The Start Of Healthy

Keeping Up The Motivation To Exercise

Keeping up the Motivation to exercise.

The hardest part of exercise is not lifting weights or running. It’s finding the will to do it in the first place. Plenty of people find themselves slipping away from their exercise routine because they have trouble keeping up the motivation. If you want to be able to stick to an exercise habit, these tips will help you to keep at it.

Do What You Like

The beauty of exercise is that it covers so many activities. Some people might get exercise by running laps. Others might get it by lifting weights or shooting hoops. If there’s a way you can work your body in a way that benefits you, that’s all you need. Work on developing motivation by starting off with activities you already get enjoyment out of. For more difficult tasks, try to see how you can make them more enjoyable.

Make It a Habit

The easiest way to turn an activity into a habit is to do it every day. It’s one thing to promise to yourself that you’ll exercise every day, but you have to take measures to make sure you can stick to it. Bring your gym clothes with you to work so that you can easily change into them. Fight back against any urge to skip out on exercising when you don’t have any reason not to go. The more you can stick to your exercise, the easier it will be to make it into a habit.

Get an Exercise Buddy

Some people enjoy exercising by themselves. They like how the solitude lets them clear their mind and focus on their exercise. However, if you’re particularly social, you may have a better time exercising with a partner. You can enjoy their company and work to keep motivating one another. If you’re having trouble with a certain exercise, a partner can show you how to make it easier on you or give you the encouragement needed to pull through it.

Find Joy in It

Exercise shouldn’t be viewed as something you have to do. The idea of viewing anything that does our minds so much good as a punishment is absurd. Learn to develop a positive relationship with exercise by thinking of it as something you “get” to do. To have the ability and time to enjoy exercise is something that should never be taken for granted. To keep your motivation up, learn to smile at the sound of the word “exercise” and any similar terminology.

Track Your Progress

Exercise can get frustrating when it feels like you’re not making any progress. However, every workout you complete is another step forward. In order to make your progress feel more apparent, you need to keep a log. At the end of a workout, write down what you were able to get done or use a wrist fitness tracker. Even if your accomplishment is being able to run a bit further than you could the day before, it’s still a sign of progress.

So many have trouble with exercise motivation because they see the negatives of exercise far more than the positives. If you want to find the motivation to exercise, you need to have an upbeat perspective on it. Only then can you make exercise into something that you actively crave and want to keep doing every day.

Exercising Helps With Anxiety And Panic Attacks.

Exercising Helps with Anxiety and Panic Attack’s

You probably already know that exercising is an amazing way to keep physically fit, manage your weight, improves your cardiovascular health, and gives you energy. But the benefits of moving your body go far beyond physical. There are also many mental and emotional benefits of regular exercise, including helping with your mental health. This article will explore how exercising can help with anxiety and panic attacks.

The Relationship Between Anxiety and Activity

Though the connection is not entirely understood, a clear link exists between physical activity and a decrease in the likelihood of anxiety and its co-morbidities, including depression and panic attacks. These effects occur biologically, psychologically, and emotionally.

Biological Benefits

Physical exertion releases endorphins which are chemicals in the brain that function as natural painkillers. Not only do endorphins stimulate positive feelings, they also improve sleep. Sleep, in turn, reduces stress and improves anxious feelings.Endorphins aside, exercise energizes the body, leaving you feeling good both during and after the activity. Better mood, better sleep, and better feelings reduce the physiological and psychological symptoms of anxiety.

Psychological Benefits

Anxiety can be all-consuming, and it is this overwhelming sense of worry or dread that leads to panic attacks. Engaging in physical activity that you find both challenging and enjoyable distracts you from obsessive, harmful thinking. Your mind rests, in a sense, while your body works. It is important to find an activity that does present a challenge and an activity you’re interested in participating for the greatest benefits in this regard.

