Delightful holiday treats

Once again at this time of year, delicious goodies arrive at the shops to tempt our resolve to be healthy! They are the first of the many high calories, low nutritional, potential indulgences that will tempt our taste buds this holiday season.

It can be overwhelming with all of the parties, buffets, and family gatherings to stay focused on being healthy. The temptation to overindulge in calorie-laden stuff is front and centre. The added busyness of shopping, decorating, hosting, and travelling can heap on stress that may sabotage even the strongest resolve not to indulge. It is easier to just accept what well meaning people offer rather than saying no or choosing a healthy (and really tasty) alternative.

Holiday weight gain is not the five to ten pounds most people believe. According to the National Institutes of Health, most Westerners have an average weight gain of about a pound over the Christmas and New Year’s period. The problem is that the weight is not lost during the remainder of the year. As the extra weight accumulates through the years, it becomes a major factor.

Are you an emotional eater? Feel tired, so grab food for a pick up? Feel out of control, so grab a bite of something sugary for a lift? If you do, you may feel as if you have no control over your eating and feel discouraged that this pattern will ever change. Since food is a basic physical requirement and also a powerful sedative, we often turn to food when stressed. Food provides instant gratification and an easy escape from taking responsibility for one’s choices. Once we get out of touch with what the body needs for basic nutrition and energy, our relationship with our bodies can suffer, and we can put on those unwanted kilos.

Well, I’m here to share this with you. Emotional eating is simply a strategy you’ve taught yourself to self soothe and make yourself feel better. When we eat emotionally, we’re looking for a way to distract ourselves from our problems or our pain. We’re looking for a way to feel better and often choose high sugar foods as a way to numb, calm or relax us.

Of course this is an ineffective coping strategy and the first step in changing it begins when we ask ourselves: “what do I really need?” Rarely is it food. Sometimes it is just a big glass of clear water.

To begin to break the habit, the first step is to learn what you’re looking for. Do you need support, intimacy, sleep, friendship or a better outlet for stress relief?

With emotional eating, you must also give yourself a break. Berating yourself and your behaviour only encourages another binge because this is how you’ve trained yourself to deal with hurt, anger, frustration and pain. Although it may seem like “this is the way it will always be” when it comes to emotional eating, it doesn’t have to be that way at all. With time, patience and some loving self compassion, you can finally end your battle with emotional eating.

Prevent that extra weight from taking hold this holiday season with these tips:

• Don’t hover around buffet tables at parties. Avoid auto-grazing by staying as far from the buffet as possible.
• Watch your portion sizes. Use a smaller plate, and do not go back for seconds. Enjoy the food and be satisfied with one plate.
• Eat your food slowly savouring each mouthful.
• Avoid high-calorie drinks such as eggnog.
• Reach for the healthy, non-starchy carbohydrates such as vegetables and fruits. They are a better choice than crackers and cheese, chicken wings, roasted nuts, and cookies and you will feel better after.
• Get additional exercise. Go for a walk and get some fresh air. Add an extra 10 to 15 minutes to your workouts, do a few extra laps around the mall while shopping. Finally, learn to disconnect emotional issues from eating. Take time to re-establish your connection with your inner nature.

To change your emotional eating habits, relax your body and close your eyes. Think of a situation around eating that has been a problem for you or could be a problem, such as an upcoming family gathering. How would you like to behave in that situation? Imagine new behaviours that can lead you toward your desired goal. See yourself as in control of your eating and see your healthy body. Be proud of yourself.

Food nourishes you and is essential for the maintenance of your health. Increasing your eating awareness helps you naturally select the right foods in the right quantities.

Happy holidays to all

Yvonne

Change:

Change is one of the scariest things that many people fear. People will “choose the devil you know rather than the one you don’t know”.  They will stick with what is comfortable…. The “comfort zone”.

