A healthy self-esteem is a starting point for a happy life. Unfortunately, when you lack self-esteem, you also lack the ability to reach your true potential. Why? Because your thoughts are truly powerful!

It All Starts With Your Beliefs

Most people have heard the statement, “If you can dream it, you can do it,” but few people actually take it to heart. For some reason big goals seem unattainable and an “I can’t” mentality takes over.

While everyone experiences negative thoughts from time to time, you may need to make an extra effort to get through these challenges. Positive thoughts must be victorious in the end!

Tips For Developing Self-Esteem
Developing a healthy self-esteem doesn’t need to be a difficult task. There are small changes you can make to get yourself on the right track.

Try following these strategies to help you develop a healthy self-esteem:

1. Ignore negativity from others. For some reason, many people get into the habit of putting others down. You know you shouldn’t listen to these people, but sometimes you take what they’re saying to heart. It’s especially hurtful when it’s coming from someone you love.

• Some people will even steer you in the wrong direction because they think they’re doing the right thing. When it comes down to it, you’re the only one that knows yourself and your dreams. You simply can’t let anyone stand in the way!

2.  Learn to accept compliments. You might toss off compliments as lies because some people may have ulterior motives. While this might be true, in most cases people are being genuine. After all, most people won’t go out of their way to give you a false compliment.

• Accepting compliments will help you discover what you’re good at and strengthen your self-confidence.

3. Get a life coach. Life coaches are in the business of helping you live your life to its fullest potential. You don’t need to be scared or embarrassed to seek one out. If a life coach doesn’t seem feasible for you, you can look into getting some self-help guides.

• Go online or to a local bookstore to find some relevant workbooks and resources.
• We have excellent certified life coaches on Chrysalis staff!

4. Use affirmations. Affirmations are great self-esteem boosters because they show your brain what you already know you can achieve. They bring positive energy into the present moment.

• You can read affirmations on the subjects of your choice or you can get into the habit of writing your own affirmations. Nothing can be more targeted to your true feelings than your own words!

5. Avoid comparing yourself to others. It’s easy to get into the habit of comparing yourself negatively to other people. Remind yourself that everyone is unique. You’re equipped with your own set of strengths and weaknesses, so the best thing you can do for yourself is concentrate on developing your own strengths.

Follow Your Dreams

Once you’ve worked on your initial feelings about self worth, it’s time to take a step in the right direction. A part of a healthy self-esteem is having the drive to take action toward your goals.

Have a plan and follow through. If you feel that you’ve improved your self-esteem but then fail to take action towards your dream, it will only be a matter of time before your self-esteem begins to wane again.

When you’re faced with challenges, actively seek solutions. When you do, you’ll soon notice what a positive role your healthy self-esteem plays in your life!

You can do yourself a great service by taking care of your mind and body as you grow older. When you take care of yourself, it slows the aging process and you can stay fit and alert well into your senior years.

The major components that contribute to optimum health are diet, avoiding a sedentary lifestyle, and keeping your brain active. When you pay attention to these key health elements, you can help yourself stay young.

Here are some excellent anti-aging techniques you can use each day:

1.  Take antioxidants. Antioxidants are vital to your health. They reduce free radicals that contribute to common diseases in aging individuals.

• Fruits and vegetables are great sources of antioxidants.
• You can also get their benefits by taking daily vitamins.

2.  Exercise and strength training. Exercise helps to stop your body from breaking down. Not only will you feel better, but you’ll also get a lot healthier at the same time! Exercise provides:

• Increased stamina
• Greater muscle strength
• Better balance
• Clarity in thinking
• A stronger immune system

3. Stay alert and sharp. You can keep your brain sharp by being constantly aware of your surroundings. This sounds rather simple, but how often do we let loose and daydream, instead of focusing on the present? When you stay alert, you’re fully present in the moment and you’re better able to make quick and accurate decisions.

4.  Learn new things. When you get stuck in a rut, your brain suffers a lack of stimulation. You can easily avoid this by keeping your brain active through constant learning and reading.

• A simple tip is to vary your routines and strive to learn something new each day.

