Simple Healthy Lifestyle!

What is a healthy diet? Talk about opening a can of worms. Not for supper - purely as a figure of speech, please! However many people you ask, you may get that many answers.

Ask a vegetarian, a macrobiotics believer, or someone on the latest fad diet, and you'll get opinionated answers from those who are convinced their way is THE way.

First of all, educate yourself. Read everything and decide on what not only sounds the most reasonable to you, but also what sounds like something you can live with.

Let's get real - no matter how great it sounds, if a diet isn't something you can stick to, why bother?

Once you have made your choices, ask your doctor for his or her opinion, and make sure the decisions you ultimately make are good for your ENTIRE family.

[I found this article and thought it was worth sharing because it is a unique way to look at a healthy lifestyle - think of how your kitchen appliances can benefit your health!]

The kitchen plays a big part in the quality of your Pilates performance. As Joseph Pilates kindly informed us, good nutrition is of great importance to physical fitness. So I'm going to share with you now some kitchen tips that will help you reach your goals of energy, inspiration and relaxation that are involved in peak physical fitness.

Food Mixer.
What better way to start the day then with a health giving smoothie. Packed with protein, vitamins, fibre and carbohydrates, you will be well set up to start your Pilates session. You can prepare all of the ingredients the night before by adding any dry ingredients such as nuts or protein powder to your blender. Then in the morning, just slice up your fruit, add your yoghurt, milk or soya milk and give it a whiz. Commercial smoothies can contain extra empty calories with hidden sugar. You'll have complete control over what your consuming by making your own blends and you can even get a little creative and imaginative too.

Wok
It might not sound much like a healthy Pilates prop, but a wok can do wonders for your health. You can use it to prepare your workday lunch the night before, instead of being compelled to order a greasy pizza or calorie laden fast food luncheon. An example of a wok lunch is to add some olive oil to your wok, heat it up and add onions and garlic. Stir until browned and then remove and toss some carrot, cabbage and mushrooms in. Stir fry for a few minutes, add some tofu cubes then cover and steam for a minute. Add the onions and garlic back into the mix, add some sesame seeds or some nuts. Throwing in dark leafy greens will boost your vitamin C and A consumption as well as up your intake of iron and fibre. All good habits for protecting against cancer and Alzheimer's.

Hand blender
You should be eating healthily every day and keeping your body topped up with vitamins and minerals. It's easy to do if you plan in advance. One of the approaches that you can take is to use yesterday's leftovers as the base for a healthy soup. Throw in extra sliced onion, crushed garlic, some dried herbs and tinned tomatoes. A can of kidney beans can make a convenient and low-cost healthy addition. Then season to taste and whiz your hand blender to result in a delicious home-made soup full of all the good stuff that you need to perform well at your class. You could take this to work with you and heat it in the office microwave or use a flask to keep it warm until you are ready.

Pilates could be considered a way of life as so much focus is put onto the well-being of the body, spirit and mind that you will find yourself putting more consideration into your diet and healthy habits.

About this Author

Thomon Wardle is an experienced practitioner of yoga and pilates exercises. His range of yoga DVDs are listed and available from his site http://www.getfitwithpilates.com where you can also download a free eBook worth £9.95

A healthy diet and regular exercise can help regulate your weight and protect you against heart attack. One easy way to do this is to watch your transfat intake.

Eliminate transfats from your diet and you decrease bad cholesterol (LDL) in your body, effectively lowering your chances of heart disease. Where do we most commonly find LDL? Check labels of these items, and ask at restaurants...margarines and shortenings; fried foods such as french fries, chicken, fish fillets, taco shells; breads, cakes, and pastries; salad dressing, croutons, and baking mixes; chips, microwave popcorn, and candy.

Want to read more about heart health and a simple healthy diet? Limiting your overall fat intake will do no harm and promote a healthier, slimmer you!

We can pretty them up, try to make them exciting and fun, sauce them or dip them, and still fewer people want to eat vegetables. What's to be done? Hide them!

1. Grate carrots or zucchinis and make bread or mmm cake.

2. Puree them in soups.

3. Serve them the way your family likes them - do you like spicy foods? Then spice them up!

4. Add vegies you sort of like to foods that you love. My favorite food bar none is lasagna. You can hide anything short of an elephant in lasagna. Most kids love macaroni and cheese - add some cauliflower (it will be almost invisible).

