I AM HEALTHY, NOT OBSESSED

I believe in being healthy when it comes to exercise and eating “clean” for the large percentage of my week.  Why do I bring the word obsessed into this picture…well...here it is in a nutshell…just as with anything else, too much of anything or an obsessive attitude can bring about an unhealthy balance in life…regardless of how good it is.   If I was spending hours on end exercising, putting exercise above everything in my life to the point of letting it interfere or negatively impact my life, relationships, and self…NO  GOOD.  I mean really…can you imagine if a scenario went like this…I am invited for the day to relax at a spa with hubby, or attend an important function with my family and I said nope … gotta exercise, or I need to be late so that I can get my workout in…OK…now that would be OBSESSIVE.

I am not saying that exercise is not important, it definitely is a lifestyle along with my nutrition, but I am talking about for example…the old habits of Darla from my competition days, and sometimes modeling where obsessive did enter the picture now and then.  Not cutting myself any slack with food and working beyond my physical means…YUCK.  What the heck was I thinking…my A1 personality type was definitely on hyper mode during my “obsessive” days.  What I am saying is that a good thing can be overboard or “obsessive” and cause more harm than good…in all aspects of life…physical, mental, and spiritual.   Probably the worst would be complete burnout of a repeated behavior…my fitness would be a “have to” instead of a “want to”…OH MY and NO WAY.  I want my healthy life to be a fun “lifestyle”, maintainable by consistent exercise and healthy food intake for the majority of the time…something I look forward to doing and just feel weird if I don’t. 

My Fabulous Friend and Hubby

I am so glad to be in a much more relaxed “older, wiser, better” place with balance and I truly enjoy all moments in life.  I am not going to lie and say that I never struggle with letting go of a day of exercise because sometimes I do…the rearing of old ugly habits knocking on my mental door.  Thank goodness for a more relaxed hubby who balances me out really well when I need a verbal chat to bring the sometimes “Over Do It” Darla back to reality.  Being healthy is definitely a FABULOUS description of my lifestyle…OBSESSED … well, when that word gets tossed my way…I greet it with a Stay Healthy Smile!

IN YOUR FACE MOTIVATIONS

Personal Share:  I just got back from a mini vacation boat camping trip with my wonderful husband, son and soon to be bride....and a bonus...I ran into one of my best friends who was camping in the cove around the bend...now talk about a small cove... I mean world.  We had such quality time with lots of swimming, great food and overall fun!  YES...I we found another waterfall and my Mom will kill me (love ya Mom) as I frolicked about the falls and climbed on a few rocks;)  Fitness is FUN and does not always have to be the same routine.  I say be spontaneous, be a kid, splash around and laugh so hard that your belly hurts...LIFE IS TOO SHORT!  Enjoy the pics and Stay Healthy~

                                                                                                      

Fun swim and climb to the falls with friends

                            

 

GREAT FUN WITH FAMILY ~ I AM AN OUTDOOR STAY HEALTHY GIRL

OUR NEW FAVORITE COVE ~ BULLARD'S BAR

 

Night on the Water with my Son, his fiance and Hubby

Thanks for stopping by my Blog, hope you enjoy the content, and if you have not become a follower yet, I would love to see your face on my friend's list.  If you are inspired, LIKE my entry, leave a comment and I look forward to responding! 

 

Have a Fabulous Week!

 

Stay Healthy!

 

Darla:)

What can a Hatha Yoga Teacher Offer a Middle-aged Student for Optimum Physical Health?

What can a Hatha Yoga teacher offer in the way of a fitness program? Is it too late for bad health habits to be corrected by Yoga?

Large numbers of "Baby Boomers," who were born between 1946 and 1965, are coming to grips with the concept of aging. Regular doctor visits and lab tests reveal more cases of high blood cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels in many Baby Boomers.

Some Baby Boomers are doing their best to live a more pro-active lifestyle, joining Hatha Yoga classes, Pilates classes, walking, and consuming a more moderate diet.

