Practice Patience

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, most people quit a new fitness program within three to six months, with many never returning to regular activity after that. The biggest reason for the  drop in fitness activity is lack of patience. You have to fight through the rough patches of no results. When you quit your body is just ready to start turning the corner but you don't get to see the results if you stop exercising. many factors play a role in how fast or slow your body response to exercise. For example: intensity of workouts, nutrition, stress, sleep, and genetics are just a few of factors you have to control and consider before rushing and baling out on you program. What ever you do remember this is a healthy lifestyle change not a microwave fix. DON'T QUIT!

Are You Constipated?

Warning signs of constipation:
-straining during a bowel movement more than 25% of the time
-hard stools more than 25% of the time
-incomplete evacuation more than 25% of the time
-two or fewer bowel movements in a week

Some reasons why you might be constipated:
-inadequate water intake
-inadequate fiber in the diet
-a disruption of regular diet or routine, e.g. traveling
-inadequate activity or exercise
eating large amounts of dairy products
-stress
-hypothyroidism
-antacid medicines containing calcium or aluminum
-medicines(especially strong pain medicines, such as narcotics, antidepressants or iron pills)
-pregnancy

Tips for Success!

Focus on the variety of good things you can eat rather than the foods you have to give up. If you find yourself with food cravings, increase your intake of good fats and protein and cut back on carbohydrates.

Check Your Emotions

Emotions good or bad trigger a response. Some of the time you respond with food. If you are excited you celebrate by eating. If you are sad or disappointed you comfort yourself by eating. Watch the emotional eating and keep track of you doing so. This will not immediately stop you but the goal is to become conscious of when you do it. Being conscious of it will not only help you stop eating to your emotions but if your not eating to your emotions you actually have to deal with the root issue!

Don't Get Discouraged It's Only the Beginning

Only weigh your self once a month.  Your weight tends to fluctuate to much day to day to get an accurate measure. When starting your fitness program more inches are lost than pounds. Most people want the opposite, but losing inches makes you look as good and well proportioned. If you are adding strength training to your program which you should be, you might even gain weight in the beginning. This is because muscle weighs more than fat. But in the end you will lose more weight and have better appearance. Muscle burns more calories than fat even while at rest. It also boost metabolism and gives you a more lean look.

The Foundation for Optimum Health

These are the foundations of optimum health, and if done correctly could not only improve longevity but the quality of that longevity.

Supplementation - How you incorporate vitamins, supplements and other natural remedies into your daily health regimen.

Diet - The foods and beverages you choose to fortify the body each day, and you eating habits.

Exercise - What do you do to physically challenge your body beyond your required daily activities.

Mental Health - Hoe do you feel about yourself, your relationships, your work and family. This also includes spirituality, self-esteem, stress management, and self-fulfillment.

Weight Loss Advice

Keep portions smaller than your first. It's easy to overeat when you have too much food on your plate. Smaller portions help prevent overeating. Also, try eating off of a saucer instead of a regular plate to control portions.

Control your hunger with filling foods that are low in calories. Eat mostly fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds and leave animal proteins to the lean cuts. Avoid starches, and focus on the vegetable as being the main part of your plate. Fruits and vegetables can help fill you up without adding a lot of calories. These foods will satisfy your hunger and help you lose weight.

Adrenal Fatigue

Adrenal fatigue can come from drugs, supplements, stress, or tobacco. People who use high stimulant fat burners to lose weight are slowing their metabolic rate over time. Because they are wearing out their adrenal glands, when they stop taking the product they gain more weight more easily. Energy drinks also damage your natural metabolism and max out your adrenal glands. Get back to your old self by: doing away with drugs, alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco, drinking plenty of water, properly supplementing, eating right, and getting more sleep.

Enjoy Your New Lifestyle

Celebrate your success everyday. Each morning, take a moment to look at yourself in the mirror and be proud of your accomplishments. Reward yourself with treats like a massage, a facial, a new pair of running shoes, or a new workout CD, but not with food. You don't want to delay your progress.

Quick Health Tip

Exercise keeps your head clear, relieves your anxiety, restores your energy, keeps your mind off food, and boosts your metabolism. Even if you don't have a weight problem, symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, or irritability that are relieved by eating, may mean you suffer from unstable blood sugar. If you go to the doctor, chances are they will try to medicate you. Before automatically accepting a prescription for a pharmaceutical, ask your physician whether there is a natural alternative in the form of a supplement or lifestyle change.

Digestive Health Continued

Taking are of your digestive health is sometimes over looked. If taken are of properly you can rid yourself of certain disease, have more energy, speed up weight-loss, take less trips to the doctor, and really control you health. Below are some products the interfere with your digestive health.

Artificial Sweeteners- Sweeteners that include sorbitol, and xylitol can aggravate irritable bowel syndrome and cause diarrhea in sensitive individuals. diet foods, chewing gum, some vitamins, and medicines such as cough syrup and antacids contain sorbitol. These items are often overlooked as potentiators of gastrointestinal distress.

Antibiotics- Antibiotics can have a devastating effect on the gut. They wipe out bacteria, friendly and unfriendly. Harmful bacteria, yeast, and fungi that were kept in check by friendly bacteria suddenly have free reign and can proliferate in the intestines. Some strains of bacteria are resistant to antibiotics. These powerful strains remain in the gut to cause all kinds of trouble.

Go Ahead and Cheat a Little

During our quest for a healthy lifestyle we sometimes deprive ourselves to much, when a little cheating could actually keep us on the band wagon. For example, I here that it is sometimes to hard to stick with a certain diet or nutrition plan because you crave your favorite unhealthy foods. So instead of sticking with the healthy program you quit or don't even start. Instead give yourself a day to eat those unhealthy foods, just don't go crazy and make yourself sick. This is a great incentive for being good 6 out of the 7 days in a week. The best thing is you're more likely to stay on your healthy eating plan because your providing yourself with balance. As time goes on you'll crave those unhealthy foods less and less. But when you first start don't forget to cheat a little!

Weight Management

Weight Management 101. Burn more calories than you consume. To Lose Weight: stop eating just before you are full. To Maintain Weight: stop eating when you are full. To Gain Weight: keep eating after you are full.

Cleansing for Energy

Think about it, all of your body systems are probably bogged down with waste. Not just your colon, but your liver, blood, kidneys and more. By removing the waste, the energy your body was using to handle toxins can now be used to generate energy for your daily activities. I suggest cleansing a minimum of 14 days to a maximum of 30 days.

Heat Exhaustion

Sweat is the body's way of cooling off. But if you're overheated for an extended period of time and don't replace the fluids you've lost, the internal systems that regulate temperature become overwhelmed and can't release the heat. If you become dehydrated, heat exhaustion can lead to potentially deadly heat stroke. Take immediate action if you feel dizzy, clammy, or nauseated. Get some place cool and drink lots of cool water. Find some sports drinks with electrolytes and take it easy.

Go To Sleep!

The consequences of sleep deprivation go far beyond the miseries of fatigue and diminished performance. Decades of clinical research document that a good night's rest supports nearly all systems of the body, including: skin health and youthful appearance, healthy collagen formation, insulin levels already within normal range, healthy body weight, glucose levels, blood pressure, healthy cell division, cardiovascular health, and good mood. But a lack of sleep has the opposite effect. Scientist attribute sleep related difficulties to the unprecedented levels of stress most of us endure in today's society.