We all feel bad sometimes. But getting trapped in negative moods like anxiety, anger and depression can do more than ruin your day, they actually raise your risk of heart disease. Here are 4 things you can do to keep yourself feeling happy, boost your mood when you’re feeling down and keep you healthier in the process:
Move, Move, Move
If you can resist the urge to skip your workout on a low energy day, you'll reap the rewards both now and later. Try tricking yourself by committing to do just 10 minutes. Push Play anyway and see what happens. Once you're up and moving, you'll probably want to finish your workout. And even if you can't push past that 10-minute mark on a really bad day, you can feel good about doing at least a little something. Sticking with your fitness routine will help you feel good about yourself, strengthen your immune system and enhance your body's production of mood-boosting hormones.
Laugh
Hanging out with your family or friends at least once or twice each month and maintaining connections with the people you care about has a hugely positive impact on your health – especially if you share some laughs. Laughing lowers blood pressure, dissipates anxiety, and releases endorphins, which block pain. And don’t forget to make the most of your relationships at work. Colleagues and co-workers can provide valuable support and keep your blood pressure under control during stressful situations.
Be of Service
Find an organization, school, club or church where you’d like to volunteer. Sharing your time, talents and expertise not only helps others, it does wonders for your well-being. Getting involved and feeling engaged with your community is good for your emotional health. It’s also an opportunity to learn new skills, which will keep your mind sharp.
RE-LAXxx
Controlled breathing exercises (like inhaling through the nose and exhaling slowly through the mouth 3 or 4 times), progressive muscle relaxation, yoga, and massage are all effective means of reducing tension, stress, depression, and anxiety. So, when you’re feeling stressed - pop in your stretch disc and push play or take a brisk 10 minute walk. That’ll do a lot more to lift your spirits and dissipate stress than grabbing that bag of chips or cookies you crave when you’re feeling anxious.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Below The Belt
While women have been told about the benefits of exercising their pelvic floor muscles (known as kegel exercises) to address a variety of issues from bladder control to improved sexual satisfaction, not a whole lot of men are aware of what it can do for them:
Okay, guys. No one wants to admit if they’ve considered buying a bottle of little blue pills, but the truth is erectile dysfunction (ED) effects 15-30 million men. The good news is that 40 percent of guys who deal with this problem and consistently do pelvic floor exercises for 6 months, first with a trainer and then on their own, regain their normal function au natural. Now that’s worth a try, wouldn’t you say? And if you start doing these exercises consistently, you’ll reduce your chances of ever having it happen in the first place.
Here’s the deal: Your pelvic floor muscles support your bowel and bladder, so you’re looking for that feeling you get when you’re clenched up, waiting to get into the men’s room before that bean burrito explodes in your pants or cutting your urine flow off in mid stream. When you tighten those muscles, you’ll know you’re doing it right because your penis should retract and your scrotum should lift. Tighten and hold for 10 seconds, then relax. Repeat. Do it as often as you like. The best part about doing this routine is that you can do it any time, anywhere, and nobody can tell you’re doing it.
Keep in mind that there are a lot of factors that can contribute to ED such as diabetes, vascular and kidney disease. Maintaining your healthy diet and sticking with your Power 90 or P90X programs will make a big difference not just for your overall health and fitness, but to your little buddy, too.
Okay, guys. No one wants to admit if they’ve considered buying a bottle of little blue pills, but the truth is erectile dysfunction (ED) effects 15-30 million men. The good news is that 40 percent of guys who deal with this problem and consistently do pelvic floor exercises for 6 months, first with a trainer and then on their own, regain their normal function au natural. Now that’s worth a try, wouldn’t you say? And if you start doing these exercises consistently, you’ll reduce your chances of ever having it happen in the first place.
Here’s the deal: Your pelvic floor muscles support your bowel and bladder, so you’re looking for that feeling you get when you’re clenched up, waiting to get into the men’s room before that bean burrito explodes in your pants or cutting your urine flow off in mid stream. When you tighten those muscles, you’ll know you’re doing it right because your penis should retract and your scrotum should lift. Tighten and hold for 10 seconds, then relax. Repeat. Do it as often as you like. The best part about doing this routine is that you can do it any time, anywhere, and nobody can tell you’re doing it.
