Active Lifestyle One way is to set aside a special time for a formal exercise program, involving such planned activities as walking, jogging, swimming, tennis, aerobic dance, exercise to an exercise videotape, and so on.
But don’t underestimate the value and importance of just being more physically active throughout the day as you carry out your unusual activities. Both can be helpful.
The formal programs are usually more visible and get more attention. But being more physical in everyday life can also pay off. Consider taking the stairs a floor or two instead of waiting impatiently for a slow elevator.
Park and walk several blocks to work or to the store instead of circling the parking lot looking for the perfect, up close parking space.
Mow the lawn, work in the garden or just get once in a while and walk around the house.
These types of daily activities often not view as “exercise,” can add up to significant health benefits.
Recent studies show that even small amounts of daily activity can raise fitness levels, decrease heart disease risk, and boost mood and the activities can be pleasurable, enjoyable ones. Playing with children, dancing, gardening, bowling, and golf….all these enjoyable activities can make a biog difference. Active Lifestyle
We need to get back to eating foods that kept our ancestors healthy for thousands and even millions of years. There's a lot we can learn from the past and those who don't learn the painful lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. So here's a little retrospective music for looking back to learn our lessons to help us cope with the future. (click the small arrow on the lower right of each video for full screen)
Live the Life.
One minute I held the key Next the walls were closed on me And I discovered that my castles stand Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand
Viva la Vida - Coldplay 2008
If you love someone, don't forget to show it.
When the future's architectured By a carnival of idiots on show You'd better lie low
Violet Hill - Coldplay 2008
Horrible History. Let's not repeat it.
If I were your appendages I'd hold open your eyes, so you would see That all of us are heaven sent And there was never meant to be only one To be only one
Megalomaniac - Incubus 2004
More questions than answers.
Why do we never get an answer When we're knocking at the door With a thousand million questions About hate and death and war
It's where we stop and look around us There is nothing that we need In a world of persecution That's burning in it's greed
Questions - Moody Blues 1970
Sometimes you don't know what you have until you lose it.
Oh no, not me We never lost control You're face to face With the man who sold the world
The Man Who Sold the World - Nirvana
To be or not to be ... selfish? Does it really matter?
Nothing really matters Love is all we need Everything I give you All comes back to me
Nothing Really Matters - Madonna 2006
And here's a little tribute to modern medicine, drugs, and poor diet.
I want you to know He's not coming back Look into my eyes I'm not coming back
Knives Out - Radiohead 2008
And running the rat race.
Find out who you are before you regret it Because life is so short, there's no time to waste it
Run Baby Run - Garbage 2005
But don't panic.
And we live in a beautiful world Yeah we do, yeah we do
Don't Panic - Coldplay 2001
Who makes up all the rules?
We follow them like fools Believe them to be true Don't care to think them through
They - Jem 2005
To our children's children's children.
With the eyes of a child You must come out and see That your world's spinning 'round And through life you will be A small part of a hope Of a love that exists In the eyes of a child you will see
Eyes of the Child - Moody Blues 1969
A celebration of femininity.
Wherever, whenever We'll learn to be together
Suerte - Shakira 2004
I view the list And take my pick I view my fate And make a choice 'Cause it's nobody else's but mine
Breathe Your Name - Sixpence None the Richer 2006
And masculinity?
Pay your surgeon very well To break the spell of aging Sicker than the rest, there is no test But this is what you're craving
Californication - Red Hot Chili Peppers 1999
Who knew the other side of you Who knew what others died to prove Too true to say goodbye to you Too true, too sad sad sad
Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers 2006
And now for a lighter note or two. We need more sun and fun. Get that vitamin D!
It's not having what want It's wanting what you have
Soak Up the Sun - Sheryl Crow 2002
On an island in the sun We'll be playin' an' havin' fun
Island in the Sun - Weezer 2001
A little dancing is good exercise.
Casino - Acoustic Alchemy 1992
With a love like that, you know you should be glad!
She loves you/I want to hold your hand - The Beatles
Don't take it for granted :)
Happy Holidays !
P.S. Thanks to Wildernessgal for the inspiration for the title to this post.
