Tag Archives: work out

Non-Medical Careers That Can Improve Others’ General Health

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Non-Medical Careers That Can Improve Others’ General Health

When we choose a career path that we want to follow, we tend to have one main thing at the forefront of our mind: We want to generate sufficient sums of money to provide ourselves with a comfortable quality of life. But, we need to bear so many more things in mind to gain true satisfaction from the job that we want. The average person will work up to forty hours a week, so you want to do something that gives you a sense of achievement and that you genuinely enjoy. So, you need to determine what you want from your career before chasing down any particular position.

Many of us want our careers to help other people in the world. If this is what interests you, medical positions tend to automatically spring to mind. But, these require years on end of education and training. If you want to help others without this high level of pressure, then you might want to consider an alternative. Here are just a few that you could pursue:

Personal Trainer:

If you become a personal trainer, your role is to help people get in shape – you will specialize in instructing people when it comes to curating and carrying out a fitness regime that will help them to meet their fitness goals. Remember, that people will come to your for different reasons, as everyone has different aims and different ideals. Some people will seek out your help because they want to lose weight. Some people will reach out to you for help with boosting their overall fitness levels, so they can be more toned, be stronger, and build stamina. Some will want to gain muscle and significantly increase their strength. This is why it’s important that you can create specialist regimes that will meet different end goals. In order to qualify as a personal trainer and boost your overall fitness knowledge, you should carry out a course with a reliable company like Origym. Not only will this ensure that you are able to do your job properly, but it will also mean that potential clients are more likely to trust (and consequently) book you.

Nutritionist:

Diet is also important when it comes to overall health and well being. If you become a nutritionist, you will survey clients as individuals, taking a look at their current eating habits and determining how these impact their overall levels of health. Then, taking any medical conditions or dietary preferences into account, you will be able to come up with an action plan to get them kick started on the road to a better diet.

Both of these career paths have an end goal of helping people get healthy. They are extremely rewarding and you will be benefiting the health of others without intensive medical training.

Featured Image By: Pexels

Do You For You

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Do You For You

Hello everyone and happy weekend! As many of you probably know, I figure skated competitively for close to ten years. I still love to hit the rink every now and then to get my skate on, but, I haven’t had a real lesson in about eight years. And, this past week, that changed! After running into one of my old coaches while I was at work, I decided that I would like to try my hand at ice dancing. And, try my hand at ice dancing I did!

I had the absolute best time being back on the ice and actually learning something new. Ice dancing is completely foreign to me, but the old girl can’t jump like she used to so I figured that dancing would be the best way to go. I had a half hour lesson with my coach, Chris, who is really the end all be all in my neck of the woods when it comes to all aspects of skating. Then, I got to practice on my own for a half hour.

By the end of my time on the ice, I was beat! But, boy, did it feel good. As I consider continuing to learn ice dancing, I find myself leaning towards not doing it, because it’s rather expensive. And, then, I find myself thinking that I do so much for others and that maybe I should do something for me, for once. Having a lesson every other week is definitely not as desirable as weekly skate time. But, it’s the best I can do and it sure would make me happy.

It feels so good to have something that I’m genuinely excited about. I’m twenty-four, which, for all intents and purposes, is over the hill in the skating world. But, I came back on the ice strong, I tried hard, and I can’t wait to do it again.

Doing you for you is so important, because if you don’t take that extra time for yourself, it’s so easy to become burnt out. I was definitely getting to that point and just one hour on the ice made me feel totally rejuvenated. And, you just can’t put a price on that. 🙂

Then and now! ❤

How do you do you for you? What is a hobby that you did when you were younger that you would like to get back into? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Pacer Update (Finally!)

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Pacer Update (Finally!)

Hello everyone! It’s been a while since I updated you guys on my Pacer pedometer app progress and, honestly, that’s because there wasn’t much. This past month and a half has been a total doozy. I was so mentally and physically drained, and the last thing that I wanted to do was commit to walking 10,000 steps per day when I could have been laying on my sorry behind watching TV!!