5.  Challenge yourself. It always helps to use the problem solving portions of your brain. If you don’t, the skills will fade over time.

• Games and puzzles are excellent for keeping your brain active.

6.  Avoid stressing about health issues. You see statistics everywhere about certain health conditions that are more likely to affect you as you age. While it’s important to be pre-screened for these conditions by a physician, worrying and stressing won’t change the future – but it sure will reduce your quality of life today!

• Ease your stress by taking action to strengthen your health instead of worrying.

7.  Get an adequate amount of sleep. Getting enough sleep at night is very important for maintaining good health. 6-8 hours every night is the number you should be working toward. Your body and mind need that time to recoup, and you may be more susceptible to stress or disease without it.

8.  Avoid smoking and alcohol. Smoking is a guaranteed way of risking your health, plus it ages your skin and the rest of your body. The harsh reality is that you are shortening your lifespan if you choose to smoke. It’s best to drop this habit immediately. When it comes to alcohol, small amounts here and there won’t cause much harm, but drinking can be a slippery slope into disease if you abuse it.

9.  Concentrate on skin care. When you take care of your skin, you can maintain a healthy, younger look. Establish a daily skin care routine and try beneficial anti-aging gels and creams.

10.  Reduce grains and sugar in your diet. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables helps your health and keeps your calorie intake at a manageable level. However, it also helps to eat a reduced amount of grains and sugar. Carbohydrates are necessary for your nutrition, but in excess they contribute to increasing your insulin levels and speeding up the aging process.

If you take advantage of these strategies every day, you’ll notice a big difference in the way you look and feel. Getting older doesn’t have to be synonymous with deterioration. Take care of your body and mind and they’ll serve you well

Here are the Top 3 Ways to become leaner and slimmer, and avoid obesity, without exercising!

Eat 5-6 Mini Meals a day

Eating 5-6 Mini Meals a day, is not nearly as hard as it sounds. In fact, you could eat the same stuff as you normally do, but spread your meals out throughout the day.

Having 5-6 smaller meals every couple of hours speeds up your metabolism, helps to even out blood sugar levels and prevents you from overeating because you are having food regularly throughout the day.

Eat Balanced Meals

Each of your 5-6 Mini Meals should contain a balance of nutrients, including protein, carbohydrates, vegetables and good fats.

As a rough guide, your lean protein (for example fish, chicken, beef or Tofu) should be the size of your palm. Your carbohydrate portion (bread, pasta, chickpeas, potato or rice) should be the size of you clench fist. A portion of fat, would be the size of your thumb, and you can eat as many vegetables or as much salad as you like.

Eating a balanced meal helps you get all the nutrients your body needs to be healthy and speed up your metabolism so you burn more fat.

Drink 3 liters of Water each Day

We often think we’re hungry, when we’re actually thirsty. So when you next feel like snacking on something you shouldn’t, have a glass of water before hand.

Drinking 3 liters of water a day helps to ensure your body stays hydrated and flushes out toxins, while filling you up with no-calorie water instead of high calorie snacks.

Approaching your weight problem from a nutritional angle is the right start. Achieving a healthy body weight and feeling comfortable in our skin is 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. But remember, to achieve truly outstanding results, you will need to start exercising as well.

Avoid unnecessary high calorie foods like mayonnaise salads, fast food etc. Instead of a high calorie salad dressing for instance try cottage cheese, yogurt and fresh vegetable salads to improve the salads taste and peel of the pounds.

Hormone therapy plus physical activity reduce belly fat, body fat percentage after menopause

Older women who take hormone therapy to relieve menopausal symptoms may get the added benefit of reduced body fat if they are physically active, according to a new study. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society’s 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

The study provides new information on the health benefits of any type of physical activity, not just exercise, said the presenting author Poli Mara Spritzer, MD, PhD, a professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and chief of the Gynecological Endocrinology Unit at the university’s Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre.

After menopause, a woman’s percentage of body fat tends to increase and redistribute to the abdomen, Spritzer said. Excess belly fat is a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. Postmenopausal women who exercise have a lower percentage of body fat than sedentary women, past research shows. However, Spritzer said less is known about the influence on body fat composition of physical activity in women receiving hormone replacement therapy, or HRT. Some data suggest that estrogen treatment may add to the effect of exercise in reducing fat.

