Diet Soft Drinks: Are You Dehydrated?

How do you know if you are getting enough water each day? This is a really important question because many of us have deprived ourselves of water and have become so accustomed to living with less than what our body requires, we don't recognise the symptoms of thirst.

The most common symptom is headaches. A major function of water is to flush toxins from the body. Your brain is 75% water, so even being slightly dehydrated can cause headaches. Diet soft drinks can have huge sodium content which in turn may lead to dehydration. If you have any of the following symptoms, dehydration may be to blame.

Poor concentration/fatigue. If your body can't get rid of the toxins it will struggle and you will feel less energetic as your body diverts energy to deal with the toxins.

Constipation. Your body will divert water to more essential functions and as a result your stools will be harder and more difficult to expel.

Reduced urine output or dark urine. Did you know that up to 200 litres of water is passed through your kidneys daily? Without a fresh supply of water for the kidneys to filter waste products out of the blood, your urine will become darker.

Furry tongue or bad breath. If you don't have enough water passing through the mouth to wash away food particles, bacteria can proliferate and result in that 'furry' feeling or bad breath.

Your skin should feel elastic. When you pinch the skin on the back of your hand it should snap back instantly. So if you find any of these symptoms are familiar to you, something as simple as drinking 6 to 8 glasses a day may improve your health!

DRINK MORE WATER!

A Drug Free Way to Handle Stress

Stress is the response that your body has to all the demands made upon it daily. Everyone has felt the effects of a stressful day in the muscles of the neck or back. Whether you have sore or tense muscles, tension headaches or anxiety, getting a massage can really help relieve all that stress.

Research shows that massage is effective care for a broad range of ailments, injuries and conditions, particularly for stress. Studies have shown that massage can help people who suffer with low-back pain, helps breast cancer survivors cope emotionally and physically and eases pain after bypass surgery. It can also help relieve symptoms associated with depression, insomnia, sinusitis and carpal tunnel snydrome.

Aromatherapy massage is a gentle massage using essential oils that are softening, healing, nourishing and rejuvenating to the skin. The general benefits of massage combined with the healing benefits of certain essential oils is very dynamic. Because essential oils are absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream, they affect the nervous system, as well as all other systems of the body. Here are some of the benefits that can be obtained massaging with essential oils:

* Improves circulation and lymphatic drainage, and helps to eliminate toxins from the body.
* Stimulates the immune system and strengthens resistance to disease.
* Aids digestion, eases constipation and relieves abdominal spasm.
* Lowers blood pressure and reduces stress levels; can be helpful with insomnia.
* Eases muscular aches and pains and promotes muscle relaxation.
* Releases endorphins, the brain’s natural opiates, which encourages a feeling of well being and confidence.

If receiving a massage isn’t possible, self massage can provide many benefits. It can be performed in the bath, car, bed, sitting at a desk, etc. The easiest areas to work are the neck, shoulders, arms, hands and feet.

Some precautions regarding massage:

* Do not have a massage immediately after a meal or if you are feeling unwell or drained of energy.
* Massage should not be done over any areas of skin infection, rashes, cuts,

Supplementing Your Way to a Fit Body

Even though it is always a good idea for us to exercise in some way or another, we can also enjoy a level of health and fitness as a result of the supplements that we take. Although it certainly is true that not all of the supplements are created equal, taking the right ones can go a long way in making sure that our bodies are balanced and healthy. Let's take a look at a few of the things that we can take which can help us in this way. You might be surprised to find out that one of them will work for you as well.
If weight loss is your goal, you should try taking a supplement that will stimulate your metabolism naturally. You may also want to take something which will reduce your appetite in a natural way. Green tea extract or simply drinking cups of green tea will do a lot for your metabolism and help you to burn fat on a consistent basis. Hoodia Gordonii is a cactus that is grown in some of the desert areas of Africa. This plant naturally tricks your brain into thinking that it is full, effectively working as an appetite stimulant.

It may also be necessary for you to balance your body out in one way or another through the use of supplements. All of us are dealing with vitamin deficiencies unless we have been taking supplements for quite some time. Make sure that you're getting plenty of vitamin C and vitamin B in your daily regimen. Not only will these help to keep your body balanced, they will also go a long way in assisting with your fitness goals. Continue to take these throughout your life so that you do not become unbalanced in your vitamins and minerals.

One other way that supplements may help you is by removing free radicals from your system. These free radicals are in our system as a result of poor eating choices as well as our exposure to the environment around us. They can be very damaging to our cells as well as throwing our body out of balance. Supplementing with a strong antioxidant, such as green tea will help to bring our bodies back into a natural state and to give us the opportunity to become physically fit and healthy without excess exercise.

