Health and Wellness Organization
Make Healthy Decisions
When faced with decisions and healthy choices which can impact your health and the lives of those you love, it’s important to remember that there are options and resources to help you make healthy decisions.
You all know that cigarette smoking can cause cancer in smokers and in those who breathe in the air around them. You also hear stories of how substance abuse can destroy a person's life—whether it leads to the loss of a job, marriage, or even an innocent life.
You are lucky—you have choices and can learn how to avoid risky situations, break unhealthy habits, and protect yourself and the lives of those you love. You can also learn to prepare yourself against natural disasters and catastrophic events.
Diet Is Important to Good Health
Accomplishing your fitness goals is the goal when it comes to fitness. We all know by now that all foods are not created equally. The best of food sources is fruits and vegetables free from toxic by products and other negatives like saturated fats, high sodium, and nitrates. Years of research has repeatedly shown that grains, fruits and vegetables are the body’s preferred food sources for optimum performance. Full of nutrients that the body needs to heal itself and operate properly the top of the food pyramid will give you the most bang for your buck when it comes to essential nutrients. Reasons to increase your intake of fruits and vegetables include, helping to supply our bodies with much needed energy, improving immunity to diseases, and overall mind health. Read on to find out how to take advantage of a great diet.
Much like a car your body is built for performance thus proper maintenance, fuel, and care is needed. Simple, right? Then why is it that increases in obesity and other diet related illnesses still exist in abundance. We just are not taking care to what it is that we are putting in our bodies and expecting results which are unrealistic. We need to be champions and caregivers to our bodies and perform the fundamentals of overall body care by committing to better diets for overall better health. Our choices in nutrition and level of activity are partially a learned behavior. We can learn to eat a variety of foods from all of the food groups to help maintain weight, increase cardiovascular fitness, and increase energy levels naturally. Lowering blood cholesterol can be accomplished by increasing your intake of whole grain foods; fish can decrease the risk of death from coronary artery disease. The benefits of a healthy well balanced diet are endless and should be taken very seriously for optimum health.
Base your food choices on these patterns: • Lean meats and poultry without skin and added saturated and trans fats • Low fat dairy products • Low dietary cholesterol • Cut back on added sugars • Use little or no salt • Drink in moderation • And take care when eating out
Naturally these will be altered if you have any abnormal circumstances (for example, if you are very thin and you work out a lot, then you can ignore many of the rules related to fat and cholesterol, since your body can actually use them).
A healthy diet and life style will provide you with all of the energy, stamina, and endurance to met and exceed the challenges of everyday life. All you really need is provided by nature and at the top of the food pyramid in whole grains, fruits and vegetables. A marine diet can be a good choice for a nutritional well-balanced diet, with its lower calories and low fat. If you are trying to lose weight, stay in shape, get in shape or maintain good shape, remember to handle your body like you handle the care of your automobile. Choose the right fuel to keep your engine running for a long time. Don’t shortchange yourself or your life by fueling your body with damaging food sources and other activities that will diminish your chances for a long healthy happy life.
These principles hold true for anyone in the world. Seniors will reap many benefits from healthy lifestyles, as will young people. Sometimes it can be hard to be sure what the best intake for your body is, but if you start experimenting with different diets you will surely be able to adjust the different levels to their ideal amounts. You can also consult the advice of a dietician or a doctor, or simply find a calculator on the internet that will tell you what kind of food you need to be eating. Once you have found something that works for you, stick with it for the rest of your life. You will be glad that you did.
Staying Healthy and Fit On The Go
Just because you are a busy person with lots to do everyday, it doesn’t mean that you don’t have time to stay healthy, fit and keep in shape while traveling. Excuses do not keep you fit and in shape and able to keep up with the demands of your busy life. If you are a member of a health club it would benefit you greatly if you ask the club if it participates in any programs that offer privileges at other facilities. Guest passes to certain spa and athletic clubs are sometimes free for one day. If your hotel does not have arrangements with a club near your hotel, the hotel that you are staying at just might. Asking at the front desk may open your eyes to many possibilities for a workout away from home and you will find out exactly what your options really are. Lots of hotels at least have treadmills or similar machines, which are much better than simply laying in bed and watching TV during your stay. When traveling just remember that almost every town has a YMCA or YWCA. Locate the yellow pages in your hotel room and give them a call. Again, there is now no excuse to become a traveling couch potato. Opportunities for you to take care of your fitness needs abound in all of your business and personal travels.
