Month: January 2008

Categories
Positive thinking

Stoking The Inner Fire

Turning Inward During Winter
In the depths of winter, we can forget that bare trees will once again be full with foliage, and grass and flowers hidden beneath a blanket of white or a deceptive covering of hardened earth will burst forth once again. While they slumber, nature is continuing its work at the center of each living thing. We can think of our blankets and warm clothes as similar protection—like the cocoon that surrounds a changing caterpillar—while we undergo our own inner transformational work. In the meantime, the lights that twinkle and the fires that warm us can serve to remind us of the flame of life that burns within us.

In order to stoke our inner flame, we can use the time indoors to focus our attention on our homes and families. We can become distracted by the world outside and forget that we need to nourish the lights that warm our hearts. Interacting at a soul level can be done by sharing stories from our hearts, doing projects together, dancing, or playing games. Devoting energy this way helps us build a stronger bond that will sustain us once the world allows us each to pursue our individual goals again.

Winter allows us to feed the flame in our own centers by reading or researching to nourish our dreams and plans for the future. This can mean catching up on all the quieter things we wanted to do but didn’t have time for, like reading books, watching movies, or listening to music. We may have set aside creative pursuits such as painting or writing that can be brought back to the center burner now. It is also a great time to do some journaling to look back on the year that has passed and perhaps the years before this one in preparation for forward motion in the coming year. Nature’s wisdom offers us opportunities to nourish our inner seeds of hope in preparation for our future, so let us enjoy the inner warmth and be grateful for it all.

Sources: Daily Om

Related articles
Categories
Featured

Lose Weight Without Diet Change

[amazon_link asins=’0996435441,B073XYDSF8,030746363X,0307457850,1482532360,0786882476,B00HXVOOLK,B074T47SLN,B00KVJCQ66′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’finmeacur-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’07a1ccf0-2104-11e8-908d-194979be29d3′]

According to a University of Michigan Health System analysis of nine studies, people participating for a longer time in a pedometre-based walking program may lose a good amount of weight, without even having to change their diet.

This analytical study led by Caroline R Richardson, MD, assistant professor in the U-M Health System Department of Family Medicine, involved 307 participants in total of nine studies. Of these 73 per cent were women and 27 per cent were men. The lengths of the studies ranged from four weeks to one year, with a median of 16 weeks.

In the studies, the participants increased the distance they walked by one mile to slightly more than two miles each day. This implies that at an average pace of three miles per hour, the walkers were getting an additional 20 to 40 minutes of activity a day. On average, they lost 0.05 kilograms per week (about 0.11 pounds) for an average total of 1.27 kilograms (2.8 pounds) during the course of the studies.

It was found that all except one of the studies led to a small decrease in weight.

“The amount of weight loss attributable to pedometer-based walking programs is small but significant,” said Richardson.

She indicated that the analysis also showed that participants had a tendency to lose more weight in the longer studies.

According to Richardson, though pedometer-based walking programs are thought of as convenient and flexible for participants, there has been some question in the fitness and medical communities about the health benefits of such programs.

However, she was sure that this analysis should suppress some of these questions.

“The increase in physical activity can be expected to result in health benefits that are independent of weight loss. Increasing physical activity reduces the risk of cardiovascular problems, lowers blood pressure and helps dieters maintain lean muscle tissue when they are dieting,” said Richardson.

According to her, the other benefit can be that exercise in general has been shown to improve glucose tolerance in people with impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes.

The analysis suggested that participants in pedometer-based walking programs can expect to lose about five pounds in almost a year.

This would imply a 2 percent to 3 percent reduction in body weight for an overweight person. However, Richardson indicated that the program can still be beneficial. She said that a quicker way to see results, and possibly to encourage people to adhere to the program longer, would be to add a dietary program to the walking plan.

The study also found that the average daily step-count increases varied from just under 2,000 steps per day to more than 4,000 steps per day across these studies. For the average person, a 2,000-step walk is approximately equal to a one-mile walk.

It was revealed that the range of weight change for the nine studies was a gain of 0.3 kilograms (0.66 pounds) to a loss of 3.70 kilograms (eight pounds), with an average weight loss of 1.27 kilograms (2.8 pounds).

Sources: The Times Of India

Categories
Featured

Can You Afford to Eat Right?

There may be one reason why many Americans aren’t eating healthy that has nothing to do with will power or flavor: it’s too expensive.

Millions of Americans simply can’t afford to eat healthy, according to researchers at the University of Washington in the first study of its kind.

They compared prices of healthy foods (rich in nutrients and low in calories, such as fresh vegetables, fish, lean meats and whole grains) with high-calorie junk foods.

They found that prices for healthy food jumped nearly 20 percent over a two-year period, compared to a modest 5 percent increase in the overall food price inflation. Prices of high-calorie foods, meanwhile, remained about the same, and in some cases even dropped.

Why are healthy food prices so high?

Everything from agricultural policies to farm subsidies to the rising cost of energy have been blamed, but the researchers believe sugar — which is cheap and high in empty calories — gets top billing.

However, even foods that are currently cheap are expected to rise dramatically in price in the near future, the researchers said. They pointed to three things they believe people will need to eat well in the future: education, money and time.

“If you have all three, you’re home free. If you have two out of three, you can manage. But if you have only one out of the three, or zero of the three, you are pretty much screwed. And a lot of low-income people have zero out of three,” said study author Adam Drewnowsky, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington.

Sources:
ABC News December 19, 2007
Journal of the American Dietetic Association, December 2007, Volume 107, Issue 12, Pages 2071-2076

Categories
Positive thinking

Keeping Things In Perspective

Mountains doi-20080114.jpg
Mountains have always captured our imaginations, calling us to scale their heights, to circle and worship at their feet, and to pay homage to their greatness. Mountains can be seen from thousands of miles away, and if we are lucky enough to be on top of one, we can see great stretches of the surrounding earth. As a result, mountains symbolize vision, the ability to rise above the adjacent lowlands and see beyond our immediate vicinity. From the top of the mountain, we are able to witness life from a new perspective—cities and towns that seem so large when we are in them look tiny. We can take the whole thing in with a single glance, regaining our composure and our sense of proportion as we realize how much bigger this world is than we sometimes remember it to be.

Mountains are almost always considered holy and spiritual places, and the energy at the top of a mountain is undeniably unique. When we are on top of a mountain, it is as if we have ascended to an alternate realm, one in which the air is purer and the energy lighter. Many a human being has climbed to the top of a mountain in order to connect with a higher source of understanding, and many have come back down feeling stronger and wiser. Whenever we are feeling trapped or limited in our vision, a trip to our nearest mountain may be just the cure we need.

There’s a reason that mountain views are so highly prized in this world, and it is because, even from a distance, mountains remind us of how small we are, which often comes as a wonderful relief. In addition, they illustrate our ability to connect with higher energy. As they rise up from the earth, sometimes disappearing in the clouds that gather around them, they are a visual symbol of earth reaching up into the heavens. Whether we have a mountain view out of our window or just a photograph of a mountain where we see it every day, we can rely on these earthly giants to provide inspiration, vision, and a daily reminder of our humble place in the grand scheme of life.

Source: Daily Om

Categories
News on Health & Science

Fat Don’t Face An Early Grave: Study

LONDON: A new study has revealed that being overweight or slightly obese implies that you’ll live longer on average than slim or skinny people.

A person who is overweight can expect to live two and a half months longer than someone of ‘ideal’ weight and 15 months longer than an underweight person, concludes the study of the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and longevity.

The study was conducted by actuarial mathematicians at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

The scientists found a link between being overweight and increased incidence of long-term ill health, although the difference is perhaps not as dramatic as many might expect.

Almost 55 per cent of 70-year-old men of normal weight suffer high blood pressure, compared with 65 per cent of men of the same age who are morbidly obese.

The Scottish Faculty of Actuaries commissioned the new research, which included examining databases in the UK and from the world-famous Framingham Heart Study, where 10,000 people shared their health data.

After reviewing the data, the researchers concluded that a 20-year-old man who was overweight or mildly obese on the BMI scale (25-40) would live on average to 78.8 years; an underweight counterpart (less than 18.5) will live to 77.5.

While the overweight live longer, they are more likely than lighter people to suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure. They are also more likely to get strokes and heart attacks.

“What the study makes clear is that obesity in itself – at least as it is measured by the BMI – is not as much of an indicator of life expectancy as many other factors, such as smoking,” The Scotsman Howard Waters, professor of actuarial mathematics at Heriot-Watt University, as saying.

“It causes things such as diabetes and hypertension. These things in themselves do not actually kill, although they can contribute to other conditions that will kill, such as heart disease.

“However, it’s not simple. Obesity and its effects will still need to be treated, in far more people, and the costs will be very considerable,” Waters added.

Sources: The Times Of India

css.php