Good Health Starts Young

Good nutrition in the early years is vital to a healthy life. So what are you feeding your kids?

Your children are the most precious gifts you'll ever receive, so you should handle them with care. While you worked hard to give them the best breast milk or formula when they were tiny, you may be at a loss once they begin eating solid foods - especially if you have a picky eater on your hands.

To help your little ones have the best jumpstart on a healthy and happy life, it's important that they get the same well-balanced diet that you're getting - with some slight modifications. Here are a few things to keep in mind when feeding your young and hungry little ones.

1. Know the Basics

You know your child needs a solid foundation of healthy foods. What does that mean? It means plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein products. Childhood is the best time to develop a taste for whole and raw foods. With that in mind, give your child plenty of apple slices, carrots, and grapes. When your little one is in her littlest stages, go for applesauce and other baby foods that don't have sugar or other flavor-changing additives. This way, your child learns to develop a taste for food the way nature intended, which just happens to be healthiest.

2. Believe in Your Child

One mistake when feeding your child is expecting him to have the same food preferences as you. So if you didn't like broccoli or pinto beans as a child, you're not going to feed your child those foods, because you don't expect him to like them. However, while your son might have your dimples and sense of humor, he didn't come with your taste buds. Encourage him to try a variety of healthy foods - including the ones you didn't like as a child. Who knows? You may be pleasantly surprised to find out your finicky son likes asparagus.

3. Prepare the Options

Dinnertime should not be a battle zone. If your child simply won't swallow her cherry tomatoes, don't give up. Instead, be ready with another option. Swap a piece of whole grain toast for a cup of yogurt, or offer the choice of a green salad or a carrot salad. And avoid the temptation to force your child to eat every bite of every bit of food on her plate - especially if you know she hates a certain food. On the other hand, if your daughter is resisting a new food she's never tried, it's a good idea to require her to take a bite or two on occasion. And remember - taste buds change over time, so it's okay to have your child taste something she's not eaten in a while.

4. Train with Tricker

Sometimes, your son isn't going to want to eat anything except cookies, butter popcorn, popsicles, and ice cream. You may want to throw your hands up in the air and give up on any hopes you had of having a healthy child. Don't. Just be smarter than your child. How? By taking healthy foods and burying them in what he thinks is unhealthy. Make banana-nut muffin to feed his need for cupcakes, strawberry smoothies to answer his begging for a milkshake, and whole-grain pancakes - minus the whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top.

Helping your children turn into healthy adults starts today, so don't waste any time giving your children the healthy start they deserve!

Resourceful Cooking

You've been cooking whole-wheat pancakes every morning and have made so many batches of ants on a log* that you're starting to feel them crawling up your leg. Now your children are begging for something else to eat and you've run out of ideas. Fortunately, KidsHealth.org is here to save the day!

Loaded with fantastic, kid-friendly recipes, KidsHealth.org is a great place to turn when your cooking energies are depleted. On top of tips for you, there are recipes that your son or daughter can help with.

To get straight to the recipes, visithttp://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/index.html and get ready for some great cooking!

Get Those Late-Night Cravings Under Control

And getting control over your waistline at the same time.

You've probably heard of diets that force dieters to avoid eating after a certain time of the day. That's because eating lots of food right before going to bed makes it more likely that your body will store up fat when you're not burning calories by moving around. How can you fend off those late-night cravings that bring unwanted calories to your most vulnerable soft spots?

Go to Bed

One of the easiest ways to avoid late-night cravings is to cut the late nights out of your life. This is as easy. Simply brush your teeth, wash your face, and get in bed well before your cravings usually kick in. To make sure you don't find yourself lying in bed for hours and suffering the same late-night desires that you're trying to avoid, don't read or watch television in bed. It may take a few nights to grow accustomed to an earlier bedtime, but your physical and emotional health will improve from hitting the hay at a decent hour.

Eat Later

This may seem contradictory if you're trying to beat late-night eating, but pushing dinner back an hour or so will help you stay full later into the night, ultimately leading to no more late-night cravings. This can be a difficult adjustment if you have a hungry household, so be prepared to allow plenty of snacking leading up to dinnertime.

Stop Sitting Around

For the most part, cravings kick in when you're sitting around not doing anything. Instead of opening the door for boredom-induced snacking, find something to do and do it well! Whether you decide to finally clean out the kitchen pantry or want to get yourself involve in a crossword puzzle or putting together a quilt, staying busy will help you sidestep any potential temptations that arise in the late hours.

Decompress the Stress

Stress is a key reason you may find yourself eating when you know you shouldn't. Stress can throw off your levels of certain hormones responsible for food cravings, so staying away from stress can't be stressed enough. Beat stress with controlled breathing, regular exercise, and sleep. If you're still feeling stressed, take a close look at your life and reprioritize. You may be putting too much emphasis on things that aren't important.

Give In

Have no control over your need for late-night foods? Give in, but give in healthily by substituting your unhealthy ice cream and candy corn for carrot sticks, celery sticks, or apple slices. Once you've made the switch, you may have to take another step and toss the ranch dressing you're dipping it in. Anything that diminishes the health perks of your food must be done away with. Your waistline requires it!

Get Wet

Being thirsty or dehydrated is often mistaken for hunger, so getting some water in your system may be just what your belly wants. So before you give in to your hunger, you need to quench your thirst. Any time you find yourself faced with an insatiable desire to snack on some late-night goodies, drink a couple glasses of water and wait a few minutes. If your hunger is still growing after a healthy dose of H2O, go for one of the healthy snacks mentioned above.

