Unique Holiday Gift Ideas

Have you thought about what you are going to give those people on your “hard to shop for” list? Instead of another tie for your dad or music CD for your sister, why don’t you give them a truly unique and invaluable gift? I’m talking about the gift of fitness.

The gift of fitness is something that you can give to just about everybody on your shopping list, from your parents, to your spouse, a friend, your siblings, an employee or co-worker, even your children. And it’s a gift that is invaluable to everyone. After all who doesn’t want to look better, feel better, and be healthier?

And, it’s a gift that you can truly feel proud to give. When you give someone the gift of fitness, you are helping him open a door to better health (both physically and mentally). I can’t think of a more thoughtful gift that shows the recipient how much you care about their well-being. By giving the gift of fitness you are providing them with unlimited health benefits.

Of course, we all know that exercise can help people stay slim and fit. But, do you also know about all the other great benefits of exercising? Daily physical activity reduces stress and can help you sleep better. Fitness has been linked to reducing the risk of some diseases and to warding off depression. Researchers also believe that strength training can help prevent osteoporosis. Not to mention that exercise also improves self-esteem, increases stamina and ultimately helps you be able to do continuous work for longer.

I bet a lot of people on your shopping list would find these fitness benefits incredibly invaluable. If the people on your list are like most of us, they’ve probably even mentioned how they want to drop a few pounds of just get in better shape. In fact, experts say that about 62% of Americans are currently on a diet. By giving the gift of fitness you are helping provide them with motivation (which is one of the biggest obstacles in getting fit). They may feel more motivated to actually get fit because they don’t want to feel guilty for ignoring such a thoughtful gift (this is especially true when you give an online personal training gift certificate, which is a great motivator).

Avoid Gaining Weight This Holiday Season

This holiday season don’t be trendy – avoid the Seasonal Seven (the average weight most Americans gain between Thanksgiving and New Year’s). That’s one trend you don’t want to participate in!

I know what you are thinking – the holidays are a time for fun and indulgence. You don’t want to think about fitness during that time. You want to enjoy yourself. Don’t worry! The festivities don’t have to be eliminated or avoided. You can have a fabulous time while also maintaining your weight and your fitness regimen.

The secret to achieving a holiday season that is both full of fun and also includes fitness is found in moderation. There are two typical approaches to the seasonal festivities: 1) throw all healthy habits out the window and indulge in every guilty pleasure 2) starve and binge approach (for example, you eat nothing all day long to allow yourself to overindulge in party food). Of course, neither approach is successful at maintaining a healthy, fit lifestyle throughout the holiday season.

As mentioned above, the key is found in moderation. With a moderate approach both to what you eat (or don’t eat) and how much exercise you do (or don’t do), you can avoid packing on extra weight AND also partake in all the fun of the season. So this season, get a head start on the New Year instead of starting January with extra pounds to lose.

Here are some tips to help you:

Create a plan ahead of time. Before the holidays sneak up on you, create a plan for incorporating fitness and good nutrition into your daily routine. Evaluate your holiday schedule and then determine how much time you will realistically have available to devote to working out and/or eating healthy meals.a

Weight Loss - Quick And Easy Way To Lose 5 Pounds

Anyone can loss 5 pounds rapidly and easily, but always should check with the doctor first if he or she has any health issues or they are taking prescribed medications. While there are numerous diet programs on the market these days, obesity continues to be a serious problem. Now it is time to stop wasting the money. In fact, when diets do not work much, the psychology of weight loss determines awho does or does not lose weight. And the best part it is free, so people may put their checkbooks away and spend that money on their new slimmer wardrobe instead.

Psychologically, people are programmed to fail at dieting. Dieting equates to depriving ourselves of food which means hunger to the subconscious. However, the commitment and determination can re-program the subconscious for success in weight loss by developing new habits and a plan. People must think of their new eating habits as a financial windfall to a happier lifestyle. Once people understand this and follow a 'plan' the pounds will come off. A good business person never starts a new business without a proper plan and developing new eating habits will take a good plan, too. The plan one can use to lose five pounds in five days, by following these simple steps.

Water consumption is the key to losing weight. A 16 ounce glass of water before every meal is vital. It gives people the sensation of feeling fuller; resulting is less food consumption, while flushing toxins from the system. People should eat five small meals daily consisting of one low fat dairy product, two fruit, two veggies; three meals should include one whole grain and 4 ounces uncooked weight white meats or fish.

People must avoid eating anything deep fried in oil, cooked in oleo or butter ingredients. Instead steams cook the food with water and season with garlic, ginger, lemon, pepper, turmeric, vinegar and onion instead of salt. Using a salt free butter substitute is OK to add more flavors.a

How Does Chiropractic Work?

Like other holistic health practitioners chiropractors look at the body as a whole when they treat you. If a joint is misaligned or damaged then the smooth functioning of the body can be disturbed causing inflammation, pressure on nerves and resulting medical problems.
Chiropractors know that stress, poor posture and accidents, including sports injuries and auto accidents can all stop the body from functioning properly. Almost any aspect of health can be adversely affected by problems in the spine.
For example, impingement on nerves connected to the stomach could be the cause of some digestive disorder. Chiropractic manipulation of the spine at the point where these nerves exit from the spinal cord through the vertebra can remedy such a disorder.

