Need motivation to lose weight? Make prevention of obesity your target!

Obesity is now epidemic in the U.S. While there are some people with medical conditions that cause uncontrolled weight gain, the vast majority of overweight and obese people simply eat too much. These same people also make poor food choices.

It’s hard to find anyone that would say obesity is attractive and it’s really unhealthy. To stay healthy the prevention of obesity is really a straightforward proposition. If you'll forgive the pun, prevention of obesity is truly worth many pounds of cure.

Over the holidays people of an average, stable weight may gain a few pounds while partaking of all that holiday cheer. All’s it takes is a few cookies, some fudge, delicious gravies poured over creamy mashed potatoes and a few glasses of eggnog to begin to pack on a few unwanted pounds. However, once they return to normal eating habits, most people shed those pounds within a couple of months. What they do is merely exercise and reduce the calories they eat and the weight goes down, but sometimes this doesn’t happen.

The prevention of obesity should become your goal when you find you've gained ten pounds or more and it doesn't come off. There should be a loud alarm sounding off in your head when your weight starts creeping up and you can’t lose it. Don’t wait! Now is the time to take action! I guarantee you that it's far easier to lose ten or twenty pounds than a hundred! You also won’t compromise your health.

Finding that your clothes are too snug could be an indication that a prevention program is needed. I’ve read that Oprah has one section in her closet for 'fat' clothes and another for 'skinny' clothes. Maybe you do this. Not only is this an unnecessary expense, but you’re also playing a psychological trick on yourself. You probably say something like this to yourself, “Well, I guess I just have to accept it. People do tend to gain weight as they get older, don’t they? What's one dress size anyway? I still look OK.”

If you want to prevent obesity this is B.S. It’s called being in denial. This means you won’t be motivated to prevent obesity. Why? Because you have told yourself that you don't think it's possible. You might make a token attempt to diet or exercise, but within a few days or weeks you’ll give up. You won't stick with the program. This is how those few pounds eventually balloon into an huge weight problem.

So, like all things, the real core issue in the prevention of obesity begins in your mind. You must be motivated. Do you want to wait until the day when some little child in the grocery store tells her Mom, “Look how fat that woman is!”? That's when you know you’ve too far gone and you can’t deny it anymore. Prevention of obesity means starting early, before the problem gets too big, pardon the pun.

If you need help in getting motivated, here are a few tips. Go online and calculate your BMI. Here’s a place you can go to calculate it - http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/. Investigate the health problems you may have to face. Problems like heart disease, poor circulation, diabetes and joint stress damage to name a few. Take out those old photo albums and find pictures of you when your weight was normal. Pick one out and tape it on the refrigerator door, right at eye level where you see it every time you open the door, along with a picture of you now. Try on one of your 'skinny' outfits.

Are you motivated now? Good! Before starting any programs check with your doctor to be sure you don't have a medical condition, like a thyroid imbalance. If that's not the case, get ready for a lifestyle that includes a healthy diet and exercise. Don't cut yourself any slack. Stay on track. Remember, prevention of obesity is your goal. If you have problems staying on track find a coach that can guide you on the path to your goal.

Losing weight always boils down to a simple formula that involves calories. Calories in minus calories out equals weight loss or gain. To get a handle on your normal calorie input, keep a food journal for a week. Write down everything you eat, down to the last cracker and glass of wine that passes your lips. Buy a calorie counter book. Ask your doctor or find a nutritionist that can help you plan a diet that's healthy and right for your lifestyle.

Do you want to lose weight? Then your motivation is the key to your prevention of obesity. With a giant dose of motivation, you'll lose that extra weight and stay fit for life!

If you’d like information on becoming healthier I have a FREE Fitness e-Course that can help!

Does Your Sleep Attack Without Warning?

If you have a chronic sleep disorder, depending on its severity it can be paralyzing. One disorder, narcolepsy sends you immediately into a sudden state of sleep. Because it strikes without warning, narcolepsy is one of the most damaging sleep disorders. It can begin younger than 10 years of age, on into your 30s. It’s rare for it to show up in your 40s or later.

