With the fast pace of today’s life stress is becoming more and more of an issue, so it’s vital we know how to control it.
What is stress and how does it affect us?
There are 2 types of stress, physical and emotional. Physical stresses are actual physical conditions placed upon our body during activity or exercise. Emotional stress is caused by feelings and emotions from a certain situation, for example pressure at work or the loss of a loved one.
A certain amount of stress can be good for us, because stress is designed to make us react and take action. It goes back to the time of our ancestors where the response to stress was either fight-or-flight. They may have been in a situation where they were forced to fight or run away from a wild animal. Stress is what happens when we need to mobilize our body to take action. The problems come in today’s society where we don’t have the need to initiate the actions (fight-or-flight) associated with stress, so all the tension and emotion gets built up. Too much stress can eventually have an affect on our mental and physical health.
The affects of stress can be responsible for a number of complaints. These are just a few,
Asthma
Hyperventilation
Cancer
Diabetes
Obesity
Colitis
Constipation
Migraine
Heart attack
Colds and flu
Depression
Some people cope with stress much better than others. Learning to cope with stress is something that can be acquired and applied at anytime. It’s important for you to realize when you are suffering from stress and apply the techniques to help control it.
Unfortunately people tend to use alternative methods of coping with stress that are ineffective and detrimental to health, such as;
Smoking
Alcohol
Caffeine
Aggression
There are much better natural ways available to deal with stress. Taking regular exercise is one of the best ways to relieve stress. Exercise helps you to relax and deal with the fight-or flight response that your body has been gearing up for all day at work.
Exercise initiates the release of natural endorphins that make you feel happy and more relaxed. After an exercise session you will feel revitalized and invigorated, which helps to set you up for the day at work or a relaxing evening at home, depending on when you exercise. Of course it’s much more of a benefit if you participate in an activity that you enjoy and motivates you. Getting out, having fun and mixing with like minded people helps you to forget about the stressful things on your mind. Exercise gives you a sense of personal power and control that helps to combat the feelings of depression and anxiety.
However, it’s important to realize that exercise alone is not a complete solution to stress and is way to help relieve stress. You should carry out a lifestyle analysis and build a Stress Management Plan to identify and deal with the areas that are contributing to your stress. Identifying the source and applying a solution will help to nip it in the bud. Exercise should then become a part of a permanent change in lifestyle.
Wednesday 23 January 2008
Relieving Stress by Exercise
Thursday 17 January 2008
Calories per day
Wow, I was watching a TV program last night about healthy eating and I was astounded by the following, but it makes perfect sense.
Designer continental coffees are very popular these days and they seem to be a regular treat for most people either on the way to or from work or even at lunch time. They seem to have become more of a habit to a lot of people and they are playing havoc with the nations health.
How many designer coffees do you have in a day? Take a look at the following just to make you realize how many calories are in these drinks.
A large (500ml/16floz) Cafe Latte made with full fat milk contains around 330 calories. That's before you have added any sugar. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and you are increasing that to 370 calories and a whopping 20 grams of fat.
If you have one of these 5 days a week, that's a total of 1850 calories extra in a week. That equates to around 85,000 calories in one year. (Based on 46 working weeks a year)
There is approximately 3500 calories in 1lb of body fat. Now do the maths;
85000/3500 = 24lbs of body fat or 1.7 stones in weight.
Just imagine, if you are drinking one of these every day, then potentially you could increase your weight by this much each year. On a positive note, if you are drinking this many designer coffees then this is an ideal area to cut down. So potentially you have the ability to lose this much weight in a year provided you don't replace these calories with something equally as bad.
This just goes to prove that making small changes to the number of calories per day can have a huge impact on your overall body fat levels and ultimately your health.
Designer continental coffees are very popular these days and they seem to be a regular treat for most people either on the way to or from work or even at lunch time. They seem to have become more of a habit to a lot of people and they are playing havoc with the nations health.
How many designer coffees do you have in a day? Take a look at the following just to make you realize how many calories are in these drinks.
A large (500ml/16floz) Cafe Latte made with full fat milk contains around 330 calories. That's before you have added any sugar. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and you are increasing that to 370 calories and a whopping 20 grams of fat.
