Five tips to start fresh in the new year

New Year's resolutions have become as synonymous with failure as with self-improvement. According to a survey conducted by LIVESTRONG.COM, 76 percent of people who made a 'weight loss' resolution say they have not been successful at keeping the weight off. Resolutions revolving around getting fit can seem daunting without the proper guidance for seeing them through. LIVESTRONG.COM has a list of five small changes to help accomplish fitness and nutritional goals for the New Year.

1. Clear Out That Kitchen
Toss high-calorie, high-fat foods and abstain from buying similar products. The purge will spur an instant sense of accomplishment and make it easier to maintain a healthy plan. You should dispose of all tempting foods, including sugary cereals, cake and cookie mixes, candy, ice cream and fried items.

2. Plan Your Meals
Use cookbooks or online resources focused on healthy recipes to map out days and weeks of nutritious food. Selecting healthy options that taste good and are tailored to fit your preferences will prevent you from nibbling on the bad stuff.

3. Go Local and Go Green
Organic and locally grown food items are often tastier and more satisfying than their conventional counterparts. Shop your local farmers markets or health-food stores to find these items. When you return from shopping, immediately wash and prepare the produce so it is ready to eat when you are hungry.

4. Use Available Resources
Sign up and follow fitness and nutrition platforms online as an easy go-to resource for questions and additional information. LIVESTRONG.COM's MyPlate is a great tool for tracking your food intake and fitness routine with over 625,000 food items and 2,000 fitness activities.

5. Set a Fitness Goal
Assess your previous physical activity in the past year and set a realistic goal to gradually improve fitness. Get a workout partner to help you stay motivated, and don't forget to track your progress!
LIVESTRONG.COM offers nutrition and fitness information for lifelong health and wellness. LIVESTRONG.COM's practical tools, expert resources and engaged community provide support to help you achieve your healthy living goals. At LIVESTRONG.COM, small, daily changes lead to big results and lifelong success stories.

Source  http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/27/3282982/five-tips-to-start-fresh-in-the.html

10 Tips for Healthy Skin

10 Tips for Healthy Skin

Source: http://training.seer.cancer.gov/ss_module14_melanoma/images/illu_skin01.jpg

How our skin and hair look is important to many of us. At the same time, your skin and hair are organs that do special jobs that support life. Skin protects your inside organs from injury, bacteria, and viruses. Your skin, hair, and sweat glands help control body temperature. Body hair also alerts you to heat and touch. You can take steps to keep your skin and hair healthy. You can also look to your skin and hair for clues to your overall health. And, as a bonus, good skin and hair care will help you to feel your best,too. Your skin is an organ that is just as important as your heart or lungs.


1. Protect your skin from the sun and avoid prolonged exposure. Sun exposure increases your risk of skin cancer, such as melanoma, by causing mutations in your DNA. It also causes premature aging of the skin (which results in wrinkles and thin skin), brown discolorations and uneven texture. Seek shade under an umbrella or tree, and wear sunscreen, a hat and sun-protective clothing.

2. Avoid tanning salons. They emit UV radiation, which causes wrinkles, melanoma and other skin cancers. 

3. Perform a monthly skin check.You are most likely the first to notice a new growth that could be cancerous. Every month, examine your skin from head to toe. For your back and other hard-to-see spots, use a handheld and/or full-length mirror, or enlist the help of a partner. If you see something unusual, seek medical attention as soon as possible.

4. Moisturize your skin.During cold and dry weather, apply a thick moisturizing cream. When the weather is warmer, switch to a lighter lotion.

5. Avoid irritating chemicals and harsh soaps. Choose moisturizing, gentle cleansers, especially if your skin is dry or sensitive. Use soap only where needed, such as the underarms, and avoid areas that tend to dry out easily, such as the arms and legs.

6. Keep skin from drying out by drinking plenty of water and using gentle moisturizers, lotions, or creams.

7. A healthy diet can help you look and feel your best. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. Research suggests that a diet rich in vitamin C and low in fats and carbohydrates may promote younger looking skin.

8. The regular elimination of toxins and waste is essential to maintaining healthy skin .Just like periodic cleansing is necessary for digestive health, including cleansing foods and herbs in your diet will effectively remove cellular waste and reduce inflammation, keeping your skin clear, youthful, and positively radiant.

