A healthy diet is essential for women’s physical health. By eating a balanced diet that includes plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins, women can improve their overall health and reduce their risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. In addition, a healthy diet can promote healthy weight management, improve digestion, and boost energy levels.
Health And Happiness – The True Connection
Happiness and healthiness go hand in hand. A healthy body, mind and soul is a happy body, too. On the same note, when you are unhealthy it is hard to be very happy. But people do persevere. Even in the worst of diseases and illnesses, many people can find the bright side of life. They look for the positive in the rubble of the negative. Although suffering from their illnesses, these remarkable people choose a positive attitude over a negative one.
Studies have shown that negative emotions and thoughts harm the body. Long-term stress and fear can alter biological systems and over time can cause illnesses such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Chronic anger and anxiety can interfere with the heart’s electrical functions and lead to cardiac disease. Have you ever felt your heart race when you are scared or angry? Your stomach too, may begin to hurt due to the release of certain hormones that are released by the body when it is stressed. These negative emotions have a harmful effect on your body.
Striving to live a healthy lifestyle can make you very happy. Of course, it won’t ensure happiness, as there are many other areas of your life that factor into your own personal equation of happiness. However, all preferences aside, living a healthy lifestyle means fewer colds and illnesses, less bloating and gas, less times waiting on food or being hungry and building the body you always wanted.
Living a healthy lifestyle means never having to say you are sorry. You automatically forgive yourself and those around you so that you can live a life of true grace and beauty. You will be amazed at how wonderful you can feel when you let go of negative feelings and embrace love and forgiveness. This also applies to your diet and exercise efforts. Be happy with your achievements but don’t ever stop trying. Let patience and persistence be your guiding mantra. Remembering to be patient with your body and persistent in your efforts.
I strive for health and happiness every day. My husband and children remind me of how important my health is to my family and how grateful I am for their health, too. When I focus on all that we have to be thankful for, I feel all my stress and anxiety melt away. I do believe there is a direct connection between health and happiness, and I am so happy to be healthy and truly want you to be healthy and happy, too.
Have A Healthy Happy Heart
A happy heart is more than just a state of mind. Keeping your heart healthy and happy is one of the best things you can do for your body, mind and soul.
Unfortunately, heart disease is still the leading cause of death for both men and women. Surprisingly, one in four women will have a heart attack and because women experience heart trouble differently than men, many times women ignore or don’t fully understand the symptoms.
Exercising, eating a heart-healthy diet and getting plenty of rest are paramount to keeping your heart healthy. Monitor your blood pressure and cholesterol levels and follow your physician’s advice for taking care of your heart.
Regular cardio exercises like walking, jogging, cycling or rowing can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol. These fun activities also burn calories and along with a low-fat, high-nutrition diet, can help you to lose weight and keep it off.
The Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a combination of the two.
That’s about 30 minutes a day, five days a week. If that’s more than you can do, start with 30 minutes a day, three days a week. As you progress, you can add more days or exercise longer, aim for 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity.
Remember if you are short on time it’s fine to break-up your workouts into six 10-minute sessions during a day. You’ll still get the same heart-health benefits.
Interval training provides some great benefits and may help you reach your goal weight quicker. Try combining alternate short bursts of intense activity with intervals of lighter activity, for example, include short bursts of jogging or fast walking into your regular walks.
You can also add exercise to your daily activities with these tips.
• Take the stairs instead of an elevator.
• Walk or ride your bike to work or to do errands.
• March in place while watching television.
• Add weights to any exercise routine.
• Stand longer, sit for shorter periods of time.
Feel Fabulous Every Day
Learn how to sync your schedule to your body’s internal clock and feel fabulous all day, every day. From the time you arise until the time you go to sleep, you can make the most of your day and never feel as if you are running out of time to do the things you want to do.
Busy women tend to feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day. However, with a full 24 hours given to us each day, there certainly seems to be sufficient time for just about anything. It all has to do with making choices that work the best for you and your lifestyle and that includes having time for family and friends.
Awake each day around the same time, allowing yourself enough time for your morning routine. You can train your body to wake up at approximately the same time every day, if you give your body enough rest and relaxation.
Welcome the day and celebrate your existence with positive affirmations that help to guide and direct your mind and body to follow your goals. Follow these positive messages with some stretching to promote flexibility. Next, you will want to head to the kitchen and prepare a healthy breakfast, within about 30 to 60 minutes of waking.
If you work, be sure to already have your snacks and lunch planned for the day. During a regular 8-hour day, you will want to have 2 snacks and a lunch. To ensure you manage your weight successfully, you will want to always have healthy foods to take with you. Dining out is also an option, but be sure to write down everything you eat in your fitness journal.
As often as you can, stand up and stretch, take the long way around to walk, park further away, and any other ways you can move your body throughout the day. If it is feasible where you work, schedule a workout time during the day. This helps to break up the work day, relieve stress and gets your workout in without disrupting time with your family.
Of course, many women find time in the evening to work out, too. A regular exercise routine with your husband or children can provide the activity and social interaction you need to improve your health, reduce your waistline and help you to manage your weight.
Enjoy dinner with your family and spend time truly listening to what they have to say. Set a regular time for bedtime and stick with it. After awhile, your body’s clock will naturally readjust and you will get sleepy every night about the same time. Setting a schedule will help you find the time you need within the 24 hours you get each day.
The secret to feeling fabulous every day, is to plan your day in advance but be flexible and forgiving. Never feel guilty about the choices you make, just resolve to make better choices in order to attain the results you seek. It’s all about being in control of your life, when you take charge and seize the day, you are naturally going to feel fabulous.
Sleep Like A Beauty, Awake Refreshed
Have you ever noticed a correlation between sleep and losing weight? Many people, especially women, are so busy, that they don’t get a good night’s sleep. Doctors have revealed that a good night’s sleep plays a big part in weight control. According to experts, there is a critical link between sleep deprivation and obesity. Americans are sleeping less than ever and are getting bigger than ever. People who sleep less than seven hours per night are more likely to be overweight or obese. Studies show that the lack of sleep impacts the balance of hormones in the body that affect appetite. The hormones ghrelin and leptin, important for the regulation of appetite, can be disrupted by a lack of sleep.
Sleep like a beauty and awake rejuvenated and refreshed. Getting your beauty sleep is not just a phrase. When a woman doesn’t get enough rest, it starts to show in her face. Continuous sleep deprivation will cause lines in the face to deepen, bags and dark circles under the eyes and over all inflammation that causes the face to look as if it has aged.
A woman’s body requires rest. Rest and sleep provide an opportunity for the body to cleanse, repair, and rejuvenate on a deep cellular level. Sleep is a time for your body to repair damage caused by stress, ultraviolet rays and other harmful exposures. Your body needs this rest in order to work with the nutrients that you have been feeding it. Since your cells actually produce more protein while you are sleeping, this down time allows them to repair and rejuvenate.
When your body is in need of sleep, it goes into a state of stress. The body’s functions are put on high alert and that causes an increase in blood pressure and a production of stress hormones such as cortisol. An increase in blood pressure intensifies your risk for heart attacks and strokes. The stress hormones also, make it harder for you to sleep. Stress causes an overproduction of cortisol, the hormone responsible for a fat belly.
Eating a stable diet that includes healthy proteins, lots of vegetables and fruits and drinking plenty of water each day will help your body maintain a proper balance of activity and rest. Getting at least 30 minutes of exercise each day helps to regulate the body’s internal clock, allowing you to rest better and be more energized when you are awake.