You may remember the book that was for Volkswagen repair for the complete idiot. It was called the Step-by-Step Procedures Manual for the Complete Idiot. I think when most people are told by their doctor after an annual lab test that they have high cholesterol, they feel like a complete idiot. Most people think they can’t eat another burger for the rest of their lives. Others think they would do anything not to become a bunny hugger, and still others hold on to their cigarettes for dear life.

Here is my disclaimer; Let me start by saying that I am not a doctor or dietitian, nor do I do one on TV. I have been a personal trainer since 1976 and have successfully trained clients of all ages, shapes, and levels of health. Through research and ultimately my husband’s and my diagnosis of high cholesterol, I began to focus on the details. Then I realized how much I didn’t know. I am a Certified Sports Nutritionist with a passion for cooking and knowing the details and components of my meals for maximum health. And one more thing… I’m approaching 70 years old.

What’s the story of Cheerios, statins, or cholesterol in general? Unless you go online and do some specific research, you will usually only have had a brief conversation and been given a cholesterol diet booklet and a prescription for a medication. I’m taking a cholesterol medication, but I’ve kept it to the lowest dose possible while studying the rest of the story. In fact, my cholesterol is perfectly under control right now.

So, let’s start with smoking. Smoking causes LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol, or L for lousy) to stick to the walls of your arteries and clog them. It also lowers HDL (H for healthy) cholesterol, which is what you need to move cholesterol off the walls of your arteries.

According to WebMD, smoking increases clotting, damages the lungs, weakens the bones, increases inflammation, and weakens the immune system. Just 20 minutes after quitting, your blood pressure and heart rate drop, and within 2 to 3 weeks your blood flow begins to improve. If your cholesterol is high, a healthier cardiovascular system can definitely prolong your life.

So what’s the deal with Cheerios? Well, the FDA has warned that Cheerios claims that eating them can lower your cholesterol in 4 to 6 weeks, and that eating them can prevent or treat heart disease. Eating oatmeal can help prevent LDL from sticking, but there are other types of cholesterol and diseases involved in your heart health.

The truth about the soluble fiber found in Cheerios is that it forms a gel-like consistency in the digestive tract. Eating 10 to 25 or more grams of soluble fiber each day can lower LDL, but HDL and triglycerides are only minimally affected by soluble fiber intake. When this gel-like consistency is in your digestive tract, it is likely to remove some of the LDL before it enters your bloodstream. Some people add products like Bene fiber or Metamucil to their daily routine for a healthy digestive system.

Foods that contain soluble fiber are: oats, peas, beans, apples, citrus fruits, carrots, barley, and psyllium. So, to answer the question about Cheerios, yes, eating Cheerios or oatmeal for breakfast every day is a good start, but it’s really a small part of the story.

Without getting into the technicalities, remember that this article is for complete idiots, so I’m not qualified to talk about the intimate details, but according to Harvard.edu, only about 20% of cholesterol is derived from your diet. The other 80% is created by the liver, so when you take cholesterol medication, the design is to limit the amount of cholesterol your body makes. One thing you should know is that cholesterol is necessary for digestion, the production of vitamin D, and the production of certain hormones, so it’s not necessarily a dirty word. If you have a 100% heart-healthy diet, you could still have sky-high lab reports because that’s what your ancestors had.

So far, reading this article, if you’ve quit smoking and started eating more soluble fiber, you’re off to a good start because LDL or low-density lipoprotein is the “bad” cholesterol and these two changes will help in lowering this number. .

The next lipid or fat found in the blood is triglycerides. According to the Mayo Clinic, excess calories consumed are converted to triglycerides and stored in fat cells only to be released as energy when needed. If you eat more fat than you burn, especially carbs, (BOOM!) more body fat, higher triglycerides. This is where ANY amount of exercise goes a long way, as it not only burns the load of excess fat, but also moves the triglycerides lurking in your system.

Another component to understand here is Omega 3 fatty acids. TV commercials talk about this and guarantee good health, heart health, low cholesterol and more. First, let me say that there are millions of products available, some of them simply called fish oil, others that promise to be the end, all cholesterol-lowering. This is not the whole story. Omega 3 fatty acids are a type of friendly fat that the body does not produce on its own, but it is necessary to reduce clots and prevent platelets from sticking together. They help keep arteries smooth, lower triglycerides, reduce inflammation, MAY raise HDL (good stuff), and can lower blood pressure. If you choose to purchase an Omega 3 supplement, I recommend that you shop carefully and buy from a reputable source.

