4 Ways to Prevent the Number One Women’s Health Problem by Julie Lenz

What disease kills more American women than any other?
If you answered anything except heart disease then you must read this article. According to the American Heart Association heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 3 killers of women. They are two of the many cardiovascular diseases that kill nearly 500,000 women each year. That’s more than the next seven causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer. But there are steps you can take to protect yourself.
1. Get your cholesterol tested every year. Many women don’t know they have high cholesterol. They assume that heart disease is a man’s problem. Even many doctors don’t realize the risk that women have of heart disease so they fail to suggest testing.
2. Increase your weekly exercise. We now know that as little as 10 minutes of exercise three times a week can greatly reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk the dog a little bit longer each day. Get your heart pumping by dancing to your favorite music while you clean the house. Walk during your lunch hour instead of eating at your desk.
3. Eat more fruits and veggies. Fruits and vegetables are low in fat and high in fiber. They contain heart healthy nutrients. Leafy greens are particularly healthy. Orange juice is high in folic acid, a nutrient known to protect the heart and prevent birth defects. Add one vegetable or fruit to every meal and you will likely double your current intake. You can make it easier by keeping prepared vegetables in the refrigerator to throw into a salad or munch on for snacks.
4. Learn about polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS affects as many as 5-10% of all women. It is one of the most common endocrine disorders and is one of the most common causes of infertility. PCOS is a cluster of symptoms that can include: unexplained weight gain or difficulty losing weight, depression or mood swings, painful or irregular periods, absent periods, acne, hair loss, unexpected hair growth (face, arms, stomach, etc.), infertility, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and more. Untreated PCOS can lead to serious health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and endometrial cancer. Protecting your heart is easier than you might think and it will reward you every moment of every day. Take care of yourself. You are worth it!