Aim to add more of these top 5 cleansing foods to your diet:
Lemon:Squeeze into your water first thing in the morning.
Garlic:Eat raw for most benefits, great in salads or pesto.
Ginger:Goes great in Asian recipes or as a tea. 
Chamomile: as hot or cold tea .
Dark leafy greens:Great cooked or raw in salads, wraps,or stews.

9. Manage stress 
Uncontrolled stress can make your skin more sensitive and trigger acne breakouts and other skin problems. To encourage healthy skin take steps to manage your stress. Set reasonable limits, scale back your to-do list and make time to do the things you enjoy.

10. Don’t Smoke 
Smoking makes your skin look older and contributes to wrinkles. Smoking narrows the tiny blood vessels in the outermost layers of skin, which decreases blood flow. This depletes the skin of oxygen and nutrients, such as vitamin A, that are important to skin health.

Health tips for Rainy days

1. Stay active indoors
Take advantage of the less than ideal monsoon weather and tackle a spring cleaning project. Soon your sweat glands will be working overtime and detoxing seems an easy task.

2. Get creative with your exercise routine
During a TV commercial break, exploit the couch and perform bench dips and a set of lunges. Begin with 10 of each and increase it by two more at the next commercial break.

3. Bake for health sake
Grab hold of healthy recipes from the internet, cookbooks or newspaper and start baking. Or simply experiment with substituting regular flour with whole wheat variety for favourite breads and muffins recipes.

Source http://www.nst.com.my/life-times/health/health-tips-for-rainy-days-1.5820

Recipes for a Healthy Home

Recipes for a Healthy Home

Cleaning product companies tell you that to keep your home clean and smelling fresh, you need to rely on an army of cleaning and air care products. Sprays, wipes, powders, liquids and more are sold with the promise of improving your home and your health by removing dirt and germs.

What companies are not telling you is that cleaning products can contain toxic chemicals that may harm your health. Manufacturers often recommend frequent and repeated use of their products, but this also translates to frequent and repeated exposures to potentially harmful chemicals. You may inhale these chemicals by breathing indoor air and some of them can be absorbed through the skin. Long-term exposures to certain
chemicals found in household cleaners have been linked to serious health problems like pregnancy complications, breast cancer, birth defects, asthma and allergic reactions.

Some simple natural items can deal with the majority of household cleaning tasks. These products are already in most kitchens and are very inexpensive. When preparing your own  cleaning products, make only what you need and make sure that they are in containers that are clearly labeled.  Here are some easy, effective and inexpensive recipes and tips for healthy home cleaning and maintenance. The cleaners are safe for you and the environment and can save you money.

1. ALL-PURPOSE CLEANER
3 tbsp. white vinegar
½ tsp. washing soda
½ tsp. vegetable oil based liquid soap
2 cups hot water
Mix ingredients in spray bottle or bucket. Apply and wipe clean.

2. FLOOR CLEANER
For greasy, no-wax floors:
1 cup white vinegar
¼ cup washing soda
1 tablespoon vegetable oil-based liquid soap
2 gallons hot water
Combine all ingredients, stirring well to dissolve the washing soda. Mop as  usual.

3. WOOD CLEANER
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. white vinegar
¼ cup lemon juice
Mix ingredients. Using a soft cloth, rub into the wood, in the direction of the grain.

4. DRAIN CLEANER
For slow drains, use this drain cleaner once a week to keep drains fresh and clog-free.
½ cup baking soda
1 cup white vinegar
1 gallon boiling water
Pour baking soda down drain/disposal, followed by vinegar. Allow the mixture to  foam for several minutes before flushing the drain with boiling water.

5. OVEN CLEANER
2 tbsp. vegetable oil based liquid soap
2 tbsp. borax
Mix the soap and borax in a spray bottle. Fill the bottle with hot water and shake well. Spray on oven and leave for 20 minutes. Scrub off.

6. DISINFECTANT
2 tbsp. borax
¼ cup vinegar
2 cups hot water
Combine the borax and vinegar with the water in a spray bottle. Use as you  would any commercial all-purpose cleaner.

7. FURNITURE POLISH
1 lemon
1 teaspoon olive oil (least expensive)
1 teaspoon water
This polish should to be made fresh each time you use it. Extract the juice from the  lemon. Mix with oil and water. Apply a thin coat on your wood surface and let sit for 5 minutes. Use a soft cloth to buff to a deep shine.

