The Power of Probiotics

Probiotics aren’t new (by any means), but they have been getting a lot more attention over the past few years. A lot of studies are finding that these little bacteria can have a huge impact on our health.

When we think of bacteria, our first impulse is usually to be disgusted. But just like with most things, there are both good and bad kinds, and there are also kinds that are only bad under certain conditions. Probiotics are the good ones.

One way that they help you stay healthy is by improving digestion. Healthy populations of probiotics make serotonin, a mood-enhancing neurotransmitter, inside our intestines. This serotonin plugs into the receptors that are abundantly present there and help the digestive system relax and work normally. This boost is also known to prevent depression.

Probiotics are also important for good nutrition, which can be considered their most vital function. Or bodies aren't equipped to digest things such as cellulose or certain carbohydrates, but many species of bacteria are. Probiotics thrive on these substances and produce usable vitamins and minerals, such as B vitamins and vitamin K2.

If you want to avoid the perils of cold and flu season, probiotics can help with that too. Scientific research shows that most of your immune system is found in your intestines and that good bacteria help to keep it in shape. Probiotics train your body to recognize true threats, and also reduce the inflammation that distracts immune system long enough to let other threats through. This can be a particular help to people who suffer from seasonal allergies.

Weight loss is even a potential benefit of using probiotics. B vitamins are needed for energy and for a healthy metabolism. Because probiotics help to manufacture them, you may find that you feel more energetic and begin dropping those formerly stubborn pounds.

5 Tips for Finding Motivation to Exercise

I don't know about you, but whenever I slow down with my exercise routine, I end up falling into a slump. I get lazy. Actually, it’s been fairly easy to get some exercise in lately because I’m spending some time in sunny Florida, but I’m heading back to New York next week and dreading the weather (but looking forward to seeing the fam again, of course). No more long walks in the sunshine. Sigh. Time to find some motivation.

Here are the tips that usually help me out when I’m lacking motivation:

1. Make it as easy as possible to get up and go. When the weather is nice, I try to go jogging every other morning, but occasionally I slip up. I set out all my workout clothes and accessories at the foot of my bed, ready to go. Everything is just one step, so there is no need to get overwhelmed. I can put on my jogging clothes and leave without spending time to procrastinate. The clothes are out where I can see them.

2. Get somebody to work out with you. Having an exercise buddy will put some healthy pressure on you to continue working out. An exercise buddy will also give you some friendly competition.

3. Reward yourself. I set a reward for myself every week. For example, if I work out every other day this week I will go to the movies with a friend on Sunday. If I don’t exercise, I will be watching television alone. The reward can be an activity or a free day away from dieting. There are plenty of ways to reward yourself to keep yourself working out.

4. Make working out fun rather than boring. Do a workout that you really like doing. If you like working out with the Xbox Kinect, you should keep doing that. If you don’t like going to the gym every day, cancel your account and start running. Join an athletic team at school or with friends from work. You will never be motivated to do something you hate, no matter how you reward yourself.

5. Use social networking sites. Tell people about your goals and all you plan to do to achieve them. People might be encouraging or they might provide some powerful motivation.

The truth is, anyone can make excuses. It takes a bigger person to make time. It doesn’t matter what you do for a living. You could be a busy doctor or a part-time administrative assistant; you can make time for exercise. All you have to do is make it a priority in your life.

5 Habits to Nurture Your Body

If we’re lucky, we’ve been taught to take care of our bodies by exercising and eating right, but there are other ways to make sure your body is running at its best. Of course exercise and nutrition are at the top of the list, but it’s really important to take the time to treat yourself right. After all, you only get this one body. Don’t think of these things as work; think of them as pampering yourself.

And remember, there are more (and more effective) ways to pamper yourself than just going to the spa. You can nurture your body in small ways every day by instilling healthy habits that are easy to maintain. A healthy body can create a healthy mind and simply by changing a few daily habits, you will find yourself glowing inside and out.

The five following habits can help you nurture your body on a daily basis.

1. Exercise: Exercising daily will help your body and mind. Exercise is associated with not just physical health, but mental health as well. Taking the time every day to nourish your body with a daily run or other type of exercise will give you a mental boost as well as a physical one.

2. Sleep well: Getting enough rest each night will help you feel more energetic each day. Most people need about eight hours of sleep each night, but everyone is different. Getting the right amount of sleep for your body helps combat obesity levels and keeps you feeling alert and active.

3. Eat breakfast everyday: Eating breakfast is associated with a healthier weight. A nutritious breakfast will keep you feeling satisfied until lunch, preventing mid-morning snacking and keeping your mood steady all morning.

4. Fresh air and sunshine: The modern world is out of whack with our natural cycles. Human beings need fresh air and sunshine to feel healthy and happy. Vitamin D from the sun helps us absorb other nutrients and helps us get better rest at night.

5. Meditation: Daily meditation helps people feel more grounded and combats stress levels. Meditating brings aggression levels down and keeps you level-headed in any situation.

How to Succeed with a Good Exercise Partner

Some people just love to exercise and have no trouble staying excited about it. Others (like me) struggle with staying consistent and exercising at times when they are especially busy, tired or stressed. So, how do we get over this hurdle? I’ve found that a good exercise partner can go a long way to help get your butt to the gym. It’s all about the moral support.

Even though I know the key to exercise success, finding a good exercise partner can really be a challenge. I have one friend who always wants to commit to the job, but I’ve found she does more harm than good. I’m actually better off going it alone because she’s always offering up other things to do at our designated gym time. Of course I’d rather go to the mall than to the gym, but that’s not what my body needs.

