Working out is important but learning to work out correctly is equally important.  Many injuries occur when individuals push themselves too hard or utilize improper technique.  In order to stay in shape, it is important to stay healthy and staying healthy requires proper stretching and following proper technique

The article, “These are the most common exercise injuries and how to avoid them” by Mercey Livingston looks at the most common types of injuries following or during exercise.  She states,

“While everyone’s specific injuries are individual, in general, there are a few places that people injure most often when working out. “Back, knee and shoulder injuries are the most common I deal with in the fitness population,” says Liz Letchford, a certified personal trainer and injury rehabilitation specialist. The most common cause of injury, according to Letchford, is increasing the intensity of the exercise too quickly.”

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A certified Health Care Life Coach or a professional trainer can help one avoid the many pitfalls of improper training and exercise technique.  AIHCP offers a four year certification in Health Care Life Coaching for qualified professionals.  The program is online and independent study.  If interested, please review and see if it matches your academic and professional goals.

Health Care Life Coaching and Important Foods For the Brain

We have all come across various posts that advise us about the best foods that can help build muscles, lose weight or even those that we should avoid. All these help us to bring out the external beauty of our body and make us look good and presentable. But, what about the necessary nutrients that our body needs? The most important part being the brain. You need to be determined to be that amazing “Beauty with Brains”! And for the guys; make sure you  build up your brains too.

It’s not only the external beauty that matters. You need to be clever enough and brainy to handle every situation in life. You need not learn about the historical World wars, neither would you be asked the distance between the two countries. But, all you have is a mind that works well and is alert enough to respond to situations. Now, this is where we would see some natural foods that are found to be extremely helpful in improving the brain power.

1. Nuts: Vitamin E plays a very important role in the functioning of the brain. This Vitamin helps in the prevention of the Cognitive decline. You can have Walnuts and Almonds, as they are a great source of Vitamin E. Cashews and Sunflower seeds are known to boost the serotonin levels and thus lower stress. If you are not quite sure of which nuts you should eat, the best way to remember walnut, is its shape. The walnut resembles the brain. It contains high amounts of the Omega 3 Fatty Acids that are also beneficial for the brain.
2. Eggs: The egg yolks contain high amounts of Choline. This nutrient is known to help in strengthening the memory and reduce the effects of age related mental decline. It is also found to be helpful in improving the communication between the brain cells. Thus, eating one egg per day is a standard way of staying healthy and keeping your brain healthy too.
3. Pumpkin Seeds and Peas: Pumpkin seeds are usually a part of the waste we throw away after cleaning a pumpkin. But, did you know that these seeds are a rich source of Zinc? Peas too are a rich source. Why does our body need zinc? Zinc is known to be a powerful nutrient for memory building and thinking. It regulates the communication between the neurons and the hippocampus, the part that is responsible for higher learning function and memory.
4. Green Tea: Tea is a refreshing drink that is now consumed in different parts of the world. The nutritional composition in Green tea helps prevent the breakdown of acetylcholine. The acetylcholine is a chemical that deals with the memory and is usually less or absent in people suffering with the Alzheimer’s Disease. Both; black and green tea are found to be effective for an Alzheimer’s patient. But, the Green Tea is considered to be more effective because of the additional antioxidants that it contains.
5. Fish: Fish and fish oil is known to be  among the greatest sources of the Omega 3 fatty acids that are needed by the body. It not only helps in proper functioning of the brain, but also contains some anti inflammatory substances that the body needs. Therefore, consuming fish, or even fish oil, will contribute towards a healthy mind and body.
6. Dark Chocolate: This yummy dessert is indeed a good and healthy food that we all can eat with lots of love. Prefer dark chocolates that contain at least 70% cocoa. It increases the blood flow to the brain and prevents it from early ageing. Chocolates also contain high amounts of antioxidants and help improve one’s mood. Thus, an ounce of dark bitter chocolate every day is acceptable.
7. 7.      Blueberries: These tiny blueberries are a rich source of antioxidants and help protect the brain from oxidative stress that is usually caused by the accumulated free radicals in the body. These berries also enhance the memory and improve the learning abilities. They also prevent age related issues from affecting the brain and thus prevent the signs of Alzheimer’s Disease.
8. 8.      Broccoli: The Broccoli is the best alternative for an egg. Vegetarians can prefer consuming Broccoli instead of an egg. This too, is rich in Choline and thus helps in improving the memory and prevents the mental decline caused due to ageing. Apart from this, Broccoli is also a rich source of Vitamin K that helps in increasing the speed of the brain functions and improves memory abilities. You can eat some 2 cups for about 3 to 4 times a week.
9. 9.      Carrots:  We all have heard about carrots being good for the eyes. But, they are good for the brain too. A compound called luteolin helps reduce age related memory deficits and inflammation in the brain. You can thus have a lot of carrots now. They will help you improve your eyesight and your brain too.
10. Lentils: If you are on a look out for food that will give you enough of folate and Vitamin B, lentils are the best sources you can consume. They help in boosting the brain power like none other and reduce the effects of amino acids on the brain.

