Post about "meditation"

5 Health and Fitness Mistakes Made During the Holidays

My recent relocation from the 24 degree weather of Boston, MA to the sunshine and beaches of Southern California got me to thinking about the differences and the similarities of the holiday season for people around the country.In Boston right now, we’re celebrating the Patriots win and getting ready for a cold Turkey Day.In Southern California, we may not have had as much luck considering the Chargers loss, but we’re also getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner followed by a stroll along the Pacific Ocean.Whatever your location, there are several truths to the holiday season.The truth of the matter is that most people tend to put on some extra pounds starting with Halloween and continuing through the New Year.And every year, many of us go through the same thought process.You may have found yourself saying:”This year is going to be different.”"I’m going to eat less. I won’t have 2 desserts.”"I’m going to start exercising before the holidays.”"I’m going to stick to my New Year’s resolution(s).”To help you out this holiday season, we’ve put together a list of the 5 biggest health and fitness mistakes people everywhere are making and what you can do to make sure you don’t fall into a weight gain trap.Here are the Top 5 Health and Fitness Mistakes You May Be Making…Health and Fitness Mistake #1Not Having or Not Changing Your Cardio Exercise ProgramMany people hit plateaus in the quest for better fitness. Sometimes it’s a weightlifting plateau and sometimes it is a cardiovascular fitness plateau.Remember, your heart is a muscle, too – the most important one.If you aren’t working it at all or if you keep doing the same cardio routine over and over again, then your heart is never challenged in a good way.To make sure that you are training your cardiovascular system correctly, you’ll want to cross train by employing several different cardiovascular activities.Here are a few to get you started during the holiday season:* Walking – Take a walk with family members before and/or after your holiday meals. It’s a great way to burn a few extra calories and will warm your body up a bit (especially those of you in Boston and the colder climates).* Cross Training – If you’re at the gym, test out a machine you don’t normally use.If you’ve been using the treadmill forever, the muscles you can see (your legs) and the muscles you can’t see (your heart) are probably getting comfortable.Switching exercise machines will keep those muscles guessing and can even make the time seem to go by faster.Health and Fitness Mistake #2Only Doing CardioCardiovascular activity will help your heart get stronger and help you to burn some fat and carbohydrate calories, but a faster and more efficient way to get to your health and weight loss goals is to couple your cardio with a weight lifting routine.Weight lifting will help to build some lean muscle throughout your body.Having a little more muscle on your frame will help you burn more calories throughout the day.Health and Fitness Mistake #3Eating the Wrong Foods…And Too Much of ThemIt’s hard enough to eat the right foods in the right amounts throughout the year.During the holidays, offices and kitchens are often bombarded with sweet and sugary treats. It can be almost impossible to resist.That’s why so many people put on anywhere from 5 – 20 extra pounds during the holiday season.If you’re concerned about gaining weight during the holidays, these 2 tricks will help.1) Increase or maintain your water and fruit intake -Once you are at a holiday dinner party it may be tougher to resist the food temptations.Before you leave the house be sure to drink a glass of water and/or have a piece of fruit. This will help quench at least part of your appetite and leave a little less room in your stomach for that extra cupcake.2) Bring healthy treats to the office -If there is only one choice, then that’s the one you’ll make.By having a selection, it will be easier to make some heart healthy, lower calorie choices.Having fruit salad rather than a bowl of chocolates is a great way to stick to a sound nutritional plan.Health and Fitness Mistake #4Concentrating on Muscles One at a TimeLong gone are the days of working the biceps only.Split routines (a staple of bodybuilding) are being replaced by various total-body workout strategies.Not only do you burn more calories, but you can get more done in less time.Health and Fitness Mistake #5Not Asking for Help When You Need ItWith so much information available in magazines and yes, on the internet, it can be difficult to know what information to trust.Too often we keep plugging away, too proud to ask for guidance or assistance.If you’ve been stuck in the holiday cycle of gaining weight and losing weight, only to gain more weight, then lose it again, and you’re ready for change, then don’t be afraid to ask for guidance from a certified health and fitness professional.The Manhattan Beach Personal Trainer Team has over 10 years of experience in creating effective fat loss and weight loss programs.We’ve successfully helped hundreds of clients through the holiday season and are ready to help you.Schedule your complimentary consultation here.I’m looking forward to speaking with you soon.

