Breath better to relax

If you are in the middle or before of a stressful, important situation, to handle these situation right, you need to be relaxed. This is how you can achieve it:

When you breath, you deliver oxygen to all of your body’s cells, including those in your brain.

Normal breathing involves deep, slow inhalations and exhalations. When you are stressed, however, you tend to take shorter, shallower breaths, which don’t supply as much oxygen to your body; this actually increases the amount of stress you experience.

Breathing is fundamentally linked to the way we feel both mentally and physically. Simply changing the way you breath will enable you to handle stress better. Deep, slow, focused breathing can change the way you feel, give you an emotional lift, and reduce stress and anxiety.

Get in the habit of checking your breathing, and you will find that you can focus and center yourself simply by concentrating on the way you are inhaling and exhaling.

Exercise

These exercise slows your hearth rate, reduces stress level in the process, and makes you become more aware of your breath:

• Sit down and be aware of your breathing

• Inhale, exhale, and repeat

• Your breath may begin to slow and deepen, but don’t actively try to change it

• Just follow it without judgment for 5 minutes, or whatever time you have (there is usually no much time in stressful situations)

• You should be more relaxed by now then before

• Repeat as often as you need, practice it and achieve - relaxed all the time stage

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Tennis elbow

The symptoms of tennis elbow:

• Pain when bending the wrist upward against a force or when stretching muscles by straightening or bending the elbow or bending the wrist downward

• Pain felt over the bony part on the outside of the elbow

• Swelling of the elbow area

Who is at risk?

• Anyone who overuses his or her forearm muscle

• It is not limited to tennis players - less than 5 percent of all tennis elbow diagnoses are related to playing tennis

• It occurs among people who do a lot of heavy lifting, typists, construction workers, baggage handlers and others

• Tennis elbow gets its name from the fact, that up to half of all frequent players develop it at some time during their careers. It is especially common among players who swing improperly, or players that overuse their forearm muscle by playing too frequently or too long.

How it develops?

Tennis elbow is a form of tendinitis caused by continued stress on the forearm muscles used in grasping and extending motions that originate in elbow.

Pain first occurs in the tendons involved in extending the wrist, such as when tennis player hits the a backhand shot. With continued stress, the muscles and tendons begin to hurt when bent or extended, or even at rest due to tiny tears that become inflamed and do not have a chance to heal.

What can you do when tennis elbow pain appears?

• Rest from the activities that cause elbow pain is the most important treatment for tennis elbow

• Apply ice to the area - for two days - 20 minutes every two hours through the day

• Place an elastic bandage around the forearm just below the elbow

• After two days of ice treatment - alternate warm compresses with ice packs to promote healing

• See the doctor if the pain persist for more than two weeks

How can you prevent tennis elbow?

• If playing tennis, use the right backhand movement

• Weight train and stretch your arms to make them stronger and more flexible - Chin ups are great exercise to strengthen your arms and upper body. Do them 3 times maximum repetitions - 3 times a week.

• Learn to pace yourself; for example, if playing tennis every day provokes the symptoms, cut back to every other day

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Eating out

Here is my advice for eating outside the home:

Double up on complex carbohydrates and cut your protein in half.

I know it sounds very different from everybody else’s advice that high protein diet is good. But it is not.

Here is what to do:

• Order half of the usual restaurant portion of animal protein (or share half with a friend or take the uneaten portion home in a doggy bag)

• Order a baked potato (or even two, if you desire), or pasta (whole grain if possible), and a large salad (do not use commercial dressings)

• Top your baked potato with low fat yogurt or cottage cheese (low fat)

• Ask for marinara sauce for your pasta

• Use home made dressing for your salad or just a vinegar

• Order fresh fruits for dessert (melon, grapefruit, fresh berries)

Meats in the restaurants usually contain lots of saturated fat and sodium. So try to eat less meat out.

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Push-ups - the ultimate core builder

I really like push-ups and always incorporate them to my workout plan. They’re the ultimate core builder. They work almost every muscle in your body. They are simple to do, and you need no equipment, just your floor and your own body weight.

• If you do them right and do them enough, they will give you great upper body workout you can get outside a gym

• Push-ups make you stronger, they work mainly your triceps and chest muscles

• Women will find their upper body toned and shaped after mastering these exercise and doing it on regular basis

• Push-ups can help get rid of the “man boobs”, so many man are worried about

Push-ups are great exercise, so add them to your plan or do them three nonconsecutive times a week, start with three times 10 if you haven’t done them for a while and start adding. Later, or if you are fit and push ups seem easy do them Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays - 3 times maximum repetitions you can do.

