The Importance of Physical Fitness – Befit pk

Nutrition

Healthy Eating

The importance of physical fitness cannot be emphasized enough. In today's society that is moving towards a more sedentary lifestyle, there is a greater need than ever to increase the daily activity level to maintain both cardiovascular fitness and body weight.

Benefits of Physical Fitness

Staying active means keeping your body functioning at a high level. Regular exercise will maintain the performance of your lungs and heart to most efficiently burn off excess calories and keep your weight under control. Exercise will also improve muscle strength, increase joint flexibility and improve endurance.

Another main benefit of physical activity is that it decreases the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death in America. Additionally, it can decrease your risk of stroke, colon cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure. Regular exercise has been long associated with a fewer visits to the doctor, hospitalization and medication.

Exercising does not have to be something boring and dreaded. It can be something that you enjoy that helps to increase the overall happiness in your life, as well as relieve symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety. Try to find some activities that give you pleasure, or even a buddy to do them with so that exercise is a fun and enjoyable activity (and one that you continue on a regular basis because it adds something good to your life).

What Activities Are Beneficial?

It is not what you are doing, as much as it is whether or not you are doing something. Any type of moderate activity like walking, swimming, biking or organized sports can contribute to your physical fitness. Explore your fitness options at your local gym, community center or community college for courses and organized activities that may suit your lifestyle and interests.

To get the most benefit, you should begin by warming up for 5 to 10 minutes to increase your blood flow and prepare your body for activity. Follow the warm up with several minutes of stretches to increase your flexibility and lower your risk for injury. Complete your selected exercise or activity for 20 to 30 minutes and conclude the workout with 5 to 10 minutes of cool down and stretching.

Who Needs Physical Fitness?

Everyone! It is important for all people to stay active throughout their lives. Because of busy work and home lives, more than 60% of Americans do not get the recommended amount of physical fitness daily and these numbers generally increase with age.

Throughout adulthood is one of the most important times to maintain an exercise regimen. This is the ideal time to maintain your weight, build strong bones and prevent many chronic health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.

Many adults do too much exercise at once. After a long work-week, many people try to fit lots of activity into the weekend and push their bodies excessively. This sudden increase in activity can raise the risk of injury which would then stop activity for weeks. Experts recommend working out several times over the course of a week with varying exercises for the most benefit to your health.

·         Can You Really Replace Your Meals With a Shake?

• Stay on Track Over the Weekend With These 3 Healthy Brunch Recipes
  
• Subway's 50 Percent Soy "Chicken" and 5 Other Times Fast Food Betrayed You
  

7 Ways to Break Away From Sugar

Americans consume entirely too much sugar, and our food supply is flooded with the sweet stuff. However, with a few trips up your sleeve, you can cut back on added sugar without sacrificing flavor or feeling deprived.

The average American consumes 3-6 times more added sugar than the max that leading nutrition experts recommend. In fact, you are likely consuming more sugar than you even realize because of how ubiquitous it is in our food supply. Even if you pass on dessert and think you’re keeping your sugar intake down, you’re probably still taking in too much of the sweet stuff. Surprisingly, sugar is often added to foods that do not really taste sweet, such as salad dressings, condiments, breads, crackers, sauces, and frozen fare. Case in point: one tablespoon of ketchup contains a teaspoon of sugar!

A whopping 74 percent of packaged foods in the U.S. have added sugar. Having too much sugar in your diet can not only lead to weight gain because of the additional empty calories, it significantly boosts your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dental cavities. Data has consistently shown that it is nearly impossible to meet your nutrient needs without going over on calories if more than 10 percent of the total calories you eat in a day come from added sugar.

What To Do ...

Scour Food Labels

If you aren’t already doing so, check out the food labels to see how much sugar is in the item you are selecting. Compare similar products to determine which brand or type contains the least amount of sugar. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently requires that food manufacturers list only the total grams of sugar in a product, but soon they will be required to also list “Added Sugars” which the FDA defines as, “sugars that have been added during the processing or packaging of a food.”

What’s in a Name?

You can find 61 different names for added sugar on food labels. There are many different forms of sugar and most often they’re not listed as “sugar” on the ingredient list. If you see any of these words, they are code for sugar: honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, dextrose, maltose, evaporated cane juice, fruit juice concentrate, and many others.

Replace Sweets with Fruit

Fruit is like nature’s candy, and it can satisfy your sweet tooth without unraveling your healthy eating plan. Although fruit does contain some natural sugars, it’s also loaded with beneficial nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidants.

Cut Portion Size

Eliminating sweets completely is not only difficult, it’s unrealistic. Rather than swearing off sugar forever, aim to indulge in sweets occasionally and only in small portions. Indulging in small amounts of your favorite sweets can keep you from feeling deprived, and feeling deprived can lead to you obsessing over a certain “off-limits” food and then overindulging in them. If you’re a fan of chocolate, try having a square of dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate. Dark chocolate has a more intense flavor so you’ll end up satisfied with a smaller portion. Also, pair small amount of sweets with non-sugary items. One of my favorite treats is a handful of cocoa nibs and pistachios. Yum!

Avoid Sugary Beverages

The sugar you consume in liquid form (think soda, frozen sweetened coffee drinks, sports beverages, juice, energy drinks, etc.) is the largest contributor of added sugar in the U.S. diet. Research confirms that your body processes sugars in liquids differently than sugars in solid foods, especially solid foods that contain fiber. You don’t feel as full from liquid calories than from calories in solids. Some lower-sugar beverage options include water, unsweetened tea, plain milk, and coffee. Try putting some fresh or frozen fruit slices in your water for a hint of flavor without much sugar, or add a little unsweetened cocoa powder to your cup of joe for more flavor.

Be Wary of “Low-Fat” Foods

When manufacturers remove some of the fat from foods, they usually replace the fat with added sugar to improve palatability. Fat is not evil — in fact, we need some fat in our diet for normal bodily functions. Beware that being labeled low-fat or fat-free does not mean it’s always a healthy choice.

Spice Up Your Life

Rather than buying flavored oatmeal packs or overloading your latte with sugar, add in a sprinkle of sweet spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, or cloves. Vanilla extract and unsweetened cocoa powder can also add a burst of flavor without any sugar.

The Best Exercise Machines at the Gym for Beginners

You shouldn't feel overwhelmed if you're new to working out at the gym. The best exercise machines for beginners can help you kickstart a new regimen.

Exercise in a public space can be a daunting experience for first-time gym-goers, especially with practically zero workout experience. Where do you start? How do you build a workout, and which machines should you use? If you’re new to the gym, or simply haven’t used exercise machines before, it’s important to familiarize yourself with how to properly use different pieces of equipment. The best exercise machines at the gym for beginners can help ramp up your workout intensity and improve your physical health.

Elliptical Machine

Conventional wisdom might point you toward a treadmill if you’re new to the gym, but the elliptical machine is a prototypical starter kit for beginners. The elliptical is a low-impact machine that effectively elevates heart rate to fat-burning capacity. Its soft impact on joints and ligaments make it one of the best devices to utilize for warming up, and long-lasting cardio sessions. Best of all, it’s easy to use. Simply stand in an upright position with both feet positioned on the pedals, place your hands on the handle grips, and start moving. Gradually increase your speed and resistance for a more intense workout experience.

Rowing Machine

The rowing machine is another effective piece of workout equipment for beginners at the gym. The rower is a low-impact machine that can be used for full-body warm up and moderate- to high-intensity cardio sessions. The rower requires you to use your upper and lower body in unison, which means you need to be synchronized in order to maximize the benefits of your efforts. For use, sit comfortably on the sliding seat and fasten your feet in the foot loops for stability. Position your hands equidistant on the handlebar, slightly arch your back, and simultaneously pull with your hands, and push with your feet. Move with a steady motion.

Spin Bike

The spin bike is one of the best workout devices for high-intensity cardio activity. If you’re new to the gym, you’re probably not ready for a spin class, but using a stationary bike is a great method of ramping up your heart and building cardiovascular strength. Adjust your seat to your height, sit in a slight, upright position and grab ahold of the bike’s handlebars. Similar to most pieces of cardio equipment, it’s important to choose a comfortable level of resistance as you elevate your heart rate during your workout.

Pull-up Bar

The pull-up bar is a relatively simple piece of exercise equipment but is extremely effective in helping you build upper body strength. If you’ve never performed a pull-up before, it might be best to use an assisted pull-up bar to stabilize your range of motion. To perform an assisted pull-up, place your hands atop the handlebar at shoulder-length, and rest your knees on the padded bar. With your arms fully extended, pull with your upper body until your arms are bent at a 45-degree angle, and slowly decline. Try to complete 10 repetitions in each set.

Can You Really Replace Your Meals With a Shake?

Is it really possible to replace your meals with a shake? Even then, is it worth doing?

Shakes have been a thing for quite some, but recently, drinks designed to replace entire meals have been picking up steam. With Silicon Valley approval and well-designed ad campaigns, meal replacement shakes are a hot new thing. But, after all the flashy marketing and promise of a foodless future, is it really possible to replace your meals with a shake? Even then, is it worth doing? Here’s the rundown on going foodless.

