Fat is probably the most maligned, misjudged, and misunderstood of all the macronutrients. In truth, the body needs healthy fats, called essential fatty acids, in very small amounts to maintain many life-sustaining physiological functions. Good fats are the building blocks for hormones and cell membranes, and are responsible for healthy nerve conduction.  Essential fatty acids eaten in small amounts help us to control our weight by slowing down and regulating the rate at which sugar (glucose) enters the blood stream. This controlled release of glucose enhances good blood sugar control.

Essential fatty acids are commonly found in fish, seeds, nuts, and plants. Olive oil, canola oil, flaxseed oil, almonds, and avocados are examples of healthy sources of fats. Omega-3 oils from fish (salmon and sardines) or fish oil supplements are also healthy essential fats. Be aware, however, that there are fats that are potentially harmful to the body. Some margarines and other hydrogenated oils are potentially harmful, for example, because they are trans-fatty acids.  Fats that have been artificially altered to preserve their shelf life-a process that is harmful to your cells may be Trans-Fatty Acids. Trans-fatty acids resemble essential fatty acids, making it difficult for cell membranes to distinguish between the two kinds of fat. However, when trans-fatty acids do enter a cell, they cannot perform the normal functions that essential fatty acids do. They trick your body and do damage because the body doesn't know how to distinguish between the good and the bad, thus opening the door for significant health problems.

Saturated fats are also potentially harmful to the body. For the most part, they are found in animal proteins such as red meats and dairy products.  Saturated fats should be eaten less frequently than essential fatty acids. Trans-fats should be altogether avoided whenever possible. READ YOUR FOOD LABELS!!  Foods that are high in fats, "mono-and polyunsaturated", but low in 'saturated fat', are generally GOOD foods that should be eaten in moderate amounts.

The rules are simple. Changing your behavior is not. Accept that. It is natural that you may ‘fall off the wagon’ sometimes. That’s normal and expected. Just make sure that you commit yourself to getting back on the wagon, before you fall off. Believe that you can ride the bicycle and you will ride it. If you don’t believe you can ride the bike, then you’ll always fall and probably decide that you’re not going to try again since you’ve already made up your mind that you don’t believe you can ride the bike. I’ll tell you a trick to believing in anything…feelings. Feel that you are already riding. If you feel it, you believe it. Following below are what I call the HEALTHY WEIGHT RULES. If you abide by these rules, you will:

• lose weight if you are too heavy

• maintain your weight if and when you are in healthy range

• gain weight if you are too skinny

RULE #1. The amount of calories you consume must equal the amount of calories your body burns.

These are based upon normal body mechanics. In basic terms, metabolism, is a series of process by which food is converted into energy and products needed to sustain life. When the body converts food into energy, we call it digestion. The body creates heat during this conversion process. In laymen’s terms we say the body is burning calories.

During your quest for good health, you may have heard about calories, more specifically counting calories, but perhaps have not taken the time to understand exactly what a calorie is or the reason why all this attention is given to calories. A calorie is a unit of energy-producing potential in food. The potential of energy production from food, otherwise known as its calories, have been measured and that information is readily available and usually found right on the packaging.

Perhaps you have learned about it, but haven’t been able to stay true to a diet because it’s too difficult to be practical about how to count calories in everyday life. Well, I’m here to slap you in the face. Guess what. In order to make a change in your lifestyle habits, you must make a change in your lifestyle habit. This does not have to be difficult. It just has to be something you really, I mean really, want to do. But it’s SIMPLE! Initially, you will need some tools:

• small notebook (so you can write down what you eat)

• a small calorie counter pocketbook (the source from which you’ll write down your consumption into your notebook)

• a kitchen scale, in grams preferably (to measure your food-in order to look up a food in a calorie book, you need to know how much of the food you have.)

• measuring cups and measuring spoons

RULE #2. Eat mostly unprocessed foods. The more raw foods, the more organic foods you consume the more nutrition you give your body. The more nutrition you give your body, the better the body functions. Nutrition is the nourishment that we obtain from food. Since food that is processed or grown with chemicals or in depleted soil or poisoned by toxic substances or infused with artificial ingredients, the nutritious elements become reduced or even non existent. The more food (calories) that we consume that are without nutritious value (empty), the less positive energy is created within the body. This leads to disease.

RULE #3. Exercise. The human body is meant to move. It is made for the purpose of being active. If you do not activate its muscles regularly in a fashion to keep them limber and strong, then they will lose their purpose. It’s best if you start with small increments that you can incorporate into your everyday routine. View (daily exercise tips) for some examples.

