The Busy Woman’s Guide to a Better Body by iVillage Health

15 Really Simple Ways to Rethink Getting Fit from Cleveland Clinic Experts

The Busy Woman’s Guide to a Better Body You’re so busy that lunch often means a trip to the vending machine, and exercise amounts to the number of trips you make to the ladies’ room in a single day.
When work and family demand so much of your waking hours, it’s easy to adopt lifestyle habits that come back to bite you in the butt, hips and thighs. “For starters, rethinking where, when and how you exercise is key,” says Cleveland Clinic wellness expert Amy Jamieson-Petonic, MEd, RD, CSSD, LD. “You also need to take a look at your diet. Chances are you’re shortchanging yourself when it comes to feeding your body optimum fuel and overdoing it on empty calories that are keeping you from your goal of looking fitter.” Read on for tips on how to transform your body into one that looks, feels and functions at its best.
Build a better body with help from Cleveland Clinic’s 360-5.com.

Exercise always winds up on the bottom of your to-do list because you can think of a lot of other things you’d rather do.

“When I’m having that mental debate about exercise, I like to tell myself that I can do anything for 10 minutes,” says Heather Nettle, MA, coordinator of exercise physiology at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation. (This mental pep talk is especially helpful when you’re fighting the urge to roll over and go back to bed.)
The fix: Three times per day, whether you’re in an office or at home, look for opportunities to exercise for 10 minutes, says Nettle. “When it comes to heart health and calorie burning, 10 minutes of exercise three times per day has almost identical value as 30 minutes of continuous exercise,” she says. Two of our favorites: Arrive 10 minutes early to pick up your child from sports practice so you can do a few loops around the field. Commit the first 10 minutes of your lunch break each day to a quick jaunt around the grounds or neighborhood. (On rainy days, look for indoor stairs that you can go up and down.)
 So when your body is saying no, tell yourself that you’re going to give that workout video, morning run or after-dinner walk 10 minutes. “Chances are that you’ll feel so good after 10 minutes that you’ll find the energy for 10 or even 20 more minutes,” Nettle says.
 
You can find 10 minutes, but the wedge sandals you wore to work this morning aren’t exactly walking friendly.When exercise opportunities present themselves (which they will more often now that you know to look for them), you need to be prepared. “Keep a fitness pack in your car or desk drawer with a pair of athletic socks and shoes, an iPod and water,” Nettle says. If the kids unexpectedly decide to go to a friend’s house, or a late meeting gets canceled and you can make an impromptu trip to the gym on the way home, you’re ready. “The idea is that if you have to go home to change, you’ll find 400 other things that require your attention,” she says.


ADVERTISEMENT: Why Going Mediterranean Could Add Years to Your Life!

“The more closely you adhere to the Mediterranean diet, the lower your chance of having disease or disability and the lower your chance of having a health event like a heart attack, says Michael Roizen, M.D. and Chief Wellness Officer at Cleveland Clinic. “So while you’re enjoying delicious foods such as grilled fish or a tomato and cucumber salad, you’ll know that you’re making yourself younger.”

You love the idea of an early morning workout, but your pillow and comforter feel otherwise.
If you’re not getting at least 7 1/2 hours of sleep per night, then you might be chronically sleep deprived, which makes it that much harder to toss those covers aside and get moving first thing. Often, women are so eager to cross one more item off their to-do list that we wind up regularly sacrificing zzz’s. But consider this: Studies show that people who get enough quality sleep are less likely to become obese. Meanwhile, being chronically sleep deprived can lead to weight gain, along with high blood pressure and heart disease. “The satiety centers in the brain of sleep, sex, food and thirst are closely related,” explains Michael F. Roizen, MD, chief wellness officer of Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness Institute. “When not enough of one (sleep, for example) is obtained, you crave another — sugared food, for instance.”
For tips on how to avoid tossing and turning half the night worrying about the unfinished tasks, check out 360-5’s Better Sleep.