The first two Omegas are found in certain types of fatty fish such as mackerel, wild salmon, herring, tuna, trout, anchovy, white fish, oily fish, halibut, sea bass, and krill oil. . It is recommended to eat one type of this fish at least twice a week. Pregnant women should consult with their doctor about getting enough Omega 3, as mercury levels are a concern due to natural and industrial contamination in our waters. The third Omega is found in seeds and nuts such as ground flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, chia seeds, walnuts, soy foods, canola oil, and kelp or algae oil.

You’ll read about Omega 6 fatty acids as another cholesterol-lowering supplement, but because it’s sometimes dismissed as a cause for increased triglycerides, I’m calling it off my advice wheelhouse. There are also articles stating that there is not enough research on its benefits or risks, so I recommend visiting the Harvard.edu website for more clear and educated research.

Saturated fats can be called the bad guys here. They are usually solid at room temperature and you already know who they are. Cheese, sour cream, ghee, butter, chocolate, ice cream, and more delights than I can name here. You should not consume more than 20 g (women) 30 g (men) of saturated fat per day. They can raise LDL (bad) and require HDL (good) to take to the liver for removal. These fats are the ones to take easy, but they tend to be the most fun to eat in large quantities. I love sitting on a half gallon of ice cream, I mean who doesn’t? Pizza comes on a greasy crust stuffed with cheese these days. No matter what your health goals are, saturated fat is not your friend.

Unsaturated fats are considered friendlier than saturated fats and I have been able to find some amazing substitutes for breakfast, like whole wheat avocado toast.

There are two types of unsaturated fat;

Monosaturated fats: maintain HDL and help lower LDL. It is found in fish, olive oil, avocados, Brazil nuts, and peanuts.

Polyunsaturated fats: found in Omega 3 and Omega 6: canola, corn, sunflower, peanut butter, avocado oil, eggs. Some of the Omega 6 ingredients are commonly GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). I’m not sure enough to endorse one way or the other, but if the product isn’t labeled GMO-free, it’s not necessarily GMO-free.

Trans Fats – These are the last fats on my list here. Do not do it! It doesn’t take a nutritionist to know when you bite into these foods that you’re dying a little bit by the time you start chewing. The main source of trans fats are partially hydrogenated oils. Hydrogenated oils were rated unsafe for human consumption by the FDA in 2013. They are found in cakes, doughnuts, pie crusts, biscuits, frozen pizza, crackers, margarines, French fries, and many other foods found in grocery stores. restaurants and in the freezer. to the.

You now know the names of the fats found in your blood and possibly how to change your lab numbers. Look at your recent lab tests and ask your doctor what he recommends. Here is my advice in a nutshell;

Read the labels! Eat the things you like lighter and in smaller portions. Be careful with the bad things. Limit your salt. According to the Cleveland Clinic, sodium can cause fluid to build up around the heart and lungs, which increases blood pressure and makes the heart work harder. You should consume less than 2,000 mg per day of sodium.

Watch your calories. If you are a semi-active adult, try to stay under 2,000 calories per day, being 20-30% from fat. Look out for hidden sugar, sometimes called high fructose corn syrup, which is high in carbohydrates and raises triglycerides and LDL cholesterol.

Exercise, even if it’s just for 10 minutes. Any amount of exercise will improve the health of your heart. This will lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, lower blood sugar, shed excess weight, and encourage arteries to dilate more easily. I cannot stress this enough. ANY exercise, even walking around the house instead of sitting is a good thing. Better yet, start a personal program. Take a double walk at the local mall or the local high school track, buy a treadmill, throw your dog a ball, or do anything but the couch.

Do you want to read more? Visit the American Heart Association website, heart.org. They include lots of information on heart health, recipes, events, and more.

Change the way you eat by eliminating certain foods

(1) 3-day juice fast (if you’re not sure if you’re healthy enough to undergo a 3-day fast, check with your doctor or nutritionist). It worked for me, so I am telling you about my experience. If you’re ready to get started, turn all your vegetable and salad intakes into juices and feel the difference in 7 days. This will be a combination of juicing and eating sensibly.

