10 Great Reasons to Rollerblade

Here are some benefits of rollerblading for both exercise and pleasure:

1.  Works out and strengthens the butt (gluteus muscles);
2.  Works out and strengthens the entire legs (quads, hamstrings, calves) and the feet;
3.  Works out and strengthens the core (abdominals and lower back);
4.   Great cardiovascular workout;
5.   Improves stability and balance;
6.   Great way to spend time outdoors in the spring, summer and fall;
7.   Great way to work out with your partner or with your friends;
8.   Ideal for people of any age and fitness level;
9.   An alternate and green-friendly means of travel;
10. Compact and convenient – can fit in the trunk of your car or gym locker.

Some weight training exercises to strengthen your butt and legs and get you ready for rollerblading season.

Exercise Workouts With A Partner

Doing your exercise workouts at the gym with a partner can have many benefits for you. I suggest that you exercise with 1 partner and not 2. Three people can be a crowd and it will take awhile for you to complete your workout effectively!

The first benefit of working out with a partner is that he or she can motivate you to exercise. This extra motivation will push you to complete your workout and at times, can help you to workout harder, achieve higher plateaus.

Another benefit is that your partner can be an effective spotter for you so you can lift weights which are little heavier than you normally do or complete those hard-to-do last reps of a set!

Sometimes a partner can help suggest tips for working out. This is especially true if one person is more knowledgeable or serious than the other.

It can also be a lot of fun to work out with someone else. You get to talk about things but if chit-chat takes over your workout, you may lose your concentration, focus and not work out as effectively as you should.

If you decide to exercise with a partner, be prepared to spend a little more time at the gym.

The final benefit that I can think of is that it can save you money. If you join a gym or go to the gym with your girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse, many gyms offer spousal or family discounts which can save you a lot of money.

High Sodium In Processed Foods

Since we live in a very fast-paced world, many people opt to purchase processed foods because of its convenience and the time saving involve in meal preparation. Processed foods can include those found at fast foods restaurants, frozen foods and pre-packaged foods. All of these types of foods contain too much sodium, in excess of what the daily intake of sodium should be plus many additives with strange names. Even restaurant foods and those healthy choice frozen and processed foods can contain too much salt and sodium. As you probably are aware, sodium in excess of the daily recommended amounts can cause many health problems, particularly heart problems.

To add to this, I also wonder how much sodium the prepared meals from those diet centers contain.

Of course there is a way to avoid all this unnecessary sodium and still eat healthy and delicious meals and it is to prepare your own meals. If you do it wisely, it can be quick and not very time consuming to do. Start by planning your meals for the week when you go shopping. Simply prepared dinners can be just as delicious as fancy ones which take a lot more time. What I like to do with certain foods is to pre-cook for a few days and store it safely in your refrigerator for 2 to 3 days like rice and chicken. So all you have to do when it is time to eat is to reheat when you are ready to eat. Other meats like fish and beef can be cooked quite quickly on the day you want to eat it. Preparing salads also doesn’t take very long. So basically in 30 minutes or less you can have a healthy and hot dinner ready to eat. Also, try to avoid adding salt to your cooking. Substitute salt with spices and herbs. It’s much healthier and tastes great!

Other mealtime tips

For lunch, try opting for tuna and salads instead of deli meats whenever you can. They contain a lot of sodium plus other preservatives.

For breakfast, choose the cereals that contain the lowest amounts of sodium.

In summary, eventually governments will create legislation requiring companies and restaurants to substantially reduce the sodium content in their processed foods to much lower levels. In the meantime, these are just some of the ways to reduce your sodium intake.

Fresh Ginger to Relieve Sore Throats

Fresh ginger is a great natural product to relieve sore or dry throats. Ginger is also great for relieving congestion due to a flu or a cold. A friend of mine recommended ginger to me and I find that it works extremely well. What I recommend is that you chew on some chopped fresh ginger because I find it is the most effective in it’s raw form. You can also use ginger to make ginger tea and add some lime for flavor.

Fresh ginger is a lot cheaper than buying sore throat lozenges which, as far as I am concerned, they do not work and are filled with all sorts of chemicals that I don’t know what they are!

Finely chopped fresh ginger also adds flavor to green tea or cooked dishes. So chop up some ginger and add it to a cup of green tea.

In my opinion, ginger is a very versatile and useful root. As with all herbal remedies, if you suffer from health problems and are taking medications, it’s a good idea to check with your doctor or homeopathic doctor about ginger for any possible side-effects.

