Health officials agree that hand washing can help with many diseases like the common cold. But for the flu? Especially the H1N1 virus? Not so much. However, health officials still say hand washing is important, as it can help with “transmission of other respiratory diseases.”

Image: sxc.hu.

Post from: Blisstree

Hand Washing May Not Prevent H1N1

I found a great list of diet tips from AOL Health. These tips are tried and true favorites of top US registered dieticians.

Some are no-brainers, like switch out your whole milk for 1% (I use Fat Free myself). Did you know that if you drink one glass of milk a day, then this switch could generate a 5 pound weight loss in one year?

Here are a few more of the tips that were provided to AOL, by Prevention magazine:

“Eating out? Halve it, and bag the rest. A typical restaurant entree has 1,000 to 2,000 calories, not even counting the bread, appetizer, beverage and dessert.” Be sure to put your leftovers into a refrigerator promptly.

“Get calories from foods you chew, not beverages. Have fresh fruit instead of fruit juice.” Fresh fruit has fiber and fills you up. Juice does not.

“Have a V8 or tomato juice instead of a Diet Coke at 3PM.” Excellent! I just purchased some Spicy Hot V8 yesterday. 

“Mix three different cans of beans and some diet Italian dressing. Eat this three-bean salad all week.” I suggest adding finely sliced slivers of red onion to the mixture. Tastes excellent when spooned over a green salad.

“As obvious as it sounds, don’t stand near the food at parties. Make the effort, and you’ll find you eat less.” I saw something on TV that said to turn away from the food, because if you face it, you’re more likely to reach for another serving.

Image credit: Sxc.hu

Post from: Blisstree

5 Easy Ways to Increase Weight Loss

When my eldest started school I packed her lunch out of fear of ‘what the heck would she get on a school lunch tray’? Now with my older two at school- they buy lunch about 50% of the time. To be totally honest, I think the lunches are priced way to high at over $3 a lunch but I go with it. My kids always, and I mean always, get the tuna on wheat with celery and carrot sticks and milk or peanut butter with sunflowers on bread with fruit and a salad- yes they are boring eaters like me.

Post from: Blisstree

Are school lunches heart healthy- take my poll

1. Read A Hearty Life, and/or add it to your LiveJournal friends here.
2. Go for a walk. It’s Sunday, the weather isn’t too bad yet (or is starting to get nicer, depending on which hemisphere you’re on), it’s the perfect day to go outside. Keep up the exercise regularly, even if it’s just going for a walk.
3. Have an apple instead of that Snickers bar or packet of crisps. Yes, you know what I’m talking about. Fruits and nuts are much healthier snacks, and you’ll feel like a better person afterwards.
4. Don’t snack if you’re not hungry. It sounds silly, but how often do you eat snacks out of boredom or habit rather than hunger? Are you sure you can’t wait until it’s time for dinner?
5. Cook your own food. Ready-made meals are full of salt, sugar and additives that are really bad for you. And once you get into it, it doesn’t take too long and it can be fun.
6. Cook with herbs instead of salt. It’s more tasty and varied this way, and it’ll help your blood pressure stay low. It’s just a matter of getting into the habit of not using too much salt, and you might as well start now.
7. Organize your meals around veggies. Pulses and beans are good to add. Meat is an option, but it shouldn’t be the main part of a meal, especially not red meat. It varies depending on age and gender, but you need around 50g of protein a day – that’s one smallish piece of meat every 3 days, not counting the protein you get in grains, legumes and dairy products. I bet you’re getting far too much protein.
8. If you do eat meat, change it to fish regularly.
9. Eat a wide variety of foods in order to get all the nutrients you need.
10. Eat wholegrain. Buy brown bread instead of white (which is loaded with sugar and salt anyway).
11. Choose low-fat or fat-free milk and yoghurt. Buy a nice margarine instead of fatty butter.

Heart disease isn’t pleasant. Do all you can, as soon as you can, to help reduce your risks.

Your heart is irreplaceable, and it needs to stay healthy for as long as you live. Keep it in good shape.

Thank you, Amélie! I hope everyone takes your advice to heart (pun indeeded) especially on the first to read A Hearty Life!

Technorati Tags: heart, heart disease, cardiovascular, cvd, disease, illness, health, habits

Post from: Blisstree

Hearty Habits #22: Practical Heart Healthy Tips

I don’t drink or smoke and I exercise daily (either pilates or on the treadmill). I taught pilates for years so this is usually what I do when I am watching TV. I listen to podcasts when I run.

I don’t eat as healthfully as I used to, but I’m breaking one bad habit at a time now. Maybe soon can get off of Diet Coke (it’s my worse habit right now)… I am careful to take my vitamins/supplements daily and I try to make sure my diet is balanced 40-30-30, but it rarely is. I try to eat whole foods when at all possible.

Like Jeremy I make sure I don’t sit for more than an hour at a time on the PC. My short attention span helps here… I also spend every morning at a coffee shop to write and to recharge my batteries.

Wow, a teacher of pilates! I’m not even sure if I’m capable of being a student.

Post from: Blisstree

Hearty Habits #21: A Mother’s Secret

Fabio Cannavaro, superstar Italian football (soccer) player who led his country’s team to a FIFA World Cup win and currently with Real Madrid, says:

I know my heart is the strongest, most important muscle in my body and a winning performance depends on its vitality. Having a healthy diet and taking regular exercise will help to keep my heart young and my career long.

