Somebody once said,” Stress is what happens when your mind thinks one thing and your mouth thinks another”. It is so easy to get into stressful situations just by trying to please people and agreeing to do those things that we don't really want to do.
Too many of us spend our lives dealing with awkward situations and problems, both at home and at work. This leads to too much stress and can sometimes drive one literally over the edge. But before we deal with stress we have to realize that we need a certain amount of stress in our lives in order to function properly.
So the 'trick' is to find a balance between too much stress and too little. You have to realize that a certain amount of stress is good and that we use it to push ourselves and enhance our performance or productivity at exactly the right moment.
It is important to have the right frame of mind when dealing with stress and try and keep away from people who are 'over stressed' it can be infectious. When the world is going mad there are always those who keep their head. Mix with these people and find out how they are in control all the time.
Sometimes it is our own self-confidence, or lack of, that causes us anxiety and a good way to combat this is by practicing a few deep breathes. When first starting out on a sales career a good tip is just before you are due to meet a client, find a quiet corner and breathe in for a count of seven and then, slowly, breathe out for a count of eleven. Just doing this a few times will lower a racing heartbeat and put you in a more relaxed and confident state.
Another little trick you can use to lower your stress levels and be in control of your life is to control your thoughts. What does that mean? Well, most of us are stressed because we are thinking stressful thoughts all the time. So it's simple, change your thoughts and think something else. It really is that simple, it's not easy to do at first, but every time you think bad or stressful thoughts turn them around and think good positive thoughts. You will be amazed at how this simple technique can lower your anxiety levels and improve the quality of your life.
Hopefully, you found these tips for dealing with stress useful and don't forget if all else fails two or three weeks in the sunshine will work wonders.
Michael Roth, DC
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Enjoy your day!!!!
Food is a source of nourishment and energy. Without food we would not be able to perform our daily activities. Our muscles would wither, our nervous system would fail. We all need food.
However, food also has another role in our lives - a role of comfort and entertainment. Culturally and instinctively we prepare and serve foods to comfort those who have experienced loss, to celebrate joy or to show friendship and love.
WHAT IS EMOTIONAL EATING?
Seeing food as more than just a source of energy and enjoying it simply for the satisfaction it gives is not wrong. In fact science shows that food can promote good feelings by chemical reactions caused in our brains. What IS a problem is when an individual cannot experience pain, anxiety, joy or even boredom without turning to food as means of dealing with those feelings, or they are obsessed with food, weight and dieting.
Emotional eaters turn to food as a source of distraction from dealing with feelings. However, eating these foods leads to feelings of guilt which can only be soothed with more eating, restrictive dieting, excessive exercise or purging.
Emotional eaters tend to value themselves based on their weight and how closely they've stuck to their 'ideal' diet. Because of this distorted relationship with food, foods are labeled "GOOD" and "BAD". Emotional eating can lead to serious eating disorders and depression.
HOW DO I KNOW IF I'M AN EMOTIONAL EATER?
Do you turn to food for reasons other than hunger? Are you obsessed with thoughts of food - whether you plan to eat it or are concentrating on restricting yourself from eating it?
Do you regularly try diets and fail - leading to guilt and further over eating? Do you think about or attempt to purge excess food by throwing up or using laxatives? Do you exercise compulsively when you think you've eaten too much?
HOW DO I OVERCOME EMOTIONAL EATING?
Since emotional eating is caused by looking to food as a coping strategy for emotional distress dieting can actually create more problems. When the emotional eater fails to stick to a diet they suffer feelings of guilt that can only be soothed with more food and in turn, more guilt or punishment.
Instead of trying to focus on what they are eating, the emotional eater needs to learn new skills for coping with stressful emotions. Often this requires the help of a Personal Coach or Psychotherapist who deals with emotional eating. It is only by finding replacements for the comfort food provided that the individual can put food into its rightful place and learn healthy eating habits that last a lifetime.