Yet, being pro-active about health is a rarity in western society. "Big Gun" medicine, in the form of prescriptions, is called upon to correct years of negligent health habits. The problem with western medicine is that the public expects miracles from it and ignores the side effects.

What can a Hatha Yoga teacher offer for those who are interested in improved fitness? Hatha Yoga teachers offer many things including exercise where students learn to bear their weight. This Yogic weight bearing exercise is good for middle-aged Yoga students, right now, and when they become seniors, as this will help increase bone density.

Hatha Yoga is also excellent for flexibility, but the "flip side" of flexibility is strength. Holding a Yoga posture (asana), longer than 20 seconds, will help you develop strength, without gaining size. How else can you explain an average sized woman, over 60 years of age, who can balance on her hands?

Some Hatha Yoga instructors also teach Sun Salutations and Vinyasa Yoga. These flowing movements are good for cardiovascular heath, even when done slowly, or with a chair as a prop. Just holding some Yoga postures (asanas) will raise the heart rate.

For those students who have had a heart attack, or who are at risk of having one, the heart could easily be monitored during practice. Heart rate monitors are the size of a wrist watch, and look like one. The cost of a heart rate monitor is affordable from $30 to $153 US dollars.

Therefore, Hatha Yoga teachers can offer improved strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular health. When we think of these physical health benefits, it is hard to remember that Hatha Yoga teaches us so much more.

Hatha Yoga also teaches us moderate dieting habits. I was interviewed by a local paper reporter, who did not care to hear about the three Gunas. Yoga teachers know that dieting is one of the most important components of good health. If you go to any health club, the staff will tell you that your diet is very important for optimum physical health.

Pranayama (proper breathing) techniques are the most important part of physical health. Pranayama helps you every day and in times of extreme stress.

Many Yoga students are only aware of how their muscles feel, when considering the physical aspects of Yoga postures (asanas) during practice. A competent Yoga teacher will remind you to open your awareness about your vital organs, which are being massaged, and your body is feeling benefits at the skeletal level during asana practice.

Crucial Information You Should Know About Physical Fitness

There is no age restriction when it comes to actual physical health. This is since they come with quite several wellness advantages which consist of decreasing the danger of higher blood strain, cardiovascular system ailments, and diabetes which are just a number of the numerous other wellbeing advantages. There is will need to first talk to your doctor prior to beginning any physical exercise system.

The most frequently asked concerns have to do with the rewards a person will get ought to they start off exercising. To reply your query, when you workout you will encounter the subsequent well being advantages; increases bone calcium, boosts higher density blood cholesterol, enhances dealing with of excess warmth, will increase a individuals hemoglobin, enhances your resistance to cold, it offers you an emotional lift, it diminishes your blood stress, it also diminishes your insulin specifications, it will increase glycogen storage, it diminishes the conversion of sugar to body fat, it raises stroke quantity of the coronary heart, it lowers resting center rate, it minimizes odds of turning into senile given that there is an improve of oxygen delivery to the brain, it raises oxygen select up in the lungs, it also raises excess fat burning enzymes, it also assist you handle your hunger, it prospects to a decrease in system fat, it decreases stress, will increase your degree of endurance or aerobic threshold, it prospects to the burning of more calories, it minimizes the incidence of hypoglycemia, it lowers the muscle groups dependency on sugar.

Several men and women believe that it is a must to do the job difficult if you want to remain physically fit. Your teaching regimen really should not be as well actual physical. If your workout program is simply bodily and you do not input any psychological facet then you are in deep difficulty. The key explanation why numerous individuals get health club injuries is because they neglect the emotional element of the training which will permit you to keep more targeted and use the appropriate tactics when instruction. When you disregard the emotional facet in your workout regime then you are much more probably to undergo from health club injuries.

