In this day and age deep breathing exercises can help with weight loss, relaxation, and sense of well being. Most of us are not breathing properly by breathing air up into our chest. Look at yourself in the mirror. Your lungs hang all the way down toward the bottom of your rib cage. More than likely, you're not filling them up with the precious air they need. Most of us inflate just the upper portion.
Simply lay down totally flat on your bed, your couch, or floor. Relax for a second or two before taking a deep breath. Now breathe in deep through your nose. Push your belly up while taking the air inside. Stick your chin on your chest and watch your belly rise. When you've got as much air as you can hold, stop and hold your breath. Try holding it for ten or twenty seconds. If you're like most people, you're dying to let it out at the end of the twenty seconds. Go ahead.
Did you feel your lungs stretching out? You don't feel that very often do you? It feels good and bad at the same time, right? That's because you're not used to it. Try it a couple of more times. It gets easier each time, right? That's the beauty of re-training yourself to breathe properly and when you implement some easy breathing exercises you will feel the difference. Don't you feel relaxed and refreshed at the same time? Your body is saying thank you, thank you! Just that very tiny bit of deep breathing and your body feels better. An immediate reaction.
Now think of this. That extra oxygen you gifted your body with is now moving through your bloodstream, slightly increasing your flow, and getting rid of excess waste and fat. All that in a matter of seconds! Keep lying on the floor, bed, or couch, and practice a little more. Get used to how deep breathing feels. Close your eyes and sense the rhythm of the deep breath you're taking. Memorize it.
Keep practicing for 5 more minutes. Now sit up. Again, try to accomplish the same deep breath while sitting up. Sit up straight. Start breathing in through your nose -then slowly stick your chin on top of your chest and watch your belly inflate with air. This may be a little harder because you might unconsciously revert back to shallow breathing. You'll know that this is true if your belly isn't inflating and you feel all the air in your lungs high in your chest. Don't give up. Concentrate on inflating your belly. Once filled as much as possible, hold it for twenty seconds and release through your mouth. You must practice this technique a few times to get used to it.
So by now, you should have a real sense of how to breathe deep. Now what? Take a day or two and just practice the technique. Learn how your body feels. Memorize the actual process of taking in, holding, and releasing all that extra oxygen. After a day or two of practice, you're ready for your daily workout.
What's all this have to do with your program? Plenty! Think about it... Oxygen is fuel for your body as is food. There are no calories in oxygen. You can breathe in all you want for as long as you want and still no calories! Not only that, but the extra oxygen you take in will cause the chemical reactions in your body to take place much faster, thus, you burn more calories than you take in. This in turn speeds up your metabolism and makes you burn more fat.
Learn everything you need to know about fitness plus get all the tools you need to accomplish your fitness goals.
| DO | DON’T |
| ..Keep Healthy Meals Close on Hand (in fridge or freezer). Will keep you from ordering take out on busy schedule | ..Try to Diet during season; focus on maintaining instead of losing. |
| ..Drink 1 glass of water for each alcoholic beverage – will keep you from dehydration and help you not to overeat and drink less alcohol | ..Drink on an empty stomach– can lead to overeating and over drinking |
| ..Make modified treat with lower calories – modify treats instead of depriving self of favorite s | ..Save calories for party – will lead to being to hungry and overeating |
| ..Offer to bring dish to party – make it a low carb healthy dish – one way to guarantee one dish you can eat | ..Stand by a party buffet. Serve self small portions and do away from table, mingle |
| ..Keep active, take a walk after meals, create games with family and friends, | ..Eat quickly – more likely to increase eating – takes 20 minutes for body to acknowledge stomach is full |
| ..Eat healthy snack BEFORE going to a party | ..Skip Meals – leads to getting over hungry |
| ..At Buffet, put only 2 items on plate at a time… walk away, mingle, return as many times a want but only put 2 items on plate at a time | |
It’s time for the young to think about going back to school. Parents and children both have to adjust their time for this blessed event. Going to bed earlier to get enough sleep and eating a healthy breakfast earlier than done in the summer are part of the new regime.
Then there are the school supplies that need to be purchased. Do they need new
cloths, backpacks, and P.E. clothes? Hopefully there is still the physical education in your school.
Is your child just beginning – in kindergarten, or middle school or high school, maybe college? Each new school has anticipation, wonder and possibly a little fear. The move to each grade is like a passage of time.
There are so many little details to attend too, depending on the age of the child. Booster shots, sports physicals, lunches: hot or cold? Do they need their hair trimmed? How about the dentist or eye exams before the school season?
The last 2 weeks of back to school activities can be time consuming. The family may also want to take one last camping trip before being tied down for the next 9 months.
Did your high school age teens have summer homework? Ours did. All incoming freshman and sophomore’s had to go on line and write at least one book report. The school district had a link on the high school webpage.
The start up of schools also is like a marker -- the summer coming to an end and getting ready for fall, with winter around the corner. But after the long hot fun filled summer, the start up of the school is truly looked forward to by both the parents and their children.
We just got back from camping. About 200 of us met for the week. It is such a good way to get to know your friends better and sometimes make new friends. The kids learn how to survive a week without their iPods, cell phones, computer games and television. The lack of interruptions creates a more relaxed family atmosphere. The teens help with the little ones. Campfire we sing, have skits, play games. Hiking, swimming, games are daily activities.
Our camp is a Bible Camp. So the memory verses they learn have a special meaning as they always connect it to their week at camp. The kids look at serving meals as a privilege, not a chore. We all have a few hours a day to increase our knowledge of God and his plan for us. We come home happy, dirty, tired and hopefully, a little wiser. The memories are priceless. Will we go again next year? You bet. It is our time to reconnect, enjoy the simple pleasures of life and instill in our children, while the adults strengthens, the values that God wants and expects from us.
Foods that help with the heat include:
Berries – they contain compounds that help with inflammation and may help with sunburns, and contain antioxidant Vitamin C
Spinach – contains water and has magnesium also the green color is from the antioxidant lutein which helps the skin and eyes from sun exposure.
Chili Peppers – The spicy peppers stimulate perspiration, which as it evaporates from the skin, it helps cool you off. It also contains Vitamin C.
Sports Drinks – Water is good but when exercising in hot weather, minerals and electrolytes need to be replaced and help maximize fluids absorption.
Cantaloupe – they have potassium and beta carotene a powerful antioxidant
Spinach – contains water and has magnesium also the green color is from the antioxidant lutein which helps the skin and eyes from sun exposure.
Tea - may help with sunburns. Make a strong cup of black tea, then either spray on the sun burn or drizzle it on with a cotton ball.
Remember to protect your skin and eyes from the sun rays. Along with the foods and water to keep hydrated, other things like clothing, shade trees, and hats can assist with your body to cope with extreme weather conditions. Furthermore, when working in the garden or flower beds, try to do it in the early morning or late evening. This gives your body some Vitamin D without getting too hot.
