Stimulate Your Brain to Prevent Cognitive and Memory Loss…

February 19, 2018 By Leave a Comment

When it comes to aging, many people believe it is all about physical health. That could not be further from the truth.

Your physical health is important, however, your mental and even your emotional health play huge roles as well.

The reality is, even if you are currently physically healthy, but your mind is not in a good place, this low-frequency attitude will certainly come back to hinder you at some point.

The loss of memory and cognitive processing speed is something many suffer from as they age if they are not paying attention. Just as we must give the body the nutrients needed to stay physically strong and resilient along with proper exercise to keep our muscles strong, our minds require similar attention to stay young and sharp.

Don’t wait for the first symptoms of mental challenge to appear. There are a number of steps you can adopt right now that can help prevent things like cognitive and memory loss.

Continued Learning:

One of the biggest causes of age-related cognitive decline is because many adults imply stop  learning. Don’t be satisfied with the status quo. Make “never stop learning” your daily mantra. Just because you’re out of school and settled into your career doesn’t mean the learning stops. If you really want to stay mentally young, you must continually be looking for ways to learn new things. This creates new pathways and associations in the brain that in turn, help keep the brain healthier and more akin to what is was in its youth. Find something that interests you and set out to learn more about it. This will keep your mind mentally engaged and psychologically sound as you grow older.

Reading:

Reading is fundamental. It is an exercise-like activity for your brain that helps keep you mentally sharp. And, you don’t have to be learning when you read. You can be reading fiction for pure enjoyment and leisure. Spend at least 15-20 minutes daily reading whatever material you find interesting. If you learn something new…all the better!

Meditation:

It’s hard to improve on something you do not understand. Learning to regulate the mind and stay free from all thought processes is empowering and meditation is the key to your inner world. Get your inner world healthy and your outer world follows suit. Meditation helps to improve memory, focus and attention span. It is empowered to reduce age-related cognitive decline and combat psychological related issues such as Alzheimer’s disease and depression. Meditation is a true from of medication for your brain, offers a wealth of benefits, and can be done by anyone of any age.

Walking meditation:

Traditional meditation is done in a quiet play where you can sit or lay down and focus on clearing your mind. Walking meditation on the other hand, is meditation in action. While walking, we keep our mind focused and involved with the experience of walking – we use the physical, mental and emotional experiences of walking as the basis of developing greater awareness. Walking meditation is a highly pleasurable experience that can be fitted into the gaps in our lives quite easily. It’s the perfect way to tune into your own body and listen to what it’s revealing to you. Practice meditation for 10-15 minutes 3-4 times weekly or as often as time allows.

Sufficient intake of Omega-3 Fatty Acids:

Omega-3 fatty acids provide key nutrients that the brain requires in order to function optimally and they are also vital for keeping inflammation levels down. Those consuming adequate omega-3 fatty acids on a regular basis are less likely to develop conditions like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, depression, as well as bipolar disorder. Make sure you are consuming enough omega-3 fatty acids from foods like fish, flax-seed and walnuts. Decrease your intake of omega-6 fatty acids (harmful to psychological health) found in processed food and vegetable oils.

Ready to halt the aging process?

* Everything you need to know to slow down and even reverse the aging clock can be found in my anti-aging library of help: 

“Reclaim Your Longevity.”

For more tools and resources from Carolyn Hansen to assist you in attaining your health and fitness goals and achieving the success you desire in life, please visit:

Carolyn Hansen Fitness

Filed Under: Anti-aging strategies, diet, Exercise, Healthy Mind Tagged With:

Walk Your Way to Peace

January 15, 2018 By Leave a Comment


Sticking to a new diet or exercise routine is challenging – especially when beginning. We’ll need to call into service our army reserves – willpower and self-discipline. If we have not been developing these two mandatory elements then experiencing success will be challenging at best.

Research and ongoing studies have proven over and over the positive effects that meditation provides us in regards to developing strong mind control, self-discipline and willpower.  It improves memory, is a super anti-aging strategy and the perfect way to tune into your body and listen to what it is telling you.

Meditation offers a world of benefits and can be done by anyone. Focus, memory, attention span and age-related cognitive decline all benefit from the practice of meditation. You could even think of it as a natural form of medication for the brain.

With today’s hectic schedules and increasing demands, finding “quiet” time to meditate can sometimes be challenging and opens the door to our “favored” excuse. However if meditation is worked into daily activities then it’s easy to participate without exception.