You want to work out, but you feel guilty about sacrificing quality time with your kids or partner. Kids are calorie-burning opportunities waiting to happen! And when it comes to your partner, finding some type of physical activity you really enjoy doing together (outside the bedroom) is a win-win for the both of you. “Children love challenges and moving their bodies,” says Katherine Mone, MEd, RD, LD, a registered dietitian for Cleveland Clinic Sports Health, “so set up a circuit around your family room, basement or backyard with jump ropes, exercise bands, hula hoops, exercise balls, soccer balls and small cones. Blast the music, set a timer and run some drills, such as jogging in place for 30 seconds, doing 15 push-ups or a hula hoop contest. Use athletic tape to outline rows for relay races where you carry an egg on a spoon, do the wheelbarrow or dribble a ball.”
Take the same think-outside-the-gym approach with your partner: Shoot a few hoops of basketball, head to the park with your tennis racquets, go for a bike ride, hit some golf balls. It’s a foolproof plan for covering all your bases — family time, fun and exercise.


The ultimate multitasker, you think using hand weights on the treadmill is the definition of an efficient workout.
“I strongly discourage doing cardio and strength training at the same time,” says Nettle. When you’re moving your legs, your main focus is on balance. “What happens is that the lifting becomes mindless, which puts you at risk of injury,” she says. The most effective way to strength train is by doing slow, focused repetitions on solid ground. Stashing a set of hand weights near your desk isn’t a bad idea, “but just don’t try to read e-mail and do biceps curls at the same time,” Nettle says.

It’s hard enough to find time for cardio, never mind strength training.
Strength training need not require a set of weights: “I do dips at my desk all the time,” Nettle says. With your back to your desk, grab hold with both hands, straighten your arms, then walk your legs out at a 45-degree angle, tighten your core and slowly lean back while bending your elbows and keeping them in alignment. Do as many as you like.
Nettle also loves the plank pose for core and overall strengthening: Starting on your hands and knees, place your forearms and palms on the floor with your elbows directly underneath your shoulders. Walk your feet back until your legs are straight and your ankles, knees, hips and shoulders are in one even plane. Draw your navel up and reach your chest forward and heels back to engage your abs and keep your spine long. Work up to holding for 60 seconds; aim for three one-minute plank poses a day.

You carry around a water bottle, but barely sip half of it by the end of each day.
When it comes to weight loss and water intake, “most of us do not consume enough water throughout the day,” says Jamieson-Petonic. The smallest amount of dehydration (as little as 2 percent) can affect cognitive function, as well as overall physical performance. “Often you also wind up confusing hunger with thirst,” she says. “Regularly reaching for a snack instead of H2O can lead to weight gain over time.” The next time you think you’re hungry, try drinking some water first.
What about the recommendation to down eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day? This really isn’t used anymore because we can hydrate through other sources, including low-fat or nonfat milk, coffee and tea, as well as fruits and vegetables, which have a high water content, says Jamieson-Petonic.

You consider energy drinks a busy girl’s best friend.
Chugging a Red Bull, Monster or Fear will definitely send you soaring. But these so-called energy drinks come loaded with sugar and caffeine. One 8.3-ounce Red Bull has 26 grams of sugar (that’s more than 6 teaspoons!) Meanwhile, a sports drink like Gatorade is no better, with 32 grams of sugar in a single bottle. Once the sugar-and-caffeine buzz wears off, your energy level can come crashing down. Do your body a favor and sip on some belly-fat-busting, antioxidant-rich green tea instead.

You morph into mindless eating mode whenever your schedule gets crazy. (Which is pretty much all the time!)
“One of the causes of weight gain is not being aware of what you’re eating or how much,” says Jane Ehrman, MEd, CHES, a mind-body medicine specialist at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. “So many of us are so busy, we’re not eating mindfully. Before each meal, try taking two to three deep breaths to bring your focus into the present,” she advises. This will allow your brain and body to register that it’s being fed. “Whenever you can, take 20 to 40 minutes for a meal, or at the very least, sit somewhere where you’re not distracted by a television, e-mails, etc.,” Ehrman says.

