Exercise, Anyone? It’s NEVER Too Late To Start!

Ask any expert – exercise is great for you! It has so many health benefits, like controlling your weight, giving you increased energy, heart health, stamina, flexibility, higher metabolism, releasing endorphins to feel good mentally… the list could keep going.

If you are not currently a devotee of exercise, you might be feeling that you are too old, too overweight, too out of shape to start. Wrong!  It is never too late to start exercising. Even people with special health considerations can find ways to exercise!

(Please check with your doctor before beginning any new exercise routines.)

5 Tips for Starting To Exercise – No matter what point you are starting from!

1.     Start Slow.  A common error is to get fired up with exercise commitment and enthusiasm and over-do it in a big way the first time or two. This can lead to excessive soreness, actual injury, and feeling very overwhelmed with the belief you have to be an Olympian the very first week.  Gradually add exercise to your life. As you build up your fitness levels, you can increase the length of time, number of times a week, and intensity to be whatever works for you. Starting slow is a great way to ease into the idea.

2.     Low Impact.  Choosing ways to exercise that are low impact can really help you when you are starting out. Walking, swimming, and cycling can all give you a great workout for many muscle groups without putting you in a lot of injury risk.

3.     Simple. Don’t make it complicated. You don’t have to figure out sets and reps and machines, you can just find something you enjoy doing that keeps you active and moving more than before. As you get used to being more active, you can try new ways to exercise – or not! Stick with what you like and what works for you, because liking exercise is a huge factor in continuing to do it. And continuing to do it is the point!

4.     Be Creative. Exercise doesn’t have to mean “going to the gym.”  If you love to shop, walk each level of the mall an extra 15 minutes before hitting the stores.  Exercise is all about moving more, particularly when you are starting out. Try out some sports like golf or tennis. Take your dog for longer walks – you’ll both enjoy it! 

If your fitness or health won’t allow you to get out and about, look into chair exercising.  A fitness band (long, stretchy, latex band) can be a great exercise tool to work out various muscle groups, and is often used by physical therapists for regaining strength. It allows you to adjust the tension and resistance as your own fitness increases, and can be used sitting, standing, or even in bed lying down. It can help with strength, flexibility, and toning.

5.     Faster than you think! Just adding 30 minutes of moderate exercise three times a week can make a dramatic difference in your health. If that is too much for you to contemplate, don’t focus on that right now. Start with 10 minutes a day and then gradually increase your time and frequency as you being to enjoy it and see improvements in your fitness.  Any exercise you get beyond what you are currently doing is a good thing!

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Anxiety: A Major Health Hazard

When it comes to your health, anxiety is a major menace. Anxiety can feel debilitating all on its own, but it becomes even more hazardous because of how many other aspects of your health it can impact.

Anxiety can lead to health problems, or can make existing problems much worse. In some cases, having a health issue and worrying about it can then bring anxiety into the mix, but very often anxiety comes first and then leads to physical health issues. A recent study showed that people with anxiety were up to twice as likely to develop a physical illness too.

Anxiety is commonly linked to health issues such as:

·      

    High blood pressure

·      Heart attacks

·      Fertility problems

·      Autoimmune conditions like lupus

·      Skin disorders

·      Allergies

·      Migraine headaches

Anxiety can have serious impact on heart health. In fact, a study of people with heart ailments showed that those who also suffered anxiety were much more likely to suffer a heart attack and die than those who had a more relaxed attitude about their condition and did not suffer anxiety.

Anxious people are also more likely to self-medicate with prescription and over the counter medications, alcohol and food, leading to addictions, side effects, and obesity that can all aggravate the health conditions they also suffer.

How do you know if you have anxiety? You need to speak with your doctor, because anxiety has such a huge range of symptoms and can impact so many different parts of your mind, mood, physical health, emotions and feelings. Some symptoms (and there are many, many more) include:

·      Classic “panic attacks” and physical reactions like hives, hyperventilating, etc.

·      Constant worrying and a sense of dread.

·      Physical ailments of all sorts that don’t seem related to anything – lots of aching, pains, fatigue that aren’t the result of actual physical activity.

·      Feeling on edge and overwhelmed, sad and depressed, for weeks at a time.

·      Fear of things out of proportion to reality (can be specific, like fear of being in an elevator or fear of spiders, or more general and vague.)

·      Feeling hot or icy tingles in face, hands and feet.

·      Flushing, blushing, or blanching (turning pale) at random times but also related to times of feeling anxious.

·      Ringing in ears, feeling of muted hearing, stuck in a tunnel.

·      Avoiding normal activities out of fear, sadness or depression.

·      Tightness in your chest, breathing difficulty (*Always talk to a Dr. or head to the ER for anything that may be a heart attack symptom – be safe, not sorry.)

·      Sleeping more or less than normal, change in dream patterns.

·      Eating more or less than normal, especially craving sugars.

·      Gaining or losing weight that seems out of proportion to your eating.

·      Loss of interest in normal social activities, avoiding being around people, feeling persecuted or that people are staring at you or judging you.

·      Having signs of anxiety and then developing physical symptoms like high blood pressure, chest pain, skin rashes, etc.

