It really does pay to  take care of your mind and body as you grow older. To make this decision to care for yourself will enable you to slow the aging process down somewhat and also allow you to enjoy your older years, maintaining overall fitness and an active brain.

When you take care of yourself, it slows the aging process and you can stay fit and alert well into your senior years.

The major areas to focus on to maintain  optimum health are diet, exercise and activity that keeps your brain active. When you pay attention to these key health elements, you can help yourself to stay young and slow down the aging process.

Here are some excellent anti-aging techniques for you to try daily:

1. Take antioxidants as they are vital to your health. They reduce free radicals that are known to contribute to common diseases in aging individuals.
  Note that fresh fruit and vegetables are an excellent source of antioxidants.  Including a daily vitamin is also important.

2. Exercise and strength training. Exercise keeps your body strong and helps fight off any infection and stops the body from breaking down. Not only will you feel better, but you’ll also get a lot healthier at the same time!

Exercise provides:

* Increased stamina
* Greater muscle strength
* Better balance
* Clarity in thinking
* A stronger immune system

3. Stay alert and sharp. You can keep your brain sharp by being constantly aware of your surroundings. This sounds rather simple, but how often do we let loose and daydream, instead of focusing on the present? When you stay alert, you’re fully present in the moment and you’re better able to make quick and accurate decisions.  Undertake activities such as puzzles and crosswords that help keep your brain active.

4. Try to constantly learn new things. Remember your brain need constant stimulation. You can easily avoid this by keeping your brain active via constant learning and reading.

* A simple tip is to vary your routines and strive to learn something new each day.

5. Challenge yourself. It always helps to use the problem solving portions of your brain. These skills need to be utilized and if they aren’t, will fade over time.  Puzzles and games are a great way to keep your brain active.

6. Don’t stress over health issues. You see statistics everywhere about certain health conditions that are more likely to affect you as you age. Of course it is important to be aware and to always  be checked by your physician, but don’t waste your precious time worrying about an illness you may never get.
* Ease your stress by taking action to strengthen your health instead of worrying.

7. Get an adequate amount of sleep. Getting enough sleep at night is very important for maintaining good health. 6-8 hours every night is the number you should be working toward. Your body and mind need that time to recoup, and you may be more susceptible to stress or disease without it.

8. Avoid smoking and drinking alcohol. Smoking is a guaranteed way of putting your health at risk and not only that, but it ages your skin and the rest of your body. The harsh reality is that you are shortening your lifespan if you choose to smoke. If you do smoke, then I would strongly suggest breaking this habit as soon as possible. When it comes to alcohol, small amounts here and there won’t cause much harm, but drinking can be a slippery slope into disease if you abuse it.

9. Look after your skin.  I cannot stress this enough, you must moisturize and moisturize and stay out of the sun.  The sun quite simply will age and damage your skin, quicker than anything.  Be sure to establish a daily skin care routine and try beneficial anti-aging gels and creams.

10. Reduce grains and sugar in your diet. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables maintains good health and keeps your calorie intake at an acceptable level. Remember, carbohydrates are necessary for your nutrition, but is eaten in excess they contribute to increasing your insulin levels and speeding up the aging process.

If you include these strategies every day, you’ll notice a big difference in the way you look and feel. Getting older doesn’t have to be synonymous with deterioration. Begin right now to take care of your body and mind and it will serve you well in your later years.

By

MaryAnn Roche

 A lot of Restaurants are well known for sneaking in unhealthy ingredients and some of us think that the only way to maintain a healthy diet is to avoid eating out altogether.   Another well known thought is that you can only eat at restaurants that are geared solely towards maintaining health.   These things are simply just not the truth.

The truth is that with a bit of careful research and forward planning, you can enjoy eating out at various places from fast food outlets up to the finest restaurants and still maintain a healthy diet.

Here are some important tips to bear in mind as you continue to enjoy eating out:

 1. Look for the light options on the menu.   Not all restaurants will offer such options, but a growing number of chain restaurants are promoting light alternatives without much searching.   You may even find light options marked on the menu.   You’ll soon find that light doesn’t always mean you’ll be giving up flavor, so go ahead and try the healthy alternative.

 2. Take half your dinner home.   Meals are being served in larger and larger portions all the time. Sometimes your meal won’t be unhealthy, but the size of your portion will be.  In an effort to avoid overeating and maintain a healthy diet simply ask your restaurant staff to serve you half the meal and box up the other half for you to take home with you.

3. Grilling is Great!   One way to eat smart is to opt for your food to be grilled instead of fried.  Fried foods have so many additional calories and fat. Grilled chicken or fish make great choices because they’re lean proteins and packed full of flavor so you stay on a healthy diet regime.

 4. Avoid drinking extra calories, if you are trying to stay healthy.   If you’re watching those calories, they add up very quickly once you add alcohol.  Drinking soda products or alcoholic beverages while you’re dining out can ruin a healthy diet and eating plan very easily.

 * Choosing water as an alternative is a wise move and then you’ll only need to worry about the calorie content of your meal.