A narcoleptic person can’t stay awake for long periods of time – even if they’ve had plenty of sleep the night before. It’s extremely difficult to enjoy your personal life, let alone manage your professional responsibilities at work.

A common misdiagnosis for narcolepsy sometimes is everyday depression, fainting, or seizures. There’s no known cure, but there are a few ways to manage this particular sleep disorder and lessen the symptoms you experience.

You’ll know if you have narcolepsy if you find you’re abnormally sleepy during the daytime, but not the usual sleepyhead syndrome many people feel. A narcoleptic individual will feel an uncontrolled need to sleep, and they’ll nod off without warning for anywhere from a couple of minutes to a half hour or more.

Since it can be embarrassing to fall asleep when it’s not the right time or place, many who suffer from narcolepsy enroll in counseling to help them cope with the sleep disorder and how it affects their life with friends, family, and co-workers.

Another sign that will emerge with narcolepsy will be cataplexy. This is when you lose control of your muscles. You might slur your speech or hang your head, or even fall when your legs give out from beneath you. For some people this symptom can occur daily, for others very rarely or only once or twice a year.

Unfortunately narcolepsy’s symptoms don’t end there. Some people experience paralysis right before or after their sudden sleeping spells. They find that can’t move or talk, which can be very frightening to you and anyone else watching it happen.

Some people with narcolepsy also experience hallucinations. This is because they fall into a fast REM sleep. They’re actually half awake and half dreaming, which can be scary depending on what type of dream you’re having at that moment in time.

People with narcolepsy can have a lapse of memory. You might be carrying on with your tasks as usual, but unknowingly you’ve had a sleep episode and you forget what you just did. When you wake up you see that you’ve accomplished something but usually not as well as you would if you were fully awake. This let’s you know it’s due to the narcolepsy.

No one really knows what causes narcolepsy, but scientists believe it may be genetics coupled with uncommon brain chemicals that respond to triggers in your environment. They think narcoleptics may have imbalances in the chemicals that regulate sleep, such as a low level of hypocretin, which tells you when to wake up and stay awake.

If you think you may have narcolepsy, then your doctor will conduct a series of tests to find out if it’s true. You’ll fill out a standard sleep questionnaire and may enroll in an overnight sleep study where they place electrodes on your scalp to monitor your sleep cycles.

It’s important not to ignore this sleep disorder because it can have potentially harmful consequences. Aside from affecting your personal and professional relationships, narcoleptics run the risk of wrecking their cars while driving or causing a fire in their home, such as when they fall asleep in the middle of cooking with hot oil and grease.

If you’re found to have narcolepsy, then you have several treatment options available. Everyday stimulants may not be enough to keep you awake, so your doctor might prescribe something stronger, like Provigil.

Antidepressants are often prescribed because they suppress REM sleep and aid in the elimination of cataplexy, paralysis, and hallucinations. Or, your doctor may have you start taking sodium oxybate, which does the same thing antidepressants do, but also helps with nighttime sleep.

You also have to be very cautious about making lifestyle changes that can help you control this disorder. Make sure you read labels on medications to see if they cause drowsiness. Simple things, such as making a schedule that includes naps, exercising, and avoiding substances like nicotine and alcohol can curb the effects of narcolepsy.

Don’t feel like narcolepsy has to control your life. Talk to others about what you’re going through and adhere to a safe routine that ensures you won’t harm yourself (or others) if a sudden sleep attack should occur.

Although I don’t work with narcolepsy I do have a FREE e-course that can help you sleep.

The Benefits you receive when you quit smoking

I have seen hundreds of clients that want to quit smoking and have helped most of them stay smoke free for like. What’s interesting is that all of them already knew that the biggest benefits the got from losing the cigarette habit are related to improving the quality of their lives. You probably already know that too.