8. LAMINATE FLOOR CLEANER
For engineered wood and no-wax floors.
½ cup white vinegar
1 gallon warm water
Mix ingredients. Avoid overwetting the floor by using a spray bottle to apply the mixture to the floor. Mop as usual (microfiber mops work best).

9. REFRIGERATOR CLEANER
2 tbsp. baking soda
1 quart warm water
Dissolve baking soda in water. Use to wipe all surfaces inside and out. For stubborn spots, rub with baking soda paste. Be sure to rinse with a clean, wet cloth.

10. GARBAGE DISPOSAL CLEANER
1 cup ice
used lemon or orange rind
To eliminate garbage disposal odors and clean and sharpen blades, grind ice and rinds until pulverized.

11. NON-ABRASIVE SOFT SCRUBBER
¼ cup borax
vegetable oil based liquid soap
½ tsp. lemon essential oil
In a bowl, mix the borax with enough soap to form a creamy paste. Add lemon oil and blend well. Scoop a small amount of the mixture onto a sponge, wash the surface, then rinse well.

12. PLUMBING FIXTURE CLEANER #1
Use to clean stainless steel, chrome, fiberglass, ceramic, porcelain or enamel fixtures.
2 tbsp. baking soda
1 quart water
Dissolve the baking soda in the water.
Wipe on fixtures then rinse.

13. TOILET BOWL CLEANER
1 cup borax
½ cup white vinegar
Flush to wet the sides of the bowl. Sprinkle the borax around the toilet bowl, then spray with vinegar. Leave for several hours or overnight before scrubbing with a  toilet brush.

14. NO-STREAK GLASS CLEANER
¼ cup white vinegar
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 quart warm water
Mix the ingredients and apply with a sponge or pour into spray bottle and spray on.  For lint-free results, wipe dry with crumpled newspaper, buff to a shine.

15. GARBAGE CAN DEODORIZER
1 cup baking soda
1 tsp. tea tree oil
Mix together in a small bowl, working out all the lumps with a fork. Sprinkle the mixture in the bottom of the trash can after the liner is removed. Periodically rinse container with white vinegar and dry in the sun.

16. PLUMBING FIXTURE CLEANER #2
Hard lime deposits around faucets can be softened for easy removal by covering the deposits with vinegar-soaked paper towels. white vinegar  paper towels .Soak paper towels in vinegar and leave them on surface. Wipe clean after about an hour.

17. FRAGRANT KITCHEN CLEANSER
2 tbsp. white vinegar
2 pints water
4 drops essential oil (lavender, tea tree oil, lemon, lemongrass, or rosemary)
Combine ingredients in spray bottle and use as a final rinse after cleaning kitchen surfaces. Store in a cool, dark place.

18. MIRROR & WINDOW POLISH
For sparkling glass.
cornstarch
water
Mix together cornstarch and water to make a paste. Use a soft cloth to apply the paste  to the mirror. Rub gently then wipe clean with a soft cloth.

19. TUB & TILE CLEANER
white vinegar
baking soda or non-iodized salt
To remove film buildup on bathtubs, apply vinegar full-strength to a sponge and wipe. Next, use baking soda or salt as you would scouring powder. Rub with a damp sponge and  rinse thoroughly with clean water.

20. COPPER & BRASS CLEANER
Not for use on lacquered finishes.
lemon juice
salt, non-iodized
cornstarch
Mix equal parts of salt and corstarch with lemon juice to make a paste. Apply to surface with a soft rag. Rub gently. Rinse with warm water and mild dish soap. Dry with a soft cloth.

Health Tips for Today - Healthy Food Recipes

Health Tips for Today - Healthy Food Recipes

How to Lose Weight All Day Long

Timing your workouts and meals may be the secret to your weight loss success

Understanding and working with your body's natural hunger and sleep rhythms will vanquish cravings, increase energy, and help you lose more weight.

It's not just what you eat or how much you exercise that matters; it's the timing of each component that is the true secret to weight loss success. Research shows that our bodies' inner eat-and-sleep clocks have been thrown completely out of whack, thanks to all-day food cues and too much nighttime artificial light. The result: You're caught in a "fat cycle": a constant flow of hunger hormones that makes you prone to cravings. By tuning in to your body's natural eat/sleep schedule, you can finally say good-bye to your belly.

