyday. From cleaning your house or apartment to getting a gym workout, moving is what maintains your body and keeps it fit.

The magic number when it comes to walking is 10000 as in steps. A pedometer is required. Then again, you can start running. It's never too late to begin an exercise routine. WebMD has great resources and information on fitness.

You can't deny the importance of physical fitness. If it becomes overwhelming you can start at fitness basics.

If you look at fitness and exercise you only have a part of the factors that set the importance for your overall health. People have different goals when it comes to exercise. Some want to lose weight, some are into bodybuilding or power lifting. So the goal may vary from the means used to get their. At some point, most should realize, more than achieving a goal, it has come time to maintain only.

The biggest mistake that the novice falls into is pushing too hard early on. In the 70s when I lived in Europe, we referred to it as SUPER TRAINING. Start slow and proceed with caution, because Rome wasn't built in a day, either! This also applies to those who haven't exercised in awhile. Overtraining Syndrome is real. It can make you stop training or exercising altogether. Wait until I get into my New Years Resolution diatribe that will come around, well, New Years!

How do you motivate people to start Exercising? You have to hit them where they live. Boost mood and improve sex aren't good enough???

Reduce stress with exercise and working late is no longer an excuse.

Always take your doctor's advice when it comes to any health issue.

Money Changes Everything

If you got paid to workout, would you commit to it? How about if you didn't workout, would you pay for procrastinating? Gym Pact wants you to commit to exercise, or pay those who do. It's a typical challenge that makes you put your money where your mouth is.

'nuf sed!

A Body In Motion

Remaining active and exercising is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. We tend to become obese when we take in fuel(food) and don't convert it to energy(exercise or movement). Sitting around doing nothing will guarantee extra weight.

Exercise gets hard during the hot, humid summer days, because you really don't feel like exercising and don't need the extra sweat. Well there are ways to stay active. The key is do something, even if you have to find air conditioning.

Maybe you want to find out how fit you really are. Take these tests. You will get an idea where your level of fitness is and what needs to be improved.

Many people are using personal trainers that can range from free with a gym membership to over a hundred dollars an hour. If you need one try My Home Personal Trainer. It's online and free. Here's how to become Fab with just 15 minutes a day.

If you are trying to build muscle, here are some tricks to use.

When it comes to exercise you need to find your niche. You do this through trial and error, and change the routine each month to keep challenging your muscles.

The Forgotten Essential

Although it is the foundation to living a healthy lifestyle, exercise and fitness are often put on the sidelines. The truth is that at least an hour of movement a day is required. At least 20 minutes should be an exercise. We need more verbs to occupy our life or all our health will go downhill quickly.

In our exercise routines, we are not created equal. Women won't get the benefits from men's workouts. Cut it any way you want or can, but movement is essential, especially in exercise. I usually wait until after Christmas to give my opinion on those about to be broken New Year's Resolution. As far as gyms, most are crowded until February!

Would you workout if you got paid? I believe people would dig a tunnel to China if you paid them. Well here's a chance to put your money where your mouth is. Don't workout you pay. Workout and get paid!

Need fitness programs? I have you covered, even without a gym. I also give you foods for your workouts.

The Bottom Line is that exercise is a requirement and procrastination is not an option. I move as much as I can. I try to go to the gym for weight training at least 3 times a week. I take the stairs most of the time. I try to walk at least 10000 steps a day.

Since exercise is a necessity, it will come up from time to time. I may blog about nutrition and even foods that burn calories, but we require exercise. We need muscle to keep us strong and prevent falls and broken bones as we age.