More Mousey Research

A recent study gave more proof that late-night snacking is a bad idea for anyone who wants to keep a tight reign on his or her waistline. During the study, mice fed during the day (they normally eat at night) gained 7.8 percent more weight than mice fed at the appropriate time. In other words, eat at the right time, get the results you want.

Protecting Your Back

A few easy steps to ensure your back's good health when you're in the gym.

You're having an amazing workout, when suddenly everything stops. A stinging sensation moves from your leg all the way up your back, sending paralyzing pain through your body. Could the pain have been prevented? Probably. Here are two tips to help you do just that.

Stretch It Out

Before beginning an exercise routine, stretching your body out slowly is still one of the best ways to prevent injury. To stretch out your back, try the following:

• Lie on your back with your feet flat on the ground, knees bent, and both hands resting on your chest. Then allow both legs to fall gently to one side of your body, while keeping your body in its original position. Raise your legs back to the starting position and allow them to fall to the other side. Hold each stretch for 5 to 10 seconds.
• Lie on your back, feet flat on the ground, knees bent. Pull one knee to your chest at a time, holding for 15 seconds. Repeat for the other leg, and then pull both knees to your chest for one or two repetitions.
• Resting on your hands and knees, relax your back and let it sag toward the ground while keeping your arms and legs in their original position. Once your back is as far down as it is going to be, bring your back to its original position and slowly arch your back like a cat toward the ceiling. Repeat two or three times.

Strengthen Your Core

In addition to stretching out your back, you should also actively work to strengthen your back. To do this, you'll need to strengthen the muscles that protect your back - the core muscles. However, if you're suffering from back pain, you should avoid some of the most common exercises that focus on the abdominal muscles, such as sit-ups (both regular and partial sit-ups) and lifting both of your legs in the air while lying on your back. You should also avoid other exercises that result in back pain or demand a lot from your back, such as standing toe touches.

If you aren't experiencing back pain, any exercise that helps your core grow stronger is going to help you avoid back pain in the future. At the same time, you can go a long way toward protecting your back by performing other exercises properly and not involving your back in exercises that aren't meant to work the back.

When Prevention Isn't Enough

Despite your greatest attempts, you won't be able to avoid back pain every time. When you begin to hurt in your back, you can often help your back pain feel better at home. A good first step is to ice your back. After a couple of days, you can alternate ice with heat.

While you may think staying in bed will help your back recover, taking bed rest will actually prolong the time it takes for your back to feel better. Instead, stay moderately active, being careful not to further injure your back. In the event your back pain doesn't go away after a couple of weeks, seek medical attention, as it may require more intensive care than you can provide on your own.

When the Pain Is Too Much

If you're suffering from unbearable back pain but want to stay fit, there's good news. Getting some exercise is one of the best things for your back pain. You just have to choose carefully.

For most people with back pain, walking is a great way to stay active. But for those who can't handle walking because of never-ending back pain, swimming in a pool is a great alternative that is usually tolerable no matter how much pain you're in on land. So when the pain becomes too much for you to bear exercise, hit the pool!

Let's Look At Bad Breakfast Foods

A fattening, unhealthy look at some of the worst foods you can eat for breakfast.

Mama always told you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But if your breakfast is brimming with butter, lard, and sugar, you may be putting your body at a disadvantage. Which breakfast foods are stuck to the bottom of the barrel for nutrition? Read on to find out.

Doughnuts

You knew it was coming, so may as well get it over with. Whether glazed, powdered, or cream-filled, doughnuts were made to be delicious ways to begin or interrupt your day. What they were not created for was to be a healthy way to get your day started right. Many companies have made it their mission to create the ultimate healthy doughnut, but every attempt has come off less tasty than the original. Instead of settling for something that tastes less than the best, leave doughnuts of all shapes, sizes, and health on the shelf.

Kids' Cereals

You never want to grow up. You love your big-kid toys and your big-kid video games, and you're still eating the same cereal you were when you were in elementary school. Unfortunately, those brightly colored, sugary sweet cereals have not become any healthier over the years. In fact, researchers from Yale University state that these kid-friendly cereals that are full of sugar and artificial flavors are usually less healthy than any cereals made for adults. So if your kids are eating the same colorful cereals as you, you'll all need to change. Instead, look for something with four grams of fiber and less than four grams of sugar per serving.

Energy Bars

They're crammed full of protein and go-get-em, and they fit in the palm of your hand. So what's the problem? The problem is that alongside all that energy-boosting protein, there is also a lot of fat and calories. If you don't spend adequate time each day to get rid of these extra fats and calories, your whole body is going to feel the extra pounds piling on. Instead of grabbing an energy bar for breakfast, only eat them right before or after an intense workout. That way you're keeping your body fueled properly, but you're also burning off most of the stuff you don't want stuck to your hips.

Front Seat Foods

The mother of all bad breakfast foods is breakfast on the go. While fast-food breakfast is convenient and relatively inexpensive, it is also one of the worst ways to fill your stomach in the morning. Some of the most common options are sausage or chicken biscuits; biscuits and gravy; or bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits. Make any of these items at home and you'll be on the border of unhealthy. Pick them up at a fast-food restaurant and you're guaranteed a dose of artery-slowing, fat-producing food, served in a Styrofoam carton with a side of orange juice. And no, the 100% natural orange juice doesn't magically turn gravy into a harmless or healthy substance.

Runners Up

Think your breakfast doesn't need a facelift just because your favorite fattening breakfast treat snuck by without making the list? Think again. Here are a few other fattening breakfast foods to avoid.

• Sausage: Just as high in fat as it is in flavor, sausage can put a hurting on your good health.
• Pancakes: Whole-wheat pancakes aren't too unhealthy, but out-of-the-box pancakes doused in syrup is anything but healthy. In fact, anything doused in syrup is a bad idea.
• Ham: For all the reasons to avoid bacon and sausage, keep your salivating mouth away from ham. Tastes great, more filling for your waistline.