(2) Have a colonic irrigation and/or kidney or liver cleanse program to get rid of toxins. Colonic Irrigation: It has the ability to wash the colon and thus remove all toxins from the intestines. Kidney & Life Cleanse Program – Removes all unwanted poisons and toxins before you begin your life-changing journey.

(3) Stop drinking alcohol which is full of toxins and yeast therefore helps fibroids to grow and we all know alcohol is not healthy for us anyway.

(4) Eat more fruits and vegetables, instead of white bread, rice and pasta, as often as possible during the day and still lose weight, you no longer have to eat only 3 times a day.

(5) Eliminate all red meats – hard to digest – meat foods – full of toxins – eating too much meat foods – as nice as these are, they will not help transform your body as they will impede the detoxification process and certainly slow down your body’s ability to change for the better.

Red meats are foods highly concentrated in protein and low in water. For effective detoxification and efficient fat loss, you need to make sure that 70% of what you eat comes from foods that are high in water content, such as raw fruits, vegetables, and sprouts.

(6) Eliminate all sweet foods. No more cookies, pastries, cakes, sugary foods or cereals, sweets. Do you understand the gist? You and I both know the damage sweet foods can do to our teeth and well-being if eaten in abundance.

(7) No more dairy! No milk cheese: all products are pasteurized. Cow’s milk is unhealthy for us: Many of us suffer from phlegm from milk intake and if milk is a must, try drinking soy milk instead as milk still has the calcium you need and can be replaced instead of animal milk. . You can even make your own cheese if you dare! How about almond cheese!

(8) Take organic herbal supplements – what nutrients you may be missing due to the elimination of chicken and red meat (their protein and other nutrients) these will be in organic herbal supplements, making sure you get your daily intake of all the properties necessary and vital. You’ll obviously get all the necessary vitamins from the fruits and vegetables and organic fish and chicken you’re consuming now, but it’s to your own added benefit to make sure you’re full of all the right and important nutrients your body needs. .

(9) Drink plenty of water and herbal teas: Eliminating all carbonated drinks and implementing water and herbal teas will be a perfect change from non-carbonated drinks to relaxing teas.

(10) Drink plenty of vegetable juices: Fruit and vegetable juices are another very important part of your journey to good health and vitality. The more juice you can, the more energized you’ll feel, full of strength, life, vivacity and greatness as juicing encourages you to eat more vegetables at one time and not have to pile all 5 vegetables on your plate at once!

The coronavirus, also known as Covid-19, is on the list of infectious diseases. However, this is a new form of the virus and it has only recently been discovered. Most people who contract this virus experience mild to moderately severe symptoms. The good thing is that most patients recover from the disease without any treatment. In this article, we are going to talk about the symptoms and preventative measures that can help keep you safe.

According to the research studies that have been done so far, older people and those who already have underlying medical conditions, such as cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes, are more likely to experience severe symptoms of diseases.

When it comes to prevention, the best way is to be informed, which means that you should take the proper precautions to avoid contracting the virus. For this, you need to understand what causes diseases and how it spreads from person to person.

The first and most important preventive measure is to wash your hands frequently with a disinfectant, such as alcohol, and to avoid touching your nose, hair, lips, or other parts of your face.

Now, the million dollar question is, how does this virus spread? According to the most recent research studies, the coronavirus tends to spread when an infected person sneezes or coughs. Tiny droplets of secretion from the mouse or person’s nose enter another person’s body through noise or mouth. Therefore, it is important to follow proper respiratory etiquette.

Currently, we do not have treatments or vaccines for the coronavirus. But clinical trials are still ongoing to test potential treatments and their effectiveness. You can get up-to-date information on the WHO website.

Prevention

Fortunately, there are some proven ways to prevent the infection and slow the rate at which it spreads. Below are some tips that can help you save yourself from infection and slow down the spread.

• Make it a habit to wash your hands with soapy water. It’s best to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds, as that’s how long it takes for the soapy water to kill the virus.

• If someone sneezes or coughs, be sure to stand at least one meter away.

• As much as possible, try to avoid touching your face.

• If you have to sneeze or cough, cover your nose and mouth to prevent droplets from infecting other people or things in front of you.

• If you think you are infected with the virus, do not go outside and stay inside your room.

• Do not smoke or participate in activities that can weaken your lungs.

• Practice social distancing and don’t travel unless you really have to.