But, that wasn’t really getting me anywhere and, as soon as the events that were taking place in my life that caused me a lot of anguish turned around, I was excited to pick up the Pacer again. This past week, I have been really dedicated to getting my 10K steps in at least four days of the week and I have blown that goal out of the water. It feels good to get myself moving again and although a lot of progress hasn’t been made, I’m back on the horse and I’m proud of that. Take a look at my stats:

  • Steps Taken: 1,364,282
  • Calories Burned: 33,311
  • Miles Walked: 445
  • Hours Active: 211
  • Days As A Pacer User: 177

I was also really pleased to see that I’ve been more active than sixty percent of the users on Pacer because, the last time I did an update, I was at a measly thirty percent. I doubled that! Things are looking up, and my exercise regimen is back in full swing, which makes things seem like they’re looking up even more! I feel really happy, and I can’t wait to get my 10,000 steps in today! 😀

Who else uses a pedometer app? How do you get back on the horse after a hiatus from working out? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Providing Your Family With The Best Medical Awareness

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Providing Your Family With The Best Medical Awareness

Keeping Everybody Healthy:

The best way to fully flourish in terms of health is proper diet and exercise. You need to keep the right foods available in your household, and strive to facilitate regular opportunities for working out. Walks. Bike rides. Sports. General calisthenics and anaerobic workouts, all of these can be good strategies. But they’re not going to be fully comprehensive.

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You need to additionally have medical solutions available should you need them, in a variety of different disciplines. You’ll need some dentistry solution, you’ll want general checkups, and you’ll want medical assistance to help account for the worst-case scenario. For example, a broken leg or arm may require physical therapy after the fact. This is actually quite likely. You’ll want to have options available that can render the best possible physical therapy in your vicinity.

A good option for physical therapy in Jersey City, NJ is Riverside Medical Group, who offers the best physical therapy sessions in Jersey City, NJ, at affordable fees. PT rehab centers are well equipped to help you in your therapy sessions with well trained and highly experienced staff.

Cosmetic Considerations:

Your family might also be in situations where a disease, injury, or mental illness condition predicates some level of cosmetic surgery. Certainly cosmetic augmentation has become an increasingly popular form of medical procedure in the modern age. It’s even gotten to the point where certain augmentations are sought specifically to make people look different, just consider those who try to look like a literal doll or an animal.

Sometimes these things are for reasons of health, sometimes they are merely for aesthetic appeal. Either way, surgeries like those are required when installing breast implants. You can find out more at LVCosmeticSurgery.com, a purveyor of breast augmentation in Las Vegas. Breast implants aren’t always just one dimensional. Breast augmentation is a plastic surgery procedure that gives you a fuller, more balanced breast size.

In the wake of breast cancer, such cosmetic solutions can be integral to maintaining personal mental health. Other times, this augmentation is necessary in a reductive capacity after high quantities of weight are lost. Burns or other accidents could also make certain cosmetic procedures a necessary reality for your family. Remember that there is a risk involved with any kind of surgery and it is imperative that you choose your surgeon wisely. To get started, simply enter a search for “leading Houston breast augmentation surgeon” (or your local area) and read plenty of reviews. If you are having trouble choosing, schedule several consultations with different surgeons until you find the best fit for you.

If you are choosing surgery for your breasts for reconstructive purposes, there is one other thing to consider. After your surgery with Southwest Breast & Aesthetics Breast Reconstruction (or a similar reputable practice in your local area), you can also think about areola tattooing to give your breasts a natural look once more. This procedure is often covered by insurance and can make the results of your surgery even better. Talk to your doctor before scheduling with a tattoo artist that specializes in this to ensure that your breasts are fully healed post-op.

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Implications:

The bottom line, is that if you want to keep yourself and your family healthy, it will require the understanding of multiple areas of medical provision in addition to ensuring the best kinds of diet and exercise are central to your family’s lifestyle. If this sounds like a bit of a tall order, it is.

Not only are there many areas to research, but there is bound to be expense involved. You need to be strategic in determining means of covering these costs, unless money is no object for your family; which is unlikely. Thankfully, there are a variety of programs out there that you can use to help reduce medical costs, or even cover them entirely.

On the internet, you can look up various situations for which funds exist. It’s sometimes just a matter of approaching the issue from the right angle. Additionally, in the wake of the insurance difficulties resulting from the ACA, there are increasing insurance solutions at decreasing expense available. This trend is expected to continue as ACA is entirely dissolved in the fullness of time.

Look at benefits packages where you work and, additionally, seek employment where there are more comprehensive solutions. The attitude you need to have is that there is a way to fix whatever problems you have. A solution is out there, it may just not be what you expected.

