Participant / observer the best way to learn

Trying to intergrate a new behavior? Start observing the new behavior in others around you and in yourself. Use others as a rebounding tool. Do you like how a behavior looks on someone else?
Ask them how they came about this behavior? Ask yourself how it feels to wear this behavior? What about this behavior makes you feel energized, in control, or valued by yourself and others? Look Listen, and Feel the new behavior and it will become you.

Know Your Numbers

Play Know Your Numbers in 2011. Find out our blood pressure, your resting heart rate, your cholesterol level, your waist to hip ratio, your BMI, whether you have a flexible lower back, your weight and your blood sugar levels. These are indicators of a healthy lifestyle. You can't fix something if you are in denial or unconscious of its existence. Knowledge is key. Make 2011 your best year ever. Take charge of your health by knowing your numbers. Need a tracking form? Contact me.

Winning online Weight-loss

Free online diet plans provide you all the essential ingredients you’ll need to shed your unhealthy weight and keep it off. According to research the most effective websites spotlight goal setting, food calculators, weight and exercise logs, and include a social support factor. Create personalized charts and weight loss reports to keep you logging in. Research also posits frequent and long online visits as contributing to successful weight loss and weight loss maintenance. Participate in web chats or bulletin boards to boost your long-term weight loss. 

Reasonable Wins

     A trial run will provide you with a viable goal and a feel for a website’s friendliness and feature options. Consider losing 2-pounds a week, or eliminating a 1000 calories a day, for one month. Enter a free online food tracker, for example, “MyPlate,” on LIVESTRONG.com, and test your tentative plan. Find the website’s calorie calculator and input your 2-pound goal. If the goal feels uncomfortable you can tweak your daily activity level, drop your goal to 1 pound a week, or enter your own estimate. Be mindful of losing 1 to 2 pounds a week as recommended by the Mayo Clinic. Personalize your goals to factor in your schedule, your preferred exercises, availability to exercise facilities and exercise partners, and your present health and fitness. Any special needs or concerns should be discussed with your health care provider before starting a weight loss or exercise program.

Observe your Eating
      Begin your first week of food tracking observing your eating patterns and food choices. Find a daily quiet time to enter the foods you eat. Think of yourself as a detective looking for clues to your self-care. Monitor portion size, how often you eat, and the quality of your consumed foods and beverages. Observe the caloric value of the foods you most often eat. Identify foods that are high in fat, and empty in nutritional value. Discover lower fat alternatives by exploring the website’s healthy eating section. Keep an eye on your sugar consumption and consider healthier substitutions. Notice any drops in your energy or mood, or gaps between meals. Ponder your first week’s challenges and wins. Make one to three specific dietary improvements. Evaluate each week in this manner.

Monitor your Activities
     Exercise is invaluable for lowering your risk for disease, improving emotional balance and maintaining weight loss. Explore the fitness toolbox on your chosen website for motivating measures. Learn to monitor your heart rate, or map out your next hiking trail and figure out its caloric burn. Invite friends to trek with you. Be mindful of the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines when you log the pace, time, frequency and intensity of each exercise bout. Acknowledge your strength of commitment daily.

Get Connected

     Online connections help you discover more about yourself and your available options. Search the website for a message board, or a community or group button. Hook in to help you stay focused. Be an active participant and engage in conversation. Ask questions and listen to the experiences of others. Strengthen your commitment with partnerships. According to psychologist Albert Bandura, the originator of social learning theory, your habits and your environment begin to reflect your social connections. Make healthy associations and keep them. 

Who do you chose to be?

http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

Big picture health reminder just 4 u

                            

How can I have more peace in my life?

How do we make our lives less effort and more dance, or how do we reconnect with our innate inner peace?

We can change our biochemistry and create a mood enhancing affect. Scientifically we know that what we do with our body, affects our state of mind. We can lower our cortisol levels, (a stress hormone that does not make us feel great) and raise our serotonin, dopamine, and endorphin levels (serotonin, dopamine and endorphins make us feel great),

through these 6 external means

1. Exercise - cardiovascular, or weight training
2. Food -  nutritious balanced meals release both serotonin and dopamine, (protein releases serotonin, carbohydrates release dopamine), when you balance your food you balance your mood, caffeine at low doses releases serotonin and dopamine, at high doses caffeine stimulates cortisol release
3. Alcohol – while you feel momentary relieved and there is a short-term serotonin high, alcohol can deplete serotonin levels in your brain and inhibit glucose uptake, which can cause fatique
4. Massage decreases cortisol by on average 31%, increases serotonin by 28%, and dopamine by 31%
5. Sex – releases dopamine, it stimulates the feed and breed part of your nervous system
6. Laughter – belly laughing 100 times a day is like rowing for 10 minutes, you lower cortisol, and increase your immunity

When we eat nutrient dense foods, protein, carbohydrates and fats together, we do not need to eat as much because our body is getting it's balanced nutrients and mood enhancing bio-chemicals. It then tells our brain that all is well. 

Eat more Veggies, 15 ways from John Hopkins Health Alerts

Study after study reports that when your diet is high in fruits and vegetables -- which are the richest natural sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber -- you are doing the best you can to protect your heart and help prevent many diseases, including cancer. Yet, approximately 90% of Americans fail to meet the government's recommendations for fruit and vegetable consumption.

An apple a day may "keep the doctor away," but you'll be doing your body a favor if you sometimes snack on other kinds of produce -- kiwifruit, blueberries, carrots, pomegranate juice, or dried apricots, to name just a few. If you don't already eat at least two cups of fruit and three cups of vegetables every day, consider the following heart-healthy tips:

• Heart Health Tip 1. Stock up on fresh fruits and keep them  visible.
• Heart Health Tip 2. Add fresh or dried fruit to your breakfast cereal.
• Heart Health Tip 3. Thaw frozen berries and add them to plain or low fat vanilla yogurt for a snack or dessert.
• Heart Health Tip 4. Have a six-ounce glass of 100% fruit juice with your breakfast.
• Heart Health Tip 5. Make a "spritzer" by adding 100% fruit juice to sparking water or seltzer.
• Heart Health Tip 6. Enjoy a fruit smoothie made by blending low-fat milk or yogurt with fresh or frozen fruits.
• Heart Health Tip 7. Bring dried fruit (raisins, apricots, cranberries, apple slices) to work for your snack break.
• Heart Health Tip 8. Add tomatoes, onions, peppers, and/or mushrooms to an egg-white omelet. 
• Heart Health Tip 9. Chill small cans of vegetable juice to snack on at work.
• Heart Health Tip 10. When dining out, start your meal with a salad.
• Heart Health Tip 11. Include lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and other raw vegetables in your wrap or sandwich.
• Heart Health Tip 12. Add raisins, grapes, or apple slices to your salads.
• Heart Health Tip 13. Make a big pot of vegetable soup on the weekend and freeze it in single-portion containers. 
• Heart Health Tip 14. Make your own pizza (you can buy ready-to- use dough at a pizzeria or supermarket) and top it with mushrooms, onions, broccoli, spinach, or eggplant.
• Heart Health Tip 15. Double the portion of vegetables you already eat at lunch and dinner.