These foods will surely contribute well towards the well being of the brain. Many of these also contribute towards the overall health of the body. Thus, consuming them will surely help you in maintaining a healthy body and a healthier brain. Go ahead a grab those healthy bits for a healthy mind and body.

By James Hundson

If you are interested in learning more about health care life coaching, then please review our program.

AIHCP

Health Care Life Coaching and Weight Loss For You

A significant segment of the population today suffers from Type 2 diabetes. No wonder why controlling the same has become a must as diabetes is known to worsen several chronic heart diseases. Doctors and those certified in Health Care Life Coaching often advise patients with excess weight and diabetes to keep a check on their weight and try and reduce it considerably and steadily over a period of time. Let’s find out the reason.

Diabetes and weight loss

Several research results have revealed that weight loss is an important solution to check diabetes. When a person, who is overweight, also suffers from diabetes, s/he has an increased risk of suffering from heart diseases. This is why it’s crucial to lose weight and once the weight is lost, to ensure that it stays lost and doesn’t return.

It is important to understand here that weight loss directly affects blood pressure and cholesterol levels by bringing them down and within manageable levels. Since exercises increase the rate of metabolism, doing the right workouts can help people shed those extra kilos. What’s more, the increased rate of metabolism will cause proper circulation of insulin in blood vessels and tissues, thus helping keep diabetes at bay. Insulin helps glucose enter tissues for metabolism and it is very important to reduce the resistance towards insulin to keep a check on type 2 diabetes. It is immensely important to circulate insulin throughout the body cells as anything otherwise will lead to the accumulation of fat because of the unused insulin. Insulin is an anabolic hormone that stores fat. It is advised by doctors worldwide to concentrate on exercise regimes and a balanced diet to lose weight and at the same time keep diabetes under control. In fact, weight loss can help control hyperglycemia of obese “diabetics” as is shown by some studies.

It has been found very difficult to achieve therapeutic weight loss in type 2 diabetic patients due to several reasons.  This is why it’s important to plan carefully to shed those extra kilos in people suffering from diabetes. Some remedies to combat diabetes keeping the simultaneous goal of weight loss in mind are:

• Green tea: Sipping green tea twice a day always proves to be excellent for the body. It not only helps to burn excess fat, but also helps to keep cholesterol levels under control. It is a perfectly natural and herbal way to keep your weight and blood sugar levels under control. It is also known to increase the production of insulin to compensate for the inappropriate use of insulin. Green tea is known to prevent heart diseases since it relaxes the blood vessels, thereby facilitating proper blood circulation. It is also known to eliminate excess water from the body, thus reducing body weight significantly when it’s consumed regularly.
• White kidney beans: These beans are convex shaped and hence known as kidney beans. They are very rich in fiber, proteins, vitamins and other essential minerals. These beans have soluble fibers that absorb water when food passes through the digestive tract. This is very important to slow the process of digestion and trap fat. This process can lower the body fat and cholesterol levels, which in turn can control diabetes, heart diseases and stroke. 
• Raspberry ketones: Raspberry ketones offer a natural and effective way to shed the excess fat as they oxidize the excess fat accumulated in the body. The body needs to use up the essential calorie while the unwanted calories should be burnt or oxidized. This is exactly what raspberry ketone does for you. It helps emulsify the excess fat in the body, triggering insulin circulation between the body cells and tissues, thereby keeping a check on high glucose levels.
• Dendrobium extract: Extracts from the genus of the orchid plant known as dendrobium can increase the rate of metabolism if consumed prior to a workout session. A study on rats done by researchers of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine showed how dendrobium mixture had a hypoglycemic effect on rat models of type 2 diabetes. The results revealed that the mixture can protect and restore pancreatic tissue’s structure and function.

When it comes to weight loss in diabetic patients, the approach needs to be carefully planned, and should include educational sessions with dietitians complemented by a personalized instruction manual on weight loss to suit an individual’s health condition.  Those certified in Health Care Life Coaching can also help set up a plan

Bio: By James Hundson fitness expert. I assist people in their weight loss goal and fitness. I write on weight loss tips and workouts.

If you are interested in learning more about fitness or any of our certifications regarding Holistic Nursing or Health Care Life Coaching, then please review our programs.

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Health Care Life Coaching:  The Flat Stomach?

Who doesn’t dream of a flat belly and perfectly toned figure these days? Whether you are a teenager, about to enter college, or a mother of two, a flat stomach is something that everyone craves for. But it could get very difficult to reduce those nagging stomach fats when you are trying to get a flat belly. Even if you manage to lose the fats in other parts of your body and get an almost shaped figure, by doing lots of machine exercises at the gym, your belly fat will spoil it all! So, if you couldn’t get rid of them even after doing innumerable crunches and sit-ups, and are thinking of giving it up, this is the high time to try out some easy, yet effective alternatives. You just need to do some tricks with your diet as well as exercise plans in order to lose those belly fats. Here is a brief guide approved by those in health care life coaching and fitness trainers on how to treat your weight loss programs, both in terms of exercise as well as diet:

• Try out some effective belly moves – If those leg-raise, sit-ups and kicks have not helped much, probably you should try out some other types. You may opt for some powerful planks like forearm side plank, mountain climber, plank reach etc. as these can help fight muscle loss and strengthen the core.
• Kick up the cardio – Instead of doing cardio at a moderate pace, over a longer period of time, consider doing high intensity interval training (HIIT). Studies have shown this method of exercise turns out to be way more effective than the moderate ones. Do it for 20 minutes, thrice a week, and you will get to notice considerable effects.
• Do some tricks with your diet – While it’s not recommendable to follow a crash diet as it causes lots of side effects in the long run, you need to a be a little more careful about what you eat. You don’t need to cut out all those foods that you love the most; rather, you just need to make little changes in your food habits. Include lots of whole grains in your food plan. While shopping for the grocery, look for labels that mention “100% whole wheat” and not just “wheat flour”. The former is quite effective for weight loss. Make it a point to exclude all those junk foods and try to replace those sweets and cookies with juicy fruits and green vegetables. Make sure you have at least a cup of green tea every day. Apart from having a number of health benefits, this also helps in weight loss since it contains a considerable amount of polyphenol, a nutrient rich substance. In fact, studies have shown that green tea helps burn the body fats and calories and thus speeds up the process of weight loss.
•  Consider including some weight loss supplements – While being on a diet and following an exercise schedule, including some effective weight loss supplements will help you to achieve your goals at a much faster pace. You may opt for green coffee bean extract, which contains chlorogenic acid and helps improve the glucose tolerance in your body. Consequently, the fat accumulation gets reduced and the process of fat burning gets speeded up. With features like these, green coffee bean extract is known to work as an effective supplement for weight loss. Raspberry ketone, which is the major compound of red raspberries, is also considered to be an extremely effective weight loss supplement. The reason raspberry ketone is recommended as a food supplement is because it is a natural phenolic compound that enhances fat loss and even has some healthy anti-oxidants in it. L-Carnitine is yet  supplement that is highly recommended by most fitness experts for effective loss of belly fat. Cartinine turns out to be one of the most useful products for fat metabolism as well as optimal energy. L-Cartinine is produced following a refined formula and ensures the maximum absorption of L-cartinine into your muscle tissues. Garcinia Cambogia extract, which is derived from the yellow colored, pumpkin shaped fruit of the Garcinia Cambogia plant, is said to be highly effective in losing belly fats. This extract contains a huge level of HCA or Hydroxycitric Acid and is a natural ingredient helping in burning belly fat quickly. One of the magical effects of this extract is that the HCA reduces the craving for carbohydrates and junk foods by raising the level of serotonin in your brain up to 40%. As a result of this, people who are emotional eaters can resist themselves from having their favorite dishes.
• Reduce sodium intake –Lowering the sodium intake proves quite effective for losing weight. It helps lessen the water preservation in your body and thus lets you lose weight faster. Consider avoiding table salt as well as salt in cooked foods and flavor up your dishes with spices like onion powder, garlic powder, , as well as some organic herbs so that you can lose belly fat without compromising on your palate.