You skip breakfast, breeze over lunch and grab something light for dinner.
One would think that skipping meals or eating fewer calories at mealtime would result in lost pounds. But here’s the harsh reality: Calorie restriction throws your metabolism out of whack, and your body and brain interprets this as if you’re starving. The result: “Your body tries to conserve body fat by burning fewer calories,” explains Mone. Another way to look at it: The thermic effect of food (TEF) is the increase in metabolic rate that happens when you eat a meal. To absorb, transport, store and metabolize the food, your body produces energy. “TEF peaks at one hour and lasts about four hours,” say Mone. After eating a meal with carbs, protein and fat, your metabolic rate kicks up about 5 to 10 percent. That means out of that 400-calorie breakfast, 40 calories get burned right away and the rest are used by the body for energy and other needs. Eat nothing and there’s no TEF, which means your metabolism stays in the off mode and may even slow further and hold on to fat because it fears starving. The bottom line: Balanced, portioned meals are critical to keeping your metabolism in high gear.


You wake up each morning and say, “Today’s the day I’m going to eat healthy,” but today never happens. “Instead of saying, ‘I’m going to eat a good breakfast,’ and hoping that the choice will become apparent at 7:00 each morning, empower yourself by planning,” Ehrman says. “Sit down and write out a week’s worth of meals, prepare your shopping list and stock your cabinets and fridge with the items you’ll need. Set a time to have that breakfast every day. If you know you have to be out the door extra early one morning, plan a healthy but portable option for that day and prepare it the night before.”

“Instead of saying, ‘I’m going to eat a good breakfast,’ and hoping that the choice will become apparent at 7:00 each morning, empower yourself by planning,” Ehrman says. “Sit down and write out a week’s worth of meals, prepare your shopping list and stock your cabinets and fridge with the items you’ll need. Set a time to have that breakfast every day. If you know you have to be out the door extra early one morning, plan a healthy but portable option for that day and prepare it the night before.”

Healthy foods seem like so much more work.No diet is helpful if you can’t adapt it to your busy lifestyle. At the Cleveland Clinic, we are major proponents of adopting the Mediterranean diet — which relies on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and legumes as its mainstays and a smattering of dairy, poultry, fish, eggs and olive oil for lean protein and healthy fats — for overall wellness and disease reduction. There are many easy ways to enjoy these foods. One of our go-to breakfasts: Low- or nonfat Greek yogurt, toasted nuts and a little bit of honey paired with one or two in-season fruits is easy to prepare and eat on the run.


You’ve forgotten how to breathe properly.
Most of us don’t have an optimal breathing pattern. “When you do slow abdominal diaphragmatic (belly) breathing, you can elevate your energy, focus, concentration and memory recall,” Ehrman says. “Another great side effect is that it lowers your stress level, which means that you’re calming your nervous system and not dumping belly-fat-promoting cortisol into your bloodstream.” Practicing belly breathing activates the calming branch (parasympathetic) of the nervous system, and it’s one of the most powerful, right-under-your-nose exercises for feeling better.


You could use a refresher in proper breathing technique.
Think of infants or puppies as they breathe. They take a breath of air in through the nose, which then fills the lungs and chest, causing the abdomen to slowly and visibly rise up and then down. The trickier part: finding five uninterrupted minutes to focus on your breathing each day. Ehrman suggests, “Hang a ‘do not disturb’ sign on your office door, hide out in a bathroom stall or go to your bedroom with strict instructions to your husband to only interrupt in the event of a medical emergency or if the house is on fire.” The payoff for better breathing will come back to your body tenfold.


Read more health tips:
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9 Ways to Face Your Fears by Therese J. Borchard

Fears are like annoying relatives. You can't avoid them forever, and ignoring them won't make them go away. Come Thanksgiving, they'll plop down right next to you and ask to borrow your fork. So you'd better figure out how to confront the little devils before they eat your dessert too. Here are a few fun ideas for how to tell your fears to hit the bricks.

