As we all begin a new year, oftentimes we have a plan.  A plan for better health, or to incorporate more exercise in our everyday routine, or perhaps a plan to live more simply.

My own plan focuses on health.  As each year passes I realize I want to live longer but more importantly live well.  I have realized that unless I incorporate exercise into my everyday activities, my body and mind take a toll.  Diet also will play an important role as I focus on more veggies and less sugar.

Looking back at my own health issues that have come up over the past year, the following tips I found very helpful ~ I hope you do too!

  • This is an article that is quite important with regards to prevention.  Go to this link,  particularly for women,  since it concerns stroke, and since women generally live longer than men, strokes are more common.    This site gives great tips on the signs of a stroke and also some check-ups that are very helpful in determining risk factors.
  • Are you one of the four average Americans over 45 taking statins?  A big money-maker for Big Pharma (over $29 billion in sales in 2013), statins were developed to lower cholesterol, the primary factor believed to cause heart attacks, one of the leading causes of death in the U.S.   Go here to learn the negative health effects on the body caused by statins as well as the new information about how cholesterol is not our enemy in the fight against heart disease.  Again, poor eating habits, obesity and lack of exercise are our main culprits.
  • Choosing fewer carbs is helpful when meal planning. We have used the suggested substitutes using zucchini (in spirals) as our pasta as well as riced cauliflower (as a substitute for rice) and find it works well. It is known that eating fewer carbs helps with mood, weight, energy, digestion, immunity and more.
  • Interested in improving focus and energy, enhancing your mood and sleep quality, and jump-start weight loss? A great program for this is a 7-Day Healthy Cleanse. Preliminary Study Results showed an average of 6.8 pounds and 1.62 inches, plus increases focus, energy, and improved sleep quality. Go here for more information.
  • We all want to live better longer but how?  What we eat can determine quite a bit – particularly processed foods including sugar, which can result in a weakened immune system and chronic inflammation ~ at the root of so many chronic diseases.   Supplements such as CoQ10, Fish Oil, and Alpha Lipoic Acid all can help with this.  In addition to these, I must include resveratrol, in a balanced and powerful formula to protect DNA from oxidative stress and slow the formation of damaging AGE proteins that over time lead to cellular aging.
  • For that stress in our lives (which we all experience in different ways), I have discovered mindfulness, described by psychologist Scott Bishop, “Mindfulness is a “nonelaborative, nonjudgmental, present-centered awareness in which each thought, feeling, sensation that arises … is acknowledged and accepted as it is.”  This sounds so simple; however, when we approach experiences and issues in a way that is less reactive and generally happier, it can be transformational. A great site to check out about this subject can be found here.
  • Wishing you all a Happy New Year and take the time to have that calming cup of tea.

 

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