Nutrition (and a Lack Thereof)

When looking at your diet, it’s easy to look at only the calories coming in and the calories going out. However, that isn’t the entire picture. After all, your body needs essential nutrients, like vitamins, to function well. So, if you’re considering going on a meal replacement shake diet, don’t just look at the calories; also research your nutrients.

You want to avoid going only by what’s written on the front of the box – something that claims to be “100 percent organic” might look great, but it doesn’t really tell you if it’s an adequate replacement for a full meal. Keep in mind, too, that some pre-made shakes might come packed with sugars that make them tastier but also less healthy.

Side Effects

Even if you’re able to provide your body with all its essential nutrients, which seems to be possible with some shakes, are there other side effects to going all liquid. Namely, it might take your stomach a little while to get used to the consequences of having little substance to digest. Some who’ve tried going on an all shake diet have reported being surprised by their frequent … bathroom emergencies in the beginning stages of their new diet.

Besides that, many of those who start drinking meal replacement shakes do so to either lose or gain weight. Depending on the kinds of shakes you’re drinking, you might find the same phenomena happens to you, which can, in turn, affect other areas of your health.

Lack of Variety and Substance

There’s one other aspect to replacing your meals that has nothing to do with your health but is just important. Regardless of how a shake practically replaces your diet, could you actually live without food? Eating is one of the great joys in life, and with it comes a lot of variety.

If meal replacement shakes are anything, they’re certainly not varied – you’ll be lucky to have a small handful of different flavors, all with the same texture. Missing “real food” is actually one of the biggest hurdles shake dieters face when they swear off solids.

The Bottom Line

So, in the end, is it possible to live only on meal replacement shakes? The short answer seems to be yes, but with a caveat – would you really want to? If you’re curious about trying about meal replacement shakes, the obvious answer is for you to ease into it, switching out one meal each day with a shake, just to see how it goes. Most importantly, though: if you’re planning on making big changes to your diet, talk about it with your doctor!

Stay on Track Over the Weekend With These 3 Healthy Brunch Recipes

Hungry and waking up late this weekend? Try these quick, healthy and tasty brunch ideas!

Try these healthy, fresh and quick breakfast meals for a brunch with yourself or friends. Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day because your brain cannot store glucose overnight. So to get started on your day, make sure you get a good balance of nutrients, carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

Hot Bulgur Breakfast Cereal

Ingredients:

• 3 cups presoaked bulgur wheat cereal
• 1 ½ cups soy milk or almond milk
• 2 tablespoons fresh ground almond butter or peanut butter
• 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 cup chopped pear or Chinese apple
• 1/4 cup tart Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced almonds, toasted
• 2 teaspoons honey
• Dash of salt

Preparation:

Combine one cup uncooked bulgur and 1 1/2 cups one percent soy milk in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning toss the grains and combine the bulgur cereal with the almond or soy milk. Improve your Walking Posture 

Combine bulgur, almond butter, and a dash of salt, stirring well. Add apple; toss. Combine yogurt and goat cheese, stirring until smooth. Divide bulgur mixture among 4 bowls; top evenly with yogurt mixture. Sprinkle with almonds, and drizzle with honey.

Goat Cheese Apple Toast

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of whole grain or sprouted grain bread
• ½ crisp apple
• 2 ounces of goat cheese
• Honey (optional)
• Dash of Pepper
• Dash of Salt

Preparation:

Slice apple into thin slivers. Toast bread to desired crispness and then spread one ounce of goat cheese on each slice. Lay slivers of apple on top of the bread and add a dash of salt, pepper and optional drizzle of honey.

Healthy Eggs Benedict

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 large organic eggs, at room temperature
• 2 slices Tofurky deli meat- your choice!
• 1/8 cup light Vegannaise
• 1/8 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt or plain soy yogurt
• 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard or Spicy Mustard
• 1 tsp Earth Balance or other Margarine, at room temperature
• 1/2 medium fresh heirloom tomato
• 2 slices of whole grain bread or one whole grain English muffin
• 2 Tbsp chives, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic

Preparation:

Fill a large skillet halfway up with water and bring to a boil. Add vinegar; reduce heat so water is barely simmering.

Crack the eggs into an egg poacher or slowly into the water and allow to cook for about 3-4 minutes until the egg whites no longer look runny. Scoop out with a spoon with holes and allow to dry on a paper towel.

If you do not like the flavor of vinegar you can also poach eggs in the microwave without vinegar due to the all-around heating.

In a cast iron skillet, heat your choice of Tofurkey sausage, deli meat or other protein food item and sliced garlic cloves on medium heat until it is thoroughly cooked. This should be quick — under 1-2 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.

To make the sauce, combine in a bowl the Vegannaise, the yogurt, lemon juice and lemon zest and the mustard into a thick sauce. Microwave or heat on the stove until hot and then add in Earth Balance and stir until thoroughly mixed.

Slice tomatoes into thick slices. Toast each slice of bread and then top with Tofurky slices, tomato slices, an egg, toasted garlic slices and two tablespoons of sauce. Garnish with chives.6 Medical Advances That Went from Science Fiction to Science Fact

Subway's 50 Percent Soy "Chicken" and 5 Other Times Fast Food Betrayed You

These disturbing fast food facts may make you reconsider your diet.

A Canadian investigative news series recently reported Subway’s chicken patties aren’t all bird. CBC Marketplace enlisted third-party researchers to test the chicken from six popular fast food sandwiches.

The Trent University Wildlife Forensic DNA lab tasked with testing found that Subway’s Oven-Roasted Chicken contained a mere 54 percent chicken DNA, while Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki came in at 43 percent chicken. For those of you who flunked math in high school, that’s just over two-fifths.
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So what else is in there? Researchers say it’s soy. (Perhaps that’s actually good news for flexitarians?)

By comparison, patties from McDonald’s, Wendy’s, A&W, and Tim Hortons were all found to contain more than 84 percent chicken DNA. (Apparently, seasoning, marinating, and processing can all bring down a 100-percent score.)

Naturally, Subway disputed the claims, citing flaws in the study. The restaurant chain, which serves about 5,300 sandwiches per minute, eventually released independently conducted tests which refute the findings, claiming that the chicken in question contains less than one percent soy protein.

But the truth is that this isn’t the first time a popular fast food chain has been called out for “dubious” ingredients. If you’re consuming this stuff, you can never really know what you’re eating.

Listed here are some of the grossest fast food scams to make the news in recent years.

1. The Famous McDonald’s “Pink Slime” Burger

British chef Jamie Oliver took on fast food giant McDonald’s when he exposed the company’s practice of “washing” beef fat in pink-hued ammonium hydroxide and using the mixture to fill their patties. According to the Naked Chef, the offcuts used are unfit for human consumption prior to the “sliming” process.

Jamie finally won out against the fast food chain when they announced they would change their recipe.

2. Wendy’s Chili: Sandy Goodness?

Wendy’s Rich and Meaty Chili is low in fat and rich in taste. But what is it that gives Wendy’s chili that distinctive taste? It might just be silicon dioxide. Sometimes known as silica, it’s a chemical compound found in quartz stones and sand. That’s grainy goodness.

3. The “Premium Egg Blend” That Contains A Bunch of Chemicals (And No Eggs)

When Forbes writer David DiSalvo decided to investigate whether the egg patties in some of the country’s most popular breakfast sandwiches actually contained real eggs, his findings were more than a little bit disturbing. Subway’s “eggs” contained a strange brew of eggs and a so-called “premium egg blend.” In the premium egg blend? Dimethylpolysiloxane, a type of silicone, glycerin, a solvent found in soap, calcium silicate, a sealant that is used on concrete, and propylene glycol, a solvent that’s also used in anti-freeze. Looks like the days of simply cracking an egg are long gone.

4. Pizza Sauces: FDA-Approved Maggots

Thought your favorite pizza sauce was safe from all this fast food grossness? Nope. According to a guide from the FDA’s Inspections, Compliance, Enforcement, and Criminal Investigations section, tomato-based paste, pizza, and other sauces are seized upon detection of “30 or more fly eggs” or “2 or more maggots” per 100 grams. Yummy.

5. Anti-Freeze Iceberg Lettuce?

Most fast food restaurants don’t offer a list of the exact ingredients in their lettuce — though you might have naively thought they wouldn’t need to. Unfortunately, propylene glycol, a chemical also used in anti-freeze, is a common additive used by fast food chains to keep lettuce leaves looking fresh and crispy. Propylene glycol is considered safe for consumption — it’s also found in sexual lubricants, by the way — but that doesn’t mean you should eat it.

5 of the Weirdest Fitness Gadgets

There isn’t much novelty surrounding fitness gadgets anymore. They’re simply too mainstream. Well, you haven’t seen these strange gadgets, which purport to help you stay fit in pretty strange ways. Could these gadgets change your life? Maybe, but you’ll look a little odd doing it.

Sensoria Smart Sock

You might have heard of smart shoes (which are weird enough on their own), but smart socks?! Yup. Obviously, no article of clothing is safe in the race to make everything “smart” — even your socks. Sensoria, a fitness technology company, is the brains behind the Smart Sock, which pairs with Bluetooth to count your steps, speed, cadence, and even foot landing technique. Though, at a couple hundred dollars a pair, these socks you certainly won’t want to lose to the dryer.