Spritzer and her colleagues studied 34 healthy women who had an average age of 51 years, had experienced menopause for less than 3 years and sought HRT to relieve hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. They evaluated the women’s cholesterol levels, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (a measure of abdominal fat) and percentage of body fat before and after 4 months of HRT. The women received estrogen plus progesterone therapy in either non-oral (nasal and vaginal) or low-dose oral preparations. For 6 consecutive days before starting HRT and 6 days at the end of HRT, women wore a pedometer to estimate their level of physical activity. The device measured the steps they took, including walking, working, and doing house chores and leisure activities. They were instructed to not change their usual activities. Most of the women did not play sports or do any structured physical exercise, according to Spritzer.

Results showed that 24 of the women were physically active-defined as taking 6,000 steps or more per day-and 10 were inactive (less than 6,000 steps a day). For a woman who has a step, or stride, length of 2 feet (60 cm), 6,000 steps would be around 2.25 miles (3.6 km), Spritzer estimated. For active women, the higher the number of steps they took, the lower was their waist measurement and the better their level of “good” (high-density-lipoprotein, or HDL) cholesterol, the authors reported. The inactive women did not have any changes in body fat or cholesterol. However, when all 34 women were considered in the analysis, body fat still declined significantly after HRT.

“Data from our study suggest that active women could benefit from hormone therapy beyond the relief of menopausal symptoms-by preserving a good body fat percentage and distribution,” Spritzer said. “Further studies with a larger number of subjects are needed in order to answer whether a specific physical activity is better than others.”

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The Brazilian National Council for Science and Technology and the Brazilian National Institute of Hormones and Women’s Health funded this study.

alohr@endo-society.org
240-482-1380
The Endocrine Society

Let’s liken our body to an automobile, you wouldn’t think about getting in your automobile and trying to go a half a mile to the grocery store with no fuel in the tank.  Just like your car, your body needs fuel.  You have to have fuel in your vehicle for it to run and not only do you have to have fuel, but you have to have the proper fuel.  We would not think  of putting diesel in a gasoline engine, we would put only gasoline.  So, let’s think of our bodies as our vehicle and we need to start our day with food because we have been fasting overnight and our reserves are exhausted. They are down in the bottom; in fact most people’s blood sugar is the lowest in the morning.

Your reserves are down and you need to refuel, that is why breakfast is so important. Another fact that most people are unaware of about our bodies is that about  four hours after we have eaten our last meal our body begins to revert from using our fat store to using our glycogen and our muscle stores of energy, this even happens during the night. Luckily we don’t need as much energy during the night, but it still will switch us from the fat stores to glycogen and muscle stores.  By getting up, running around, getting ready  and getting to work, and not first refueling our self, we are setting our selves up for muscle loss.  We are not giving our body a good source of protein in which to fuel the energy need. Another time we will talk about proper fuel.

Until then…

Have a great day!

Dr. Jo Lynn Hawthorne

Impacts of Stress

Stress management is an essential step for you to take once you have determined you are facing stressful situations in your life, regardless of the cause. Although there are helpful types of stress that enables you to cater this added burst of energy into something positive and productive, it is not recommended for your body. Long term stress can specifically produce negative impacts on your health and is recognized to deteriorate your health faster than some other diseases.

Furthermore, stress can reduce your capacity to perform and function well, either at school or in the workplace. Therefore, stress isn’t something to be dismissed. Aside from the personal impacts you can experience from stress, it also affects how you deal with the environment and the people in your lives.

Knowing Your Stress Level

When it comes to stress management, determining the source of stress is often not enough. For people who are often stressed, keeping a stress journal is highly recommended in order for you to monitor the different levels of stress you are experiencing and what effects it produced. This is an effective way for you to closely study your levels of stress, its triggers, and for you to pinpoint exactly what you can do to relieve yourself from it.