If necessary you may need to get a little creative, by using your hotel room as the gym of the day. Exercising in your hotel room is an easily and very convenient way to make certain that you get in your work out without missing a beat. Before you leave for your trip pack some collapsible hand weights or elastic exercise bands or other equipment that is made for travel, and turn your hotel room into the indoor gym that it has the potential to be. Elastic bands are great for getting resistance without lugging around big old dumbbells everywhere you go. Use the chairs and other pieces of furniture to your advantage to satisfy all of your fitness needs. Body weight exercises are enough for a great workout. Combine crunches, pushups, and leg ups. You won’t exercise a large variety of muscles using only body weight, but you will at least be able to work on your heart and your endurance.
We understand that working out is not as easily done when you are in route to your next destination, so if your time is extremely tight and you don’t have time for a complete work out. There are other alternatives to not working out at all. Stretch in your room, take a long walk. I bet the hotel is just as nice on the other side of the pool. Speaking of pool, you could always take a swim. Swimming is definitely a workout that will work every muscle in your body. With all of these ideas for a good work out, if not the best work out that you’ve ever had, you should no longer have any excuse for not continuing your fitness routine while traveling. Just remember that it doesn’t really matter where you are when you do your work out but that you do your work out where you are. And if you can’t do the exact routine that you are useful, just take solace in the fact that you are getting a workout.
Healthy Eating for a Healthier You
Being a healthy eater requires you to become both educated and smart about what healthy eating actually is. Being food smart isn't about learning to calculate grams or fat, or is it about studying labels and counting calories.
Healthy eating is all about balanced and moderate eating, consisting of healthy meals at least three times per day. Healthy eaters eat many different types of foods, not limiting themselves to one specific food type or food group.
Eating healthy requires quite a bit of leeway. You might eat too much or not enough, consume foods that are sometimes more or less nutritious. However, you should always fuel your body and your brain regularly with enough food to keep both your mind and body strong and alert.
A healthy eater is a good problem solver. Healthy eaters have learned to take care of themselves and their eating with sound judgment and making wise decisions. Healthy eaters are always aware of what they eat, and know the effect that it will have on their bodies.
When someone is unable to take control of their eating, they are also likely to get out of control with other aspects of life as well. They could end up spending too much, talking too much, even going to bed later and later.
You should always remember that restricting food in any way is always a bad thing. Healthy eating is a way of life, something that you can do to enhance your body or your lifestyle. If you've thought about making your life better, healthy eating is just the place to start. You'll make life easier for yourself, those around you, and even your family.
The Healthiest Foods You Can Eat
The following is a list of the healthiest foods that you can eat. This food list will help you you an idea as to what foods are the best for your body.
Fruits
Apricots - Apricots contain Beta-carotene which helps to prevent radical damage and also helps to protect the eyes. A single apricot contains 17 calories, 0 fat, and one gram of fiber. You can eat them dried or soft.
Mango - A medium sized mango packs 57 MG of vitamin C, which is nearly your entire daily dose. This antioxidant will help prevent arthritis and also boost your immune system.
Cantaloupe - A cantaloupe contains 117 GG of vitamin C, which is about double the recommended dose. Half a melon contains 853 MG of potassium, which is nearly twice as much as a banana, which helps to lower blood pressure. Half a melon contains 97 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 2 grams of fiber.
Tomato - A tomato can help cut the risk of bladder, stomach, and colon cancers in half if you eat one daily. A tomato contains 26 calories, 0 fat, and only 1 gram of fiber. Food scientists are also working on square tomatoes which pack more tomatoes per box, thanks to the square shape.
Vegetables
Onions - An onion can help to protect against cancer. A cup of onions offers 61 calories, 0 fat, and 3 grams of fiber.
Broccoli - Broccoli can help protect against breast cancer, and it also contains a lot of vitamin C and beta- carotene. One cup of chopped broccoli contains 25 calories, 0 fat, and 3 grams of fiber.
Spinach - Spinach contains carotenoids that can help fend off macular degeneration, which is a major cause of blindness in older people. One cup contains 7 calories, 0 fat, and 1 gram of fiber.
Grains, beans, and nuts
Peanuts Peanuts and other nuts can lower your risk of heart disease by 20 percent. One ounce contains 166 calories, 14 grams of fat, and over 2 grams of fiber.
Pinto beans A half cut of pinto beans offers more than 25 percent of your daily foliate requirement, which protects you against heart disease. Half a cup contains 103 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 6 grams of fiber.
Skim milk Skim milk offers vitamin B2, which is important for good vision and along with Vitamin A could improve allergies. You also get calcium and vitamin D as well. One cup contains 86 calories, o fat, and 0 fiber.
Seafood
Salmon All cold water fish such as salmon, mackerel, and tuna are excellent sources of omega 3 fatty acids, which help to reduce the risk of cardiac disease. A 3 ounce portion of salmon contains 127 calories, 4 grams of fat, and 0 fiber.
Crab Crab is a great source of vitamin B12 and immunity boosting zinc. A 3 ounce serving of crab offers just 84 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 0 fiber.