Explore Walking Meditation

The activity of walking itself has proven therapeutic and hence the popularity of walking meditation.

Usually done in a quiet environment without disturbance, traditional type sitting meditation can be expanded to include “walking meditation.” Walking meditation is simply a form of “meditation in action.” Because nearly everyone does some form of walking daily, it is the perfect opportunity to turn a common everyday activity into a meditative practice offering health and longevity benefits.

Walking meditation is nothing new. It has been an essential part of Buddhist training for centuries. Monks will walk for hours in order to develop focus and high levels of concentration. It is an invigorating activity and when emotions are strong and stress sets in, walking meditations can be more relaxing than sitting meditation.

When performing “walking meditation,” we employ the physical, mental and emotional experiences of walking as the basis for developing greater awareness. And, because the body is moving, it is easier to stay anchored in the present moment and remain aware of bodily sensations and many people find it easier to perform than sitting meditation.

When performing sitting meditation, the sensations that arise in the body are much more subtle and harder to pay attention to that those that arise while we are actively walking. This makes walking meditation a highly pleasurable experience and we all know the healthy role that “pleasure” plays when trying to develop a new habit.

Unlike sitting meditation, walking meditation is obviously done with the eyes open and body moving. It is the perfect solution to squeezing more meditation time into the day because you can take advantage of all the times you walk. Each spell of walking throughout your day, no matter how short or long in duration can be turned into valuable meditative practice time.

Here’s a few important key elements for experiencing success with walking meditation:

Be aware. Before beginning a “walking meditation” feel your weight being transferred into the earth on the spot you are standing. Spend a minute or two just standing there, focus on your breathing and get your attention focused on your body and the sensations you are feeling.

Slow is better. Walking meditation is usually done at a slower pace than normal walking and coordinates with breathing. Keep your pace steady and even. Walk very slowly until you can stay focused in the present moment with every step you take.

Spend at least 15 minutes moving. Since there is no discomfort associated with walking mediation, (as there sometimes is with sitting meditation) you should be able to perform it for longer periods of time.

Choose your place wisely. Don’t perform your walking meditation in high traffic areas or heavily populated areas. You want to feel safe from beginning to end. Choose a path that is slightly enclosed so there is less distraction for you and your mind can more easily travel inwards without fear.

Control your thoughts. Whenever your mind begins to engage in mental thoughts about your surroundings, simply bring it back to your walking pace and follow your breathing and bodily sensations.

Remain centered: There is nowhere to go in thought. It’s a matter of mastering your attention, focus and presence. Simply BE the process as it unfolds.

As an added bonus, walking meditation can actually build stamina and strength as well as allowing a quiet, focused mind to become an integral part of your life, whether you are walking to work, in your neighborhood after dinner, or walking for fitness.

It makes good sense to achieve two things with a single action – quieting your mind as you improve your health.

* Everything you need to know to slow down and even reverse the aging clock can be found in my anti-aging library of help: 

“Reclaim Your Longevity.”

For more tools and resources from Carolyn Hansen to assist you in attaining your health and fitness goals and achieving the success you desire in life, please visit:

Carolyn Hansen Fitness

Filed Under: Anti-aging strategies, Healthy Mind, Reduce Disease Risk Tagged With: , ,

Increased Muscle Strength Improves Cognitive Performance

October 22, 2017 By Leave a Comment

Exercise has proven to be very effective in reducing stress and anxiety levels by increasing soothing brain chemicals like endorphin’s and GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, is a neurotransmitter that sends chemical messages through the brain and the nervous system, and is involved in regulating communication between brain cells).

It even benefits us at a cellular level to reverse the toll of stress in our aging bodies.

In fact, research reveals that burning the equivalent of 350 calories three times a week through sustained, sweat-inducing activity can reduce symptoms of depression as effectively as antidepressants -with none of the side effects.

But the benefits of exercise don’t stop there…

A new scientific study uncovers more unparalleled benefits of exercise. It revealed that increased muscle strength leads to improved brain function in adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) – a condition where people suffer mostly memory problems that are not severe enough to interfere with daily life (unfortunately it is often considered to be the very early stages of Alzheimer’s disease).

Another study involved 86 women between the ages of 70 and 80 who also had MCI. The participants were divided into 3 groups:

a resistance training group

an aerobic exercise group

a balance and tone training group

Each group exercised twice weekly for six months.

Participants cognitive skills were measured with tests assessing executive functions (such as attention and inhibition) and memory. The brains of 22 participants were also scanned using functional MRI.