Protein Packed Diet

The who, what, when, where, and why of a high-protein diet.

Thinking of hitching your wagon to a new weight-loss craze? In case you haven't heard about the pros of a protein-rich diet, listen up! Adding some protein (quite a bit of it, actually) can help you lose a little weight. But how does it really work, and is it for you?

The Protein Plan

A high-protein diet's main goal is to help you lose weight. Whereas the typical diet consists of 10 to 15 percent of all calories coming from protein, a high-protein diet demands as much as half of your calories come from protein. As a high-protein diet changes your eating habits, it can also change your metabolism.

If you stop eating sufficient carbohydrates and other nutrients, your body can stop burning food for fuel and will instead begin to use your own fat as fuel. This can result in rather rapid weight loss, which sounds pretty good to anyone looking for a quick fix. Unfortunately, this fast and furious pound shedding isn't experienced without some side effects. Irritability, heart palpitations, kidney trouble, headaches, and other problematic symptoms can all result from a diet high in protein and low in other nutrients.

The Protein Participant

When followed for short periods of time, a high-protein diet is usually safe for otherwise healthy adults. However, anyone with kidney or liver disease should avoid high-protein diets, as they put excessive stress on the body's waste removal system, a system that is already damaged due to kidney or liver disease.

High-protein diets are also not ideal for people with high cholesterol or are already at risk for heart disease. Since some foods packed with protein also come with a fair amount of cholesterol and fat, adding even more of these foods into your diet isn't a good idea.

The Protein Predicament

While a high-protein diet may help you lose weight, it is doing it with the same problem that many diets have. Instead of encouraging a healthy, well-rounded diet filled with various foods, a high-protein diet leans heavily on protein-rich foods. As a result, other foods, such as those that are high in carbohydrates, become neglected. Though reducing carbohydrate intake in most people is fine, a drastic reduction in the consumption of any vitamin, mineral, or nutrient is never good for your body.

If you're set on going with a high-protein diet, be careful not to neglect other foods in the process. That way, you'll be more likely to get the results you seek without damaging your body along the way. You should also consult a dietitian to find out the most efficient and healthiest ways to up your protein intake. After all, your goal is to lose weight - not your good health!

Finding the Protein

Looking for a nice piece of protein that will help in your quest for a thinner you? Look no farther than your local butcher! Just remember these tips to make sure your protein won't work against your waistline.

Tip 1: White Poultry Is Good Poultry. Few foods provide the same protein punch as a good piece of chicken - at least not for the money. Just make sure you go for the white meat. Dark meat may be juicier and tastier, but it also comes with added fat. You may also want to cut off the skin, as it has some of that undesirable saturated fat.

Tip 2: Steak Should Be on the Menu. The ultimate protein-rich food is steak. When chosen properly, a lean piece of steak tastes fantastic and gives your body the protein it craves. When chosen poorly, a fatty piece of steak will give your body the protein you seek, but it will be marred by unwanted fats.

Tip 3: A Fish a Day. People in Asian countries have long touted the health benefits of fish. One of the perks of eating fish is the great amount of protein in each bite. Combine that protein with the fact that fish is usually very low in fat, and you've got a protein source that will never do you wrong.

Tip 4: Whey Protein. The use of whey protein as a source of amino acids and its effect on reducing the risks of diseases such as heart disease and cancer is the focus of ongoing research.  Whey is an abundant source of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs)  which are used to fuel working muscles and stimulate protein synthesis. In particular, leucine plays a key role in initiating the transcription pathway that fires up protein synthesis.  When leucine is ingested in high amounts, such as with whey protein supplementation, there is greater stimulation of protein synthesis, which may speed recovery and adaptation to stress (exercise).

Why Your Exercise Routine Isn’t Working

Something isn't quite right about your exercise routine. You're about to find out what it is.

You don't go to the gym to hang out. You're there to get fit, to feel better, and to gain more energy to get through your stressful day. So why is it not working? Here are a few common reasons your body may not be responding how you want it to after a good hour or two at the gym.

Your Body Has Peaked

If you've been working out for a while and have stopped seeing the results you saw during the first few weeks, your body may have hit its peak. This happens most often when you perform the same exercises over and over, day after day, without any change in your routine. But don't worry - you can get past this problem with relative ease. All you have to do is add some variety and spice into your routine.

An easy way to do this is by changing the type of weights you use. If you usually workout exclusively with plate weights, grab some dumbbells - or better yet, kettlebells. If that isn't enough to get your body to start responding to gym time, talk with a personal trainer about new exercises to sprinkle into your regimen for continual improvement.

You're Not Committed

Many people get frustrated with their gym routines only to realize they aren't spending enough time in the gym to see any noticeable difference. And while you may spend hours each day thinking about how you need to get in the gym, thinking isn't doing. Yes, the right mindset will improve your physical fitness and help you push your body in the gym, but you've got to be in the gym to actually push your body.

If you're spending two hours in the gym every day but leave without any results, you may be committed to visiting the gym, but not using the gym. When working out, make sure you're giving 100 percent the entire time. That doesn't mean you have to lift hundreds of pounds with each repetition, but you should be focused, using proper posture and moving from one exercise to the next without a 20-minute water break between each set.

Your Diet Doesn't Mesh

Working out regularly is a must if you're going to obtain optimal fitness. But if you think you can eat whatever you want on your way to good health, think again. Your exercise routine is only as good as your diet. Therefore, eating a healthy diet is essential to making the most of your gym time.

