Health Issues for Baby Boomers

[ Note: Your health and fitness are important. These articles were written by my friend Jon Benson. I have his permission to share them with you. ]

Got a minute?

That’s all I need to share my first of many video-based 1-minute fatloss tips.

Go here for the first of many….

click—–>  How To Eat Your Favorite Foods And Drop Bodyfat

My new design is something to see too.

I have my weekly live 1-minute video, tons of new features… even a “diet quiz” if you care to test your fatloss knowledge.

Plus my main presentation: “1 Tip To A Flat Belly!”

Just don’t laugh at my ballcap/unshaven look in the video… I wanted this to be super-casual, but I may have taken it a bit too far… ; )

Oh… speaking of a flat belly… I’d like to give you yet another reason to eat and workout the way I suggest in “Every Other Day Diet” and “7 Minute Body”…

I had to go to the hospital last week. No worries… I’m fine… just a bit of a scare. Definitely enough to wake you up from walking through life like it will never end! But fortunately for me, only a scare.

Anyway, the doctors in the hospital were amazed when they looked at my heart and lungs (they had to make sure I did not have any infection… and I didn’t.)

“Most 46-year-olds do not have these around their heart,” the doctor said as he showed me the pictures they took. You could see all these vessels around the heart and branching off the main arteries.

“Peripheral vessels… they were formed by your exercise program. Well-done! These help keep your heart strong and healthy.”

Every doc that listened to my heart said, “Wow… strong heart!”

Indeed… resistance training makes it so.

Before I left, after the scare went away, I asked the doctor his opinion on my dietary plan. “Well, obviously you are very lean and in fantastic shape for a man of any age.”

Thanks doc, but I wasn’t fishing for a compliment!  Since this was a heart doctor I was curious as to his thoughts.

“If you had heart disease, or if you want to prevent it, this is the exact dietary plan I would recommend.”

While I expected to hear this, it was still music to my ears.

So, my higher-than-normal dietary fat and protein, lower-carb, and relatively frequent “fun food” dietplan is “ideal” to combat heart disease according to the good doc. And according to my family doctor.

Nice to know.

Read more about my plan here…

click—–>  How To Eat Your Favorite Foods And Drop Bodyfat

Remember:  A good dietplan and exercise is not always sufficient to keep you disease-freee… but I love what the doctor told me.  “People who exercise and eat like you LIVE through it and recover much faster.”

Fortunately I didn’t have a nasty virus to recover from… but if I did, I know my condition would have helped me do just that.

Tags: Every Other Day Diet, fat loss, Heart Health
Filed under: Exercise | No Comments »

Though many people would disagree, it is actually true that a little worrying can be a good part of your personality. It helps you to plan your goals out and make sure to have them done. However, it is easy to cross a line into worrying too much and becoming obsessed with terrible scenarios; this is when worrying becomes a problem in itself.

Chronic worriers justify their worrying by believing that there is a chance even the slightest things could go wrong, and insist on preparing themselves for any kind of surprising element in their schedule so they can seize control of the outcome. Yet, you have to know that worrying that things will fall apart does not make life any more certain or predictable. Sometimes we deal with bad things as they happen because we have no option. Worrying makes you feel as though you have control, but rather it is an illusion – you are no better prepared. By worrying about possible future outcomes, you inhibit yourself from enjoying the good things that are happening now.

Unhealthy stress is not motivating, but rather discouraging and rather unproductive – it takes from your emotional strength and makes you more anxious, interfering with your daily life. The good news is that there are effective self-help strategies proven to calm your mind and lessen stress.

Of course the easiest advice would be to stop worrying. The simplest solution is not really a solution though, nor is it realistic to believe you can rid yourself of anxiety so easily. Yet, lessening your worrying and taking steps toward eliminating whatever is causing you stress is a great way to get to the bottom of your stress, rather than postponing your worrying.