You probably already know that when you quit smoking you substantially lower your chances of getting lung cancer. That alone should be enough to motivate you to quit. By the way, if you are one of those who have never smoked, try not to judge someone who is struggling to quit. The combination of the psychological craving and addiction to nicotine can make it a very difficult habit to overcome.

Besides lung cancer there are some other very serious medical conditions caused by smoking. Most of them affect the lungs but smoking can also attack the cardiovascular system and are a large contributor to stroke and heart attack. But you probably already knew that too.

Obviously no one wishes these any of these things to have happen to them. It’s also obvious that when you quit smoking you receive some huge health benefits. It would seem that lowering your chances of contracting these diseases should certainly among the best reasons to quit.

Although the other benefits you receive when you quit smoking are smaller, they can make a significant difference in your quality of life. If you like food here’s a couple of important ones. If you smoker you lose some sensation in your mouth. You also lose some of your ability to taste which causes food to seem blander than it is. So when you quit, your food tastes better. And that’s just part of the benefits you’ll get when you quit smoking. Some smokers overeat because they just can’t taste their food. Once you can taste your food again, you may find you are eating less which just might help you lose weight.

Ex-smokers can easily pick smokers out of a crowd. Nearly every smoker I meet smells like cigarettes. As an ex-smoker I can almost guarantee you that you won’t enjoy the smell. You may find that your clothes, car and house smell at first but you can fix that with a determined cleaning effort. It might take some time to air things out, but you are going to have a fresher wardrobe and cleaner smelling home. You will notice that your breath, hair and skin smell good again. I will guarantee that you and everyone you know will be glad that you don’t smell like smoke anymore. What a great benefit!

Now, a few other small and maybe not so small benefits will come when you quit smoking. You’ll spend no money on cigarettes. By the way for most smokers this means a savings of $ to $8 a day. Since nearly all work places have smoking bans you won’t have to your spend breaks smoking outside like a leper. You also won’t have that uncomfortable feeling that you used to have when you were a smoker and you were somewhere you couldn’t smoke.

When you add them all up, lung cancer, heart disease, fresher breath, skin and hair, as well as more money in your pocket and less time spent looking for a place to smoke you may just find the motivation to make this year and the rest of your life smoke free!

Make 2009 a smoke free year. If you would like a FREE course to help you become smoke free just follow this link.

8 Simple Tips for Keeping Your Body Healthy

The New Year is just a few days away. Pretty soon many of us are going to be making New Year’s resolutions and one that many people make is getting into better shape. The problem is that unless you have a plan it’s easy to become disheartened in a short while and end up tossing the whole idea in the trash.

Before I give you these simple tips, remember the old saying, “A task begun is half done”. Just starting a fitness program can help you tremendously. So don’t put off your “getting in shape” goal. Decide to do it and start today!

To get in shape you need to set some realistic goals. This makes your goals motivating rather than de-motivating. For example, losing forty pounds in six months or 1.5 pounds per week is probably realistic, depending on the weight you need to lose. Losing forty pounds in six weeks, well maybe you better rethink your goal.

Here are some tips that can help integrate your mind, body, and spirit so that you’ll stay on the right track this year to meet your fitness goals.

1. Follow a healthy nutrition and diet plan. You need quality food to get and stay fit. Quality food provides the fuel you need for your body to function optimally. Choose foods that are healthy, contain the right nutrients and are free from chemical additives. It’s also good to take vitamin and herbal supplements to support your health.

2. Get enough rest. For most people this is between seven and nine hours a night. You won’t function well without the proper amount of rest. You’ll also want to sleep with as few interruptions as possible so that you’ll get the right amount of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. This allows your nervous system to heal while rebuilding your body. If you’re feeling sluggish during the day rest or take a short nap to recharge. Talk to your doctor if your always sluggish or have sleep problems. By the way, you can’t exercises properly if you’re always tired.

3. Live in the present Focus on the now. Forget about how you didn’t exercise in the past. Forget about fitness goals you didn’t reach. This can quickly stress you out and de-motivate you. Appreciate what you are doing now, the gift of life you are living in right now. Now is really the only time you have so make the best use of it.