Treadmill Bikes

Treadmills exist for a pretty simple reason: they let you go for a walk when the weather or environment don’t permit you to exercise outside. But, what if you could combine the convenience of a treadmill with the great outdoors? Wait, what? Yes, treadmill bikes are a thing, and yes, they look super weird. And, not to lie, they look pretty fun. But there’s still that logical leap to get over. How, exactly, is this that much better than simply walking with your feet on the ground? Well, it is faster than regular walking, so if you’ve ever felt like speed walking without all the extra effort, this is probably your best chance.

Shake Weight

It’s easy to rag on the Shake Weight. The infomercial superstar made waves a few years ago, and not in a good way, for its odd commercials and the … suggestive motions you have to make to use it. But have we been being too tough on poor old Shake Weight? Probably not. While shaking anything at all for an extended period of time is going to burn calories, you’re probably better off spending your time working on a more traditional workout. Enjoy it for the novelty? Well then, feel free to shake that weight.

Vibrating Belts

Don’t be fooled — weird fitness devices aren’t anything new. As long as fitness activities have existed, there have probably been some nonsensical methodologies to go along with them. Case in point are those vibrating belt machines that were all the rage during the 1900s. All you had to do was step onto the stand, wrap the belt around your waist, flip a switch, and jiggle that fat away, baby! Did it look interesting? Absolutely. Did it work? Not at all.5 Ways to Prevent Hepatitis 

The Hula Chair

What if you could get an awesome workout while you worked? Such is the promise of many a fitness gadget, but there’s something a little special about the hula chair in that you look super silly when using it. At first glance, the hula chair looks like a regular office chair but turning it on reveals a more nefarious purpose. The stand-looking seat begins to swivel in a circular motion, twisting your body around and around as if you hula dancing. Total tropical paradise, all in the comfort of your cubicle.How To Ditch Your Razor Forever

Everything You Need to Know About the First-Ever Head Transplant

Sergio Canavero believes he'll be the first neurosurgeon to perform a successful head transplant. He even has a volunteer patient. Can he do it?

The announcement that the first-ever human head transplant is on the horizon has been met with a multitude of reactions. Some quickly filed it into the fake news category, while others eagerly await what they believe will be a scientific milestone looked back on for years to come. Still others wonder about the ethical implications, whether or not the procedure is successful.

Here’s everything you need to know about the head transplant scheduled for December 2017.

Italian neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero has been described as a “head case.”

But Canavero relishes his reputation as a mad scientist. In interviews, he has admitted to relating to "Spiderman’s" Peter Parker, a nerd with special powers.

At the very least, his intentions seem somewhat noble. Canavero has spoken at length about the potential benefits of surgical head transplants, which might provide a “cure” for people living with unbearable medical conditions. Life-extension — by attaching an old head to a young body—is another project of his. He once said that no one should accept death as a “natural outcome.”

Valery Spiridonov is volunteering his head.

Russian-born Spiridonov is a computer scientist who suffers from Werdnig-Hoffmann Disease, a rare and devastating condition that causes spinal muscular atrophy in the months after birth.

The disease means that Spiridonov, whose muscles are wasted, has lived his entire life in a wheelchair. With the help of assistive technology, he can feed himself, type, and move around.

While most of us can’t even begin to comprehend Spiridonov’s day-to-day reality, he says he’s well-aware of the risks involved in the surgery. But living with his condition also presents a risk; less than 10 percent of those affected even survive to see adulthood. He's made it even farther, but Spiridonov has said he simply won’t live long enough to wait around and see if the transplant is successful on someone else.

Canavero has dubbed the procedure “HEAVEN.”

That’s short for the “head anastomosis venture.” According to Canavero’s projections, it’ll take 36 hours, $20 million, and 150 people, including doctors, nurses, and even virtual reality engineers.

Back in 2013, Canavero described his plan in Surgical Neurology International, later presenting the paper in a keynote address to the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgeons.

Two teams will work simultaneously on Spiridonov and the donor — a brain-dead patient whose family will have to agree to the transplant. The procedure involves cooling Spiridonov’s head temperature to between 12 and 15 degrees Celsius, leaving him temporarily brain-dead. After that, the race is on: Canavero and his team will have about an hour to conduct the transplant before the brain dies.

The most challenging part of the procedure will be cutting through and re-attaching the spinal cords, a task that will require a $200,000 diamond nanoblade. Next, a custom-made crane will be used to lower Spiridonov’s head into place, while polyethylene glycol will facilitate the fusion of the spinal cord.Daily Exercise Weight Loss

Following the transplant, Spiridinov will be kept in an induced coma for four weeks so that his condition can be monitored.

Critics have called Canavero’s plan “unethical.”

More than a few experts in the field have voiced concerns with Canavero’s proposed surgery. Some say that connecting millions of nerve fibers simply isn’t possible. Others aren’t so sure that the immune system will accept the new head. Many call the evidence that Canavero is using to back up the procedure — he has performed some terrifying experiments on animals — dubious at best.

Even if the procedure were possible, there’s no getting around the ethical questions. What happens if the patient dies on the operating table? Is Canavero guilty of murder? Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at NYU, dismissed the whole thing as “ludicrously stupid,” saying that we’re closer to seeing a human head on an artificial body than a real one.

But Canavero remains committed to his plan, explaining that “every medical and scientific marvel” was first met with outrage. Whether Canavero is a genius or off his rocker, we'll have to wait and 3 Side Perks That Justify Joining That Fancy Gym

4 Healthy-ish Ways to Satisfy Your Cheese Craving

Think cheese has to be unhealthy? Think again. Try one of these serving ideas to get your cravings satisfied.

For most people, cheese is one of the first things to go when they consider moving to a fat loss diet plan. After all, cheese is relatively high in calories and contains a decent amount of calories. Both things that you are probably cutting back on now that you’re trying to maintain or lose your weight.

But, what if that craving just won’t let up? How can you deal? The fact is, there are some ways that you can include cheese in your diet without breaking your "calorie bank." You just need some clever meal preparation techniques. Remember that while cheese does provide fat and calories, it also provides calcium and protein — two things you do want to consume.

Let’s look at some of the healthy ways that you can incorporate this food into your menu.

Try Protein Packed Cream Cheese Cheesecakes

Cream cheese is an excellent cheese variation to get into your diet because you can find fat-free varieties of this cheese. If you do opt for the fat-free variety, you’ll get only 20 calories per tablespoon along with a couple grams of protein. It can easily be a part of a healthy diet plan.

Consider preparing your own protein-packed cheesecake by mixing together whey protein powder, cream cheese, eggs, and stevia. Look for a variety of recipes online — there are many high protein cheesecake versions that will keep your diet in check.

Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese Over Baked Sweet Potatoes

Another type of cheese to consider is Parmesan cheese. This cheese variety also comes in light versions and doesn’t contain all that many calories at just 45 per two tablespoon serving. It’s a stronger flavored cheese as well, so often all you need is about a tablespoon or so to really taste the flavor.

To make use of this cheese, try baking up some delicious sweet potatoes with a little salt, pepper, and rosemary and towards the end of the cooking process, sprinkle over with some Parmesan cheese. It’ll add a whole new twist to this complex carbohydrate source.

Prepare A Healthier Pizza

If pizza is what you are after, fret not, you can have this dish and still maintain your goal body weight. To lighten up this classic, simply opt to use a whole wheat soft tortilla as your crust rather than the traditional thick doughy pizza crust. Brush that with some tomato or pizza sauce, and then layer on the diced vegetables, shrimp, pre-grilled chicken, or whatever other lean protein source you want. Sprinkle over top some oregano and then add a light serving of reduced fat mozzarella cheese. As everything else in this recipe is relatively low in fat and calories, you can afford the few extra calories that the cheese provides.Top Daily Exercise For Weight Loss

Place it in the oven to bake and you’ll be eating a delicious pizza in minutes.

Snack On Cottage Cheese Before Bed

Finally, the last way to get that cheese craving met is to serve up some low fat cottage cheese before bed. Cottage cheese is another good source of protein and will only provide a couple grams of fat total, so is an optimal pre-bed snack. The protein found in cottage cheese is also slower digesting in nature, so will help fuel your body through the overnight fasting period.

Need to add a little flavor? No problem. Just stir in some natural peanut butter and you’ll be all set.

So there you have some fast and easy ways to satisfy your cheese craving. As you can see, it’s not nearly as hard as you may have thought.

6 Medical Advances That Went from Science Fiction to Science Fact

Wondering which futuristic movies containing science fiction are now a reality? What you'll learn may surprise you.

Some advances in medicine are no longer science fiction, as dreams have become reality for many lucky patients. Seeing how far medicine has come is fascinating, and future technological possibilities seem endless based on current advances.