If you take a search at quite a few typical forms of training you will discover that most of them dismiss the most basic facet of effective instruction which is the routine aspect. The behavior of a individual will decide whether or not they will be capable to be successful in there instruction. The way you stroll, stand, believe and experience actually matter a great deal as far as your teaching is concerned. The real definition of self improvement is the ability to deliver a long lasting excellent. For that reason the only way you will be capable to do this is by 1st modifying something within you.

As a result physical health and fitness will aid you break the negative routines this sort of as smoking and taking alcohol. There is nothing which hinders correct teaching than alcohol. Alcohol contains empty energy and as these kinds of has not dietary value to the system. It will just direct to the addition of physique excess fat which will direct to spoiling your overall entire body composition. Therefore for you to realize success in bodybuilding your behaviors require to be concentrated towards ensuring you be successful in your bodily health and fitness.

Coping With Physical Diseases Through Psychotherapy

The possibility to cure a physical disease through psychotherapy is true, but you have first of all to learn how to cope with your disease without feeling desperate.

The scientific method of dream interpretation reveals to you the free psychotherapy of the unconscious mind that produces your dreams, which is the only one you can absolutely trust, since the unconscious mind knows everything about you and your life, besides organizing the functionalism of your organism.

Diseases prevent you from losing your mental health, and this is why they can be cured when you overcome your psychological problems, even if they seem not to be related to any psychological reason.

You have to begin accepting your suffering with a wise attitude, instead of feeling that you are a mere victim of a sad destiny.

When your body is sick, this means that your spirit is in danger. The physical disease is trying to remind you of the spiritual values that you are despising.

Now you have to stop following your routine, and think about the meaning of your life. The restrictions you have, and the pain you feel, are reminding you that your life is not only an empty repetition of facts and events. You are not alive only in order to feel pleasure, but in order to improve your personality, and help the entire world find peace.

Now it's time to cultivate goodness, and patience. Your pain works like purification.

Now you don't have the futile attitude you had in the past. Now you can perceive how many people in our world live in suffering and care for their pain, because now you know what it means to miss health, life and joy.

While you were fine and you were worried only with your daily activities, nothing else had any importance for you.

Now it's time for meditation.

Your own dreams will open a new horizon before your eyes, and you'll understand the meaning of spirituality, besides learning many things that you ignore.

The unconscious wisdom will guide you through dream messages, and show you how to transform your pain into a path to salvation.

You wanted to have a normal life and care only about the things that interested you, but the route of your life did not lead you to happiness as you had imagined. Your disease is saving you from bitter deceptions, and grave mistakes, which would be worse than the pain you feel now, because they could destroy your capacity to think and feel like a human being.

Stop thinking about your problems, and stop envying the people who have their physical health.

The unconscious wisdom will teach you many things that you ignore, and enlighten you very much with superior knowledge. At the end you won't have pity on yourself because you are sick, but on all the people who have their physical health but have lost their humanity.

Christina Sponias continued Carl Jung's research into the human psyche, discovering the cure for all mental illnesses, and simplifying the scientific method of dream interpretation that teaches you how to exactly translate the meaning of your dreams, so that you can find health, wisdom and happiness.

Is Your Cerebrum in Peril of Losing Its Health?

Mental fitness is just as vital as the physical fitness of your body. This is since unsatisfactory cognitive health has profound effect on somebody's physical health. Remembering, reasoning, thinking and coordination of bodily physical movements requires a healthy cerebral tissue. It is difficult to carry out any ordinary chores such as cleaning house and preparing food if someone has mental impairment, as is the case in mentally ill and very old persons.

Keeping your brain mentally challenged is one sure way to sustain or even enhance its health status. To strengthen the connections between cerebral tissue cells we must provide a continuous supply of actions which stimulate the mental. It is also well-known that new cerebellum cells may even grow due to mentally stimulating activities.

