Stress is a leading trigger for chronic illness. 

Get the sad out and put the happy in!

Mark Hyman, MD

 

Random Abs | Today

Have you done your Abs today?

Random Abs | Today: Do something good for your Abs everyday ... and they are never the same! Variety keeps us going, right? It does me!

Motivational Monday

“Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed.” - Cavett Robert

Ever thought of a TO-BE list instead of a TO-DO list? Think about making lifestyle changes instead of resolutions that will come and go.

Are you ready for a New Year with a NEW YOU?

10 tips to achieving your new goals:

1. Make it personal. A resolution is the act of making change, and that only happens when you lean into something that really matters to you.
2. Simplify. You don't need flashy clothes, expensive equipment or a complicated plan—you just need to take action, get moving and make it fit your lifestyle.
3. Be realistic. It's okay to think big, as long as you start small. The number one reason for resolution drop out is launching into doing too much, too soon and making too drastic a transition from where you were when you started. Start with getting in one workout, and then focus on the next and the next. Focus on what you can do today, and go from there.
4. Go deeper. Avoid pinning your target on a number. Losing 25 pounds, finishing the race 10 minutes faster—these are all external outcomes. Wrap your goal around something intimate and achievable like sleeping more hours, weaving clean foods slowly into your diet, improving your pacing skill to finish stronger. It's not about a number—it's about a deeper quality of life. When you focus inward, the outcomes happen naturally.
5. Think evolution not revolution. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is a fitness goal. You can build a stick house in a day, but it will only protect you until the very first storm hits. Don't get caught up in all the short-term hype—invest in the long term.
6. Start when you're ready. There is no clause stating you must start when everyone else does on January 2. Make your plan, put it on your calendar and start when you're ready.
7. Be open. Listen to what speaks to you along the way. You may find that new Zumba class you're taking keeps your body from aching and adds a fresh spin on the old plan. Create your own recipe along the way and move outside the lines. You'll avoid burnout and have more fun (and want to do it again and again).
8.  Find your flow. As much as we like to believe our bodies are linear-progressing super heroes, the truth is we're like the seasons. We ebb and flow through peaks and valleys of energy. Move with the rhythm of your personal flow and you'll make the most of every workout. That means running by feel rather than a pace. Some days you'll be faster, some days you'll be slower. It's not about a pace—it's about moving at the right effort on that day.
9. Connect. People that move together evolve together. They go longer, run stronger and have a lot of fun along the way. Join a buddy or group—you'll learn a lot, have a built accountability resource and a set of healthy role modeling friends.
10. Celebrate. Be mindful along the way. The true gifts of making serious change in your life are the quiet moments when you realize you feel better, move more easily and you're running in tune with the rhythm of your life. 

 source:Active.com 

Here is to a happier and healthier new year,
new YOU and new ME! 

Now, let's get movin'!

I will soon reveal my big fitness goal for 2012.
I'm still working on some details ...
(I'm on #6 from above).

Check back for more inspiration, motivation, 

recipes and new fitness and weightloss ideas! 

It's here--whether you're ready or not. Just look at the seasonal shelves in your favorite store. Retailers like to call it 'holiday season' but let's be more accurate.

Weight Gain season begins now and runs straight through New Year's.

The next two months will bring ample opportunity for you to expand your waistline. Of course the choice is yours.

Why discuss it now and not mid way through December? Because now is your opportunity to plan for the weeks ahead. Once the craziness begins, you'll be too busy to put a plan into action.

So let's take this moment of clarity, this calm before the storm, to outline a two-part plan that will save your waist from unwanted holiday inches.

