Tag Archives: heart failure solutions

How Soon Will COPD Stages Damage Your Quality of Life?

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How Soon Will COPD Stages Cause Harm

If you know what COPD stands for, you probably heard it from your doctor, or someone you know who has COPD.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD, is code word for “can’t exhale”.

If you can’t get the stale air out, you can’t reload with fresh air.

Lung disease is progressive.  It sneaks up on ya.

COPD stages happen a little at a time.
Pam called me when she came home from her doctors office with a “mild copd” diagnosis.

“How can I have copd?” she asked.

“I don’t smoke.”

“They said it might be all the years I lived with a wood stove as my heat source.”

I told Pam that I could hear her upset, and just wanted to encourage her to make the most of her lung health.

“After all, mild copd means that you have time to optimize your lung function and minimize damage.”

“How in the world do I do that?” she asked. Continue reading How Soon Will COPD Stages Damage Your Quality of Life? →

What Can Emotional Exercise Benefits Do For You?

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What Can Emotional Exercise Benefits Do For You?

When you feel down, do you think,

“I should get up and take a walk?”

Probably not … but you should!

Get moving and your mood will improve!

Do you believe that you can choose to be happier?

Emotional Exercise Benefits Can Help

  • more energy
  • regular dose of endorphines

(pleasure chemicals generated by your body during exercise)

  • regular doses of serotonin and tryptophan

(mood regulating chemicals that are produced during exercise)

  • fights depression with increased endorphines, serotonin, and tryptophan
  • improves self esteem
  • stress management
  • improves sleep resulting in better mood and improved ability to cope with stress

(just don’t exercise right before bed)

  • reduces PMS symptoms
  • improves mental agility
  • enhances creativity and imagination
  • reduces anxiety and stress

Can you see how regular exercise enables you to choose a better mood?

Considering the physical benefits of exercise will make you smile too!

Do you know what the physical benefits of exercise are?

  • increased metabolism makes weight loss easier
  • reduces total body fat
  • lowers total cholesterol, especially bad cholesterol
  • increases good cholesterol, giving you more energy
  • improves immune system
  • improves insulin sensitivity
  • lowers risk of bone and joint disease

Sugar highs cause sugar lows!  When you choose chemicalized foods and stimulants you affect your mood far more than you think!  Fresh food feels really good.

 

Pretty good news, wouldn’t you say?

Maybe exercise isn’t a dirty word after all!

Can you think of any other way to gain all those benefits?

The time you spend exercising is time well spent!

 

Once you get moving avoid sabotaging your emotional exercise benefits!

Many choices you make everyday cause a shift in the wrong direction.  Be good to you!

Life with more endorphines, serotonin and tryptophan is a bright and shiny place.  You don’t want to rain on your own parade!

Tips To Protect Your Good Mood Continue reading What Can Emotional Exercise Benefits Do For You? →

Do You Know Which Heart Disease Symptom Could Kill You?

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Do You Know Which Heart Disease Symptom Could Kill You?

Heart disease is the number one killer in the US.

When you worry about heart disease you are probably thinking of a heart attack.

It’s important to be aware of the symptoms of a heart attack.

Getting help before it’s too late is key to your survival.

However, there is another symptom of heart disease that can sneak up on you, deteriorating your quality of life without you being aware that anything is wrong.

This very same heart disease symptom can also kill you instantly!

Do You Want To Know Which Heart Disease Symptom … OTHER than a heart attack …

Could Kill You Instantly? Continue reading Do You Know Which Heart Disease Symptom Could Kill You? →

Is Surrendering To the Now of Mindfulness Meditation Really Possible?

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Is Surrendering To the Now of Mindfulness Meditation Really Possible?

Mindfulness Meditation is a type of meditation that essentially involves focusing your mind on the present in a way that allows you to witness your thoughts and actions without judging yourself.

Is there a secret to allowing what is?

If there is a secret to Mindfulness Meditation, it is creating a still space that will serve as your doorway to Now.

Can you be still?

Does the constant conversation in your head ever stop?

A friend of mine had a particularly hard time with never stopping thought.  I’ll call her Pamela.

Pamela was a very together lady.

She ran a day care out of her home, and you never saw a place so clean, tidy and on schedule!

The woman appeared to have calm and serene down to a science.  When she picked up a bell and rang it, the toddlers buzzing about her feet jumped up and began singing “clean up clean up everybody everywhere, clean up clean up, everybody do your share”.

They all did their share and the room was clean in a flash.  It was an amazing sight to see.  I thought that only happened on television.

A super hero disguised as a little old lady!