What happens during a chiropractic treatment?
Your first session with a chiropractor often involves an assessment of posture and mobility of joints. The chiropractor might also ask you to bend, raise your legs, test your reflexes, take your blood pressure or even an X-ray to build up a more detailed picture of a problem.
As with osteopathy, chiropractors try to track down restricted or excessive joint movement, especially in the spine because these problems are the cause of inflammation, swelling and pressure that leads to pain and illness.

A chiropractor might use some massage to loosen stiff muscles before performing the manipulation techniques. Manipulation usually involves a sharp, precise thrusting movement of a joint to set it. Some chiropractors avoid forceful thrusting manipulations and instead rely on more gentle movements and stretches.
Chiropractic will provide an effective long-term management of a condition. Patients usually return for regular “maintenance” treatments to prevent them regressing.

Benefits Of Chiropractic Care

There are many reasons why you should consider chiropractic treatment. The benefits of chiropractic care are manifold. Those that find themselves with problems in their body often do not realize that chiropractic care can often relieve these problems without the side effects of many other treatment options. Usually relief can be found by seeking out the help of a good chiropractor.

What Can Chiropractic Treatment Do For Me?

There are many benefits to chiropractic care.

Here are just a few of the ways you can get pain relief through chiropractic care:

• Decreased arthritis and pain in joints
• Relief of pain in all areas of the body
• Reduction of spinal pressure resulting in less pain in the extremities
• Increased flexibility and range of motion in joints as well as soft tissues like muscles
• Fewer muscle spasms throughout the treated areas
• Increased range of motion in joints
• Better balance and coordination
• Increased energy, self esteem and an overall sense of well-being

There are additional benefits of chiropractic care as well. When you properly align the spine as it should be, you relieve pressure throughout it. This often allows your body to heal itself naturally. For example, chiropractic can help your joints to heal and soft tissues to regenerate.

The conditions which chiropractors treat are as varied and as vast as the nervous system itself. The examination of the spine to evaluate structure and nerve flow and range of motion is what makes chiropractic different from other health care methods. All chiropractors employ standard procedures of examination to diagnose a patient's condition and arrive at an optimal course of treatment.

Establish Safe Weight Loss Goals To Lose Weight Super Fast

Even though there are numerous diet programs and specialty fitness equipment readily available, people are still struggling with weight loss. While most people would love to lose weight super fast, most people have trouble losing any weight at all because they set unrealistic weight loss goals. If you are wondering What is best way to lose weight quickly, you may have tuned into the popular television show, The Biggest Loser, to see what methods the contestants are using. It's easy to get the wrong idea about weight loss when you see the contestants dropping weight in double digits in a week's time. You have to remember that, while this show features real people losing real weight, they have a full time personal trainer pushing them and must adhere to a strictly regulated program. In the real world, this simply isn't feasible.

How Much Weight Loss is Recommended?
While the figures vary on safe levels of weight loss, two pounds a week is a pretty safe standard to follow. If you try to lose weight super fast and at a higher rate than this, it will be difficult to maintain this level for very long. If you lose weight any slower than this, you may end up getting frustrated. One of the main reasons this pace works so well is that it's not all that hard to burn and trim the number of calories needed to reach this goal. Some people can do this by simply cutting out their sugar-laden sodas, but others will have to do a bit more. When you want to know What is best way to lose weight quickly, you should remember that you have to burn or trim 3500 calories in order to lose one pound of fat.

Best Methods to Lose Weight Super Fast
While you have very likely been flooded with advertisements for miracle supplements and exercise equipment that will make it easy to lose weight super fast, you should remember that losing weight is simpler than that. You will have to monitor the number of calories you consumer and the number of calories you burn. You can find the nutrition information on the labels of any products you purchase at the grocery store. If you dine in restaurants, you should take some time to check the calorie counts and nutritional value of a restaurant's menu. You can usually find this information online. The larger chain restaurants provide this information online, but the mom and pop diners generally do not.

The Myths Of Depression Explained.

With depression never straying far from the media eye, whether in a popular television series, a national celebrity or on the daily news, it is far to easy to believe the misconceptions surrounding depression and mental illness. This easy to read article aims to distinguish some of the myths and explain where these come from, the truth behind them and how thinking about depression away from these myths can provide a far more effective basis on your steps to treatment.

Myth 1: Depression is just a medical disease.

This is simply not true, while modern science can only further our understanding so far it is essential to understand depression as an illness that is completely different, and so requires different treatment to say, asthma or diabetes. It is helpful to understand depression as a combination of factors including those that are social, biological and psychological. Therefore treatments that require solely on medication alone often fail and much more support and advice is needed.

Myth 2: Depression is not real medical illness.

Despite what we have stated above depression should be regarded as a medical condition, while it is not just a medical disease depression can effect not only thoughts and moods but also the body. Like a medical illness depression can have both biological and genetic causes. The key to the successful treatment of depression is to treat it with flexibility and understanding, which must occur as a balance between viewing depression as medical, but not wholly so.

Myth 3: Depression is a normal part of life.

Unlike popular myth depression is simply not just feeling down in the dumps. People who have depression are also not just suffering from a short term spell of ‘the blues’, instead depression can last a lifetime and has a much deeper effect than just feeling upset for a while.