1. Bionic Body Parts

Lose a limb or lost movement in your arms or legs? Having a difficult time seeing or hearing properly? New medical advances allow you to replace nonworking (or non-existent) body parts with bionic (machine) parts that work just as well as the original blueprints. Bionic cochlea to improve hearing, retinas to improve eye site, and bionic arms and legs that look and move just like the real things have gone from science fiction to science fact, improving the quality of life for many lucky patients. New technology also allows patients with bionic limbs to move those limbs using just their minds.How to get Relief from Neck Pain 

2. Arm and Face Transplants

Kidney transplants have been taking place since 1954, says Brigham and Women’s Hospital. However, arm and face transplants once thought of as science fiction are now medical fact. U.S. News and World Report says in 2016, Brigham and Women’s Hospital successfully performed a double arm transplant that will feel like and move like original arms from the donor. Patients with severe burns or other facial malformations now have opportunities for face transplants from deceased donors, with new facial features from those donors.

3. Medically Engineered Body Tissues

Have you imagined that one dast School of Medicine says replacement tissues and organs — such as blood vessels, skin, bladders, esophagus, trachea, muscle, and other body tissues — have been engineered in labs by scientists and successfully used to treat diseases in humans. Scientists are currently working on finding ways to manufacture organs like kidneys, hearts, livers, and pancreases to use in transplantation procedures.

4. Cancer Vaccines

Many people at risk for certain cancers are now surviving, thanks to new cancer vaccines. HPV vaccinations help prevent cervical cancer by vaccinating against the HPV virus, a major cause of cervical cancer. Hepatitis B virus vaccines help protect against chronic hepatitis B infection, a cause of liver cancer. Wondering if any cancer vaccines help with cancer treatment? The answer is yes! The National Cancer Institute says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved cancer treatment vaccines for men with metastatic prostate cancer (which increased survival rates of men with this cancer), and for patients with metastatic melanoma (skin cancer).

5. Brain Implants

Implanting an electrical device into part of the human brain that controls hand movement (the device is linked to implants in the arm) has helped a tetraplegic man move his hand using just his thoughts, according to PubMed Health. This implantation procedure allowed the man who was paralyzed (due to a cycling accident) from the neck down to regain some control of his head and arm. The new breakthrough shows promise for paralyzed individuals hoping to regain limb movement. However, research in this realm is still in the early phases.

6. Wireless Pacemakers

Pacemakers, which help regulate heartbeats in patients with heart abnormalities, are now smaller than ever — and don’t even require surgical implantation or wires. According to the American Heart Association, new wireless pacemakers are inserted into patients' hearts by catheter through leg veins, without having to cut into the chest cavity, leave scars,

How to Lose Weight

An important and all-too-frequently overlooked part of fitness is flexibility training. As most people focus on their cardiovascular fitness and strength, flexibility exercises are often forgotten. Being limber by increasing your flexibility will help you with a host of other exercises as well as make your day-to-day tasks easier and safer. Doctors and physical therapists agree — you must tackle fitness with a three-pronged approach by including cardiovascular exercise, strength training, and flexibility conditioning.

As you age, your tendons, muscles, and ligaments will lose some of their elasticity. Additionally, our culture has gradually become more sedentary, and those of you who spend much of your day sitting at a desk are more prone to decreased flexibility and tightness. Improving flexibility does so much more than help you prevent injury. In fact, being flexible improves posture, which in turn allows you to show off that hot bod you’ve been working so hard on. Countless hours at the gym and diligently sticking to your healthy, well-balanced diet will not get you far if you routinely slouch. Improving your flexibility also helps you perform exercises that require a full range of motion, such as squats or dead lifts. As you stretch your muscles, you are lengthening your muscle fibers (tendons) that attach them to your bones. The longer your muscle fibers are, the larger the size of the muscles you can achieve through strength training exercises.

Stretching to increase flexibility also boosts circulation, thus helping to decrease your odds of developing various chronic diseases such as diabetes.

Yoga

While most people know that yoga can help reduce stress and improve focus, did you realize that yoga is also an excellent way to build muscle and enhance your flexibility and balance? All types of yoga can up your flexibility and strength, both with static poses where you are holding a pose for several seconds, or continually moving throughout poses.

Pilates

While pilates does not specifically emphasize flexibility to the degree that yoga does, it does build strength — specifically core strength. Improving your core strength through pilates will increase your balance in yoga, ultimately resulting in greater flexibility. Consider pilates and yoga to be complementary. If you seek out an experienced pilates instructor and stress that flexibility be one of your overarching goals, that teacher can accommodate your request and incorporate extra flexibility training into the class.

Exercise Bands

Exercise bands are affordable, easy, effective, adaptable to a variety of fitness levels, can be used to exercise your entire body, and can be using with your current workout routine. Exercise bands improve flexibility without risk of injury and can be used practically anywhere.

Dancing

Dance takes every part of your body through a wide range of motion, improving flexibility and utilizing small muscle groups that may otherwise get neglected through traditional exercises, especially exercise machines. Dancing greatly improves your agility and combines both flexibility training with cardio, and you can easily add ankle weights or arm cuff weights to the intensity.

Foam Rollers

Foam rollers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but they are all designed to help you loosen the muscle fascia, increase circulation, and improve flexibility through something called “self-myofascial release.” Foam rollers can specifically help you ease tension on your IT band, lengthen your hamstrings, and enhance your spinal extension.

Calisthenics

Lunges and squats can do more than just make your butt look great in jeans — they are excellent exercises for improving your flexibility. Walking lunges, curtsy lunges, and side to side lunges all work different muscles and develop your flexibility. Add squats and push-ups to your routine to squeeze in some flexibility and strength training that can be done with no costly equipment or gym membership.Breakfast for Weight Loss

How To Ditch Your Razor Forever

At-home gadgets offer a compelling solution to the hair removal problem. Here's what you need to know before you buy one.

Summer’s coming, and we all know what that means. You’ll be busy shaving your legs morning, noon, and night in the hopes of avoiding a hairy situation. (Okay, not literally morning, noon, and night but you get the gist.) Unfortunately for those of us who loathe the razor — and who doesn’t, seriously? — hair trends come and go but stubble is never in style.

We’re willing to bet that like most women, you’ve tried other hair removal options and keep coming back to your razor. The reality is that waxing and epilators are painful, while depilatory creams are seriously stinky. Perhaps you’ve thought about getting laser hair removal but can’t justify the up to $2,000 price tag.

At the very least, shaving is fast, cheap, and relatively painless.

Luckily, technology has advanced in the hair removal department. And though It may sound too good to be true, we’re actually talking about permanent solutions, here. Today, new and surprisingly affordable gadgets can help you to remove unwanted body hair at home—and maybe even dump your razor for good. 

Here’s what you need to know about at-home laser hair removal.

The Gadgets: Not Cheap, But They Will Save You $$$ Long Term

An at-home laser hair removal system will cost you upwards of $300 USD. Though that might seem steep, it’s substantially less expensive than in-office laser hair removal, which will run you about $150 a visit. On average, between five and eight sessions are required. Compared to the ongoing cost of waxing or shaving — which can total upwards of a couple hundred per year — it’s actually a sound investment.

The most popular FDA-approved gadgets on the market? Here are a few:

• Tria Hair Removal Laser 4X ($449)
• elōsmē Me Classic ($299)
• Phillips Lumea Comfort IPL Hair Removal System ($229)
• LumaRx Full Body IPL Skin Beauty System ($449)
• Silk’n Flash&Go Express ($299)
• iLIGHT® Pro PLUS Quartz Intense Pulsed Light Hair Removal System ($399)
• iluminage Touch Permanent Hair Reduction System ($445)

It Isn’t For Everyone

Until recently, at-home laser hair removal tools weren’t available for people with medium-dark or dark skin tones. While that has changed — the iluminage Touch Permanent Hair Reduction System is suitable for all skin tones — it’s still important to read the list of skin and hair restrictions carefully. Other devices can’t distinguish light hairs, making them ineffective for people with blonde, gray, white, or red hair.

It Takes Time

Like in-office laser hair removal treatments, it will take a minimum of six weeks, which allows hair to fall out after subsequent growth cycles. The results aren’t always permanent — you may need to touch up from time to time. Thankfully, this is one of the benefits of having the machine on-hand.

It Hurts Like a B$#%@

Pain for beauty, as the old saying goes. The lasers deliver a pulsing sensation to your skin that’s powerful enough to stop your follicles from growing new hairs. It feels, to put it mildly, like a series of tiny claws are pinching at your skin over and over and over again. Naturally, bonier body parts hurt more than flabbier body parts.

Still, it may be worth it to just suck it up. The higher the intensity, the faster the results. Plus, you’ll find your skin gets used to it after a few zap sessions.

Do Not Laser Your Face (Or Your Lady Parts)

Obvious to some, not-so-obvious to others. Read the fine print carefully — most gadgets aren’t supposed to be used on sensitive areas, like the upper lip or genitals. Most devices can be used on the bikini line.

Still Not Convinced?

Hope you kept that razor.

3 Side Perks That Justify Joining That Fancy Gym

You should probably ditch your cheap gym membership.

