How exercise affects attitude

Have you ever been in a bad mood for no reason? I think we've all had days where we wake up on the wrong side of the bed. Maybe you feel you didn't get enough sleep or maybe things are just not going the way you want them to go in your life. A good solution is to get a good workout in! Workouts have been proven to increase your mood.
Working out increases our endorphins and has proven effects on putting us in a better mood! Just 30-60 minutes of exercise a day can make you a happier person.  Exercise doesn't just physically give us a boost but it mentally helps us as well. You don't always have to go to the gym to get a good workout in. Try going for a walk in the park and take your dog with you for company. Or maybe an outdoor project with your special someone can boost your mood and your relationship. Being outside and appreciating the beauty all around us helps to make us happier and grateful.
Exercise can help us clear our mind of every day stressors. Sweating it out and listening to good music helps to make your workout more enjoyable.
Working out with a friend can also improve your mood. You can have fun getting fit together and strengthen your workout and bond. Studies have shown that people who workout with others are more likely to stick to their daily workouts. It helps us be accountable for getting to the gym. We are more likely to go if we know someone else is depending on us going that day. It can also give you something to look forward to during the day if you workout later in the evening.

Boredom is the number one killer of people who cancel their gym memberships each year. Many people stop going to the gym because of boredom. I always try to find new ways to challenge myself and keep exercise fun. I try to weight train and do cardio at least five days a week. I will also throw in a fun class during the week such as boxing or yoga. I enjoy doing group classes where I can get new ideas and be encouraged by others who want to be healthy. It is important to surround yourself around people who encourage you and help you to achieve your fitness goals.
It also helps to push yourself a little harder each time you workout. This also creates a sense of accomplishment and happiness. You never know how far you can go until you try. The first step is trying and committing to being the best that you can be. I encourage you to keep exercising and eating healthy because your hard work will pay off. It is important to be more physically and mentally fit and it shows in every area of our lives. There are many reasons for being fit ranging from my health, my family, confidence, and happiness.
Many people think that success is the key to happiness, however it is the other way around. Happiness is the key to success. When we are happy we tend to attract more happiness into our life. It isn't money that brings happiness. Without our health we could never enjoy things that money may buy. Even more so, money can never mean more to us than our health, family, friends, and self worth. If it does, you may want to rethink your priorities. I challenge you to stick to your workouts and I promise you'll feel happier and more accomplished every time. The workouts don't get easier, you just continually get stronger.
Make yourself proud. Don't go another day wishing you could be healthier and happier. You have the power every day to CHOOSE to make yourself what you would like to be. Choose happiness and a healthy lifestyle. Empower yourself to start living your best life now!

10 Superfoods To Live a Slimmer, Longer And Better Life

Super-what you might be asking?

Superfoods? What on earth are those? Sounds like some scammy supplement you’re trying to sell me!

Actually, superfoods are food that are incredibly high in a couple compounds that have been shown to dramatically help you fight disease (like cancer), boost your immune system (bye bye colds!), and provide vitamins and minerals in much higher concentrations than normal.
But first, what are these foods actually giving you?
Well, as it turns out there are a couple of goodies typically in super foods:

• Antioxidants (help fight free radicals which are disease and cancer causing)
• Polyphenols
• Phytochemicals (help fight inflammation and cancer)
• Elevated levels of nutrients and vitamins

Superfoods will help you have more energy throughout the day, sleep better, and recovery from injury or illness quicker.
Again, these should all be part of a lifestyle that involves a proper diet,  a little bit of physical activity, and a schedule full of things that make you happy.  It’s the combination of many factors that promote optimal health, and not just adding a superfood or supplements to a poor diet.

The Top Ten

In regard to these superfoods, the cool thing about them is that you can generally eat as much as you want without worrying about adverse health effects.
The one exception to that rule would be red wine. Please don’t become an alcoholic and say to your friends “But it’s a superfood!!!” A glass or two a night with dinner is fine.