1) Part One: Your Exercise Plan.
Exercise is the first thing people cut when they get busy, and the holiday season is notorious for empty gyms. This year do something different--obligate yourself to exercise. Promising to yourself won't do it, you need to promise to others so that you won't drop the ball.
Sign up to work with a fitness expert - This is the perfect solution for consistent, challenging and effective workouts. I'll give you the attention and assistance that you need to power through the holidays in better shape than ever - talk about motivating!
Join a class - You won't be as effective exercising on your own during the busy holiday season, so join a class for accountability. Find something challenging that gets your heart rate elevated and uses strength training.
Get a serious exercise buddy - Some friends can be an awesome help while others end up pulling you down. When looking for an exercise buddy consider the following questions:
- Do they share your fitness goals?
- Are they fairly encouraging?
- Do they give up easily?
- Are they at your fitness level?

2) Part Two: Your Diet Plan.
The holidays offer ample opportunities to indulge, so you need to hammer down some guidelines before hitting that buffet line. I'm not saying that you shouldn't indulge in any seasonal treats, but use moderation. Don't use the holidays as an excuse to eat until the point of being uncomfortable - will you really miss that bloated feeling? Decide which treats to cut out this year.
Don't bring edible treats to the office or to parties. You know that the leftovers will come home and you'll end up eating far more than your share. This year do everyone a favor by not gifting fattening treats.
When faced with a buffet line, load your plate first with greens, vegetables and lean meats before breads and heavier foods. Also drink water with your meal and keep sugary drinks to a bare minimum.
Everywhere you go during the holiday season brings you face-to-face with a plate of sweets. To avoid being a bore but without adding inches to your waist, try the one treat rule. Each time you're in a social situation that involves sweets just eat one, and enjoy your treat slowly.
You don't have to gain weight this holiday season. The key is your mindset.

~by Mike Cordon at Metro Fitness

Halloween Detox

Halloween Detox in 4 Easy Steps
By Vanessa Rodriguez, R.H.N.


Halloween can be a great time for occasional treats, but afterwards we may be left wondering how to get back on track with good nutrition. These tips can help get your whole family—adults and kids alike—back to good food habits.

1. Deal with leftovers immediately.

If you still have Halloween treats lying around, either get rid of them or divide them into small snacks to be used throughout the year. Always keep them out of sight. The temptation with leftover junk food is to eat it all at once, especially when it’s in small, easy-to-grab portions. This can overwhelm your system and drastically add to your calorie intake. Instead, prepare healthy snacks like raw fruits, vegetables and nuts. Package them conveniently in small containers that are easily visible in the fridge, so the whole family can grab a healthier option.

2. Rehydrate.

It’s easy to forget hydration during Halloween, but with high sugar consumption and high activity levels, it’s crucial to make sure everyone is getting enough water to replenish loses and aid digestion. Kids often forget to drink and need to be reminded. Water can also help you feel satiated and less tempted to grab that extra treat.

3. Drink smoothies.

You can fight junk food by consuming as many vitamins and minerals as possible. The most convenient and practical way to do this is with a smoothie. Natural smoothies made with whole foods can taste great and they are satisfying. They are also easily digested so the nutrients can go straight to work at getting you back on track. Here is one recipe full of antioxidants.

Blend:

1/3 cup of blueberries
1/3 cup of raspberries
1/3 cup of pomegranate kernels
1/4 cup of beet juice (optional)
1 banana
Water
The antioxidants in this smoothie can fight the preservatives, colorings, and chemicals consumed through junk food while boosting your immune system. Because sugar suppresses the immune system, loading up on antioxidants over the next few days is important.

4. Analyze and move on.

After a holiday we may find ourselves fighting feelings of guilt over poor food choices. It’s important to acknowledge how we’re feeling, but also leave it in the past. Instead of getting discouraged, make a decision to get back on track. If you are feeling heavy and sluggish, associate that with your food choices and the next time you’re tempted to indulge, remember how you felt.

Encourage your kids to make the same link between their moods and overeating. They might have experienced an upset stomach or a blood sugar crash. Teach them that food plays a role in how they feel. This might also be a good opportunity to plan next year’s Halloween as an event that is both healthy and fun.