The results revealed that resistance training improved both executive functions and memory performance. Brain scans demonstrated increased blood flow to areas of the brain associated with improved performance (such as the occipital and frontal regions of the brain).

In contrast to prior studies, there was no benefit of the aerobic training on cognitive performance (even though the cardiovascular performance of the participants in this group did improve.

This study is one of the first randomized controlled trials comparing the efficacy of both resistance and aerobic training to improve cognitive functions.

It confirms and supports the results obtained a few years ago by the same team of researchers showing that 12 months of once or twice weekly strength training improved executive functions in healthy women ages 65-75 years old for up to 1 year after the training.

The study showed that after a short period of time (6 months) the effects of strength training can benefit cognition even in those who already suffer from cognitive impairment. Just 20 minutes of strength training was found to enhance long-term memory by about 10 percent.

Truth is, now is NOT the time to fall prey to the couch. Once we hit 40 years upwards, physical movement becomes really paramount. Even if you just start exercising at this time, you will still gain a great deal from it.

Science is very clear:

Memory loss and cognitive decline really depend on lifestyle. Your brain has the capacity to regenerate and grow throughout your entire life, and movement is a major key for all of these brain-boosting processes to occur.

Although it’s never too late to start, the earlier you begin and the more consistent you are, the greater are your long-term rewards.

The reality is, an active lifestyle is really an investment in your future well-being, both physically and mentally.

The responsibility for your health and fitness falls directly on you. However, you are also the one that reaps the rewards and benefits from your accountability.

If you truly want to take command of your life and avoid disease somewhere down the road – your muscles need to be in tip-top condition…strong and toned at all times – starting now.

“Reclaim Your Longevity” can help you do just that…

For more tools and resources from Carolyn Hansen to assist you in attaining your health and fitness goals and achieving the success you desire in life, please visit:

Carolyn Hansen Fitness

Filed Under: Anti-aging strategies, Exercise, Healthy Mind, Reduce Disease Risk Tagged With: , ,

Mighty Omega-3 Fatty Acids

September 15, 2017 By Leave a Comment

On your journey to health, a sufficient intake of Omega-3 fatty acids is mandatory.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids offer incredible benefits for both the body and the brain. In fact, getting an adequate amount of this powerful nutrient both during pregnancy and early life is crucial for early on healthy, normal development of children, while a deficiency of omega-3 early on has been linked to poor eyesight as well as lowered intelligence and an increase in other health issues.

Omega-3 fatty acids provide key nutrients that the brain needs to function optimally and are vital for keeping inflammation levels down. Those who consume adequate omega-3 fatty acids on a regular basis are less likely to develop debilitating conditions like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, depression, and even bipolar disorder.

Although Omega-3’s are a must for psychological health, most people still fall short in consuming enough of them with their day to day diet plan. If you find yourself in this group, focus on increasing your intake by choosing omega-3 rich foods. Salmon, mackerel, flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, leafy veggies and walnuts are all great choices.

While increasing your intake of omega-3 fatty acids, reduce your intake of omega-6 fatty acids. These are harmful to psychological health and can be found in processed foods as well as vegetable oils.

Omega-3 fats are a key family of polyunsaturated fats. There are three types of omega-3 fatty acids: ALA, EPA, and DHA.

  • Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are sometimes called “marine omega-3’s” because they come mainly from fish.
  • The most common omega-3 fatty acid is Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). It is found in vegetable oils and nuts (especially walnuts), flax seeds and flaxseed oil, leafy vegetables, and some animal fats (focus on grass fed). ALA is what the human body generally uses for energy, while conversion into EPA and DHA is limited. EPA appears to be the best at fighting depression.

Omega 3’s Improve Risk Factors For Heart Disease

Heart attacks and strokes are currently the world’s leading causes of death and this is where omega-3’s help because a great deal of the strong evidence presented for the beneficial effects of omega-3 fats has to do with heart disease. It seems these fats keep the heart beating at a steady clip, avoiding a dangerous or potentially fatal erratic rhythm.

Omega-3’s improve and reduce the risk of many diseases and offer a wealth of benefits with heart disease leading the pack. Years ago, scientists observed that fish-eating cultures had lowered rates of heart disease and this was later partially attributed to their omega-3.

These healthy fatty acids continue to reveal numerous benefits for heart health.