Starting on Stress Management

Now that you know the effects that stress can do to you, getting started on a stress management method is necessary. Managing your stress helps you regain control over your life, instead of being consumed by the amount of stress you had to deal with. Here’s how you can get started:

• Determine what causes stress in your life.
• Think of ways that you can reduce that stress.
• Formulate your stress management technique for relieving stress.

Steps on Stress Management

One thing you need to keep in mind is that you cannot expect to totally get rid of stress. It is a process wherein your initial goal would be to reduce the amount of stress in your life until you eventually get rid of it.

The following ideas will help you establish a stress management method that could work for you:

• Improve your time management skills. Most of your stress in life are a result of your inability to squeeze in your plans within the time available to you. So, creating your schedule will enable you to achieve more in less time. When creating your schedule, put the most important items on top of your list.
• Study the way you react with stress. This requires your honesty to determine whether your own coping mechanisms are effective or not. If not, then look for other means.
• Take care of your body. This is often the most neglected aspect of stress management. Get enough rest and eat well. Your health is the most vital factor in stress management.
• Change your mindset. Oftentimes, stress is produced only by your mind. So, if that is the case with you, then adopting a new perspective might reduce your stress levels.

Benefits of Stress Management

If you cannot fully understand the importance of stress management, then try thinking in reverse. Imagine yourself not suffering from the negative impacts of stress. Without the negative results of stress in your life, then a person is able to enjoy a more satisfying and stress-free life.

To sum it up, here are the benefits that can be derived with practicing an efficient stress management method:

1. It improves your overall health status.
2. You are able to assume a more positive attitude and outlook in life.
3. It increases your productivity since you are able to focus clearly on your tasks.
4. You have better control over your emotions and how you respond to it.
5. And more importantly, you reduce or eliminate stress in your life.

You might want to begin by downloading our free audio by signing up on the form at the top right of this page.

There are two main types of exercise that you can do – aerobic and anaerobic.  The first one, aerobic, means with oxygen.  Aerobic type exercise has an important distinction, it burns fat as the main fuel.

Anaerobic on the other hand, burns sugar as the main source of fuel.  Despite common myths, exercise doesn’t have to be drastic in any way to provide massive benefits.  Even if you choose light exercise, you will still burn fat.

Light exercise will clear out lactic acid, which is a waste of the body, and stimulate your cells to regenerate.  To be sure that you are burning fat rather than sugar, it’s very important to make sure that you are doing several things as you exercise.

You might want to begin by downloading our free audio by signing up on the form at the top right of this page.

The most important thing you can do as you exercise is breathe deep.  You should always breathe in deep into your stomach through your nose, hold it for a few seconds and then exhale hard through your mouth.

Second, you should make sure that you exercise at a comfortable level.  You should exercise at a level of 7 out of 10, and still be able to carry on a normal conversation while you exercise.  You should do this for 45 minutes or so each day, then you’ll begin to notice just how much your energy will explode.

Even if you don’t think you have the time to exercise, rest assured that there is always time. If you have to, use the time that you would
normally spend sleeping.  With exercising, you’ll actually need less sleep than before.

You can also use the time of your lunch break to exercise as well.  The increase in productivity will have you more on the ball, and you can save your time through the dramatic increase in your overall productivity.

Cellularise, or rebounding, is one of the best forms of aerobic exercise there is.  If you have access to a rebounder, you shouldn’t hesitate to use it.  Use any break you have at work to engage in some type of movement and deep breathing.

Any type of exercise you do will strongly benefit your heart.  It will make it a stronger and larger organ.  Deep breathing will help your lungs become stronger and larger as well.  There is research now that links exercise to helping benefit and almost prevent each and every type of disease or ailment.

Movement of the joints will promote proper blood flow and create energy, as sitting down all day will rob your body of much needed energy.  If you sit down all day, it’s very important that you promote blood flow, circulation, energy, brain flow, and the strength of your heart.  With just a little bit of your time devoted to exercise, you’ll find yourself healthier than you have ever been in the past.

Even though exercise may not be the most exciting word in your vocabulary, it sure is a word with a lot of benefits.  Participating in daily exercise will not only make you healthier in general, but it can also diminish the effects of stress on your body as well.