You heard it. The heart is the most important muscle, not anything else.

Technorati Tags: uefa, fifa, world cup, soccer, football, fabio cannavaro, real madrid, heart disease, world heart day, heart, disease, illness, health

Post from: Blisstree

Soccer Star Fabio Cannavaro Puts Heart First

• How to Live a Short, Miserable, Unhealthy Life at Your Healthiest Life
• How to jump start a new healthy lifestyle at Fitness Health and Diet Tips

And a couple more about illness etiquette from Abide should you ever find yourself visiting someone who hasn’t been well.

• Illness Etiquette Part 1
• Illness Etiquette Part 2

Technorati Tags: etiquette, heart disease, heart, disease, illness, health, healthy living, life, habits

Post from: Blisstree

Hearty Habits #20: Healthy Tips and Etiquette

Everyday I find 15-30 minutes to pray and meditate, early in the morning, when everyone is asleep. After this I do 15 minutes of exercise — I’d do more but my busy life right now only allows this — treadmill every other day, different things on other days, like aerobics or Tae Bo or exercises from Brungardt’s books.

I take a cup of green tea every morning and follow up later with whole grains like oats or homemade granola for breakfast or a bran muffin. I like non-fat Greek yogurt with some Greek honey, with breakfast or as a snack — for calcium. I try to get in 8-10 glasses of water a day.

For fruit and veggies, I try to shoot for 7-9 servings day — it’s purposely a high number to keep me reaching. So if I only make it to 4 that’s still better than the 0-2 that I used to eat when I didn’t have that goal — to achieve this is not as hard as it sounds, but it does take preparation — try for 2-3 fruits/veggies per meal, then only add on other stuff like proteins and carbs until that feeling of fullness sets in. When you’ve already had that many servings of fruits and veggies you’re usually already halfway (or more than halfway) to full.

I do take supplements — a multi for women, plus woman’s oil, a B-complex on stressful days and ACE-Zinc (the antioxidants) when i feel a cold coming on — Traditional Medicinals teas are great for these too!

And it doesn’t happen all the time but I try to take a nap every day — 15 minutes of power napping does me wonders and makes me a better mom and person all around.

I take time to relax with the hubby and kids, even if on most days that just means a 5-minute cuddle on the couch, or sitting with the kids and a read-aloud. In the evenings after the dishes are done, hubby and I share a small piece of dark chocolate — dairy free and rich in antioxidants!

I also get a massage a few times a week from my very willing kids — 25 cents a massage, about 5 minutes, oh and it feels so good when those little fingers are doing the work. I get a complete physical once a year and go to the dentist twice a year. And I have friends and family that know and love and support me, no matter what i need.

Last but not least; I try to pay attention to my stress level — when I’m getting stressed, it’s time for a break, whether that’s just going to hug a kid or going into the bathroom to scream, or going out to food-shop (my therapy, as opposed to shopping for clothes or shoes, which stresses me out more and which I prefer to do online), or just curling up with a book in bed — usually the Bible, or some kind of spiritual reading, or a book/toy catalog.

Things I need to work on: I don’t sleep 8 hours a night but it’s always a goal: to be in bed by 10 ten and get up at 6. I need to take more nature walks with my kids — food for the mind, heart, body and soul.

Whew! I don’t know how she does it.

Technorati Tags: heart disease, heart, disease, illness, health, habits, healthy habits

Post from: Blisstree

Hearty Habits #19: A Full and Healthy Day

I gave up salt… but it sucks! Gave up sugar too… that sucks even more.

I can remember thinking when my blood pressure was going through the roof that how horrible it would be if I got diabetes like my mom…no salt and no sugar! Guess what!

So… veggies it is for the most part. But I did sneak in a 1/4 cup of my daughter Britt’s Skor Blizzard last time we went shopping. Actually it was my Blizzard, but I gave her 3/4 of it.

So all is not lost. Unfortunately, I could live on potato chips and Blizzards if I was allowed.

I could live on cakes and tea/coffee if I were allowed. Guess neither of us are in luck, SP!

Technorati Tags: habits, heart, heart disease, disease, illness, health, cardiovascular disease, cvd

Post from: Blisstree

Hearty Habits #18: Giving Up Salt AND Sugar

I take: multivitamin, omega3, garlic supplement, calcium supplement, fruit and vegetable concentrate, vit c, vit e, multi carotene (for eye health..my eyes are still 20/20 even after working with computers for the last 13 years).

I haven’t had a fever over the last couple of years. The worst would be colds, cough. I would want to add exercise on my health regimen though.

Aside from all the supplements I take…

I don’t smoke
I don’t drink
I eat my fresh vegetables if we have them.
I buy fruits when I do groceries.
I buy meats with less fat or even if there’s fat, I don’t eat them.

I also used to wear a pedometer. My goal was to hit 7000 to 10000 steps per day. It gave me a reason to do window shopping and walking around the mall or park the car somewhere farther than usual, or use stairs instead of elevators.

I need to get back on that habit.

It’s ironic, I got my husband started on multivitamins and he takes them religiously now but I can barely be bothered to take mine. You guys put me to shame.

Technorati Tags: vitamins, heart disease, heart, habits, disease, illness, health

Post from: Blisstree

Hearty Habits #17: Vitamins Galore