Falling Asleep - Sleeping Tips

A lot of people have trouble falling asleep or going to sleep once they hit the pillow. There are of course those people who just lay down and are quickly asleep. It’s very important that you get good night’s sleep for your health, well-being and especially for those people who exercise on a regular basis. Your body needs time to rest and recover from the day!

What are the reasons that people may have trouble falling asleep? Some of the common reasons are that you are under a lot of stress at home or at work. You have a lot of things to think about for the next day or you are just not tired!

To be able to fall asleep quickly, you need to clear your mind of all these problems and worries, otherwise you may not fall asleep for hours or have a restless sleep or sleepless night!

My simple and effective technique for falling asleep quickly:

The key to falling asleep quickly is that you must clear your mind of everything. Basically, you must prepare yourself to just sleep.

Lay down in your bed in a comfortable position. I always lay flat on my back with my head rested on a pillow in a comfortable position.

Now breathe in slowly through your nose and breathe out through your nose. By doing this, you relax your body and your mind by replenishing it with oxygen and this helps you to focus on breathing and thus clear your mind.

If you focus only on the breathing and stay relaxed, you will fall asleep.

This is my meditation technique towards falling asleep quickly and it’s 99.9% effective. I  tell myself sometimes that I will count the number of breaths that I have to take before I will fall asleep, but I never can because I end up falling asleep. It’s probably in the neighborhood of 3 to 5 long breaths.

On the other hand, if your bed is uncomfortable, you may consider purchasing a new quality mattress or good pillows such as those Obus Form pillows. I find them to be amazing, although they may take a day or two to get used to.

In summary, I find this the most reliable, healthy and effective way to fall asleep naturally. Getting the right amount of sleep is critical to your health and well-being. It can be very frustrating and annoying if you cannot fall asleep. You may also want to consider taking Yoga classes. It also has many health and exercise benefits for both body and mind.

Is Marriage Fattening

Is being married fattening? I was listening to the radio one morning while driving to the grocery store and they were asking this question. One guy said he went from 175 lbs while dating to 250 lbs. Of course this also pertains to women. Before marriage and after pregnancy, many women put on weight or put on a lot of weight! It’s no wonder that obesity and its related health problems is a huge problem in North America these days. Plus these added health costs put on strain on the medical system financially and resource-wise. Also, don’t forget the stress on family members!

I guess the reasons for marriage being fattening are that a lot of married people figure that now that they are married they do not have to impress their spouse any longer, they may use ‘being busy’ as an excuse or family their weekend get-togethers with plenty of food. Unfortunately this is the wrong approach to take. If you are happily married, being obese can prematurely shorten your marriage. Do you want that?

But being married doesn’t have to be fattening. Since you have a life-long partner, why not exercise together? It’s a fun and enjoyable way to get fit and stay in shape. Many gyms also offer lower fees for couples or family members. You can also do a lot of exercise activities together outside.

Currently marriage is fattening, but it shouldn’t be. Exercising and staying in shape should be done before and after marriage.

Protein Content Quinoa vs Rice

Looking for ways to increase the protein content in your daily meals? One way to do this is to look for food alternatives with higher protein content compared to what you are currently eating. One excellent example is to substitute white or brown rice with Quinoa.

Although Quinoa is a little more expensive than rice, not only is it as delicious or more delicious than rice, it contains more protein. For a 100g serving (that’s about ½ cup) of Quinoa there is 13g of protein (according to the nutrient label on my box) while long-grain cooked brown rice has almost 3g of protein. White rice would have slightly less than that of brown rice, but not by much. Plus whether you buy organic or non-organic seems to affect the amount of protein found in rice. I guess the same would be true for genetically modified rice. In California, a group wants food labels to indicate if the product is genetically modified. Sounds like a good idea and it would be nice to know how much of the food we eat has been genetically modified. Probably a lot!

As a comparison I checked out nutritiondata.self.com and they had different numbers. According to them cooked Quinoa has 8g of protein per 185g serving size while uncooked Quinoa has 24g per 170g serving. This made me wonder and come to the following conclusion: The exact amount of protein per serving size based on different sources can be confusing and difficult to determine, but it is obvious that Quinoa still contains more protein than rice, white or brown.

It is also very quick to prepare and there are many recipes for Quinoa or you can create your own. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes to cook. Just set it on low heat and while you are preparing your salad and cooking your meat, your Quinoa will be ready. I did that last Sunday. I set my Quinoa on low heat and added some fresh cherry tomatoes for flavor and more nutritional value. By the time I made my salad and barbecued some chicken, the Quinoa was all cooked and ready to eat.

If you are into weight training, are an athlete or looking for healthier food alternatives, the higher protein and nutrient content of Quinoa compared to rice is an alternative that is worth trying for a change.