Breakfast: The most Important Meal You will notice marked improvements in mood and energy, with fewer cravings for junkfood, when you eat a breakfast that is high in water, protein, good carbs (loaded with antioxidants) and healthy fats.
But many people who struggle with their weight often skip breakfast altogether or have a light breakfast consisting of something like a glass of juice with bagel, a piece of toast or a bowl of cornflakes.
The typical American breakfast is essentially pure carbohydrate that is quickly absorbed and leads to a spike in blood sugar followed by a compensatory spike in insulin. This stimulates a steep fall in blood sugar, leaving you famished and sluggish by mid morning and susceptible to cravings for doughnuts, pastries, cookies, and junk foods and sugary drinks from the vending machines that are ubiquitous in the workplace.
This eating style is a vicious cycle that forces you to mindlessly consume excess calories leading t0 obesity, aging and disease. Instead, have a forever young breakfast with protein (eggs, whey protein, fish, or meat) and high nutrient, fiber rich foods (fruits, nuts, berries or veggies), and wash it down with tea, water, soymilk, or nonfat milk.
The rest of the morning you will walk straight by the box of doughnuts at work feeling compelled to indulge your self.
There was a study found that the breakfast bunch received four important benefits:
Lower BMI (average body weight)
Reduced risks of diabetes, metabolic problems and obesity
Better long term weight loss maintenance
Improved mental alertness throughput the day
Breakfast jumpstart your system when you roll out of bed in the morning by increasing your metabolic rate about 25 percent. This revs your energy up and improves your ability to perform both physically and mentally.
On the other hand, people skip breakfasts are stick in the hibernation mode and often plagued with the consequences of a slow metabolism like obesity, constant fatigue or sluggishness and chronically feeling cold.
Snacks eaten before bedtime are more likely to be converted to body fat while you sleep. In contrast, breakfast calories can be burned throughout the day supplying you with the energy you need to perform your best. Breakfast: The most Important Meal
I walk through snowy woods to a bend in the river, hidden from view by the trees and a small slope. The short day's light is beginning to fade, but a nearly full moon hangs above the naked trees upriver. I've followed a deer path and now stand at river's edge in two feet of snow. I have found a sacred place to savor and celebrate winter's solstice.
Breathing, listening to the joyful sound of shallow water rushing over riverstone. I hear my heart beating and soften into a quiet stance. Who am I?, I ask the river. Who do you want me to be? The sound of my beating heart is a solid rhythm for the river's bright melody of gentle waves and currents. The wonder held in this space suddenly shocks time into hibernation and I stand dissolved and free of name and contraction.
Moonlight pours from my face and the low hanging branches and round river stone. Our bones reach deep into the snowy bank, absent of leaf and bird. The river whispers our true name, speaking her fluid language of source intelligence, a universe of bubbling life. This, this again, she sings, now and now, this unending flow. We float upon gravity's grace in an effortless flow of being, tumbling as beauty's truth, rising as creative essence serving love's expansive reach.
My cold toes bring me back to the riverbank, Thomas shivering in the near darkness. I make snowballs and toss my dissolving fears into the rapids. Obstacles of arrogance and laziness and judgments and worries and clutchings are tossed one by one into the river until the sharp pain of my frozen fingers says Enough! I stand silent in the polar essence of the solstice and devote my fullest energy and awareness to being an embodied action of presence expressing the unity of planet, sun, life, motion and soul to all resonant beings sharing this evolving field of emergent life.
Most of us are deficient in vitamin D, especially at higher latitudes in the winter. Until recently, vitamin D was thought to mainly play a role in calcium metabolism. But recent investigations have discovered that it plays many important roles in the health of our immune system as well. Chronic vitamin D deficiency leaves us more vulnerable to infectious diseases as well as cancer and perhaps even heart disease. The correlation of colds and flu to winter and rainy season around the world is a prime example of vulnerability to infectious disease because of vitamin D deficiency. The correlation of many cancers by latitude is a strong indication of the effects of vitamin D deficiency in causing cancer.
