Buying clothes for the "new you"

I am guilty of buying an article of clothing with the goal of fitting into it "one day." You know the problem with that? That one day never seems to get here. Sure I can fit into that clothing but now it is out of style. It is almost like buying a wedding dress for that wonderful day and not even having a fiancee at the time. You never can tell if you might have to look at maternity wedding dresses when the real time comes. Clothing should just be an expression of who you are today, not who you will be one day in the future.

Healthy living, not instant living

I am always surprised when someone asks me if they should try a quick diet or a 3 day fast. I even get people asking me "is 7 day slimming pill safe?" To which I answer, "a better life long eating pattern is the safest." You can't rush your body, you have to let it adapt to healthier living over a period of time.

Don't for the instant results that fail in the long term. Go for change that is permanent.

It has been awhile since my last post

Boy did this year go fast. I had no idea that I had not published a blog post since October. I guess I got too busy with life to actually write about life....LOL.

Winter life has been interesting so far. We almost had a full blown chimney fire due to creosote build up in the top of the chimney. Thank goodness the fire was discovered during a heavy rain storm otherwise the roof would have caught fire. That same rain storm dumped enough water to cause huge muddy pools of standing water in the backyard which in turn made the area slippery to walk near. Several businesses and a heroin detox rehab treatment centers had to shut down until the water recedes which should be sometime this weekend.

Health watch has not been so much as internal but external with protecting ourselves from the elements and winter has only just begun.

Eating healthy during the holiday season

It is a fact that we are geared genetically to gain weight during the winter months. This is to help our bodies tolerate cold winters. Of course our genes don't know about central heating so it keeps telling us to eat for the winter. That is one of the main reasons that most feast days for humans have been historically in the winter months.

We must consciously make the decision to eat wisely during our feasting holidays. Eat small meals and don't pig out on odd burlesque pasties for sale or cakes that are very rich in creams and sugars. I am not saying you should avoid them entirely, no, just eat taster sizes. Don't eat a whole slice of cheese cake, cut it in half and share it.

Eat and savor each small bite and you'll find that the holiday season will be good to your body.

Choose your holiday gift wisely

When people ask you what you want for Christmas are you often at a loss what to say? You are trying to stay healthy so unhealthy gifts are not what you want. So what are your many kinds of gift options when it comes to your health?

Here is a list what you can tell them you want for Christmas

• a workout DVD
• gift card to a sporting goods store
• a basket of fresh fruit
• a comfortable pair of walking shoes

So this Christmas think healthy.

Hobbies can keep you healthy

When you think of hobbies keeping you healthy, I bet you are thinking about ones that are physically active. It is true that keeping fit will help you stay healthy but often mental health is not taken into consideration at all. Studies have shown us that happy people live longer than depressed people. Depression kills, depression is unhealthy.

In order to keep yourself happy and depression free take up a hobby that is mind challenging and fun. Try guitar lessons, photography, training a pet, knitting or learning something new that you wanted to do since you were little. Even meeting with old friends you have not talked to in years or putting a scrapbook together can bring interest back into your life. Don't let the economy get to you. You don't have to spend a dime to be happy. Happiness is a frame of mind. What ever you do to find that frame is all you need to stay there.

Eczema and other skin problems

Eczema can cause dry patches of skin that can drive you nuts. There are skin care products that can take care of the problem almost immediately. I should know, I had an unsightly dark raised patch on my face. I was scared to death that it might be cancer. At the time I was experiencing very dry skin behind my ears and had bought a skin product for eczema. Out of a whim I dabbed a bit of the lotion on the dark raised patch just before going to bed. By morning I noticed a marked change in the skin.

I continued to put lotion on the darkened skin long after my dry skin behind my ears cleared up. It took about 2 months of applying daily lotion to the area and the spot was almost gone. I figured that it could not be skin cancer because skin cancer does not go away without a doctors care. I don't know what it was but the lotion I bought apparently worked.

Do you remember jumping jacks?

When I was in high school there were exercises that most workout videos don't even cover anymore. One of them was jumping jacks. It makes you wonder if those old time exercises were doing us some harm. How many of you saw those old vibrating belt exercisers? I was 6 years old when I saw a neighbor using one. She also had one of those machines that you sat on and it had wooden rollers. Here is a picture of one:

I wonder what kind of exercise they were thinking about when that machine was developed?

I suppose it is along the same lines as supplements. Do you remember the oyster shell pills and the skin scrubs made from dead sea salt and apricot pits? All in the mane of health and beauty. When will we learn?

Walmart has a great workout equipment section

Where I live, there is a lack of sporting goods stores. Walmart is the closest thing to finding decent workout equipment. I was recently pleasantly surprised at how much their workout equipment section has in variety. My local Walmart has a large selection of yoga equipment and DVDs. I picked up a yoga mat for $8. I sure did wish I could find some walmart coupons for my next shopping trip there. I have my eye on some weights.

Tracking your health

If you are just getting started in keeping track of your health - that is wonderful. You will want to keep track of the following health signs and note the progress you are making on the road to better health:

• Your blood pressure. Take it only 3 times a week and don't obsess over it.
• Your weight or better yet your BMI (body mass index) It is better to find out your percentage of fat to lean body mass rather than just a straight weight from your bathroom scale.
• Your skin condition. Often your skin is a good indicator of overall health. Take notes of what parts of your body have red rashes, dry skin or overly irritated. 