Symptoms

First of all, it is important to note that the coronavirus does not affect everyone in the same way. Since Covid-19 spreads respiratory diseases, most people suffer from mild to moderate symptoms. This means that most patients can recover from the disease without receiving any special treatment. All they need to do is stay away from everyone and practice the tips given above.

However, people with underlying conditions are at higher risk of severe symptoms. Some of them may even die from the virus. Similarly, people over the age of 60 are also at higher risk of severe symptoms. Therefore, these people should be more careful than others.

Common symptoms:

Below are some common symptoms of the virus. They are mild symptoms and can disappear between 7 and 14 days.

• dry cough

• Fatigue

• Fever

Other symptoms:

• sore throat

• aches and pain

• difficulty breathing

• Few people can suffer from a runny nose and diarrhea.

If you have mild symptoms or are observing self-isolation, you can contact your healthcare provider for advice on how you can get tested for the virus. This is important if you want to save yourself and your family from infection. Your life and the life of your family are in your hands.

If you have a cough, fever or find it difficult to breathe, you may want to contact your nearest doctor immediately without wasting time.

So this was basic information about Covid-19 and the steps you can take to save yourself from infection.

Resistance training, also known as strength or weight training, has become one of the popular forms of exercise for both improving individual fitness and conditioning athletes. No disrespect to cardio, but if you want to burn fat, get fit, and shake anything that comes your way, weight lifting is what you need. Certified experts. Heavy work is in! You can’t move a kettlebell these days without consulting some training guru, exercise program, or book advising women to not just lift weights, but lift more weights.

Research shows that consistent weight lifting not only maintains bone mass, but also helps build new bone, and lifting heavy weights will build bigger, stronger muscles, strengthen the muscles that surround and support joints, and help prevent injuries. If you have osteoporosis you should seek the advice of a personal trainer and if you can’t afford it don’t worry. Susie Hathaway, a certified personal trainer, will guide you on how to train safely and slow bone loss in two workouts per week—no long-distance cardio. Just follow the easy steps on the DVD that comes with her book and you’ll reap the benefits of lifting weights…

Another benefit of weight lifting is that it increases testosterone levels in both men and women. When you lift weights, your body begins to release natural growth hormone and a healthy level of testosterone. Testosterone helps you burn body fat, build muscle, put you in a good mood, and increase sexual function. If you are a woman of that age, strength training, interval training will normalize your testosterone level and help you through menopause. These are not drugs or bioidentical hormones, they are secrets to help keep you healthy.

Weightlifting Benefits

If you knew that a certain type of exercise could benefit your heart, improve your balance, strengthen your bones, and help you lose weight while looking and feeling better, wouldn’t you want to get started? Well, studies show that strength training can provide all of those benefits and more. Most athletes perform strength training as part of their general training program. Their main interest is not how much weight they can lift, but whether the increase in force generated by training results in better performance in their sport.

Strength training and chronic diseases

Studies have documented the many wellness benefits of strength training, including helping people lose weight, people with chronic illnesses manage their conditions. If you have arthritis, strength training may be just as effective as pain medication. And for the 14 million Americans with type 2 diabetes, strength training along with other healthy lifestyle changes can help improve glucose control.

How to Add Weight Lifting to Your Routine

If you’re looking to add weight lifting exercises to your routine, you have several options. You can hire a personal trainer, go to the gym, or receive a strength-training program that allows you to exercise in the privacy of your own home. You can even use your body weight as resistance, squatting on a chair, push-ups, planks are very effective. If you have health problems, ask your doctor what type of strength training is best for you. According to The American Council on Exercise, when you do strength, weight, or resistance training, your body demands more energy. The harder you are working, the more energy is required. That means more calories burned during the workout. There you have it, the health benefits of weight lifting and strength training,

“Patience is a virtue,” goes the old saying. In our modern age of immediate access and speed, patience may not be something many of us practice much. But it is one of the key attitudes of mindfulness and we must recognize that slowing down our busy minds takes practice. We’ve probably all experienced the challenge of breaking persistent behavior and know that habits don’t change overnight, permanent change takes time.

