seepia

Australia, Sydney

Need inspiration to start a fitness program? Explore the many benefits of aerobic exercise, from increased energy and improved stamina to disease prevention. Investing 30 minutes a day in aerobic exercise — such as walking, bicycling or swimming — can help you live longer and healthier. In fact, aerobic exercise may be the magic bullet you've been looking for. Take a look at the health benefits associated with aerobic exercise. See how aerobic exercise affects your heart, lungs and blood flow — and get motivated to reap the rewards! How your body responds to aerobic exercise During aerobic exercise, you repeatedly move large muscles in your arms, legs and hips. You'll notice your body's responses quickly. You'll breathe faster and more deeply. This maximizes the amount of oxygen in your blood. Your heart will beat faster, which increases blood flow to your muscles and back to your lungs. Your small blood vessels (capillaries) will widen to deliver more oxygen to your muscles and carry away waste products, such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid. Your body will even release endorphins, natural painkillers that promote an increased sense of well-being. What aerobic exercise does for your health Regardless of your age, weight or athletic ability, aerobic exercise is good for you. As your body adapts to regular aerobic exercise, you'll get stronger and more efficient. Consider some of the many ways that aerobic exercise can help you feel better and enjoy life to the fullest. Regular aerobic exercise can: Reduce health risks. Aerobic exercise reduces the risk of many conditions, including obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke and certain types of cancer. Weight-bearing aerobic exercises, such as walking, reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Help you manage chronic conditions. Aerobic exercise helps lower high blood pressure, control blood sugar and relieve chronic muscle pain. If you've had a heart attack, aerobic exercise can help prevent subsequent attacks. Keep excess pounds at bay. Combined with a healthy diet, aerobic exercise can help you lose weight — and keep it off. Ward off viral illnesses. Aerobic exercise activates your immune system. This leaves you less susceptible to minor viral illnesses, such as colds and flu. Keep your arteries clear. Aerobic exercise increases the concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good") cholesterol and decreases the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol in your blood. The potential result? Less buildup of plaques in your arteries. Strengthen your heart. A stronger heart doesn't need to beat as fast. A stronger heart also pumps blood more efficiently, which improves blood flow to all parts of your body. Boost your mood. Aerobic exercise can ease the gloominess of depression and reduce the tension associated with anxiety, as well as promote relaxation. Increase your stamina. Aerobic exercise may make you tired in the short term. But over the long term, you'll enjoy increased stamina and reduced fatigue. Stay active and independent as you get older. Aerobic exercise keeps your muscles strong, which can help you maintain mobility as you get older. Aerobic exercise also keeps your mind sharp. Researchers say that at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three days a week can reduce cognitive decline in older adults. Need more convincing? People who engage in regular aerobic exercise appear to live longer than those who don't. Start slowly Check with your doctor before you begin to exercise. Once you have your doctor's OK, start slowly. You might walk five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening. The next day, add a few minutes to each walking session. Pick up the pace a bit, too. Soon, you could be walking briskly for 30 minutes a day — and reaping all the benefits of regular aerobic exercise. Other options might include cross-country skiing, aerobic dancing, swimming, stair climbing, bicycling, jogging, elliptical training or rowing. If you have a condition that limits your ability to exercise, ask your doctor about alternatives. If you have arthritis, for example, aquatic exercises may give you the benefits of aerobic exercise without stressing your joints. Live longer and stay healthier with just 30 minutes of aerobic exercise a day!