Significance of Public Health for the Health Sector of Pakistan

Pakistan, as we all know is a developing country and we are currently going through lots of challenges and issues. These issues vary from terrorism, energy crisis and poverty to poorly developed education and health systems.Health, which is the basic human right, has unfortunately not been our priority. This statement is supported by the fact that according to the World Health Organization 2013 statistics, the health system of our country is currently ranked as 122 out of 190 countries. This is a very alarming figure especially considering the fact that one of our neighboring countries Iran is ranked as 93 in the same list. This particular figure definitely draws our attention towards issues in the health sector which we are currently facing.Firstly, we need to understand what is meant by health system. The health system does not only include hospitals and clinicians. It rather involves anything and everything which directly or indirectly affects the health of populations. The health system is composed of hospitals, environment, urban planning, food, nutrition and numerous other sectors which are directly or indirectly involved in determining the health of populations. What this means is the fact that by merely building new hospitals and producing more clinicians, we cannot make our health systems better. There has to be a multi-sectoral approach which needs to involve all the components of the health system.The next and the most important factor to consider is that we need to reshape our current health system model. If we want to improve the health status of our population, we have to base our health system on the preventive approach rather than the curative approach, that is, we need to promote public health. The time has now come where we must come out of the downstream (clinician) approach and move towards upstream (public health) approach. This is the only way by which we can survive and can make the health status of our population better. We should reconsider and amend our current health policy and we will have to develop it on the model of public health. This is the need of the time and if we want to survive and compete with the world, we must follow the public health model instead of the clinician’s model.At present, there are only a handful of institutes all across the country which offer professional studies in the field of preventive medicine. In order to produce skilled public health specialists, we need to have many academic institutes whose focus is solely on preventive medicine. The government should also support such institutes and provide appropriate funding to them, so that they can eventually become stable and sustainable. Thus the only way to make our health sector prosper is by working on public health. If this is not done on a priority basis and we are not able to shift our focus from clinicians model to public health model, it is feared that we will lag far behind as far as the health sector is concerned.

How to Beat Anxiety: A Look Into 6 Effective Methods

If you know anyone who is suffering from anxiety, you are aware of how much it impacts their lives. It influences every aspect of their being: from concentration to personal relationships and even their sense of self-worth.

Fortunately, there are ways to beat anxiety. Not all strategies work for everyone because different people have different triggers and responses to stressors. However, regardless of personal taste or preferences, there is something here for every reader to adopt and implement.

Change Your Thinking

A lot of the time, anxious thoughts are just the product of outdated habits or assumptions. You may be retriggering old anxieties or insecurities that aren’t as applicable to your life as they were before. You may not be aware that your anxiety is a product of insecure or pessimistic thinking.

Start by asking yourself some questions:

● What do you think will go wrong?

● What are your worst-case scenarios?

● What are your expectations?

● Are they realistic and healthy?

● What’s the biggest thing you’re worried about right now?

● Is it a legitimate cause for concern?

● What evidence do you have to support that idea?

● Are there other possible explanations?

Meditate

There are a lot of benefits associated with meditation, but one of the most understated is its ability to help with anxiety. Meditation is an excellent way to help you get back in touch with your body and what is happening inside. It can help you identify when and why you’re feeling anxious.

When you start to meditate, you’ll notice thoughts entering your mind from time to time. This is normal. The goal isn’t to kill all of your thoughts but rather to acknowledge them, accept them, and then let them go.