Are you overweight, tired, anxious, depressed or irritable? Do you have allergies, digestive issues, or aches and pains? If you’re like most people, then the answer is probably yes. Instead of focusing on what causes these problems, most people turn to quick fix remedies that may temporary relieve symptoms, but allow the problem to persist and potentially develop into disease.

Many of us are eating unhealthy diets, are consistently exposing ourselves to excessive stress, and are disregarding the need for rest. This leads to the physical and mental symptoms of poor health that burden so many people on a regular basis and is also why we have such a high prevalence of diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and autoimmune disease. Instead of acting on this obvious correlation between lifestyle and poor health, we’ve accepted the consequences as a normal part of aging and continue to compromise our health and our lives with unhealthy habits.

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I’ve been tagged by Beth from SmartFamilyTips.com to share 7 things about myself that you don’t know. Since I’m always preaching about how to live the perfect lifestyle, I thought this would be a good opportunity to share with you some of the ways in which I’m not so perfect myself and how you can learn from them.

Without further delay, here are 7 things about me that I hope you find interesting and informative.

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“I was wondering what you think about the apple cider vinegar diet for weight loss. I thought it seemed like one of those diet fads, but after reading about it on health websites, it seems that the diet actually works and isn’t bad for you. In fact, they even say there are other benefits as well.”

Apple cider vinegar has been regarded as a health food for a long time. As such, it’s even sold in supplement form. While very few of the beneficial claims associated with vinegar are supported by trustworthy evidence, there is research suggesting that apple cider vinegar has a beneficial effect on diabetes and weight loss. This information has given rise to the so called “apple cider vinegar diet” that consists of 2 teaspoons or tablespoons of apple cider vinegar mixed with water and consumed twice per day.

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Although cardiovascular exercise is extremely popular, it’s a less effective way to exercise in most cases and can even be counterproductive.

The three primary reasons for the popularity of cardiovascular exercise are health, weight loss, and athletic conditioning. Each of these goals have unique characteristics that make cardiovascular exercise a questionable choice for achieving them.

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I’m sure you know exercise is good for you, but do you know why?

Most people have a vague idea but aren’t entirely sure. It doesn’t take much thought to realize exercise was a major part of our evolution, and as such, it makes sense that it’s an important aspect of our health and well being. Just like most animals, we had to hunt for food, defend ourselves, and flee from danger. The levels of fitness and skill that these activities required are comparable to those of a well trained modern day athlete.

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Have you been making the same New Year’s resolution to lose weight year after year? Are you feeling guilty from holiday overeating and the past year’s failed weight loss attempts?. It’s a fresh new year and vacations, summer, and swimsuits all lie ahead. Could this finally be the year you achieve your goals?

Feel Great and Look Great!

Forget about your appearance for a minute and think about how you feel. Chances are the diet and lifestyle habits that led you to gain weight have also left you feeling tired and far from your best. Wouldn’t you like to feel great along with looking great? Aside from having a good program to follow, the one thing that differentiates the people who succeed from those who don’t is determination. The more meaning and impact your goal has, the more determined you’ll be to achieve it.

Striving for the optimal health that will have you feeling great and help keep you disease free is a much more meaningful goal that will naturally cause you to loose weight and look as great as you’ll feel. So instead of basing your goals for the new year on how you’ll look in a swimsuit, maybe it’s time to focus on implementing a healthier lifestyle that will give you much more than just a trim figure.

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With Christmas and New Year’s just around the corner, most people will be attending several parties and will be repeatedly exposed to an abundance of food, dessert, and alcohol. It’s no coincidence that one of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to lose weight.

What most people don’t realize about weight gain is that sugar and refined carbohydrates are more to blame for weight gain than fat intake. It really doesn’t take much carbohydrate to satisfy your body’s need and anything extra is stored away as body fat. The faster the carbohydrate breaks down and gets into your blood, the more likely it is that some of it will be converted and stored as body fat. This is why sugar and refined carbohydrates like bread and pasta are so easy to gain weight from. They are quickly broken and lead to a surge of blood sugar. If you’re also drinking alcohol, this is magnified because most alcoholic drinks have a high sugar content, and even worse, alcohol directly stimulates an additional increase in blood sugar. All of this leads to fat, fat, and more fat. It’s also detrimental to your health in general, but that’s a story for another day.

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