How can we participate with patience? Our western culture is based on speed, we travel fast, we have machines that help us find the shortest route or the fastest route; we have fast food or take away food; we work on fast, high-speed internet 3G to 4G to 5G; we have quick access to our bank accounts and use instant cashless transactions for ease and speed; we have fast housework, with automation and machines for cleaning and washing our homes and clothes, all to save us time and effort. We are not encouraged to stop and take our time, so patience is not something we practice on a regular basis.

One of the best ways to patiently engage is to observe the natural world. There are very few things in the natural world that happen instantly. Growing a plant from seed is an excellent example of patience, it can be an extremely rewarding experience. Many people find interaction with plants to be a relaxing activity, gardening or growing food teaches us to wait and watch. Interacting with nature simply by walking through it has also been shown to be beneficial. Physical activity in the form of a forty-minute walk in the woods is associated with better mood and feelings of health and robustness. Studies have been done showing that ‘forest bathing’ (being in the presence of trees and forests) reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol in test subjects after a walk in the woods, compared to a control group of subjects who participated in walks within a laboratory setting. Forest bathing seems to significantly mitigate the root cause of a multitude of ailments associated with stress. It promotes rest, conserves energy and slows the heart rate while increasing intestinal and glans activity. Lower cortisol levels are also a sign that the body’s stress response system is becoming less activated. Walk slowly through the forest, be aware of the timeline of the trees, measured in lifetimes for us, perhaps the ultimate in our experience of patience.

Taking a moment out of our busy lives to make time to connect with nature is one way to include patience in our lives. The response we get and the benefits we receive may not be immediate, but the effects will be felt over time. Any opportunity we take to slow down and just be in the moment, holding ourselves back from chasing the future (which may never happen) is an opportunity to practice patience. Mindfulness practices encourage us to stop and focus on being aware of the present, not on wishing our time would go away.

Along with the scientific research on ‘forest bathing’, research also supports the inclusion of patience as a health benefit of mindfulness. The virtue of patience is that it allows us to accept that it has to take time before the benefits are achieved.

There has been considerable research on the benefits of embracing mindfulness, which has shown that the effects are cumulative over time. Most training sessions are spread over an eight week period, based on regular guided weekly sessions and personal daily practice. The calming influence of mindfulness practice on our emotions takes time and patience to develop. A study of the 8-week MBSR course for nurses showed that their mindfulness practice facilitated empathic attitudes while decreasing their tendency to take on other people’s negative emotions. [Beddoe & Murphy, (2004)].

Patience is a form of wisdom. It shows that we understand and accept the fact that sometimes things have to unfold in their own time. A child may try to help a butterfly emerge by breaking its chrysalis. Usually the butterfly does not benefit from this. Any adult knows that the butterfly can only emerge in due time, that the process cannot be rushed.

Jon Kabat Zinn

Every time we practice mindfulness, we engage in patience. Being aware of the passage of time, allowing ourselves to experience time without striving or rushing to the next thing, often seems selfish, but it’s not. Self-care is vitally important, devoting time to our own well-being means that we can help others. Being mindful and patient with our consciousness journey will allow us to fully experience it.

Grapefruit juice diets are always a little hard to do when you’re starting out, but the joy of losing 52 pounds in just two and a half months surely makes it worth the effort. This is one of the biggest benefits of the grapefruit juice diet.

The Grape Fruit Juice Diet Plan includes 8 oz. unsweetened grapefruit juice, 2 eggs any style, and 2 slices of breakfast bacon. You should also drink eight 8 oz. of water every day. Just because you’re on a diet doesn’t mean you should starve yourself. You have to eat your food until you are full. You should eat the combination of bacon and salad as this would burn the fat and if you omit any part of the meal, the diet will not work well.

It is advisable not to eat desserts, bread and white vegetables or sweet potatoes while following the grapefruit juice diet. You can double or triple your serving of meat, salad or vegetables if you are hungry.

For lunch, your grapefruit juice diet should have 8 ounces of unsweetened grapefruit juice, salad with any dressing, or a red or green vegetable cooked in butter or spices. You can also eat meat of any style and in any amount.

The best part of the grapefruit juice diet is that the number of foods listed is the minimum amount you should be consuming; you can eat as much as you want and to your heart’s content. It is important to take all the mentioned elements and nothing can be eliminated from the diet.

It is important to follow the grapefruit juice diet properly since it acts as a catalyst that starts the burning process, so it is recommended not to add or reduce the amount of juice to consume. It is better to reduce your intake of coffee as it affects the insulin balance and hinders the burning process and only have 1 cup at meal time.