Just imagine if it were possible to wave a magic wand so that nothing would ever change again. Think about it. You would never get a day older, or wiser. No new experiences. Trees wouldn’t grow, flowers wouldn’t die. New fruit wouldn’t come onto the trees. Babies would stay babies. Tomorrow would be a repetition of today. Next year, everything would be the same. Five years down the road, exactly the same. Just a repetition of the past! BORING! Just reliving every day over and over again – The same TV program over and over again -The same grand final over and over. DEPRESSING! That isn’t what we really want. We really just want security.

ALIVENESS comes from “not knowing” – the anticipation of the outcome. It is the expectation – the wonder – of the new day and what it will bring that gives us reason to leap out of bed to embrace it. I used to say, “I sure hope things will change.” Then I learned that the only way things are going to change for me is when I change.

Every life form seems to strive to its maximum except human beings. How tall will a tree grow? As tall as it possibly can.  Human beings, on the other hand, have been given the dignity of choice. You can choose to be all or you can choose to be less.  Why not stretch up to the full measure of the challenge and see what all you can do?

You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.

Change is one of the things that is totally predictable. It will happen. In the last 5 years, information has more than doubled. This change – this new information creates new possibilities and new opportunities.

All change and growth involves three steps:

1. DISSATISFACTION: When we become dissatisfied with the way something works, we look for new and better ways to improve things. This is when an invention happens and we create a new model with new and better features and benefits. It can be the same in your personal life – you may grow discontent and decide your current situation no longer works for you. So you decide to look for new and different ways of handling situations and challenges. This is when we decide to move out of the comfort zone into a ‘new way of doing things’.

2. CONFUSION: Normally, when you challenge your old beliefs a period of confusion follows this decision. You oscillate between ‘why bother?’ and frustration with the status quo. When you become disgruntled, you start to think of new possibilities and then rationalize and justify why these ideas would not be possible. “Who do you think you are? – What makes you think life could be different? You have tired to change before and it didn’t work!” This is when you start to play the ‘what if’ game in your head. This transitional period could last a day, a month, a year, or more … until something happens. Sometimes we resist the very change that would bring such joy and pleasure. Out of fear and to prevent anxiety we hold on to what we know. We do everything within our power to keep people and things in their familiar predictable positions. One moment you want change and the next you want things to remain just as they are, solid and predictable. This desire for sameness causes suffering, because life is constantly changing. “It is your resistance to what is that causes your suffering,” said Buddha. Life is change. Change is what is. If not today, then tomorrow, or next month, or next year. Everything in your life will eventually change for the good or the bad.

3. ACTION:  This is “the day that turns your life around” Jim Rohn says. The decision to change happens because of an event, or you find a book that hits you between the eyes, or you watch a challenging DVD, or someone will confront you. When clarity or your life purpose happens for you, an opportunity comes your way. When this happens, you have the courage to choose to reject ‘the way it has always been’, take action and develop a more rewarding life.

Once we understand that we need to grow to our full potential for true happiness to occur, the idea of change becomes less daunting. Somehow we find the courage to embrace change, not for ‘change sake’, but because it will take us to our goal. A repetitive comfort zone will never offer the experience of growth living. A stagnant life may protect you from some problems but I believe creates far more problems than it prevents. Think of the ‘dead sea’ with no outlet.  Stagnation is a process of drying up—allowing your life to become dull, colourless, lifeless. No aliveness. No joy. Watch some TV, go to work, come home, watch some TV, go to work, and come home. It is a treadmill existence.

With massive discontent comes massive action. When you haven’t exercised for a long period of time, and you do a really good workout you know your muscles will ache. In the same way when you first take action in a quest for growth you will have temporary pain while you develop this new “muscle”. At least when you’re hurting, you know you’re alive. The saying is true, “No pain, no gain”. In the beginning when you start to see even small results you will know the effort was worth while.  Even though this may be only a very small change, this compensation for the pain brings encouragement which will generate more action, which will lead to more aliveness. Soon you’ll find yourself back among the living, fully engaged.