1.  Berries (Blueberry, Strawberry, Raspberry, Blackberry)

Berries (in this example, blueberries), contain a whole host of micro-nutrients, vitamins and pigments that are currently under research for their role in reducing inflammation and the risk of cancer.
Some studies in rats showed that blueberry has helped with reducing brain damage after stroke, regulates blood pressure, and helps lower cholesterol and blood lipid levels.
When the season rolls around, make sure to stock your fridge with as many as you can get!

2. Hot Peppers (Chili Peppers)

Hot peppers are great sources of Vitamin C, beta carotene, folic acid, magnesium, and many other minerals.
A study published in the British Journal of Medicine found that regular chili consumption helps fight the progression of heart disease.
Capsaicin – the compound responsible for the incredible spice in Chilis – has been studied extensively for it’s anti-cancer properties, and in particular, prostate cancer.
So how do you pack the maximum punch for the minimum investment? The hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin there is in it.
What about stomach ulcers from eating hot chilis? Actually, it’s a common myth that eating extremely hot peppers will burn a hole in your stomach. The opposite is in fact true – the intense heat stimulates the release of mucus and alkaline enzymes in the stomach to protect it. Win!
Don’t forget to eat your spicy food, folks.

3. Red Wine

Most of the research done on red wine is in regard to a compound called Resveratrol which falls into that polyphenol/antioxidant category.
Resveratrol has been intensively studied and publicized in the news for a couple key benefits:

• It helps prevent damage to blood vessels and reduces bad cholesterol
• Protection from obesity and diabetes
• Reduced inflammation and blood clotting (risk factors for heart disease)

Red wine contains more resveratrol than white, and even some other berries (like blueberries that I mentioned) contained the compound too.

4. Salmon

Salmon is a fantastic (although sometimes expensive) food and protein source.
Why?
Salmon is high in protein, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and many other vitamins.
Eating more fatty fish is a good addition to your diet because omega 3 fatty acids are notoriously absent from our modern diet. Also, many modern people are deficient in Vitamin D because we spend most of our time indoors. Salmon is a fantastic and delicious way to get these two crucial nutrients.
Higher omega 3 intake is linked to lower arthritis incidence, blood pressure, and inflammation.
There are some important things to remember though:
Wild caught salmon is better than farmed salmon. Farmed salmon contains high levels of a chemical called PCB which is 8-10x higher in farmed salmon than wild salmon.
Most of the salmon that comes from the Atlantic waters is farmed – while most of the salmon that comes from the pacific waters is still wild (80%+), so go with Pacific salmon if you can.

5. Dark Leafy Greens – Kale and Swiss Chard

 Kale, swiss chard and other dark leafy vegetables are very high in beta carotene, vitamin C, calcium and other minerals.
Kale (and Broccoli) also contains a compound known as sulphorafane, which has potent anti-cancer properties.
Guess your mother was right – better eat your broccoli!
What’s interesting is that boiling results in a significant loss of many of the vitamins (including that anti-cancer chemical). So if you plan to cook your veggies, sautee them or steam them.

6. Green Tea

Green tea really became famous in the west during the whole green tea weight loss movement.
In one particular study, just drinking green tea boosted the metabolic rate of people by 4% and helped stimulate fat oxidation. Although that’s one “use” of green tea, it actually is packed with certain vitamins and minerals that are great for you, too.
For example, in a couple studies green tea has been shown to lower the risk of heart disease and certain types of cancer. This is because green tea is unusually high in flavonoids  - and compared to other foods or drinks, including wine, fruits & vegetables, it is comparatively much higher in protective compounds.

7.  Pomegranate

Pomegranates were originally one of the ancient medicines of the world, much like green tea.
Recently, with the explosion of the “POM” juice line in the USA it has become pretty popular, and has a whole host of health benefits to back it up.
Although there isn’t tons of conclusive evidence on pomegranates, some studies have shown some pretty amazing benefits by eating them:

• Reduction of heart disease risk factors
• Lowering of blood pressure
• Inhibition of viral infections
• Antibacterial properties
• Improvement of mood, well-being and testosterone levels 

Extra bonus? Pomegranates are delicious and are a fantastic, refreshing summer and fall snack. 