In fact, if you don't eat healthily, you probably won't feel up to pushing yourself in the gym, making it even harder to reap the rewards you so desperately want. To make sure your gym time is well spent, you may need to modify your diet to include more fresh fruits and vegetables, fewer late-night snacks, and more lean protein sources, such as lean meat and peanut butter.

You Can't See

If you're like many people, you may be your worst critic. While everyone around you is gawking at how good you look, you wish you could lose three more pounds and another inch or two from your waist. How do you get over this problem? With a diary.

When you begin working out, keep track of your routine, noting repetitions, weight lifted, and time spent on the treadmill. Over time, you will certainly notice an improvement in your endurance, strength, and overall fitness - even if your waistline isn't the tiny circle you think it ought to be. Keeping track of fitness in this way helps you keep a healthy tab on your improvements over time and will keep you committed to the gym and a healthy diet!

What's Missing in Most Self-Defense Training? Answer: Stress.

You are in line at a McDonald’s when a group of young goons walk in and start shooting at people.  The reason doesn’t matter to you; you just want to get out alive.  What do you do?  Your body starts rapid shallow breathing pattern, and your heart rate gets jacked up.  You start to sweat and your body switches in preparation for action.  You start to get fixated on trying to sort out the flood of information you’re experiencing but your brain can’t think!  Part of you just screams to DO SOMETHING….

What you are going through is the amygdale bringing your limbic system online.  The amygdale is a small piece of your brain that alerts the reflexive portion of your brain, the part where you primary survival reactions are stored.  The thinking part of your brain, that part that takes in new information and processes it logically and applies the filters of rational thinking goes offline so it doesn’t interfere with the “get it done” focus of the mid-brain.  This is where life and death actions take place and what has been called the “Four F’s of Survival; Flee, Fight, Feed and…make kids”.  And it is also where very few of us focus on taking our training.

There are five elements that are key to create a successful high-stress training experience:

1. Understand the “Training Loop".  This is the autopilot action of the mid-brain and the reference material stored courtesy of your memories can be used to compare the “new” information you receive when under stress.
2. Preprogram the brain with a vast array of “what if, then what” scenarios while you are still in the forebrain operating zone.  Think of this as filling the reservoir with aviation fuel so when the mid-brain ignites, it will have the needed octane.
3. Understand the tools to control the mid-brain response so it doesn’t go out of control.  This can be as easy as teaching yourself a simple breathing technique.
4. Drive the heart rate up with physical stress to increase oxygen demands.
5. Create emotional stress to increase heart rate, cause vasoconstriction and increase the cortisol levels in the blood to cause the brain to access its “training loop”, that reservoir of known actions that it can grab onto to deal with the current threat.

The “training loop” is the place that you need to able to go to when your physiology prohibits you from processing incoming information on its own merit.  It is the “place” you have to keep tidy and well stocked for when the forebrain shuts off and the mid-brain takes over to get active and keep you alive.  It functions by retrieving existing action patterns and knowledge of events that are similar and have been experienced, or thought about in detail, previously.

The “what if, then what” scenarios are drills that you can use to prime your OODA Loop thinking processes.  These are exercises you can do wherever you go and eventually they’ll develop into preprogramming about what you are willing to do in multiple settings and, just as importantly, how you will get it done. The more scenarios you actively work through in your mind, the more material your mid-brain has to act on and the less likely you will “freeze” under stress.  Preprogramming the brain can also help short cut the OODA loop process.

Select random pieces of your day and take 30 seconds to examine in detail.  Pay attention to the immediate surroundings, persons near you, traffic flows, building structures, etc.  Then, create multiple “hits the fan” scenes and create solutions.  With practice you can get 3-4 scenarios completed in that 30-second window. Done a few times a day and I guarantee you’ll have the beginning of a strong library of response material for your reflexive mid-brain to compare to the real life stressful experiences in front of you.

Controlling the amygdale and the subsequent descent into full blown mid-brain function can be managed with “combat breathing” or “autogenic breathing”.  The breathing technique is as follows: breath in for a four count, hold for a four count, breath out for a four count and hold for a four count.  Make this your breathing pattern as the event unfolds to the degree that you can (you will obviously not be doing so during hand-to-hand combat when your body is screaming for more oxygen).  This breathing pattern can significantly reduce the heart rate and since heart rates over 175 beats per minute can severely affect your capabilities to function effectively physically, this is a key.  During your training as you go through the exercises, practice the breathing technique and you will find it can have a marked effect on your ability to focus and regain your composure and deliver on target.

For physical stress, we use kettlebells (either snatch or heavy swings) and tactical pop-ups as the primary exercises to spike heart rate.  These are maximal exercises that peak your heart rate from 0-100 mph at the end of one set.  The length of the set varies for many but it never takes more than 60 seconds to get a really good HR acceleration (we like to get into the 125-150 beats per minute range but it is largely dependant on a person’s physical tolerance and health history).  You can see a good example of a tactical pop-up in the video below.  It is the last exercise at around the seven minute mark, though all the exercises demonstrated should get the job done.

We couple the physical stress with engagement rules that prohibit social dialogue unless to indicate an emergency event or a start or stop to the exercise.  The social niceties of conversation and interaction are removed because they make people feel more comfortable and we want to keep that stress in place.  We also emphasize that the goal is to train to survive and in justifiable deadly force settings the intent to stop a person really is the intent to take action that is likely to end a life.  We can remove the inhibition to act by clearing the difference between social and asocial events but the stress will remain during the training event.