4. Commit to and do your exercise program. You can’t think yourself fit. I tell that to my clients all the time. You have to do some work! Your body actually craves movement and action so give your body what it wants. This helps you burn excess fat and calories and also stimulates you mentally. Some exercises like yoga or Tai Chi, are actually designed to sharpen your mind as well as your body. They can reduce your stress and heart rate, keep you focused on the present, and maximize your feelings of joy. They can also improve your serenity, spiritual faith, and peace of mind.

5. Have and keep a good support system of family and friends. It’s been my experience that these people can give you both the positive and negative motivation you need to achieve your health and fitness goals.

6. Don’t forget to laugh. There are plenty of studies that show that laughter is an excellent countermeasure to disease and can actually play a significant part in healing a sick body. So tell jokes, watch funny movies, go to comedy shows or just laugh at yourself.

7. Focus on the positive. When you focus on the positive you’ll look happier and healthier. You’ll also feel better. I know that this is hard. You just have to read a paper or turn on the news to get a dose of negative energy. Closely monitor what you let yourself read, watch and listen to. If you find that you’re thinking negatively try to find something positive to focus on. Think about your goals or your family, anything that brings your thought patterns back on the positive side.

8. Don’t let your emotions handle you but rather learn to handle your emotions. This doesn’t mean holding all your emotions inside. Stifled emotions can negatively affect your mental and physical health. Understand the things that upset you and determine ways to counteract them so that you can keep your emotional energy positive.

So there you have it, eight simple tips for keeping you’re your body and mind healthy. Follow these tips won’t ensure you a longer life, although it will improve the odds you’ll have a longer life but it will ensure a happier and more fulfilling one. So set your goals to meet your total fitness needs.

If you’d or somebody you know would like to become fit and would like some more information I have a free fitness e-course just for you.

2 Hormones That Put You to Sleep Naturally

Wouldn’t you agree that, no matter what kind of a problem you are having, it is always a better idea if you can find a natural cure? Especially when the alternative is taking one that is produced by the pharmaceutical companies? The reason I think this way is because medical cures tend to attack the symptoms of the problem rather than attacking the problem itself. This is especially true if you are suffering from insomnia.

If you take an over the counter sleeping pill or one that is given to you by the doctor, all that it is really going to do is to put you into an unconscious state. It doesn’t get to the root of the problem, the issue that is causing the insomnia. Often this problem has to do with the hormones your body produces.

Our bodies are amazingly balanced. When we’re born, we rarely experience problems with insomnia because our body’s balance allows us to sleep deeply when we need to. As we get older, however, the environment around us creates problems. These problems, and how we deal with them, tend to throw our bodies out of balance, making it difficult for us to sleep. One thing that tends to get out of balance is the hormones within our body. Here are two hormones that can help you sleep.

The first hormone is serotonin. Although this hormone does not necessarily help you to sleep it does have a lot to do with your mood. Serotonin is released whenever we exercise or do something good for our body. It helps us to feel good and does a lot to relieve our stress. If your insomnia is stress related, the hormone serotonin can go a long way in helping you get a good nights sleep.

The other hormone that you may be lacking is melatonin. This is a hormone does many different things. One of them is to help put us to sleep. Many people take natural forms of melatonin in order to overcome problems such as jetlag and insomnia. If you find that you are suffering from occasional sleeplessness, a little bit of melatonin in the form of a pill from your natural grocery store or wellness center may go a long way in helping you to get the sleep you need.

If you can't sleep and wished more than anything in the world to shut your eyes and fall into a deep, deep sleep, I have a free e-Course that can help you. Let me give you some excellent information that you can use to help you cure your insomnia safely and naturally.

Exercise a Natural Cure for Insomnia

People that suffer from insomnia often say they would do anything to get a good night’s sleep. But sometimes this just isn’t true. For example, one of the best ways to help you to get a great night's sleep is by getting some exercise on a daily basis. Now I’ll bet you that you already knew this but let me ask you, are you willing to put forth the effort to do something about it? If you are, good for you! If not, what is it about exercise that makes it so difficult to do? If it is the first line of defense against insomnia, why is it so hard to do?