5. A lot of people hate cooked carrots. Shred them raw into salads; slice them very thin and serve with ranch dressing. Try this with whatever you don't like cooked. The only vegetable I didn't like as a child was cooked squash of any kind, if it was sliced and mushy. But mashed squash at Thanksgiving was a hit, with gobs of butter on it. This is called a "textural turn-off or -on", be aware of your family's highs and lows.

6. Put the vegetable on a pizza chopped up small and put the cheese over it. Hidden in America's favorite food, who would have guessed!

7. Drink them! Some of the vegie-fruit blend beverages on the market now are absolutely delicious (and some, to my taste anyways, are awful, so do some taste tests.) And try some of your own in your blender or juicer.

8. Experiment with additives that make foods taste better. Some need a dash of salt or soy sauce, others a squeeze of lemon or lime, while still others may become palatable with honey or maple syrup drizzled over them. Teriyaki, sweet and sour, Worcestershire, barbeque - try all the sauces at your disposal.

9. Since we mentioned barbeque - name one thing that doesn't taste great grilled!

I'm going to list the 4 easiest things I know to help get in shape for what is called Bikini Season, or for older folks, the Shed Off Winter Layers season. The object is to get rid of some unwanted, unnecessary fat that becomes so obvious as arms, legs, and midriffs are exposed after hiding under layers of warm winter clothing. You want to get tanned, but oh the embarrassment!

I'll go into each tip in detail later, but here's the list (you can do all of this at home, no gym or special exercise equipment needed):

1. Get the right kind of exercise (fast paced interval cardio training) - you can do this by walking, so don't panic! And "fast-paced" is subjective; you simply have to pick up the pace now and then.

2. Eat fatty foods. Not junk food or fast foods, but foods containing Omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids.

3. More of the right kind of exercise: pick one or a variety of exercises that "kill more than one bird with one stone"; in other words, that exercise complex muscle groups rather than isolated muscle groups.

4. Use a safe diet supplement for those times you need an extra boost. Yes I recommend one in particular, but I'll tell you why so you can choose another if you prefer. You'll know what to look for.

If you are overweight, whatever exercise you do is "weight-bearing" (even swimming!), so just do a little more of it each day. What's fun and easy? Crank up the music and move to the rhythm!

Walking is something we do all the time, whether it's going to the refrigerator and bathroom, vacuuming and dusting, mowing the lawn, or taking the dog for a walk. If you invest in a pedometer, you can count how many steps you take in a day and add 10% every day. If your goal is adding 100 steps today, isn't that a lot easier than trying to get up the motivation to go to the gym?

This is incredibly easy to do, without having to go to a gym, buy a treadmill, or take your dog on longer walks. When you're talking on the phone, don't sit, walk around. When you're watching tv or waiting for that webpage to load, walk around the house, do some squats, walk or jog in place, or do 10 pushups.

When you go to the store, park further away from the store entrance than usual - that adds a few steps. If you're used to going in the front door of your house, circle around and go in the back door. Walk up and down your stairs twice instead of once. Go for that short walk; the sunshine and fresh air will perk you up as well as stimulate vitamin D production and your metabolism.

Simple yoga exercises or stretching in those odd moments throughout the day will get your blood circulating, relax your muscles, and make everything you do easier. It's amazing how getting just a little bit more exercise makes it easier to do more!

I bet you're like me and can find a million reasons to procrastinate when it comes to exercising. Going to the gym can be a big time and money investment, maybe more than you can afford or can cram into an already busy schedule. Maybe you're shy about exercising around others. It's easy to decide that it's too hot/cold/rainy/icy/windy etc. to go for that walk or jog.

Sometimes you'd just like to get started on an exercise program and build up some strength and stamina before you go public. Whatever the reason, it's so much easier to exercise at home. Maybe you have 5 minutes in between chores, or 10 minutes until you have to go pick up the kids. Exercising for just a few minutes is much less intimidating than spending an hour at the gym, especially if you need to go at your own pace and an hour seems much too long.

So check out these exercise dvds and exercise with a celebrity or a celebrity trainer, or find a teacher for any level of yoga or pilates. Make it fun, and style it just the way you like it. Whatever you choose, you'll be healthier and happier if you choose one of these exercise dvds to help you get motivated.