Gym memberships come in a variety of pricing packages. From the basic run-of-the-mill membership at a brand-name chain to private club memberships, and all-inclusive country club access, not all gym memberships are the same. If you’re in the market for a new gym, it’s important to make a decision based on need, but also consider the benefits of what you might want. Most active gym-goers don’t seek out clubs that feature extravagant amenities. But, even if fancy gym memberships aren’t your thing, realizing the side perks of a more expensive athletic club membership might ultimately change how you perceive your needs.

Comfort and Technology

The average $10 per month gym membership might give you access to what you need, but you get what you pay for. Cheap gym memberships are convenient, but they often feature outdated equipment that frequently require repair, the unpleasant scent of ravaging body odor, and primetime crowds that make it borderline impossible to comfortably breathe. Paying for a fancy gym membership will eradicate most of these common complaints. If you’re ready for a more enjoyable workout experience, it might be time to foot the bill.

Fancy gyms allow you to use high-tech equipment that simulate running through the French Alps, as opposed to using a broken spin bike that features a broken pedal. As if that’s not an upgrade in itself, you can hydrate with spa water, enjoy complimentary towel service, and breathe clean air.

Luxurious Amenities

If you like the feeling of being pampered by excellent customer service and luxurious amenities, it might be time to make the switch. Fancy gym memberships often feature extremely clean workout conditions, but they also flaunt clean and well-maintained hot tubs, steam rooms, saunas, and showers.

Not in the mood for a workout? Fancy gyms will keep you coming in even on days when you’re not interested in exercise. The best of the best flaunt resort-like pools in serene outdoor surroundings with food and drink service. Your gym suddenly becomes more like a destination and less like a dreaded after-work errand in a comfortable environment that flaunts high-tech workout equipment, and luxurious resort-like amenities.

Splurging on Yourself

There’s a good chance that you work hard throughout the week and seldom have the opportunity to kick back and relax. If your cheap gym membership is failing to give you the satisfying sensation that you’re seeking, it’s time to splurge on yourself and start searching for a local athletic club that satisfies your desires. Cost is often a major determining factor in the gym memberships that people select, but your health and overall well-being should take precedent. Your gym doesn’t have to just be a place for exercise, it can also be a place of community, comfort, and relaxation. Fancy gym memberships are more expensive for good reason: They create more enjoyable experiences than the $10 gym.

The Best Shoes for Every Workout Style

Wondering what sort of shoes you need to match your workouts? You might not realize it, but not all shoes are made equal. A pair of running shoes may prevent you from performing Squats correctly, or your crosstrainers won't offer the support you need for your long-distance runs. Below, you'll find a list of the best shoes to fit your workout style:

CrossFit

If you're a CrossFitter, you're going to be looking at a cross-trainer style of shoe. Regular weightlifting shoes don't have enough cushioning for your high-impact jumps, and running shoes will throw off your balance when performing resistance training moves. Cross-trainers are designed to accommodate both heavy resistance training and high-impact cardiovascular exercise.

Sprint Training

For Sprint Training, you need a pair of shoes that has good cushioning on both the toe and heel of the shoe. The heel absorbs most of the impact for your slow runs, but your forefoot takes a beating when you sprint. Thicker cushioning is good—you don't need stability as much as support!

Resistance Training

For your traditional weightlifting, you need a pair of lifting shoes with the higher heel and lower forefoot design. The toe drop encourages proper form when doing Squats and Lunges, and can help to improve your posture. But be warned: these are not the shoes to use for your post-training cardio session.

HIIT Training

For High-Intensity Interval Training, you can use either cross-trainers or a more flexible running shoe. HIIT training can involve a lot of jumping and rapid movement, which requires both support/impact-reduction and stability. A low profile running shoe can make a great HIIT trainer!

Running/Jogging

For low-intensity, steady-state exercise, cushioning and support are the most important elements in a shoe. The cushioning will help to reduce the impact on your joints (and believe me, running and jogging both place a lot of impact on your spine, hips, knees, ankles, and feet). The support will give you a stable platform to push off of and encourage better posture for your run.

Marathon Running

Marathon running shoes should be a cross between incredibly comfortable and cushioned. You don't want a shoe that rubs your feet raw when you run, but you do need enough padding to keep your feet comfortable for your 4 plus hour run. You also want enough cushioning to reduce the impact on your joints.

Dance/Cardio/Plyo/Martial Arts/Aerobic Workouts

For these workouts, you need something that is both flexible and supportive. You want thick enough cushioning that the impact on your joints is reduced, but not so much cushioning that you lose your stability. You also want flexibility in the shoes for those quick lateral movements.

These shoes will pretty much cover any sort of workout you do. Remember, not all shoes in each category are created equal. You need to find a pair that suits your unique musculoskeletal structure, and which offers the right balance of comfort, cushioning, stability, support, and versatility. In the end, your shoes can make or break the workout!

10 Things You Didn't Know About Caffeine

Caffeine is an essential part of many people's days, here are 10 things you might not know about caffeine!

As long ago as 5,000 years ago, humans were consuming caffeinated beverages such as tea. Tea and coffee throughout history have been a highly valued and sought after commodity. Caffeine is naturally occurring in more than 60 foods including such well-known favorites as cocoa beans, coffee, and tea.

1. Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system which does help you to feel more alert and attentive. The flip side is that it may also exacerbate anxiety and the symptoms of anxiety. However, since caffeine does not build up in the body, the physical impacts of it will be excreted within 3-4 hours in healthy people. If you are a smoker, your body will metabolize it even faster.

2. For athletes, caffeine may enhance performance by helping you feel more alert and attentive.

3. Caffeinated beverages still count towards your overall daily fluid intake goals. Although known for its mild diuretic effect, caffeine does not cause electrolyte imbalance or dehydration. Although it counts towards your daily intake, be sure to drink lots of other fluids too.

4. Tolerance for caffeine can build up over time, so the effects may not be as impactful for more frequent drinkers.Tips to Reduce Migraine

5. Caffeine passes through breastmilk. Your intake will probably not bother your baby if you keep it down 1-2 cups per day. So enjoy your breakfast coffee and kombuchas in moderation.

6. Caffeine can inhibit iron and calcium absorption, so if you are worried about getting enough of either in your diet, make sure to space your calcium-rich foods or iron-rich foods away from your caffeinated beverages. One study found of iron absorption was reduced by nearly 40 percent when a cup of coffee was part of the meal and consumed with a hamburger.

7. Chocolate contains a surprisingly small amount of caffeine from what you might have assumed! The 5 milligrams of caffeine found in a cup of chocolate milk is small when compared with the more than 110 milligrams of caffeine found in 5 ounces of brewed coffee.

8. Drip coffee will give you a bigger caffeine boost because although it has less caffeine in it than an espresso per milliliter because you typically have a larger serving so it will provide you more in total.

9. Although there has been research into potential negative effects of caffeine, there has been no link between caffeine and cancer, fibrocystic disease, blood cholesterol levels, infertility, birth defects, osteoporosis, inflammatory bowel disease, attention deficit disorder, cardiovascular disease or ulcers. Even for those people who are worried about hypertension, studies have shown that caffeine may result only in a short, small rise in blood pressure, less of an impact that running or doing jumping jacks. Although caffeine may irritate your stomach lining.

10. You become more sensitive to caffeine with age, although the National Institutes of Health say that the effects of caffeine are the same for adults and children, although gender, ethnicity, and if you are a smoker or not, may cause differences in metabolism rates.

4 of the Most Daunting Competitive Eating Challenges

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?" —Robert Browning, "Andrea del Sarto"

A wise man once said, “Life is pain.” From aches and pains first thing in the morning to the gut-knotting anxiety caused by that upcoming presentation, everyone is all too familiar with their daily dose of pain. The upshot is that everyone — that wise man included — has to eat, and if life is pain and you have to eat, why not combine the two? These competitive eating challenges are the perfect opportunity to do so.

Paddy Long’s The Bomb

If you find yourself in the Windy City and feel like showing your body who’s boss, consider swinging by Paddy Long’s where you’ll find their world-famous creation, The Bomb. This beast is five pounds of beef, pork, and ground sausage wrapped in brown sugar bacon and slow-cooked in Paddy’s in-house pig cooker. Served with a massive side of fries, brave challengers have just forty-five minutes to clear their plates. Their reward? A T-shirt, a comped meal, and of course, eternal glory: a photo on the wall of victory.

San Francisco Creamery Co.’s The Kitchen Sink

Maybe savory isn’t the name of your game. If instead, you have an insatiable sweet tooth and an afternoon in the Bay Area, the San Francisco Creamery Co. has you covered. Their creation, The Kitchen Sink, consists of eight scoops of ice cream, three sliced bananas, a mountain of whipped cream, and heaps of toasted cherries and almonds. If you can finish this sugary Everest on your own and beat the previous fastest time, you’ll have yourself free ice cream for a year.

Nitally’s ThaiMex Cuisine’s Inferno Soup

Maybe you need more than just a free T-Shirt and a comped meal to subject your mind and body to the rigors of competitive eating. Maybe you need something more than a photo on the wall. And maybe Nitally’s in St. Petersburg, Florida has just the challenge for you. Their Inferno Soup challenge sits you in front of 48 ounces of soup made from bhut jolokia, a.k.a. the ghost pepper, a.k.a. one of the hottest peppers in the world. Challengers must be at least 18 years old and of sound body and mind, sober, and can’t get up once the challenge starts. If they can follow the rules and finish the meal within 30 minutes, they’ll walk away with a thousand dollars.