Michael Roth, DC
Staying healthy is something for which everyone must take as a personal duty. An important part of staying healthy is eating a nutritious and balanced diet. Staying healthy requires work, but the payback far outweighs the costs. Incorporating tips for staying healthy will help in avoiding the flu, colds, and other illnesses. Be sure to read through these tips for staying healthy especially if you value your health.
Protecting Against Disease
The body cannot protect itself against diseases alone, as it needs your help. All of the major causes of death such as cancer, stroke, lung disease and injury can be prevented by the things that you do. 65% of all deaths in adults are caused by heart disease, cancer and stroke. But many of the actions that cause these issues begin at an early age.
Evidence is rapidly accumulating to suggest that stress plays an important role in several types of chronic health problems especially cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders, and psychological disorders. Other factors that put people at risk for disease include your age, your medical and family history, and individual choices that people make. What can you do to stay healthy and prevent disease?
Losing weight helps lower the risk of health problems especially people with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Maintaining normal cholesterol levels with help prevent diseases and can help prevent circulation problems. If you quit smoking, you'll lower your risk for heart attack, stroke, nerve disease, kidney disease, and oral disease. It is important to talk to your doctor about how to reduce the risk factors of heart disease, including controlling your cholesterol.
Regular Exercise
Exercise can help prevent heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression, and possibly colon cancer, stroke, and back injury. A high-fiber, low-fat diet and regular exercise can help you lose weight gradually and help you keep it off. Try to exercise for 30 to 60 minutes, 4 to 6 times a week, but any amount is better than none. Low-impact, moderate intensity exercise activities, such as walking and swimming, are great choices. Wellness is a way of living that highlights such preventive measures as eating a healthy diet; making exercise an enjoyable part of your life, and making self-care decisions that will improve the quality of your life.
Staying healthy requires moderation in everything that you do. Staying healthy physically and mentally is important to preventing many of the diseases that plague our society. Maintaining or adopting a healthy lifestyle as you get older can increase your chances of staying healthy and maintaining your independence. Whether you like playing sports, drawing, singing, writing stories, or just being funny, share your commitment to staying healthy with others and let's fight health problems that can be prevented.
Michael Roth, DC
Emotional Freedom Techniques, or EFT as it is most commonly known, is probably the most popular of a group of techniques collectively referred to as Energy Psychology (EP)
Energy Psychology achieves a psycho-therapeutic end, but it does so by working at an energetic level within the body, rather than the mental functions of the mind.
Some EP methods utilize Chakras in their emotional release work, while others, such as EFT, utilize the body's acupuncture system. EFT does this by gently tapping on acupuncture points to stimulate and "open" them, allowing an increase in the free flow of energy throughout our body. You are about to learn why this is so important in terms of our feelings.
The foundational principle behind EFT is what is referred to as "The Discovery Statement", and it states that the cause of all negative emotion is a disruption to the flow of energy in our body; more specifically, a disruption of energy flow within our acupuncture system.
Energetically speaking, our default settings are ones of wellbeing, freedom and ease. To the degree that we create and experience resistance to the flow of energy in our body, we create and experience lesser degrees of wellbeing and ease.
If we are experiencing severe distress, we can know that in that moment, we are experiencing massive resistance within our energy system.
A useful metaphor is to think of our energy system as like the plumbing in our house. Disruption within our energy system is not dissimilar to a "kink" in the garden hose. A small kink will disrupt the flow of water but not to any great degree.
If we think of ourselves in this situation, we experience this minor kink as feeling less than we would like to feel, but for the most part, we can function fully. It is just that our quality of what we are experiencing is less than what it could be.
And if we have a severely knotted hose, we experience much greater resistance and stronger, more painful feelings. What largely determines our subjective experience of life is the amount of resistance we routinely carry around with us.
Once we release this resistance, and EFT is without doubt one of the most powerful tools available today to do so, we feel better. More often than not this affect is immediate.
