How to Make Healthy AND Sustainable Life Changes

Author
by ELIZABETH RICANATI, M.D. 

Leading a healthier lifestyle doesn’t have to be as hard as you think. Many people fear they lack willpower. In fact, I don’t like the idea of willpower; I don’t think it really works. Rather, I believe that some of us make better choices by planning ahead. Let me share with you three straightforward steps to improve your environment, consciously making choices that have long-term health benefits.

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Make Simple Changes

Start with simple changes in your immediate environment. Think simple ideas that you may or may not already unconsciously be doing: Put fruit on the kitchen counter and you’ll eat more fruit; use smaller plates and you’ll eat less; keep the TV out of the bedroom and you won’t fall asleep to the Late Show. Research proves it! As renowned researcher Brian Wansink and his colleagues demonstrated at Cornell’s Food and Brand Lab, small, obvious environmental changes have shocking and significant consequences. Their most recent research demonstrated that people who left cereal boxes out on their kitchen counters weighed on average 20 pounds more, so put away the cereal!

Set Realistic Goals

Trying to make radical changes can be difficult to maintain; setting unrealistic goals are just that — unrealistic. I don’t believe in the philosophy of “shoot for the stars and you will hit the moon” when it comes to behavioral change. Small changes, made every day, give you a feeling of accomplishment, and that will unconsciously drive up your chances of making a better choice next time.

Outsmart Yourself

Let’s talk about conscious choices so that you don’t have to rely on this so-called willpower. For example, if you struggle every morning with what to wear to work and then give up and wear the same old thing, lay out your clothes the night before. Tired by the end of the day and snapping at your children or your colleagues? Keep some nuts or other healthy snacks nearby to refuel and balance out your blood sugar in the afternoon.

You don’t need to make these small changes for long for them to add up to lasting change. Many behavioral researchers believe that if you make any change for 21 to 28 days in a row, it will stick. So, here are five easy places to start:

Swap out a salad plate for your dinner plate. Your plate will look full a lot sooner if it’s a smaller plate, and without realizing it, you’ll be eating less. We all tend to eat what’s available; research continues to bear this out in studies. But you and I don’t need a study to tell us that if we have a full plate of yummy food in front of us, we’ll probably eat it! So make your plate a bit smaller to naturally cut back on the amount of food.

Buy a pedometer. Set a baseline in your first week, and then increase it 10 percent every week till you get to 10,000 steps. The American Heart Association recommends that we all walk 10,000 steps a day; this is harder than you think for most of us. A pedometer can help you gauge how much you are actually walking.

Brush your teeth for at least a minute twice a day. Sing a song if you have to, skim your email on your phone, whatever it takes to stand there and brush your teeth. Oral health helps your overall health, not just your teeth.

Sleep at least seven hours a night. We all know where our power to make a good choice goes when we don’t get enough sleep.

Drop the processed snacks. Snacks are great and can help keep your blood sugar balanced in between meals, stabilizing your mood and energy levels. But snacks loaded in sugars, chemicals and other additives don’t actually help you at all.

Beth Ricanati, M.D. built her career bringing wellness into everyday life, especially for busy moms juggling life and children. Dr. Ricanati worked at Columbia Presbyterian's Center for Women's Health, and then at the Women's Health Center at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2008, she joined the Cleveland Clinic's Wellness Institute to serve as the founding medical director of Lifestyle180, a groundbreaking lifestyle modification program to treat chronic diseases with nutrition, exercise and stress management. Now based in Southern California, recently she has written wellness content for YouBeauty.com and served as a consultant for medical projects and start-ups.

Follow her on Instagram and on her website, housecallsforwellness.com.

For further information log on website :
https://www.livestrong.com/article/1011666-make-healthy-sustainable-life-changes/

How to Set Goals in New Year

Author
by SAVA TANG ALCANTARA 

Setting resolutions at the start of a new year can be effective if you create goals that are realistic and you make them fun in some way. You might brainstorm different ways to accomplish the goal or recruit a friend to help you do it. For example, to lose 10 pounds, consider how to exercise daily, take up a new dance or martial arts class, and ask a good friend to be your workout buddy to keep you motivated.

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The idea is to maintain a healthy sense of humor: The more rigid or extreme the goal is, the less likely it will be that it will be attractive or attainable. Allow yourself to make mistakes and enjoy the process as much as reaching—or even surpassing--your new goals.

Step 1

List all the projects and goals you would like to complete during the new year. Don’t hold back: This is more of a brainstorming session to get all the ideas out onto paper for you to see them. Try not to censor yourself by limitations of time or budget--simply list the goals.

For example, a list might include: drop 15 pounds, buy a new car, take a surfing trip to Hawaii or meet new people.

Step 2

Cluster similar goals together to organize this large “wish list.” You might group all exercise- and nutrition-oriented goals together. For example, list these similar projects together: joining a running group, doing at least 30 minutes of cardio a day, biking one day a week to work, eating fish once a week and cutting back on coffee. By doing this, the goals become more defined and clear-cut and less overwhelming.

Step 3

Trim your goals to the top five most important—or desirable—goals. Think of working on these goals for the first six months of the new year, say, from January to June. If you had 15 to 20 goals on your “master list,” by tackling a few at a time and prioritizing them, it will be more likely that you accomplish these goals.