The Clinton Station Diner’s 8th Wonder

If a thousand dollars isn’t enough for you, though, there are rumors of another legendary meal with an even bigger cash reward. Never conquered by likes of mere mortals, the Clinton Station Diner in Clinton, New Jersey offers up a burger weighs in at 105 pounds. A group of 10 people are given 60 minutes to take on the legendary meal; should they complete the burger and follow the stipulations, they’ll walk away with $5,000. To date, no group has succeeded in the face of the 8th Wonder.

How to Make More Time to Workout

Tired of having no time to do your workout session? It is possible to find the time – with the following tips. Read on to learn how you can squeeze in that session.

Time. It’s something that almost every single one of us wishes we had more of but yet, have no power to change. Each and every one of us only gets 24 hours each day so it all comes down to how we make use of those hours and prioritize the things that are important to us.

If you have a demanding career, a family at home, and other social obligations you need to keep, you may wonder how you’ll ever fit in your workout program.

Not to fret. It is possible to carve time out of the busiest of schedules to fit fitness in. Let’s go over how you can do this.

Keep A Time Journal Log For One Week

The very first step to finding more time to workout is to actually keep track of where you are spending your time each week. It’s a great idea to keep a time journal log for the course of one week. Write down what you are doing during each hour during the day and how productive you are.

As you do this, also note any time that you may have spent doing things that weren’t productive. Once you start to see where you are wasting time, you may easily be able to see how you can re-arrange your schedule to make more time for fitness.

Remember, even if you only spend 5 minutes of each hour wasting time not doing anything, if you can cut that out, that will give you over an hour of extra time each day – which is more than enough to get a good workout. white Skin In Winter 

Set An Earlier Bedtime

The next tip to consider if you want to carve time for a workout is to set an earlier bedtime. This way, you can wake up earlier and get the workout in before you head out for your day. Most of us are wasting hours each night before bed watching TV, surfing our smart phones or going on the Internet. Do you really need to be doing this? Most often, not.

Make a few changes so that you can go to bed earlier and wake up earlier to get the workout in.

Skip Your Leisurely Lunch

Most of us get one hour for lunch at work. Look at your day to day routine. How are you spending this time? If you’re going out with co-workers, browsing the internet at your work computer, or just fiddling around chatting with others in the office, it’s time to get productive.

Rather than taking an hour to eat (or do other random things!), take 20 minutes to eat and then head out for a 30-40 minute power walk or jog. This is a great way to fit in fitness during the day so you don’t have to worry about it later on. you might even look into a fitness class hosted at work (if you have a wellness program on site) or just outside of work at a local gym.

Check Your Workout Itself

Finally, be sure to assess your workout itself. Did you know that you can get a terrific workout in with just four minutes to spare? Tabata training is a hot form of interval training where you perform one intense full body exercise for 20 seconds, rest for 10 and then repeat that 8 more times to make up the four minute session.

While this is a seriously short workout, you can still see excellent cardiovascular, fat loss, and power building benefits from it, so if you’re really short on time, give it a try.

Don’t let a busy schedule stop you any longer. Try these tips and you can make the most of your busy day.

Everything You Need to Know About Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

Both men and women have a pelvic floor, although pelvic floor dysfunction is much more prevalent in women than in men. In women, the pelvic floor refers to the muscles, ligaments, connective tissues and nerves that support the bladder, uterus, vagina and rectum in a kind of sling. For men, the pelvic floor refers to the muscles, ligaments and connective tissues around the prostate, bladder, rectum and other pelvic organs. Pelvic floor dysfunction refers to when the sling, sometimes also described as a hammock, fails to support the organs because it becomes weak or damaged.

Types:

There are three types of pelvic floor dysfunctions: urinary incontinence, which causes a lack of bladder control, bowel incontinence, which causes a lack of bowel control and pelvic organ prolapse, which may cause the bowel, bladder, and uterus to drop into the vagina, causing a bulge.

Causes:

The exact causes of pelvic floor dysfunctions are largely unknown but may be caused by accidents, injuries, and complications from childbirth. Many cases of pelvic floor dysfunction have unknown causes.

Symptoms: Improve Walking Posture

• Feeling like you have to move your bowels frequently within a short time period.
• Feeling you can’t finish having a bowel movement.
• Straining or constipation.
• Frequent need to urinate or starting and stopping multiple times.
• Pain with urination.
• Unexplained lower back pain.
• Pain in the pelvic region, genitals, or rectum.
• Women may have pain with sexual intercourse.

Treatments:

• Biofeedback with a physical therapist using sensors to help you understand how to control your muscles.
• Medication to help relax muscles causing pelvic floor dysfunction.
• Relaxation techniques like warm baths, yoga, and exercises.
• Surgery may be required in cases of a prolapse.
• Pelvic floor dysfunction is a treatable condition that usually benefits the most from biofeedback and physical therapy. Your doctor can perform an exam to determine your pelvic floor dysfunction and recommend a treatment protocol.

8 Workouts That'll Help You Survive the Post-Apocalypse

Chainmail bodysuit season is almost here — make sure your bod is Thunderdome-ready!

There are many apocalyptic scenarios that could spell the end of the world as we know it: alien invasion, natural disaster, zombie infestation, solar flares, nuclear war, and the list goes on. There are only so many things we can do to be prepared for them (stocking up water, storing supplies, etc.), but you can get your body in shape for an apocalypse. Here are the workouts that'll help you survive a post-apocalypse world.

Farmer's Walk

This exercise develops endurance in your forearms, shoulders, and traps, all the muscles that will be engaged when you carry heavy objects (suitcase, bottles of water, weapons, family members) by your side. You'll find it's also a great way to improve your posture and grip strength!

Woodchoppers

If you find yourself living out in the forest, you'll need to be able to chop your own firewood for heat. Woodchoppers are an excellent exercise to help you develop the core (abs and obliques) strength to bring down a tree.

Pull-Ups

How can you escape a horde of zombies? Climb up a fire escape or pull yourself up onto a nearby roof! To do that, you'll need strength in your forearms, biceps, shoulders, and back — all of which result from doing pull-ups. A few pull-ups can save your life in an apocalyptic situation.

Sled Push

You may find yourself pushing your car a few miles to the nearest abandoned gas station, especially if you've zombie-proofed your vehicle and don't want to leave it on the side of the road. Sled pushes are also a great way to develop leg and back strength, plus crazy endurance.

Bent Over Rows

If you find yourself using a bow and arrow to hunt, you'll need sufficient arm, shoulder, and back strength to draw the bow. Bent over rows give you major pulling power and shred those important muscles. Plus, they can strengthen your lower back and keep your spinal muscles strong.

Sprints

The best way to outrun a zombie horde or a band of mutant killers is to sprint like your life depends on it! Sprint training (on a treadmill or outdoors) will help to increase both your aerobic and anaerobic endurance. You'll find it's much easier to escape if you can sprint for more than a few seconds without running out of breath.

Tire Flips

If you find yourself trying to survive after a natural disaster, you may have to comb through destroyed homes or buildings to find food, water, and supplies. Tire flips will help you to develop the lifting power that will come in handy when clearing rubble and lifting heavy building beams.

Squats

Strong legs can save your life! You'll need leg strength to run, jump, climb, and push heavy objects. Squats are an amazing exercise that will help you to be prepared for any apocalyptic situation.

Get in shape, and you have a much better chance of survival5 Hacks for Setting (and Achieving) Your Fitness Goals

3 Health and Fitness Conspiracy Theories Debunked

When it comes to health and fitness conspiracy theories, can you separate fact from fiction?

These three prominent conspiracy theories have changed the way that we think about health.

1. Vaccines cause autism.

Vaccine conspiracy theories have been around nearly as long as vaccines. But the purported link between vaccinations and autism first appeared in the 1990s, when a British doctor named Andrew Wakefield published a study that assessed the cases of 12 children who had received the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The study suggested evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism symptoms. However, not only did it fail to prove a causal relationship — that is, there was no evidence to rule out other potential causes of autism-related symptoms — it was followed by numerous studies which failed to find any link between MMR and autism. The study’s co-authors retracted the paper, as did the publication. Wakefield and his co-authors were later exposed for fraud.

Today, a number of prominent medical organizations, public health officials, and scientists have spoken out against the dangers of the anti-vaccination movement. But the anti-vaxxers just refuse to give it up.

2. Fat is bad for you.

We've been waging war against fat since the middle of the 20th century when heart disease rates were rising and researchers were struggling to get to the bottom the epidemic. However, when a physiologist by the name of John Yudkin pointed out that sugar might be the cause, his hypothesis was ridiculed by those the food industry, along with several prominent nutritionists. Meanwhile, the sugar industry started to take an unusual interest in the studies they were funding, even going so far as to contact researchers about the results.

For decades, food products and health guidelines suggested that dietary fat was responsible for conditions such as obesity, stroke, high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, and a number of other chronic illnesses. Low-fat and fat-free labels graced everything from salad dressing to crackers, while saturated fats were in the doghouse and trans fats were outlawed altogether.

