TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Promotion of the Month
- Healthy Quote for This Issue
- Secrets of Sound Sleep
- How Journaling Can Positively Impact Your Physical Health
- 8 Totally Easy Steps to Better Fitness
- Healthy Recipe: Seared Salmon with White Beans & Fennel
- A Touch of Humor: Quickies
HEALTHY QUOTE FOR THIS ISSUE:
“America’s health care system is in crisis precisely because we systematically neglect wellness and prevention.” — Tom Harkin
PROTECT YOUR HEALTH FROM WIRELESS DEVICES
Electromagnetic fields (EMF) are all around us. In their natural form they are harmless. But when electromagnetic fields are man-made, they have been scientifically proven to disrupt the DNA structure of our bodies and wreak havoc on our health, causing headaches, fatigue, congestion, short-term memory problems, sleep problems, joint and muscle pain, cancer and more.
In a study funded by the telecom industry to prove the safety of cell phones, it was revealed that cellular damage and tumor growth can be induced in a laboratory setting using radiation levels one-third of those listed on FCC’s exposure guidelines.
As shown in the chart above, the left is without Aulterra and the right image is with the Aulterra disk placed on a cell phone or other wireless device (laptops, ipads, tablets, e-readers, game boys, baby monitors, etc.). Just imagine what it’s doing to your children who have undeveloped immune systems.
Prices as low as $6.76 per device (buy more; save more) … such a small price to pay to insure you and your loved ones are protected from the health problems associated with wireless devices.
SECRETS OF SOUND SLEEP
By Susie Cortright
A single good night’s sleep can rejuvenate your mind, body, and soul. Here’s how to get one tonight:
IN PREPARATION
- A regular exercise routine will help you fall asleep faster and wake up feeling more refreshed, but experts don’t recommend vigorous exercise fewer than three hours before bedtime. Instead, schedule your workout five to six hours before lights out. (Exercise causes your core body temperature to rise, and natural sleepiness will set in when your body temperature drops again).
- Find another place for stressful activities. Pay your bills at the kitchen table, not in your bedroom.
- Avoid nicotine and alcohol before bed. Nicotine is a potent stimulant, and the metabolism of alcohol has an alerting effect.
- Skip the afternoon latte, too. The stimulating effect of caffeine can remain for as long as 12 hours. Keep in mind that many teas and sodas, such as Mountain Dew, contain high caffeine levels, as well.
- Restrict your water intake just before bed and during the night. Midnight trips to the bathroom can cut into your sleep, particularly if you have a hard time dozing off again. Six hours of continuous sleep often result in a more rested feeling than eight hours of on-again, off-again snoozing because non-consecutive sleep interrupts its deep, restorative phases.
- Check to see if any of your prescription or over-the-counter medications may be interfering with your sleep. Some diet pills, birth control pills, anti-depressants, and blood pressure medications can have a rousing effect. Sleeping pills, while tempting, are not the answer. They quickly lose their effectiveness and can be addictive.
AT NIGHT
- Create a nest. Eliminate clutter, maintain a comfortable sleeping temperature, and keep the room dark. Nightlights and bright moonlight can interfere with quality sleep. Install window treatments that block light, such as wooden Venetian blinds or shades with blackout lining.
- Practice aromatherapy. Lavender oil or a lavender sachet on your bedside table may help you feel sleepy and more relaxed.
- Maintain a consistent bedtime routine. Try eating a high-carbohydrate snack 30 to 45 minutes before bed. Then engage only in relaxing activities.
- Stock your bedside table with easy reads that are both empowering and relaxing.
- Keep a notebook and a pen near your bed, as well, to jot down any late night worries. The act of recording your anxieties will help clear them from your head so you can relax into slumber.
- Make a ritual of giving your subconscious a problem to solve during the hours you spend sleeping. You’ll be surprised how often you’ll wake up with the solution after a good night’s sleep.
STILL CAN’T FALL ASLEEP?
- Just do it. Orgasms increase endorphins, which can help you feel into a deep sleep.
- If your mate is causing you to lose sleep, get help. Consult a doctor about a chronic snoring problem. Invest in a good mattress so you won’t move every time your spouse does.
- If you haven’t fallen asleep within 30 minutes, there’s a problem. Staring at the ceiling will only increase your anxiety. Get out of bed. Do something relaxing, such as deep breathing or meditative exercises.