A big part of EFT's claim to fame is how quickly it can work. And a large part of its speed and effectiveness is that it targets the body rather than the mind. Now we all know as humans we have an almost infinite capacity to generate all kinds of emotional upheaval in our lives.
And you are probably also aware of how difficult it can be to try and find solutions to our problems when we are right in the middle of them, experiencing not just the problem, but also all of the negative less than useful feelings that go with it.
The beauty of EFT is that irrespective of the specific aspects and issues that may be involved in our individual problems, in EFT terms we are only ever dealing with one thing - disruption of the flow of energy in our body.
If we address this disruption and resistance rather than the symptomatic associated emotions (anger, fear, sadness etc) we free ourselves of the associated pain rather quickly and very often gain insight into the possible solution we are seeking.
Once the pain has been released, or at least eased, we are almost always capable of figuring out what we need to do to create the change that we want, in whatever areas of our life problems exist.
The major part of what leads to our apparent inability to deal with problematic areas in our life, is our inability to detach from the pain we are experiencing in relation to those problems.
When we experience strong painful feelings (they shouldn't be considered negative because they are offering us very useful and much needed feedback about what is going on around us) we are basically in a fight-flight survival situation. When this happens, our higher thought function switches off to a greater or lesser extent and we, all of a sudden, become incredibly resource-less.
This is not a mental or emotional issue at all, yet this is where most therapy is aimed. What this is is a neurological issue, as this fight-flight response is hard wired into our nervous system.
In EFT terms, it is an energetic issue, as the acupuncture system, or some specific pathway within it, becomes jammed leading to disrupted flow of energy and the resulting painful feelings.
So how does EFT resolve this energy disruption issue? The technique of EFT comprises of tapping a specific sequence of acupuncture points around the face, chest and hand. These particular points are situated towards the beginning or the end of the main acupuncture channels within the body. In total EFT utilizes 13 points in what is referred to as "The Basic Recipe".
Points are tapped gently for about 10 repetitions, and then you move onto the next point in the sequence. At the end of the Basic Recipe you evaluate how you are feeling to determine if you need to repeat the tapping sequence.
In most cases (the literature quotes 80% but most people experience a much higher percentage) there will be a dramatic reduction in the painful feelings. As unbelievable as this may sound very often you will find the pain has gone completely.
A problem that may have been an issue for years can potentially be released in minutes, if not seconds. Phobias are a classic example of the amazing results possible with EFT.
Phobias that have been with someone all their life can be treated and cleared very quickly when the body is treated rather than the mind.
Does EFT work all the time? Of course not. So far nothing really works all the time. Our understanding of the technique and how it works as well as sciences understanding of our bodies and minds and how they work, is far from complete.
As the creator of EFT, Gary Craig says "We are on the ground floor of a healing high-rise" There is much work and discovery still to do.
However, those who use this technique in a clinical setting, and their numbers are growing daily, will attest to the most amazing results in cases where nothing else has seemed to work.
EFT is not a cure all and shouldn't be looked at this way. What it is, is an incredibly powerful easy to learn and apply self-help tool, that with a little practice, will allow you to choose how you feel in any situation.
If emotional freedom is what you seek, there is no better tool than EFT to help you attain it.
Michael Roth, DC
Chiropractic is a holistic health care philosophy that helps the body function the way it was designed. As a result, there are many health benefits that can be derived from undergoing chiropractic care.
The first and most obvious benefit is back care and spinal realignment. We all experience back pain or discomfort at some point in our lives, whether it be from a sudden injury, or stress, or general wear and tear over the years.
Some common results of long-term wear and tear include discomfort from poor posture, from working at our desks, from hunching over kitchen counters that are too short, or from slouching on a couch.
Back-related injuries might be the result of a fall, or a car accident, or doing physical labor without proper lifting practices.