By now, since I’ve already covered the bad, you’re probably wondering what makes someone a good exercise partner. Well, here goes:

First, a good exercise partner should be prompt so that you can easily fit a workout into your schedule. It’ll help if she works the same schedule as you. In other words, if you’re a software developer with 9 to 5 hours, don’t ask your doctor friend who works around the clock. Second, a good exercise partner should be close to your fitness level so that the two of you can challenge one another without anyone getting frustrated. Last, both partners should have similar priorities regarding exercise so that exercise will be more consistent. If your partner cancels over insignificant things, you both will struggle to reach your fitness goals.

By finding a good exercise partner to be accountable to, you will be more likely to stick to your regimen. On days when you don't feel like exercising, you can feed off of your friend's enthusiasm. When you’re done, you’ll both have a great feeling of accomplishment. Plus, everything always is more fun with a friend; am I right? You’ll start looking forward to the time spend together – and looking forward to exercise in the process.

Make it a priority to find an exercise partner, and you will be well on your way to accomplishing your fitness goals in 2012.

Fitness and Friends

One of the most often overlooked things that can help you live a healthy lifestyle is this: Have healthy relationships. Studies have shown that we tend to emulate the people we’re friends with. So, if you want to gain weight, be friends with people who are overweight. If you want to be miserable, hang out with unhappy people. On the other hand, if you’d like to be well-adjusted and fit, hangout with people who care about themselves have fitness goals. It’s a sad reality, but the science shows that people can bring us down. If you’re a glass-half full kind of person, it’s good news. Your friends can also lift you up.

I’m not saying to ditch the group of friends you’ve been with since grade school. I’m just saying, it’s time to reevaluate things. Maybe it’s time to start adding some more active people to your group. Just be sure they’re not in the minority, or you might just bring them down. That’s just not nice.

Another thing you can do is to be the person who lifts others up. Your friends will be more likely to become fit themselves if they see you thriving with a fit and healthy lifestyle. You don’t have to be pushy. Just ask them to come along for a healthy lunch or take an afternoon stroll (or jog, depending on your fitness level). If they say no, that’s okay. It’s not really your job to change their lives. It’s only your job to change your own. As you lead by example, you can only hope that they’ll see how much better it is to be healthy than to be a couch potato.

If nothing else works, you can still hang out with your friends, but it might be time to find a new group to spend more of your time with. If you think about it, this is your life. If you want to make positive changes, you might need to make some tough calls.

What is Matcha Green Tea?

Have you ever heard about the health benefits of green tea? Green tea contains a lot of polyphenols, which are naturally-occurring chemicals that act as powerful antioxidants. They are so powerful, in fact, that they are being investigated for their role in cancer prevention and potential treatment. There have been many studies on the healing powers of green tea, but of course more need to be done. Isn’t that always the case?

There aren’t really many downsides to drinking green tea. It does contain caffeine, so you should consume it in moderation, but the benefits are much greater than most other caffeinated beverages (such as coffee). Now, wouldn’t it be great if you could get all the great antioxidizing benefits of drinking about 10 cups of green tea without all that caffeine? And, even better, by drinking just one cup? Enter matcha green tea.

Matcha is a specially-grown type of green tea leaf that is ground down into a powder. That powder is then added to lukewarm water to make a tea. Can you see the difference? With matcha, you’re actually consuming the leaf instead of just infusing some of its properties into your water. Matcha is believed to have about 10 times the antioxidant power of your standard green tea without the comparable amount of caffeine. Just to clarify: Matcha does contain caffeine, and more than standard green tea, but not nearly as much as if you were to drink 10 cups of standard green tea.

With matcha, you’re getting super-sized benefits with less of a caffeine jolt. Actually, matcha doesn’t give you a jolt per se, but it does awaken your senses. It makes you feel alert without feeling jittery, as coffee can make you feel.

A friend actually turned me on to matcha after I told her about my super-jittery experience from having too much coffee before a job interview. Needless to say, I was a awake and alert for my next one without actually sitting there and shaking in my chair. It can work for you too; just give it a shot. Whether you’re looking for a teaching career or a career in social services, a first impression really means a lot. With too much coffee in your system, you can appear overly anxious, which may send red flags to a potential employer.

Remember to Get a Good Night's Sleep

If you’re like most of us who actually care about being fit and healthy, you try to eat right and exercise, but there’s one thing you might be overlooking: A good night’s sleep. Sometimes this even happens to us as a result of trying to get ourselves in better shape, which is kind of silly. In order to be truly healthy, we need to find a way to eat right and exercise, but also leave enough time to get a decent amount of sleep.

Each person’s needs are different, so I can't tell you to get eight hours or six hours. I can only tell you to experiment and see what works for you.

Here are some things you can do to ensure you’re getting the right amount of sleep:

1. Stop eating at least three hours before you plan to go to bed.

2. Don’t do anything too stressful in that three hour period. That means no work or watching emotionally taxing television programs (like something especially scary or sad).

3. Turn off the television about an hour before you plan to go to bed. This is a good time to have some pleasant conversation with a spouse or just simply relax. You can take a bath or read a book. Just know that this is a time to wind down.

4. Set a specific bedtime each night. Start by taking note of the time you want to be awake in the morning. If you want to be up at 6 a.m., go to bed by 10 p.m. Do this for a week and listen to your body. If you find yourself waking up way too early, you might be allowing too much time for sleep. Move your bedtime to a half hour later, and try that for a week. Keep adjusting your bedtime until you find one that works for you. The goal is for you to wake up just before your alarm clock rings. Just be sure to allow at least one week to adjust to every new bedtime.