It is a New Year!

What New Year’s resolution did you make to yourself last year that you did not keep?…How do you feel about not keeping that/ those commitment(s)?

Popular New Year’s resolutions include improving health, losing weight, and exercising more, among others.

In my opinion, one reason people don’t achieve these goals is because there is waaaay too much thinking involved. Sometimes you just have to DO IT! Stop the over thinking and the thoughts of failure and do it.

Yes Brandi, Nike got it right with this famous slogan! I love it, it works… Now do it!

 The United States is the most obese country in the world. This number can drop as more individuals become proactive when it comes to their health. Awareness is the first step.

There are many benefits associated with staying active. I will discuss five ways on how living an active lifestyle may be very beneficial. 

Stress management: Exercising helps to control stress. Endorphins are released while exercising, also known as “runner’s high” or “happy hormones.”  This is one reason why some people may become quite loyal when it comes to their workout regimen.  Stress happens it’s a part of life but it pose a threat to your  equilibrium and overall health when it isn’t controlled; when this occurs, a person may lose some emotional control which can have a negative effect on them as well as everyone that they encounter.

Heart health: Exercising helps to strengthen the heart.  The heart is a muscle and like any other muscle it gets stronger by working out on a regular basis. This way your heart is able to pump more blood throughout the body with less effort; therefore being more efficient. Exercising also helps to keep the arteries healthy. Exercising helps to increase HDL ‘‘good cholesterol” (which helps to keep the arteries clear) and lowers LDL “bad cholesterol.”

Weight maintenance/ weight loss: Exercising regularly helps you to lose and or maintain weight. Maintaining weight and accomplishing weight loss is dependent on energy in versus energy out. Finding out your “healthy weight” is one way to aid you in acquiring your desired health and fitness goals. There are various ways to obtain this information. One way includes taking your BMI (Body mass index). BMI is a number calculated from a person’s height and weight. This gives you a starting point and from here you can monitor your body fat while you strive to attain your desired or healthy weight.  Overall this is a reliable way to monitor body fatness for most people. BMI doesn’t distinguish between body fat and muscle mass, which weighs more than fat. This is a great tool but use others as well.  The skin- fold test measurement is also an option (this estimates body fat by measuring skin fold thickness).

Osteoporosis: Men and women experience osteoporosis.  The chances of experiences osteoporosis can be decreased if you exercise by incorporating some resistance training (helps to build bone density) and   flexibility exercises (helps increase mobility of joints).

Breast cancer: Women and men also experience breast cancer; although, women are more apt to the disease.  The American Cancer Society suggests that an individual can decrease their risk of getting breast cancer if they exercise for 45 – 60 minutes five or more days a week.  The activity level doesn’t have to be intense; this can consist of brisk walking. The key is to continue to stay active. 

Exercising is essential for living healthy. Exercising is a life style not an every once in a while thing.   We must understand that if our health fails everything else starts to crumble so please do the necessary things to keep your body healthy and I’m certain that your body will thank you! As always, consult a doctor before participating in any intense exercise regimen.

1 in 10 deaths globally is due to tobacco use, American Cancer Society says

Reuters reports…..

WASHINGTON - Tobacco use will kill 6 million people next year from cancer, heart disease, emphysema and a range of other ills, the American Cancer Society said in a report issued on Tuesday.

The society’s new Tobacco Atlas estimates that tobacco use costs the global economy $500 billion a year in direct medical expenses, lost productivity and environmental harm.

“Tobacco’s total economic costs reduce national wealth in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) by as much as 3.6 percent,” the report reads.

“Tobacco accounts for one out of every 10 deaths worldwide and will claim 5.5 million lives this year alone,” the report said. If current trends hold, by 2020, the number will grown to an estimated 7 million and top 8 million by 2030.

Over the past four decades, smoking rates have declined in rich countries like the United States, Britain and Japan while rising in much of the developing world, according to the nonprofit research and advocacy organization.

Some other findings from the report, available:

• 1 billion men smoke — 35 percent of men in rich countries and 50 percent of men in developing countries.
• About 250 million women smoke daily — 22 percent of women in developed countries and 9 percent of women in developing countries.
• Smoking rates among women are either stable or increasing in several southern, central and eastern European countries.
• The risk of dying from lung cancer is more than 23 times higher for men who smoke than for nonsmokers and 13 times higher for women smokers.
• Tobacco kills one-third to one-half of those who smoke. Smokers die an average of 15 years earlier than nonsmokers.
• Nearly 60 percent of Chinese men smoke and China consumes more than 37 percent of the world’s cigarettes.
• 50 million Chinese children, mostly boys, will die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases.
• Tobacco use will eventually kill 250 million of today’s teenagers and children.
• Nearly one-quarter of young people who smoke tried their first cigarette before the age of 10.
• Occupational exposure to secondhand smoke kills 200,000 workers every year.

“One hundred million people were killed by tobacco in the 20th century. Unless effective measures are implemented to prevent young people from smoking and to help current smokers quit, tobacco will kill 1 billion people in the 21st century,” the report predicts.

WOW!