More Pacer Progress

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More Pacer Progress

Hello everyone and happy weekend! My last Pacer pedometer update was written on May 19th with a step total around 600,000. That’s a pretty big number, so I wasn’t expecting a huge amount of progress to be made in twenty-four days. So, imagine my surprise when I checked my stats for this post and ended up adding an extra 275,000 to my step count! I couldn’t believe it either, but I’m so happy about it! Here are the rest of the stats for this month’s update:

  • Steps Taken: 874,580
  • Calories Burned: 21,546
  • Hours Active: 135
  • Miles Walked: 287

After seeing such great results, I found myself wondering just what I was doing to get myself there. And, it has a lot to do with the wonderful Metro Parks that Ohio has to offer. For the past few weeks, I have gone on nice, long hikes at least twice a week if the weather allows it. Dogsitting for my neighbor and walking her pups twice a day for a week didn’t hurt, either!

For the most part, I have been exceeding my goal of 10,000 steps per day and I’m really proud of that. It feels good being more active, and completing my goals almost daily like it’s nothing now makes me feel such a huge sense of accomplishment. I had no idea that downloading one simple app would work such wonders on my self esteem, but I am so thankful for it and am looking forward to reaching my goal of 1,000,000 steps soon. 😀

If a pedometer app isn’t for you and you prefer your Apple Watch, be sure to check out Mobile Mob for the best accessories to keep you stepping in style!

Who else uses a pedometer? How many steps do you walk or run per day? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Proud Pacer Update

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Proud Pacer Update

Hello! This past year has definitely been a struggle as far as my weight goes. As a recovering bulimic and a lover of binge eating, my weight jumped to a number that I was not happy with this year. My life has been extremely stressful, and binge eating did bring me a lot of comfort when I did it – but, the weight that I gained was totally not worth those before bed snacking sessions.

As someone who is recovering from an eating disorder, I had to *gasp* try and shed this weight the healthy way. And, let me tell you, it was a real bitch at first. From self harming to purging, my ways of feeling good were a quick fix. And, we all know that that isn’t what weight loss is in the slightest if you want to do it the right way!

I knew that I was making slow and steady progress as I attempted to complete 10,000 steps per day and work on my portion sizes during meals. But, I didn’t realize how much progress until I finally gained the courage to get on the scale, which is my worst enemy. I stepped on, took a deep breath, and was so happy to see that I lost twelve pounds!

I may not be loosing weight as quickly as I would like, but that doesn’t undermine my accomplishment any less! I am really proud of myself for actually doing this the “right” way for once in my life – totally self harm free. I am hoping that I can lose another ten pounds to get back to my normal weight in the next few months. But, for now, I am super happy with my progress so far!

Pacer Stats:

  • Days Active: 73
  • Steps Taken: 604,994
  • Calories Burned: 15,000
  • Active Hours: 93
  • Miles Walked: 200

(And, this is pre-written so the above stats are slightly higher!)

Who else uses a pedometer to help keep them active? What are your methods for losing weight? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Pain Relief Without Pills In Five Natural Forms

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Pain Relief Without Pills In Five Natural Forms

Many people opt for a natural lifestyle, which includes avoiding taking medicine if there’s an alternative way to cure what ails you. Looking for a natural form of pain relief? Here are five options to consider if you’re looking for a break from meds:

Herbal medicine:

There are plenty of herbal medicines that can offer pain relief. Ginger has long been used to treat stomach pain from menstrual cramps to digestive disorders. Meanwhile, Turmeric is an effective form of pain relief against joint pain. You can even try products such as cannabis oil as found at https://canabidol.com/. Herbal medicines can be taken as capsules or as herbal teas – you may even be able to incorporate them into your food.

When experimenting with THC or cannabis oil, it is always best to do your research before making any purchases. There are lots of comprehensive guides and best of lists online. Then, you can learn about delta 8 vs delta 9 vapes, the best cartridges, gummies, or teas for your needs!

Remember that if you are interested in using marijuana for pain relief, then it is important to do things right. Look into Arizona medical marijuana laws, speak with your doctor, and use a reputable dispensary. There is nothing taboo about using marijuana to manage pain, especially if you are looking for a more natural remedy.

Acupuncture:

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese form of treatment that involves putting small needles in key points around the body. This treatment can be used to fight all kinds of pain from arthritis to migraines. You should always seek out a qualified professional when getting this kind of treatment. It’s a great idea to get recommendations from friends or family or read client testimonials when you search “Acupuncture Near Me“. If you are squeamish with needles, this might not be the best course of treatment for you. However, it can be most beneficial and having a friend to support you at your appointment can make a big difference.