It's really very simple. Most of us probably already know this. Sure, celebrities are in the business of looking good so will spare no expense. But Anniston has it right when she says, "I try to do something, even if it's just twenty minutes a day, just to get my body sweating and blood pumping. It makes for a good day full of energy."

Do this in the morning, right after drinking some water to rehydrate after a good night's sleep, and you will boost your metabolism for the rest of the day. For those of us who are very overweight or challenged in other ways, sometimes a good brisk walk will be enough to get the metabolism going.

Or try using a pedometer and simply take a few more steps each day. As you become healthier, you can pick up the pace.

Despite all the disagreements about what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, most will agree that it includes achieving some level of physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being. One way to accomplish this is by using a health or fitness program as designed by a personal trainer.

With the help of a personal trainer, you will be guided through a safe and effective fitness regime with the least amount of risk. Trainers will not only give you exercise routines but also suggest positive behavioral changes that will work for your particular life style.

A personal trainer can evaluate your physical and mental strength and suggest a routine that guides you gently or challenges you, depending on your overall fitness level, goals, and objectives. A good place to look for a personal trainer is at a local fitness center or health club

A trainer may also provide many effective weight loss health suggestions including exercises, diet supplements, yoga, meditation etc. A personal trainer can therefore help you systematically progress by enhancing your own balance of health with the proper tools and equipment to ensure a healthy lifestyle for life!

You get up in the morning and want to go for a walk but some days it's just so much easier to skip it. You want to eat a healthy breakfast but that piece of leftover pie is so inviting.

Six small meals a day is what you have in mind but you're so busy you forget to eat until 3pm, when you're absolutely starving. Even though you believe in moderation, that all-you-can-eat buffet is more than you can resist. The bills are piling up, your boss is demanding, and your kids are running wild. And not a moment to yourself!

Sound familiar? Life sometimes feels like it's nothing but challenges. How do we stick to our plans and goals when there are so many obstacles in the way?

I look to others who are successful for clues. I woke up this morning thinking about President Obama. Talk about being under pressure, and it's all under public scrutiny. Yet he seems strong, compassionate, reasonable, imaginative, and thoughtful, and takes charge with confidence. He willingly admits to his mistakes but doesn't miss a step, continuing forward.

Now think of a major league baseball player. In terms of batting averages, he is considered to be doing well if he succeeds 1/3 of the time. In truth, baseball is a losers game; most players fail at least 2/3 of the time. The best players remain calm, confident, and humble.

Honesty: Houston, we have a problem.

Calm and confident: Yes I can. Now how do I remove the obstacles?

Persistence: Just do it.

You aren't well, you need a healer, and probably the last thing you want to hear is that you are your best healer.

What if someone were to tell you that they could help you deal with your pain, lose those extra pounds, get more fit, sleep better and longer, relax, release stress, and be happy. How? By helping you listen to the voices in your head and recognize when you are listening to a "voice" that wants to sabotage every attempt you make to be healthier.

Yes, you have your own personal saboteur. You have to replace that voice with one that gives you a good reason to exercise, eat well, resolve stress, and enjoy life. Here's a way to get healthier with Word Cures.

According to Wikipedia, endorphins resemble opiates in that they relieve pain and promote a feeling of well-being. According to medical practitioners, endorphins can help our bodies heal because our feelings and emotions affect our body's self-healing powers.

We mostly think of endorphins as being produced when we exercise, but did you know - our pituitary gland and hypothalamus create endorphins during excitement, pain, eating spicy food, love, and orgasm.

I'm sure you agree, I like learning that some of the things I most enjoy doing are part of a healthy lifestyle. It's spring, love is in the air, it is so easy to feel the endorphins when the world is turning green and life is renewed. Take advantage of this time of year - go for a walk, breathe in the fresh air deeply, appreciate the beauty all around you and be renewed!

When we women open the door to our own hearts it spills over to our family and community until, as though by magic, Love becomes The Way of the world. ~Linda Joy, 'Aspire' magazine

Tele-Summit, October 8-10, 2010

The Enlightened Mom.com: Moms United to Heal the World

Totally, absolutely free. Featuring the love and wisdom of an amazing line-up of inspiring Mothers of Influence.

