Mind Body Blast - Six Week Health and Fitness Program

Would you like to look and feel better in just six weeks? I'm excited to participate in Luci Gabel's Mind Body Blast, an upcoming online health and fitness program which begins September 26. The two things everybody needs when starting on a health and fitness program is motivation and information. Luci's program will provide all this and more so I'm looking forward to being healthier by the end of the program.

One thing I've always thought important is that you can make small healthy changes over time, stick with them, and be healthier in the long run as opposed to starting some fad diet or excessive workout routine, only to drop it a week or month down the road. The idea of making healthy changes in your life is to realize that in the process you're giving up your old unhealthy ways and embracing something new, different and better. In the end you'll likely lose weight, feel more energetic and be much healthier.

The Mind Body Blast is the creation of Luci Gabel, who has an impressive array of fitness certifications, as well as master’s degree in exercise physiology from the University of Maryland (UMD) and a master’s in business management from John Hopkins’ University. Luci also has an extensive nutrition background. All of this points to the fact that her health and fitness program is based on sound research and not fad diets or workouts.

This six week health and fitness program includes:

• Your own health and fitness coach so you can ask questions, get advice and stay motivated. There will be 7 conference calls of about 30 minutes each to keep you in contact with Luci.
• There will be seven podcasts, filled with information, which you can watch to suit your own schedule. Keep these podcasts long after the class is over too!
• Six exercise videos to help you get the most from your workouts in the least amount of time.
• Supplemental reading to to re-enforce the healthy new habits you'll learn about on the conference calls.
• You get access for six weeks to a private, members-only forum to discuss anything you like about your challenges, get motivation and advice.

On Luci Gabel's website, you'll find a great list of articles she's written on health and fitness, as well as a free 20 minute workout video with a total body workout you can do pretty much anywhere. You can also sign up for 6 weeks of mind/body fitness tips delivered right to your email.

This six week health and fitness program with Luci Gabel begins September 26 and ends November 7. There is still time to sign up at the early bird rate. 

If you've always wanted your own personal health and fitness coach, now is the time to get more information on the Mind Body Blast with Luci Gabel.

100 Healthy Living Tips - # 2 - Eat Almonds

Day two of our 100 Healthy Living Tips is an easy one - add a handful of almonds to your daily health program. A recent study on almonds published in the British Journal of Nutrition showed that, even though almonds tend to be high in fat, they are filling and packed with the right nutrition, which caused study participants to eat less calories overall throughout the day. Those in the study also ended up eating less carbohydrates for the rest of the day.

The study supports the idea that those who eat almonds tend to weight less than those who don't. Almonds contain "good fat," or monounsaturated fat, that actually helps you lose weight, while helping to lower cholesterol and promote heart health. Monounsaturated fats are also great for getting rid of stubborn belly fat.

Almonds are a great source of plant protein besides containing lots of fiber to keep you feeling full and nutrients Vitamin E and magnesium, which also contributes to a healthy heart. Other nutrients packed into almonds are riboflavin, phosphorous, iron and calcium.

One ounce of almonds contains about 164 calories. How many almonds in an ounce? About 23. If you’re concerned about calories, purchase some one ounce bags of almonds and follow this healthy living tip by resolving to eat one bag of these tasty nuts per day.

Whole Natural Nonpareil Almonds 1-oz Bag (1 Caddy of 24 Bags)

For more healthy Living tips, visit Path2HealthyLiving.com

100 Healthy Living Tips - #1 - Spark People

Learn how to be healthy by following my daily health tips for the next 100 days. Starting today, I will add one new good health tip each day. Read along and make each of these health and fitness tips a new healthy habit. Creating a healthy living program doesn't have to be difficult or complicated. Simply by adding one new good health habit to your lifestyle each day, you'll be healthier by the New Year!

The first of my daily health tips, to get you off to a motivated start, is to join Spark People.

Spark People is a terrific FREE healthy living website that lets you create your own page, enter goals in either weightloss or fitness (or both) and track them, with help from Spark People. You'll find a daily calorie counter, a daily exercise tracker, fitness videos, daily recipes and daily exercises to keep you motivated.

You'll also find a great healthy living community and message board so you can make friends, ask questions or get motivated to live a healthier life. If you'd like a buddy to help you, so you can help each other, you can find one here.

I just signed up for Spark People today and was amazed at all the free information this website has to offer. I've been on a quest to lose that last stubborn 10 pounds and I think using the tools here will help me reach my weightloss goals.

So for the next 100 days, follow along with our health and fitness tips. Learning how to be healthy can be fun as you embrace small changes, make them part of your life and see the rewards in increased energy and vitality, a slimmer, more youthful body - no matter what your age!

Tomorrow's healthy living tip - Eat this snack to help with weightloss, lower cholesterol and add a powerhouse of nutrition to your daily diet.

Need Healthy Summer Snack Ideas?

Do you want to eat healthy snacks but often find yourself reaching for a bag of chips instead? The key to healthy snack options is to keep healthy foods on hand so you'll be prepared when a snack attack strikes.

Snacking is actually important for maintaining blood sugar and energy levels. We want to feed our children healthy, nutritious foods so, instead of eating foods laden with fat and calories, but lacking in nutrition, try some of the healthier snack foods from this list. It will help you lose weight, get healthy and feel more energetic.