Push-ups are not going to make women look like guys - they don’t build musculature in womens body. For extra bulking, you need to be in gym lifting heavy weights. But push-ups do build core muscles, and if you diet too, and cut the calories down, doing push-ups will make a big difference in how you look, because your body will be toned.

Here is the correct way to do them:

• You can do them on your knees if you are beginner, or just starting with serious exercise.

• Lie on your stomach with your hands placed under each shoulder and with your fingers extended and joined with your thumb along the hand.

• Push up while keeping your back straight and then lover yourself until your chest is about an inch or two off the floor, but do not let your body touch the floor.

If you are doing your push-ups by using your knees, start by bending your knees and crossing your feet before you push off with your hands. Keep your feet in crossed position, with your knees bent throughout the entire set.

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Healthy fast breakfast

Eating in the morning helps control your body weight, keeps you more energized through the day and keeps your mood upbeat, too.

Here are my favorite fast, simple and healthy breakfast recipes. All contain plenty of important nutrients, you need for breakfast, such as complex carbohydrates rich in fiber and vitamins:

Berry breakfast

1 cup low-fat cottage cheese with 1/2 cup fresh blueberries and 11 almonds. Put blueberries and almonds on top of the cottage cheese.

Banana and peanut butter

1 banana and 1 spoon of unsalted, crunchy organic peanut butter. Cut banana in small pieces, put a little bit of peanut butter on top of each piece and enjoy.

Quick oatmeal

2 cups of low-fat milk, 1 cup of old-fashioned plain (sugar-free) oatmeal put in the pot and boil together for 1 minute. Put on plate and top it with small pieces of fruit such as blueberries, strawberries, bananas, raspberries.

Yogurt and oatmeal

Put 1 whole low-fat yogurt in the cup and add 3 large spoons of old fashioned (sugar-free) oatmeal; mix it together and top it with small pieces of fruit.

Toast with peanut butter

Toast 2 pieces of multi-mixed grain bread, put 1 spoon of unsalted, organic peanut butter on top of one toast and put the other one on top of it.

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Alcohol and health

Will alcohol improve your health or will it harm you? The answer depends on how much you consume, when you drink, and whether or not you have problems that increase your personal risk.

Harvard medical school guide to men’s health about alcohol and its potential health benefits states, that the dose is the most important factor :

It hardly seems possible, but it is true. Alcohol is good for health if the dose is right, the timing is right, and the drinker is right. By now, a massive amount of medical evidence supports this news. If you drink a little, you can reduce your risk of dying from heart disease, but if you drink too much you will increase your risk of dying from many causes, including cancer, liver disease, trauma, and even heart disease.

Is drinking right for you? It is a personal decision. Men are better candidates for low-dose alcohol than women. Older men are better candidates than younger men, and men with heart disease risk factors, particularly low HDL cholesterol levels, are the best candidates of all, as long as they have no specific reason for abstaining.If you choose to drink, limit yourself to one to two drinks a day, counting twelve ounces of beer, five ounces of wine, or one and a half ounces of distilled liquor as one drink. But do not drink at all before you drive or operate dangerous machinery.

Do not drink at all if you have liver disease or other alcohol-related problems, such as uncontrolled hypertension or congestive heart failure, pancreatitis, or high triglyceride levels. Do not drink if you take medications that interact adversely with alcohol. Check with your doctor to see if alcohol is safe for you.

Drink with extra care, or not at all, if you have a family history of alcohol abuse. Do not force yourself to drink if alcohol causes unpleasant symptoms such as heartburn, palpitations, headaches, or untimely drowsiness.

Despite all these precautions, do not shun all thoughts of alcohol. Most men can drink safely and responsibly, and men who do so will benefit from up to two drinks a day. If you are one of these men and you enjoy a drink or two, drink up. To your health!

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Physical fitness by J.F.K.

Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. The relationship between the soundness of the body and the activities of mind is subtle and complex. Much is not yet understood. But we know what the Greeks knew: That intelligence and skill can only function at the peak of their capacity when the body is healthy and strong; that hardy spirits and tough minds usually inhabit sound bodies. - John F. Kennedy

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My new years resolutions

I had a moment today and without much of thinking, I wrote on napkin in coffee shop my new years resolutions that came to my mind - things that I am missing, not doing, want to stop doing, or want to improve. I recommend, that you think about yours little longer, which I might do later too, but this is what I wrote and it took me about 5 minutes:

• Talk less - only say something, when you really have something to say

• Eat at least three pieces of vegetable and three pieces of fruit every day

• Go surfing more - at least 2 times a week

• Stretch for 15 minutes everyday

• No more gossip

• Cook more home, eat even less meat

• Don’t let negative people distract you - stay the course

• Have a lot of healthy snacks like fruits, vegetables stored in my car

• Read all Harry Potter books

• Be more available to other people when they need help

• Don’t read news in newspaper, don’t watch news in TV

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Set your realistic fitness goals

Setting goals is an excellent way to keep yourself on track. If you set long- and short-term goals, you are more likely to stick to your exercise program. Be sensible in setting up your exercise program. Choose something you enjoy doing and be very specific in setting goals. Ask yourself what exactly it is you want to happen (weight loss? firmer thighs? run a race? run a marathon?), when you want it to happen, and how you will know when it has happened. Make your goals realistic. You can also try to set more ambitious goals, but make sure, you give yourself enough time to achieve them.

Here are some examples of short-term goals:

• I will check out the local gym and become a member of one
  

• I will find an exercise partner and set up an exercise plan

• I will quit smoking

• I will walk 30 minutes every day

• I will stop drinking soda

• I will brown bag my lunch
  

• I will go to sleep half an hour earlier

• I will watch less TV and go for a walk instead or prepare my next day lunch

• I will stretch everyday for 15 minutes

Here are some examples of long-term goals:

• I will increase my cardiovascular strength by running 3 times a week for 30 minutes instead of walking

• I will loose 25 pounds (11kg) - I recommend breaking these to smaller goals - I will loose 1 pound a week

• I will run a marathon - great goal to set, but it is really long therm goal, give yourself enough time, get fitness professional to design your workout plan and stick to it

• I will build my strength, so I can do 25 push-ups

• I will build my strength, so I can do 10 chin-ups - great fitness goal to go for

• I will have “six-pack” on my stomach - these goal is achievable, but you need a good nutrition and exercise plan and discipline to hold on to it

Setting goals helps you focus on what you want to achieve. Visualize yourself reaching a major milestone and imagine the satisfaction it will bring.

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Think outside the gym

If you are a member of a gym, that’s fine, you still need to do your resistance workout at least twice a week to keep your muscles and bones healthy and strong, but I am a strong believer in outdoor activities. You can get and stay in excellent shape without a gym membership. You can get in shape while doing your workout outside and have more fun with it. It is great to do any kind of cardio-exercise in the gym, I almost never do my cardio-workout inside.

My favorite outdoor activities :

• Running out of my house to the closest park - do few sets of chin ups on a bar or tree branch, push ups, leg lifts for your abs and run back

• Swimming - in an outdoors swim club, lake, ocean

• Rowing - It is great to row on the lake for an hour in the summer and jump in the lake for a short swim after. When I was in a rowing team, I was in the best shape of my life

• Kayaking - you can buy your own kayak and a kayak rack for your car and get out on the weekend to the lake or ocean and get your great cardio-workout done and have lots of fun with it. You can do double kayaking with a fried or wife, husband or just make it a great date

• Surfing - If you live close to the ocean, become a surfer. Pick easy, safe spot and start surfing. I am a surfer and these is my favorite outdoor activity. It is a great cardio-workout and you practice your balance too.

• Playing - soccer, tennis, beach volleyball, beach soccer - you need to pick games where you run a lot, so it is intensive, while you have fun with your friends. I love beach and ocean, and it can be the best place to play volleyball or soccer.

• Hiking, or more challenging - Summiting, which means, climbing the hills in your area is a great cardio-exercise

• Biking - Bike to work if you can and connect your workout with commuting

• Walking - If you are looking for more relaxing outdoor activity, walking is fantastic mind relaxing thing to do. There is a huge difference between walking on the treadmill in the gym and walking in a beautiful park or your neighborhood

• Cross country skiing - the best endurance-exercise

Benefits of working out outside:

• Great feeling
• Fresh air
• Healthy moderate sun exposure (you really need some)
• Increased immunity system - You don’t get sick that often
• Relaxed mind

When you are out there on the beach, in the woods, in the park, don’t forget to pick up a piece of trash - plastic bag, or piece of garbage, on your way out to keep the nature beautiful.

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