Halfhearted participation in exercise that feels more a chore than a fun activity is not helpful, and it may lead to further stress and anxiety. This activity does not need to be hardcore exercise; a game of soccer with friends, a swim in the pool, gardening, or a simple walk will do the job. It’s all about getting your heart pumping and your mind off worries.

Emotional Benefits

Giving yourself the goal of more physical activity and following through with it will leave you feeling accomplished. Pursuing and maintaining a healthier lifestyle, too, will grow your confidence. Self-contentment and confidence is incredibly beneficial in keeping anxiety at bay, since most anxiety is rooted in inner conflict.

Getting, and Remaining, Motivated

The most difficult part about increasing your physical activity to reduce anxiety and the likelihood of panic attacks is getting started. It can feel impossible for an overburdened mind to find the time and energy to decide upon and pursue change, but it is possible.A professional can help you develop a plan to get started on and stick to a new regime of activity or exercise.The most important thing is to find activities you enjoy that you can, and want to, fit in to your life and schedule. As a supplement to psychotherapy and psychiatric care, physical activity is immensely beneficial in improving your mood and exercise has been proven to help reduce anxiety and panic attack’s.

Outdoor Activities Benefit Our Health.

While it is well known that a healthy body and mind most often go together and that exercise can help us on a path to mental wellness, there are added benefits when that exercise takes place in the great outdoors. Stress and anxiety respond well to having a physical outlet and even more so when time is taken to enjoy nature and our surroundings.

Benefits to Choosing Outdoor Workouts

You may remember being told often as a child how important it was to “go out and get some sunshine.” It’s true that the vitamin D we get from the morning sun during a quick walk or jog can have far-reaching effects on our general health.

Getting adequate sunlight, much like exercising itself, helps to build up our immune system and regulate our chemical levels, which has a profound effect on our mood. Even just a quick 15-minute walk outside during your lunch break can give your mood a much-needed boost.

But vitamin D isn’t the only thing that going outside to exercise will provide to you. Many of the benefits found through exercise are amplified by the outdoors. Fresh air helps keep oxygen levels high, blood pressure low and can even improve your heart rate. Working out indoors may have similar benefits at a base level, but if you decide to take your routine outdoors, you can expect an even healthier experience for both mind and body. Much like deep breathing improves focus and helps to keep anxiety at bay, a little fresh air can go a long way to benefit your health.

Outdoor activities are also an easier way to focus on exercise. Often when working out at home it can be tempting to stop and check your phone or take frequent breaks.

Setting aside time that you respect as the time you’re going to work on your health and using that short period outside to workout and bring focus back to how you’re feeling mentally and physically can help greatly with self-esteem, managing stress and focusing on yourself in a healthy, positive way.

Outdoor Workout Possibilities Are Endless

If you’re struggling to find workout routines that fit into your schedule or that are affordable, there are a lot of exciting options. Going out of your way to explore new areas through hiking or jogging can bring great satisfaction, as well as helping you to build confidence as you learn more about your local areas.

Going on daily walks, even just around the block, is also a good way to meet new people. But even on your own your mental health benefits just from forming a healthy routine and getting blood and oxygen flows up while stress levels are worked out of the body.

More adventure can be had for those looking for new mental stimulation by going swimming at the local public pool or beach, cycling in a new neighborhood, or even horseback riding, skiing or canoeing if any nearby facilities allow for these types of activities.

Dandelion Greens

Eat Dandelion Greens in the Spring

Surprisingly, dandelion greens (taraxacum officinale) are part of the sunflower family, which is one of the largest of the plant families and includes over 20,000 species including daisies! It is best to eat dandelion greens in the spring, which is before the plant flowers. They have a wide array of health benefits that make them a nutritional boost. Additionally, you can cultivate dandelion seeds to have a steady supply. Dandelions are an asset in your yard and are not really a weed.

Dandelions have a wide variety of health benefits.

Harvesting and Storage

Dandelion greens can be found at farmers markets, health food stores, co-ops, and perhaps available during the spring and early summer months in your own backyard.