These include:

  • Inflammation: Omega-3s reduce some substances released during the inflammatory response
  • Triglycerides: Omega-3s can cause a major reduction in triglycerides
  • Blood pressure: Omega-3s reduces blood pressure levels in those with high blood pressure
  • HDL-cholesterol: Omega-3 raise HDL (the “good”) cholesterol levels
  • Blood clots: Omega-3s help prevent the formation of harmful blood clots by keeping blood platelets from clumping together
  • Plaque: Omega-3s help prevent the plaque that can restrict and harden the arteries by keeping the arteries smooth and free from damage

Although omega-3s have been found to improve numerous heart disease risk factors, omega-3 supplements have not proven to reduce the risk of heart attacks or strokes.

Your body has the potential and the power, to slow down the aging process and restore itself to a level of wellness that it may no longer be experiencing. Superior health. the kind that pays off long-term, involves maintaining healthy body weight throughout life, eating a healthy diet, and having sufficient physical activity in our lives.

The information here, when implemented as suggested, will be life changing and you will enjoy greater health like never before.

“Reclaim Your Longevity” can help you do just that…

For more tools and resources from Carolyn Hansen to assist you in attaining your health and fitness goals and achieving the success you desire in life, please visit:

Carolyn Hansen Fitness

Filed Under: Anti-aging strategies, diet, Healthy Mind, Reduce Disease Risk Tagged With: , ,

Mighty Muscle Magic…

March 12, 2017 By Leave a Comment

The biological role of skeletal muscles goes far beyond locomotion and, it’s becoming crystal clear that the benefits derived from our muscular system are essential to our health.

The muscular system, our largest energy facility, is responsible for keeping our metabolic system intact. It protects us against metabolic and hormonal decline, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Muscle strength not only makes every task and activity easier to perform, but the amount of toned muscle also relates to control of body weight, bone health, cellular rejuvenation and a reduced risk of certain diseases.

As an aging adult, few things impact the quality of life as much as seeing your functional strength decrease. Lose enough strength, and you’ll no longer be able to perform even the basic functions of daily living and this in turn dramatically effects how you feel about yourself and your level of happiness.

What causes muscle downgrade?

Hormonal disorders such as insulin resistance, inflammatory disease, dietary abuse, nutritional deficiencies and chemical toxicity all contribute to muscle downgrade, however, the main culprit is not doing enough muscle building and maintenance activity. In other words…living a sedentary lifestyle.

One of the most powerful and important things you can do to reverse muscle and bone loss is strength training. It is the perfect anecdote and the only type of exercise that stimulates the release of HGH. Human Growth Hormone helps your body build more youthful muscle tissue.

The body is a very efficient machine. If your muscles are not being stimulated, you are basically sending the message to your body that you no longer need lean muscle mass. Since muscle mass is an energy costly substance to maintain, if your body doesn’t need it, it wants to get rid of it.

Strength training however, sends the message to your body loud and clear that it still needs to be strong and needs this muscle to complete your daily strength training exercises.

If you are currently trying to shed fat, the more muscle you have, the easier it is to lose because your resting metabolic rate is fast and working for you. And, let’s not forget about what strong healthy muscles do to build strength in our joints and bones as well. Osteoporosis is a serious condition that sadly impacts far too many older adults. Without actively strengthening their muscles, their bones get weak and brittle and all it takes is one small misstep to happen that breaks a bone.

Maintaining your lean muscle mass is mandatory if you want to live a long productive life. As a bonus, you’ll get a boost to your self-esteem and self-confidence. You’ll feel better about the way you look as you maintain that fit appearance.

Your body was made to move. Keeping your body in shape not only makes you feel younger and stronger, but also might just save your life. Remember, it’s never too late to start. You are better off doing something now than just letting your health continue to decline due to the process of aging.

If you truly want to stop the aging process, you need to put an exchange your sedentary lifestyle for one that promotes muscle strength.

Strength training is key.

If you can only do one type of exercise variation, resistance training should be your number one choice. It is the one exercise that will make all your muscles stronger, boost your immune system and is empowered to restore your manhood.

Everything you need to know to slow down and even reverse the aging clock can be found in my anti-aging library of help: “Reclaim Your Longevity.”

Filed Under: Anti-aging strategies, Exercise, Healthy Mind, Reduce Disease Risk Tagged With: ,

Quality Sleep Adds Years to Your Life and Life to Your Years

February 5, 2017 By Leave a Comment

Sleep is one of the most critical factors driving good health, and if you aren’t sleeping as well as you should be, every area of your life will be impacted in a negative way.