If your life has become lifeless, goalless, and meaningless, what can you possibly fear from change that is worse than the alternative? I challenge you to explore your DISSATISFACTION, allow time for CONFUSION, and then make up your mind and ACT to create a more enriched life.

Budget Calories Like You Budget Money

If most of us could budget our calories like we budget our money, we would have a much better chance of staying healthy and within our weight parameters.

“Many of us eat so much during the holiday season, we probably never consider the cost of all those calories on the waistline until our clothes start getting tight,” said Karen Brewton, M.A., R.D., L.D. with The Methodist Hospital Wellness Services in Houston. “Budgeting calories like money can really help people think about how much they eat.”

I am not really into “diets” because that is exactly what it is – a way to “die” + “t” = sacrificial death. When the “diet” is over people go back to eating what caused the weight in the first place.  When you develop a healthy eating plan, you find your ideal weight, feel energetic, and look good. If you do need to shed some pounds, pretend that each calorie is equal to one cent. Take your ideal weight and add a zero to it, and you have your calorie “budget” for the day. For example, if you want to weigh 135 pounds, you would have 1,350 calories, or $13.50 to spend per day, to reach and maintain your ideal weight. Choose foods that are healthy foods within that calorie intake and you will feel great.

“Many of us will hit the drive-thru at lunch and order a double-meat cheeseburger, large fries and a large regular drink, which is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1,560 calories, or $15.60 on this plan,” said Peggy Vincent, a behaviourist with The Methodist Hospital Wellness Services. “Eating that much for lunch would leave you with no food for the rest of the day. This plan will teach you not only how to eat less, but it will also help you make healthier food choices.”

One thing to remember is to include drinks into our daily calories. For example, the large regular soft drink or gourmet cup of coffee you stop for on the way to work can be loaded with calories, and should be included in your daily plans.

Exercise is an important part of any weight loss plan. With this plan, the more you exercise, the more “money” you can earn towards either for your daily dietary budget or for a “savings account” that you can use later in the week. A person can earn 100 calories, or one dollar for every 15 minutes of exercise.

“The vast majority of us have a New Year’s resolution of losing weight, but few of us stick to any diet plan past the month of January,” Brewton said. “This is a refreshing new way to look at eating healthy and staying healthy in the new year.”

Am I Really Hungry, Or What?

Hunger is a normal and desirable mechanism that reminds us to eat. But did you know that real hunger and hunger from other needs is sometimes hard to differentiate? There can be other reasons why we may interpret hunger sensations incorrectly. Before eating perhaps it could be a good idea to ask yourself a few questions from this list:

1. Am I thirsty? Our minds sometimes mistake hunger for thirst. Drinking the equivalent of 8 glasses of fluid per day will help hydrate the body.  Fruits or vegetables contain a lot of water naturally so some of your fluid will be derived from them. If it has only been a couple of hours since your last meal and you feel hungry, try drinking a glass of water, a small amount of diluted fruit juice or a cup of green tea.
2. Do I feel tired? Sometimes we look to food as a ‘pick me up’ where in reality you may not have had enough sleep or are experiencing stressful events in your life. Looking for this ‘pick me up’ can apply to sugary drinks as well. If at home take a power nap (10-15 minutes) on the couch or at work lay your head down at your desk during coffee breaks instead of eating to squelch the tiredness. Or go for a walk and energize your body by getting the blood flowing. Stretch.
3. When did I last eat? You should not be hungry within 2 hours of your meal unless you only had a nibble. Eat a some protein or low GI foods as these stave off the hunger pains longer. If you ate a piece of fruit at 10:00 a.m., it is normal to be hungry by 11:30 a.m. Before stuffing that high carb doughnut into your mouth at break ask yourself does my body really want this or does it just look good?
4. Am I trying to fill a void in my life or am I feeling depressed? We often use food as a form of comfort and as a safety net from our problems. Find another way to get those serotonins happening other than eating which puts on weight, and then we get even more stressed and less healthy. Everyone feels anxious or depressed from time to time in their lives. Try going for a walk or taking the stairs to your next meeting. Exercise is a great way to deal with conflicting feelings. Then, if you are still hungry, eat a healthy snack or sensible meal.
5. Do I eat on a regular schedule? Our bodies work like clocks. Ideally, we should eat at the same time every day, eat a balanced diet, sleep 8 hours a day, etc. As much as possible try to eat regular meals. Breakfast is often overlooked in a hurry to get out the door in the morning but it is vital for the body to function at peak.  That is why it is called break-fast. Use mid morning and mid afternoon snack time for fruit consumption. Or perhaps try a handful of nuts. Eating at about the same time every day makes us less likely to suffer from real hunger and chemical fluctuations that cause headaches, irritability and fatigue.