Feel Happier, Be Healthier and Live Longer

10 Easy Ways to Feel Happier, Be Healthier and Live Longer

Let’s just say… first thing when you popped out of bed this morning, you woke up and found a little yellow post-it note stuck on the bathroom mirror that could transform your life. You smiled, instantly recognizing this very familiar word. And on the back were instructions on how to incorporate more of it in your life so you’d feel less stress, pain and tension… more carefree, fun and energetic. Even without the handy-dandy instructions (you think to yourself)… adding a little more is no big thing. After all, you’ve done it every single day of your life without even thinking about it. It comes as natural to you as blinking. It’s as much fun as a long overdue chat with one of your dearest friends, as cheap as an afternoon daydream, as good for you as a 15 minute workout, yet as vital as the air you breathe. You glance again… it says L-A-U-G-H-T-E-R. Laughter is the no cost, no effort, super simple, fabulously fun, overnight solution to happier, healthier, better living. American scientific and medical journals have cited the medical and psychological benefits of laughter. This is no laughing matter.Laughter can heal your pain… reduce your stress… help you sleep like a baby… diffuse tense in difficult situations… boost your immunity… foster creativity… multiply your productivity… extend your life… expand your point of view… bond you to others… increase your charm and charisma… make you feel happier… and help you live in the moment. With so much to gain and absolutely nothing to lose, are you ready to take these 10 tips to heart so you can giggle a little, snicker some, chuckle boisterously, cackle raucously, snort unexpectedly and hoot and holler through happy tears of joy? Wrap yourself in a humorous perspective and laugh your way to a seriously healthy, happy and upbeat life!Here are 10 easy ways to grab more giggles and exercise your funny bone…
1.Get a Funny Buddy. Unite yourself with a laughing partner, friend, buddy or companion that you always know you can turn to for a laugh. Make a laughing agreement and shake on it, then surround yourself with more funny people. Make an effort to be around these lighthearted folks every chance you get.
2.Lose your wits. Be super silly for 10 seconds and let your brilliant foolish kid out to play.
3.Be a Silly Spectator. Stand back and scope out the outlandish, outrageous and crazy hilarity of humans. You will thank me the next time you are trying to ward off feelings of frustration and boredom in line at the DMV, out shopping or in the waiting room of the doctor’s office. Take it up a notch and bring your entertainment home with you and imitate their quirks, qualities or peculiarities that made you snicker earlier in the day.
4.Make Over the Ordinary. Recount your everyday experiences in a fun way and relive them! People laugh at the stuff they can relate to. It’s the ordinary, everyday, run of the mill things we find funny. Some of the best sitcoms and funniest comedians (Seinfeld is a perfect example) create material out of the everyday perils of life. It’s their passion and strong point of view that strikes an emotional cord in us and makes us burst out with laughter. Go for it and liven your stories up with attitudes, opinions, voices and dialects. Be spontaneous and let it fly!
5.Give Your Stories a Pay Off! The best stories have a punchy point, a profound lesson or a great big finish. Start with the end in mind. Give your friends a payoff for their attention. When you get close to the end, stop, take a deep breath and give the story a moment of silence. Let ‘em dangle in anticipation before you end with a big bang! Adding more energy, impact and volume will give your story meaning, closure and give you the rewards of laughter.
6.Make it Big! Describe something gigantic. On your morning commute to work (of course while navigating your vehicle with the utmost in attentive care and caution), describe something humongous. Maybe it’s the biggest cell phone, coffee maker or Fourth of July sparkler ever to be seen at the World’s Fair.
7.Demand Door to Door Comedic Entertainment. Rent your favorite classic comedy flicks or a few of the new ones you’ve been meaning to get around to. What some may consider the demise of America, I argue could be the comedic cure. Blockbuster now offers unlimited door to door delivery service with your favorite DVDs without any pesky late fees or due dates. No kidding! You’re in for some serious first rate livin’ when you think about the movies, laughs and life entertainment that will be waiting for you on your doorstep.
8.Fake a Roll or Take a Part. Play Scarlet O’Hara or just ham it up for the day and walk through life with a particular point of view, strong opinion, clever persona, funny accent or problem that you must solve. Juice it up and have a dinner party where everyone has to maintain a character for the night. I’ve got a New York City cowgirl (don’t call me an urban buckle bunny) persona in my hip pocket just waiting to come out. “This girl just ain’t sure how she’s gonna lasso herself up a ride on one of them quick four wheeled, yellow stallions.”
9.Let Off Some Silly Steam. Before things get too heated up think of something quirky, cool, comical or witty. Have a few funny incidents lined up in your head that you can flash to before you disagree, bicker or complain. Even the slightest smile will ease ill feelings and spread goodwill throughout the land. The absolute worst situations still have a silver lining… you are getting some really great comedic material for later. Focus on the amusing or just plain weird moments that you’ll want to recap with your friends and laugh about later.
10.Hunt Down the Funnies. Look for humor everywhere you go. Stalk it, pursue it and chase it down ‘til you fall over with laughter. Think about what makes you laugh, the ironies of life that amuse you, the comedians you adore, the books that make you laugh aloud and which funny shows you refuse to miss. Read, watch or do all of the above as often as you can. With adults laughing on average 15 times a day and children laughing about 450… we’ve got some serious work to do. Try a tip, grab a giggle and go. Track your laughs the fun and funky way. The free ‘Laughin’ Log’ is yours at www.shesite.com. Who knew at the end of the day you could add up 100 laughs (the equivalent to 15 minutes on an exercise bike) and fit in to your skinny jeans?!! Exercise your sense of humor so you can trim your body, increase your joy and be a magnetic force that attracts others to you. Let your fun, gregarious side shine and give gushing benefits of laughter to everyone around you.

CAUTION: Laughs have been known to be contagious. So watch out, you might even infect the grumpy, irritable and cantankerous folks in your life who always seem to have something to complain about.

Healthy Diet

A Healthy Diet For Life

Having established that your body needs a well balanced diet, with a good supply of carbohydrates, especially high - fiber foods, water vitamins and minerals, and a certain amount of protein, fat and bacteria, you need to know how to put it into practice. Much media attention is focused on foods that one should not have, yet there has been very little to tell women how they can use food to enhance their life rather than make it more difficult. Forget the labels; every figure is relative and food manufacturers are frequently very selective about what they tell you, making your task of deciding what is right for you an impossible one. Instead build your choices on the following guidelines.

RESPECT YOUR MOUTH AND BODY:
GET INTO THE HABIT OF ONLY EATING THINGS YOU LIKE AND NEED
Before you put anything in your mouth, ask yourself three questions: Do I want it/ Do I like it/ Do I need it? If you want it and like it then go ahead and enjoy it, if you don’t why bother wasting the eating experience? Throw all the boring, unnecessary eating out of your life. The worst thing you can do with food is to feel guilty about eating it. If you have eaten something that you know is not the healthier but you really fancied it or were in a situation where you didn’t have any choice, enjoy it an forget about it. Don’t beat yourself up with guilt. Guilt is a negative emotion, which is likely to lead you to bingeing on comfort foods. This can then get you into a negative sugar or salt cycle in which you eat more of these foods, which in turn makes you feel even more guilty. You might then decide it’s not worth continuing with you healthy eating lifestyle. It is always worth persevering. Remember that life is for living and food is there to help us, not hinder us.