Any of these – and so many more – can tell you that anxiety may be plaguing your life, or the life of someone you know. Seeking medical help is really important for many forms of anxiety, and it is important that you tell your doctor if you feel you have anxiety in addition to other health issues. It may impact the form of treatment(s) you receive.

Anxiety can strike anyone, and at any time. It can often be linked to an illness, a major life event, a change in seasons, or the holidays, but can just appear with no particular links.

Some things you can do to help yourself (do not avoid seeking professional treatment, but many of these can help you feel better with mild anxiety, and indeed even without anxiety!):

·      Exercise.  Letting your body sweat, work, and burn off tension all while releasing endorphins can be a powerful cure for many ailments.

·      Examine your diet for culprits. Caffeine, sugar, chocolate, white carbs and for many, alcohol can all aggravate anxiety. 

·      Mood foods. In addition to looking at what you shouldn’t be eating, focus on what you should be, with food great for mood. Dark green leafy veggies, dark orange veggies, dark red cherries, berries, soy, nuts, avocados, garlic, active culture yogurts, legumes, bright colored citrus fruits. Eating small, regular meals is also a good plan to keep your system firing normally.

·      Mantra and meditation.  It can be very helpful to meditate and/or repeat a mantra in your day, something uplifting that reminds you that you are in control and can be happy and whole.

·      Break the day up. Don’t try to visualize your entire day, which can be overwhelming for anyone. Break it into smaller increments, even down to minutes, to manage the moments without anxiety.

·      Turn your attention. Keeping busy and active can help you beat anxiety, because you aren’t sitting around focusing on it. Take time out to read a book, watch a silly movie, call a light-hearted friend who will help you laugh.

·      Acupuncture and massage.  Acupuncture can help you balance your systems and relieve mental anxiety, as well as some of the physical pain or complaints you may be suffering. A good massage therapist can also help relieve stress and have an impact on physical pain and even things like blood pressure.

·      Get professional help. Taking that step is important, because often anxiety can be rooted in things we need help overcoming, from physical sources or purely in your mind.

Anxiety is a difficult enemy because it can be so vague, and you can feel so uncertain about what is happening and where it is coming from. Fear that a doctor won’t understand or believe you, or just fear of seeking help in general, is a big enemy in getting well. Don’t suffer. Seek help, and help yourself (or those you love) in any ways that you can! 

Check out my website at All Natural Detox Solutions.

Take a Walk… It Does a Body Good! Walking for Daily Exercise Has Numerous Health Benefits!

For most of us, no matter what our fitness level, walking is very possible.  And the really great news is that walking can reap just as many overall health benefits as more intense workouts like jogging – with less impact, and less risk for injury! 

8 Things A Daily Walk Can Do To Help Your Health:

1.     Lower LDL Cholesterol – that’s the “bad” kind you don’t want!

2.     Raise HDL Cholesterol – that’s the “good” kind you do want!

3.     Reduce your risk of developing Type II Diabetes, or help you manage it if you already have it.  A balanced diet and regular exercise like walking might free you from medication!

4.     Lower your blood pressure.

5.     Reduce your stress levels, and improve your brainpower and mood!

6.     Control your current weight, or lose excess weight – and increase your metabolism in either case.

7.     Increase your overall fitness, flexibility, strength, and stamina.

8.     Significantly reduce health risks like stroke, heart attack, even cancer.

Regular walking at a fairly brisk pace can reduce your risk for heart attacks just as much as regular jogging can.  And with walking?  No need for the “no pain, no gain” mantra.  You can benefit without the need for sore, tired, aching muscles after each workout.

All it takes is 30-60 minutes a day of brisk walking to reap so many health benefits. Use the time to listen to music or books, watch your favorite TV show if you are on a treadmill, enjoy nature, or just be alone with the quite of your own thoughts in a world too full of all kinds of noise.

If you are new to exercise, you should consult a doctor before beginning a regular routine of any type, even something as gentle as walking.  Here are some tips to remember when you use walking as a wonderful way to exercise every day!

Tips for Daily Walking

·      Start slow and increase pace and distance.  You can start out taking several shorter, less intense walks and build up to one longer, brisk walk each day. 

·      Vary your pace, working to keep your heart rate in the target zone best for you.  You can manually check it using your pulse and a watch, or wear a heart rate monitor.  Remember that hills and variety in terrain will increase difficulty and increase your heart rate.

·      Wear great shoes!  No, not flashy going out dancing kind of great – great shoes for walking.  You can purchase shoes specifically designed for walking, or just shoes that offer excellent support, flexibility in the soles, and that fit well to keep your feet happy, healthy, blister-free, and walking briskly!

·      Dress the part.  Wear comfortable clothing that will breathe well and wick away moisture.  Make sure you are dressed for the environment, inside or out.

·      Warm up, cool down, and stretch.  Walking is exercise and as such you need to do a proper warm up and some stretching before you start.  When you are finished walking, do a cool down and more stretching.  The longer and more intense your walking workout, the more you need the cool down and stretching.

Now get going – those feet were made for walking, let them do their thing and walk you right into a healthier, happier, and more fit you!

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