For beginners, nothing ages you faster than a lack of quality sleep. In fact, quality sleep could easily be considered the fountain of youth.

Lack of Sleep Impacts:

Your skin –

Not enough quality sleep a few nights in a row and your complexion begins to look lackluster and you’ll likely have some bags around your eyes.

Your metabolic rate –

Just one night of insufficient sleep can slow down your metabolism, making fat loss much more challenging.

Your disease risk factor –

Those who suffer with sleep quality deprivation will not have strong immune systems and the risk for heart disease, diabetes and stroke increase. Without the strong defenses needed to fend off invading bacteria and viruses, they will likely fall ill more often. Furthermore, the immune system plays a vital role in keeping oxidative damage down. If its weakened, oxidation takes place, causing you to age far more quickly than you otherwise would.

Your mental state –

Sleep deficiency alters activity in parts of the brain. When you are tired and your body suffers with lack of quality sleep your brains’ ability to keep the nervous system clear is impaired. You may have trouble making decisions, controlling emotions and behavior, solving problems, and coping with change. Lack of quality sleep has also has been linked to risk-taking behavior, depression and even suicide.

A weakened and tired mental state also directly influences your ability to stick with your diet and workout protocol.

Your motivation –

Feeling fatigued from lack of sleep is the quickest way to crush any desire to get your workout in for the day ahead or tackle any new activity you had planned.

Your insulin sensitivity –

Too little sleep means your body is more likely to store carbohydrates as body fat rather than burning then up for energy or devoting them towards building lean muscle mass tissue.

Your appetite –

If your brain is lacking energy from not getting enough sleep, it often turns to food for that energy. Truth is, poor sleep messes with your hormones. It increases the production of ghrelin (your hunger hormone). Too much ghrelin causes your body to crave fatty and sugary foods, not a good state to put your body in. Poor sleep also messes with leptin your satiety hormone. Bottom line is: when you lack sleep, you tend to eat more of what you are craving because your hunger hormones are messed up and you’re not feeling the signals to stop eating.

When you are consciously asleep, your body is working overtime in repair mode fixing all the damage that took place in your body throughout the course of the day.

Sleep is when your body goes to work repairing and replacing. Without enough time devoted to sleep, your body won’t be able to repair itself or recover as quickly from your daily activities or workouts and any further progress is you would otherwise experience will be compromised.

Remember, it’s not just sleep you need, but quality sleep you’re after. You always know when you’ve gotten a quality night’s sleep because when you wake you feel good and ready to tackle the day.

Truth is, you can take control of the aging process and add years of good health and quality living to your lifespan by paying attention to a few critical players beginning with quality sleep.

Sleep quality is a good place to start because it directly influences your energy level.  As your energy level increases, your physical performance increases. This in turn increases your weight loss results which in turn boosts your appearance making you feel much happier overall.

Bottom line is this: the way you feel while you’re awake depends in large part on what happens while you’re sleeping. 

All my products support a whole body approach that supports both the body and the mind. If you are serious about achieving a truly healthy lifestyle, one of youth and vitality – “Reclaim Your Longevity“ was created for you.

It will absolutely help you in every area of your life to stay as young, healthy and vibrant as possible.

Filed Under: Anti-aging strategies, Healthy Mind, Reduce Disease Risk Tagged With: , ,

Exercise – Empowers You With Health and Happiness

December 31, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Happiness is almost a world-wide obsession these days.  The self-help shelves of bookstores and online websites are laden with offerings that promise to help you find or achieve happiness. But can they?

Happiness could be defined as simply “feeling good”. It doesn’t mean life is perfect but rather that our lives generally have a sense of direction, purpose and meaning.

When we have an overall sense of satisfaction and contentment we can say we are happy.

For many though, happiness is hard to obtain. In fact, research is showing evidence of a rising tide of this spirit of unhappiness in most advanced societies. A decline in the number of people who regard themselves as “happy” is being documented and seems to be consistent with the staggering increase in cases of depression in the last decade.

Sadly, there has been a 400 percent increase in anti-depressant drugs prescribed and close to 10 percent of us now take mood-enhancement drugs for this current common problem which was once a rare condition.

One of the downsides of this “loss of happiness” is the need to replace what has been lost with external sources such as alcohol and drugs, food and overeating, relationships or material items.

Some of these things may give temporary relief but do not provide long-term happiness, joy, peacefulness or contentment. Could it be these things are being lost to us as our world becomes more and more sedentary and inactive?