Exercise requires us to put in effort with different levels of intensity. If we are already in a weakened state as a result of not being able to sleeps well, it can make any exercise program seem even more difficult. This can create a vicious circle in our lives and eventually cause us to spiral out of control. But if you put the temporary discomfort aside, an exercise program can really make a difference in the way that you feel. You see, even a little bit of exercise releases chemicals into your body that will help you to sleep better. Not only that, it will help to restore some of the balance in your body that may be missing as a result of your insomnia.

Your exercise program doesn't need to be overly strenuous in order for it to work. As a matter of fact, just a few minutes of exercise, several times per day can make an amazing difference in the way that you feel and how well you sleep. If it seems too overwhelming for you to get a lot of exercise all at one time, try doing some light exercise every time you eat. Even a 5 minute walk after your meals will make a difference!

Not only will exercise release some important sleep inducing chemicals into your body, it will improve your sense of well-being. Each of these can go a long way in helping you to fall asleep at night and stay asleep until you are rested. Why not try some light exercise for a couple of weeks? You would probably be surprised at what kind of a difference it can make in your life.

If you're interested in more naturals cures for insomnia check out my free e-course.

Why is sleep important?

Why is sleep so important to our health? Sleep and the dreams it gives us function to organize our memories. It also can help recover lost memories. There have been many studies that have shown that after studying, when you “sleep on it” or get a good night’s sleep it reinforces what you studied.

Sleep actually acts as a mood enhancer and helps to improve our social behavior. I don’t know about you, but when I don’t get enough sleep I get grumpy. Tired people are often cranky and easily frustrated. If you don’t think sleep helps, just check out a toddler that hasn’t had enough sleep. Although it’s common for everyone not to sleep well every once in a while, insomnia that lasts more than a few days can really affect us negatively.

So what is insomnia? Insomnia has been defined as “sleep problems characterized by difficulty falling asleep, waking up frequently during the night, or waking up earlier than desired.” Insomnia can result in getting up in the morning in a haze and experiencing ongoing drowsiness as the day progresses. An easy way to look at insomnia is simply the inability to get enough high-quality sleep.

Our sleep acts as a nightly tune up for our brains. Studies have shown that Rapid Eye Movement or REM sleep affects our mood during the day. When we sleep the parts of the brain that control emotions, decision-making, and social interactions slow down dramatically. This allows our brains to recover from the previous day’s activities and improve our performance when we are awake.

Have you ever tried to really concentrate when you’re tired? I find that I can’t concentrate suitably when I haven’t slept well. Scientists have suggested that our brains, or more specifically our brain’s neurons, repair themselves during sleep. Sleep deprived neurons get sluggish and don’t fire properly. When this happens your nervous system doesn’t work as it should and your concentration is affected. You’ve probably experienced this on a long drive or when trying to study late at night.

When I wasn’t sleeping well I found that my allergies actually worsened. Studies have also shown that without enough sleep your immune system is weakened. This results in your body becoming more susceptible to infections and disease.

Although my health wasn’t permanently affected, long term insomnia can lead to an increased risk of disorders such as major depression, anxiety disorder, and even drug and alcohol abuse. Additionally some studies have shown that the lack of sleep can cause a person to develop problems with their weight. Other studies have shown that the lack of sleep can even lead to a premature death.

When I wasn’t sleeping well I experienced difficulty going to sleep as well as having a hard time staying asleep. I found that the lack of sleep made me think fuzzy. I also had a hard time remembering things. It affected my ability to get my work done. You might experience these types of symptoms too.

So to sum it up, the lack of sleep can trigger problems at home, work or school. It can slow down your reaction time which can results in accidents in your automobile, home, and workplace. If you’re experiencing problems with your sleep I have a FREE e-Course which can help but whatever you decide to do, do it quickly. Insomnia is no fun, I know.