I felt like I should ask for her autograph.  The woman had everything under control!

She became a good friend to me, and “Auntie Pam” to my young daughters.

When the two of us decided to take a meditation class together, I saw a side of Auntie Pam that shocked me. Continue reading Is Surrendering To the Now of Mindfulness Meditation Really Possible? →

Are You Too Proud To Heal From Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome?

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Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome

When you think of “shell shock” what comes to mind?

During World War One Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome was a huge problem. Doctors believed that the tell tale “thousand yard stare” was a sign that the close proximity of exploding shells had caused trauma to the brain.

If you take that reasoning into consideration, it is troublesome to discover that it was common practice for Doctors to prescribe rest away from the front for Officers, while enlisted men were often accused of being cowards and sent right back out to the battlefield.

Some were shot for cowardice, or punished in a variety of creative ways.  Though enlisted men would be more likely to have been in close proximity of exploding shells than Officers, wouldn’t they?

If you are likely to be shot on the spot or court martialed you aren’t very likely to seek help when you need it most.

It seems that the history of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is one of shame and persecution.

With soldier suicides being such a huge issue in today’s world, you hear a lot about what they are doing to identify those who need help in an effort to control the climbing death toll.

The struggle today is to get soldiers to admit that they need help before it’s too late.  They aren’t facing a firing squad, but they feel like they are letting their unit down.  They aren’t keeping up their end.

Admitting that you need help with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome feels like admitting a weakness.

When you think of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome you might think of soldiers at war.  However, emergency response workers are on the front lines of daily life.

Identifying those who need help among emergency response workers can be very difficult as well.  Admitting you need help might endanger your job and your livelihood.

Family caregivers are at risk as well.  Continue reading Are You Too Proud To Heal From Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome? →

Want an Easy To Follow Healthy Diet Plan?

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Want an Easy To Follow Healthy Diet Plan?
Want an Easy To Follow Healthy Diet Plan?

Don’t you feel great when you plan ahead and prepare healthy foods for on the go?

The good food choices keep you feeling your best.  Being prepared and having all your bases covered feels great as well.

Have a few hectic days in a row, and it really exhausts your reserves.  Grab unhealthy fast food and keep a frantic pace for even one day and you are running on empty, have several in a row and it creates a deficit that can be hard to recover from.

Once you establish a new healthy diet plan it will create continued success only so long as you stick with it.

Sue lost 120 pounds over about 2 years.

She was so proud of her accomplishment!

Sue knew that she would never go back to the way she used to live.  Her new life was worth all the difficult changes she’d made.  She would gladly trade all those comfort foods that used to be so much a part of her day, for the friends and activities that now crowded her busy schedule.

Life as Sue had become accustomed to it ended abruptly one night when she answered the phone and found out that her father had experienced a major health crisis and her family was gathering at his bedside.

The next morning she bought tickets and made arrangements for the trip back to her parents home in Montana.

Her sister picked her up at the airport and 2 weeks of emotional highs and lows followed.  Sue was glad to have the support of her family, but she still found herself needing those familiar comfort foods she had given up to reach her goal weight.  She was worried about the pounds she was packing back on, but figured she would have to deal with it once she could return to some sort of normalcy.

At the funeral, Sue just could not stop eating.  All the foods of her childhood where spread out on a table, and the raw heart ache from losing her father had her reeling.

On the flight back home the following morning, Sue felt puffy and bloated as well as heavy with grief.  She looked forward to getting back to a routine.

Coming home was certainly comforting.  But Sue was surprised to find that she had cravings that drove her crazy.  It wasn’t as easy to step back into the regiment that she had created for the 2 years of successful weight loss.

Her heart was aching, and it seemed to cause an appetite for all the wrong foods and it was next to impossible to ignore the relentless cravings!

Green Smoothies were something Sue had always resisted.  She didn’t mind eating wholesome foods, but the thought of blending them up and drinking them made her want to gag.

She began to give the disgusting green drink more thought when one of her friends shared her testimonial about complete relief from cravings almost immediately after starting Green Smoothies.

Sue almost hated to admit it when her cravings stopped after her very first Green Smoothie.  She wasn’t enjoying chewing her breakfast every morning, but hey whatever works!

The pain of grieving kept Sue using Emotional Freedom Technique to work through her most difficult times, but those Green Smoothies were the secret weapon that kept her from sabotaging herself with comfort food.

When you get off on the wrong track, Green Smoothies can rescue your healthy diet plan!

To Maintain All the Benefit Your Green Smoothies Offer …

Remember these tips: Continue reading Want an Easy To Follow Healthy Diet Plan? →