Begin to face your fears.
Begin to face your fears.
Laugh at Them. A good technique: start with "ha" and end with "hee."
Talk About Them. Preferably to a friend, over a cup of strong coffee.
Scare Them Away. Any mask will do, but any beast or vampire getup is particularly effective.
Dress Them Up. With the right attire and hairdo, you can make anything seem attractive and desirable (to someone else), right?
Harness Them. If they are under your control, you don't have to worry about them.
Interrogate Them.Ask them the hard questions, including: where, what, why, when, and how? Then get a mug shot.
Bully Them. Boss them around like the scary dude in the fifth grade who made you cry. You're bigger than they are --don't let them forget it.
   

more inspirational thoughts by: http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/ 

Lose Weight Just by Rearranging Your Kitchen by iVillage

Top Shelf of the Fridge: Store Healthy Sips Here

Research shows that simply shifting around the groceries in your kitchen can actually retrain your brain, helping you crave healthy foods instead of junk, says Larrian Gillespie, M.D., author of The Goddess Diet. The top shelf of your fridge is a good place to start. This eye-level area is prime refrigerator real estate. Stock it with healthy and low-cal beverages: skim milk, 100% fruit and veggie juices (no sugar added) and calorie-free soft drinks. Why? "Opting for low-cal beverages is a simple way to shave calories out of your diet," says Dr. Gillespie. "Plus, staying well hydrated naturally helps curb appetite." Use these slimming thirst-quenchers to cut just two sugary sodas out of your daily diet and University of Minnesota researchers say you can shed up to 33 pounds this year.

Second Shelf: Place Fresh Produce in this Spot

USDA researchers say fresh produce is what people are most likely to forget buying when they’re frazzled or tired--yet they say eating two to three cups daily is the key to shedding two pounds weekly, struggle-free. All of this science makes shelf #2 the ideal spot for fresh fruits and veggies, because it keeps these slimming foods close, says Dr. Gillespie. “For a double duty benefit, keep ready-to-eat, pre-cut pieces right at the front, and you’ll double your produce intake!”

Third shelf: Ply it with Protein

This is a great spot for healthy sources of protein--hard-boiled eggs, precooked, skinless lean meats, nuts and reduced-fat dairy (such as yogurt and cheese). Why? Women who add at least two ounces of protein to every meal eat 31 percent fewer calories daily, say Yale University researchers (since protein stimulates the intestines to release cholecystokinin--a hormone that travels to the brain and shuts down hunger pangs).

Crispers: Tuck Tempting Items Here

Inconvenient to crack open, crispers are a smart place to stash calorie-laden fare, like leftover fast food and sweet treats. Plus, tucking diet-busting temptations out of sight can cut snacking by more than half, according to Cornell University studies. The reason: “Your brain and your eyes are so intricately connected, that what you see when you open the fridge is often what your brain then craves and wants you to eat,” explains cognitive behavioral weight management specialist Michelle May, M.D, author of amihungry.com. “So, when it comes to junk food, out of sight can truly mean out of mind!”

Refrigerator Door: Fill it with Flavor

Fill this space with spicy mustards, hot sauces, salsas, vinegars, marinades, flavored oils and zesty dressings. Why? Jazzing up the flavor of meals helps people feel genuinely full on 200 fewer calories daily--and can help them shed up to 18 pounds per year, according to research at Chicago’s Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation.

Your Freezer: Chock with Healthy Conveniences

Stocking the freezer with healthful things that will make dinner prep a breeze--like individually-wrapped fish fillets, lean chicken breasts and frozen mixed veggies—can help people dodge at least one takeout meal weekly (enough to shed 2 pounds every month), according to UCLA researchers. And don’t forget low-cal, guilt-free treats, like fruit bars and chilled berries for smoothies, which can soothe a sweet tooth without derailing your diet plans, adds weight-loss specialist Howard Shapiro, M.D., author of Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss.
 