[The tele-summit was amazing! Visit the website TheEnlightenedMom.com to keep up on current activities and the Global Healing Circle!]

If you're already stressed out and exhausted, then thinking about dieting, working out, and changing old habits can seem like insurmountable challenges. Let's try a different approach.

Think of what sabotages you every time you try. What are your trouble spots, what are the sources of your difficulties? Try to find alternatives to how you deal with them. Pamper yourself instead of punishing yourself.

For example: you're a high-powered business woman but you still have anxiety leading up to a big presentation. This is when you blow your healthy lifestyle every time with stress or emotional eating, smoking, alcohol, or becoming a couch potato in front of the television.

Your first step is to identify what leads you off-track every time. Plan out how you will do things differently. Sit yourself down and give yourself some time just for you. Schedule the things leading up to your presentation that will keep you focused on your goals.

Plan exercise, stress relief (watch a movie/comedy with a girlfriend?), healthy meals, and plenty of sleep. One good way to ensure enough sleep is to plan some rigorous exercise followed by stretching and a small, healthy meal. Reward yourself for accomplishing these things!

When the time comes for your presentation, know that you're doing your best, recognize your progress, and celebrate!

If teens can learn how to develop healthy relationships, then they will be more apt to do so as adults as well. Teens can't do this alone, however. It's important to discuss this with them.

Keep in mind that not all teens, no matter how intellectually aware they may seem, are able to connect present behavior to future consequences. That's why it's important to carry on the conversation in the present tense. Talk about what is, what does, how do you think, what do you feel, how does it feel, etc.

These brief tips will help you talk to your teen effectively.

Gather facts: Ask if any of their friends intentionally physically hurt them, emotionally hurt them, or try to dictate what they do, say, think, or feel. Tell them these are all indicators of unhealthy relationships.

Ask the teen: What do you think a healthy relationship looks like? Prompts to use when your teen runs out of ideas: respect, trust, honesty, ability to express own opinions freely, independence, anger management, willingness to compromise, assertion without aggression.

Then ask: Knowing what a healthy relationship looks like, how do you think an unhealthy one might look?

And finally: If you settle for unhealthy relationships, how do you think this might get you into trouble later on in life? Let your teen answer this one for themselves first. Once you've judged how much they can come up with themselves, you can talk about things like self-esteem, drug addition, binge drinking, fighting, and suicide attempts, as well as increasingly more violent abusive relationships.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America have combined efforts with corporate sponsors to create a program to promote and support healthy lifestyle habits in young people. The program combines strategies that address the whole person - mind, body, and soul - by offering information supporting healthy diet choices, opportunities for daily physical activity, and healthy relationships and attitudes.

Find out more about this healthy lifestyle program and locate a Boys or Girls Club near you.

Photo Credit

This is a fun series of quick, really easy tips from doctors on how to keep your kids healthy. It's interesting to learn from their omissions and mistakes, as well as their wisdom.

Read more about keeping your kids healthy.

In Buddhism, right livelihood is one step of the Noble Eightfold Path; it means making your living in such a way as to harm no living creature.

Again, in Buddhism, this means refraining from:

1. Business in weapons: trading in all kinds of weapons and instruments for killing.
2. Business in human beings: slave trading, prostitution, or the buying and selling of children or adults.
3. Business in meat: "meat" refers to the bodies of beings after they are killed. This includes breeding animals for slaughter.
4. Business in intoxicants: manufacturing or selling intoxicating drinks or addictive drugs.
5. Business in poison: producing or trading in any kind of toxic product designed to kill.

For those of us not Buddhists, it still is reason to stop and think, even if we just think about how we relate to our fellow humans. We may not be able to completely stop eating meat, fish, and poultry, but limiting them in our diet can be a healthy choice.

Loving kindness is a good place to start to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

So a small group of men with low-risk prostate cancer opted to participate in a study instead of receiving traditional medical treatment. For 3 months they subjected themselves to major lifestyle changes in the areas of diet, exercise and stress management.

Yes, they lost weight, lowered their blood pressure, and accomplished other health improvements. But their genes changed too!

Read more about this fascinating study regarding lifestyle and genetic changes.