The Perfect Day of Eating

Drop Around The Clock! Follow this hour-by-hour slim-down schedule to control hunger hormones, banish cravings, and get trim and toned--fast!

6 TO 8 AM: GET MOVING.
Within a half hour of rising and before you eat breakfast, do 20 minutes of cardio. Research has found that exercising before breakfast may help you burn fat more efficiently. If you can get outside, even better. Early morning sunlight helps your body naturally reset itself to a healthier sleep/wake cycle (regular indoor lights don't have the same effect).

How to Burn More Calories with Every Workout

6:55 TO 8:55 AM: DRINK UP.
Before every meal, drink two 8-ounce glasses of water. Research shows that people who drank this amount lost 5 pounds more than nonguzzlers.

Try Refreshing Sassy Water Recipe to De-Bloat Your Belly

7 TO 9 AM: EAT BREAKFAST.
The alarm clock also wakes up ghrelin, the "feed me" hormone made in your stomach. Ignore ghrelin and your body will produce even more, eventually making you ravenous. To suppress ghrelin's effect, eat a mix of complex carbs and protein, such as eggs and whole grain toast, within an hour of waking.

Get 8 Healthy Breakfast Ideas

10 TO 11 AM: MUNCH MIDMORNING.

Ghrelin begins to rise again a couple of hours before lunch. It turns off when you chow down, particularly on carbs and protein, so have a small combo snack, like blueberries and Greek-style yogurt.

Get 30 Healthy Snack Suggestions

12 TO 1 PM: HAVE YOUR MIDDAY MEAL.

Galanin, another hunger hormone that makes you crave fat, rises around lunchtime. However, dietary fat causes you to produce more galanin, which then tells you to eat more fat. Instead, fill up with complex carbs and protein, such as chicken-vegetable soup or black bean chili.

The Best Sandwiches for Weight Loss

2 TO 3 PM: TAKE A NAP.
Instead of hitting the vending machines, find a quiet place to grab a few Zzzs. (Hint: Your parked car is the perfect impromptu sleep pod!) Just set an alarm--15 to 20 minutes will energize your body without affecting your ability to sleep at night.

3:30 PM: GET BUZZED.
Need a boost? This is your last chance to have a cup of joe. Drinking coffee after 4 PM disturbs circadian rhythms and can keep you from falling asleep at night.

4 TO 8 PM: TRIM AND TONE.
Now's the time to do your strength training, plus any additional cardio. This is when your body temperature is highest, so you're primed for peak performance. In one study, subjects who worked out in the late afternoon or early evening built 22% more muscle than morning exercisers.

7 Strength Moves You've Got to Learn

5 TO 7 PM: TIME TO DINE.
To ensure you don't wake up hungry in the middle of the night, add a serving of healthy fats, such as flaxseed or fish oil, to your meal. If you're a wine drinker, pour a glass now. Drinking later can delay dream (REM) sleep, waking you frequently during the night.

9 TO PM: HAVE A PRESLEEP SNACK.
Enjoy a carb-based bedtime snack, such as a serving of low-fat frozen yogurt. Nighttime carbs create tryptophan, which helps your brain produce serotonin. This feel-good chemical triggers your body to make melatonin, the sleep hormone.

9 TO 10:30 PM: POWER DOWN.
Step away from digital devices, including the TV. They emit a blue spectrum of light that's even more disruptive to sleep than regular bulbs. Do something calming--read, take a bath--in dim light so you're ready to nod off when you hit the sheets.

10 Reasons You Can't Fall Asleep

9:30 TO 11 PM: GO TO SLEEP.
Crawl under the covers at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning, even on weekends. Having a regular sleep-and-wake schedule helps you fall asleep faster over time.

Get 3 Days of Recipes from the Belly Melt Diet

TELL US: What time of day do you find the hardest to stick to your diet?

--By the editors of Prevention

Five Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle

1. Reduce Stress, Laugh More and Think Positive

Start with at least 30 minutes a day, then gradually build your positive thinking time. Evade difficult people and try not to be difficult yourself. Get a massage, a manicure, facial or a haircut. Meditate or listen to soothing music.

2. Avoid Pollution

Keep plants in your home and office. If you can't live in a pollution-free environment, take regular trips to the countryside. Avoid smoke-filled rooms and high traffic areas. Schedule outdoors activities for low smog periods.