Playing crosswords, puzzles, reading and writing serves in keeping your cerebellum mentally challenged. Stretching your cerebellum through education and acquiring new knowledge is one sure way of keeping dynamic cerebellum cells. Challenging actions like game playing could train your cerebellum to increase its reactive skills.

When blood flows easily through your mental it tends to advance the emergence of new cells. This should be accomplished by regular and moderate physical exercises. The performance of the brain is improved and mental cell loss is reduced if the use of oxygen also improves. Typical examples are jogging, cycling and hiking.

A socially alive individual feels both intellectual and physical enjoyment. By blending social, physical and intellectual activities one is liable to avoid dementia. You can defend your mental by executing sporting and cultural activities in together with emotional support and close family relationship. This includes things like going on a journey, boogie-woogie and engaged participation in clubs and at your workplace.

Nourishment which keep both the body and the brain tissue in a active condition can be acquired form a fruit and vegetable diet. Researchers have shown that fruits and vegetables contain numerous of compounds which should avoid diseases such Alzheimer's and cognitive conditions like dementia.

Not only should you keep your body in excellent health condition, but you must ensure that your cerebellum is in excellent shape also. People should get dementia later on in life if they are obese. There is a high risk of dementia if an individual has pronounced levels of blood pressure and cholesterol. It is therefore particularly all-important for the brain tissue to decrease the intake of foods with high levels of cholesterol and fat.

Are there any types of food you must know to assist in protecting your cerebrum?

Dementia and Alzheimer's diseases may be kept from happening from emerging later in life if one frequently drinks coffee. Other important foods for the cerebellum are Acai berries and blue berries, as a result of them containing the essential antioxidants, fatty acids and proteins. Wild salmon is probably one of the best mental foods because it is the best source of important fatty acids, low saturated fat and it is a rich source of pronounced quality protein.You could prevent stroke and improve of synaptic joints in nerve cells by eating wild salmon.

How the Effects of Stress Can Ruin Your Health

The effects of stress whether it's from a business you run, a job you work, a relationship, or just life itself, can be very detrimental to your physical health. Many people fail to recognize certain symptoms of stress if they can't relate it directly to their emotional state of being. The assumption is that stress only ravages our emotional health. Well nothing could be further from the truth.

Although anxiety and panic attacks are commonly recognized as signs of stress we often tend to overlook other stress symptoms that are more physical in nature. Many conditions or discomforts we experience are often erroneously attributed to external factors other than stress. As a result these discomforts are generally ignored.

Having the ability to recognize certain stress symptoms both physical and emotional can be a key factor in the quality of life you live.

Learning to recognize these signs early on will enable you to take the corrective actions needed to minimize the negative effects they can have on you.

With that said our focus here will be 5 common physical signs of stress you need to be aware of that often times are quickly dismissed:

Sleep Deprivation

Although lack of sleep can often times is attributed to a restless mind the ultimate damage is physical in nature. Not enough rest leads to an inability to maintain focus, irritability, and diminishes your overall physical performance.

Weakened Immunity System

Without the proper rest your body's auto immune system weakens leaving you susceptible to all kinds of sicknesses ranging from the common cold to ailments of a much more severe nature.

Even with adequate rest stress can still create a constant strain on your system thereby again challenging your immunity system. Medical science has documented that stress can in fact even accelerate the advancement of cancer and other existing ailments or diseases in patients.

Fatigue

Fatigue is another by-product of constant stress. The lack of energy you feel from being under a continual siege of stress leaves you without the drive to fully engage in the world around you. By not being able to be your best professionally or enjoy yourself socially can take quite a toll on your life. In fact shortchanging your social interactions will only worsen your stress being that time with family and friends is a terrific way to defuse the harmful effects stress can have.

Chronic Aches and Pains

With an overload of stress and no measures taken to relieve it, tension builds up in the body often times resulting from achy joints or stiff muscles. If there is a pre-existing condition such as arthritis or even an old injury the tendency for these to 'flare up' is common and directly attributed to the stress you're experiencing.