• Oatmeal can be a healthy snack and not just a breakfast food. Oatmeal contains protein, carbs, vitamins and fiber. It's simple to make -- and cheap! -- plus you can add berries or fruit to make it even more nutritious. You can also bake oatmeal bars and cookies to get healthy oatmeal into your snacks.
• Apples are a quick and easy snack and you can take an apple anywhere with you. to grab and take with you anywhere. Apples are perfectly portioned in serving size, they contain fiber, nutrients and are easy on the budget.
• Yogurt contains calcium for bone health and are a great source of protein for muscles and energy too. Yogurt is also great for the digestion and is easy to take with you too.
• Berries of all kinds are in season in the summer and are number one on every superfood listing. You can eat them plain or add to that yogurt you're eating.
• Drink Tea - We all need hydration in the summer so if water gets boring, try some super healthy green tea. It's filled with antioxidants and contains no calories. You can get many fruit-flavored versions now too if you don't like plain green tea. Try making green tea Popsicles for the kids too!
• Nuts are super healthy and kids love them. Keep sunflower seeds, peanuts and mixed nuts on hand but purchase the dry roasted nut versions. Regularly roasted nuts are usually roasted in partially hydrogenated fats or trans-fats. Nuts contain lots of heart-healthy fats, vitamin E and zinc.
• Make your own trail mix or granola and have the kids help.
• Try this easy energy bar recipe.
  
• Make a fruit and cheese try with a variety of fruits, cheese, whole grain crackers and even some carrot sticks.
• Make your own yogurt dip for fruits and veggies, instead of using sour cream. Kids love dips and it will make them eat more of the healthy stuff.

More Healthy Summer Tips and Recipes


Need more Healthy Snack Ideas?

Healthy Living Tips - Whole Foods Help You Age Well

If you think healthy aging depends on your genes, think again. A recent study in Britain showed that following 10 simple healthy living habits can increase your chance of aging well. On the list was to eat whole food nutrition, not supplements.

Your body needs certain nutrients to age well but since there are more than 200 different carotenoids and 200 different flavonoids in one tomato, it's more important to eat whole foods than to get your nutrition through supplements.

Read more about whole food nutrition and find out easy, economical ways to get your 5 to 9 servings of fruits and veggies daily.

Other tips on the list of healthy aging habits might not surprise you. Of course, exercise is one of the top health habits to help you age well. At least 30 minutes a day is what you need. Proper sleep, too, helps you age well. Check out the rest of these great healthy living tips.

10 Health Habits that will help you Live to be 100

Healthy Living Tips - Skip the Exercise by Skipping the Sugar

If you're like me, you may not be that crazy about sticking to an exercise program, even an easy exercise program. I want to be healthy and I'm not really anti-exercise, it simply means that I find the effort needed to get physically fit is usually very inconvenient at best. With work and families, life is super busy and taking the time to exercise regularly is not necessarily something we can always do.

Believe it or not, I am actually in the best shape of my life and it doesn't have anything to do with exercising at all. By making a few smart choices along the way, you can get physically fit and stay healthy, even without an official exercise program.

One of the easiest healthy living tips is to totally cut sugar out of your life. Although this is impractical to some extent, you can't imagine the health benefits that you can get by following this one health tip.

The easiest way to eat less sugar is to eat according to the glycemic index. This is a list of carbohydrate foods, arranged according to how quickly the sugars contained within them are dumped into our bloodstream. If you stick to the goods on the low end of the glycemic index, you can eat about as much as you want to. You won't be hungry and you won't suffer from the highs and lows caused by eating sugar.

Along with making eating foods the low on the glycemic index, you should be eating a protein at every meal. Vegetables are notoriously low in calories and in order for us to keep our metabolism running strong, we need to eat calories. Protein helps you build and maintain your muscle mass, even if you are losing weight.

Of course, healthy living does involve doing a little bit of exercise along with eating the proper way but you don't need to hit the gym on a regular basis in order to experience these benefits. Simple tasks like gardening and housework also burn calories. Just try to stay as active as possible in your everyday life. The benefits of doing so will be evident whenever you look in the mirror.

Easy Healthy Living Tips

Here are some healthy living tips that are easy to do:

Add lemon or lemon juice to your green tea before drinking - this helps you absorb up to 13% more of the antioxidants that are in the tea.

Don't drink tea with high iron foods, such as meat. This keeps you from absorbing the iron in meat or whatever you eat.

Remedies for Indigestion

Drink a cup of hot peppermint tea or ginger tea to ease indigestion. Candied ginger also works well for indigestion. If you often suffer from indigestion, drink the tea as a routine after dinner each night.

Tip for a Good Night's Sleep

Sip a cup of chamomile tea before bed to help you sleep. Avoid caffeine after noon and switch to decaffeinated products.

Tip for Stress

Drinking green tea slashes the fattening stress hormone cortisol by 20% helping to control your stress.

Healthy Supplement Tip

Take your iron supplement with orange juice or other vitamin C containing juice or purchase an iron supplement with Vitamin C in it. This helps your body absorb the iron better.

Take your iron supplement separate from your other vitamins as iron blocks the absorption of some vitamins. If iron bothers your stomach, look for a formula that is easy on the stomach.

Drinking 3 or more cups of coffee per day lowers women's risk of utering cancer by 60% according to a study of 54,000 Japanese women.

Easy Tips to Prevent Colds and Flu

Don't dry your hands with hand blow dryers in public restrooms. They blow bacteria back onto your clean hands.

Use your own pen when out in public. Germs can survive on pens for up to 4 days.

73% of the handles on grocery carts tested harbored the germs that cause diarrhea. Use the antibacterial wipes now provided by many stores for wiping down the cart handles. If they don't have some, carry your own in your purse.

Great Weight Loss Tip

Eating protein in the morning, soon after rising. This helps regulate blood sugar and decrease hunger all day long.

Prevent colds and flu with these natural remedies