Since we are innately social creatures these factors put additional stressors into play.  These stresses induce asocial anxiety and cause the elevation of cortisol in the blood creating the chemical profile of high-stress and helping to arrange our learning within our brain in a manner that involves training the mid-brain to access particular neural nets.  If a trainee has questions he or she should remove themselves from the drill first and then engage, get the required information and then return to the drill.  All of this is aimed at creating an environment where you are physically and mentally forced to cope with the physical and psychological realities of high-stress response.

Once you begin training in an asocial, physically active setting that taxes your ability to function, you begin to engage the tools that allow you to control that panic sensation and harness the survival reflex of the mid-brain.  In short, training with stress is how you maximize your ability to respond when it counts.  Many call this “stress inoculation” as if it were a vaccine, but I prefer to call it plan old “stress training”.  In a life or death situation you should be stressed and call upon the tools you’ve developed to control and save your body and mind.

Give me a call for more details and if you want to take your self defense to a whole different level, with weapons and possibly get your CCW. Give me a call and I will arrange a day at the range to teach you how to properly use a handgun.

Eat Healthy and Save Money

That's right - eating well doesn't have to break your bank.

These days, it seems everyone is looking for ways to cut back on spending and find the best deals. This means lowering your monthly utility bills and not buying that new luxury vehicle. And it also means watching your dimes during your weekly trip to the grocery store. How can we save money on our food but still eat a healthy, well-balanced diet? Read on and you will find key ways to reduce your grocery bill without going hungry. All it takes is a little research and a plan.

First: The first step is to make a plan. Determine what you would like to eat for an entire week. Then, examine your cabinets and refrigerator for what you currently have and make a list of what you still need before you head to the store. Once in the store, don't veer off to meet your sudden cravings. Instead, stick to your list, without making any exceptions. When you have meal options already in your kitchen, you will be less likely to eat out or to stop for quick, more expensive foods to fix.

Second: A second way to eat healthy on a tight budget is to watch for sales. Many grocery stores offer buy-one-get-one-free deals or other great discounts. It is helpful if you know how much items normally cost before you jump on a sale that might not really be that great of a deal. But if something truly is on sale, you may want to stock up on items you know you can use in the future.

Third: Another way to save on groceries is to cut coupons. Sure, this may seem like an inconvenience that's not worth your time, but if you invest a little of your time, you can save a lot of money. For the best coupons, find out if your grocery store accepts multiple coupons for a single item, such as the store coupon, a manufacturer's coupon, or even a competitor's coupon. Frequenting grocery stores that accept any coupon you have makes it much easier to save. To find coupons, check your local newspaper or magazines. But don't think that's the only place to find deals. Many companies offer online coupons that can be printed off and used at will.

When you go to the grocery store, you find that the cheapest calories are the ones that are going to make you the fattest.
- Amanda Zimmerman

Fourth: A sure way to eat healthy on the cheap is to shop along the edges of your grocery store. If you notice, it is in the center aisles where the majority of your more expensive, packaged foods are located. You can find fresh meats in the deli, whole grain bread from the bakery, milk products in the dairy section, and fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables in the produce section, which are all on the outskirts of any grocery store.

Fifth: Another way to save money on groceries is to buy the store brand. For many food products, you will not be able to taste the difference between more expensive brands and the cheaper store brand. In fact, you may find yourself preferring the flavor of the cheaper alternative and you may be surprised to find out how healthy the store brands often are.

Sixth: If you have the time, it definitely pays to prepare your own food instead of buying pre-made meals or snacks available at the grocery store. When you make your own meals, you know what ingredients you are putting into each food (and your body), and you can be sure they are good for you. Good places to begin making your own food are popcorn (Why not pop it on the stove?) or homemade cookies or muffins (Have the kids lend a hand). Before long, you'll be enjoying homemade meals every day, and your pocketbook will thank you.

Finally: Eating a healthy diet does not have to be expensive. All it takes is a plan and a little extra time. So be smart at the grocery store, stick to your list, use coupons, look for deals, prepare your own food, and take heart knowing that your body and your bank account are healthy.

Exercise for Big Bodies

How you can begin living a healthy life with a few simple exercises.

Whether you inherited your weight problem, suffered a life-altering injury that caused you to be immobile for a long period or time, or have just made bad dietary choices, there is no time for self-pity if you're going to overcome a weight issue. What can you do when your weight prevents you from fitting on an exercise machine; causes knee, joint or heart problems; or makes you feel too embarrassed to wear a bathing suit? Swallow your pride and get to work. And it is very hard work.

If you think you've got the resolve to do what it takes to shave some pounds off, read on to find out how you can get started.

The place to start is your doctor's office. Have your physician check on any current health conditions that are affecting you. Also, going to the doctor will allow you to get a baseline on your heart rate and overall health, which will make it easier to work with your physician to monitor your progress along the way. The key to any weight-loss routine is to find an exercise you can enjoy doing and to start out slowly. Ask your physician for recommendations of good exercises, and give them a shot. If you find them too repetitive and boring or a little more difficult than you expected, try something different. Gradually, smartly increase the time you spend at it as well as the intensity of your exercise.

For those who may be severely obese, the exercises to get you on your way would be simple leg lifts, arm raises, or bending and leaning over, which can be done while sitting. These movements provide the muscle strength necessary for future exercises and will minimize your risk of injury. As you go through each day, look for ways to add more movement and exercise. Make it a part of your daily life.

A great form of exercise for anyone is walking. The more steps you take, the better you'll feel. Even walking from one end of the house to the other is helpful. When walking, start off slow and only go short distances. Each day try to go a little farther but do not overdo it. If needed, take frequent breaks and don't walk so far that it will be hard to make it back to your starting point. No matter where you're walking, be sure to wear good walking shoes and drink enough water along the way. Doing these easy steps will keep your body ready for the next walk around the block.

