10 Tips For a Better Life Through Healthy Eating by Porter Olson

An article by professional blogger, Porter Olson

A healthy lifestyle cannot be created through a fad diet or miracle solution. It comes from following the basic recipe for a better life that includes such ingredients as a healthy diet. The foods we consume go a long way to determining if we have strong, healthy bodies or if we end up being afflicted with obesity and a multitude of health problems. 

Healthy eating needs to become a habit for it to take a permanent spot in any person's lifestyle. There are many small and subtle ways you can incorporate healthy eating into your daily life:

1. Eat balanced meals
Some diets are based on forcing you to only eat foods that are low in carbohydrates or fat. Other diets require you to cut out meat or some other food group as the primary tool for achieving your health and fitness goals. These diets ignore a fundamental principle that the human body needs nutrients found in a variety of foods.

2. Drink plenty of water

While the myth of our bodies needing eight glasses of water each day is being debated, the importance of water in any diet can’t be denied. Water makes a great alternative to other caloric beverages, including soda pop, fruit juices, and sweetened tea. Water has zero calories, which easily beats the average of 150 per can of soda or 180 per glass of juice. Plus, water can quench your thirst and keep you hydrated longer than most calorie packed alternatives. 

3. Go organic when possible
There is no scientific evidence that shows organic foods have more health benefits than any other types, but many people prefer to eat foods that are grown locally and without pesticides because, in their minds, these foods are healthier. Keep in mind that choosing to eat organic foods may help your health, but isn’t a guarantee.

4. Limit fast food intake
There is nothing redeeming about fast food. It is extremely greasy, high in fat and loaded with sugar, salt and unhealthy carbohydrates. A diet centered on fast food is a ticket to rapid weight gain and obesity related illnesses. Plus, it saps your energy and generally does not taste as good as a home cooked meal that you have prepared yourself.

5. Embrace fruits and vegetables
You can never have too many fruits and vegetables! They make a quick and delicious snack that is also good for your body. All three basic meals can be complimented by adding fruits and vegetables into the mix. Fruits and vegetables have a knack of injecting tons of energy into your body and they go a long way toward keeping you feeling fit, thin and happy.

6. Savor your food
Wolfing down whatever is on your plate is the worst thing you can do at meal time. Not only do you barely taste the food you put in your mouth, but you also have a difficult time satisfying your appetite. Slowing down when you eat lets you savor the aroma and flavor of the cuisine before you. Mix in some conversation as you dine with a friend, family member or significant other. That offers you a chance to enjoy both your meal and your company at the same time.

7. Moderation is a good thing
Get rid of the buffet mentality at meal time. Eat until you are satisfied and then do not take another bite. There's no point in stuffing yourself full of food until you feel bloated and sick. There will be other meals to enjoy the next day and other chances for you to indulge in your favorite dishes once again.

8. Read the label
You can learn a great deal about a particular food item by scanning through the list of ingredients. If you find that it has a ton of strange sounding words, take it as a warning. That food is going to be filled with artificial flavoring, coloring and enough preservatives to keep it around for a century. These are not the types of things you really want in your body.

9. Cook your own meal
The best part of cooking your own food is that you control what goes into your meal and you also control the size of the meal. When you are the chef, you decide what you will eat and what you won't eat. Preparing your own food feels many times more satisfying than grabbing a value meal from a burger joint on the way home from work.

10. Treat yourself
It is impossible to go a lifetime without an occasional treat. Indulge occasionally. Bake up a batch of cookies or brownies with all-natural ingredients, or air pop some popcorn. Whatever appeals to your sweet tooth, make room for it. This will help you maintain a healthy balance in what you eat.

About Porter Olson 

About the Author: When he’s not out snowboarding the Utah powder, Porter Olson is a writer and blogger for UsDirect.com.

It's A Game of Feet

Coco Austin trains her feet under a load.

Almost a consistent theme with many as we mature is the pain in our feet. Sometimes it is caused by injury. Sometimes it caused by excessive bodyweight. I'm going out on a limb here and suggesting that it is caused a reduction of flexibility, strength and conditioning of our lower legs and feet. Modern times do not place extraordinary demands on our feet. We should not be surprised.

The use of the shoe as a protective tool is very, very, old. Realize the use of the word "protective" and not supportive. The shoe has actually changed our feet. Below is a famous illustration of someone who walks barefoot and another who lives in shoes. It's quite a difference. 

Obviously there is something going on here. Perhaps we can represent it with this analogy. Place your arm in a splint for 8 to 12 hours per day, every day. What do you think would happen? Atrophied muscles, loss of movement, loss of size and loss of function? Why should it be any different with the muscles of the lower legs and feet?