Yvonne

Controlling Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Not all pharmaceutical drugs used to control anxiety disorders are successful and many produce unwanted side effects, including neurological damage, impotence, and profound weakness.

Here are eight tips to help control anxiety and panic attacks:

1. Avoid excitotoxins in your food. This is so basic but most important. These include MSG, aspartame, hydrolysed proteins, artificial flavouring, sodium or calcium casein ate, and others. All of these food additives worsen brain excitation and have been shown to specifically target the amygdale nucleus — a set of neurons in the brain’s temporal lobe. They are key to the processing of emotions. White Sugar is a very high excitotoxin and could be replaced with honey as a sweetener.

2. Eat at least 5 – 8 servings of vegetables each day. Many of the flavonoids in vegetables have been shown to reduce anxiety — especially hesperidins, quercetic, and cur cumin. For the highest nutritional benefit -Steam vegies rather than boiling or using a microwave.

3. Drastically reduce your intake of saturated fats and omega-6 fats found in fatty meats also vegetable oils, such as corn, safflower, peanut, sunflower, soybean and canola oils. Studies have shown that animals on high-fat diets release more cortical and take longer to recover from stress than those on low-fat diets.

4. Dramatically increase your intake of Omega 3 to help the brain receptors transmit more effortlessly. High deposits of these Omega 3’s are found in Atlantic Salmon, olive oil, grape seed oils and flax seeds.

4. To naturally calm increase Magnesium. It reduces excitotoxicity and, when taken at bedtime, it aids sleep. It also reduces the immune over-reactivity seen with anxiety disorders. In addition, it reduces your risk of heart disease, stroke and Type-2 diabetes (and metabolic syndrome).

5. White tea contains flavonoids. This flavonoid has recently been shown to calm the brain and reduce anxiety. It works by activating the organ’s most protective system against anxiety — the GABA receptor. This aids sleep as well. White tea has a higher level of this flavonoid and much less fluoride than green tea.

6. The herb valerian has been shown to activate the same calming brain GABA receptor as the pharmaceutical drug. It has been used to induce sleep but also calms anxiety during the day. It should not be mixed with medications that act as sedatives or tranquilizers.

7. Avoid caffeine – especially instant. People with anxiety disorders hyper react to stimulants, such as caffeine. They can also worsen insomnia.

8. What is the emotional programming of the anxiety.  Often when a person can identify the cause behind the anxiety as being FEAR (false evidence appearing real) they are able to alter their thought process about the anxiety.

How’s Your Memory?

Always Losing Your Keys? Forgetting People’s Names? As funny as it may sound, if you find yourself struggling to remember people’s names or you find yourself searching for your keys all the time, then you may not be getting enough exercise.

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2007, researchers at Columbia University Medical Centre reported that exercise “appears to stimulate the growth of new brain cells in the region linked with memory.” Perhaps this is the real reason why as we get older and often exercise less, we begin to loose our memory (and things)! No wonder we have trouble memorizing peoples names when we meet.