Step 4

Create a specific time frame and action plan for each goal. For example, if you want to run with a group after work, check a calendar and determine which days of the week you are most likely to have time to run with them. It might be two days a week, like Tuesdays and Saturdays. The time frame might be three months to see if you like the group and feel it is working for you. The action plan would be to join the group and see how your workouts go for a month.

Step 5

Re-evaluate after a month. After 30 days, if you find you no longer have a burning desire to learn how to crochet a poncho, drop that crafting class from your goals list. Replace it with another goal or simply use that surplus time for your other goals.

Keep your sense of humor. If your workout buddy bails on you, replace him or her or decide to use your workouts as “moving meditations.” If you need the motivation of someone else to exercise, book a trainer for a few sessions or ask a co-worker to fill in.

Tips

• Consider losing weight and getting back in shape--a very common New Year's resolution--to be a lifelong goal. Rather than set yourself up for a huge fall, set realistic goals. Walk for 20 to 30 minutes a day if you are a newbie, or add a pick-up basketball game to your Saturdays.

For further information log on website :
https://www.livestrong.com/article/62614-set-goals-new-year/

How Does Cigarette Smoking Affect Your Immune System?

Author
by JERRY SHAW 

Immune Cells

Smoking weakens the immune system by depressing antibodies and cells that are in the body to protect against foreign invaders. There is an association between smoking and the increased incidence of certain malignant diseases and respiratory infections, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). There is also a significant decrease in immune cells that normally help the body. But this process can be reversed if a smoker gives up cigarettes. Smokers who stop show increased levels of natural killer cell (NK) activity that targets cancerous cells in the body.

Infections

Many cancer-causing chemicals from cigarette smoke travel throughout a smoker’s bloodstream to reach the organs of the body and damage the immune response. Carbon monoxide is carried through the body by smoke, interfering with oxygen levels. Less oxygen reaches the brain, heart, muscles and other organs. Lung function is reduced because of the narrowing of the lung airways and excess mucus in the lungs. Lung irritation and damage result from invading substances, leading to lung infection. Blood pressure and heart rate are affected negatively by smoking chemicals carried through the blood. The immune system does not work as well and smokers become more prone to infections, such as pneumonia and influenza. It takes smokers longer than nonsmokers to get over illnesses.

Lung Tissue

Smoking can cause the body’s immune system to attack lung tissue and result in severe respiratory disorders, according to research at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. Health scientists examined mice to study the link between cigarette exposure, the immune system and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), a serious lung disease characterized by emphysema and severe inflammation of the lung tissue. After lung cells were damaged from cigarette smoke in the lab research, the cells signaled the immune system when the damaged cells needed to be destroyed. The research shows that smoking actually activates certain parts of the immune system, which works against the lungs and attacks the tissue, it was reported in the March 2009 issue of the "Journal of Clinical Investigation." The researchers found a strong correlation between cellular stress signals, activation of the immune system and development of diseases similar to COPD.

Researchers compared the results with tissue samples from humans who included nonsmokers, smokers with COPD and smokers who did not have COPD. They found that patients who had never smoked had no trace of the lung cells that triggered the immune system to attack lung tissue. Current and former smokers who developed the disease had evidence of those lung signals.

For further information log on website :
https://www.livestrong.com/article/27919-cigarette-smoking-affect-immune-system/

How Long Do Side Effects Last After Quitting Smoking?

Author
by JOSEPH PRITCHARD 

Smokers who are interested in quitting can look forward to a number of multiple proven benefits. Prospective quitters, however, should expect to experience symptoms akin to withdrawal from any other addictive substance. Nicotine withdrawal is generally more likely to occur in individuals who have smoked for an extended period of time or smoked a greater number of cigarettes each day.

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Nicotine Cravings

After habitual tobacco consumption, smokers’ bodies get used to obtaining particular amounts of nicotine on a regular basis. Upon quitting, smokers usually experience an extreme craving for cigarettes. This craving is for the addictive nicotine that is contained within the tobacco. These nicotine cravings usually begin within an hour or two of quitting, peaking for several days and possibly lasting up to six months, with urges occurring farther apart as the days pass. Nicotine supplements, such as nicotine patches or gum, can be used to decrease the person's nicotine craving.

Irritability and Frustration

The sudden loss of nicotine in the system prompts temporary changes in the smoker’s brain chemistry. Quitters may become short-tempered and less tolerant of others’ behavior. These increased episodes of irritability, anger and frustration may begin on the first day of quitting and usually peaks during the first couple of weeks. These symptoms gradually disappear within a month.

Anxiety

People who have recently quit smoking usually experience an overall increase in anxiety. This effect usually occurs a week after quitting and slowly wanes within a month. This heightened sensitivity to stress is also attributed to the nervous system’s response as it is adapting to the reduced nicotine levels.

Depression

Smokers who quit may experience some form of mild depression which is expected to disappear in less than a month. A tendency for more severe feelings of sadness, however, may occur in smokers with a prior history of depression. A February 1997 study published by “American Journal of Psychiatry” recommends that, for people affected by severe, chronic depression, continued care be extended beyond the two-week period associated with normal nicotine withdrawal syndrome.

Weight Gain

Nicotine acts as an appetite suppressant. Therefore, smokers who quit experience an increase in appetite. Weight gain may occur within the first few months of quitting. This side effect, however, can be completely off-set by healthy living. Physical activity and a proper diet can help prevent weight gain.

For further information log on website :
https://www.livestrong.com/article/245493-how-long-do-side-effects-last-after-quitting-smoking/