Headaches

The most common and identifiable sign of stress is a headache. Pain relievers are available to alleviate the discomfort but these are only temporary solutions. Unless measures are taken to better manage the stress that causes these headaches they will return.

The effects of stress can open a Pandora's Box to an assortment of physical ailments that can literally debilitate you. Your failure to recognize certain symptoms of stress can ultimately lead to a state of poor physical health. Your knowledge of this better prepares you to recognize the signs we discussed above. With the proper corrective actions you can then manage and minimize the damage it can do to your health, happiness, and productivity.

ENJOYING MY COFFEE BREAK

Charging the Hormones!

The warm mug cupped in my hand as the aroma drifts into my face, a sip here and there as I take in a morning peaceful moment all cuddled on the sofa with my feet tucked under myself…awww…sounds like a hallmark moment, or commercial that will definitely sell coffee…lol…but I am going to bring this to an abrupt HALT.  OK…rewind to a few months ago when I woke to have my usual cup of coffee with splash of non-fat French vanilla creamer…ON MY…yes…can’t do coffee straight up, and to my unsettling surprise…REJECTED…OH MY…OH WHY.  I do not know if you have ever experienced this, but all of a sudden I needed a coffee break…I mean a break from coffee…sniff sniff.  Believe me I tried for two mornings in a row, and the same result…blahhhh…YUCK. 

I was even feeling dragged down by the coffee and not perked up as usual…although I only drink half/calf anyway…but still…my body just was not feeling the love for the coffee.  I do take a few sips from my hubby’s mug just to test drive and although OK…it is not driving me to grab my own mug down and pour a cup.  Hmmmm….OK…I have been taking a break for at least 2 months now and I must say, I feel less tension, some weight loss (which I definitely do not need), and the added benefit of no stains on the pearly whites …at least for awhile.  I am not saying I am giving up coffee…maybe it is the hot summer months that has put the kibosh on my morning time with my warm cup. 

Studies show many health benefits in coffee and my one cup intake per day satisfied that…but now I will just have to make do with the rest of my healthy meals.  I have to admit that when my body responded well to the caffeine…meaning OK…this girl is ready to workout…I enjoyed that.  But truly, it got to where it felt like this backfired, and I no longer felt a surge of energy from the small amount of stimulant in a half/calf cup.  So…this made it easier to give up for awhile and I must say that I am enjoying my coffee break. 

When I feel a lack of energy now, I will not blame it on…man…I did not have my coffee…I can truly say…OK Darla…not enough rest, more recovery after that hard workout is needed, and the biggie as an almost 50 year young woman…HORMONE changes…YUCK.  Yes, hormones have much to do with how peri-menopausal and menopausal women feel.  I am definitely riding the peri journey right now and doing lots of research as my own health advocate.   I will say that I am so happy that watermelon season is here and I am eating pumpkin seeds like no other. 

I am not a woman who requires a JOLT to workout, so coffee on hold is OK in that area.  I hear so many people say OH MY…I just don’t have the energy to workout without my caffeine or energy drink fix…really????  OK…why does anyone need to be dependent on something to function through a workout…this is not healthy.  I can understand the occasional…man do I need a cup of coffee this morning, but when it becomes a dependence to function…not for this girl.  I do look forward to when my body says OK…YAHOO…loving coffee but for now… I will enjoy my coffee break;)

IN YOUR FACE MOTIVATIONS

 

HAVE YOU BAKED THEM YET

MY FAVORITE PROTEIN COOKIE RIGHT NOW

MY FAMILY...I am the goofy one in the middle

Thanks for stopping by my Blog, hope you enjoy the content, and if you have not become a follower yet, I would love to see your face on my friend's list.  If you are inspired, LIKE my entry, leave a comment and I look forward to responding! 

 

Have a Fabulous Week!

 

Stay Healthy!

 

Darla:)