Our early human ancestors in Africa had plenty of sun to maintain optimal vitamin D levels most of the year. Today, people living in this area who get good sun exposure are generally able to achieve about 50 to 60 nanograms of vitamin D per milliliter (ng/ml) of blood and this appears to be near the optimal level. Ultraviolet (UV) light forms vitamin D from a cholesterol-derived precursor in the top layers of the skin (another reason why cholesterol is good). Sun angle, cloud cover, altitude above sea level, skin exposure area, skin color, sunscreen usage, obesity, and age are all factors that affect the body's ability to make and utilize vitamin D from sunlight. With optimal conditions, it only takes about 10 minutes of full-body high-angle direct sun exposure for the body to produce about 10,000 International Units (IU) of vitamin D. Darker skin color and sunscreen both block UV light and reduce the vitamin D rate of formation. Obese and elderly people also need more sun exposure to achieve optimal blood levels of vitamin D. Above about 35 degrees latitude, the winter sun is inadequate to provide enough vitamin D to maintain optimal levels, even with full and frequent exposure.
Sunshine Dilemma
Strong sunlight on our skin is necessary to produce vitamin D but also ages our skin. Diets high in polyunsaturated fat especially make the skin more vulnerable to damage from UV rays in sunlight - another good reason to limit polyunsaturated fat to ancestral intake levels of around 4% or less. Sunburn especially damages the skin, by literally burning the skin and can cause first, second, or third degree burns. So, those with fair skin need to be very careful to avoid sunburn when getting vitamin D from sun exposure.
Supplementing Beyond Sunshine
When adequate sunshine is not available, vitamin D levels need to be maintained by diet and/or supplements for optimal health. The foods highest in vitamin D are mostly animal seafoods, as shown in the table below. The problem is, there are many confounding factors in determining how much dietary vitamin D is necessary to achieve optimal blood levels. Part of this problem is that vitamins D, A, and K2 all interact synergistically and increasing one without increasing the others is more likely to lead to toxicity problems. Getting plenty of calcium and magnesium are also important to prevent toxic effects from high intake of vitamin D. Dairy and animal seafood are excellent sources of these minerals.
Vitamin D in Food (click to enlarge)
At high latitudes in winter, getting as much as 1,000 to 4,000 International Units (IU) of vitamin D by diet or supplement may be neccessary to achieve optimal blood levels. Some people may need that much from food or supplements year-round. Others may need little extra vitamin D from diet. The best way to be sure how much is needed is through blood testing.
Blood Testing for Vitamin D
The best blood test to indicate vitamin D status is the 25(OH)D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) test. Ideally, 25(OH)D levels should be in the 40 to 60 ng/ml range for optimal health. The cost for this test ranges from about $50 to $150 and is usually not covered by insurance - even though vitamin D status is probably as much or more important than most covered parameters (a sad comment on the poor state of our modern "health care" system). Ideally, testing should be done at least twice a year, once in summer and once in winter.
Healthy Lifestyles Doing regular physical activity is a healthy lifestyle that health experts feel is among the most important. Not only does it help you prevent many of the major illness and enhance your physical fitness and health, but also it can contribute to good health in other areas as well.
Their list includes some of healthy lifestyles that you can adopt to promote good fitness, health and wellness. These lifestyles are only of benefit if you choose to do them. The choices you make have much to do with your fitness, health and wellness.
My son Isaac taught me a form of ritual. When he was about six I asked him, what do you think you should do when life feels complicated? Without any hesitation he said, “sit down, think, ask for help.” It is a process for both personal and communal learning that has taught me much.
Yesterday, I walked with my daughter, now 13. It was a “private walk with Dad.” We are vacationing, “holidaying” in Canada with grandparents and cousins. I wanted to make sure we had some time. My daughter so much relished the time. Her life, questions, stories were pouring out of her. We walked among the trees of this little town, Fairmont BC. We went to a favorite place, by a stream. I picked up two small stones. At the end of our walk I gave her one and called it a “truth stone.” It was a simple invitation, a simple symbol to invite our truth telling and witnessing with each other, whenever needed. It was one of those moments when my daughter and I just clicked in a great mix of laughter and seriousness.
Active Lifestyle
Park and walk several blocks to work or to the store instead of circling the parking lot looking for the perfect, up close parking space.