8. Sweet Potato

One of the secrets of the Japanese that live particularly long is that they frequently consume sweet potato as one of their main carbohydrate sources.
So why sweet potato? Why not regular potatoes?
When you stack sweet potatoes against other vegetables and fruits, it blows them out of the water, particularly with two minerals: beta carotene and vitamin A.
In fact, a regular potato has about thirteen units of vitamin A, while a sweet potato has 14,000.
A regular potato has eight units of beta carotene, while a sweet potato has 8,000.
What’s interesting is that in 1992 a study was done to compare the nutritional value of sweet potatoes compared to other vegetables. Measuring for a number of different factors, guess who won? Sweet potatoes! By far.

9. Nuts

Not only are nuts a fantastic snack (they are high in protein and good fats, they are loaded with nutrients.
Several studies have shown that people who eat nuts regularly are much less likely to suffer from heart disease.
Nuts are also low GI — so for people who are trying to lose weight they are a “safe” snack.
Not only are they loaded with antioxidants, but they are high in protein, E & B vitamins, and half a dozen other minerals.
The best part? They’re an easy food to pack with you and bring around so you don’t go eating a bad food due to lack of planning.
One other thing: make sure to eat them in their raw, unroasted, unprocessed form. Like any food, processing or cooking generally reduces the amount of nutrients.

10. Organic Capsicum

Four Lifestyle Changes Will Protect Your Heart and Significantly Reduce Your Risk of Death

June 3, 2013 — A large, multi-centre study led by Johns Hopkins researchers has found a significant link between lifestyle factors and heart health, adding even more evidence in support of regular exercise, eating a Mediterranean-style diet, keeping a normal weight and, most importantly, not smoking.

The researchers found that adopting those four lifestyle behaviours protected against coronary heart disease as well as the early build up of calcium deposits in heart arteries, and reduced the chance of death from all causes by 80 percent over an eight-year period. Results of the study, "Low-Risk Lifestyle, Coronary Calcium, Cardiovascular Events, and Mortality: Results from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis," are described in an online article ahead of print by the American Journal of Epidemiology.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study to find a protective association between low-risk lifestyle factors and early signs of vascular disease, coronary heart disease and death, in a single longitudinal evaluation," says Haitham Ahmed, M.D., M.P.H., the lead author who is an internal medicine resident with the Ciccarone Centre for the Prevention of Heart Disease at Johns Hopkins.

"We evaluated data on more than 6,200 men and women, age 44-84, from white, African-American, Hispanic and Chinese backgrounds. All were followed for an average of 7.6 years. Those who adopted all four healthy behaviours had an 80 percent lower death rate over that time period compared to participants with none of the healthy behaviours," says Ahmed.

Study participants all took part in the ongoing Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), a prospective examination of the risk factors, prevalence and prevention of cardiovascular disease. MESA participants were recruited from six academic medical centres and did not have a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease when they were enrolled.

All participants had coronary calcium screening using computed tomography (a CT scan) when they were first enrolled in the study to see if there were early signs of calcium deposits in their heart arteries that are known to contribute to heart attack risk. As the study progressed, the researchers also assessed whether the participants had a heart attack, sudden cardiac arrest, chest pain, angioplasty or died due to coronary heart disease or other causes.

The researchers developed a lifestyle score for each of the participants, ranging from 0 (least healthy) to 4 (healthiest), based on their diet, body mass index (BMI), amount of regular moderate-intensity physical activity and smoking status. Only 2 percent, or 129 participants, satisfied all four healthy lifestyle criteria.