 5. Be salad wise. You can choose a salad as your main dish as a way to lessen your calorie intake. You’ll probably find that there are bigger salads on the menu, which can be very satisfying, beyond the house or side salad. Many of them contain a bigger vegetable variety or meat such as chicken, beef or prawns.


 Ask them to serve your salad dressing on the side rather than on the salad.  That way you control the amount of dressing you put on your salad.    Remember, a little bit can go a long way. Avoid the creamy dressings. That’s the fatty stuff!

 6. Appetizers can make the meal. Most restaurants serve tasty appetizers, so you can order one of these as your main dish. If that’s not enough food, you might want to order two appetizers. Many times two appetizers will still be less food than a main course selection and be very satisfying and can help you maintain a healthy diet.

 7. Choose healthy sauces.  Be aware of the sauce in the dish of your choosing.   If you’re eating Italian always choose an option with a tomato-based sauce. This will provide you with a bigger benefit than a much richer cream based alternative. This is also the case when it comes to choosing your soups; avoid the cream based ones wherever possible.

 8. Include fruits and veggies with every meal.   They are an important part of a healthy diet for everyone,  so you should continue to seek them out when you’re making your selections at a restaurant. Steamed vegetables can be a great side dish, and fruits can likely be ordered in place of a dessert item.   Often they are served very differently, therefore making them a treat to eat!

 If you find along the way you need some guidance, I recommend you go to STRIP THAT FAT website and take a look at their product offering, it may be just what you need!

Keep in the mind the same healthy information you use when cooking at home to order your meals while you’re out.   Don’t be afraid to indulge yourself occasionally, but maintain an awareness of a healthy diet and portion size and your healthy eating plan with be full of success.

By MaryAnn Roche

www.completepersonaldevelopment.com

Tags: a healthy diet, healthy eating, healthy food choices, healthy foods, healty diet, Maintain Healthy Eating Habits

Are you struggling with your body image? Our Self Confidence, Concept and Personal Value are all affected by how we feel about our Body.

Television, Magazines and the Internet make it very difficult to feel okay about what you look like when you’re constantly presented images that depict people who are too thin or even digitally enhanced to mask flaws, that each and every one of us, no matter who we are, have.   It’s just unrealistic!

It’s important to love yourself for the person that you are.   I am sure all of you already know this. We are all made differently, but beautifully, in our own unique way. Sure, your beauty may differ from that of a fashion model, but you’re still beautiful!  Acceptance of this is the key to being a much happier person.

 

Self Focusing

This is much simpler than it sounds.  When you’re learning to love who you are inside and out, you first need to start changing the way you think about beauty and what you relate to it.  Simply, you need to start with your inside, where our real beauty begins.

None of us are absolutely perfect. There will always be something that you are unhappy with about yourself, but it doesn’t negate your beauty, and it’s certainly no reason to make your life unhappy over it. Shift your focus onto the things that you do like about yourself, look for the positives.

Have a little faith in humanity. If you sit and people watch in a public place, are you constantly pointing out everyone’s flaws? Chances are that you’re probably not.  We don’t judge our friends on their imperfections, so why should we judge ourselves on ours?  Perhaps too hard on ourselves.

 

You’re Uniquely You

After working on loving yourself on the inside you can then move on to the outside, learning to love it also.  Alas, today’s society has encouraged us to feel ashamed of what we look like, to the point of having all sorts of procedures and surgeries.   Don’t fall for this!  You don’t need this in order to feel good about yourself!

You can attempt to make changes if you have a problem like skin disorders or weight problems, but there are also things that you can’t change, like height or freckles. The best thing you can do is embrace yourself for the wonderful, unique individual that you are. After all, there’s no one else on this planet quite like you.

 

Make Changes in a Healthy Way

If it is your wish to make changes in your appearance, you can certainly do so, but remember you just need to be doing it for the right reasons. You might need to lose or gain weight in order to get back into a healthy weight range. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to change your hair color every now and then either.  A CHANGE IS A GOOD AS A HOLIDAY!

But some people are tempted to go too far and do things like losing too much weight. They convince themselves that even a healthy weight is “overweight” and they strive to be underweight.   Being underweight is also an unhealthy place to be.

It’s important for your health to avoid these types of problems. If you’re stuck in a situation like this, you need to explore the reasons why you feel this way. You also might want to discuss your concerns with a professional.

 

Pass On a Healthy Body Image-A precious Gift

One thing you can do for the world is to help pass on a healthy body image to others. The way the media portrays beauty is grossly misconstrued, and everyone should be doing their part to promote health and beauty in its true form.

If you have children, teach them that they’re beautiful and unique, just the way they are. Children learn by example, ensure that you never put yourself down in front of them.   Try to avoid complaining about your own body because they might overhear and you might inadvertently teach them something you never intended to teach.   Young minds are very impressionable.

A healthy body image is something we can all strive toward. You’ll make yourself and others feel better by complimenting your friends and family. Everyone likes to get a compliment every now and then.

You never know you just might make someone’s day!

 

By MaryAnn Roche.

Tags: Body Image, female body image, healthy body image, healthy self esteem, inner beauty