If you have one of these 5 days a week, that's a total of 1850 calories extra in a week. That equates to around 85,000 calories in one year. (Based on 46 working weeks a year)
There is approximately 3500 calories in 1lb of body fat. Now do the maths;
85000/3500 = 24lbs of body fat or 1.7 stones in weight.
Just imagine, if you are drinking one of these every day, then potentially you could increase your weight by this much each year. On a positive note, if you are drinking this many designer coffees then this is an ideal area to cut down. So potentially you have the ability to lose this much weight in a year provided you don't replace these calories with something equally as bad.
This just goes to prove that making small changes to the number of calories per day can have a huge impact on your overall body fat levels and ultimately your health.
Sunday 13 January 2008
Reasons to Quit Smoking
Another new year starts and another round of new year resolutions are kicked off.
If your New Years resolution is to quit smoking then well done for realising that this one single act will go a long way to improving your health, fitness and overall life span. If you are not yet convinced then here are a few reasons why you might want to reconsider.
Did you know that tobacco is the only legally available consumer product that kills people when used entirely as intended? No wonder wannabe ex-smokers try to kick the habit. But it's not as easy as us non-smokers think. Nicotine encourages changes in your brain structure that are believed to cause addiction. Addiction can come on pretty quickly. A 4 year study in the US of 1200 adults showed that one in ten of those who took part demonstrated signs of addiction within 2 days of starting to smoke. Even smokers who only smoked a few cigarettes a day experienced withdrawal symptoms when deprived of nicotine.
About 50% of all smokers will eventually be killed by their habit. Smoking causes 30% of all cancer deaths (84% of lung cancer deaths are related to smoking) and about 15-16% of all heart disease deaths. Smoking costs the NHS £1.7 billion a year and kills around 114,000 people a year in the UK alone and 438,000 in the US.
Smoking causes a build up of fatty deposits in your arteries which puts a strain on your heart. Also, tar build up in the lungs eventually causes lung cancer. In the mean time smokers can also suffer from a variety of other respiratory diseases such as bronchitis, infections and emphysema. Smoking is also related to a string of other diseases and problems in the intestine, veins, eyes, skin and reproductive organs.
The long term benefits of giving up smoking are; after one year your risk of coronary heart disease is cut by half and after 10 years your risk of developing lung cancer is halved.
The short term benefits are; more money in your pocket, less respiratory related illness. More efficient oxygen distribution within your body, so overall your body will begin to function much better.
So take the plunge in 2008 and quit for your own health.
If your New Years resolution is to quit smoking then well done for realising that this one single act will go a long way to improving your health, fitness and overall life span. If you are not yet convinced then here are a few reasons why you might want to reconsider.
Did you know that tobacco is the only legally available consumer product that kills people when used entirely as intended? No wonder wannabe ex-smokers try to kick the habit. But it's not as easy as us non-smokers think. Nicotine encourages changes in your brain structure that are believed to cause addiction. Addiction can come on pretty quickly. A 4 year study in the US of 1200 adults showed that one in ten of those who took part demonstrated signs of addiction within 2 days of starting to smoke. Even smokers who only smoked a few cigarettes a day experienced withdrawal symptoms when deprived of nicotine.
About 50% of all smokers will eventually be killed by their habit. Smoking causes 30% of all cancer deaths (84% of lung cancer deaths are related to smoking) and about 15-16% of all heart disease deaths. Smoking costs the NHS £1.7 billion a year and kills around 114,000 people a year in the UK alone and 438,000 in the US.
Smoking causes a build up of fatty deposits in your arteries which puts a strain on your heart. Also, tar build up in the lungs eventually causes lung cancer. In the mean time smokers can also suffer from a variety of other respiratory diseases such as bronchitis, infections and emphysema. Smoking is also related to a string of other diseases and problems in the intestine, veins, eyes, skin and reproductive organs.
The long term benefits of giving up smoking are; after one year your risk of coronary heart disease is cut by half and after 10 years your risk of developing lung cancer is halved.
The short term benefits are; more money in your pocket, less respiratory related illness. More efficient oxygen distribution within your body, so overall your body will begin to function much better.
So take the plunge in 2008 and quit for your own health.
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