"Of all the lifestyle factors, we found that smoking avoidance played the largest role in reducing the risk of coronary heart disease and mortality," says Roger Blumenthal, M.D., a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, director of the Ciccarone Centre and senior author of the study. "In fact, smokers who adopted two or more of the healthy behaviours still had lower survival rates after 7.6 years than did non smokers who were sedentary and obese."

Blumenthal, who is also the president of the American Heart Association's Maryland affiliate, says the findings "bolster recent recommendations by the American Heart Association, which call for maintaining a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains and fish, keeping a BMI of less than 25, being physically active and not smoking."

The researchers emphasize that their study shows the importance of healthy lifestyle habits not just for reducing the risk of heart disease, but also for preventing mortality from all causes.

"While there are risk factors that people can't control, such as their family history and age," says Ahmed, "these lifestyle measures are things that people can change and consequently make a big difference in their health. That's why we think this is so important."

The study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health (grant R01-HL071739 and contracts N01-HC-95159 through N01- 485 HC-95165 and N01-HC-95169).

The other co-investigators were: Michael J. Blaha, Khurram Nasir, Steven R. Jones, Pamela Ouyang and Juan J. Rivera from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Arthur Agatston from South Beach Preventive Cardiology in Miami; Ron Blankstein from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston; Nathan D. Wong from the University of California-Irvine School of Medicine; Susan Lakoski from the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington; Matthew J. Budoff from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California-Los Angeles; Gregory L. Burke from the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Christopher T. Sibley from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

Journal Reference:

1. Ahmed, H. M., Blaha, M. J., Nasir, K., Jones, S. R., Rivera, J. J., Agatston, A., Blankstein, R., Wong, N. D., Lakoski, S., Budoff, M. J., Burke, G. L., Sibley, C. T., Ouyang, P., Blumenthal, R. S. Low-Risk Lifestyle, Coronary Calcium, Cardiovascular Events, and Mortality: Results From MESA.American Journal of Epidemiology, 2013; DOI: 10.1093/aje/kws453

Johns Hopkins Medicine (2013, June 3). Four lifestyle changes will protect your heart and significantly reduce your risk of death. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 9, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2013/06/130603090552.htm

Toxins that create perfect bellyfat storage storm (AVOID these ingredients)

It's really not fair...

It seems the foods we love the most always seem to be "Bad" for us! And at the top of the list of foods that taste great, but HORRIBLE for your waistline is...

Ice Cream! ... Nooooooooooo!!

I know... I know... Please don't shoot the messenger, I'm not happy about it either, but it's the TRUTH.

"TRADITIONAL" ice cream is just plain bad for you!

I'm sure you already know Ice Cream is crammed with WAY too much sugar, but did you know that STACKING sugar with high amounts of Fat creates an Accelerated Fat Storage Storm. <== NOT Good!

On top of that, this tasty treat is chock full of heavy creams, as high as 18%, and chemicals you don't even want to know about! (more about that in a moment)

This deadly cocktail of FAT & SUGAR is converted by your liver into fatty acids and returned to the blood stream where it travels through the body and is stored around your belly, hips, and butt.

What about "Diet" Ice Creams... Those are OK, right?

"Diet" Ice Creams with all the artificial sweeteners can actually be worse and trigger explosive blood sugar spikes, followed by massive drops, telling your body to produce insulin! This is why...

• Your appetite increases uncontrollably
• Stress hormones sky rocket
• You don't lose weight and can actually store fat faster

To make matters even worse (as if that's possible), "regular" and "diet" ice creams include the following TOXIC ingredients:

Propylen glycol ... Diethyl Glucol ... Piperonal ... Ethyl Acetates Butyraldehyde ... Aldehyde C17 ... Xanthan Gum ... Guar Gum ... Aspartame ... Neotame... MSG

**Two of the chemicals above are actually used in the anti-freeze that you have in your car!!**

Bottom line: These kinds of Ice Cream are NOT only some of the worst foods for weight loss, they're also horrible for your health in general if you eat them regularly.