Even when we know that we should sit up straight, and that we should lift from the legs, not the back, we still often do inadvertent things that cause problems in our backs. Chiropractic care can straighten out our backs and make them feel much better through a process known as "adjusting" or "manipulating" the spine.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is another common ailment that can be fixed through chiropractic care. This condition is often caused by typing or using a computer too much, or incorrectly, and is characterized by a tingling or numb sensation in the hand, wrist or fingers, and the inability to open jars or pick up objects.
In some serious cases surgery is required, but often some simple manipulation from a chiropractor can do the trick. And oftentimes the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is actually the result of a misaligned neck, in which case a neck adjustment might be the cure.
In fact, a poorly functioning spinal column can be the cause of many more seemingly unrelated illnesses. That back pain you're feeling can affect how the organs in your body function, particularly in the digestive tract, and hence your overall health.
A misaligned spine can also cause headaches, sore feet and legs, or pain in your arms. There is almost no limit to the bodily aches you may be feeling that can be helped through chiropractic care.
This is actually good news if you're looking for a one-stop shop for your health concerns. Because chiropractic is about overall body health, chiropractors can often give advice on nutrition, lifestyle, and other related topics.
While many people wait until they are in pain to visit a chiropractor, there is a lot to be said for preventative care as well. It is often much easier to encourage a healthy spine and body to continue to be healthy than it is to fix one that is already damaged.
And just like your car needs to be tuned up before there's damage to the engine, your body needs preventative care in order to continue running smoothly for years.
Michael Roth, DC
If you suffer from nausea, cramps, bloating, gas, or diarrhea after drinking milk or eating dairy products, you may be lactose intolerant. This is a common reaction. According to some reports, between 30 and 50 million Americans are lactose intolerant.
Lactose is the sugar found in milk and other dairy products. The small intestine produces an enzyme called lactase whose job it is to break lactose down into two simple sugars called glucose and galactose. The glucose is then absorbed into the bloodstream for nourishment. If your body does not produce enough lactase, the unaltered lactose makes its way into the large intestine and begins to ferment, producing acids and gases.
ALLERGY OR INTOLERANCE?
Some think that they are allergic to milk when they have these symptoms. Usually this is not the case. Food allergies are rare. According to some experts, only 1 to 2 percent of the general population is affected by a true food allergy.
What is the difference?
Though the symptoms are similar, there are differences. With an allergy, the immune system produces a "histamine" to fight against foods you have ingested to which you are allergic. Some symptoms may be swelling of the lips or tongue, hives (rash), or asthma. Lactose intolerance will not cause these symptoms because the immune system is not involved. Lactose intolerance is the body's inability to assimilate a food properly, causing a reaction.
What can help you tell the difference?
If it is a real food allergy, the reaction will occur within minutes of ingesting the food that you are sensitive to. If the symptoms do not occur for an hour or more, it is most likely lactose intolerance.
FOODS TO AVOID
These foods may also contain lactose and could cause symptoms:
* Bread and bread products
* Cakes and cookies
* Candies
* Instant potatoes
* Margarine
* Some prescription drugs
* Some over-the-counter medicines
* Pre-mixed foods for pancakes, biscuits, and cookies
* Processed breakfast cereals
* Salad dressings
* Lunch meats
* Soups
TREATMENT?
At this time, there is no treatment that can cure the problem, but you can prevent some of the symptoms by ingesting a food enzyme dietary supplement just before taking your first bite of food. These contain lactase to assist the intestines in converting lactose. Products come in pill or liquid form. You can also take probiotics (opposite of antibiotics)on a regular basis. These help produce "good bacteria" in the body, promote good digestion and reduce the reaction your body may have to foods containing lactose.
Through trial and error, you may be able to determine which foods or what amount of foods cause you the most discomfort. By being observant of your body's reaction, you will find that you know how much you can or cannot digest.
You may have to cut out dairy products altogether. You should, however, find other sources of calcium that has been supplied through the dairy products. Certain green vegetables and some kinds of fish and nuts are high in calcium.