RULE #4. Eat in proper portions. Listen to your body as to when to eat, which will in most cases be about 6 meals per day. Please pay attention to what is meant by the word meals. Meals are simply a serving of food. This could be classified as a snack, dinner, breakfast, lunch; it can be a liquid or solid.

THE GOLDEN RULE: The more you practice the first four rules, the more you will find that it gets easier to accommodate this way of living. They become natural habits. You’ll start to feel more energy each day you’ll notice an increase in lean muscle mass while you’re shedding off excess fat mass. In fact, as you become more attuned to your body, you’ll notice that if you don’t practice these rules regularly, you’ll be more sensitive to feeling ill at ease. Your body will be telling you what it needs and this time you’ll be listening!!

Now let’s do a mind exercise. Imagine yourself exactly as you would be in your ideal universe. If you could transform your body to exactly what you want it to be, what would you envision it to look like? Your body, your vision of your body. Not some celebrity’s body, because that’s not your body, that’s theirs. Envision your body. Go ahead, close your eyes.

Open your eyes. Print these pages and GET STARTED!!!! Right now.

          Finding balance in your life is not always an easy task.  It's like juggling an apple, a firestick, a flower, and a razor.  Time waits for no man and you never know what awaits the next corner.  In this day and age, due to overwhelming world circumstances that hit us in the face daily with sensory overload, learning to find peace within, is essential. In the face of economic and financial ruin of the nation, many of us have been slapped in the face and are dealing with the same plights in our immediate everyday struggles of survival and existence in this society.  We are trying to just figure out how to get work to put gas in the car, to pay for the car, to get to a job we don’t have, to get food to put on the table, to have a table to put the food onto, to keep a roof over our head, and circling back to put shoes on our feet and clothes on our back to find the job that pays for the roof, and to get the education that leads to the job that doesn’t pay enough to pay for the car or the roof or the table or the shoes or the education that we need to get the job that leaves us no time to get the education to get a better job than the job we have just trying to survive.

          In this circle of chaos, one of my dearest friends has declared what he deems a 'mental health day' to be a part of their lifestyle.  This is defined as a day where when he or his wife, make a conscious decision to stop 'fighting the stress' and give in to a day of mental rest.  This means that they do nothing that puts pressure of productivity on themselves and they do not allow feelings of guilt enter their emotions for doing so.  It could be for example: staying home and cuddling in front of a movie, reading a book, going for a bike ride, exploring a local park with a 3 hour walk, sleeping, going to lunch with a friend, cooking,  whatever it is, to rest the brain of the extremely stressful situations of regular everyday life.  This is a day whereby one may wake up 'on the wrong side of the bed' and is in an immediate funk that one just can’t seem to shake off.  Symptoms are feelings of: Depression, Irritability, Grumpiness, being Moody, Angry, Temperamental, Impatient, Belligerant, Gloomy.  Instead of wallowing in these feelings, they have decided to make lemonade out of their lemons.  I like their adopted lifestyle incorporation. I’ve adopted these days too from time to time.  You see, we all need to find ways to cope with life’s anxieties. We must learn to not drown in stress and hold on to moments of clarity.  When our life force is in a positive vibration, we begin to sing in harmony with the universe and we gain fruitful wisdom.  We sync ourselves to that music by simply participating in activities that make us ‘feel good’.  A healthy habit to form is to allow yourself ‘mental health moments’.  If you are not able to give yourself a full day…give yourself these mental health moments.  They are bits of meditation.  Meditation is good for your soul, body, and mind.  It can help you get out of your funk.  These mediation bits will help you restore balance in your life.  Make room for them in your lifestyle.  Make an effort to share these moments with people you know… bring them into your meditative moments… positive energy grows exponentially quick.

          This has been demonstrated in the fact that they have been more productive lately than they have when they were focused on the stress.  They are physically healthier now too.  They’ve been tapping into their passions and making progress by applying their abilities.  They surround themselves with friends and family on a regular basis and communicate their feelings which helps motivate them to stay focused on their strengths. Although, they still face the chaos of life’s unexpected turns, they’ve learned to place their focus on the positive moments and they deal with struggles in smaller increments instead of by letting a big picture of doom crowd their life.  Remember the law of attraction is always at work!