Today, public scrutiny has shifted towards sugar. After years of being ignored, sugar is the latest culprit in the fight against heart disease and its related conditions. And while sugar isn’t all bad, there’s compelling evidence to suggest that eating too much added sugar can significantly increase your risk of dying from heart disease.

3. Can exercise actually help you lose weight?

For a long time, diet plus exercise was the accepted solution to losing weight. While fad diets come and go, most health professionals recognized the importance of a balanced diet and regular exercise. The idea that exercise helps trigger weight loss is so accepted that few would think to question it.

But a trio of British doctors recently did, reopening the debate around the root causes of the obesity epidemic. In an article published in the British Medical Journal, the authors suggested that the link between physical activity and weight loss has been overemphasized in the past three decades.

According to the authors, the truth of the matter is that while exercise is an excellent way to reduce your risk of developing a number of chronic health conditions — including heart disease and dementia — it doesn’t “promote” weight loss. In other words: “You cannot outrun a bad diet,” the authors write.

A number of other prominent health researchers were quick to point out the flaws in the authors’ argument. For one, exercise has proven benefits. Most experts would agree that there’s no question that staying active is part of a healthy lifestyle. Does it contribute to weight loss? It looks like the jury is still out on that one.How Can I Fix My Eyeballs? Lasik and Beyond

You'd Be Surprised Which Organs You Can Live Without

It’s common knowledge that us humans tend to have some spare parts we can live without. Whether you got your tonsils removed when you were in fourth grade or have an uncle that swears he made a mint selling one of his kidneys, we know that we can operate with a few missing pieces. But what about the other organs? What about the kind of A-list organs that get all the attention and words like “vital” attached to them? Here’s what you need to know about the organs you can live without.

You Can Totally Live Without Your Heart

Back in 2014, a man in Ypsilanti, Michigan had his heart removed; the man, Stan Larkin, was waiting for a heart transplant. For the next 555 days, Larkin lived with an artificial heart in his chest, pumping blood to all of his other organs until he could get a more traditional transplant. During this time, he carried with him a nondescript backpack that, unbeknownst to those passing by, held a power source for his artificial heart. Not only did the robo-heart keep him alive until he got his transplant, it kept him in good enough health that it significantly reduced complications and recovery time.

People Are Born Without Brains

In 2007, an Indianapolis girl was born without the majority of her brain. Her condition, called hydranencephaly, is an incredibly rare disorder where one is born without a cerebral cortex and little more than a functioning brain stem. While doctors initially told the girl’s parents not to expect her to live, she went on to survive for more than six years with the help of life support.

No Bones Required

Like many children born with rare and serious conditions, Janelly Martinez-Amador was only given a few days to live by her doctors. She was born without bones and, as such, not expected to survive; her condition, hypophosphatasia, meant that she had no skull to keep the pressure off of her brain, no ribs to give her lungs room to expand, and no bones anywhere else to be found. Her family, however, decided to undergo a clinical trial for a new enzyme that would promote bone growth. After six years, not only was she proud owner of a skeleton but was beginning dance lessons.

Cows Have Four Stomachs, But Some People Have None

It is entirely possible to have some, if not all, of your stomach removed. While it is generally only done in extreme cases — for example, in particularly severe cases of stomach cancer — a patient can have their stomach removed. In such cases, the small intestine is surgically attached directly to the esophagus, allowing the person to continue eating small meals. To make up for lack of nutrients, the patient will also likely be put on vitamin supplements.

The Broke Person's Guide to Healthy Grocery Shopping

The Pros and Cons of Online Therapy

Online therapy lets you enjoy the benefits of therapy from the comfort of your own home, but does it really have the same impact as an in-office session?

Pros of Online Therapy

Advantages of online therapy include offering mental health access to people in rural or remote areas that might not otherwise have access to it. Similarly, it can also be of use to people with disabilities that might find it difficult to come in to a physical office, including those with physical or mental conditions that prevent them from leaving home.

Online therapy is also usually more convenient and affordable. Many insurance companies are required to cover online therapy just as they would traditional therapy. And there is the added bonus of being able to schedule sessions at times that fit into your schedule.

The information offered by online therapy helps to make information more accessible and provides education about mental health that might not otherwise be available if left to traditional therapeutic modalities.

Cons of Online Therapy

Although some insurance plans cover online therapy, not all of them do. Online therapy may still have too high of a cost for it to be affordable for those that need it if your insurance company doesn’t cover it.

Most states don’t allow access to out-of-state psychologists, so your mental health provider has to be licensed in both your state and their home state. Many states allow only limited sessions from an out-of-state psychologist. But you can enjoy the services of an in-state provider that may be at a far distance.

Online therapy is still new and so there are still concerns and issues surrounding confidentiality, privacy, and technology.

In cases of emergency, such as a mental health crisis or those with serious mental health conditions, an online treatment provider is unable to respond.

Depending on your needs and concerns, online therapy is a worthwhile tool to consider, as long as you understand the limitations.

4 Ways Your Phone Is Ruining Your Body and Mind

There’s no doubt that we love our smartphones. Our source of news, communication, entertainment, and so much more, there’s little they can’t do these days. But for everything that’s great about our phones, how are they hurting us? The answers might surprise you.

Stress on Your Neck and Spine

These days, you don’t need to work a laborious job to have back and neck problems. No, they’re par for the course when you use your smartphone too much. “Tech neck,” “text neck,” whatever you call it — our smartphones are straining our upper bodies. When you’re staring down at your phone throughout the day, you’re putting dozens of pounds of pressure on your neck. That’s obviously not good. The good news is that there’s an easy fix: hold your smartphone a little higher up.

Eye Strain

Are your eyes dry, tired, and having a hard time focusing? Eye strain from looking at a screen for too long isn’t anything new; it’s something that’s been affecting people since the advent of personal computers. In fact, it even has a medical name: computer vision syndrome, or CVS. And now that everyone has a computer in their pocket, it’s something worth thinking about. While CVS doesn’t seem to have any long-term effects, its immediate symptoms aren’t very pleasant. To reduce your eyestrain, simply take a break from the screen for a minute every half hour or so.

Mental Health Effects

Too much of anything is bad for you, and that’s especially true when it comes to technology. When anything and everything is available at the touch of a finger, that’s a recipe for distraction — something that affects us even when we’re not on our phones. For example, how many times a day do you check your phone to see if you’ve received any notifications? That’s nothing to say of the effect social media can have on self-esteem, especially when internet bullying is involved.

Worse Quality Sleep

If you have a habit of playing on your phone before bed, you might want to rethink your habits. Smartphone screens emit a blue light that, when viewed at night, can trick the brain into thinking it’s still daytime outside. So, when you’re scrolling through your feeds right before falling asleep, you’re less likely to have the quality, well-rested sleep you need. While smartphone apps that block some of that blue light can help with that issue, you’re probably better off picking up a book — the old-fashioned paper kind — instead.What You Need to Know About the Smart Condom

5 Hacks for Setting (and Achieving) Your Fitness Goals

Looking to take your fitness to the next level? Check out these hacks, which will make achieving those goals easier than ever.

When it comes to your fitness routine, one thing to keep in mind is that you always must have a goal in place. Failing to set goals for yourself will result in an attitude change each time you approach the gym. You’ll go in, go through the motions, and come out, hopefully returning again next time. It’s easy to lose motivation as you have no real end in sight.

When you have a firm goal in place though, each session now has a purpose. You go in with drive and determination to ensure your goals get met.

Want some quick tips to give yourself a helping hand? The following hacks will help you take your fitness goals up a notch.

Set Daily Goals

Rather than just setting one large long-term goal, consider breaking it up and setting a number of "mini" goals instead. Set a goal to achieve daily if you can. This is going to go a long way towards helping you gain a sense of accomplishment after each goal is achieved.

These daily goals shouldn’t be too hard to achieve – just something that forces you into the gym with focus. It could be doing one more rep when doing the chest press exercise or running on the treadmill for two minutes longer.

Count Backward

As you go about counting your reps, try this little technique: rather than counting up, count down.

As silly as it may seem, this small tweak can really go a long way towards making it feel easier to get that full set in. When you’re counting down in number, you psychologically will feel like there’s less work to go. When you count up, it tends to be the opposite.

Join A Contest

Another fast way to up your motivation to ensure that you achieve success with your goals is to join a contest. Find a group of people who are working towards similar goals as you and then get together and see who can achieve their goal in the shortest period of time.

A little competitive spirit never hurt anyone and for most people, it’ll help you push the barrier of success.

Track Your Progress

It’s essential, as you do your workouts, that you are constantly tracking your progress. How far have you come and how far do you have to go? Write this down in a journal.

Likewise, also take pictures of yourself and put that down in a journal as well. By keeping tabs on this, you can not only ensure that you are moving forward, but you also have a reference to look back on to see just how far you’ve come.

Then on the days it feels like you aren’t making any progress, you can look back and see very clearly that you are in fact seeing success.