A little overeating here, forgetting to take supplements now and then, skipping our daily exercise a couple of times a week doesn't cause any instant or noticeable problem. The same holds true for smoking, drinking, not getting enough sleep.

Especially when we're young and at the top of our game, we think we we don't have to pay attention to these seemingly small details. Because nothing bad happens right away, we continue slowly forming bad habits. We think that cutting corners doesn't matter. Being a couch potato is habit forming!

We can change just a few habits every day and see results in just a few weeks. Try it. Drink water instead of soda pop, take vitamins regularly, and get just twenty minutes of exercise a day and you'll see positive results in a month. You'll lose some excess pounds, feel better, and be building a healthier future.

Learn more about weight loss tips and ways to stay healthy.

Photo Credit

Easy steps to a healthy lifestyle include changing slowly but surely; finding the right motivation that will keep you engaged (being at your daughter's wedding or watching your grandson grow up); tracking measurable results; identifying your weaknesses and finding positive ways to not trigger them.

What makes your life worth living? Can you discipline yourself to live a healthy, happy. long life?

Photo Credit

It's a bit of an oxymoron, isn't it - learning what to do in order to do nothing. There is only one answer, and that is whatever works for you. The goal is to take time out - 5 minutes, 20 minutes, an hour - in whatever place will allow you to do this. Take a mini-vacation. Try to do this every day.

You can shut yourself in a room for privacy, go outside in nature, or practice what is called walking meditation. In a private room, use something as a focus. In your bedroom, it can be a candle or a stick of incense. Watch the flickering fire, the rising smoke, smell the scent. Breathe. When your mind wanders, simple recognize that it has wandered and bring your focus back to your desired object or sensation.

Photo Credit

Outside - breathe deeply. Focus on your breathing, on the wind, on the birds, on a tree or flower.

A walking meditation is what you can do wherever you are. If you are washing dishes, focus only on that. If you are taking a walk, focus on your feet, or on your muscles moving, or on what you see. Let your mind rest. If you are waiting in traffic, focus on how the steering wheel feels in your hands, how your body feels sitting on the seat. If you are listening to music, let the music move you. Quiet your mind.

When you don't get a good night's sleep, lots of things can happen. You can stay up and eat things you shouldn't be eating when you shouldn't be eating them. Your hormones are affected and you binge eat to compensate for lack of sleep. Read more about the implications of sleep loss on weight and overall health.

Photo Credit

Some reasons why people cannot sleep well at night:

- Stress
- Overtired
- Too active right before bed
- Eat right before bed
- Background noise or busy mind

Here's an easy way to get more sleep - go to bed half an hour earlier. Make your bedroom an island of tranquility in your busy life - no television, no computer in the bedroom, no bills. Instead of reading in bed, take a hot bath right before bed and add a few drops of essential oil to your bathwater - lavender is calming.

If you're suffering from the effects of physical exertion, spend 10 minutes doing some yoga stretches. Athletes and dancers know this trick: your muscles will tighten up and ache after working hard, gentle stretching will help them relax.

Eat your last meal of the day at least 2 hours before going to bed. If your meal is completely digested, it will help you go to sleep. If you still crave that late night snack, try using an appetite suppressant as part of a healthy diet and exercise plan.

When getting to sleep is still difficult due to background noise or the noise inside your head, try some very simple, soft music such as Native American flute music or New Age music.

Photo Credit

Maybe you can enlist some sane help if you're providing the meal for your friends and relatives this Christmas season. Or maybe you can do as Anne T. suggests and let someone else sponsor the dinner while you keep just keep what you eat balanced and sane.

Her tips for how to eat healthy without spending all your time in the kitchen are simple and smart. And her last thought is a good one so don't miss it!

It's all about maintaining balance.

Photo Credit

Here are just a few tips for making through the holidays healthy and sane!

1. Food - make substitutions in your recipes for less fat, less sugar, and whole grains.
2. Social behavior - at parties, talk more, eat less! You'll also spend more time chewing, which will help you feel satisfied with smaller portions.
3. Daily schedule - start by drinking water, then getting outside; even if it's just a quick stretch in the sunshine or a brisk walk to the corner and back.
4. Sleep - you stayed up late last night? Get to bed early tonight.
5. Beverages - substitute sparkling juices or water for alcohol. Alcohol lowers your resistance to indulgence.

Photo Credit