Let's compound the ideal of atrophied feet and increased load. Take feet that have been trapped in shoes during working hours and sometimes during non working ones too. As the muscles atrophy over the years and reduce their strength and flexibility,... you decide to increase the load placed upon them by gaining weight year by year. This can also load the lower leg, upper leg and torso area. Your posture will change with age and the stress on the weakened feet will increase. 

In some cases, increasing the load on the feet is necessary. Fashion and social style may indicate for example that women wear high heels. It is NOT a very healthy option, but with proper conditioning it can be folded into a lifestyle where fitness and looks do not have to be mutually exclusive. 

In another case a soldier may hike miles over rough terrain with unwieldy loads. The US Military has spent many years researching and altering the footwear of soldiers, who are young and strong, to manage this stress.

There is one simple alternative. Spend more time walking, hiking and running barefoot. This may not be practical in an urban area with broken glass, rocks and possible contamination risk. The "barefoot running" craze has stimulated a need for products that manufacturers are more than happy to develop. New shoes with little support have popped on to the marketplace. They are not the be-all-end-all, but they increase the choices we have to improve foot fitness. Here are two such examples.

The Inov-8 Shoe

The Vibram 5 Finger Shoe

These shoes are just two possibilities of a currently expanding market. Make sure to get a proper fit with either shoe. For more information on either of these brands, check out:

INOV-8 SHOES

VIBRAM 5 FINGER SHOES

Even with barefoot or protected walking or running, the addition of exercise for the feet can have quite a dramatic effect. Below is an illustration of just some of the structure of the lower leg and feet. There is plenty muscle tissue to work with.

Let's work our way through some lower limb drills that may relieve pain,  increase flexibility and develop some strength.

1. Stretching the front of the ankle is very important. When we spend some hours in traffic,.. the front of the ankle gets fixated into position. It's a far cry from hunting in the plains for Bison and running to avoid being eaten by Sabertooth tigers. Using a foam roller or even a rolled up towel can increase the range of motion. Focus on sitting in this position for about a minute. If it is painful, start with several short holds.

2. The next drill is to squat on your toes, then flex the plantar muscle on the sole of the feet. You end up rocking forward and back. [not up and down like a squat]. Usually bodyweight is sufficient in the early stages, but you can add a barbell plate in your lap for an extra challenge. You will also need to hold on to a fixed object for balance.

3. The third drill is to increase the strength of the muscles on the front of the lower leg. The shin area. The requires a wooden block. Place just your heels on the block and lower your toes towards the ground. Let the muscle stretch then contract it slowly to a position we call dorsiflexion. Repeat until you feel fatigue.

4. The standard calf raise is the next drill. Keep the knees locked and place the ball of the foot on a wooden block as shown or even a doorway. Lower the heels and let the calf stretch for 10 to 15 seconds. Then reverse the action and stand on your tip toes. Continue this process until you are fatigued. This drill will also enhance the shape of your lower legs.

5. This drill is a stretch for the muscles surrounding the toes. This is often neglected. Simple insert your fingers between your toes. Then squeeze and let the muscles relax and stretch. 

6. There are small muscles around the ankle that are addressed in other drills. The use of a Theraband however, adds unique resistance to the foot. Simple loop the band over the end of the foot, flex and relax until you are fatigued. 

7. Finally, using a golf ball we can do some soft tissue work by rolling it on the sole of the foot. This drill alone is quite beneficial. 

You can use all of these drills or just the ones that give you the most benefit. Tailoring an exercise program is using the Bruce Lee idea of "Absorb What is Useful, Reject What is Useless, and Add What is Specifically Your Own". Feel free to experiment. 


In addition to this article on exercise and barefoot running, here is a link to a great source of foot information. America's Podiatrist. 
It's time to start thinking of your feet as a part of your body that can age and this article is chock full of information to REVERSE it.

 

Diane Seekamp is 81...and going strong!

by Robin White



I met Diane Seekamp this past Friday in Delray Beach at the Arts Arena Gallery. She was helping her daughter lug around several heavy pieces of art from the car to the gallery. She was dressed in the latest fashion and I thought, this is a vibrant, lovely lady! And how sweet she is to help her daughter. Somehow we got on the subject of health and diet, and she mentioned she had just had open heart surgery in March. "Wow", I said "you look good." Then she said, "yeah and I am 81". That's when I knew we had to bring her to the attention of our readers!

People often think what Tom and I preach about is science fiction. Then, when I meet people who are so vibrant and healthy, both physically and mentally...I feel we need to highlight them, so people know...THIS IS POSSIBLE!

Diane said she feels like she is really more like 40. And she moves and talks and looks like it too. This makes me realize even more how important your body image really is to your overall health. YOUR BODY WILL OBEY WHATEVER YOUR MIND TELLS IT. So, if you adjust your mind to say "I feel young, I feel active, I feel flexible... you will be!

Diane, you are an inspiration to us all! Keep shining.