Your Cupboards: Sub in Smaller Dishes

Keep your tallest, most narrow glasses--and your smaller salad plates—upfront at eye level, and stash your larger items higher, where you’re less likely to reach. The reason: Cornell University studies suggest that people sip 25 percent less soda and other high-cal drinks when they use taller, slimmer glasses--and eat 33 percent less food when they serve themselves on salad plates--yet they feel just as satisfied as if they’d munched a whole lot more.


Your Pantry: Put High-Cal Packaged Snacks Here

Store diet-sabotaging dry goods like chips and snack cakes in hard-to-reach spots (like that annoying cupboard over the refrigerator), or in opaque containers so you can’t see the contents, and you’ll cut your mindless munching 40 percent or more, say Cornell University researchers. Their studies show having pantry treats tucked in inconvenient places--or hidden in plain containers--made it just bothersome enough that people stopped eating when they were full.


Your Counter: Add a Radio So You Don’t Stray



Turn on some soothing tunes while you’re whipping up dinner and leave them on when you’re eating. In Johns Hopkins studies, people who listened to relaxing music ate 40 percent less food without even realizing it. “Stress, anxiety and other negative emotions often make people eat more food, more quickly,” explains Norman Rosenthal, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School in Washington, D.C. “But relaxing music can counteract that problem by calming the central nervous system, making it easier to eat at a leisurely pace.”

I hope you enjoyed reading these tips from iVillage: http://www.ivillage.com 

10 Ways to Unleash Your Creativity by Beliefnet

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Let Your Creative Spirit Flow by Mary Beth Maziarz

When it's flowing freely, creativity feels like the easiest thing in the world. Idea builds upon idea, and action     steps naturally fall into place. We're a little braver than usual, a little wiser than we've noticed in the past. There's certainty to our thoughts and actions that just feels right.

On the other hand, when we're not feeling creative, everything feels harder. So how do you pull yourself out of the creative doldrums and get back into the flow? Start by priming the pump of inspiration. Here are ten simple and practical ways to stimulate the creative process in your own life

Mary Beth Maziarz is the author of Kick-Ass Creativity: An Energy Makeover for Artists, Explorers, and Creative Professionals (Hampton Roads Publishing). She is also a professional songwriter and performer whose music has appeared on more than fifty television shows and films (including "Joan of Arcadia," "Everwood," and "Party of Five"). She even appeared as herself on an episode of Dawson’s Creek, and has performed as an opener for the legendary Etta James.

Discover Your Creative Soul

You do not have to be in a classic “creative” job or be a starving artist devoted to your craft to be a creative person. Whether you are an artist, designer, musician, crafter, chef, gardener, owner of a creative business, or an individual who simply wants to bring creativity to daily living, you have the ability to jump-start your creativity and open yourself up to more moments of inspiration.

Tip: Don’t wait for the Muses to arrive. Welcome creativity in your life in all forms. Open the doors and windows to creating personal and professional opportunities to be creative.

Define What Creativity Means to You

One person’s scary blank canvas or page is another person’s enticement to create anew. What kind of activities and experiences draw out your creative soul? Maybe it’s seeing an art or crafts project through and presenting it as a gift to someone special. Perhaps it’s performing a song you composed yourself. It could be nurturing your garden so it will be at its most beautiful when you host a backyard party. It might even be the vision and business plan of building a “dream business” that is both creatively satisfying and financially successful.

Tip: Start a wish list of “Coolest Possible Scenarios.” Keep your list in a journal or diary and keep jotting down activities and opportunities that you would welcome into your life. Note any signs or sparks of inspiration that feel related to bringing your dream scenarios to life. These little nudges help move us toward action!

Unlock Your Imagination

When we occasionally find ourselves at a creative standstill and feel too paralyzed to move, it helps to stimulate different areas of the brain. For example, stepping out of the verbal mode (talking about a project) and into a visual one (seeing the possibilities in front of you) moves you more quickly out of a sluggish period.


Tip: Feeling a little stuck? Picture your goals in your mind, draw them in map form, or write them down – or try a combination of all three. Make sure you include visual landmarks that show you—and your subconscious mind—that you are on the road to your goal. For example, “see” a visual of you jumping for joy having achieved your goal!