For dinner on a grapefruit juice diet you can have 8 oz. unsweetened grapefruit juice, salad with any dressing or with red or green vegetables cooked in butter or spices. You can also eat meat or fish cooked in any style and just a cup of coffee or tea. It is advisable not to eat anything between meals and if you eat the suggested foods you will not even feel hungry. Surely you can use butter liberally to fry your vegetables.

You also get a bedtime snack on your grapefruit juice diet which is 8 oz of tomato juice or a cup of skim milk. Surprisingly, the theory of the grapefruit juice diet is that the more you eat, the more weight you’ll lose, so don’t hesitate to gorge yourself during meals. It is important to note that after dieting for 12 days, you should stop for 2 days, and then you can repeat the grapefruit juice diet.

Setting and achieving weight loss goals is important for success. You need to have a plan for where you want to be in the future, and you need a road map to follow as you move toward your weight loss goal. Having achievable and measurable goals can make the difference between the success and failure of your program. Goals help you stay focused and motivated. You are making a transition to a healthier lifestyle. You need a plan to follow. That’s why setting achievable goals is so important to your short- and long-term success.

You should learn about the process of setting and achieving weight loss goals. These goals must be achievable and measurable. If they’re not realistic, you’ll either never get started or quickly get discouraged. A realistic goal would be to lose 2-3 pounds per week. Losing 10 pounds a week is not a realistic or achievable goal. Having such a goal will lead you to discouragement and you will quickly abandon your weight loss program.

It is important to seek the help and support of others when setting your goals. Talk to your doctor and get his advice. Talk to your family and friends about your ideas on how to lose weight and how you can get to the weight you want. The important thing is that your goals are achievable. Don’t make them unrealistic. Setting and achieving weight loss goals doesn’t have to be difficult if you can take a small step in the right direction every day.

Protein-rich foods are great for packing on extra muscle. To make sure your diet is packed with muscle-building protein, it’s extremely important to consider which protein-rich foods you should be consuming during your daily eating routine. To help you select the best protein-rich foods for your diet, we’ve compiled a list of some of the highest-protein foods you can find in your average grocery store.

You’ll notice that the list covers a wide variety of protein-rich foods. This was done intentionally so you can compare food types and have more options to add to your daily meals.

The list:

(all nutritional estimates are based on standard individual servings)

Peanut butter (2 tablespoons)

Protein- 8g

Fat – 16g

Raw almonds (19 pieces)

Protein- 7g

Fat – 14g

Almond butter (1 tablespoon)

Protein- 2g

Fat – 9g

Skinless chicken breast (1 cup)

Protein- 38 g

Fat – 10.4

Ground Beef (90% lean, 3 oz)

Protein- 23 g

Fat – 9g

Ground turkey (3oz)

Protein- 22 g

Fat – 11g

Salmon (half fillet)

Protein- 39 g

Fat – 22g

Tuna (canned, 1 cup)

Protein- 39 g

Fat – 1g

Turkey deli (1 oz)

Protein- 4g

Fat – 1g

Recommendations:

High-protein foods vary substantially in protein, fat, and calorie content per serving. Some of the best protein-rich foods are high in fat; however, it’s important to note that not all fats are bad for you, and some can be very beneficial to your diet, even if weight loss is your top priority. Almonds, for example, are high in omega-3 fatty acids but low in saturated fat.

In general, if you are looking for an efficient way to increase your protein count but keep your calorie and fat intake to a minimum, then fish and lean meats are an effective choice. Canned tuna (hold the mayonnaise) tops the list as the most efficient source of protein. Skinless chicken breasts, deli turkey, ground turkey, and lean ground beef are also highly efficient high-protein foods.

There are now more choices than ever when it comes to healthier foods, and you don’t have to select processed foods when you shop. Shopping for healthier food is a great way to start living a healthier lifestyle, and organic food is becoming easier to find and cheaper to buy. You can find organic foods in most stores, although the widest choice will be in a specialty store or online.

Natural and organic foods are much healthier for you and can make you look and feel much better. Eating processed foods just fills your body with the wrong kinds of things that can make you feel lethargic and exhausted. They are full of artificial sugars and fats that will make your body feel fuller and you will have less energy. Although organic foods are the best you can eat, simply eating healthier can help your body, the foods we tend to eat right now are at an all time low and manufacturers are simply stuffing food with chemicals and preservatives.