This Halloween detox is about cleansing your system and starting over, so make a new commitment to improve your nutrition.

Tanning can be dangerous!

I can attest to this article! From working at a tanning salon in high school to being raised by a family who LOVES the california sun, I have always been obsessed with being tan and warm! When I was tanning, it was VERY addictive! I've gone through phases where I tan and then I stop. But when I'm tanning I just can't seem to get enough! Wait, let me clarify ... I USE to feel that way! Then, after a little visit to the dermatologist last year I was scared out of my mind. I went in for a routine check up and 2 minutes later I'm having pieces of skin removed and stitched up. I had let go of my love for tanning beds and have given up worshipping the sun in the summer. It's hard, but I know it's worth it for my health. Please read this if you tan or are thinking about tanning.

How Tanning Changes the Brain
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

The brains of frequent tanners may be similar to those of addicts.
People who frequently use tanning beds experience changes in brain activity during their tanning sessions that mimic the patterns of drug addiction, new research shows.

Scientists have suspected for some time that frequent exposure to ultraviolet radiation has the potential to become addictive, but the new research is the first to actually peer inside the brains of people as they lay in tanning beds.

What the researchers found was that several parts of the brain that play a role in addiction were activated when the subjects were exposed to UV rays. The findings, which appear in the coming issue of the journal Addiction Biology, may help explain why some people continue to tan often despite awareness about risks such as skin cancer, premature aging and wrinkles.

“What this shows is that the brain is in fact responding to UV light, and it responds in areas that are associated with reward,” said Dr. Bryon Adinoff, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and an author of the study. “These are areas, particularly the striatum, that we see activated when someone is administered a drug or a high-value food like sugar.”

Despite all the public warnings about skin cancer, tanning remains as popular as ever, with nearly 30 million Americans tanning indoors every year, and more than a million visiting tanning salons on an average day. Frequent users say they simply enjoy the way they look with darker skin.

But in recent years, scientists also began to wonder whether deliberately ignoring the potentially lethal side effects of regular UV exposure was a sign that the motivation for frequent tanners was more than skin-deep. Could habitual tanning be an addictive behavior?

A study in 2005 did show that a large proportion of sunbathers met the psychiatric definition of a substance abuse disorder, based on their answers to a variation of a test often used to help diagnose alcohol addiction.

But Dr. Adinoff and his colleagues decided to go a step further. They recruited a small group of people from tanning salons who said that they liked to tan at least three times a week and that maintaining a tan was important to them. The frequent tanners agreed to be injected with a radioisotope that allowed researchers to monitor how tanning affected their brain activity.

On one occasion, the study subjects experienced a normal tanning session. But on another occasion, the researchers used a special filter that blocked only the UV light, although the tanners weren’t told of the change.

Brain images later showed that during regular tanning sessions, when the study subjects were exposed to UV rays, several key areas of the brain lighted up. Among those areas were the dorsal striatum, the left anterior insula and part of the orbitofrontal cortex – all areas that have been implicated in addiction. But when the UV light was filtered out, those areas of the brain showed far less activity.

The researchers also found evidence that the tanners appeared to know — on a subconscious level, at least — when they had undergone sham tanning sessions and not received their usual dose of UV rays. The tanners, questioned after each session, expressed less desire to tan after the real sessions, indicating they had gotten their fill. But on days when the tanners were unknowingly deprived of the UV rays, their desire to tan after the session remained as high as it was before the session began.

“They all liked the session where they got the real UV light,” said Dr. Adinoff. “There was some way people were able to tell when they were getting the real UV light and when they were not.”

Dr. Adinoff said the research suggests that some people appear addicted to tanning, a finding bolstered by the fact that many longtime tanners have a difficult time stopping or even just cutting back on tanning sessions. He said the research was inspired by a colleague, based on her experiences with dermatology patients.

“She approached me because of her concern about young adults who were coming to see her with these beautiful bronze tans,” he said. “And she would cut out skin cancers, and they would immediately go back to tanning.”