3. Smile Wide

Brush and floss after each meal to maintain good oral and dental hygiene. Be confident with your smile when talking.

4. Make Something

Boost your creative energy. Cook with new recipes, paint, write, recycle something, or put a photo album together. Planting seeds is rewarding - just don't forget to water them!

5. Drink Smoothies

Veggie and fruit smoothies have great health benefits, and they taste good, too. They're packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals; they contain fibre, which helps keep you regular; and drinking smoothies rather than ordinary juice will leave you less prone to snacking. You can also have fun and be creative by designing your own. Look out for another five tips in the next issue.

Chiva-Som is Thailand's multi-award winning health resort, located in Hua Hin.

Source  http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/health/209519/five-tips-for-a-healthy-lifestyle

Tips to Reverse Diabetes Using Social Medicine

Diabetes is on the rise, but it is also preventable by a healthy lifestyle change. Making small changes in the way people eat, adding in a little more exercise, and losing even a modest amount of weight can improve diabetes. The diabetes community found on Social-medicine.org, supports diabetics and their lifestyle. Social-medicine.org, a health-based social networking site, helps people suffering from a variety of health conditions, like diabetes, to globally connect, help and share information with others in similar situations, by focusing on bridging the gap of patient-to-patient communication, and patient-to-practitioner, with all the social networking features and functionality expected in today’s society. Social-medicine.org focuses on community support, where real people in similar situations come together, to circumvent negative feelings like disconnection and loneliness, and focus on improving self-esteem, understanding, communication, relationships, and peer support.

Diabetics have more control over their health than they think. The most important thing people can do for their health is to lose weight. The biggest risk factor for developing diabetes is being overweight. Your risk is higher if you tend to carry your weight around your abdomen. Experts say that losing just 5% to 10% of your total weight can help diabetics lower blood sugar considerably, as well as lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Changing your lifestyle doesn’t mean living in deprivation. Diabetics can continue to eat and enjoy their favorite foods, and best of all, don’t have to give up sweets or resign to carbohydrate counting. But you’ll probably need to learn some better eating habits. But what does eating right for diabetes mean? A diabetes diet is simply a healthy eating plan that is high in nutrients, low in fat, and moderate in calories.

The glycemic index (GI) shows how quickly a food turns into sugar. High GI foods tend to spike blood sugar levels. These foods include white rice, white pasta, white bread, potatoes, sweets, chips, and many processed foods. They should be limited in your diet. Low GI foods include nuts, seeds, lean meats, seafood, whole grains, beans, brown rice, whole-wheat bread, and whole-wheat pasta. Diabetics should be eating a lot of non-starchy vegetables, beans and fruits such as apples, pears, peaches, and berries. Even tropical fruits like bananas, mangoes, and papayas.

Diabetics should always monitor blood glucose, particularly when alcohol is consumed. Alcohol can interfere with medication and insulin. Beer and wine contain calories and carbs, while cocktails are loaded with sugar. Men and women should drink in moderation, with women one drink per day and men two drinks per day.

If diabetics crave something sweet, they should limit intake of bread, rice or pasta during your main meal. Eating sweets adds extra carbohydrates; it is best to cut back on other carbohydrates where possible. Make your indulgence count by eating slowly and paying attention to the flavors and textures. Think about cutting down on sweets by reducing soda and juice drinks, reducing the amount of sugar in recipes by 1/4, and instead of ice cream, blend up frozen bananas, or a small piece of dark chocolate. Diabetics should also begin to replace your daily dessert with fruit.

There are various fats to consider when having a meal. Some fats are unhealthy, while other fats have high health benefits. The two most damaging fats are saturated fats and trans fats. Saturated fats are found mainly in animal products such as red meat, whole milk dairy products, and eggs. Trans fats are fats that are less likely to spoil. The best fats are unsaturated fats, which come from plant and fish sources. Good sources include olive oil, canola oil, nuts, avocados, salmon, tuna, and flaxseeds, which fight inflammation and support brain and heart health.

When it comes to preventing, controlling, or reversing diabetes, consider exercising. Regular exercise maintains your weight and can improve your insulin sensitivity. One of the easiest moderate-intensity activities is walking for 30 minutes five or more times a week, swimming or riding a bike.

Source http://www.pr.com/press-release/399003