Boost Your Metabolism with Food

The metabolism is an amazing thing that we all possess. Unfortunately, some of us may have damaged our metabolism in some way or another without even realizing it. This is typically done by a process that is known as yo-yo dieting, constantly gaining and losing weight in a never ending fight against fat. Whenever this is done for an extended period of time, the metabolism tends to give up to a certain extent and this can make it very difficult for us to maintain a healthy weight. After all, our metabolism is really what regulates the speed that we will be burning the calories that we take in. It also helps to give us the energy that we need to get through the day.

Although a sluggish metabolism can certainly be difficult to fix, in many cases it is only a matter of eating the proper foods at the proper time in order to get it firing on all cylinders again. If you are having a difficult time losing weight or are perhaps noticing that you are gaining weight without eating any additional food, your metabolism is probably to blame. Here's how to fix it easily in a way that can be maintained for the rest of your life.

The first thing that you're going to need to do is to make proper food choices. Our bodies are a machine and as such, they need to be given the proper fuel. If we are constantly feeding our bodies sugary snacks or food that is totally devoid of any nutritional value, our body is not going to run properly. Instead of feeding ourselves the wrong things, feed yourself the right things for a little while including fresh vegetables, fruits and lean protein. You should also make sure that you are eating a legume with every meal because it is difficult to get enough calories when we are eating a lot of fruits and vegetables.

Finally, you need to make sure that you are timing your food at the proper intervals. Although there is some leeway on how you can do this, you should make sure that you're never going more than three hours without putting some good food in your body. The way to really lose weight and get your metabolism running is to add more to your diet, not to take it away. Make sure you're fueling it properly and keeping it fueled and you would be surprised with how much this will do for your weight loss efforts.

Can a Trip to the Mall Keep You in Shape?

When most of us think about exercise, we think about going to the gym and sweating behind some piece of equipment that hundreds of other people have sweated behind before us. The thought of doing this is rather unsavory to most of us and to others it is simply a matter of being inconvenient. There are some ways that you can get out and lose a little bit of weight along with staying physically fit while you are doing things that you would normally do anyway. A good example of this is spending a day at the mall. How can shopping at the mall help you to exercise and stay in shape?

One of the main reasons that it is able to help you stay in shape is because you will be moving around instead of sitting still. If we are not at the mall shopping whenever we have some free time we may end up just sitting on the couch and watching TV. At least when you're at the mall you will be walking around to a certain extent and stopping and starting. You will not be burning calories as if you were running a marathon but it certainly will go a long way in helping you to stay in shape. There are some things that you should look out for, however, so that you do not destroy any effort that you make in this regard.

First of all, you need to make sure that you are not giving into the temptation of the bad food that is available in many of these locations. One meal at a restaurant can have enough calories that would completely blow any dieting that you have done for a couple of days. As a matter of fact, an appetizer, hamburger and onion rings along with the soda can have two days of equivalent of calories in it if it is bought at the wrong restaurant.

That being said, there are some ways that you can increase your exercise while you are at the mall. Park your car a little bit further away so that you have to actually walk into the mall and make sure that you are taking the stairs, not the escalators. If you don't have an option but to take the escalators, make sure that you walk up and down them instead of just standing still. Remember, little things add up to a lot and the exercise that you get will pay off in the long run.

A Little Humour For March Break

Getting Fit with the Glycemic Index

Getting some exercise in can be quite a challenge considering the fact that many of us have an extremely busy schedule. Not only that, most of us don't really like exercise in the first place which can make it difficult to stay motivated at the gym. We all realize that getting some exercise is one of the best ways for us to stay trim and healthy. That doesn't mean, however, that it is the only way for us to do so. If you get a moderate amount of exercise throughout the week naturally, you may be able to get fit simply by eating in the proper way.

One problem that many people run into when it comes to eating properly is that they follow to many different programs. Although it is a good idea to have a program in mind whenever you start eating for health, being too drastic or jumping from program to program is not going to help you at all. Another thing that many people tend to do whenever they diet is to cut something out of their diet which the body needs. It is difficult to estimate how many people have damaged their metabolisms as a result of yo-yo dieting through low carbohydrate or low-fat eating.

If you really want to stay fit, it is difficult to beat the benefits that you receive from eating a low glycemic diet. The way that you would do this is actually fairly simple to understand. The glycemic index is a list of foods that are arranged according to how quickly the sugar that is in them is released into our system. The higher on the list the food resides, the faster the sugar is going to be dumped. This can cause our pancreas to overload us with insulin, something that is going to end up storing fat on your body.

By eating a healthy diet that includes five to six small meals on a daily basis, you can really get your metabolism running at top speed. Make sure that you include a protein, legume and plenty of low glycemic vegetables at every meal, preferably raw. If you eat like this for two weeks you will be able to see the difference in your clothing and whenever you stand on the scale. It is an easy way to get fit without doing exercise.