Coffee May Reverse Alzheimer's Disease!

Time to gulp down that magic liquid and put off cognitive decline!

Coffee 'may reverse Alzheimer's'

Drinking five cups of coffee a day could reverse memory problems seen in Alzheimer's disease, US scientists say.

The Florida research, carried out on mice, also suggested caffeine hampered the production of the protein plaques which are the hallmark of the disease.

Previous research has also suggested a protective effect from caffeine.

But British experts said the Journal of Alzheimer's disease study did not mean that dementia patients should start using caffeine supplements.

“ The results are particularly exciting in that a reversal of pre-existing memory impairment is more difficult to achieve ”
Dr Gary Arendash University of South Florida

The 55 mice used in the University of South Florida study had been bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

First the researchers used behavioural tests to confirm the mice were exhibiting signs of memory impairment when they were aged 18 to 19 months, the equivalent to humans being about 70.

Then they gave half the mice caffeine in their drinking water. The rest were given plain water.

The mice were given the equivalent of five 8 oz (227 grams) cups of coffee a day - about 500 milligrams of caffeine.

The researchers say this is the same as is found in two cups of "specialty" coffees such as lattes or cappuccinos from coffee shops, 14 cups of tea, or 20 soft drinks.

When the mice were tested again after two months, those who were given the caffeine performed much better on tests measuring their memory and thinking skills and performed as well as mice of the same age without dementia.

Those drinking plain water continued to do poorly on the tests.

In addition, the brains of the mice given caffeine showed nearly a 50% reduction in levels of the beta amyloid protein, which forms destructive clumps in the brains of dementia patients.

Further tests suggested caffeine affects the production of both the enzymes needed to produce beta amyloid.

The researchers also suggest that caffeine suppresses inflammatory changes in the brain that lead to an overabundance of the protein.

Earlier research by the same team had shown younger mice, who had also been bred to develop Alzheimer's but who were given caffeine in their early adulthood, were protected against the onset of memory problems.

'Safe drug'

Dr Gary Arendash, who led the latest study, told the BBC: "The results are particularly exciting in that a reversal of pre-existing memory impairment is more difficult to achieve.

"They provide evidence that caffeine could be a viable 'treatment' for established Alzheimer's disease and not simply a protective strategy.

"That's important because caffeine is a safe drug for most people, it easily enters the brain, and it appears to directly affect the disease process."

The team now hope to begin human trials of caffeine to see if the mouse findings are replicated in people.

They do not know if a lower amount of caffeine would be as effective, but said most people could safely consume the 500 milligrams per day.

However they said people with high blood pressure, and pregnant women, should limit their daily caffeine intake.

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "In this study on mice with symptoms of Alzheimer's, researchers found that caffeine boosted their memory. We need to do more research to find out whether this effect will be seen in people."

"It is too early to say whether drinking coffee or taking caffeine supplements will help people with Alzheimer's."

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said previous research into caffeine had suggested it could delay Alzheimer's disease and even protect against vascular dementia.

"This research in mice suggests that coffee may actually reverse some element of memory impairment."

"However much more research is needed to determine whether drinking coffee has the same impact in people.

"It is too soon to say whether a cup of coffee is anything more than a pleasant pick me up."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8132122.stm

16-Step 6-Pack Diet

By Scott Sonnon


If you follow even just one of these steps, you will have instant results. Follow them all, and your life will change. Discipline yourself to make them a lifestyle and in several months you’ll be in awe of your energy level, the spring in your step, and yes, how sexy you feel in the clothes you’ve dreamed of wearing.

1. Write it down! Journal your meals; when you have them and what you eat and drink. Include everything even to a handful of almonds, or that sneaky glorified candybar that supplement companies call “energy.” What you don’t realize will hurt you. But what you write down guarantees that you understand why your energy fluctuates, and empowers you to make specific and lasting changes!

2. 3-4-5: Eat 3 meals 4-5 hours apart with protein and complex carbs (greens and browns, no whites) at every meal. Front load your protein by eating more good stuff. If you eat more good stuff, you’ll displace the need for snacks which because of their fast-burn make you crave more sugars. That’s right. I’m telling you to eat more at your meals!

3. Stop the Belly at 7! After 7PM don’t take in anything but water or herbal tea. Filling makes for unfit sleeping habits, gives insomnia, and makes it harder for you to eat the right amount of food you need for breakfast - the most important meal of your day. You should be ravenous by morning, and that’s a good sign that you’re on track!

4. You are what you eat, regardless of whether you eat fast junk or if you eat sustainable quality. So, choose greens over browns and browns over whites. Choose whole, live, raw, local and organic over inert, mass-produced, foreign packaged and processed. If you want to feel like a million bucks, then you need to invest in the most important virtue of your success, your food!