Then try again later.
Author Profile: Susie Michelle Cortright is the author of More Energy for Moms and Rekindling Your Romance After Kids, as well as the founder of the award-winning Momscape.com, a website designed to help busy women find balance. Visit http://www.momscape.com today and get Susie’s *free* course-by-email “6 Days to Less Stress.”
HOW JOURNALING CAN POSITIVELY IMPACT YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH
Copyright Patti Testerman
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, writing about stressful life events helped reduce symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis in patients with these chronic illnesses. The effects of the writing exercise were still evident four months later and resulted in clinically meaningful improvements in patient symptoms.
Interestingly, studies showed that asthma patients who wrote about their most stressful life events showed a 19-percent improvement in lung function; similarly, rheumatoid arthritis patients had a 28- percent reduction in symptoms.
These findings add to a growing body of evidence that links mental and emotional health to physical well-being. Although researchers aren’t sure exactly how expressive writing can lead to health improvements, they theorize that writing help people cope with stress, and stress””as well all know””clearly impacts health.
University of Texas at Austin psychologist and researcher James Pennebaker believes that regular journaling strengthens immune cells, called T-lymphocytes. He theorizes that writing about stressful events helps you come to terms with them, thus reducing the impact of these stressors on your physical health.
Author Profile: Louise Moran, a nurse coordinator, has written about a patient who, during a serious illness, sent daily e-mails to friends and family about her illness, a practice the woman believes played a pivotal role in her healing process. Moran said another patient felt that journaling helped her create a new life after breast cancer. There have even been studies suggesting that journaling in healthy people actually improves the immune system.
8 TOTALLY EASY STEPS TO BETTER FITNESS
By Lynn Bode
Fitness and weight loss truly do not have to be complicated. Picking one specific goal to work on each week is a relatively painless way to get motivated and get moving. Below is a list of eight ways to make a healthier you. It’s recommended that you take just one step per each week – so consider it an eight week fitness training plan.
Step 1: First determine where you are at and what is keeping you from where you want to be. You’ve told yourself dozens of times that tomorrow you are going to start exercising. Yet, tomorrow has come and gone, and you still haven’t started moving. So, what’s holding you back? What excuse seems fitting today?
It’s time to face your excuses head-on so that you can overcome them and choose to live a healthier lifestyle. Face your excuses head on to completely discount them. Start by making a list of reasons (excuses) that you don’t exercise.
Step 2: Educate yourself about the facts and the myths. Stop beating yourself over the head in frustration because you just can’t seem to lose weight or get fit. More than likely you just aren’t armed with the right information to help you be successful in reaching your weight loss goals. There are so many diet misnomers floating about that it’s easy to feel like your drowning. The first step toward success is distinguishing fact from myth and using the power of knowledge.
Step 3: Begin with easy ways to start moving. Think you don’t have any time to fit in physical activity. Think again. Stop thinking in the traditional exercise way. 100 years ago there weren’t any health clubs or treadmills or fitness balls, yet, somehow the majority of the population was NOT overweight (quite contrary to our treadmill obsessed society). They used their daily lives to keep them in a healthy weight range and that’s a great place for you start with too. Sure, our lives are very different than our turn-of-the century counterparts, but we can still use our daily activities to help us move.
Step 4: Workout where and when is right for you and with the best equipment. You can literally start making progress in fitness without any equipment at all. So you certainly don’t need a gym membership to get healthy. Working out at home can be not only an economic choice but a truly smart and beneficial one.
For an effective home gym, all that is required is a little bit of planning. Don’t fall into the trap of purchasing random fitness equipment because of fancy advertising for the latest infomercial fad or the great “sale” at your local fitness store. That type of purchasing leads to a house littered with equipment that’s only use is as a clothes hanger or dust collector. This often happens because the equipment is either useless, poorly constructed or quickly loses its value because it doesn’t progress with your fitness level. Keep your equipment purchases inexpensive, effective and fun.
Step 5: Set your plan. It’s easy to understand why some feel overwhelmed about beginning a new fitness routine. Virtually every day the media is bombarding the public with the latest “diet research” often times contradicting what may have been reported just weeks earlier. And infomercials swear that 20 minutes of this or 15 minutes of that is all that is required to look like a Hollywood star.
