A place of quiet in the madness of the season

It is a hectic time. People are getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Relatives are coming in. There is the food list to carry to the store and check off down the aisles. Gotta get the house ready. Kids are out of school and the long break has the potential for exhaustion. Take a moment to read this brief essay. See if you can find your own place of quiet in the midst of all the season's chaos. Disappear here: The Golden Hours

Want a healthy family?

We all want healthy families. But today's families are faced with packed schedules, a thousand distracting gadgets, easy access to unhealthy foods, and a dozen other things that keep families stressed, worn out, and apart from one another. Here are some excellent tips on how to avoid all of that and make time for each other. See them here: Health.com

What you do every day matters

Do you buy stuff you don't need? Do you talk about exercise and a good diet but rarely do either one? We're all guilty. Here is a terrific little article that helps us see that what we do every day is really more real and actually who we are than what we do every once in a while. See it here: What%20You%20Do%20Every%20Day%20Matters.

7 Ways to Stop Eating Out of Boredom

Now that cooler weather is here and we find ourselves indoor more it's easy to start snacking around. If you find yourself spending extra time in front of the TV and reaching for chips or other no so healthy snacks, here are some tips to help: Health.com

Dr. Oz got it wrong on apples.

On a recent Dr. Oz episode he shook the apple eating world by stating that high levels of arsenic were found in apple juice imported here from Chile. As this article shows his information was wrong. Keep eating apples and drinking apple juice. It's a wonderful natural health food and drink! See the information here: Sharing Rocks!

3 Steps to a Longer Life

Here are some easy, interesting tips on extending life for all of us. See them here: Sharing Rocks!

Hopefulness Is Better Than Happiness for Diet Success

We all want to make as healthy choices as we can when it comes to our diet. These days health experts are nearly all in agreement that what we eat and how we take care of ourselves are critical factors in good health. Genes play a huge roll of course, but still, you can't go wrong in sticking to a healthy diet. Keeping a positive attitude helps as well. See why here: Hopefulness Is Better for Diet Success

More Evidence that Exercise is Key to Brain Health

Although a lot of exercise and dieting in our culture borders on unhealthy obsession there is no doubt that a reasonable and consistent workout routine offers amazing physical and emotional benefits to all of us. Here is a brief article with the facts. See it here: Health.com

Using a Big Fork May Help You Eat Less

Harsh diets, endless workouts, starving routines, are all ways to lose weight but are they always good for us? Here are some useful tips on learning to stay away from huge helpings and the urge to just keep eating even when we are full. See the article here: Using a Big Fork May Help You Eat Less

Addicted to Standing Up

Get Moving!

Sure, exercise is important, but how do you get moving and enjoy it?

Obesity: Sitting Isn't Pretty

Obese people sit an average of two and a half hours more a day than slim people. Daily activities are the key to weight control.

By Jennifer Drapkin, published on March 15, 2005 - last reviewed on June 21, 2011

Throw away the remote. Fire the maid. And never drive to work again. A study from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, proves that the real difference between people who are obese and those who are not is how often they stand up. Literally.

Researchers find that in an average day, obese people sit for 2.5 hours more than their lean peers. They burn 350 less calories per day. All else being equal, that translates to approximately 10 extra pounds per year.

"If you've ever gone to the gym and looked at the treadmill, 350 calories is no joke," says James A. Levine, the endocrinologist, who led the study. "It's enough to account for who becomes obese and who does not."

In an age of NetFlicks, FreshDirect and Domino's, when you can order everything online and never leave a chair, the solution to the nation's obesity crisis might be as simple as walking out the door. "Obesity may be more closely tied to activity levels than we ever imagined before," said Dr. Levine. And he's not talking marathons or even gym workouts. "The calories you burn in everyday activities can make a tremendous difference in your life," he insists. In case you missed it the first time, let me repeat: everyday activities.

Six years ago, Dr. Levine discovered something he calls NEAT, for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. It describes the energy we expend in physical movement other than planned exercise. The new study measured the NEAT levels of 20 self-proclaimed couch potatoes, half of whom were obese.

Their mundane movements were tracked for 10 days. In case you're wondering how: All wore custom-made, data-collecting underwear. Each morning, the participants were measured at the clinic, where they received fresh underwear and all of their meals. The researchers found that the 10 lean participants all walked, paced, cleaned, cooked and stood more than the 10 obese subjects.

"One by one, these movements added up," says Dr. Levine. "But it's about more than wiggling your toes. It's about getting up out of your seat."

Taking the study further, the researchers sought to determine whether low NEAT levels were a cause of obesity or byproduct. Once again, the participants donned the special underwear.

For two months, the thin subjects were overfed, each gaining about nine pounds, and the obese subjects were underfed, each losing about 17 pounds. Even though the subjects gained and lost weight, their daily movements did not change. Our NEAT level seems to be hardwired into us.

But Dr. Levine is optimistic that, with a little conscious learning, people can change their daily activity levels, although NEAT may be genetic or established early in life. He serves himself up as Exhibit A. He contends his movement habits changed as a result of doing the study.

"Now, I'm addicted to standing up," he says. "People can change their lifestyles completely. I encourage everyone to just stand up and see how good it makes you feel."

In the interests of journalistic accuracy I feel bound to report that he then forced the reporter to stand up for the remainder of the interview.

"If people would just put a treadmill in front of their televisions and walk one mile per hour, it could completely change their health. The take-home message is get up, get up, get up."

©Psychology Today

Freedom from Obsession

"Freedom from obsession is not about something you do; it's about knowing who you are. It's about recognizing what sustains you and what exhausts you. What you love and what you think you love because you believe you can't have it." ~ Geneen Roth, Women, Food, and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything