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What Are the Best Choices for Men’s Health?

In this world we are in right now, there seems to be a general feeling of ‘everyone is equal’.  With a lot of things that may be true, but there are still things that will never apply to this.  The fact remains that women are women and men are men.  

You can argue that fact if you choose, but treating the male body like it is a female body can leave it missing out on some pivotal nutrition.  

We are created differently.  That is just a fact, so with that said, there are some foods that are more beneficial to a male body.  It is not that one food is designed more for one gender than another, it is simply that our bodies require different levels of some nutrition than others.  If you can simply add a few of these things to your eating habits, your body will thank you.

 

So guys, just eat a little more; oysters, beans, tomato sauce, tofu, broccoli, and fish.  Your body will thank you.

 

 

https://www.healthydiningfinder.com/blogs-recipes-more/Ask-the-Dietitians/What-Are-the-Best-Choices-for-Men-s-Health

Do You Have Room in Your Closet for New Clothes?

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We are heading to do a little shopping at the outlet stores nearby and as I was mentally preparing to go, I needed to do a little rearranging in my closet.  So I stood in my bedroom and started to think about what things I had decided had come to the end of their lifespan with me and what things I couldn't do without.  

I do this a couple of times a year, mostly as the seasons really change from warm to cold and back again.  But this time, I started to think about what else needs to be put out into thrift.  What do I need to get rid of in order to make room for the new things?  Not just clothes, but in my attitude and life in general.

We all go through periods of purging in our lives.  Time to redo the furniture, clothes, a new coat of paint, renovate the bathroom and kitchen, but when was the last time we purged some of our attitudes and habits?

It is obvious that it is time to get rid of some clothes when the drawers don’t close.  Those old sweatshirts that are so comfortable but we never wear because they look terrible and take up so much room in our closets.  Mentally we wear the same old sweatshirts.  We just don’t realize it.  We all have our ‘go to’ outfits, but we also have our ‘go to’ attitudes and ideas.

I think it’s time to do a little attitude purging and send some of our old ideas out and replace them with new ones.  Changing our wardrobe is way simpler than changing our attitudes.  We can see on other people the new style.  We see what we like and what we don’t like.  We still need to try items on.  Do a little shopping.  Change our mind.  Pick the right color. And then we even need to make sure it’s in our price range and we have prepared our budget for the purchase.  Do we do this with our mindset?  I would take a guess and say no.

Is somebody else’s attitude as visible as their clothes?  Is it easy to find that attitude?  What do we do with ours when we decide we want to change ours?  How do we know when it’s time to change our attitude?  When is our attitude outdated?  How do we find a new one?  Are we really sure we want a new one?

These are all really tough questions and when it comes down to it, maybe that is why we all seem to have closets bursting with clothes and our attitudes suck.  If we truly want change, then we need to do the hard thing and change our attitude.  We need to change our attitude toward several things.  Towards food, towards exercices, toward how we spend our time, who we spend it with, and mostly towards how we feel about ourselves.  Cleaning out the closet may be and should be done at the same time as changing our thoughts.  Spend some time looking at how you think about what being healthy really looks like.  Are you really prepared to make the change?  There is no point in starting this process unless you are actually prepared to throw out the old and embrace the new.

There actually needs to be room in your mind to accept that there are going to be some tough stuff to go through to get to where you want to be.  Change is hard.  We know this.  That is why our attitudes are sometimes so outdated, it’s tough to realize that we need to stay as updated with our thoughts as we want to be about our fashion.

The whole world has been changing its views on so many big things, racism, sexism, fat shaming, religious persecution, some really big things.  We should be able to handle our attitudes on what a healthy body is for ourselves and what it will take to have one.  What it will look like and how long it may take to get there and the changes we will be willing to make to get there.

So, one step at a time, decide you are ready to change.

  • Ready?  
  • Go!
  • Phew, that was hard.

But, that really is the biggest step you need to make.  The rest will all just follow.  It’s as simple as walking.  You learned how to do that and you still are managing that.

 

 

 

Age and size are only numbers. It's the attitude you bring to clothes that make the difference. – Donna Karan

 

5 Reasons Why Exercise Can Make You Happier

 

One of the best things about looking for exciting information to share is actually finding really great information and then finding that there is a place to get that great info.  I was surprised when I first started looking for things to share that some great blog sites exist on all sorts of web pages.  I have just found this blog on Reebok.  

Reebok is not new, they have been around for years, I just didn’t know that they have an amazing blog site.  It is full of a large variety of topics and it’s full of lots of info.

Today’s blog is one that I have talked about before Fake it Until You Make ItLaugh and Lighten Up and it makes me feel so great to see yet another authority figure validating that exercise makes you happier. They key is to do what makes you happy.  Happy is the goal.

Check out Reebok’s blogs.

 

 

http://www.reebok.ca/en-CA/Blog/2017-03/5-Reasons-Why-Exercise-Can-Makes-You-Happier/

How to Do a Proper Squat

Somebody asked me the other day, what day was it in the gym?  If you know me at all, you know that at least three days a week I start my day at the gym with my trainer Leigh.  So what the question really was, was “ what muscle group were you working today?”

 Generally each day at the gym is dedicated to a certain muscle group; back and chest, arms and shoulders, bicep/ triceps, a whole body day, or leg day.  But my trainer has the attitude that everyday in some regard is leg day, ugh.  

Actually there is a really good reason for that.  Although focusing on a certain muscle group is really good for you for a few reasons, everyday leg day has a good reason too.  When you focus on a particular muscle group you can do just that, focus on that particular body part.  When focusing on a specific group, you really get the most out of each movement.  You feel that muscle move and you really know when you are working it rather than using other muscles to compensate for weakness.  It also allows your muscles to rest and recover which allows for a lesser chance of doing damage and injury.  This also applies to legs.  We do have dedicated leg days.

Each and every day has legs involved because it is your largest muscle group.  If you are looking to get your metabolism charged up for a workout, start with legs.  I am not talking complicated leg exercises, but get those major muscle groups working.  The easiest way to do that is squats.

Squats are a basic in our gym.  We do them in some form or another each and every workout.  It gets my body warmed up fast, starts the heart pumping, and gets me ready for whatever is coming.  They don’t have to be complicated, as a matter of fact they are not supposed to be.  If you find yourself watching videos on workouts, squats should be pretty basic with only a few variables.

Ok, what is a squat.  It is what babies do thousands of times a day and the older we get, the less we do.  If you were to stand in front of a chair and start to sit and change your mind halfway down, you just did a squat.  Now do that again, and again, and again.

There are a few things to keep in mind.  Form is really important.  It is not complicated, but it is important.

  • Stand with your feet planted firmly with your weight on the heels and balls of your feet.  Not on your toes.  You should be able to wiggle your toes.
  • Find a spot ahead of you to focus on.  As you begin to squat, you should focus on that spot, don’t be looking down at your knees.
  • Start by bending at the hip.  Think hip, not knees. 
  • Push your bum back as if you were going to sit on the potty and then come up as you realize the toilet seat has been left up.
  • Do your best to lower yourself to a full squat which means your hips are parallel with your knees.

If you are new to squats, use a chair, bench, box, stool to use as a measure of how low to go.  You can go lower if you want, but if you don’t go low enough, you don’t get the full value from them.

Once you have mastered the squat, try doing them each day.  At our gym we have had squat challenges.  Doing them every day, with or without weight for a month.  They should be part of your go-to exercises.

They can be done anywhere and you can even add weights to your hands to make them more difficult.  Doing a squat with your back on the wall also adds a bit of a challenge because the point here is to hold that squat for as long as you can and believe me it is tough to do.

The more you can add body weight movements to your day, the fewer reasons you will have to not get them done in a day. This is one of those that we should all do, especially considering the fact that as we age, we all use the public washrooms more and more.  If our legs are not up to it, one day we may feel that cold splash when we least expect it.

So do your squats.

 

My mom passed away at 41 from diabetes. And I'm 42, thank you. I didn't want to do that to my son. So any time I was at the gym, that thing that helped me do that last squat was my son calling some other woman mommy. And that would just give me that extra oomph to do that last squat. I want to be around for him. – Sherri Shepherd