Dr John Gray who is the author of 'Men are from Mars...' has a whole diet and excercise section on his website. He also has a book about it which is really interesting. There were a few snippets i was reading earlier which i though might be helpful to you guys so here goes... "Repetitive, easy exercises stimulate fat burning, while most common forms of exercise stimulate sugar burning. When you finish an hour of exercise and you are not tired or out of breath and you could easily repeat the whole routine, you are in the fat-burning zone. If you are tired, you were burning sugar. If, after 20 minutes of exercise, you were to suddenly stop and needed to "catch your breath," you were in the sugar-burning zone - not the more desirable fat-burning zone. By burning sugar, you get instant energy, but it eventually leaves you tired. It also makes your body more acidic rather than alkaline. The body is designed to burn fat for energy while the brain is designed to burn sugar. When muscles use up that sugar, less is available for the brain. The muscles are designed to burn fat but they have a back up system to burn sugar in emergencies, though it is unhealthy to do this often. Weight gain, low energy, anxiety, restlessness or the desire for sugar are signs that your body is burning sugar instead of fat. The purpose of exercise should not be to get the heartbeat up into the cardiac zone. The key for most people, and particularly if they are overweight or they are out of shape is to get just below this zone. Burning calories through exercise is only a small part of losing weight. The secret of effective exercise is to stimulate the metabolism to burn fat all day - while you are sitting at your desk or even while driving your car. When your exercise is fat-burning you tend to continue to burn fat for the rest of the day. When you push your heartbeat into the cardio zone, you train your body to burn sugar and not fat. In many cases, conventional exercise is counter-productive. When we engage in sugar-burning exercise, the result is increased acid in the body. These acids from diet and exercise choices are then stored in the fat cells in our guts to protect our organs. Ultimately, no amount of exercise will get rid of this fat. A variation of this exercise exists in almost every ancient indigenous culture. It is a simple bouncing movement. It is like standing up and using a jump rope without the rope and without lifting your feet or heels off the ground. This gentle up and down movement stimulates the lymphatic system. When done with rhythmic breathing, the increased oxygen helps to neutralize the acids as they are released from cells. As the body becomes less toxic, the fat cells automatically begin releasing fatty acids into the blood stream to be neutralized and released. Besides balancing hormones by stimulating the glands, brain boosting by increasing the flow of cerebral spinal Fluid, and stimulating the lymphatic system through 15 different bounce and shake movements, the Isoflex exercises also include seven power moves that will tone and gradually increase muscle mass. To build muscle mass faster, try the slow burn method. You only need to work out about 20 minutes a week at the gym and then let your muscles rest for the rest of the week. Meanwhile every day do about 45 minutes of the Isoflex movements and you will be rewarded with better relationships, increased energy, unconditional happiness and lasting romantic feelings.

It's time to resurrect the age-old tradition of afternoon tea parties. But in modern times, it is as much a health act as it is a social act -- especially for women. Each daily cup of green or black tea helps beat down ovarian cancer risk. Two or more cups per day helped cut risk almost in half in a recent study. The likely good guys in this scenario are the tea polyphenols, which are potent cancer fighters in both men and women. So dust off the kettle -- it's high time for some fine tea! Tea has anticancer powers -- at least in test tubes and animals. But just because something works in the lab doesn't mean it will work in humans, so researchers recently tested tea's powers in a group of women. Those who drank green and black tea had lower rates of ovarian cancer compared to those who rarely or never did. And the more they drank, the further their disease risk plummeted. What's the tea-anticancer connection? Right now, no one knows for sure, but researchers have some theories. Tea's polyphenols (powerful antioxidants) may prevent cancer-cell growth, hinder blood supply to the tumor, or encourage cancer cells to commit suicide. More studies are needed to confirm the results of the ovarian cancer study. In the meantime, tea still boasts many other powerful health benefits -- for men and women. So heat up some gourmet tea and serve it to friends, alongside these tea-friendly treats from EatingWell: Avocado Tea Sandwiches, Tomato & Basil Finger Sandwiches, or Totable Tea Sandwiches. Getting the right amount of antioxidants through diet or supplements can make your RealAge 6 years younger.

We all have that recipe that we know by heart that we tend to cook when we are unmotivated to cook anything else What is yours pre- healthy eating mine was spagetti bolignaise(sp?) we used to eat it all the time and I could make it with my eyes shut! now days I make this odd little mix of fresh herbs,usually rosemary and sage because its in the garden, a tin of brown lentils, tin of tomatoes, stock powder and salt and pepper to taste and sometimes a dash of chilli and I could eat for breakfast lunch or dinner - its kinda like home made baked beans, its not everyones cup-of-tea but I love it