Fitting in Fitness

This year is the first year that I have all three kids in school. My youngest just started kindergarten. My oldest just started middle school. Because of the different start times and end times, I have about a two-and-a-half hour window with no kids at all in the house. (I do have to visit the bus stop five times a day, but that is another story.) The first week, I wasn’t sure what I would do with myself. The freedom! I had dreams of being able to take a shower without being interrupted, or reading part of a book or … Continue reading →

What to Do When You Start to Feel a Cold Coming

Now that summer is at an end, we have some new things to look forward to, such as crisp fall evenings, the holiday season and colds. As much as we wanted to forget all about them during the summer, the fact is that the germs and viruses will be hanging around our bodies and our homes very soon. Here are some measures that you can take to try to kill the cold in its tracks when you start to feel the first symptoms. Start Drinking When that tell-tale tickle in your throat appears, start to increase your intake of water … Continue reading →

Purge Toxic Friendships and Get Healthier

Having a toxic friendship can really affect your health. It can raise your stress levels and affect your self esteem, plus hit you other areas, such as financially, and drain your resources. No one wants to consider ending a friendship, but sometimes when the cost of having that relationship is too much on your health, it becomes necessary. What is a toxic friendship? If you are part of a toxic friendship, you may be spending time with a friend who takes more than she gives, focuses more on her own needs than anyone else’s, demands too much from you, or … Continue reading →

The Power of Letting Go

When you let go of old grudges or hurts and move on, you not only free yourself up to look forward positively, but you may actually help your health. It is the benefit of healing. Holding on to negativity can really drain you. It can affect you physically, mentally and spiritually, and may even cause real physical pain and anxiety. The stress that you suffer can also lead to more serious problems, from hair loss to high blood pressure. Therefore, it is really important to free yourself and learn to let go. The following advice may be able to help. … Continue reading →

Healthy Websites for Kids: BAM.gov

Confession time: I watch a lot of cartoons. I do! And lately, I’ve caught a series of commercials on Cartoon Network that led me to a new healthy website I want to share. The commercials feature a big, kinda scary-looking guy talking about disease prevention — like sneezing into your sleeve or a tissue, washing your hands, and other tips. The commercials then suggest viewers find more health tips at BAM.gov. So I went to take a look! The first thing I noticed? No scary bald guy. I kinda miss him, actually! The images on the site are bright and … Continue reading →

New Year, New Decade, New Goals

It’s resolution time of year again. Every time New Year’s rolls around, I start off with a list and a plan. But it doesn’t take long for the plan to fall apart and the list to fall right out of my head! As noble as my intentions often are, I have two big problems that keep me from succeeding with my healthy goals: I generally don’t like exercise (with a few exceptions) and I really like junk food. Or maybe just one big problem: I’m good at making excuses. 2009 ended for me with the revelation of a health issue … Continue reading →

Listening to Your Body (and Interpreting the Message)

Two out of the last three days, I was attacked by a ninja. A ninja nap. It snuck up on me after my usual post-work routine: walk the dogs, feed the dogs, feed myself. I found my limbs sluggish and my eyes heavy, so I gave into the ninja nap. Three hours later, I woke up. (Both times.) Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes a nap catches me off-guard. I’ve got things planned, work to do… but I find myself sinking down into sleep instead. It can throw off my whole schedule for the rest of the day, but sometimes … Continue reading →

Blogging Your Health: Pros and Cons

The other day, I was thinking long and hard about blogging your health: what to say, how much detail to give, who gets to read your posts. It’s a tricky issue, to say the least. Let’s look at some positives and negatives. The advantages of blogging your health can include: Ease. Make one post/update to your social networking site of choice and all your friends get the news at the same time. It’s quick and easy — and that’s good at a time when you may not have a lot of time and energy to devote to keeping everybody updated. … Continue reading →

Blogging Your Health

We live in an age of information. Sometimes, it seems harder to disconnect from phones, email, and computers than it is to stay connected! So how much (or how little) personal information and experience do you put out there? Social networking sites have made it possible for anyone and everyone to find an audience of friends, family, coworkers, and even relative strangers. Again, the question of how much do you (or don’t you) say about your everyday life is important. This sort of thing is on my mind lately in regards to health. Do you talk about your health or … Continue reading →

Healthy Websites: NIH

One of my favorite websites for health information is NIH — the National Institutes of Health. NIH is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is the primary government agency responsible for conducting and supporting medical research. The agency traces its roots back to the Laboratory of Hygiene at the Marine Hospital in Staten Island, New York — way back in 1887. Today, the NIH is made up of twenty-seven different Institutes and Centers that provide leadership, guidance, and financial support to medical researchers across the country and around the world. More than eighteen thousand … Continue reading →