The Diet Detective: Fall Into Healthy Eating Habits

By Charles Stuart Platkin for Active.com

It's that time of year when it starts to get dark early, the days get cooler--in other words, it's the fall. And something else happens as well--we start eating more.

People show a marked seasonal rhythm with increased total caloric consumption, especially from carbohydrates, in the fall, associated with an increase in meal size and a greater rate of eating. (Interestingly, alcohol intake has a different seasonal pattern, with the highest intake occurring in the summer and the lowest in the fall.)

According to John de Castro, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, El Paso, "We have a tendency to eat about 200 calories more per day during the fall." What does that translate to in terms of potential weight gain? As much as three to four pounds a year. "We tend to blame much of this 'fall' weight gain on the holidays; however, there are other causes," says de Castro, who excluded the holiday periods from his research.

Why We Eat More

Why do we eat more in the fall? More than likely, it's biological--putting on weight in preparation for the potential winter famine our ancestors faced. "It all makes sense--the fall harvest, storing up for the long winter months," explains de Castro. Historically, we have a tendency to eat when food is plentiful, because we never knew when our next meal was going to be available.

Kurt Krauchi, a scientist at the Psychiatric University Clinic in Basel, Switzerland, studied patients with seasonal affective disorder (a type of mood disorder that is caused by lack of light). He found that they ate more carbohydrates, particularly sweets but also starch-rich foods, during their depression in winter, and that their intake could be reduced with light therapy.

"There seems to be a relationship between light and depression, which leads to consumption of additional carbohydrates," says Krauchi. De Castro, however, found an increase in fall eating independent of decreased light and/or depression.

Tips For a Healthy Fall

Perhaps we eat more simply because bathing suit season is over, and we can start hiding excess calories beneath our winter clothes. Whatever the reason, it's important to realize that fall foods (soups, stews, breads, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, apples, pumpkins and all types of greens) can actually be healthier than foods of other seasons. They are typically packed with great nutrients, such as fiber, protein, beta carotene and vitamin C. Here are a few tips to keep the fall tasty and healthy:

Soups are great for you if they're not made with cream or cheese. Just watch serving sizes--we tend to eat whatever's in our bowls.

Stews can be hearty and fattening. Use loads of fresh vegetables, and go light on the meat and potatoes.

Avoid unconscious eating while watching football and the new fall TV lineup. Never bring the whole bag or bowl of anything to the couch or coffee table--pre-measure it in the kitchen beforehand. When it comes to chips, make sure they're baked, not fried.

For pizza, watch the toppings--they can double the calories.

Celebrate the fall harvest in other ways besides making pies. Apples are low in calories when they're off the tree, not in a pie.

If it's gotta be pie, try making pumpkin pie with artificial sweetener, egg whites and low-fat milk. And of course, just have one piece. Keep in mind that pumpkin seeds have about 300 calories per 1/4 cup.

Turkey is healthy, as long as you keep it lean and white.

Get out and enjoy the fall weather. The air is cooler, the leaves are turning and the countryside becomes more scenic. It's the perfect time to go outdoors and do something: Take walks on the beach or by the lake; go to the zoo; or ride a bike.

Keep in mind that once we set the clocks back, it gets darker earlier, so there are fewer outdoor options for physical activities in the evening. Make adjustments by joining a gym, planning evening walks at the mall or becoming an early riser.

Charles Stuart Platkin is an Active Expert , nutrition and public health advocate, author of the best seller Breaking the Pattern (Plume, 2005), Breaking the FAT Pattern (Plume, 2006) and Lighten Up (Penguin USA/Razorbill, 2006) and founder of Integrated Wellness Solutions. Sign up for The Diet Detective newsletter free at www.dietdetective.com.

Source:http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/The_Diet_Detective__Fall_into_healthy_eating_habits.htm?cmp=17-1-1403