Pregnancy is miraculous and one of the most beautiful things on this planet. (And congratulations if you are planning to bring a new life into this world.) While you’re focusing on creating a healthy pregnancy, though, it’s important to address pregnancy workouts. One of the biggest questions I get from pregnant women is “Is it
Eastern medicine practices have always placed a strong emphasis on prevention and treating diseases naturally whenever possible. Now, in many ways, Western medicine is catching up, particularly when it comes to utilizing tai chi moves to improve the mind, body and heart. A growing number of people around the world are now interested in traditional
When thinking of calisthenics, if you have a mental picture of the military performing jumping jacks to cadence, you’re not far off. The truth is, though, that calisthenics exercises are rooted much deeper in history, dating all the way back to ancient Greece. (More on that later, interesting stuff.) When it comes to your personal
Ever notice how the calf muscle seems to get little attention? Rarely do group fitness classes dedicate blocks of time to calves like they do for ab workouts or the butt. While the calf muscle often goes unnoticed as an important muscle, but it’s more important than you think. And sure, some are born with a nice
If you were to ask me what exercise I would perform if given only one option, it would undoubtedly be the burpee. Burpees hits almost every muscle group while providing the aerobic and endurance benefits. It even helps strengthen the core. (It is important to note, though, the person has to be in proper shape to start
The main purpose of mindful eating is to change your relationship with food. Mindful eating is anything but a “diet” — in fact, it’s basically the opposite! Changing the way you eat (as opposed to just what foods you eat) is not just about developing discipline over your food preferences or necessarily losing weight. Instead,
Most people view body fat as relatively harmless and merely something we want to banish to look and feel better, but did you know that certain types of dangerous fats that are stored around your organs can also contribute to heart disease, dementia, cancer, depression and many other diseases? Stored excess body fat and obesity
We all have powerful built-in biological mechanisms that kick in when we don’t get the energy (calories) we need from food. Under-eating for your body’s needs can trigger a primal drive to increase calorie intake, along with a slowing down of your metabolism. This is basically the complete opposite of what every person, whether dieting
Any guess at what disorder affects 40 percent of people over the age of 60? It’s called metabolic syndrome, which unfortunately does not simply mean that your metabolism is slow or out of whack. Metabolic syndrome is a metabolic disorder that involves not one, but a combination of three or more of the following health issues: abdominal obesity,
Body “fat” overall gets a bad reputation, especially visceral fat that is known to increase the risk for health problems like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Few of us would ever want to purposefully increase our fat stores, considering “excess dysfunctional adipose tissue” (extra fat!) is considered a major risk factor for dozens of diseases from hypertension