So my days have been filled with stress.  I go into work with a chipper attitude and leave frustrated.  I give it, but I don't receive it.  Something wrong with this picture. It's a feeling of overwhelmingness. Yes, I think I just made that word up, but anyway,  I have no time to look for an alternate replacement, since it seems nowadays, everything is via internet an takes a lot more time to converse, even though we are programmed to believe it is a timesaver…HA HA HAHAHAHA…. BUT!… I must make time because time (my time and yours darling!) is precious and it is being wasted and there's nothing more tragic.  I definitely feel much more powerful on the days I exercise. It's true.  Physically, I can feel the difference that the endorphines make. When the body is strong, so is the spirit and the mind.  I confirm to making a change.  I am not happy, I refuse to persuade a lifestyle of bitterness. BELIEVE.That's a powerful word.  BELIEVE…in yourself.  YOU ARE AWESOME….look that word up people!! Give yourself all the credit you deserve..because YOU ARE WORTHY. 

TIP OF THE DAY: go put on a fun song and DANCE!!!!

DO IT………….. DANCE

When you are in harmony, the universe around you vibrates harmoniously…live in tandem!

It’s a new year and a time to reflect on your life.  Looking back can give you insight into the things you’d like to change in the future.  Many times we make promises that we don’t keep to ourselves.  The promise that is most important, is to put yourself first.  If you elect to make one commitment only, then let it be to be true to yourself.  Let it be that you shall treat yourself with kindness and respect and allow yourself the time to be self inspired. Exercise.  Be it exercise of the body, or of the mind, or of them both together.  It will make your soul shine.  Incorporate exercise into your daily life.  Start somewhere…Take the stairs, walk to market,  stretch  before your brush your teeth in the morning, do 25 sit-ups before you eat dinner, how about 30 jumping jacks before you get in the morning shower, hold each leg out parallel to the floor and count to 12 (then repeat) when you’re sitting (up straight!) on the couch in front of the TV at night.  Get active!! That’s the name of the game.  Eat many raw foods and do not eat processed foods in your daily diet.  You’ll see, making little bits of changes and incorporating them into your daily living will lead to a natural progression of better habits and you’ll start your journey to strength and wellness without even needing to try so hard.  A little bit goes a long way.  Check back for more tips.  This year is going to be the best one yet… Believe in yourself baby!!

Fat is probably the most maligned, misjudged, and misunderstood of all the macronutrients. In truth, the body needs healthy fats, called essential fatty acids, in very small amounts to maintain many life-sustaining physiological functions. Good fats are the building blocks for hormones and cell membranes, and are responsible for healthy nerve conduction.  Essential fatty acids eaten in small amounts help us to control our weight by slowing down and regulating the rate at which sugar (glucose) enters the blood stream. This controlled release of glucose helps you avoid getting a quick sugar rush and further enhances good blood sugar control.
Essential fatty acids are commonly found in fish, seeds, nuts, and plants. Olive oil, canola oil, flaxseed oil, almonds, and avocados are examples of other healthy sources of fats. Omega-3 oils from fish (salmon and sardines) or fish oil supplements are also healthy essential fats. Be aware, however, that there are fats that are potentially harmful to the body. Margarine and other hydrogenated oils are potentially harmful, for example, because they are trans-fatty acids. Trans-fatty acids have been artificially altered to preserve their shelf life-a process that makes these acids harmful to your cells. Trans-fatty acids resemble essential fatty acids, making it difficult for cell membranes to distinguish between the two kinds of fat. However, when trans-fatty acids do enter a cell, they cannot perform the normal functions that essential fatty acids do, thus opening the door for significant health problems.
Saturated fats are also potentially harmful to the body. They are found in red meats and dairy products like cheese and milk.  Saturated fats should be eaten less frequently than essential fatty acids. Trans-fats should be altogether avoided whenever possible. READ YOUR FOOD LABELS!!
 

There's a definitive connection between living well and healthfully and having a cheerful outlook on life.  The universal law of attraction is always in action.  If you dwell on negative you inevitably draw more negative into your life. 

For years now it's been the same routine- get up; go to work; drive straight to the gym and follow simple, mundane weight lifting instructions on a notepad. This was up until about a year ago, when I discovered that this habitual practice was demoralizing and ultimately making me miserable. Sure, life can be routine, but it's in that routine that we can exercise our creativity to conjure up new ways to make fitness exciting.

For some people, this could mean simple tweaks in their written/routine free-weight exercises, starting with chest and ending the week with arms. For others, it's about hopping on that bike and/or treadmill and running that extra five miles a day. It's my strong recommendation that you immerse yourself in a solid mix of cardio and free weight exercises as not to create boredom, or lack of will. BUT, don't make your schedule the same each week; spontaneity is key! Sure, there are those who say they've come to learn to love what they do, charming the same weight-lifting regimen weekly while avoiding anything irregular as not to "tarnish" their workout. Learning to love however, is different from naturally engaging in something that's enjoyable.

