Most Important Aspect of Health

We all know that your health is important. There is a bit of Chinese wisdom that I was reading about this week, and I wanted to share it with you.

1) It says to take all of your blessings in life - material possessions, friends, family, job, all of it - and for each one, write a zero down on the page.

2) Once you have written all of these zeros down, the next thing to do is to think of your health, assign it the value of 1 or 0, and place it at the beginning of the chain of numbers you already wrote down.

3) If your health is a zero, than everything else in your life has no value, because no matter how many zeros you line up, they mean nothing unless there is something to give it value at the beginning.

4) However, if your health has a value of 1, just a simple little 1, than your entire life has value, and has meaning! Just imagine if you could increase it that much more, and give it a value of 2, or 3...?

So what do you want your life's overall value to be? Your health is critical to the value of the rest of your life. Make sure you are taking care of yourself!

We all know that eating correctly is important, and most medical professionals agree that vitamin and mineral supplementation is extremely important with todays food supply. But the quality of food we eat is not the only source of good health.

Stress in our lives is a big factor that determines our physical health. There are many medical research studies that have shown that mental and emotional stress can very often arise in the physical body as illness. Studies have shown that people who are physically in perfect health, but have extreme stress in their lives from jobs, relationships or other crises, have developed ulcers, colds, flu symptoms, migraines, and even heart attacks. These people have no viral or bacterial infections, no disease infecting the body of any kind: simply the mental and emotional strain that causes the physical body to break down!

So how do we combat these stressors? There are many possibilites. You need to choose the best option, or options, for you! I have a few items listed here.

1. Pets - pets can be a great source of stress relief! I know that sometimes we are able to laugh at home with our Chihuahua Noel. She does silly things, or sometimes when we've had a bad day she just sits with us and snuggles. Either way, she brings us joy!
2. A good movie - sometimes a favorite you have watched a dozen times and love; sometimes a new movie that you have always wanted to see! It is always a good idea to make sure that you watch a funny movie that makes you laugh - laughter truly is the best medicine!
3. Exercise - physical exercise is a great way to relieve stress. The endorphins that are released when exercising can counteract bad emotions, increase alertness and allow your mind to focus on something other than the problems causing your stress! (And if you are lucky enough to have a punching bag in your gym, imagine a picture of whatever it is causing your stress on the bag, and pound away.)
4. This one is for the ladies - Chocolate! If you have a favorite food, indulge once a week and have some! (Not too much chocolate, though, otherwise the exercising we just did doesn't count any more!)
5. Friends - hang out with your best friends, and allow the good company to rid you of the negative thoughts from the day! Good friends are critical to keeping a healthy lifestyle (and sometimes your sanity).
6. The Hair Dryer Trick - I heard of this one from an email passed around a long time ago, and thought it was hilarious. Take a hair dryer and drive out to a busy street. Pull over to a spot were you have a clear view of traffic, and they can see you. Point your hair dryer at the oncoming cars, and watch them slam on their brakes as they get near. Shake your finger at those who are still speeding. =-)

There are many other possibilites. Hiking, sleeping, taking in sporting events or live theatre - whatever it is that you enjoy, brings you joy, and makes you feel better! Let's make sure your rating of your health is a 1 or greater, and give your life value!

Andreas (& Tracy) Z.

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to share this Health Blurb with you all. It is a great tip from my mentor and trainer, Brian Herosian. Brian was a CFL and NFL player, and is also a Nutritionist and Personal Trainer. (You can read his Bio on his website at www.pro-fitnesstraining.com)

If you have any questions, please let me know!

Andreas Z.

Last Meal Of The Day....Burn Fat While You Sleep!

- Brian Herosian

The secret.

The way to getting those last stubborn
pounds off. The key to getting your
fat-burning furnace crankin' hot. The key
to releasing natural fatburning hormones in
greater quantity as you snooze at night.

I'll cover one of these meals today.

Take your bodyweight and divide it by 10.
That's how many grams of protein I want you
to eat. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you
will be eating 15 grams of protein.
Increase this by 5-10 grams if you are a
bodybuilder.

Now, I'd like you to eat turkey - but not
just any turkey. Certainly not deli-style
sliced turkey. Go to your supermarket and
ask your butcher to slice up some real
non-processed white meat turkey breast.

Why turkey? Because turkey is sky-high in
protein, very low in fat, and has a lot of
tryptophan in it. Tryptophan helps you
sleep and can induce greater growthhormone
secretion. That means more bodyfat burned
at night.

Then, the kicker: eat one celery stalk for
every 75 pounds of bodyweight you carry.

Celery is a "negative-calorie" food. In
other words, you will burn more calories
digesting it than the food contains.

The end result will be a meal that's lower
in calories than the total calories you
consume, high in fiber, and perfect for
fatburning at night.

Eat this meal about 2-3 hours before
bedtime. Fill the time before bed with
drinking water or munching on celery.

Try this for a week and watch your bodyfat
start melting off.