Tag Archives: weight loss oro valley az

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Choice

Choice

Each day we have the choice to make today a good day or to be miserable and struggle throughout the day. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, but it is possible with practice. Even if you are struggling throughout the day, try to sit down for a few minutes and focus on the positives and improve your day into a better one. Choose to succeed rather than fail. This decision is up to you. If you focus on the negatives of the day, then the day will be miserable and your mood will suffer. Choose to enjoy the day today and have a better day than yesterday. Enjoy the moment and have a great day!

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Bright Day

Bright Day

When waking up this morning you have two choices; to have a great day or to be miserable and struggle throughout the day. Obviously, it is not as easy as that, but if you put your mind to it and focus on the positives of your day, then anything is possible. Wake up today and live the best day you can. Obviously you can not change the past and try not to get too overwhelmed about the future. Try to live in the moment! You will have a much better, happier day if you live one day at a time and try not to stress too much about the things that you can not control. Good morning and have a great day today!!!

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Any Questions?

Any Questions

Does anyone have questions that they want answered? I am more than happy to help. Send your questions to me at http://aaronschulefand.com/questions/ Questions and responses will be kept confidential. I will respond to you personally or write a blog post to answer your questions! Have a great day!

How To Manage Stress

Do you feel like you are experiencing stress a majority of the time? This is extremely common in today’s society, so don’t stress about it and make it even worse! Seventy-five percent of the general population experiences at least “some stress” every two weeks (National Health Interview Survey). Stress is a feeling that occurs when we react to particular events in our daily lives. Everyone deals with stress differently, but if not dealt with, there are many harmful physical and mental consequences that may arise. Some major risks that stress can cause are heart disease, high blood pressure, and strokes. Stress is also harmful on the immune system. I honestly believe that this is why people who experience stress may be sick more often. Stress may also exacerbate harmful behaviors such as; substance abuse, alcoholism, obesity, suicidal behavior, and tobacco addiction. Stress is so prevalent, that the U.S. Public Health Service has made reducing stress one of its major health promotion goals. There are many more symptoms of stress. If you are interested in reading more about this subject, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_(biology).

Okay, enough of the bad news. Now, let’s discuss the good news! There are positive ways to deal with stress. Exercise is one of the best ways to help people manage stress. As mentioned in a previous post, exercise helps with depression by the release of endorphins. Exercise can also boost self-esteem, reduce STRESS, and improve sleep. The way I look at it, it is worth a shot. To read more about the benefits of exercise, read this previous post I wrote http://goo.gl/0QK3d.

Another way that I have found helpful managing stress is to talk to someone about it. It is very easy for people who are stressed to push the issue aside and not deal with it. The problem with this approach is that a lot of different stressors will accumulate and explode and attack all at once. Talk about a stressful situation! One option is to talk to an objective friend or family member to discuss something that may be bothering you. A professional may be an even better choice to help you with your daily struggles. Let me make this very clear right now, by no means whatsoever am I an expert on dealing with stress. I am just giving my opinion on what I have learned over the years. Reaching out and talking to someone is always very difficult at first (even to someone who cares about you). Who wants to show that they are “weak” or “troubled” to another individual? If you reread the statistic that shows the prevalence of stress in the U.S., you will realize that you are not alone. Try to reach out to another human being and begin to deal with the stress as soon as possible.

There are many other ways to deal with stress, but in this post I have chosen to discuss two helpful ideas. Next time you are feeling stressed, either talk to someone about it and/or exercise and feel better about your situation and yourself. Enjoy! 

Can Laughter Count As Exercise?

April 6, 2012

healthy-living
The Huffington Post

Laughter

2012-01-18-GreatistLogoFullGray.jpg
By Emily Milam

How’s this for a good laugh? Fits of laughter have been linked to reduced pain and mental stress,stronger social bonds and improvedimmune system response. But can a belly laugh actually improve cardiovascular health and land us hardy-har-hard abs? Cracking up can sure feel like a workout, and recent research suggests that it may actually be a reasonable form of exercise. But before swapping sneaks for Louis C.K. tickets, let’s see how those laughs really measure up.

Hit The Laugh Track — Why It Matters
Some gelotology findings (yup, there’s even a name for the study of LOLing) have shown laughter may produce some of the same positive effects as exercise. But how, exactly? In one study, researchers had 300 volunteers watch clips from either a stressful movie (“Saving Private Ryan”) or a comedy (“There’s Something About Mary” — remember the zipper scene?!).

Besides the difference in audible tee-hees, results showed a 30 to 40 percent increase in diameter of the heart’s blood vessels during the funny scenes compared to the tense ones. And those changes to blood vessel dilation are similar to what’s seen during exercise, all part of an important process that helps the body regulate blood flow and reduce inflammation — clearly no laughing matter.

So should we spend an hour of our day cracking jokes instead of hitting the gym? To land the full benefits of exercise, it seems laughter alone isn’t necessarily the best medicine.

Happily Ever Laughter? — The Answer/Debate
While classes in laughter yoga, which combine laughter outbursts with yogi breathing techniques, are growing in popularity, laugh-letics are still no sport. Research shows a person would have to be seriously in stitches (for hours on end) to see any real muscle toning or conditioning effects. And Cameron Diaz isn’t that funny.

For real health benefits, stick to 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise four to five times per week, as recommend by the CDC. And let’s not forget all the other bonuses of a good laugh. Taking it way back, research suggests thatlaughter evolved to unite strangers and make friends. And more friends means a larger social support network — more recently linked to better health. So while laughter shouldn’t be considered a substitution to working out, LOLing does have its benefits. Go ahead, sit back (after that evening run!) and enjoy some well-earned laughs.

The Takeaway
While a laugh attack sure feels good, there is little evidence that suggests laughing can effectively replace a workout.