Picking the greens that are both young and tender will have a milder flavor. Be sure that they are from real dandelion plants and not from similar-looking ones because consuming inedible parts may put your health at risk. Never harvest from areas contaminated with harmful substances like pesticides, lead, heavy metals, parasites, or other pollutants.

Do not wash the greens because that may lead to spoilage. Wrap them in paper towels to absorb condensation and excess moisture and store in plastic bags or containers in the refrigerator. They remain fresh for only two to four days.

Dandelion Greens in Recipes

Blanch the greens for one to two minutes to reduce a possible bitter taste. To mask that, blend them with sweet and flavorful fruits such as strawberries, bananas, oranges, mangoes, papaya figs, kiwi, pineapple, or citrus. You will have more calcium than any dairy product and slightly more calcium than kale.

Add them to stews, soups, salads, sandwiches, vegetables, and herbal teas.

**Dandelions are rich in. Vitamins and Minerals**

Health and Nutrition Benefits

The dandelion plant is said to be a powerful healer to address numerous maladies including digestion-related problems, blood purification, preventing gallstones and piles, and others.

Dandelion greens provide a higher amount of vitamins and minerals than most cultivated greens. Some of those are the following:

* Multivitamins include vitamin C, vitamins B1, B2, B6, vitamin E, riboflavin, thiamin, folate, and more. Vitamin A as beta-carotene is good for vision, shielding the retina from ultraviolet rays, the skin, mucous membranes and may help lower the risk of mouth and lung cancers. The greens also provide 535 percent of the recommended daily vitamin K to strengthen bones and fight Alzheimer’s disease.

* Rich in minerals. Besides calcium, they also provide iron that generates red blood cells, potassium that helps regulate blood pressure and heart rate, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, and manganese.

* More protein per serving than spinach. The greens are 14 percent protein and contain all of the essential amino acids.

* High in inulin and pectin, which are soluble fibers that help you feel full longer, assist with controlling weight, and maintain optimal levels of cholesterol. The greens are also loaded with antioxidants.

* One cup of low-calorie chopped dandelion greens has only 25 calories.

Take a Spring Detox Bath with Epsom Salt

Detoxing the body has become something that more and more people are turning to as part of their health and wellness routines. However, that also means that there are many fad trends popping up that claim to help with the detox process. Yet, the one that is tried and true is the same one your grandmother or mother may have recommended to you decades ago. One of the best ways to detox impurities from your body is a good, old fashioned bath with Epsom salt

Simply put Epsom Salt is a combination of sulfate and magnesium. Sulfate is known for its ability to help strengthen parts of the digestion tract and this added strength makes it easier for the body to release toxins that may have been building up in the digestive tract. Magnesium helps remove toxins by helping to improve multiple functions throughout the body. The two ingredients work in harmony to remove toxins by stimulating the pathways where toxins may have built up.

One of the best ways to detox impurities from your body is a good, old fashioned Epsom salt bath.

What Are the Benefits?

A warm bath with Epsom salt has multiple benefits including soothing the skin, reducing muscle soreness, promoting circulation, reducing stress, and promoting foot health in a variety of ways.

Epsom salt baths work to exfoliate rough, dead skin cells in order to treat dry skin. This is especially helpful during the winter months when skin tends to be at its driest. People with mild skin conditions often turn to Epsom salt to relieve redness or bumps on the skin.

Epsom salt baths are often used by people who are experiencing soreness or pain on varying levels. Many people use Epsom salts to simply provide relief from minor soreness in the muscles. It is also used in baths by people with all types of inflammatory conditions or to ease the inflammation of conditions like arthritis.

The magnesium in an Epsom salt bath has been known to help reduce both mental and physical stress. Additionally, magnesium has been linked with the production of melatonin, a known contributor to providing a good night’s sleep.

Epsom salt baths are a go-to for people with a variety of foot issues including toenail infections, itchy feet, foot odor, and athlete’s foot. There are many additional reasons that people turn to Epsom Salt baths. Additionally, just the act of taking a warm bath can promote an overall sense of relaxation and calmness.

