I recently read a quote from Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine” born in the 5th century BC: “The function of protecting and developing health must rank even above that of restoring it when it is impaired.” The center of most modern health care systems is traditionally one of physician-patient interaction and is typically driven by the appearance of illness. While necessary, we tend to have few of these interactions and when we do, they often last far less than an hour.
Hippocrates believed in the natural ability of the body to heal itself, promoting rest, a good diet, fresh air, and cleanliness. I imagine exercise would be on the list had lifestyles at that time been as sedentary as ours. I would also add massage – it certainly can’t hurt!
When next you set personal goals, consider looking at how you could protect or develop your health. One more veggie a day, a little extra shut-eye, or adding five minutes of yoga to your evening routine could make a big difference in the time you spend sick versus the time you spend well. Be well!
To your health,
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"If we all did things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."
- Thomas Edison
Have you had the experience of achieving a significant goal or major accomplishment, and thinking, “I can’t believe I did that?” If so, then you have a glimpse into what I think Thomas Edison meant when he made this statement. Is this something that we can each tap into at any moment, the ability to literally astound ourselves with our potential?
My first instinct (not to mention the books, CDs, and videos that support this thought – for example, the Law of Attraction) is that yes, we can. Pondering further, I believe we can tap into it, but to do it at every moment – constantly operating at our absolute best – is that realistic? It depends on our expectation. I trust that individuals have innate talent and abilities and if we remain awake to them and willing to operate using them, we can achieve remarkable feats. Does that mean we never fail, never have a bad day, or never miss a workout? Of course not. The risk here is all-or-nothing: of expecting constant achievement and perfection or else throwing in the towel.
Reflecting on what Mr. Edison achieved in his life after many deemed “failures,” we can turn around from the expectancy of perfection and focus on the end result, not temporary set backs.
Why the long preamble? Because whether or not you set traditional New Year resolutions, most of us feel compelled this month to set goals, turn over a new leaf… somehow improve our lives, and fitness frequently takes a top spot. I want you to achieve your goals – to astound yourself with your potential and the outcome it produces.
What goal, if achieved, would produce pure, joyous astonishment for you? A client of mine several months ago began training for a half marathon. He started with 5k races some time ago, and most recently ran a 10k. Today it may not seem as astonishing to him that he is preparing for a half marathon as it would have to consider the prospect two years ago, but it is no less astounding. I get the idea that Mr. Edison was not necessarily astounded by his invention of the first practical light bulb, simply because it was his expectation – he had tested over 3,000 filaments. I figure that by number 500, he was in it for the long haul!
Hold firmly to your vision of what is possible (fitness and otherwise) and keep going until you are astonished!
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A Workshop for Women
If you live in the Rockville, MD area, I highly recommend this workshop by Liz Berney, PhD. This is a great opportunity to learn intuitive eating in an in-person, relaxed environment. For full details, visit: ChoosingYou.org
This New Year, make a different kind of resolution. Make a resolution to make peace with food and your body. To enjoy food, to end the vicious overeating/dieting cycle, to live more in the present without food and body worries. To be kind and nurturing to yourself.
In this workshop on conscious eating and body nurturance, we explore how to live more freely and fully in our bodies through conscious eating exercises, visualization, improvisation, movement, storytelling, communal eating, journaling and reflection.
You will find by Choosing You, you can eat what you want to eat, when you want to eat it, how you want to eat it and enjoy it at the same time! You'll learn how to appreciate and listen to your body in a safe and supportive environment among women. And, ultimately, you will feel freer in your body and in your eating choices and be more present in all parts of your life. You will also lose weight.
Liz Berney, Ph.D.
You Will Learn:
Concrete Strategies For:
- Choosing what you want to eat and learning to stop when you are full
- Enjoying your food and eating environment more fully
- Reveling in how your body moves and cares for you
- Listening to your body for cues of what it needs
- Finding new, kind and caring strategies to nurture yourself
Logistics:
When: Saturday January 27 from 9 AM to 4 PM
Where: Liz's home at 315 Autumn Wind Way, Rockville, MD
Fee: $125 per person to include an individual follow up call with Liz for 30 minutes 2 weeks following the workshop
To Register: Email Liz at lberney@verizon.net Discount of $25 if you sign up a friend
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January 2007
I am excited to let you all know that I am in the middle of creating a brand new Women's Health and Fitness Podcast Directory. In addition to being excited about this new project, one of the best things about it is I have the opportunity to give fre*e exposure to those of you whose business serves this market! You don't even need to be a podcaster or to know what a podcast is to take advantage of this.
The Women's Fitness and Health Podcast Directory is a categorized directory of podcasts (also known as internet radio shows), expert articles and forums that provide information on the most popular and current issues in women's health and fitness. Our list of topics is constantly being updated and includes exercise, nutrition, the mind-body connection, age-specific health information, and motivation. In addition, we include workouts and exercise music that you can download and take with you outside or to the gym. Our directory specifically attracts women who are looking for information and advice on taking care of themselves and improving their personal health and fitness.