AIM TO EAT FIVE PORTIONS OF FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES EVERY DAY
This provides your body with a good source of vitamins, minerals and fiber, to maintain your body in peak condition to fight diseases. Fiber helps your food to move effectively through the body, keeps you feeling pleasantly full and satisfied and in control of your eating habits, and your energy levels steady.

EAT THREE MEALS A DAY
This is usually made up of one main meal, a smaller snack or lunch-type meal and breakfast. You may, however, feel that you need two smaller snacks, such as a piece of fruit, a small sandwich or a piece of cake, in between two smaller meals. It all depends on your body rhythms. Meals should be based on carbohydrates, such as pasta, whole-meal bread, wholegrain cereals, rice or potatoes, along with fruits and/or vegetables. The main meal should include a source of lean protein, along with carbohydrate and plenty of vegetables and fruits.

CHOOSE LEAN SOURCES OF PROTEIN
Fish, shellfish, lean red meat, game, poultry, eggs or pulses meet your body’s protein requirements without overloading on fats.

TRY TO GET INTO THE HABIT OF USING JUST A SMALL AMOUNT OF FAT
You can use butter, olive oil, sesame oil or walnut oil to enhance the flavor of your food or for cooking, but do try to keep the quantity low.

KEEP YOUR INTAKE OF REFINED SUGAR FOODS LOW
Too much sugar disrupts your natural energy balance, and can cause headaches; mood swings and – if eaten in large quantities – sugar sensitivity problems such as hypoglycemia and diabetes mellitus. It is much better to get into the habit of using the natural sugars in fruits to provide sweetness.

INCLUDE SOME DAIRY PRODUCTS OR ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT SOURCE OF CALCIUM IN YOUR DAILY DIET
This has far reaching benefits for all women of all age group .

DRINK TWO THREE LITERS (FOUR TO FIVE PINTS) OF WATER EVERY DAY
Water helps the fiber in your food to swell and perform its duties. It also helps to metabolize other nutrients from your food, keep your skin and hair healthy and prevent your body from becoming dehydrated.

TRY NOT TO DRINK MORE THAN THREE CUPS OF COFFEE, TEA OR COLA .
All such drinks contain caffeine, which inhibit the absorption of vitamins and minerals from the gut, causes your body to excrete vital nutrients and interferes with the fluid and energy balance mechanisms in your body. Caffeine also causes your body to be stimulated in an artificial way, which in the long run has the opposite effect of supressing your performance and general feeling of well

INCLUDES SOME ‘GOOD’ BACTERIA IN YOUR DAILY DIET, IN THE FORM OF ‘LIVE’ YOGURT CONTAINING BIFIDUS AND ACIDOPHILUS
A small pot of ‘bio’ yogurt a day should help to keep a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut. If you don’t like or are unable to eat live yogurt, seek the advice of your dietician

TRY TO EAT REGULARLY AND IDEALLY NOT LEAVE YOUR STOMACH EMPTY FOR MORE THAN FOUR TO FIVE HOUR
This helps to keep your gut functioning effectively. Regular eating helps your gut maintain a steady supply of digestive enzymes, protects it from excess acid secretion and enables it to metabolize food in the most efficient way, to keep your energy level and moods on an even keel

KEEP YOUR ALCOHOL INTAKE MODERATE
Some drinks, especially young red wines such as Beaujolais, contain anti-oxidant vitamins and minerals, which can help to reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers. Beers and Champagnes can also provide beneficial nutrients. Drinking can be a very pleasurable part of a healthy lifestyle, but drinking to excess can cause liver damage, mood and energy-balance problems. Try not to drink on an empty stomach as this can cause your blood sugar levels to crash.

FOOD COMBINING/SEPARATING
The issue of whether you should eat proteins and carbohydrates at the same meal is one that regularly crops up in the media. Some diet consultants feel strongly that proteins and carbohydrates should be separated, and advocate that proteins should be eaten only with vegetables and fruit, not mixed with carbohydrates. Many people feel that their body functions better if they out this into practice; it is commonly known as food combining.From the physiological and nutritional viewpoint, proteins (meat, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts, pulses) provide the body with amino acids, used as building blocks within muscles and other tissues. Carbohydrates provide energy and fiber. If you eat proteins on their own, without carbohydrate present, the protein can be broken down into energy, rather than used for building body tissue. Proteins also have other important functions to perform in maintaining body health and carbohydrates protect proteins, enabling them to fulfill these functions.The choice is yours, but there is no physiological reasoning behind food combining. I believe that food is there to be enjoyed. Women should not have to agonize over whether they are ‘allowed’ to eat certain things at certain times.