Find A Mentor

Finally, consider finding a mentor. Sometimes you just need a little inspiration to keep you going. Having a mentor does two things. First, it allows you to learn from them. Whether you speak to them in person or just watch their videos online, it can help you learn new tips and tricks that can better your own performance.

Second, it gives you an added boost of motivation. When you watch them, it’ll increase your desire to achieve a similar result in yourself, thus inspire you to keep working hard.

So use these hacks and take your fitness to the next level. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain from making them a part of your routine.

How Can I Fix My Eyeballs? Lasik and Beyond

With age comes wisdom. Unfortunately, with age also comes fuzzy, out-of-focus vision that might require glasses or contacts. Even with vigilant upkeep that can range from sitting adequately far back from the television to munching on carrots, there’s only so much one can do to slow the effects of time on one’s eyes. Fortunately, there have never been more options available for alternatives to the traditional glass-and-metal setup.

Lasik

One of the first thoughts that many people have when confronting the idea of vision enhancement is Lasik. One of the second thoughts that many people have is, “I am not okay with eyeball surgery.” The good news is that Lasik surgery is getting more advanced (and less invasive) every day. After an evaluation, a price is determined based on need, potentially as low as $299 per eye. Typically, the procedure is pain-free and can take as little as 15 minutes per eye, resulting in 20/20 vision.

Photorefractive Keratectomy

While Lasik is a household name, there are plenty of other options available. A similar laser procedure, for example, is called Photorefractive Keratectomy, or PRK. If one goes through Lasik’s screening process and finds out that they aren’t a candidate, they may want to consider PRK. Primarily intended for those with dry eyes or thin corneas, the process can be slower than Lasik with a longer recuperation time.

Implantable Contact Lens

If you’d rather not alter the shape of your cornea with a laser, there is the option to get high-definition vision with an implanted contact. Long used to correct cataracts, implantable contact lenses allow you the Lasik experience without the risk. They are also used to treat nearsightedness, myopia, and astigmatism.

Refractive Lens Exchange

Great for older patients, a refractive lens exchange swaps out your eye’s natural lens for a manmade one. One of the major benefits of this is that the naturally occurring lens of your eye is susceptible to becoming a cataract later in life; a manmade lens removes this variable from the equation and allows the patient excellent vision.

Vision Therapy

Should Lasik (or its surgical cousins) still sound like something out a science fiction nightmare, there are nonsurgical options available as well. Vision therapy is more akin to physical therapy, with treatment available for those with issues like lazy eyes, double vision, and learning disabilities. Performed under the supervision of a doctor, this is one approach that involves exercises in office that can result in the betterment of your vision.

The Broke Person's Guide to Healthy Grocery Shopping

Want to eat healthy but think you can't afford it? Believe it or not, it is possible. We have a few simple tips to help you select and prepare healthy meals and snacks while sticking to a budget.

If you’re one of the many people who wants to eat healthy but worries about the supposed high cost of healthy food, you’re in luck. It is absolutely possible to eat healthy on a budget and still enjoy fun, flavorful foods.

Cook at Home

Prepare your meals and snacks at home as often as possible to not only save a boatload of money, but to also slash sugar, fat, and sodium. When you cook at home, you’re the chef and can control what goes into your meal and how much you serve yourself. Restaurant meals and fast food fare is notoriously high in calories and doesn’t do your wallet any favors either.

You may not notice it, but little by little all of those times you grab lunch with a friend or opt to get take-out instead of home-cooked meals, the cost adds up. You can literally save thousands of dollars each year and consume many more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats, all of which are often MIA from the menu when dining out. And after all, dining out should be reserved for special occasions, not a part of your everyday routine.

Make a Beeline for Beans

Beans may be called the musical fruit, but they should really be referred to as the magical fruit because of how nutritious they are. Beans are packed with plant-based protein, phytochemicals, and antioxidants. One serving of beans (1/2 cup, cooked) provides about 100-126 calories (depending on type), 7-10 grams fiber (both soluble and insoluble), and 0-1 gram fat. Beans are an excellent source of folate and a good source of potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron.

An added bonus: beans provide numerous disease-fighting nutrients but contain little to no fat or sodium. However, if you use canned beans, opt for no-salt-added varieties or rinse them well in a colander to rinse away about 40 percent of the sodium content.

Whole Roasted Chicken

You can purchase a whole roasted rotisserie chicken and pick off the meat to use in a variety of ways, including pulled chicken sandwiches, chicken salad, BBQ chicken wraps, chicken noodle soup--the possibilities are endless! It is so much cheaper than buying individual cuts of chicken such as boneless, skinless chicken breast (healthy but costly). Additionally, you can save the bones and make your own homemade chicken stock (throw in a pot with water, roughly chopped veggies such as carrots, onions, and celery, herbs and spices, and then simmer for several hours, strain, and refrigerate or freeze.

Canned Fish & Chicken

Without a doubt, you’ve heard that you should be eating more seafood, particularly fatty fish. In fact, the American Heart Association, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and other experts in the nutrition and medical fields recommend that you eat fish at least twice a week (minimum). Fatty fish, including salmon, albacore tuna, lake trout, rainbow trout, mackerel, herring, anchovies, and sardines, are rich in heart- and brain-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. However, the high cost of fresh, or even frozen, seafood, is often a roadblock if you’re watching your budget. Opt for canned seafood and chicken and be sure to drain and rinse it well to cut down on sodium.

Moderate Meat Intake

Meat is oftentimes the most expensive part of any food budget, and there are plenty of non-meat sources of protein that are more affordable, healthier for you, versatile, and delicious. Economical eggs, beans, peanut butter, peas, lentils, and tofu are all significantly cheaper than meat, and most are shelf-stable (aside from eggs and some forms of tofu). Additionally, each of us throws away hundreds of dollars worth of food each year because it spoils before we can use it ($490 per person, to be exact), and a large portion of food that is thrown out is meat and seafood that has gone bad.

Grow Your Own Food

If you have the space or belong to a community garden, you can grow your own food for the mere cost of seeds and some basic gardening supplies. Gardening allows you eat more fruits and vegetables while also providing you with enjoyable exercise.

Shop at Dollar Stores

It may come as a surprise to some, but you can actually find a lot of healthy pantry staples at your local dollar store. Here are some ingredients you can snag for super cheap: herbs, spices, canned/dry beans, canned/frozen vegetables, fruits (canned, frozen, and dried), whole grains, nuts, seeds, canned tuna and salmon, frozen fish, condiments, vinegar, olive oil, coffee, tea, baking supplies and popcorn kernels (air pop them at home for a filling, whole-grain snack!). Some items cost even less than a dollar. You can save on average 20-50 percent on these items by stocking up at discount stores.

Plan Meals Around Weekly Sales

Don’t toss those weekly store flyers in the recycling before you glance over them. If you plan your meals based on what is on sale at your local grocery store that specific week, you’ll end up saving a lot of money over time.

Buy in Bulk

If you are lucky enough to have a bulk section at your local grocery store, take advantage! Buying ingredients from the bulk bin saves you tons of money, and you can find healthy staples such as whole grains, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, herbs, spices, beans, lentils, and others.

• 4 Ways Alcohol Can Kill You Without Having to Drink I
  

How Dangerous Are Those Weird Drugs You See at the Gas Station?

At one point or another, most people have asked themselves the uncomfortable question about whether or not the weird drugs next to the cash register at the gas station aren’t worth a couple of bucks for a funny story. After all, who wouldn’t want to stay awake for an entire day, replicate the effects of illicit drugs, or have the romantic appeal of Casanova? Well, you might want to think twice before popping one of these pills.

Sex Pills are Not FDA Approved, Yet Utilize Pharmaceuticals

While the appeal of any of these pills are, on paper, undeniable, the reality is quite different from the packaging. The data collected from a joint study conducted by the FDA, CDC, and Chenega Government Consulting and published in the New England Journal of Medicine says that between 2004 and 2013, up to 617 people visited the ER each year due to complication from over-the-counter sexual enhancement drugs. In that same time period, there were a dozen deaths reported. While not illegal, it would be premature to call gas station pharmaceuticals safe.

Synthetic Cannabis is Less Fun-Dangerous and more Plain-Dangerous

Similar to the pills that promise a night of passion and romance, the biggest draw of synthetic cannabis is invariably its marketing. Because it's unregulated by the FDA, the marketing teams behind these products are held to much less stringent standards of objective truth.

While they may promise a completely legal out of this world experience akin to any illicit drug, what the marketing doesn't tell you is very real risk involved with unregulated medicine. In July 2016, over thirty people in Brooklyn overdosed in a single day on K2, a synthesized version of marijuana. With an unprecedented ease of access, it’s never been easier for the ill-informed to get their hands on a shady product promising a wild ride without adequately discussing the very real and very present dangers.

Market Saturation

One of the major problems with unregulated and dangerous drugs such as these is how readily available they are across the world. From countries across Asia and Russia to the U.K. and across the States, it is incredibly easy to find these colorful and tempting packets of miracle pills at any corner store. Coupled with the legal gray area in which they exist, it is probably a good idea to tend on the side of caution regarding pills you find on a spindly rack at 2 a.m. at a roadside liquor store.