For those who are able to wear a bathing suit and have access to a body of water, swimming is a wonderful form of exercise if you're obese. As the water supports your body and therefore does not put the usual strain on your bones and joints, swimming makes it possible to move your body with greater ease, which increases your strength, stamina, flexibility, and range of motion. With these improvements in tact, performing other exercises on the ground will become easier as well.

No matter how much you weigh, what you may need most is accountability and encouragement along the way. If possible, a personal trainer is a great way to stay on track and stay safe along the way. A close friend can also help keep you accountable or tag along for your regular workouts. Joining a support group may be a good option for some. With any exercise program, remember that the gym isn't the only step to losing weight. You should also eat a healthy diet. Not only will healthy, low fat foods help you lose weight, but they will also give you the energy you need to do the exercises that do the body good.

Understanding Obesity

As the weight of the average American has been increasing during the past decades, health professionals have claimed America to be suffering an "obesity epidemic." How do you know if you're overweight or obese? First, you have to calculate your body mass index (BMI).

To do this, multiply your weight in pounds times 703. Next, figure out how tall you are in inches, and square this number. Finally, divide the first number by the second. The answer is your BMI.

A BMI below 18.5 means you're underweight, between 18.5 and 24.9 is a healthy weight, 25-29.9 is overweight, and 30 and above is obese.

Goodbye, Cholesterol

How to kiss cholesterol and your overwhelming fear of it goodbye.

During the 1340s, there was the Bubonic Plague. Approximately six and one-half centuries later, it was the bird flu. Today, everyone runs scared of one arch nemesis: cholesterol. As scared as people are of this substance, many people don't even know what it is.

How can you reduce the amount of cholesterol in your body and calm your cholesterol fears?

Describing Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a sticky, waxy substance. And as you know, cholesterol is in some of your favorite foods. But did you know that your body also produces cholesterol? That's because cholesterol actually serves a good purpose, as it is required for your body to produce vitamin D, help your body digest fats, and build the walls to your body's basic element - the cell.

While your body creates cholesterol on its own and is found in many different foods, cholesterol in excess can be very dangerous. When you have too much cholesterol stored up in your body, it can stick to the walls of your arteries and prevent adequate blood from flowing from the heart to the rest of the body. If enough clogging occurs, the end result can be heart attack or stroke.

Reducing Cholesterol

The good news is that you can take control of the amount of cholesterol in your body. A good first step is to lower the amount of cholesterol you introduce to your body through different foods. This means increasing your intake of low-cholesterol foods and reducing your intake of cholesterol-heavy foods.

Fruits and vegetables are always good bets if you're trying to avoid cholesterol. You can also go with fat-free or low-fat dairy products; nuts; beans; and skinless, lean poultry or meat. At the same time, you'll want to avoid foods high in cholesterol. This list includes baked goods made with egg yolks; sausage, bologna, and other processed meats; fried foods; and whole milk.

Accepting Cholesterol

Because your body produces cholesterol, you will never be cholesterol free. Instead of attempting to rid your body and your diet of every bit of cholesterol, you should aim for a more noble (and possible goal): eating a healthy, well-balanced diet.

In order to ensure your diet remains low in cholesterol, use the following tips when cooking:

• cut off as much fat as you can from meats before cooking
• find ways to cook using only egg whites (not egg yolks)
• boil or broil your food instead of frying
• go with low-fat versions of ingredients
• cook more low-fat, filling foods and fewer high-fat foods

Remember - you can't cut all of the cholesterol out of your diet, but you can do your part to get it to a healthy level.

What's the Good Stuff?

Making cholesterol even more confusing is the seemingly new revelation that all cholesterol is not created equal. As you probably know, there is "good" cholesterol and "bad" cholesterol. But which is which?

"Good" cholesterol is the lay term for high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. HDL cholesterol actually protects against heart attack. Therefore, maintaining a healthy level of HDL (40 mg/dL or higher) is essential to good overall health.

"Bad" cholesterol is another name for low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Responsible for the artery clogging that cholesterol is known for, LDL should be avoided whenever possible. The ideal level of LDL cholesterol is less than 100 mg/dL. When high LDL is coupled with low HDL cholesterol levels, being overweight, or smoking, you are at a substantial risk for heart disease and stroke.

REDUCE MUSCLE SORENESS

Many people should probably exercise more often and with more intensity. Now is the time to kick excuses out the door, because you're about to learn how to reduce your risk of sore muscles. You'll feel so good that you will be motivated to make time in your day to exercise. So get started!

Okay, so now you might be thinking about where to start. Should you warm up or stretch first? Here's the simple answer - both.

Start with a good warm-up to lower your risk of having sore muscles the next day. Warming up your muscles (especially the major muscle groups you'll be using during exercise) is one of the best ways to prevent muscle stiffness and injury. A good warm-up consists of moving your body by slowly walking, gently jogging, and light participation in the activity you're warming up for. The goal is to increase your heart rate a little bit, which increases your muscles' temperature so they move more easily. Your warm-up period doesn't have to take long, either. Five minutes or so will do the trick.

Once you've revved up your body with a good warm-up, you're ready to start stretching. Stretches are most beneficial when you hold them for at least 30 seconds, but a good rule of thumb is to start by holding a stretch for just five seconds and work your way up to 30 seconds as your body gets used to the stretching and exercise. As you stretch, be sure not to bounce as this action can increase your risk of injury. If you're not sure how to stretch or you want to make sure you are performing your warm-up and stretching properly, visit your local gym for advice.

It's true that the warm-up period of your exercise is more self explanatory than stretching, so here are a few simple stretching techniques and positions that may help.