If you continue to worry about aspects of your life, at least set aside a time and place to do so. Make it the same time and place everyday you choose to organize and collect your thoughts. Do not plan for this right before bed, or first thing in the morning, but rather in the evening when you are done with most of your work and are a little more relaxed. Use this time to conquer whatever is on your mind. Promise yourself that this planning and thought collecting will leave you relaxed and worry-free.

If you do become anxious about something, whether it is a suddenly remembered assignment or a chore you need to do later, make a mental note of it. If you are forgetful, write it down and put it somewhere you pass by everyday, like your refrigerator or desk.
Forget about it for the time being and continue your day the best you can. When you come to your worrying time, go through the things you have listed in your mind or on paper as future concerns. To your surprise, they may not seem as bad or are easy to deal with when focused on coming up with a solution. Wind up your worry period as soon as you can and enjoy each day to the fullest. Over time, by postponing the worrying, you can break your habit of continuously thinking about your problems, giving you a sense of control and further reduce the stress you experience.

Related articles for stress relief

• Building for Healthy Relationships for Self (yearn2blog.com)
• Positive Thinking (momblognetwork.com)
• The Work of Worry (lifehack.org)

Tags: Anxiety, Mental Health, Stress, Worry
Filed under: Anxiety, Lifestyle, Strength Training Tips | No Comments »

If you need healthy ways to reduce and control your stress levels, you probably know there are hundreds of methods available that will be suggested. However, not all of these techniques are effective or practical to complete. Below are some simple stress relieving techniques that can be done easily, or with just the minimum amount of practice.

1. Deep Breathing – when stress levels are quite high and you need to keep control of your emotions, you can use deep breathing to calm yourself down and keep it together. Deep breathing methods are proven to provide more oxygen to your brain and increase oxygenation of blood allowing your brain to better control your feelings. In addition, it will cause your muscles to relax. The greatest benefit of deep breathing is that you can do it anywhere, at anytime and it acts immediately to reduce stress quickly.

2. Meditation – Meditation takes deep breathing and combines it with focused thought. Instead of merely inhaling and exhaling, meditation makes your thoughts focus positively. Your brain functions as it normally would when you are sleeping, but with additional benefits. Meditation allows hormones to be released that tackle emotional stress well. Furthermore, when you focus on positive thoughts, your brain stops running through negative ones and stress levels slowly decline.

3. Imagery – Deep breathing and meditation work for some people and can be put into practice instantly, imagining imagery takes more time to learn. You need to dream up positive images to couple with positive thought for maximum effect, relaxing your body and mentally allowing stress to melt away. Nature sounds or scented candles may help you achieve this in your practice, and develop the best imagery.

4. Visualization Techniques – Imagery focuses on positive thoughts and relaxing images; visualization is about visualizing yourself doing positive things in your life. When you can see yourself overcoming a problem, or doing well at work, it helps make it a reality. If your goal is to spend time with family or for self improvement, like losing weight, visualization can help with that, too. Many people also believe that visualization as a physical practice help improve performance in the areas you visualize positive improvement.

5. Exercise – Many people exercise to maintain a healthy weight or get in better physical shape. However, exercise is also a valid way to manage stress. Exercise can help indirectly as a distraction from negative thoughts and feelings at home or work, but also acts as a physical upper by releasing hormones called endorphins that make you feel good, as well as help to relax and reduce stress.

6. Music – when you are under a lot of stress or pressure, listening to instrumental or soft music can affect you to reduce anxiety levels. The right types of music can lower blood pressure, help relax your muscles and keep your mind calm.

7. Yoga – Yoga takes a bit of practice and instruction to master as a stress relief remedy, but this mechanism combines deep breathing, meditation, and imagery, making it super effective to release stress.

Related articles relieving stress from your life

• Viewing Life From A Hammock (hbb2obm.com)
• Phone Meditation Keeps You Connected to a Better Life (grantlawrence.blogspot.com)

Tags: Emotion, Meditation, Stress, Yoga
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