Lactose intolerance is not life threatening, just uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing. Managing lactose intolerance can be challenging, but possible. Be observant of what you eat and take preventative measures once you determine what foods cause you the most problems. Then you should find that you are symptom free and can enjoy most of the foods you love, always in moderation of course. If your symptoms persist, there may be something more serious that requires a visit to your physician. Learn to read your body and know when you need to make adjustments in your diet and nutrition.
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In the West, we like to think of our world as modern and of our medical system as sophisticated. Yet, with the wide array of illnesses, diseases and disorders that continue to escalate in scope and number, it might be time to explore another way of evaluating and maintaining health. Many people are doing just that, exploring the realm of natural health.
The basic premise of natural health is that when the body is nourished and maintained optimally, it is able to heal itself naturally. Better yet, it can prevent the occurrence of disease in the first place. In other words, we wouldn't need the interventions of our medical system in many cases after all. Instead, we can create the environment and conditions that allow the body to heal itself in which optimum health can be assured.
A healthy lifestyle is the cornerstone to natural health. Prevention is the foundation. Natural health is not about being a health fanatic, but more a health conscious person. This means holistic health, encompassing the whole person, body, mind and spirit.
Natural health practitioners believe that prevention is each individual person's choice, and that each is capable of taking active responsibility for their own personal health and well being. The healthy lifestyle that is encouraged involves eating fresh whole foods, taking nutritional supplements as needed, ensuring regular physical exercise, and managing the sources and levels of stress in the environment.
Despite the best intentions and prevention, disorders of the body might develop. When concerns do arise, natural health treatment can include everything from vitamins and supplements, to massage therapy, to homeopathy, to acupuncture, to other forms of energy work. By definition, natural healing methods address the whole person; they are holistic, rather than focusing on a specific disease or body part that is affected.
While the natural health approach is to prevent the occurrence of serious infectious diseases or any medical emergencies, it never condones treating these apart from traditional medical intervention. There is nothing that prevents natural healing methods from being used side by side with conventional medical treatment. In many cases it can support the effectiveness of the medical treatment by building the immune system and bolstering health in other body systems.
While there have been efforts to pass legislation that requires a prescription for dispensing vitamins and supplements, none have yet been passed - at least not at the national level - in the US. There are laws and regulations that govern the "practice of medicine" that natural health practitioners cannot violate. But, by and large, natural health is still an unregulated field. This lack of regulation can be good and bad. Ultimately, some middle ground will be reached overseeing safe practices while ensuring choices in health care.
With its focus on prevention, natural health is the lifestyle choice among millions of people today who choose to take responsibility for their own well being. It emphasizes a holistic approach to health and healing, creating the optimal environment for the body to thrive, and employs natural strategies when imbalance does occur. The interest in and pursuit of natural health is more in demand today than ever before.
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Most of us are "regular" people. We don't eat the perfect diet all the time and have our struggles with food, same as everyone else. But having an awareness of this fact and knowing a little bit about our health and food nutrition can help when it comes to making wise decisions.
Many people struggle with food "cravings." Studies tell us that it's fairly common for food cravings to happen at certain times, quite often at around bedtime. Your guard may be down, you may have had an unusually hard day, and off you go on your not-so-merry way to find that tasty treat. Fatigue and stress often combine to take their toll on the best of intentions.
When food cravings are unconstrained, what starts out as a bedtime snack quickly turns into a full blown feeding frenzy...not something most of us fully understand or appreciate. We head to kitchen and every other place where food can hide, clearing a path as we go.
Most food cravings are not about satisfying a nutritional need or imbalance. They seem to be more emotionally related. Exactly why we over-indulge is not completely understood, however our knowledge about this subject continues to grow.
Listed below are some thoughts and ideas about food cravings:
- If the food isn't available, you can't eat it! Empty the cookie jar and keep it that way! Keep healthy food choices on-hand.
- Recognize the feelings and emotions that lead-up to a food craving. Do you have food cravings when you’re bored, lonely, or stressed? If you can identify a trigger, you can deal with the emotion that’s making you desire a certain food. Try to deal with the triggers in the best way you can.