Routines can be easy, and not very strenuous; but after all, they are just routines. So it's with my dear advice that as practitioners of exercise and fitness we teach ourselves new things, while also teaching our body the same. This is inherently true with things like dance. More specifically, Zumba is an excellent example of something different, fun, and unique. The ability to genuinely enhance cardiovascular function and endurance, while practicing muscle memory routines effectively exercises the whole body. And simply put, it's fun.

The most practical and enjoyable way to stay in shape undoubtedly is by playing sports. Joining a soccer league on Sundays or perhaps playing something as simple as intramural dodge ball or kickball can successfully burn thousands of calories in just one day. The sheer competitive nature of these athletic activities drives the body further and beyond, and although strenuous at times, people crave the struggle and willingness to become better. There comes a certain rush that comes with fast paced activities, which brings me to my next point.

These could include anything from dance to karate and MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). Again, most of these practices are very difficult to mimic at an ordinary Gym.  You can certainly find out more from top trainers/classes at pristine establishments like <a href="http://www.mmaindustries.com ">MMA Industries</a>.

Things like mountain climbing, biking, quad-racing, fishing, golfing, etc… – These are all great ways to actively stay in shape, and they're quite enjoyable as well! A sudden increase in endorphins will surely make anybody's day brighter. Also, almost all of these activities take place outdoors, which captures much needed vitamins from the sun, further enhancing the overall experience. Keep in mind however, it is important to get your heart rate up every now and then, so switching on and off amongst these and cardiovascular exercises (i.e. – treadmills) will keep your body guessing while enhancing overall fitness.

Sports and Dance are both a leisurely and/or competitive practice, but can also be the most effective way to exercise. <a href="http://www.gymsource.com/treadmills">Treadmills</a> and <a href="http://www.gymsource.com/ellipticals">Ellipticals</a> will shed weight and enhance muscle strength/endurance, but will never capture the soul and rhythm that dance makes so enjoyable. Meanwhile, the competitive nature and drive that comes with playing sports will always be an important part of everybody's lives.  But again, it's important to diversify your fitness, and be able to incorporate pleasure and strain. Attempt to pull one's self away from everyday fitness equipment and home gyms; pick up a class of zumba and/or sign up for an intramural softball league and you'll be on your way to a healthier, more enjoyable lifestyle.

This was a guest posting by Jim Rollince, whom is a representative from the web relations department of Gym Source. He currently oversees all creative writing efforts and is an expert in home gym equipment<"http://www.gymsource.com/">.

The rules are simple.  Changing your behavior is not.  Accept that.  It is natural that you may ‘fall off the wagon’ sometimes.  That’s normal and expected.  Just make sure that you commit yourself to getting back on the wagon, before you fall off.   Believe that you can ride the bicycle and you will ride it.  If you don’t believe you can ride the bike, then you’ll always fall and probably decide that you’re not going to try again since you’ve already made up your mind that you don’t believe you can ride the bike.  I’ll tell you a trick to believing in anything…feelings.  Feel that you are already riding.  If you feel it, you believe it. Following below are what I call the HEALTHY WEIGHT RULES.  If you abide by these rules, you will: 
•    lose weight if you are too heavy
•    maintain your weight if and when you are in healthy range
•    gain weight if you are too skinny
RULE #1.  The amount of calories you consume must equal the amount of calories your body burns.
These are based upon normal body mechanics.  In basic terms, metabolism, is a series of process by which food is converted into energy and products needed to sustain life.  When the body converts food into energy, we call it digestion.  The body creates heat during this conversion process. In laymen’s terms we say the body is burning calories.

During your quest for good health, you may have heard about calories, more specifically counting calories, but perhaps have not taken the time to understand exactly what a calorie is or the reason why all this attention is given to calories.  A calorie is a unit of energy-producing potential in food.  The potential of energy production from food, otherwise known as its calories, have been measured and that information is readily available and usually found right on the packaging. 