Think about all the times you have heard someone say “the doctor says it’s stress related.”  Normally people will laugh it off, concluding that doctors say that when they don’t know the real answers or diagnosis.  The truth of the matter is that too much stress will play a role in many diseases.

To help increase your immune system and decrease your stress level as well, try exercise, as movement is the key word here.  Bending, stretching, reaching and walking.  There’s really no need to buy any expensive equipment either, as you can implement more movement into your daily routine and reap the benefits.

If you like aerobic exercise, you should grab a partner and have a blast with one of the basic aerobic videos.  Or, you can simply go out for a walk and enjoy spending time together.  As you may have heard, walking really is the best overall exercise you can do for your health.  As long as you have a pair of walking shoes, you’ll be fine.

As you go through your daily activities, make it a point to walk a little farther, bend down and pick something up without using a pick up stick or moving the item towards you with your foot. While you are sitting, you should also do some simple and quick stretches for your neck and shoulders.

If you enjoy sitting around watching television, you should consider buying a jogging board. These padded boards will make running, jumping, or walking in place less stressful on your knees and joints.  They are easy to store as well and also very portable.

In many people’s opinions, jogging boards are the best pieces of equipment you can buy.  They are also far cheaper than bulky treadmills and stationary bikes.

There are several different exercises that you can do to help you eliminate the stress in your life.  Walking is by far the best, as you can easily lose yourself and your troubles by walking.  Even if it is just around the block, walking can do wonders for your health as well as stress.

If you have a lot of stress in your life, you may want to consider a gym.  Working out then sitting in the sauna is also a good way to relieve tension.  If your gym has a pool, you may find swimming to be very beneficial as well, as it helps you to relax.

You might want to begin by downloading our free audio by signing up on the form at the top right of this page.

Looking for tips for weight loss for teens? Today’s world puts a lot of extra pressure on teens to look thin. Popular TV shows aimed at teens all feature thin, pretty young characters, overbearing parents can put undue stress on their kids to lose weight, and even worse still, is teenagers peers can be incredibly judgmental of a their weight.

Being the “fat kid” throughout high school can be a recipe for life-long self-esteem problems. There is no easy solution to this problem. Weight loss is tough, and all the added anxiety that comes with being a teen only makes matters worse. Taking advantage of some of these pointers can help make the teenage experience less scary for overweight teens.

One of the most important tips, especially for young girls, is to make sure that you understand what a healthy person looks like. A lot of girls and young women on TV are, or at least appear, dangerously thin. The media may portray this as the ideal, but the truth is, it’s not a healthy lifestyle. Many young girls develop eating disorders trying to match the looks of women they see on TV, and this is a recipe for disaster.

Young men can fall victim to eating disorders, too it’s not a problem exclusive to girls. It’s not uncommon for many teens to look in the mirror and see only ugliness and fat, when in reality they are a perfectly healthy young person. If you constantly feel severely depressed about your weight or your look, you should seek help from a psychologist. They can help you improve your own self-image and pursue weight loss goals in a healthy manner.

Another in the list of tips for weight loss for teens is to keep in mind what your body is growing through. During your teen years, your body can undergo a number of changes that affect how you grow. For instance, you might hit a late growth spurt and gain a few inches in height, making your weight even out across your frame. Puberty is a complicated time and if you know that you’re following a proper diet and exercise plan but aren’t seeing results, you might just have to wait until you’ve fully grown into your body.

Regardless of other factors, diet and exercise are always going to be an important factor in weight loss. Keep this in mind as you go throughout your school day, and think of ways to improve your health. If your school cafeteria only serves greasy, unhealthy foods, talk to your parents about bringing a healthier lunch every day. Make sure to participate in gym class, and if you can, get involved in extra-curricular sports, too.

Another factor that can be a great help in losing weight is enlisting the aid of your family. In almost every case, your family wants to be healthy too, and they will help you out as best they can. If one of your parents is the primary family cook, talk to them about healthier options for food. Furthermore you can offer to help your parents with renovations or yard work for a little extra exercise.

These tips for weight loss for teens can make a huge difference for you.

You might want to begin by downloading our free audio by signing up on the form at the top right of this page.