 

Hormone Reduction

The widespread lack of physical activity in our modern technology driven “easy, comfortable” lives means we experience lowered endorphin levels on an ongoing basis.

Endorphins are nature’s “feel good” hormones and are manufactured in the brain during intense physical activity. Endorphins lift your mood, calm you; relieve stress AND make you happy. They elevate your mood long after the exercise session has stopped, and help to keep us mentally and emotionally stable.

You could call it “meditation in motion”. After an exercise session, you will often find that you have forgotten the day’s irritations and when you regularly shed your daily tensions through movement and physical activity, the resulting stress relief, energy and optimism boost can help you remain calm and clear in everything that you do. It spills over positively into every aspect of your life.

Many people are missing out on this natural “inner” magic because they think they are too busy, don’t have time, are too stressed or that they simply don’t need to bother to take time out to exercise. But when you neglect your health and your body all of your life goals are balancing on a shaky platform making being “happy” so much more elusive.

Happiness is definitely one of the key ingredients to health.

Improving fitness not only positively affects the outside of the body, but affects our “inner sense of well-being” as well. This goes hand in hand with being “fit.”  You often cannot put your finger on it or cannot identify it – you just feel really good…inside.

It is an inner awareness, an inner peace and harmony, a feeling of being whole and complete within oneself and from this radiates happiness – all from the inside out. This then leads on to that state of appreciation, sense of satisfaction and contentment with your lot in life and finally a perception of balance and peace.

We may wonder why our culture does not nurture this and prefers to have us popping pills with harmful side effects. No pills can ever match the feelings that physical movement can give us…and…..no prescription required.

Somehow; we must once again take pride in being in control of our own life, our health, our body and our well-being and the answer is not in doctors and pills – it is inside of each of us.

This simple exercise solution is easily accessed for just a little time and effort and if you listen to the messages your body is sending you that something is missing it could be saying “I REALLY need exercise?”

We have all heard the saying “happiness comes from within” and the good news is, this solution is available to all of us, is easily accessed for little cost except a little time and effort.

Try it and see for yourself.

The challenges that arise in our senior years can be anticipated and planned for by making smart decisions now – those that contribute to our ultimate goal of healthy longevity.

All my products support a whole body approach that supports both the body and the mind. If you are serious about achieving a truly healthy lifestyle, one of youth and vitality – “Reclaim Your Longevity” was created for you.

It will absolutely help you in every area of your life to stay as young, healthy and vibrant as possible.

Filed Under: Anti-aging strategies, Exercise, Healthy Mind Tagged With: ,

Self-Accountability – Your Key to Success at All Things

November 19, 2016 By Leave a Comment

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Self-accountability is the cornerstone of success and productivity in every aspect of our lives and that includes our health and fitness.

 

The standard definition of accountability is:

“An obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions. The state of being accountable, liable, or answerable.

 

Although you won’t find any direct reference to it in mainstream diets, or exercise programs, it is the missing link and what is needed for our health/fitness/weight loss goals and desires to be realized.

In simple terms, self-accountability means holding ourselves responsible for our own personal successes and failures. It demands that we dig deep inside ourselves and requires a constant brutal mindful examination of our own values, beliefs and motivations for our actions. Having strong core values makes it easier to plot our course and propel ourselves forward along it. It becomes easier to make tough decisions and easier to focus on things that are important while ignoring those that are not.

Self-accountability also requires us to be mindful of our emotional states. We must never allow ourselves to be driven by fear or guilt. Instead, we must be driven by a high level of self-worth, self-respect and self-love. Those are the things that lead to higher levels of self-care. Fear or guilt will only steal away those positive aspects.

 

Balance is Key

If you beat yourself up too much, you can drive yourself into unease, anxiety, stress and depression. On the other hand, you’ll drive yourself in the opposite direction towards apathy, lethargy and laziness if you do not hold yourself accountable enough.

 

Self-love is mandatory. You must respect and care for yourself enough to know that you deserve to live in a healthy, slim, fit, feel-good body that leads a productive life.

 

Self-accountability is nothing to fear – it empowers us and means we have taken charge of our life.

In the end, the rules are the same for all of us. We are all ultimately accountable for our own successes and failures.

Ready to be your own boss and health coach?