Calf stretch - This is a great stretch if you're going to be using your legs during exercise, such as when you run or play many team sports. Begin this stretch by facing and standing about two feet away from a wall. With your heels flat and your back straight, slowly lean forward and press your hands and forehead against the wall. You should feel this stretch in your calf right above your ankles.

Hamstring stretch - You've likely heard of a lot of people who get hamstring injuries, so this exercise is obviously very important. Lie with your back flat on the floor and both knees bent. With your feet flat on the floor, slowly bend your right knee up to your chest, place both hands behind your right thigh and then extend your leg upward. You should feel the stretch in the back of your leg. Repeat this exercise with the left leg.

Neck stretch - This is a good stretch if you're going to be working out your upper body, especially the shoulders. Standing upright, hang both arms by your side. Then take one arm and twist your palm so it is facing out. At the same time, grasp your head with your other hand and gently pull your ear toward your shoulder. Stop and hold when you feel the first signs of stretching along the side of your neck. Repeat on the other side.

Okay, there's no time for excuses anymore now that you know how to warm up and stretch. Get out there and get moving and have a great time - you're going to feel great!

The Other Side of Warming Up

Yes, that's right. Warming up and stretching are not the only parts of a healthy work out plan. Cooling down is just as essential if you want to prevent injury and sore muscles the next day. Just like you spent a few minutes warming up your body and your muscles in order to exercise them, you should take at least five minutes to cool down the temperature in your body and muscles after a good work out.

Walking is a great way to end your exercise session, and you can even utilize many of the same stretches to cool down as you did to warm up. With a cool-down period, you give your body a few minutes to relax and return to normal functioning after exercise.

Valentine's Day . Thank you Wiki

Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day,^] is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions.^[1][3] The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs,Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. It was deleted from the Roman calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI, but its religious observance is still permitted. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly loveflourished.

Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

Historical facts

Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine.^[5] The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome (Valentinus presb. m. Romae) and Valentine of Terni (Valentinus ep. Interamnensis m. Romae).^[6] Valentine of Rome^[7] was a priest in Rome who was martyred about AD 269 and was buried on the Via Flaminia. His relics are at the Church of Saint Praxed in Rome,^[8] and at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland.

Valentine of Terni^[9] became bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) about AD 197 and is said to have been martyred during the persecution under Emperor Aurelian. He is also buried on the Via Flaminia, but in a different location than Valentine of Rome. His relics are at the Basilica of Saint Valentine in Terni (Basilica di San Valentino).^[10]

The Catholic Encyclopedia also speaks of a third saint named Valentine who was mentioned in early martyrologies under date of February 14. He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him.^[11]

No romantic elements are present in the original early medieval biographies of either of these martyrs. By the time a Saint Valentine became linked to romance in the 14th century, distinctions between Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni were utterly lost.^[12]

In the 1969 revision of the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints, the feastday of Saint Valentine on February 14 was removed from the General Roman Calendar and relegated to particular (local or even national) calendars for the following reason: "Though the memorial of Saint Valentine is ancient, it is left to particular calendars, since, apart from his name, nothing is known of Saint Valentine except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14."^[13] The feast day is still celebrated in Balzan (Malta) where relics of the saint are claimed to be found, and also throughout the world byTraditionalist Catholics who follow the older, pre-Second Vatican Council calendar.

Romantic legends

Saint Valentine of Terni and his disciples.

The Early Medieval acta of either Saint Valentine were expounded briefly in Legenda Aurea.^[14] According to that version, St Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by Roman Emperor Claudius II in person. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. Because of this, he was executed. Before his execution, he is reported to have performed a miracle by healing the blind daughter of his jailer.

Since Legenda Aurea still provided no connections whatsoever with sentimental love, appropriate lore has been embroidered in modern times to portray Valentine as a priest who refused an unattested law attributed to Roman Emperor Claudius II, allegedly ordering that young men remain single. The Emperor supposedly did this to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers. The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young men. When Claudius found out about this, he had Valentine arrested and thrown in jail.

There is an additional modern embellishment to The Golden Legend, provided by American Greetings to History.com, and widely repeated despite having no historical basis whatsoever. On the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he would have written the first "valentine" card himself, addressed to a young girl variously identified as his beloved,^[15] as the jailer's daughter whom he had befriended and healed,^[16] or both. It was a note that read "From your Valentine."^[15]

Attested traditions

Lupercalia

Main article: Lupercalia

Though popular modern sources link unspecified Greco-Roman February holidays alleged to be devoted to fertility and love to St. Valentine's Day, Professor Jack Oruch of the University of Kansas argued that prior to Chaucer, no links between the Saints named Valentinus and romantic love existed.^[17] Earlier links as described above were focused on sacrifice rather than romantic love. In the ancient Athenian calendar the period between mid-January and mid-February was the month of Gamelion, dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera.

In Ancient Rome, Lupercalia, observed February 13 through 15, was an archaic rite connected to fertility. Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning "Juno the purifier "or "the chaste Juno," was celebrated on February 13–14. PopeGelasius I (492–496) abolished Lupercalia.

Geoffrey Chaucer by Thomas Occleve(1412)

Chaucer's love birds

The first recorded association of Valentine's Day with romantic love is in Parlement of Foules (1382) by Geoffrey Chaucer^[18] Chaucer wrote:

For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.

["For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate."]

This poem was written to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia.^[19] A treaty providing for a marriage was signed on May 2, 1381.^[20] (When they were married eight months later, they were each only 15 years old).