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Ahhhh!!!

Hot water:

Taking a hot bath can also be a simple and effective form of pain relief. Hot water can help to relax your muscles and create a flood of endorphins around the body that can help to combat pain. This can help to relieve pain caused by everything from joint problems to early contractions during pregnancy. Some people find that using Epsom bath salts can also help when taking a bath. There are even professional forms of pain relief using water known as hydrotherapy if you really want to unleash your inner mermaid.

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Take a soak!

Exercise:

Staying active can also help to fight pain in some cases. This is because exercise releases endorphins around the body and helps to reduce stiffness in muscles. Depending on the source of the pain, there may be some exercises that you should obviously avoid. For example, high impact exercises like jumping and running aren’t recommended if you have joint problems – you’re far better off doing low impact exercise such as swimming or yoga. Exercise is best for chronic pain and not for pain following a recent injury, in which you may be better off relaxing until the injury has began to heal. If you’re not sure which exercises are right for you, you could try talking to a physical therapist. Combining exercise with treatment plans from RELATYV At Home Pain Management in North Carolina (or a similar provider in your local area) can be most beneficial in alleviating your symptoms and improving your overall health. As your pain decreases, you will be amazed at how much more you can do when you are working out.

Meditation:

Meditating might not sound like an effective form of pain relief but it can be a major way of reducing stress, which is known to increase inflammation. Meditation involves clearing your mind and controlling your breathing so that your cortisol levels are reduced – cortisol is the stress hormone and plays a big part in triggering inflammation. By relieving stress through meditation, you could help to fight off the pain caused by inflammatory diseases such as IBS and arthritis.

Trying out these natural forms of pain relief might be just what the doctor ordered to get your body feeling back on track.

Pacer Progress

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Pacer Progress

Hi everyone! Roughly fifty days ago, I downloaded the Pacer pedometer app on my iPod. Since then, I have been dedicated to reaching 10,000 steps or more every day. Of course, this hasn’t always been possible, but I’ve been trying my best and I’m happy to say that I’m still motivated even after close to two months.

On the app, you can see insights into your progress each day or over a span of time. I only just discovered the page where you can see your steps since downloading the app, and I was really happy with what I saw:

  • Total Steps: 382,550
  • Total Calories: 9,502
  • Total Active Hours: 58
  • Miles Traveled: 127

(I am also prewriting this so my stats are higher than this by four days!)

It’s easy to feel like 10,000 steps a day is nothing. But, when it was put into perspective of  just how many miles I walked or how long I was active for, it makes a big difference. I am hoping to reach at least one million steps by the end of summer and I know that with my motivation to keep making progress, my goal is more than achievable.

Who else uses a pedometer app on their smart devices? How do you fit more activity into your day? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dancing As A Way To Keep A Healthy Lifestyle

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Dancing As A Way To Keep A Healthy Lifestyle

If you are looking for some low-impact activities that can be beneficial to your health, you might want to go for something that offers a good balance of strength training and cardio. Dancing offers a good way to have fun while keeping your body fit and healthy. It has many benefits, like some of the following. But, before you decide to take dancing lessons, you need to buy the right uniforms. You can either shop at a physical store or buy online from sites such as Just for Kix. Let’s get to it:

Boosting Cognitive Health:

Dancing has been used effectively to treat people who suffer from Parkinson’s disease. Moreover, studies have shown that dancing boosts your memory. When it comes to the health of your brain, learning how to dance engages the major parts of your brain: cerebellum, motor cortex, somatosensory cortex, and basal ganglia. According to a certain study, out of all of the activities that elderly people partake in, only dancing was shown to reduce the risk of developing dementia.

Improving Lung and Heart Health:

Different types of dance offer an aerobic workout that aids in strengthening your lung and heart muscles and this averts chronic conditions such as heart disease later in life. The harder you breathe and the faster your heart beats during dancing, the better the workout your cardiovascular system gets. If you have a strong heart, it will be able to pump blood throughout your body with less effort, lowering your chances of suffering from stroke and high blood pressure.

Alleviating Stress:

Dancing is an activity that provides the brain with double the pleasure because it involves listening to music and physical movement. If you have a dancing partner, your stress levels will decrease as your serotonin levels increase. This allows you to leave your worries behind as you focus on dancing with your partner. And, as exercise and music therapy gets into your brain, you will develop a positive mindset that reduces anxiety and stress.