How to Detox with an Epsom Salt Bath

Epsom salt can typically be bought at any high-quality grocery store, health food store or online. Simply pour about 2 cups of Epsom salt into warm bath water while the faucet is running. After the salt dissolves you can soak in the warm bath for 15-20 minutes. Resting after an Epsom salt bath will help the bath provide maximum results.

How To Reduce Stress This Spring

Many people look forward to spring. After a cold winter, we look forward to longer days and warmer weather. However, it’s easy to overlook common stressors of the season. Holiday debts are starting to show up on the credit card statements. Taxes are due. Spring break means you might have a house full of kids. There are a number of reasons why you may find yourself feeling frazzled and stressed.

Everyone wants to feel happy and refreshed as we say goodbye to yet another winter season. As spring approaches there are a few ways to reduce stress that can help you truly enjoy the new season.

Start the Day with a Healthy Breakfast

You are what you eat. Over half of all Americans skip breakfast once a week, and more than ten percent never have any at all. While it may save a little time initially, just some of the benefits you miss out on all day include:

Regulation of blood sugar

Increased energy levels

Neurological stimulation

Promotion of a healthy heart

Getting metabolism started

For more energy start the day with a healthy breakfast.

Make it a goal this spring to always make time for something healthy to eat at the beginning of each day for maximum energy and endurance.

A smoothie made from greens or fruit, honey oats, chia seeds, and a healthy shot available to buy in many food stores.

Make Time for Spring Cleaning

We’ve all heard of spring cleaning. With the beginning of the new season, many choose to use this time to freshen up their living spaces. It makes sense. The cold snowy winter months can drag in all sorts of dirt and grime. Now’s the time to throw open the windows, air your home, and clean all the corners and crevices till everything looks and smells clean and fresh. During your spring cleaning, take some time to remove clutter you don’t need or use. Just looking around at the tidy cupboards and extra space will help reduce stress.

Get Some Exercise

Even if it’s only for a half hour per day, exercise is a great way to boost your mood, increase energy levels, and enjoy more restful sleep. If you have cardiovascular issues or other health problems, it’s a good idea to speak with your doctor to determine the level of physical activity that’s safe for you.

Take a Moment to Breathe

Deep breathing can lower your heart rate and reduce stress. After you’re done exercising, this can be a great time to go somewhere private and just spend ten minutes focusing on your breath and allowing yourself some time to deliberately forget all your worries. If your community offers a Yoga class, sign up! Yoga does more than burn calories and tone up your muscles. It’s a total mind-body workout that combines strengthening and stretching poses with deep breathing and meditation or relaxation.

Spring is a time for renewal. By following these helpful tips, you can be on your way to reducing your stress levels and truly enjoying the season.

Improve Mental Health In Spring

Winter can be a difficult season for people with mental health problems. Depression and anxiety are often much worse during winter months because you are stuck inside in bad weather and not able to do things that would help you to feel better. Now that spring is approaching, you can use the brighter warmer weather to take steps that will help improve your mental health. Here are some ways you can improve your mental health in spring.

Spend More Time Outside

Sunshine (vitamin D) is a good way to help improve your mood and overall mental health. As the year moves into spring weather, the days will be longer and warmer. You can improve your mental health by taking advantage of the better weather. Even spending fifteen minutes outside in the sun every day can help your mental health. Getting time in the sun is the easiest and most effective way to get vitamin D into your body. In addition, spending time outside of the house will help you get out of a mental and emotional rut, which can also improve your overall mood.

Take Stock of Your Internal Environment

Lots of people use spring to clean their homes and get rid of the clutter that has accumulated during the winter. Sometimes a cluttered environment can contribute to a depressed or anxious mental state. By spring cleaning your home and getting rid of clutter, you give yourself a fresh start for the way you think and live in your environment. In addition, the physical act of cleaning your home gets your body moving, your circulation going which is all good to help improve your mental health.