If you have any articles that you have written in the area of women's health and fitness (exercise, health, disease, stress, etc.) I would love to put them in my article database for the directory. This will help support my rankings in the search engines for women who are looking for information on fitness and health. In addition, I will include your resource box (by-line) at the end of the articles so the reader will have access to your website and contact information. You may know that one of the ways to increase your search engine rankings is to increase the number of in-bound links to your site, which I can help you with. Please send me any articles you would like to submit along with a resource box at the end of the article. And, it is ok to send me articles that may already be other places on the web, they do not need to be original just for my directory. If you have articles to submit, please email them directly to me at gillian@WomensHealthAndFitnessPodcastDirectory.com.
If you are podcasting, you are invited to submit your podcast to my directory for absolutely NO CHARGE. I need to get good quality podcasts up as soon as possible so I can begin my promotional campaign of the directory, which will in turn benefit you! All you need to do is go to WomensHealthAndFitnessPodcastDirectory.com and click on "Submit Podcast". You will be asked to register and emailed an activation key. Once your account is activated, simply fill out the form at the Submit Podcast page. We only need your podcast link, but we are offering other special perks for podcasters:
Unlike most podcast directories:
- We focus on a particular niche market (Women's Health and Fitness content), so people don't have to wade through thousands of non-related podcasts in order to find what they are looking for.
- Our Podcast Directory is search engine optimized to draw people who are interested in Women's Health and Fitness content, including articles, forums, FAQs and tutorials.
- We offer our Podcasters an opportunity to post three (3) offers for their podcast or their business on their Podcast page. This allows them to create additional inbound links to their website, as well as additional opportunities to promote the sale of their products and services.
- We make sure that the podcasts on our sites are "active." Many other podcast directories have podcasts that were submitted long ago, but which have been abandoned, and whose host is no long podcasting. If a feed has not been updated within 7 weeks, we notify the Podcaster that they must put a new show up within 7 days, or their feed will be deleted.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you are interested in learning about podcasting, I can put together a class with Penny Haynes, our podcasting expert, for a significant discount. I will also be offering limited advertising for the front page of the directory. There will be a 2-month special introductory rate, so contact me if you or someone you know is interested in advertising to very targeted traffic.
For those of you who are interested in participating, we will also be starting a women's health and fitness forum and a network feed to help you gain even more exposure for your podcasts. Please let me know if you would like updates on these features as we get ready to launch the directory. Feel f*ree to pass along this information to anyone else you know who would be interested in submitting articles or podcasts.
I look forward to helping you gain exposure for your business! If you know anyone who could benefit from submitting to the directory, please feel f*ree to forward this email. And be sure to check out the directory as we get up and running for the health and fitness information you are looking for!
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Fat f*ree/Calorie f*ree depends on serving size:
If a product contains fewer than five calories per serving, the FDA allows it to be labeled "calorie f*ree." And if a serving size contains one-half gram of fat or less, the product can be labeled "non-fat." This can be confusing when looking at a can of any cooking spray oil. Have you ever noticed the label on spray oils reads zero calories and zero fat? How can that be when the entire can contains oil, a nutrient that is 100% fat and, therefore, very calorie dense? Because the serving size is 1/3 second spray - that's one third of one second. My finger doesn't work quite that fast! While you will likely continue to use spray oil as I do - it's easy and convenient to use - be aware of how long you hold that spray button.
This fat-f*ree labeling also pertains to trans fats (the unhealthy fats experts warn us to stay away from or limit our consumption of). You will notice certain foods labeled as f*ree of trans fats, but when you look at the ingredient list you see them. Again, it is dependent on serving size and if there is one-half gram or less of trans fats, the label can read "trans fat f*ree." If you want to avoid trans fats, look beyond the label to the ingredient list, searching for foods without "partially hydrogenated oils."
Hidden Persuaders Can Drive Us to Over-eat:
Trigger foods are talked of often - a particular food (or foods) that trigger someone to over-eat (think of the Lay's commercial, "Betcha can't eat just one!"). The one thing about trigger foods that I've always considered "a must" is that the person must enjoy the taste of it, actually like the food. Imagine my surprise.
The November/December 2006 issue of ACE Fitness matters revealed the appalling results of an experiment conducted by Dr. Wansink at Cornell University. Movie audiences were offered f*ree five-day-old popcorn (yuck!), some served in medium-sized buckets and some in large buckets. The people with large buckets ate 53% more than those with the medium buckets!
Dr. Wansink notes that ".people didn't eat the popcorn because they liked it. They were driven by hidden persuaders: the distraction of the movie, the sound of other people eating popcorn, and the Pavlovian popcorn trigger that is activated when we step into a movie theater.
What hidden triggers exist in your daily routine?
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