Scientists studied the magnetic resonance imaging scans (MRIs) of the brains of 11 healthy adults, taken before and after their assigned aerobic exercise programs, and found that the number of memory cells do increase after their subjects worked out.

“Our next step is to identify the exercise regimen that is most beneficial to improve cognition and reduce memory loss, so that physicians may be able to prescribe specific types of exercise to improve memory,” said lead researcher Dr. Scott Small.

In 2001, scientists at The Salk Institute found that running could boost brain cell survival in mice with neurodegenerative disease. Carrolee Barlow, a Salk assistant professor and lead author of the study, explained: “When these mice are sedentary, it appears that most newly born brain cells die. Running appears to ‘rescue’ many of these cells that would otherwise die.” Barlow also added that “the miles logged correlated directly with the numbers of increased cells.”

So, perhaps if it’s good enough for mice, then it’s good enough for humans!  My suggestion to take up running or at least a good walk. It will do more than help you get fit; according to the research it will most likely sharpen your memory, too.

Note: Always check with your doctor before beginning an exercise program. Get some coaching from a qualified professional or try something low-impact if you don’t have access to a coach.

What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

There is always a cause for every effect, nothing just happens by itself.

Have you heard it said that “what you don’t know can’t hurt you?”  Pleading ignorance to the law of cause and effect doesn’t stop it working in our lives. What you don’t know will hurt you!  This “not knowing” can sabotage you in your goal achievement and then you get frustrated because you set goals just like they said and they never happen. Not knowing that you have deficits in your level of self-esteem will hurt you. Not knowing that eating a food can harm your health doesn’t prevent the problem. When you are unaware of the cause of a problem, you can not solve it intentionally.

There is always a cause for every effect, nothing just happens by itself.  There is always a reason for everything that happens around us in our lives. Most times however, we aren’t ‘in tune’ to our role in attracting it – or not!

Of course, if you are like the majority of the population, we would rather not accept personal responsibility for being the cause of these less than exciting events. It is obviously easier and much more pleasant to blame outside circumstances and justify the obstacles and negative events to something beyond ourselves. But in reality, when we begin to understand the role that we played in bringing about these negative circumstances, we can learn how to effectively change how we think and behave. This is when we can begin to take personal responsibility for creating the results we desire in life.

Once we understand this paradox – this law of cause and effect, the question becomes: “What changes within ourselves need to occur so we can become more effective at attracting the desires that we really want?”

The answer may really surprise you! It is “Your Level of Self-Esteem”! Your level of self-esteem is the basis for almost everything that influences your behaviour in every circumstance of your Life!

Studies have shown that over 85% of us experience some type of lowered self-esteem during our lives. Many people can get stuck and live at this point of low self-esteem.

Low self-esteem can hurt you the most during emotional moments of your life. For example,

• You may be sitting for a really important exam and get those “exam jitters” where the butterflies in the tummy are having a war. The answers escape you and then you are hit with the thought of overwhelm, stupidity and inadequacy.
• Or you could be applying for that dream job that you have wanted for so long and during the interview you are asked a question. All of a sudden, you start feeling uncomfortable. Your brain sits down and you answer some sort of way out gobbledegook. Because you lack the necessary self-esteem to see yourself as an outstanding employee for the company interviewing you, you sabotage your chances by saying something foolish.
• Sometimes we can put on the “I’m totally confident” ego, but your eyes will tell the truth. When someone looks into your eyes your low self esteem will cause your eyes to dart away. We don’t want anyone to “see” into our soul.
• Sometimes in a business meeting diminished self-esteem can cause you to feel intimidated, shy or uncomfortable and so you don’t speak up and offer your opinion.
• Perhaps your poor self-esteem might prevent you from finding a life partner.
• Low levels of self esteem can also be passed on to children who experience problems similar to those that their parents have.
• Sometimes low self-esteem tries so hard to “prove” itself and gain acceptance that you can dominate a conversation without even realising it.