Get Involved in Journaling

An excellent way to improve your mental health in the springtime is to start journaling. Maybe you thought about it in the beginning of the year, but haven’t yet used it as a daily practice. Now is a great time to start!

Improve your mental health by journaling.

Journaling can make us more self aware and help us detect unhealthy patterns in our thoughts and behaviors. It allows us to express those thoughts that seem to consume our minds on a regular basis and by writing them we can very often put them in the past.

Get Some Exercise

Spring is a good time to be more active because the weather is improving. Going for a short walk every day or even a few times a week not only gets you out in the sunshine but helps get your endorphins pumping, which can improve your mood. In addition, regular exercise helps improve your physical health, which improves your mental health.

Whether you’ve been struggling through winter with depression or you are just looking for new ways to improve your overall mental health, spring is a good season for feeling better. Taking small steps such as spending time outside, spring cleaning your home, and exercising can have a big impact on your mood. Committing to these actions this spring will help improve your mental health so you can enjoy the beautiful spring weather.

Do Probiotics Help Constipation?

Improve Your Bowel Health With Probiotics.

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Start with Probiotics

Your bowel contains good bacteria and also has bad bacteria. You may start to have problems with your digestion when the bad bacteria start to outnumber the good bacteria. The good bacteria are known as probiotics and are beneficial to our health. There are many different types of the good bacteria.they They all help to digest our food and take out the nutrients needed for good health. Without probiotics your body will find it difficult to absorb what it needs to stay healthy. Sometimes various things will cause an imbalance in your bowel. This could be stress or illness and the use of medications especially antibiotics.To help your body get the balance right again you can take a high quality time-release probiotic supplement. You can also add various fermented foods to your diet, such as sauerkraut and kombucha. Other foods to improve your bowel health include fibre and plant based foods and also fermented foods eg sauerkraut, kefir, yoghurts. Processed foods are not good for your bowel health.

It is important to keep your body clean as well as your mind. Medical professionals are finding out that having a healthy bowel is a key factor in the overall health of our bodies. If you’ve been feeling low in energy even though you have been trying to get healthy it might be a good idea to look at your bowel health.

The intestinal wall and the bacteria act as a barrier between the blood stream and the rest of the body. This barrier is designed to allow nutrients to be absorbed while blocking bad bacteria and toxins from entering your blood stream.

However, if your gut is low on good bacteria, the gut wall also begins to fail and cause reactions like allergies and other immune problems. Support your gut barrier by consuming more indigestible fibers, also known as prebiotics. You can consume prebiotics in supplement form or by eating foods like jicama, avocado, soybeans, potato skins and organic apple cider vinegar.

Be Careful With Your Food Choices

The modern diet tends to be full of processed food, chemicals and sugar, which all cause chaos in the gut. Not only that but the food you eat, whether good or bad, can change your gut for better or for worse within only a few hours. Take the time to choose your food carefully, and focus on whole foods, plant-based food and fermented food while shying away from sugar and chemicals.

Try Fasting

The benefits of fasting have recently been promoted widely in the media and among health professionals.Fasting means abstaining from all or some foods for a set period of time.Fasting doesn’t have to mean 24 hours drinking only water. In fact, intermittent fasting can be as simple as not eating after 8 PM at night and then not eating again until 8 AM the next morning. That’s 12 hours of not eating. This allows your gut to get back on track as the probiotics can rest and repopulate. Once you’ve mastered 12 hours, try increasing it to 14 by eating dinner early and not eating past 6 PM.

Taking these simple steps will help strengthen your gut and reduce inflammatory responses throughout your body. Other benefits of fasting are promotion of blood sugar control,improves blood pressure and cholesterol levels,may boost brain function,helps in control of weight loss.

Probiotics Improve Gut Health

Spring Health: Improve Your Gut

This post may contain affiliate links.