Perhaps you have learned about it, but haven’t been able to stay true to a diet because it’s too difficult to be practical about how to count calories in everyday life.  Well, I’m here to slap you in the face.  Guess what.  In order to make a change in your lifestyle habits, you must make a change in your lifestyle habit.  This does not have to be difficult.  It just has to be something you really, I mean really, want to do.  But it’s SIMPLE!  Initially, you will need some tools:
•    small notebook (so you can write down what you eat)
•    a small calorie counter pocketbook (the source from which you’ll write down your consumption into your notebook)
•    a kitchen scale, in grams preferably (to measure your food-in order to look up a food in a calorie book, you need to know how much of the food you have.)
•    measuring cups and measuring spoons

RULE #2.  Eat mostly unprocessed foods.  The more raw foods, the more organic foods you consume the more nutrition you give your body.  The more nutrition you give your body, the better the body functions.  Nutrition is the nourishment that we obtain from food.  Since food that is processed or grown with chemicals or in depleted soil or poisoned by toxic substances or infused with artificial ingredients, the nutritious elements become reduced or even non existent.  The more food (calories) that we consume that are without nutritious value (empty), the less positive energy is created within the body.  This leads to disease.

RULE #3. Exercise.  The human body is meant to move.  It is made for the purpose of being active.  If you do not activate its muscles regularly in a fashion to keep them limber and strong, then they will lose their purpose.  It’s best if you start with small increments that you can incorporate into your everyday routine.  View (daily exercise tips) for some examples.

RULE #4. Eat in proper portions. Listen to your body as to when to eat, which will in most cases be about 6 meals per day.  Please pay attention to what is meant by the word meals.  Meals are simply a serving of food.  This could be classified as a snack, dinner, breakfast, lunch; it can be a liquid or solid.

THE GOLDEN RULE: The more you practice the first four rules, the more you will find that it gets easier to accommodate this way of living. They become natural habits.  You’ll start to feel more energy each day you’ll notice an increase in lean muscle mass while you’re shedding off excess fat mass.  In fact, as you become more attuned to your body, you’ll notice that if you don’t practice these rules regularly, you’ll be more sensitive to feeling ill at ease.  Your body will be telling you what it needs and this time you’ll be listening!!

Now let’s do a mind exercise.   Imagine yourself exactly as you would be in your ideal universe.  If you could transform your body to exactly what you want it to be, what would you envision it to look like?  Your body, your vision of your body.  Not some celebrity’s body, because that’s not your body, that’s theirs.  Envision your body.  Go ahead, close your eyes. 

Open your eyes. Print these pages and GET STARTED!!!!   Right now.

Since ancient times, many spiritual practices have included dietary fasting.  Today, there are a lot of people claiming that fasting also has a lot of health benefits. And, in fact, research shows that short fasts, lasting anywhere from 20 to 36 hours can in fact reduce some risks for heart disease, diabetes and cancer. I wondered about the benefits of fasting and began researching.  One finding in particular caught my interest and I’d like to share it and my thoughts. The National Institute on Aging conducted a study on mice for which, Mark Mattson, Ph.D., chief of the NIA's Laboratory of Neurosciences fed mice nothing every other day. The mice could eat as much as they wanted on the days in between, and they did. They pigged out. They ended up eating very nearly double what normal mice eat in a day. But fasting every other day caused them to live longer and healthier lives. A lot longer and a lot healthier. Mattson said, "We think what happens is going without food imposes a mild stress on the cells, and cells respond by increasing their ability to cope with more severe stress." He said maybe it's similar to what happens when you lift weights: You stress your muscles and they respond by growing stronger. Near the very end of the study, they injected all the mice (those fasting every other day, and those eating a normal diet) with a toxin that damages the cells in the same part of the brain Alzheimer's damages in humans (the hippocampus). Mattson and his team later looked at the brains of the mice and found that those that had been fasting every other day suffered less damage to their brain cells. I read another article that brought up some very good points. It seems likely that at least an occasional state of hunger would have been fairly common throughout our evolution. Our bodies might be adapted to it. Maybe it creates unnatural problems when the body doesn't ever go hungry. Maybe eating three square meals a day, every day, is unnatural. Going without food for several hours does not cause your metabolism to slow down nor does it wreak havoc with your blood sugar. Short fasts actually improve insulin sensitivity and this is pretty big deal. When your cells are sensitive to the effects of insulin, they do a much better job modulating your blood sugar levels after meals and this makes life a lot easier for your poor old pancreas. Loss of insulin sensitivity is a risk factor for both heart disease and diabetes. For the millions of years mammals have been evolving and right up to our invention of agriculture a short ten thousand years ago, mammals often went hungry many times in an individual's lifetime. Surely our bodies have evolved to handle this. Maybe that's why it is totally accepted by most people in the health profession that human beings gain about a pound a year. Maybe that is part of the body's adaptation to the inevitable lean times the eons have adapted us to. An occasional fast might very well be more natural and very good for us. The key here is SHORT FASTS and OCCASIONAL. You want to slow your metabolism down to where you’re not able to maintain a life of very little caloric intake and then end up gaining weight.