Readers have uncritically assumed that Chaucer was referring to February 14 as Valentine's Day; however, mid-February is an unlikely time for birds to be mating in England. Henry Ansgar Kelly has pointed out^[21] that in the liturgical calendar, May 2 is the saints' day for Valentine of Genoa. This St. Valentine was an early bishop of Genoa who died around AD 307.^[22]

Chaucer's Parliament of Foules is set in a fictional context of an old tradition, but in fact there was no such tradition before Chaucer. The speculative explanation of sentimental customs, posing as historical fact, had their origins among 18th-century antiquaries, notably Alban Butler, the author ofButler's Lives of Saints, and have been perpetuated even by respectable modern scholars. Most notably, "the idea that Valentine's Day customs perpetuated those of the Roman Lupercalia has been accepted uncritically and repeated, in various forms, up to the present"^[23]

Medieval period and the English Renaissance

Using the language of the law courts for the rituals of courtly love, a "High Court of Love" was established in Paris on Valentine's Day in 1400. The court dealt with love contracts, betrayals, and violence against women. Judges were selected by women on the basis of a poetry reading.^[24][25] The earliest surviving valentine is a 15th-century rondeau written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife, which commences.

Je suis desja d'amour tanné
Ma tres doulce Valentinée...

—Charles d'Orléans, Rondeau VI, lines 1–2 ^[26]

At the time, the duke was being held in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt, 1415.^[27]

Valentine's Day is mentioned ruefully by Ophelia in Hamlet (1600–1601):

To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,
And dupp'd the chamber-door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more.

—William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5

John Donne used the legend of the marriage of the birds as the starting point for his Epithalamion celebrating the marriage of Elizabeth, daughter of James I of England, and Frederick V, Elector Palatine on Valentine's Day:

Hayle Bishop Valentine whose day this is
All the Ayre is thy Diocese
And all the chirping Queristers
And other birds ar thy parishioners
Thou marryest every yeare
The Lyrick Lark, and the graue whispering Doue,
The Sparrow that neglects his life for loue,
The houshold bird with the redd stomacher
Thou makst the Blackbird speede as soone,
As doth the Goldfinch, or the Halcyon
The Husband Cock lookes out and soone is spedd
And meets his wife, which brings her feather-bed.
This day more cheerfully than ever shine
This day which might inflame thy selfe old Valentine.

—John Donne, Epithalamion Vpon Frederick Count Palatine and the Lady Elizabeth marryed on St. Valentines day

The verse Roses are red echoes conventions traceable as far back as Edmund Spenser's epic The Faerie Queene (1590):

She bath'd with roses red, and violets blew,
And all the sweetest flowres, that in the forrest grew.^[28]

The modern cliché Valentine's Day poem can be found in the collection of English nursery rhymes Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784):

The rose is red, the violet's blue
The honey's sweet, and so are you
Thou are my love and I am thine
I drew thee to my Valentine
The lot was cast and then I drew
And Fortune said it shou'd be you.^[29]

Valentine's Day postcard, circa 1910

Modern times

In 1797, a British publisher issued The Young Man’s Valentine Writer, which contained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the young lover unable to compose his own. Printers had already begun producing a limited number of cards with verses and sketches, called “mechanical valentines,” and a reduction in postal rates in the next century ushered in the less personal but easier practice of mailing Valentines. That, in turn, made it possible for the first time to exchange cards anonymously, which is taken as the reason for the sudden appearance of racy verse in an era otherwise prudishly Victorian.^[30]

Paper Valentines became so popular in England in the early 19th century that they were assembled in factories. Fancy Valentines were made with real lace and ribbons, with paper lace introduced in the mid-19th century.^[31] In the UK, just under half the population spend money on their Valentines and around 1.3 billion pounds is spent yearly on cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts, with an estimated 25 million cards being sent.^[32] The reinvention of Saint Valentine's Day in the 1840s has been traced by Leigh Eric Schmidt.^[33] As a writer in Graham's American Monthly observed in 1849, "Saint Valentine's Day... is becoming, nay it has become, a national holyday."^[34] In the United States, the first mass-produced valentines of embossed paper lace were produced and sold shortly after 1847 by Esther Howland (1828–1904) of Worcester, Massachusetts.^[35][36]

Child dressed in Valentine's Day-themed clothing.

Her father operated a large book and stationery store, but Howland took her inspiration from an English Valentine she had received from a business associate of her father.^[37][38] Intrigued with the idea of making similar Valentines, Howland began her business by importing paper lace and floral decorations from England.^[38][39] The English practice of sending Valentine's cards was established enough to feature as a plot device in Elizabeth Gaskell's Mr. Harrison's Confessions(1851): "I burst in with my explanations: '"The valentine I know nothing about." '"It is in your handwriting," said he coldly.^[40] Since 2001, the Greeting Card Association has been giving an annual "Esther Howland Award for a Greeting Card Visionary."^[36]

Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.^[4] The mid-19th century Valentine's Day trade was a harbinger of further commercialized holidays in the United States to follow.^[41]

In the second half of the 20th century, the practice of exchanging cards was extended to all manner of gifts in the United States. Such gifts typically include roses and chocolates packed in a red satin, heart-shaped box. In the 1980s, the diamond industry began to promote Valentine's Day as an occasion for giving jewelry.

The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately 190 million valentines are sent each year in the US. Half of those valentines are given to family members other than husband or wife, usually to children. When you include the valentine-exchange cards made in school activities the figure goes up to 1 billion, and teachers become the people receiving the most valentines.^[35] In some North American elementary schools, children decorate classrooms, exchange cards, and are given sweets. The greeting cards of these students sometimes mention what they appreciate about each other.

The rise of Internet popularity at the turn of the millennium is creating new traditions. Millions of people use, every year, digital means of creating and sending Valentine's Day greeting messages such as e-cards, love coupons or printable greeting cards. An estimated 15 million e-valentines were sent in 2010