Keep in mind that there are a lot of factors that can contribute to ED such as diabetes, vascular and kidney disease. Maintaining your healthy diet and sticking with your Power 90 or P90X programs will make a big difference not just for your overall health and fitness, but to your little buddy, too.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Obesity Rate in U.S. Still Climbing
New findings show no state posted a decline in adult rates last year
By Amanda Gardner, HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- More and more Americans are sliding into obesity, a clear signal that this national health problem is getting worse.
According to the fourth annual report prepared by the research group Trust for America's Health and released Monday, adult obesity rates rose in 31 states last year, 22 states experienced an increase for the second year in a row, and no state had a rate decrease.
A related public opinion survey found that 85 percent of Americans now believe that obesity is an epidemic.
For the third year in a row, Mississippi topped the scales with the highest rate of adult obesity in the country. It also has the dubious distinction of being the first state to record a rate higher than 30 percent (30.6 percent), according to the report, F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America, 2007.
Colorado was again the thinnest state, but even its adult obesity rate increased over the past year, from 16.9 percent to 17.6 percent.
"Despite increased attention to the obesity epidemic, obesity is continuing to grow in America," Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, said at a news conference Monday. "While some promising policy efforts are under way, the nation still lacks comprehensive, effective strategies for addressing this serious health crisis."
Dr. James Marks, senior vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which funded the project, was bleaker in his assessment of the findings at the news conference.
"We find this report to be a devastating indictment. We're in the middle of a public health crisis that is still deteriorating rapidly, and we're treating it like a mere inconvenience rather than the emergency it is. Over the past year, obesity rates got worse in nearly two-thirds of states and got better in zero. That is not progress. The number of states with obesity rates greater than 25 percent has more than doubled in just two years. That's not sending a wake-up call. We're ringing the disaster alarm," he said.
The existence of an obesity epidemic in this country is not news, but the rapidity with which Americans' waistlines are expanding is unprecedented. Obesity lurks behind several serious illnesses, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.
According to the new report, rates of adult obesity exceed 25 percent in 19 states, up from 14 states last year and 9 in 2005. In 1991, no state had an adult obesity rate exceeding 20 percent.
The South is a locus of the problem, possessing 10 of the 15 states with the highest rates of adult obesity. In addition, the South also had eight of the 10 states with the highest rates of overweight children (aged 10 to 17).
According to Levi, the South had higher levels of type 2 diabetes and hypertension and lower levels of reported physical activity. Mississippi had the highest rate of adult inactivity, at 31.6 percent; Minnesota the lowest at 15.4 percent. In the nation overall, 22 percent of adults reported that they do not engage in any physical activity.
The rates of overweight children ranged from a high of 22.8 percent in Washington, D.C., to a low of 8.5 percent in Utah. Overall, about 25 million U.S. children are overweight or obese, the report found.
"Diseases that used to be considered adult illnesses like type 2 and high blood pressure are becoming increasingly common among children," Marks said. "If we fail to reverse this epidemic, the current generation may be the first in American history to live sicker and die younger than their parents' generation."
Among the study's other findings:
Only 17 states require that school meals and snacks meet higher nutritional standards than the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires (six states enacted new laws in 2006-07).
Only 22 states have mandated nutritional standards for foods sold in vending machines, a la carte, in school stores or at bake sales, and only 26 states limit where and when such foods can be sold on school property beyond federal requirements.
Many physical education requirements in schools are limited in scope or not enforced.
This year's report also included a national opinion survey, which showed that 81 percent of Americans believe the government should play a role in addressing the obesity crisis, 55 percent of parents with children under 18 believed school lunches were not nutritious enough, and more than two-thirds of Americans believe children do not participate in enough physical activity.
In addition, 60 percent of those polled favored a proposal to measure students' BMI annually and provide this information confidentially to parents or guardians (currently 16 states provide BMI or fitness status information to parents or guardians confidentially).
The authors of the report also put forth recommendations for combating the problem.
"There isn't going to be a magic pill or a magic bullet," Levi said. "We need action from government, from communities, from individuals, and we need a major cultural shift. We need to change the norms in our society about healthy eating and about physical activity."
"This is going to require more than any single intervention," Marks added. "Schools have to be behind this, but it's also something that industry and business have to be behind."
Specific recommendations included: developing, at the federal level, a National Strategy to Combat Obesity; ensuring that all Americans have access to a workplace wellness program; increasing research on promoting healthy choices; and providing more recreational places.
"The only scorecard that matters is the health of our people, and right now obesity and the illnesses it causes are still getting worse," Marks said. "The need for strong interventions couldn't be clearer, and our leaders must answer that call."