All of these things are bad for you and over time your body will start to reject the food that you are forcing it to have. You need your body and mind to function in the best state possible, and to do that, you’ll need to watch what you put into your body. It needs a certain amount of protein and nutrients a day and if you’re not giving it what it needs, you’re going to get sick. Your energy levels and immune system will be weakened and this will cause you to stay unwell for longer periods.

There are many foods you can eat that can help boost your immune system and can help with both your energy and brain power. You need to make sure you have enough vitamins and nutrients each day, and if your food can’t make it, you may need to take supplements. By avoiding processed foods, you’ll look and feel better in no time, although you may not be able to cut them out completely, you should try to eat less. You will find that you can lose weight more easily if you stop eating the foods that are bad for you and with a healthier diet and exercise plan you will achieve your goal in no time.

Eating healthier isn’t hard, it’s just a state of mind once you realize that there are alternatives to the foods you buy today. If you look around you can buy healthier snacks and drinks that will be the beginning of your trip. Once you see how much healthier you look and feel, you’ll never want to feel the same way again. Processed foods can cause problems with your digestive system, your skin, hair, nails, and fitness levels. Is it worth feeling and looking horrible just to eat something fast and processed?

Well, the first month of the New Year is almost over. If you’re like many people who have made a resolution list, increasing fitness and physical activity was probably one of your top items. Whether that includes eating a healthier diet or exercising more to lose extra pounds or to help yourself enjoy the outdoors better, getting fitter is a great resolution. A healthy lifestyle not only makes you look great, but has been shown to improve your physical and mental health and make you happier and more confident.

Regardless of where you begin your fitness journey, it can be easy to overdo it at first, which can cause injuries that can throw off or put off your new fitness routine. Overuse of the feet and legs often wears down the tendons and muscles, including the important plantar fascia tendon. Plantar fasciitis is a painful foot condition that affects this tendon in the foot that connects the heel and ball of the foot, giving the foot structure and stability and making it possible to use the foot correctly for standing, walking, running, and jumping. . Since cardio is an essential part of any fitness routine, people often reserve a portion of their workout for walking or jogging (depending on starting level of fitness). When the plantar fascia tendon is injured, this important part of the exercise regimen can become too painful.

Fortunately, there are ways you can exercise and burn those calories so you’re on track to achieve your fitness resolution for the new year. These exercises will get your heart rate up and break a sweat, while also providing low impact on your feet:

Cycling You don’t need a fancy road bike or strenuous trail riding to get a good bike workout. Depending on your fitness level and ability, you can ride your bike on the roads in your neighborhood and go as long and as far as you like. You can also choose the terrain, starting on a short, flat route and building up to a more hilly one. If you go fast and long enough and incorporate an increasingly challenging route, you can get a good cardio workout without putting stress or impact on your feet.

Use of exercise machines. While you can automatically head to the treadmill at the gym, there are other machines at most gyms that give you the same quality of workout without putting undue stress on your feet. Some great ones to consider include the elliptical trainer, stationary bike, and rowing machine. These machines are great for all fitness levels as they can be programmed to go as fast or slow as you like and the resistance can also be adjusted.

Hit the pool. For many years, doctors and physical therapists have recommended exercise in the pool. Water offers natural resistance and the buoyancy of the body in the water decreases the amount of weight placed on the feet. Water aerobics and rigorous lap swimming can not only feel refreshing, but can also give you a great workout that’s also great for relieving stress on your joints.

Yoga. While cardio classes like step aerobics and Zumba are off-limits for people with plantar fasciitis, gentle stretching and strengthening exercises like those in yoga and Pilates offer the combination of being low-impact while that build strength and muscle tone and slim the waist. These exercises can also cause one to break up a beneficial sweat.

Losing weight and getting in better shape is a common and beneficial New Year’s resolution. However, pain from plantar fasciitis can make it difficult to achieve this resolution by making exercise painful and difficult. However, there are alternatives to running and walking that provide the same cardiovascular benefits. These include biking, using the elliptical trainer, stationary bike and rowing machine, swimming, and water aerobics and yoga.

If your plantar fasciitis doesn’t go away on its own or is extremely painful, contact your podiatrist today to schedule an appointment.