Eating Disorders Do Not Discriminate
December 31, 2006
Who suffers from Eating Disorders?
Eating Disorder sufferers are male and female alike. We are of all ethnicity’s, religions,and economic backgrounds. We are of all ages,with very different body structures. We can look normal on the outside and yet be suffering terribly on the inside.
Genetics, Psychology, and Media all influence the onset of an eating disorder. Once we get caught in the cycle, some days it seems as though we will never break free. We constantly beat ourselves up, every moment of every hour of every day. If we could just be perfect in some way then we would be ok. It is easier to stand alone, free from the rejection, and disappointment of others. In our loneliness we listen to the constant torment inside our heads.
You are stupid! You can’t do anything right! Why would anyone want to be your friend? You are so fat! No one ever is going to want you! Who would ever love you?
Every sufferer has her or his own negative voices.We try to out run them in anyway we can.We, so badly, want to be in control of our lives.Our Eating Disorder is the one thing we have control over, or so it seems. After some time, even our eating disorder becomes out of control.We may become depressed, defensive, angry,hopeless, self harming and some of us may become suicidal.
Drug Addiction Treatment Centers: A Fresh Start
December 31, 2006
Half a decade ago, I started working on a hotline to help addicts and their families find drug addiction treatment centers. Thousands of calls later, I still remember the first time I picked up the line.
I could hardly make out what the woman on the other end was saying to me. Shelly (not her real name) was sobbing. She had just arrived at her fatherâ??s apartment and had found him passed out cold on the couch with a needle still sticking out of his arm. Why she called our line instead of 9-1-1 was a mystery. I called for an ambulance and waited on the phone with her until they arrived. She told me how her father had been a construction worker, though his dream was to play guitar in a band. Shelly said her parents split up when she was thirteen because of her dadâ??s drinking. He moved away to live in another state for a couple of years and they began to lose touch. He would send the occasional card or make a call on her birthday the first couple of years, but that eventually ended. After college, Shelly decided to find her dad. It turned out that he had moved back and was living just a couple of miles from where she grew up.
Cross Training
December 31, 2006
One of the biggest misconceptions about exercise is that there is “one” program that works for someone all the time. People think that they need to get on a particular workout program and just keeping doing that program over and over again. Although getting on a good program IS a necessary first step, ensuring that your body doesn’t adapt to that program is critical to ensuring that your results don’t slow down or stop!
In order to maintain the effectiveness of your workouts over the long term, you have to employ a concept known as cross training. Although there is no hard and fast definition of cross training, the basic idea is that you continually change your exercise program to work both your muscular and your cardiovascular systems in a variety of ways, forcing your body to adapt to a new stimulus. Remember that the whole idea behind exercise is to make your body do things that it is not used to doing. In response to that effort, your body naturally adapts in order to meet the changing energy demands of the activities that you engage in. This process happens with your muscles, as well as with your heart, lungs, and circulatory system - collectively known as the cardiovascular system. To ensure you get the most out of your cross training efforts, you should make changes to the activities that challenge your muscles as well as your cardiovascular system.
Researching Glyconutritionals (a.k.a. Glyconutrients)?
December 31, 2006
The Greek word “Glyco” means, “Sugar”. Most people think of sugar as being bad for you. However, there are actually TWO kinds of sugars. One is the refined or “extracellular” sugars which have been long associated with human disease. The other sugars are “intracellular” which can be found in fruits and vegetables and provide the body with nutrition it needs. These sugars, also known as complex carbohydrates, have been studied for years. However, only recently have we begun discovering their purpose in the body.
An increasing number of scientists believe that certain carbohydrates represent the next frontier in the search for non-toxic treatments for various degenerative conditions. Even though we have just begun to scratch the surface in understanding the full potential of these carbohydrates, the research being reported in just the last decade has ignited a new level of hope and optimism with some of the world’s leading immunologists.
One of the world’s most renowned veterinary immunologists, Dr. Ian R. Tizard, writes in a published paper entitled Carbohydrates, Immune Stimulating, “there has long been a tradition in folk medicine that extracts of certain fungi and plants may be of assistance in the treatment of cancer. On investigation, many of these extracts have been found to possess potent immune- stimulating activity. In many cases, this activity is attributable to complex carbohydrates.”
Fitness Focus: Overcoming Obstacles
December 30, 2006
If you’re like me, the quest to be in shape, manage weight and overall well-being, at times, feels overwhelming. And, as if the quest to be fit isn’t hard enough, there’s often other obstacles to overcome: health issues, time management, mustering up courage or energy. Even if you’ve been exercising for a long time, there’s always new barriers to be broken. So, how to put all of this into perspective? According to Tom Turner, executive liaison for the Spina Bifida Association that’s exactly it: Perspective. And also, according to him, there’s no mountain too high to climb. Tom would know. Paralyzed from the waist down since birth he’s now 33 and trains about three times a week. In fact, he tells me, he just couldn’t get along without exercise.
So in my quest for the last word on overcoming barriers in fitness, Tom sat down with me and together we came up with 3 basic principles that will help break-down fears and intimidations in reaching fitness goals.
(After all, if he can exercise on a regular basis, shouldn’t that be encouragement enough for anyone to give it a shot?)
Principle #1 Move into the Fear.
Air Purifiers And Air Filters Can Help The Health Of Allergy And Asthma Sufferers
December 30, 2006
Indoor air pollution in the form of dander, dust and pollen particulate matter can be a real irritant for suffers of asthma, allergies and other respiratory conditions. In addition to removal of all direct irritant sources and minimizing the irritant containment materials in your house, you should also consider the indoor ventilation and filtration system of home.
Environmental control is the key to reducing exposure to indoor and outdoor allergens. Keeping a clean house free of dust, dander, smoke, pollen, and other airborne particulate matters will help to reduce the irritation and effect on family members with respiratory difficulties. Air cleaners, filters and hepa filters can play a role in helping to control or reduce the exposure to indoor and outdoor allergens.
Several health authorities have recognized that certain types of air filtration systems can be beneficial in reducing the amount of airborne particulates in a room. The American lung association recommends using a hepa air filter purifier for the bedrooms of asthma suffers. The Mayo clinic recommends an air particle filter for household ventilation systems. Ionic filters and hepa filters have been endorsed or recognized by the Asthma and allergy foundation of America (AAFA) and the British Allergy Foundation seal of approval.
Why Diets DONT Work
December 30, 2006
One of the biggest scams ever successfully pulled on the American public is - somewhat appropriately - a 4-letter word. That word is, of course, Diet. By now you have seen advertisements for more diets than you can easily remember, and have also most likely seen an article or television show debunking some of those diets. Unfortunately, the art of shooting holes through the credibility of a diet plan is normally done by ANOTHER diet company, solely for the purpose of getting you to use their product instead. Well, this article has nothing to sell, nor really anything to gain, save the knowledge that hopefully the reader - that’s you - will put down the Diet Madness Menu, and get a real world point of view on why diets don’t work, and what you can do about it.
Eating, the Lost Art
Exercise The Right Way - The Flat Dumbbell Fly
December 30, 2006
Other articles in this series looked at a number of exercises, mainly from the perspective of developing a comprehensive muscle building program. Sometimes we take things for granted, especially when it comes to performing the basic exercises that constitute the core of most bodybuilders’ training regimes.
It is useful, therefore, to describe in detail the processes involved in actually doing these exercises. This will help beginners to start out using the correct techniques before moving on to potentially more dangerous heavy weights. If it also helps more experienced lifters to redress some of the little faults that have almost imperceptibly crept in over the years, all the better.
In this article we’ll take a close look at the flat dumbbell fly.
MUSCLES TARGETED: pectoralis major
STARTING POSITION
Grasp two dumbbells using a closed grip.
Assume a supine position on a bench.
Press the dumbbells to an extended elbow, parallel arm position above the chest.
Rotate the dumbbells to a neutral grip.
Slightly flex the elbows and point them out to the sides.
This is the starting point for all repetitions.
DOWNWARD MOVEMENT
Bye Bye Holidays and Holiday Eating
December 29, 2006
Bye Bye Holidays
Hoping everyone had a fun, fantastic, exciting and relaxing mix of Holiday eventfulness or lack thereof. Whatever it was that you did, that it most suited your moods and needs. Since the holidays were shortened into one compact week, Saturday to the next weeks Sunday, there was no time to languish. You had to seize that holiday time with both hands and feet to get the most out of it.
Holidays for me mean visiting family, since they live in another country (Canada) this is only a biannual event and therefore more meaningful. I have to inhale everyone to their essence and then painfully let go. Because it’s a large family it takes concentration and a lot of energy, especially because there are a growing number of children and I certainly don’t want to miss any of the details of their development. I also want them to remember me meaningfully until the next time I see them in six months. Holiday shopping helps.
Are Weight Loss Supplements Right For You?
December 29, 2006
The debate about whether supplements for weight loss are healthy or not will go on and on for years to come. There are good and bad points to using weight loss supplements. One of the bad points is that once you stop taking them you gain everything back that you lost to begin with.
Most doctors will tell you that weight loss supplements are not necessary and that only a good controlled diet along with daily exercise is the only thing one needs to lose weight. This is true. however with today’s working society with 2 parents working and trying to raise children at the same time who has time for exercise? Who has time to plan good nutritional meals?