It’s time to reflect deeply on your lifestyle choices and make changes where needed.  Whether you are trying to achieve a healthier weight or just trying to get healthier all-around, you must make the kind of lifestyle changes that you can keep for the rest of your life – permanent ones. Don’t make them too hard to implement or you’ll bury your chances right from the start. Begin small. You’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish through gradual but consistent lifestyle changes.

Use affirmations daily to boost your level of self-esteem and self-love.

 

A good affirmation to remember is:

“Today is another day to do the things I did not do the day before.”

 

Every day is a new day with new opportunities. Don’t let your weak moments from yesterday play into how you handle yourself today. That was yesterday…leave it in the past and draw on what you need this moment to experience the kind of personal success with your health and fitness goals that you are seeking.

Feeling accountability towards our spouse, friends, family, boss, co-workers, clients, customers and society in general is to be commended. But none of it matters if you are not accountable to yourself…the only person that really matters – the only person that can really make a difference.

It all begins with you. No one can place health and fitness at the top of your priority list but you. When you own your own health and fitness and you hold yourself accountable, your actions and your life will automatically reflect this.

Everything you need to live a long healthy life…dancing well into your senior years is included in “Reclaim Your Longevity.” This program is geared towards helping you to find the “fountain of youth” and addresses your mind, emotions and actions. Don’t wait another day…make today your day…the day you shift from wanting health to creating it.

Filed Under: Anti-aging strategies, Healthy Mind Tagged With: ,

Counting Calories Can Be Dangerous to Your Health and Longevity

October 2, 2016 By Leave a Comment

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Understanding what good nutrition means and putting focus on that is imperative to anyone’s dieting success. How you diet now will effect how long you live and how vital you live out those years.

Introducing and adopting dangerous diets now only trims off valuable years of your life later.

Those who adopt a calorie counting approach to dieting, or worse, a diet plan that requires them to eat any number of prepackaged type processed snacks and meals, undermines any effort at weight loss and whatever weight is lost will be short lived.

Focusing on a diet that places your attention primarily on counting calories is not only dangerous to your health, it is a temporary solution not a permanent one.

As soon as you come off this type of restricting “diet,” all the weight you worked so hard to take off is regained simply because you never learned how to “eat” properly in the first place.

Not only will the weight come back easily, but this type of “dieting” deprives the body of important nutrients and opens the door to disease and accelerated aging.

In order to maintain the weight loss you’re working so hard to obtain, it’s your daily eating habits that must shift. After all, counting calories for the rest of your life – every single day is just not practical.

This extreme approach eventually leads to abandoning all weight loss efforts. The whole counting calories idea gets ditched as well as any hopes of permanent weight loss. Defeat has set in.

The reality is, learning healthy eating habits or strategies is what it takes to move your health forward into the future. Not counting calories.

Your goal when dieting is to look and feel more attractive. However, counting calories achieves the opposite effect. You may feel slimmer for a short while, but you won’t necessarily look better.

In the end, adopting this type of diet results in both your health and appearance suffering.

 

Nutrient Dense Foods are Key

cancerxfightingOn the other hand, when you focus on getting the proper nutrients and choose anti-aging, healthy nutritious foods on a daily basis, your body receives the proper mix of nutrients that work together to control hunger and your calorie intake basically controls itself. 

By eating properly and getting the correct balance of nutrients, you’ll enjoy constant energy levels throughout the day. And, the best thing of all is, your hunger will only kick in when it’s time to eat.

You won’t suffer with energy highs and lows, so you’ll be far more capable of controlling what foods you choose to put into your body rather than reaching for the most convenient item when energy levels plummet.

Proteins and healthy fats along with fiber control hunger while processed simple carbohydrates actually stroke hunger.

Dieting is never good if it damages your health in the end and that’s exactly what counting calories will do.

And, the dangers go beyond that. Focusing intensely on counting calories in complete absence of awareness of the role that good nutrition plays also sets you up for a high risk of developing a dangerous eating disorder as well.

Those with eating disorders have a distorted mindset around food and no longer recognize food as nutritious fuel for the body.

Their distorted view has them seeing something that is going to cause them to gain excess body fat. Anorexics refuse to eat the necessary food they need to sustain life while those with bulimia starve themselves for hours and then binge eat all kinds of unhealthy foods. Both of these roads lead to slow starvation and if not reversed eventually death.

Although these are extreme cases, when you lose sight of the fact that food provides nutrients to your body and you must have them to sustain life you put yourself at risk for these kinds of issues to surface.

Losing touch with the fact that you must eat to stay healthy causes eating to turn over to a complete emotional activity.