- Sometimes, even recognizing that a craving is about to happen doesn't seem to help. Don't beat yourself-up. There is always tomorrow. Call a friend, make good use of your support network and share your feelings with someone.
- Get enough sleep. When you’re tired, you’re more likely to crave things.
- Never give-up. When you "slip", press-in, bear-down, get a grip, do whatever is necessary to re-gain control. Try to practice restraint most of the time, but don't get legalistic and un-balanced in your weight loss approach. Think moderation and not abstinence at all times!
- Understand that self-control and discipline by themselves, won't cut it! If you depend totally on yourself for control, you will fail. Forming caring and supportive relationships is required. If you do not currently have a support network, start building one TODAY.
- Exercise. It increases feel-good endorphins that cut down on your cravings. Try to get at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day.
- Use moderation. Instead of stuffing yourself with every kind of food hoping that your craving will go away.
- Never skip a meal. Eat every three to five hours. Try six smaller meals or regular meals with nutritious snacks.
- Understand that hunger craving are oftentimes stress related. Practice other ways to treat chronic stress – a walk in the park, spiritual connections, baths...all these stimulate neurochemicals that activate regions of the brain that stimulate pleasure. Relaxation techniques may work by reducing the psychological drives on stress output, which can be the root causes of stress. Bottom line, substitute pleasurable experiences for comfort foods.
- Beware of certain medications. They can stimulate appetite. Drugs used for the treatment of depression and bipolar disorder can be appetite stimulants. Other drugs, both prescription and over the counter, may influence appetite as well. If you are on a medication, and troubled by food cravings, discuss this with your doctor or pharmacist. You may be able to find an alternative that doesn't send your cravings out of control.
- One final thought, take a look inside your refrigerator and kitchen cabinets and do some general "house cleaning." Throw-out all that unhealthy stuff that is waiting to sabotage your diet, and start shopping more wisely. A little forethought and careful planning will go a long way for improving your chances of success.
Eat wisely, be happy, and live long!
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If you do a fad diet and it helps you lose weight fast and get results, what can be wrong with that?
Surley you have seen many ads on the internet and in magazines that say that you can get a huge weight loss in only a few days time.
Is this type of weight loss really possible? Yes - but... in almost every instance the weight loss from a fad diet is temporary and usually due to loss of water weight. Our bodies are made up of a large percentage of water so as soon as your body rehydrates itself you will put that quick weight loss right back on.
What are some of the reasons a fad diet is not good for you?
1. A fad diet usually tells you to focus on a single food type and avoid all others. This means you miss out on the nutrition you really need and can get from a more balanced diet approach.
Quite often these fad diets will even tell you to take vitamins and supplements to make up for all the nutritional deficiencies you experience while on that fad diet. However, your body will not be able to absorb the nutrients from the recommended supplements unless you take them with food. And many of the foods that help you absorb nutrients are banned on fad diets.
2. Fad diets are usually so restrictive and unappetizing that after as little as one day you will begin having overwhelming cravings for other foods and most likely you will not be able to complete the fad diet. This quitting will also wreak havoc on your self esteem as you may beat yourself up for not having enough willpower to stick it out with the diet.
3. Fad diets are temporary solutions to your weight problems. Even if you do follow through to the end with a fad diet you have not made permanent healthy changes to the way you handle food in your life. So fad dieters tend to be yo-yo dieters that go back and forth between extreme lo-calorie fad diets to periods of bingeing on food groups that were missing from the fad diet. So fad dieters are on a roller coaster of gaining and losing the same darn pounds again and again.
No matter what you see in the media about quick weight loss fad diets, realize that these diets will never work long term.
The best way to lose weight and sustain that weight loss (so you never have to diet again) is to eat a variety of healthy foods, avoid overeating, and do regular exercise. This simple formula works every time.
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The Secrets to Eliminating Stubborn Belly Fat
Michael Roth, DC