With so much information (and misinformation), it can be hard to decipher what fitness regimen will really deliver results. But truthfully, it’s not difficult at all to determine what workout will provide health benefits.
An easy way to get started is utilizing the F.I.T.T. principle. This acronym stands for Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type. Use the FITT strategy when planning your workouts.
Step 6: Now is the time to really start getting more serious. Ensure you are both eating right and exercising right. If you’ve stuck to the plan thus far (and not tried to combine weeks together – jumping ahead won’t help you and could hinder your progress!), you should feel very empowered. This means you are truly making fitness and wellness a part of your life because experts say that it takes about six weeks to turn a new behavior into a daily habit.
But, it’s not uncommon for people to do great with one part (usually cardio workouts) yet struggle with another. For some reason strength training is still a tough sell for many (particularly women). Yet, strength training has amazing benefits. Make sure you are doing at least two strength training sessions per week.
Step 7: Start monitoring your levels. Just moving, as previously discussed, is a great way to start. Then including true cardiovascular workouts gets you focused on the right path. Now you need to ensure that your working at a challenging enough level. Check your heart rate and ensure that your intensity is where it should be for effectiveness.
Step 8: Add interval training. To propel you to the next fitness level, burn more calories, increase your speed, improve your power and more, it’s time to learn more about Interval training.
A simple definition of Interval Training is: short, high-intensity exercise periods alternated with periods of rest. These higher and lower intensity periods are repeated several times to form a complete workout. Here’s a basic example: walk for 5 minutes at 3.5 MPH, walk for 1 minute at 4.2 MPH and then repeat this sequence several times. Start incorporating Interval Training right now.
Author Profile: Lynn Bode is a certified personal trainer specializing in Internet-based fitness programs. She founded Workouts For You, which provides affordable online exercise programs that are custom designed for each individual. Visit: http://www.workoutsforyou.com for tips, sample workouts and more. Fitness professionals, learn how to support your clients online, visit: http://www.trainerforce.com
HEALTHY RECIPE: SEARED SALMON WITH WHITE BEANS & FENNEL
Ingredients
- 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 small bulb fennel, halved, cored and thinly sliced, plus 1 tablespoon chopped fennel fronds
- 1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed
- 8 ounces center-cut salmon fillet, skinned (see Tip) and cut into 2 portions
Directions
- Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sliced fennel; cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in beans, tomato and wine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomato begins to break down, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; stir in chopped fennel fronds, mustard and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Cover to keep warm.
- Rinse and dry the pan. Combine fennel seed and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl; sprinkle evenly on both sides of salmon. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in the pan over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add the salmon, skinned side up; cook until golden brown, 3 to 6 minutes. Turn the salmon over, cover and remove from the heat. Allow the salmon to finish cooking off the heat until just cooked through, 3 to 6 minutes more. Serve the salmon with the bean mixture.
Tip: To skin a salmon fillet, place it skin-side down on a cutting board. Starting at one corner, slip the blade of a long, knife between the fish flesh and the skin, holding the skin down firmly with your other hand. Gently push the blade along at a 30° angle, separating the fillet from the skin without cutting through either.
Recipe from Eating Well
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/seared_salmon_with_white_beans_fennel.html
A TOUCH OF HUMOR: QUICKIES
Flattering Clothes
After giving birth, I couldn’t lose the 40 pounds I’d gained. So I dragged my husband to the mall in search of more flattering clothes.
We were encouraged by a sign over a rack of suits: “Instantly hides ten pounds!”
“Look,” he said. “You just need to buy four of these.”
————–
Sick in Bed
A 13-year-old bo, was sick in bed with bronchitis, and although he showed some general improvement, his harsh cough persisted and could be heard all over the house.
Worried that he was missing so much school, his mother went into his room to see how he felt.
There he was, propped up in bed, earphones on, listening to a baseball game, while the tape recorder coughed on and on.
The next morning he was in school.
————–
Peace and Quiet
Aunt Karen is the mother of two high-spirited young girls. When I called her one morning, our conversation was constantly interrupted by the din of kids screaming and chasing each other. “Could you hold on for a moment?” my aunt finally asked, putting down the phone.
Within 20 seconds all I could hear was absolute silence.
Then, “Okay, I’m back.”
“But it’s so quiet!” I exclaimed. “You must have complete control over those two.”
“Not really,” my aunt confessed wearily. “I’m outside in the garage.”
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