Start with Probiotics

Your gut is full of good bacteria, but it also has bad bacteria. When the bad begins to outnumber the good, that is when you can start to have problems. The good bacteria are known as probiotics and they break down food to extract the nutrients. They also help to generate enzymes that aid digestion and maximize absorption. Without probiotics, your body will find it difficult to absorb what it needs to stay healthy. To fix this, you can take a high quality time-release probiotic supplement. Many studies have shown that probiotics improve gut health. You can also add various fermented foods to your diet, such as sauerkraut and kombucha. Other foods to include for gut health include fibre and plant based foods.Avoid highly processed foods if you want to improve your gut health.

Spring cleaning isn’t just for your home. It can also be for your mind and body. Medical professionals are finding out that having a healthy gut is a key factor in how healthy our bodies are. If you’ve been feeling your energy is low despite all your efforts to get healthy it might be a good idea to look at improving your gut health this spring.

Strengthen Your Gut Barrier

The gut or barrier is the intestinal wall and gut microbes, which function as a barrier between the bloodstream and the rest of the body. The gut barrier actually has an intelligent permeable design, which means that it allows nutrients to penetrate it while blocking toxins and bad bacteria.

Try Fasting

The benefits of fasting have recently been promoted widely in the media and among health professionals.Fasting means abstaining from all or some foods for a set period of time.Fasting doesn’t have to mean 24 hours drinking only water. In fact, intermittent fasting can be as simple as not eating after 8 PM at night and then not eating again until 8 AM the next morning. That’s 12 hours of not eating. This allows your gut to get back on track as the probiotics can rest and repopulate. Once you’ve mastered 12 hours, try increasing it to 14 by eating dinner early and not eating past 6 PM.

Taking these simple steps will help strengthen your gut and reduce inflammatory responses throughout your body. Other benefits of fasting are promotion of blood sugar control,improves blood pressure and cholesterol levels,may boost brain function,helps in control of weight loss.

Spend More Time Outdoors In Spring

Believe it or not, Spring is coming! Perhaps you can already see the changes in your neighborhood. Some of us aren’t as lucky. However, all of us can start making our Spring plans now. We can spend more time outdoors in Spring and experience life-changing rewards.

Healthy Sunshine

Go ahead: do nothing. Just sit outside and absorb the sunshine. Your body will create healthy vitamins to build immunity and improve mood. So if you feel as if sitting still is somehow lazy, just remind yourself that you are creating good physical health as well as a sense of calmness and peace for your day. Meditate. Read a book. Take things slowly for a few minutes (or longer). Be good to yourself. The other stuff in your life can usually wait for a little while.

Energizing Exercise

Spring is a time to get out and get moving. Walking will shake out some of those tense muscles you’ve developed while hibernating on the couch during snowstorms and flu season. Running will get you breathing deeply as you build cardiovascular endurance. Swinging on a swing will let you feel like a kid again. Go to the park, go fishing, or go out with a friend; it all works. Fresh air improves sleep habits. A change of real-life scenery rescues us from those online virtual worlds we sometimes spend too much time in.

The Joy Of Gardening

Springtime is the time to plant seeds that will bring results later. You can have a home garden and grow your favorite vegetables. You can start some herbs in planters and move them to the porch when the weather warms up. Have you ever carved your own pumpkin for Halloween? Have you tasted fresh peas from your garden? Planting seeds in the ground can mean planting possibilities in your life. Enjoy the seed catalogs, pick your produce, teach the kids, and build self-reliance. Spring is the time for growth, and this can involve changes within you as well.

The Abundant Life

Living a life rich with a variety of outdoor experiences is worth the effort. It doesn’t necessarily require extensive travel, although it can if you want it to. It might include an impromptu luncheon on a friend’s porch. It might include a community class on local landmarks. Perhaps a road trip or even a cruise is in order. The goal is to get outside, connect with others, and enjoy new experiences. What you do is up to you. Spring just makes it that much easier to spend more time outdoors.