I certainly know that I suffered from low self esteem. I think you will agree that most people have experienced some type of “low self esteem” situation at some time in their life. Here is the good news – If you have experienced low self esteem, it does not need to continue in your life! You can choose to be as confident, strong, and productive as you wish in any situation – and don’t you think you deserve that?

I am committed to showing you the way to build a stronger and healthier overall level of self-esteem – one where you will enjoy a higher quality of life on a daily basis.

In order for you to identify the basis of the problem and how strong it is, please answer the following few questions:

1) In what circumstances do you experience “low self esteem”?

2) How might this feeling of inferiority block you from achieving what you really want?

3) How would you be more productive in these important life areas if you raised your level of self-esteem?

I look forward to championing you to achieve every aspect of your dream life. Together, we can make it happen.  Contact me for personal life-coaching at www.totalhealth.net.au

Yours in Health and Prosperity,

Yvonne

Vibrant Health

Vibrant Health is not just about eating organic food. It is not just about a daily exercise routine. It is also not about going on a trek to the Himalayas to find enlightenment.  You have heard it said “it isn’t what you eat – it is about what is eating you”. Total vibrant health isn’t just about positive thinking disregarding what is happening in our world. We are a spiritual being having a human experience and every area of our life is interwoven with the next to make up our total being. True Vibrant Total Health is being at peak in all the various components of our being. Being at peace with our Creator, having the healthy foundation of every cell in our body working to the good of every other cell, being in enriching relationships with family and friends, having a worthwhile goal that we are passionate about, using wisdom to interpret all the knowledge that is available, financially having more than enough for our daily needs so that we can be a conduit of blessing to the world around us.  Total Vibrant Health is feeling total comfortable in our skin, loving who we are and the purpose that we have in fulfilling our destiny. It is living in harmony with abundance all around us.  It is becoming aware of new opportunities to make a difference and being able to grab the opportunity with zest and run with it because we are confident in every area of our life. You can’t run with confidence for very long if your body lets you down. You can’t run with confidence for very long if your emotions are in turmoil.  You can’t run for very long if your finances don’t support your dreams. You won’t run for long if you don’t have a passionate goal. Our Total Health website is to bring all aspects of our being to our attention so that we can be all that we created to be. Enjoy.

Your lifecoach,

Yvonne

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Honest Communication

When resentment occurs one way to handle it is with “Honest Communication”. Often we just blow up when we are not used to expressing our anger or have allowed it to be bottled up over a period of time. When we allow this to happen our communication does not come out responsibly and can cause even further resentment and breakdown. “Honest Communication” that is non responsible may be manifested in several ways that can be destructive to building a better relationship. Here are some ways that many of us communicate honestly, but non responsibly….

1. Blaming the other person for how you feel
2. Embarrassing someone in order to get revenge.
3. Leaving the receiving person or team with negativity they can do nothing about.

For example, imagine a garden hose that has been coiled up all winter. Then when the weather warms up, you’re outside and thirsty and go to get a drink from the hose. The residue of water from the hose comes out and…. UGH, it’s foul tasting!

Sometimes we can be like the dormant hose.  If you don’t think through these negative feelings, words may come out like foul water from a dormant hose.

If you are the one learning to communicate open and honestly, try rehearsing your communication in front of someone you trust. Tell them what you are doing and request that they listen for “laying blame to the accused” versus “I am responsible for the way I interpret your actions”.

Responsible communication always begins with the word “I”. The feelings you express are yours, so you must own them. How does that sound? One example that works is to say: “I felt this way when you did …

Actually say that you are not blaming the other person. Express the reason you are communicating openly and honest because you desire a better relationship with this person.