5. No refined sugar, no sugar substitutes. No whites of any kind. Sure, if you use sugar, realize it, experience it and appreciate it. But sugar and its substitutes are the most insidious socially acceptible drug abuses. Just because 100 years ago, cocaine was socially acceptible, doesn’t mean it was healthy. It takes time for your taste to recover from refined sugar, but if you displace it with naturally occuring nutrient dense foods like dates (YUM!) you will not believe the difference not only in your energy, but how great you look and feel!

6. Kick the habit. These are just pale substitutes for the infinitely abundant vitality which lies concealed beneath their frazzled effects. Sure, moderation is fine, if you can handle it. But most people “crash” diet off of them and then fall “off the wagon.” So, it’s best to clear them totally out of your system for two years before you try to have that healthy glass of wine with your small evening meal, or that doppio espresso with your big breakfast.

7. Eat seasonally. Change your nutrition at least once every three months with the local produce and catch of the day. This guarantees the freshest aliveness of the food you’re ingesting. The closer the food is to being alive, the greater the nutritive density. Remember the purpose of food is to transfer its alive-energy to your energy. Life for life. This is why we must honor its sacrifice to us, and bless each bite for the energy it has chosen to give us.

8. Structure your exercise around your meals, not the other way around. Do the bulk of your “training” in the kitchen, because healthy nutrition precedes exercise. Basically, how you feel today is because of what you ate 12-48 hours ago.

9. Hunger is truth. Do you always feel content and never hungry? I’m not talking about feeling like you’re not full. I’m talking about rumbling, gurgling hunger. When’s the last time that you really felt that? Most people have conditioned themselves to eat when they feel less food digesting, rather than when they actually are hungry. This is why the kitchen is your best fitness equipment. You should be preparing or have prepared your meal by the time you hit actual hunger.

10. 1G/D: drink one gallon of water per day. We’re composed 90% of water. Most insufficient recovery, most headaches, most joint pains, most lack of concentration, most everything is due to chronic dehydration. Drinking coffee, soda, beer, “energy” drinks, all contribute to dehydration. It takes time to shift over to craving actual water again, because of the sugar, caffeine and alcohol cravings overriding that base-line need. Herbal tea - hot - will help you transition.

11. Wait 15 minutes after your meal to have any drink. Most of the bloated feeling comes from all of the drinking. If you need to drink because of the seasoning, then consider that your food has been seasoned to make you consume more.

12. First Burp. If you’re adequately chewing your food, and not drinking at your meal, then when you feel that first burp, your stomach just informed you that you’re done. Set the fork down, Sir, and push away from the table. Satiety reflex takes time to reclaim, because we’ve associated the absence of hunger to be “meal success” - when it’s actually based on certain cues that our body gives us like “first burp.”

13. Drink your food by chewing. You should chew your food until it’s liquified. If you don’t, you must eat more to get the same level of nutrition, and you’re usually “full” before you get adequate nutritive benefit from your meal because of gobbling and choking it down. Most people store fat because the body feels starved for nutritients… because they eat too fast. Slow down. This isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon. Savor each morsel.

14. Take a short walk immediately after your meal. This aids in digestion, and avoids the “fullness” feeling that plugs you and pushes you into “food coma.” It’s also the best time for a great talk with your loved ones. Or on your own, just experience the food as it becomes you.

15. Be in your process. Just because you’re learning discipline on your healthy nutrition doesn’t mean that you should fixate on doing everything perfectly. When you “fall off the wagon” jump back on without judging yourself. Appreciate your little tangent like you would any child-like distraction. You’re your own parent. Treat yourself like you would your darling little babe.

16. Honor elimination. What goes out and how is as important as what goes in. I know that most people don’t want to talk about elimination, because it’s viewed as “waste” because it’s not useful to you. But that’s just all perspective, and one of the fundamental beliefs leading to diseases like colon cancer. Be grateful for what has become you and what goes on to something else. The first 15 steps will help you cleanse out undigested food, so that you can more efficiently process the nutrition you ingest.

Overcoming childhood physical and learning disabilities, to become the USA National Team Coach and International Martial Arts Champion, Scott Sonnon earned the most coveted athletic distinction in the former USSR - Master of Sport - in the Russian martial art of SAMBO, to become the first Westerner to formally intern at the Russian Combat Skill Consultant Scientific & Practical Training Center in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Author of 6 books and over 50 videos, creator of his own line of patented fitness equipment featuring the Clubbell®, he has trained groups as diverse as the Italian secret service, US federal agents, and Russian special forces. Scott has keynoted for MENSA International, the Australian Fitness Conference, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, acted as emcee for the Arnold Schwarzenegger Active Aging Festival, and been inducted into the Martial Art Hall of Fame, Personal Trainer Hall of Fame and National Fitness Hall of Fame Museum. Get his FREE eBOOKs and VIDEOS at http://www.RMAXInternational.com