Relying too heavily on counting calories and not focusing on eating nutrient dense foods only harms any progress you are trying to make. It damages your metabolism and your health, opens the door to dangerous diseases and speeds up the aging process. Not a part of anyone’s weight loss goals.

The challenges that arise in your senior years can be anticipated and planned for right now. Making smart decisions now about nutrition – those that contribute to your ultimate goal of healthy longevity is key.

All my products address a whole body approach that supports both the body and the mind. If you are serious about achieving a truly healthy lifestyle, one of youth and vitality – “Reclaim Your Longevity” was created for you.

It will absolutely help you in every area of your life to stay as young, healthy and vibrant as possible, squeezing every ounce of life out of every minute of your life!

It’s a good thing!

 

Filed Under: Anti-aging strategies, diet, Exercise, Healthy Mind, Reduce Disease Risk Tagged With: , ,

Your “Why” is Your Primary Health and Fitness Motivation…

August 21, 2016 By Leave a Comment

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If you are looking for health and fitness motivation, the first thing you need to do is to ask yourself “why.”

This “why” becomes your primary motivating force.

Without motivation, there is no drive and without drive there is no real reason to push on and succeed. This is the primary reason many people who embark on a fitness or nutrition program end up abandoning it long before they get to see and experience the results.

They start down the path to improving their health only to find that suddenly they have too much to do to go to the gym. They are just too tired or busy or whatever!

If this sounds familiar, then it is time to dig down and find your “why.”

 

Finding Your Why

This “why” bit is the single most important aspect of any fitness or nutrition program yet is it seldom considered and the most neglected of all aspects.

Truth is, motivation is the driving force that will get you out of bed an hour earlier to get to the gym or plan ahead with meal preparation. Its the most powerful way to to avoid devouring that packet of chocolate biscuits.

It is the single crucial element in your approach that will push you past where you have been before or even beyond what you ever thought was possible or that you were capable of.

To find your “why”, you must first ask yourself this question, “WHY am I starting this fitness or nutrition program?” 

What is the reasoning that will help to make it a consistent priority in your life? Is it to lose weight, improve health, sleep better, reduce stress, or set an example for your children?

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If your goal was to lose weight, the typical answer will be something like this:

I want to lose weight

I want to be healthier

I want to fit into my old skinny jeans

 

Now these are all good reasons but they are not yet your “why.” 

 

At this point, and based on the answers above, ask yourself these questions:

“WHY do I want to lose weight?”

“WHY do I want to be healthier?”

“WHY do I want to fit back into my skinny jeans?”

Digging Deep

When you add “why” in front of the above questions, it forces you to dig deep inside for your true health motivation. 

For example, when you ask yourself why you want to lose weight you might get answers like:

“I’m sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I want to look better for my husband and be the only one that he is interested in. Or I’m back on the dating scene. I need to look my best.”

Other examples that examine why you might want to get healthier could be: “To reduce the likelihood of your life being cut short by some awful disease. Or because you want to be around to enjoy your grandchildren. You might be trying t eliminate medications and stop worrying about your health. Or, possibly you’re worried about having a heart attack because your blood pressure and cholesterol are high. Or how about, you have a young family and cannot imagine leaving them on their own.”

These are the true “whys.”  They are powerful and emotional reasons for following through with your fitness program or nutrition plan. 

Remembering that you are sick and tired of being overweight or that your health is at risk as your doctor has warned, or that you are in danger of a heart attack is how you create the unstoppable drive to stick to your fitness program and get your butt to the gym.

So if you are trying to decide if it’s time to improve your health – if you have already started a fitness program but you’ve lost your motivation, then it’s time to revisit your “why.”

 

Doing Your homework:

  1. Ask yourself “why you are doing this”.
  2. Then ask yourself “But WHY am I [insert answer to above question]”.
  3. Repeat as often as needed (even several times a day) until you have found your true drive and motivation.

Create yourself a goal so significant that no amount of effort or challenge will keep you from reaching it. If your WHY is strong enough, you can tolerate any HOW.

You need to make yourself a force to be reckoned with. In order to do that, you first need to get very clear on what you want to make possible for yourself. Do not limit yourself – stretch and challenge yourself – then just do it.

Everything you need to know to slow down and even reverse the aging clock can be found in my anti-aging library of help: “Reclaim Your Longevity.”

Filed Under: Anti-aging strategies, Exercise, Healthy Mind Tagged With: ,
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