Twenty-Five Things About Your Health

Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Your Body and Health

1. Rinsing your nose with salt water can help keep you healthy and ward off allergy symptoms.

2. Dogs can smell cancer and low blood sugar. A study showed that it is possible to train dogs to identify, based on breath samples, which patients had lung and breast cancer. For diabetics, the dogs can smell ketones in urine and on the breath when blood sugars are high. Dogs can pick up on other smells that humans can’t when glucose levels drop.

3. Researchers found that people who pass through an entryway near the kitchen tend to eat 15 percent more than those who use the front door.

4. You’re more likely to have a heart attack on a Monday, or up to three days after you’ve been diagnosed with the flu or a respiratory tract infection.

5. You can’t get a tan from your computer screen. The Computer Tan Web site was created as a hoax to raise awareness about skin cancer.

6. Obese people spend approximately $485 more on clothing, $828 on extra plane seats, and $36 more on gas each year than their thinner counterparts. An overweight driver burns about 18 additional gallons of gas a year.

7. Smokers are four times as likely to report feeling un-rested after a night’s sleep than non-smokers. Smokers often experience withdrawal symptoms at night, thus causing periods of restlessness and waking.

8. Eating fruits and vegetables may help your body make its own aspirin. Benzoic acid, a natural substance in fruits and vegetables, causes people to produce their own salicylic acid, the key component that gives aspirin its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties.

9. A 20-minute nap can improve your overall alertness, boost your mood, and increase productivity. In addition, your heart may reap benefits from napping — a six-year study found that men who took naps at least three times a week had a 37 percent lower risk of heart-related death.

10. Your kitchen sink is dirtier than your bathroom. There are typically more than 500,000 bacteria per square inch in its drain, and the faucet, basin, and sponge are crawling with germs as well.

11. Four out of five doctors in the UK don’t work out enough. Heavy workloads, lack of time and poor motivation contributed to the lack of exercise.

12. Baking soda can whiten teeth, garlic can help treat athlete’s foot, and honey can soothe a hangover.

13. Using a food diary can double your weight-loss efforts. Your food diary makes you accountable to yourself and provides you with clues on where the extra calories are sneaking in.

14. Regular exercise can lower a woman’s cancer risk—but only if she’s getting enough sleep. The National Cancer Institute followed nearly 6,000 women for almost 10 years. Women in the top half of physical activity levels showed an approximate 20 percent reduction in cancer risk, but sleeping less than seven hours per night resulted in a decreased benefit.

15. Watching yourself run in a mirror can make a treadmill workout go by faster and feel easier.

16. Third-hand smoke—the particles that cling to smokers’ hair and clothing and linger in a room long after they’ve left—is a cancer risk to young children and pets.

17. Walking against the wind, in the water, or while wearing a backpack burns about 50 more calories per hour than walking with no resistance. People who wear pedometers also tend to burn more calories and lose more weight.

18. Trained sexologists can infer a woman’s orgasm history by observing the way she walks. In other news, men find women who wear red sexier than those who wear “cool” colours such as blue and green.

19. Foreign accent syndrome and exploding head syndrome are real (but very rare) medical conditions. A person with exploding head syndrome experiences a loud, indecipherable noise that seems to originate from inside their head.

20. Vitamins seem to help older women guard against cancer or heart disease.

21. Some men experience pain, headaches, or sneezing as a result of ejaculation. The increased activity in the nervous system during orgasm may be the culprit.

22. Germ-killing wipes can spread bacteria from one spot to another if you reuse them.

23. Oatmeal, citrus fruits, and honey can boost your sex drive and improve fertility. Oats produce a chemical that releases testosterone into the blood supply, vitamin C improves sperm count and motility, and vitamin B from honey helps your body use oestrogen, a key factor in blood flow and arousal.

24. Twenty-nine percent of Americans say they have skipped filling a prescription due to the cost, and 23 percent use pill splitting as a way to save money.

25. Social activities may be good for your health; studies show that staying in touch with family and friends can ward off memory loss and help you live longer.

Source: MSN Health & Fitness April 21, 2009