If dancing to destress sounds exactly like what you need, you can find countless spaces that allow you to do just that. Groups like Ecstatic Dance SLO (or a similar one in your local area) focus on pillars like alleviation of stress, socialization, and providing a drug and alcohol free space to move to the music and let loose. No pressure settings where the purpose is to have fun and create can work wonders for your mental health, practice a new hobby, and make friends too.

Encouraging Social Interaction:

Dancing is a social activity that allows you to interact with other people. Social engagement improves your outlook and mood whilst reinforcing strong brain health. When you interact and converse with other people, you reinforce the brain’s neural pathways; this helps your brain cells to communicate effectively into old age. When you enter a search for “dance schools toronto” (or your local area), you are sure to find several options for adult dance classes. This could be a wonderful way to make new friends on top of the excellent workout you will have. Don’t be afraid to ask your classmates to grab some grub or a coffee after your lesson. It could become a new after class tradition!

Enhancing Flexibility:

The stretching, warm-ups, and reaching that occur in dancing will aid in loosening and lubricating your joints as well as strengthening your muscles. Stiff and tight muscles result in the inflammation, pains, and aches that happen during injury recovery and aging. When you increase your muscle pliability, you will be optimizing your coordination and preventing injury.

Strengthening Muscles and Endurance:

Activities like dancing usually tone and strengthen the key muscle groups: core, legs, arms, and back. The moderate movements burn calories, make you sweat, and aid in muscle growth. When you exercise, microscopic tears occur in your muscle tissues and this tells the body to rebuild the muscles bigger and stronger.

Increasing Spatial Awareness and Balance:

The coordination that you need to dance promotes your agility while improving your balance skills. This is very important for older adults because they need to retain their mobility to prevent debilitating falls. Although they can just install staircase railings and suction grab bars to hold onto, exercises like dancing strengthen their spatial awareness and agility, which helps in all aspects of life.

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Dancing has a wide variety of benefits for people of all ages. You do not have to start dancing when you are worried about your health; you can do it at any point of your life. The earlier you begin, the better you will be – and it’s fun!

Is Nutrition Just A Balancing Act?

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Is Nutrition Just A Balancing Act?

A lot of times when we read articles about nutrition or see a nutritionist terms such as “balanced” and “in moderation” show up. Yet, surely nutrition must be a little more complex than one big balancing act? Not necessarily. We as humans like to over complicate things due to our intelligent and ego driven brains when nutrition, like so many basic aspects of life, is a very simple equation.

You’ve probably heard of the saying “you are what you eat”. Indeed, this may have been drilled into you from an early age – but how much attention do you honestly pay to this principle? You don’t need GI doctors to tell you that all that sugar, saturated fat, and caffeine is bad for your health and well being. We all know that excessive sugar, fat, and salt are bad for our hearts and can cause Type II diabetes… yet, we keep on doing the same thing.

Rather than beat yourself up and make all sorts of rules about what you can and can’t eat, the best way to approach the great balancing act of nutrition is to picture a bank account. With a bank account there are deposits and withdrawals. The deposits nourish your bank balance while the withdrawals deplete it. If there are too many withdrawals, the account becomes overdrawn, and you end up in financial trouble.

Using this metaphor as a parallel for nutrition, it’s clear that deposits and withdrawals exist. As an example, drinking a vitamin filled smoothie could be considered a deposit because you are investing nutrients that are going to replenish and revitalize your body. Whereas eating a chocolate bar would be considered to be a withdrawal because it is not doing anything for you.

Making the occasional withdrawal is fine, as this way, there is still an equilibrium. If you are to withdraw more from this bank account nutritionally then you are putting in is when you run into problems. That’s when serious diseases start to occur. The word disease represents that your body is in a state of dis-ease; meaning it is out of balance.  No matter what your current condition of health is, the best way to ensure a long and healthy life is to keep your bank account in credit and balance the books!

Nutrition is important. And what is equally as important to what we put in our mouths, is how often and how intensely we move our bodies. Just a twenty minute walk at a moderate pace with some good music will do the trick to get you into the “aerobic zone”.  One of the most universal and all around forms of exercise that requires very little equipment, and is accessible for all, is swimming. It is easy on your body and it sure is fun.

The bank account of your health depends primarily on two things; the food you eat and the amount of exercise that you complete. Hopefully, this simple metaphor of the bank account will inspire you to make better day to day choices and keep on top of the balancing act that is nutrition.

Featured Image By: Pixabay