Keep a small notebook or for those of you who love gadgets, there are apps for this kind of tracking from Apple and for the Android. I have one of those small hp netbooks which is ideal for keeping track of my progress.

Play your way to a better body

With all the video game consoles that offer games that get you up off of your chair, why are you still sitting down? There are plenty of new wii games to choose something that will keep you up and moving. If you don't like the wii then how about the Kinect for XBox? There is no reason not to get active in your own home anymore.

Get up off of that chair and get moving. What? Why are you still reading this? Go.............go now...........move.

A healthy birthday

Birthday parties are fun and often fattening. Here are some tips to have a healthier birthday celebration.

• Eat small portions. You don't have to do without gourmet birthday cakes, just have a "taster" instead of filling up your plate with it. 
• If you are the host then put out more fruit and serve fruit juices. 
• Enjoy more active party games like swimming or playing a team sport. Forget those lame thinking games like trivial pursuit.
• Finally, don't stress out. Parties are often a source of stress for many people - don't sweat it, enjoy it.

Depressed about your health?

Have you ever gotten chewed out by your doctor? The threat of "if you don't lose some weight and exercise more, I'll be putting you on high blood pressure meds." I have gotten that lecture. Right after I left the doctor's office I fell into a depressed state of mind. I was sort of going through the motions of the rest of the day but in a daze. I didn't know what hit me. I had always had low blood pressure and suddenly it was high.

When your car breaks down you can call someone to get it fixed. It was at that time I wished that there was a service I could call for my body. I knew that the only breakdown service I could call on was ME. I was the one who had to change it. I didn't want high blood pressure and definitely didn't want to go on meds.

I took that depressed state of mind and turned it around - I had to, it was my health that depended on it.

Nike makes sports goof

If you exercise, you know the value of a good pair of workout shoes. Nike is the brand that first comes to mind for specialized footwear. So would it surprise you that Nike made a goof designing shoes several years ago? The goof they made was getting involved in designing a boot for a sport they had no track record for. They tried to design English  equestrian boots and made some hideous boots. The biggest mistake was the location of the zipper. In regular English riding boots the zipper is located at the back of the boot. That is to keep the zipper out of sight while the rider is in the saddle and importantly so it does not rub the rider. Nike made the zipper run over the top of the foot and wrap up the outside of the boot. The location would make the zipper rub against the stirrup which would cause a blister on the top of the foot and it just looked bad.

I think that Nike gave up on the boot, at least I have not heard anything more about it in some time now.

A career in sports

Have you ever considered a career in the sports field (excuse the pun)? I think that most of us has had that dream when we were in high school or even college. You don't have to be an athlete to earn money in a sports career. Just look at doctors, physical therapists, dieticians, health spa owners and those in supporting industries.

Most major cities have a huge demand for support personnel in the sports industry. Just look up sports careers on sites devoted to jobs such as Los Angeles, New York city, Portland, Denver and charlotte jobs.

You can also develop your own sport product and have that career in sports.

Causes of hair loss

There are many reasons for hair loss. Genetic factors such as male pattern baldness to nutritional deficiencies can all play apart of hair loss.

When I was in my teens, there was a short period of time that I woke up each morning with huge clumps of hair, my hair, on my pillow. It started suddenly and just as suddenly stopped. It could have been caused by stress or hormones or even being sick. Thank goodness my mother did not panic and start buying all kinds of hair loss products. No doubt if she did and I used one and my body stopped shedding hair on its own, the product would get the credit instead of just my body going back to being right on its own again.

Before you start investing in hair loss products, find out if your body is out of whack in some way. Eliminate the natural causes of hair loss before you start using any kind of product.

There's caffeine in that diet pill

If you look at any over the counter diet pill, they contain caffeine. This leads to a racing heart as well as mild hyperactivity and bladder problems. In fact a review about OxyElite Pro mentions all of the cons about the product including the claims of metabolism enhancing. I guess that people still are unaware that metabolism is based on ratio of lean muscle mass compared to fat.

I have found a great way to track my health progress

After my last laptop gave out, I seem to go through one laptop every 5 years, I decided to ignore those best netbooks ads and go with something completely different. I like my small iPod but I wanted something bigger but not as big as an iPad. I looked into tablet PC's and found many of them are under $150. I am currently looking into getting one that costs only $138 and has wifi and a camera so I can also take pics of my progress of muscle building. Another big plus is that it will fit nicely on my treadmill so I can watch videos of exercise workouts or maybe a movie.

Taking up yoga

It is now official, hubby has to take up yoga. It is doctors orders!!!

His spine is bothering him and after a full MRI, a trip to several doctors the diagnosis is surgery unless he can strengthen his core and completely muscle up. The doctor and the specialist both said yoga was the first step and to work up to pilates.

I mentioned this to a co-worker who was document scanning at the time and she said she had a yoga DVD we could borrow. Since there are various different styles of yoga being taught on DVD it is best to see which one would be a good starting point.

Acne is now affecting more adults than ever

When I was a teen, acne was the dreaded illness to be treated at all costs. That was long before teen pregnancy and drug abuse became much more of a problem. Nowadays acne has creeped from the teen years to affecting adults too. Men and women well into their 40's are now battling acne as if they were teens again.

One thing I had always thought was a major contributor to acne was air pollution. This is from my own experience when I was a teen growing up in a large urban city. When ever our family went on vacation to a rural or wilderness area, my acne would clear up entirely only to return when I was in a heavily air polluted area.

To find out more about acne treatments just click here.