Truly Go with the “Flow”

 An optimal state of mind (and effectiveness) is reached when we formulate goals that are challenging but attainable. Action steps that challenge you but are within your realm of skills and possibility encourage us to enter the creative “flow.” When experiencing it, creative work feels better, easier, and more fluid. Each next step seems to come naturally, without internal argument or resistance, making the reach for our goals more pleasurable (and successful!).

Tip: Remember a time when you were working on a project and everything seemed to click into place, as if you were moved along by an unseen energy. Allow yourself to become so intimate with your projects that creating is like a dance, a ballet, where your intentions match your ability to reach them. That is “flow.”


Learn to Direct Your Focus

Although some people think to focus means to be serious and too structured, it actually is a key to creativity. You can intentionally direct your focus to create what you want. Start noticing where you are spending your emotional and intellectual energy. What are you talking about a lot lately? What do you worry about? What are you looking forward to? Where your attention is focused, your actions follow.

Tip: Make sure at least part of your focus is directed toward the creative projects you enjoy, and set the intension that creativity will blossom and you will be more energized each day.


 Limit Distractions

Often in the creative process we find ways to distract ourselves when results are not immediately forthcoming. We might run to the kitchen for food, obsessively check email, or busy ourselves with a constant stream of media in order to maintain the feeling of “progress,” but filling our days with chatter and chaos can siphon away creative energy and form a veil of static around us. On the other hand, quiet time each day allows inspiration to penetrate. Take a look at how you spend your time today, with an eye for seeing where time is lost and where quiet time may be found.

Tip: By finding ways to nurture silence and empty your mind, you welcome inspiration to fill it. Create opportunities for ideas to arrive by carving out some silence in your day.

Turn it Into a Game

Observing your daily creative urges can give you insights and momentum toward pursuing your larger life dreams. In the spirit of playfulness and staying light, you can turn your quest for creativity into the “And Then What” game. Discover the core of your desires by naming something you want, and then ask yourself what receiving it would mean to you in terms of what would happen next. If your game plan calls for becoming more creative in the kitchen, your “then what’s” might include trying out more exotic recipes. This might then lead to you learning more about other places in the world, which just might tickle that hidden desire you’ve had to travel. A ha! You want adventure!

Tip: Use your creative urges as clues in a game of self-discovery. Ask what your art wants of YOU. Perhaps you’re meant to chronicle life’s moments, express emotion, or help others . . . looking at possible ways your path could unfold helps define your creative purpose.

Invite Creativity to Your Home

Your home is your temple of creativity so it is important to make it a space for your creative expression. You can use intention in your space to represent the life you desire. For example, looking for a partner? Place things in pairs around your home. If you wish to be more reflective, you may literally and figuratively achieve this by adding a mirror to your work area, or by moving your desk in front of a window with lovely view.

Tip: Create movement and stimulation by de-cluttering and beautifying your environment.

Ask yourself what feeling you want to experience in a space, then choose a fun, personal way to represent it through arrangement, color choices, or décor.


Be Playful and Have Fun

 One of the key parts of creativity is to keep things light. Resist the urge to be so serious! Rekindle the playful and easygoing side of yourself. You can rise above dreary, uncreative moments by remembering that there are delightful high-points just around the corner. If you find yourself bored and blue on a project, there is no harm in skipping past the boring parts to the fun stuff, even if it is not the next step chronologically.

Tip: If you are feeling stuck in the middle of a never-ending project, write a “thank-you speech” that you might actually give someday or an e-mail you might send, acknowledging the completion and success of the project. Embrace the feeling (if only imagined) of relief and gratitude.

 Put Yourself on an “Energy Diet”

Start an “energy diet.” We’re not talking about food here. This means learning to say no as much as possible to every demand that does not absolutely energize, delight, or relieve you in some way. Instead, load your proverbial plate (or add to your calendar) only opportunities that stimulate or inspire you.

Tip: Select a pretty paper plate and write onto it the kinds of fun things you want to have on your plate in life. Keep it somewhere where you can gaze at it during the day.

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