By Amanda Gardner, HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- More and more Americans are sliding into obesity, a clear signal that this national health problem is getting worse.
According to the fourth annual report prepared by the research group Trust for America's Health and released Monday, adult obesity rates rose in 31 states last year, 22 states experienced an increase for the second year in a row, and no state had a rate decrease.
A related public opinion survey found that 85 percent of Americans now believe that obesity is an epidemic.
For the third year in a row, Mississippi topped the scales with the highest rate of adult obesity in the country. It also has the dubious distinction of being the first state to record a rate higher than 30 percent (30.6 percent), according to the report, F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America, 2007.
Colorado was again the thinnest state, but even its adult obesity rate increased over the past year, from 16.9 percent to 17.6 percent.
"Despite increased attention to the obesity epidemic, obesity is continuing to grow in America," Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, said at a news conference Monday. "While some promising policy efforts are under way, the nation still lacks comprehensive, effective strategies for addressing this serious health crisis."
Dr. James Marks, senior vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which funded the project, was bleaker in his assessment of the findings at the news conference.
"We find this report to be a devastating indictment. We're in the middle of a public health crisis that is still deteriorating rapidly, and we're treating it like a mere inconvenience rather than the emergency it is. Over the past year, obesity rates got worse in nearly two-thirds of states and got better in zero. That is not progress. The number of states with obesity rates greater than 25 percent has more than doubled in just two years. That's not sending a wake-up call. We're ringing the disaster alarm," he said.
The existence of an obesity epidemic in this country is not news, but the rapidity with which Americans' waistlines are expanding is unprecedented. Obesity lurks behind several serious illnesses, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.
According to the new report, rates of adult obesity exceed 25 percent in 19 states, up from 14 states last year and 9 in 2005. In 1991, no state had an adult obesity rate exceeding 20 percent.
The South is a locus of the problem, possessing 10 of the 15 states with the highest rates of adult obesity. In addition, the South also had eight of the 10 states with the highest rates of overweight children (aged 10 to 17).
According to Levi, the South had higher levels of type 2 diabetes and hypertension and lower levels of reported physical activity. Mississippi had the highest rate of adult inactivity, at 31.6 percent; Minnesota the lowest at 15.4 percent. In the nation overall, 22 percent of adults reported that they do not engage in any physical activity.
The rates of overweight children ranged from a high of 22.8 percent in Washington, D.C., to a low of 8.5 percent in Utah. Overall, about 25 million U.S. children are overweight or obese, the report found.
"Diseases that used to be considered adult illnesses like type 2 and high blood pressure are becoming increasingly common among children," Marks said. "If we fail to reverse this epidemic, the current generation may be the first in American history to live sicker and die younger than their parents' generation."
Among the study's other findings:
Only 17 states require that school meals and snacks meet higher nutritional standards than the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires (six states enacted new laws in 2006-07).
Only 22 states have mandated nutritional standards for foods sold in vending machines, a la carte, in school stores or at bake sales, and only 26 states limit where and when such foods can be sold on school property beyond federal requirements.
Many physical education requirements in schools are limited in scope or not enforced.
This year's report also included a national opinion survey, which showed that 81 percent of Americans believe the government should play a role in addressing the obesity crisis, 55 percent of parents with children under 18 believed school lunches were not nutritious enough, and more than two-thirds of Americans believe children do not participate in enough physical activity.
In addition, 60 percent of those polled favored a proposal to measure students' BMI annually and provide this information confidentially to parents or guardians (currently 16 states provide BMI or fitness status information to parents or guardians confidentially).
The authors of the report also put forth recommendations for combating the problem.
"There isn't going to be a magic pill or a magic bullet," Levi said. "We need action from government, from communities, from individuals, and we need a major cultural shift. We need to change the norms in our society about healthy eating and about physical activity."
"This is going to require more than any single intervention," Marks added. "Schools have to be behind this, but it's also something that industry and business have to be behind."
Specific recommendations included: developing, at the federal level, a National Strategy to Combat Obesity; ensuring that all Americans have access to a workplace wellness program; increasing research on promoting healthy choices; and providing more recreational places.
"The only scorecard that matters is the health of our people, and right now obesity and the illnesses it causes are still getting worse," Marks said. "The need for strong interventions couldn't be clearer, and our leaders must answer that call."
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