By James Hundson fitness expert.  I assist people in their weight loss goal and fitness.

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The Pain of an Injury is Deeper Than the Broken Body

When athletes or active individuals injure themselves, their physical injury is only the first problem.  At a deeper level, the inability to perform at the same level for an extended period of time can have negative affects on the mental mind and cause mental anguish and grief.
Overcoming the stages of grief in a physical injury is the first key to becoming whole again.  In the September , 2010 edition of Runners, Mackenize Lobby in her article, “Good Grief” how runners and other athletes can overcome the mental aspect of injuries.
In the article, the five stages of grief are listed and analyzed.  The first stage of denial happens quite frequently for athletes.  Instead of investigating the pain, an athlete will sometimes ignore it and hope it goes away.  This only makes it worst.  Jim Taylor, a sports psychology consultant believes that many minor injuries turn into worst injuries when people ignore the warning signs of pain.
The second stage of anger occurs when the athlete discovers they are indeed hurt.  Unable to perform or play in the big game, the athlete becomes angry or feels betrayed by one’s own body.  Experts say it is alright to be angry for a few days, but then recover and put your energy towards new goals of recovery.
After one works towards recovery, many try to bargain their injury away with unlikely recovery times.  They try to over work in rehab to achieve goals that the body cannot make.  In response to this, one must accept the time one must put in and not over load one’s body.  The ultimate goal is quality of healing not how quick one comes back at only 90%.
During the long hours and intense rehab work, sometimes things do not progress as quickly as one thinks.  It is during these cold and gray days that depression can set in.  During this point, it is important for athletes to stay the course and try to find time for other activities that are doctor approved and will not exacerbate the injury.
Finally, as in all grief stages, acceptance occurs.  In regards to rehab, the athlete is finally focused and driven in a healthy fashion.  The athlete sticks to the plan and works towards a proper rehab stint.

Ultimately, during rehab, one must avoid destructive thoughts and push towards the goal of recovery.  Dr. Taylor again suggests various voices of reason when destructive thoughts emerge.  When an athlete identifies himself as a runner only, one should counter that running is part of your life but not all of it.  Focus on other things.  Another destructive thought is that running keeps me fit and happy, without it I will lose my shape and gain weight.  In response, Taylor recommends finding alternative and safe options to keep oneself tone and in shape.
In conclusion, injuries are horrible things that many people must go through but they are not the end of the road.  A true athlete has the will power to reach any goal.  Unfortunately, recovery instead of victory is sometimes that goal.
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