Lite and Joy

Be sure drink plenty of water and stay well hydrated before exercise. Exercise performance suffers when you are dehydrated, even if it is only a 2% loss of body fluids.  Drink at least 2 cups of water before exercise and another 2 cups of water within 20 minutes of completing your exercise.

Don’t exercise immediately after eating, because the body shifts fluid away from muscles and into the digestive tract to help break down the food and prepare for absorption. The ideal time for fitness activities is:

1/2 hour after a light snack.

1 hour after a light meal, heavy snack, or meal replacement drink.

2 hours after a regular meal.

3 hours after a Thanksgiving-type feast.

For optimum exercise performance, be sure to consume a healthy, well-balanced diet all through the day!

A face and head massage is a particularly pleasurable experience.  Most people will be surprised at the amount of tension they hold in their head, especially around the jaw.   If you go to a professional massage therapist, there is not usually time for a full face and head massage as part of a full-body massage.  You might like to try it on its own or in combination with a back and shoulder massage.

You and your spouse or friend could lightly massage each others face and head.  It will help give you a lift, and in many cases it can calm anxiety and put you in a better mood so you can be more positive.  One piece of advice though, if your partner has very thick hair, be careful no to get you fingers tangled up and end up pulling their hair.  It is hard to relax when your hair is being pulled.

One of my golden rules for complete fitness is: Make out a program of exercise that fits your needs. Work out vigorously at least three or four times a week at home or in a gym and on the other days do some stretching and/or fast walking. I’d like to see you do something every day so that you will rise above temptation and don’t let your self get out of the exercise habit. You eat every day, you sleep every day, you brush your teeth every day; I believe your body was made to move and that you should do some form of exercise every day.  Jack LaLanne - Revitalize Your Life After 50

As I have been losing weight over the past 8 months, I have found that exercise has been essential.  I have had 1 to 2 weeks at a time that I could not exercise because of health problems or having ‘too much’ to do.  Those weeks that I didn’t exercise I had little or NO weight loss.  Sometimes I would even gain weight.  I find that I not only feel better, but I also sleep better.  For some free exercise information you can check the internet.

Water intoxication occurs when you drink too much water.  As the water content of the blood increases, the salt content is diluted; consequently, the amount of salt available to body tissues decreases, which can lead to problems with brain, heart and muscle function.  Symptoms can include dizziness, nausea, apathy and confusion.  These symptoms can also be attributed to dehydration, so if you are exercising, or working in the heat, keep track of how much you are drink to stay healthy.

Aquasana water filters can make the water you drink taste better by filtering out the impurities that are found in our drinking water.

Tip 1: Give Yourself a Dry Brush Exfoliation

A dry brush exfoliation can be done everyday.  It eliminates dead skin cells and allows the skin to detox.  Dry brush exfoliation improves lymph and blood circulation and decreases puffiness. To give yourself a dry brush exfoliation, you’ll need a soft, natural bristle brush.

Tip 2: Boost up Your Digestion

Good skin is a reflection of a good digestive system. People with skin disorders such as acne, rosacea, and psoriasis often suffer from constipation, and other digestive conditions. The two most common sluggish digestion culprits are: lack of water and not enough fiber.

Tip 3: Invigorate Sluggish Circulation

One of the best things you can do for your skin, stress level, and overall health is to move!  Inactivity may affect skin and promote bloating and puffiness, acne, cellulite, and loss of muscle tone. Take a quick break to go outside and walk around the block, get a massage, stretch, exercise, etc.

Tip #4: Avoid Excess Sugar

Excess sugar is considered one of the main causes of premature aging. The more sugar we eat, the more sugar we have entering our bloodstream. The effects of sugar can damage the collagen in our skin, cartilage, and ligaments and promotes a loss of elasticity. Wrinkles form and skin begins to sag.

Tip #5: Eat Some Good Fats

Essential fatty acids are simply fats your body cannot live without. They are needed to make cell membranes, hormones, and other body chemicals.  They are also particularly important to people with inflammatory conditions such as acne and eczema, and also for people with dry skin.  Flax seed or fish oil supplements are just 2 suggestions.

I have lost 42 pounds in the past 7 months and I have really enjoyed it.  I discovered a wonderful program called Weight Loss for Idiots and it fits my personality and lifestyle.  I don’t like to spend a lot of time planning or preparing meals and this program just got me back to the basics of fruits, vegetables and protein.  You can choose a plan which allows you to eat either 4 or 6 meals per day.  If you love meat, there is a great plan for you.  If you are vegetarian, you can choose that particular program.

You still have to use wisdom with this program though because they give you a few days off of the diet after 10 or 11 days, so you can enjoy some of the foods that you really miss.  But if you really ‘pig out’, you can easily gain back all of the weight you have lost.  I have tried every one of the programs to find the one I like best and I have found that one of them helps me to lose quickly, one helps me to lose slowly, and if I am wise, I can still enjoy my chocolate once in a while without any devastating effects.  Check it out and see what you think.

Deep diaphragmatic breathing can be used during times when you are feeling anxious or panicky. It is a powerful way to slow down a rapid heartbeat, control hyperventilation, and promote physical comfort. This is known as the Calming Breath.

Take a long, slow breath in through your nose, first filling your lower lungs, then your upper lungs.  Hold your breath to the count of 3 and exhale slowly through pursed lips.  Relax the muscles in your face, jaw, shoulders, and stomach.

To help you get used to breathing this way you can practice this Calming Breath several times a day for a few weeks. Practice between projects, whenever you want to let go of tension, or when you want to experience a sense of calmness.  As you  become familiar and comfortable with breathing this way, you will be able to do it more easily when you do feel the anxiety or panic building.

Dehydration occurs when more water is leaving the body than is being taken in.  We release water from our body when we breath,  our breath is  humid when we exhale.  Our body’s sweat to cool us down when it is hot or when we exercise.  When we urinate or have a bowel movements to rid the body of waste products, we are releasing water.

In a normal day, a person has to drink a significant amount of water to replace this continuous loss.  If intravascular water is lost, which means within the blood vessels, the body can compensate by shifting water from the cells to the blood vessels, but this process is a very short-term solution.  Signs and symptoms of dehydration will occur quickly if the water is not replenished.  The thirst mechanism signals the body to drink water when the body is dry.  Many people do not like the taste of water so they don’t drink enough, but Aquasana water filters can help solve that problem, so drink up!

When I have a CranioSacral session, I notice a huge difference in my ability to think better.  I am part owner of a moving company in which I do a lot of organizing, lifting and driving long distances.  I also do detailed art work, including painting wood grain design patterns on damaged furniture etc.  My life can be very stressful and when my ‘business brain’ isn’t working,  I know that my body is out of alignment; and Cranio Sacral therapy seems to line everything up, and my ability to think and reason returns and my art work improves.  Jason S.

To learn more about how this type of therapy can assist you,  look at Salt Lake City Cranio Sacral Therapy  on the internet

The hands, wrists, and arms can hold a lot of tension and pain, especially if you work a lot with your hands. With five to ten minutes of hand massage you can relax and sometimes get some relief from pain in the body. There are many acupressure/reflexology points in the hands that can affect internal organs and different parts of the body. Receiving massage on your hands, fingers, and joints can assist in relieving poor circulation and arthritis.  Hand massage can be done on people of all ages and conditions from infants to the elderly, the sick or dying.  Soft music may be used during the massage and you can give or receive a hand massage anywhere and with or without lotion.

If you feel anxious or stressed, you can receive healing care without any words and with gentle touch.  Please look for Salt Lake City Massage Therapy on the web to see how massage can assist you with better health.