Search Results for: blog nine ways to fight aging

Nine Ways To Fight Aging

Good genes play a role in good health, but there are a lot of changes you can make to ensure that you live a long and healthy life. As much as seventy percent of the influences on life expectancy are more luck and choice than inherited traits. So what can you do to stay younger longer? Don’t smoke. If you do smoke, it’s time to quit. This is the single most important thing you can do for your life expectancy. Aim for a BMI (body mass index) of 23.5 — fat cells can raise your risk of type 2 diabetes, … Continue reading →

Twin Study Shows How We Age Ourselves

The choices you make throughout your life can play a big part in whether you look younger or older than your years. That’s the message from a study on twins and aging from Case Western Reserve University. Researchers looked at identical twins to see how choices like tanning, smoking, and more impacted the way a person ages. According to the study, these behaviors or choices can make you look younger: * Taking birth control or hormone replacement therapy. Estrogen can help increase water retention, and the more hydrated your skin is, the smoother it will look. * Using sunscreen. There … Continue reading →

Kid Fitness – How Does a Garden Grow?

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I love gardening. I talk about it here as a great way to get exercise whether you’re pulling weeds, mowing the lawn or planting new flowers. It’s a fitness choice that you can perform several times a week (though I wouldn’t recommend mowing several times a week unless you have multiple lawns to mow – your yard just wouldn’t like you). For kids, gardening can be a multitude of things – including a great way for them to get exercise. Outdoors and Out of the Box Getting your kids involved in gardening lets them get outside, learn about gardening, flowers, … Continue reading →

How Do We Age?

Do you know the mechanics of how the skin ages? Here’s a quick look at the process. Throughout life, your skin naturally sheds dead cells and replaces them with younger ones. The new cells are generated within the top layer of the skin and migrate to the surface. In young, healthy skin, the cells take about twenty-eight days (four weeks) to reach the skin’s surface; they flake off almost two weeks later. In older skin, cells aren’t produced as quickly, forcing the old skin cells to stick around longer. After the age of forty, a few major changes affect your … Continue reading →

The Pros and Cons of Hospice Care

Recent articles in the New England Journal of Medicine report that Americans are not taking advantage of high quality hospice care at the end of life. One author from Harvard Medical School points out that only a third of Americans are under hospice care when they pass away. High quality hospice care is intended to help a terminally ill person deal with pain and live the best life possible in their final days. Emotional support is just as important as medical support during this time. A recent survey found that almost all families who had experienced hospice care would strongly … Continue reading →

Important Things Omega-3s Do For Your Body

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The right kind of fat can be good for you! Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish, avocados, walnuts, vegetable oil, eggs, and more, and can do lots of good for your body. Omega-3 fatty acids can help you lose weight and maintain weight loss! The fatty acids can help stabilize the mood swings that trigger diet-busting emotional eating. Got dry skin? Omega-3 fatty acids can help strengthen cell walls to keep your skin hydrated, soft, and supple. A recent study from the University of Pittsburgh found that omega-3 fatty acids help the body fight inflammation. If you have chronic … Continue reading →

Weeding Away the Pounds

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It’s summer here, I know officially that summer hasn’t started yet, but it definitely feels like summer is here with soaring temperatures, hot sun and steamy air. We’ve been very fortunate this spring because we’ve had lots and lots of rain (compared to last year when we had almost no rain and our lake dropped to 16 feet below the normal water level). So what do hot sun, warm temperatures and lots of rain give you? If you answered weeds, then go to the front of the class! Weeds, Weeds, Weeds I spend nearly an hour every other day pulling … Continue reading →

The Long Route

I tell a joke whenever I introduce myself to a new class and identify myself as “Mrs. Long, not short, but long.” While this joke is very entertaining for the young, it’s also a good advice for those among us looking to find ways to add more physical activity without doing something as arduous as a workout. So here’s a little tip based on my joke. Take the Long Way Too often in this day and age we’re in a hurry to get where we are going. We’re looking to take the fast route. We want to get there as … Continue reading →

Fitness Tips: Low-Budget Workouts

It’s springtime; just take a gander outside at the crazy weather that is bouncing up and down from beautiful sunny days to cold or cold and wet. Spring is a time of transition and it is also a time to get started on new ideas, new fitness plans and of course – getting ready for swim suit weather and more. We’re working on our Spring Forward to Action 2007 fitness challenge. Yesterday, I discussed the Personal Health Investment Today Act that was re-introduced to Congress. This amendment to the Internal Revenue Code could allow taxpayers to claim fitness costs for … Continue reading →