Hi Everyone,

As some of  you may know, I just had a little one and I’m looking to shed my baby fat and I WILL! My question is, who wants to join me? If you are one of the few who is willing to do what it takes to lose weight to fit into those jeans that has been in your closet for a year or more, or what ever your goal is, then email me and I will show you how!

moneca@simsprestige.com

You may already know that vitamin D can help build strong teeth and bones, but wait until you hear what else it can do for the rest of your body. D can keep you trim, boost your mood, ward off sniffles, drastically cut your risk of cancer, and more. “We could prevent 150,000 cases of cancer annually if we could just increase vitamin D to optimal levels,” says Cedric Garland, a doctor of public health, a leading vitamin D researcher, and a professor of family and preventive medicine at the University of California, San Diego. That’s great news, right? Yes, except for one huge problem: A startling report found that more than a third of all women fail to get enough D for healthy bones—and more than 75% of us lack the higher amounts needed for the vitamin to do its disease-fighting best. Downing a daily glass of milk is a smart way to get more D. But the most significant source is sunlight, and that’s where the trouble lies. Our bodies produce D with exposure to ultraviolet radiation, but as we’ve gotten smarter about dodging skin cancer—staying out of the sun and slathering ourselves with mega-SPF sunblock—our vitamin D levels have plummeted. Fortunately, there are smart and safe ways to boost your intake while you enjoy all the benefits that vitamin D can deliver. Lower your risk of cancer Vitamin D may substantially cut the risk of breast, colon, prostate, and ovarian cancers, according to a growing body of research. In fact, Dr. Garland found that women with D blood levels that were more than double the current national average of 25 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) had a 50% lower risk of breast cancer than those with the lowest blood levels. Scientists believe that D helps regulate genes in a way that protects healthy cells and stops the growth of cancerous ones. There are receptors for vitamin D in virtually all of the body’s cells, and to “feed” them you need an adequate blood level of the vitamin. That depends not only on how much time you spend outside and what you eat but also on where you live. People living at higher latitudes, for example, soak up fewer UVB rays from November through March, which means they’re more likely to have low blood levels of vitamin D and a higher risk of cancer. In fact, studies have shown twice as many colon cancer deaths and 50% more breast cancer deaths in the far North compared with the sunnier South, Dr. Garland says. So how much sun is enough (link) to lower the risk of cancer without upping your risk of skin damage?

As I see it, every day you do one of two things: build health or produce disease in yourself.

                                                                             - Adelle Davis (1904 - 1974)

Cell phones and skin rashes; how do they relate? Read on….

 Article by Reuters…

LONDON - Doctors baffled by an unexplained rash on people’s ears or cheeks should be on alert for a skin allergy caused by too much mobile phone use, the British Association of Dermatologists said on Thursday.

Citing published studies, the group said a red or itchy rash, known as “mobile phone dermatitis,” affects people who develop an allergic reaction to the nickel surface on mobile phones after spending long periods of time on the devices.

“It is worth doctors bearing this condition in mind if they see a patient with a rash on the cheek or ear that cannot otherwise be explained,” it said.

The British group said many doctors were unaware mobile phones could cause the condition.

Safety concerns over mobile phones have grown as more people rely on them for everyday communication, although the evidence to date has given the technology a clean bill of health when it comes to serious conditions like brain cancer.

“In mobile phone dermatitis, the rash would typically occur on the cheek or ear, depending on where the metal part of the phone comes into contact with the skin,” the group said in a statement.

“In theory it could even occur on the fingers if you spend a lot of time texting on metal menu buttons.”

Nickel is a metal found in products, ranging from mobile phones to jewelry to belt buckles and is one of the most common causes of allergic contact dermatitis, according to the Mayo Clinic in the United States.

Earlier this year Lionel Bercovitch of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and colleagues tested 22 popular handsets from eight different manufacturers and found nickel in 10 of the devices.

Article by, Temma Ehrenfeld

The newest cure-all may be an ancient one: simple touch. The Chinese have been using massage for all kinds of medical conditions for centuries. Now, Western research is confirming that massage isn’t just for muscle pain. One of the most surprising findings: massage may help premature babies gain weight. When Tiffany Field, a professor of pediatrics, became a new mother, she massaged her premature infant daughter and was so impressed with the results she later founded the Touch Research Institute (TRI) at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Massage, it turns out, may boost immunity and help people with a range of conditions from premenstrual syndrome to high blood pressure. It also seems to help soothe pain from arthritis, burns and even surgery. Here are five surprising facts about massage from the research findings at TRI and elsewhere that you can put to use:

1. Pick Your Spot:You don’t have to massage the part of the body that hurts most. If you’re shy about letting a friend touch your aching lower back, for instance, she could help by massaging your shoulders instead. This is because massage creates chemical changes that reduce pain and stress throughout the body. One way it does this is by reducing a brain chemical called substance P that is related to pain. In a TRI study, for example, individuals with a form of muscle pain called fibromyalgia showed less substance P in their saliva (and they reported reduced pain) after a month of twice-weekly massages.       Read more

The 20 healthiest foods for Under $1

By: Brie Cadman

Food prices are climbing, and some might be looking to fast foods and packaged foods for their cheap bites. But low cost doesn’t have to mean low quality. In fact, some of the most inexpensive things you can buy are the best things for you. At the grocery store, getting the most nutrition for the least amount of money means hanging out on the peripheries—near the fruits and veggies, the meat and dairy, and the bulk grains—while avoiding the expensive packaged interior. By doing so, not only will your kitchen be stocked with excellent foods, your wallet won’t be empty. Read more