Women Over 40 – Exercise to Get That Beach Body Before Summer, Feel Better and Be More Attractive

Do you go to a gym regularly?

Going into a gym or doing any kind of exercise is tough for many women over 40- so it’s getting harder and harder to lose weight permanently.

There are many reasons for this. First of all, women over 40 lead busy lives and going to the gym takes out additional time from their daily schedule. Second, many do not want to be seen at a gym- they feel self-conscious because they carry around some extra pounds and feel like looking out of place around slim and trained people.

But this doesn’t have to be that way. If you’re exercising regularly, you’ll feel better. If you exercise regularly, you’ll be more efficient, feel more productive and your mood will be much more stable. This emotional side to exercise is commonly underrated. Even for patients with depressions exercise helps to brighten the mood- so it will certainly help you as well.

New research released in the Archives of Internal Medicine looked into the results of exercise on the quality of life of menopausal women. All women were overweight or obese and had a desk-bound lifestyle. They received 3 different exercise programs, with different level of intensity. As always in these studies, a control group had no exercise at all.

The results are essential. Some women did not lose any weight; despite of being on an exercise program- they obviously increased their calorie consumption. But nevertheless, their quality of life improved. The more exercise, the better the well-being- the higher the intensity of the exercise, the higher the quality of life.

And: Even the exercise program with the lowest intensity had a beneficial impression on the sense of well-being. When you’re starting out with an exercise program, it’s actually better to start slowly and increase the intensity while you are getting stronger. It doesn’t make sense to be an overachiever in these things- better aim for an exercise program you can really do.

Once you are getting the health benefits from regular exercise, you’ll automatically want to increase the length and the intensity of your exercise program. As you know, if you want to lose weight permanently over 40 you have to include exercise in your day-to-day life. But you shouldn’t do it only because you want to lose weight. You will feel better and enjoy your life even more- particularly if you are over 40.

Over 40 the muscles mass reduces automatically, what means you need to counterbalance this effect by exercising. Regular strength training will help you to keep your muscle mass at the right level. Don’t fear you’ll bulk up- you’re only aiming at keeping what is there (and maybe replacing what you’ve lost since your twenties).

Include some gentle stretching, and you’re on your way to a perfect, balanced body. You’ll not only feel more youthful, your appearance will be much more energetic, making you attractive over 40.

Are you a woman over 40? I’ve created a free, personalized program for women over 40 who want to lose weight permanently. Would you like to get excellent, lasting weight loss results- be attractive, healthy, energetic, youthful? This program will keep you motivated while you enjoy healthy eating and exercise. The program is customized to your specific needs and designed to help you to lose weight permanently.

Sign up for your free, personalized “Lose Weight Permanently” program at http://www.loseweightpermanently.com/Steps_To_Lose_Weight_Permanently/pages/WomenWeightLossOver40.jsf

Perry Permann

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Women Over 40 – Can a Blood Sugar Hormone Make You Fat?

Women Over 40 – Can a Blood Sugar Hormone Make You Fat?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Perry_Permann]Perry Permann

Are you a woman over 40? Do you experience hormone changes? If you are a woman over 40 and want to lose weight permanently, an important hormone to look at is insulin. It can prevent your ability to lose weight permanently and make you fat instead. Do you know why?

The pancreas is hugely involved in regulating blood sugar levels and digestion. Insulin is emitted from the pancreas. There are many hormones increasing your blood sugar, including glucagon, adrenalin and growth hormones. Health risks, such as diabetes are correlated with high blood sugar. So all of these hormones are able to increase your blood sugar level what is not good for you.

But: There is only one hormone helping you to decrease blood sugar, and that’s insulin. So insulin is extremely important to balance your blood sugar level because it reduces your blood sugar.

After eating, sugar is entering the blood stream- for example as a result of digesting starchy foods. The cells of your body need this sugar to produce energy from it and to function. And that s exactly what insulin does: It promotes the transfer of sugar from the blood into the cells.

Insulin has more tasks to do. It helps to get fatty acids from the blood into the fat cells where they are stored. Insulin keeps your body from burning fat as well. Insulin helps the body to store fat as energy needed for starvation periods. Nowadays, we do not face this threat any longer- but the fat storing mechanisms are still in place.

If your insulin level is too high, you are facing severe health risks: diabetes, fat metabolism disorders, heart attacks, strokes. And: you’ll gain belly fat and have a high risk of being overweight.

In women over 40 the hormone system can be disturbed much easier compared to women in their twenties. You need to pay attention to your insulin level if you are a woman over 40. There are two major errors in nutrition contributing to a high insulin level:

High glycemic index (GI). The insulin level rises higher and faster if digested sugar can enter the blood fast. To measure how easy sugar from foods enters the blood usually the glycemic index (GI) is used. Cakes, most sweets, white bread and rice or sweet fruits are common foods with a high GI. Generally speaking, the GI rises with the amount of processing for food. So natural foods have a comparably low GI, whereas highly processed foods often have a high GI. Stay away from anything containing corn syrup, or containing ingredients ending in -ose, particularly fructose.

When you eat artificial sweeteners your brain gets the message “sugar has entered the blood”. The pancreas releases insulin, what will prevent burning fat. That’s one of the reasons diet sodas do not contribute to losing weight permanently in a healthy way.

If you eat too much fat and have a high insulin level, the fat goes right into fat cells- what you need to avoid if you really want to lose weight permanently over 40. A long-term successful weight loss program must assist you in finding foods low in GI- food you actually like so you love to eat it frequently.

Are you a woman over 40? I’ve created a free, personalized program for women over 40 who want to [http://www.loseweightpermanently.com/Steps_To_Lose_Weight_Permanently/pages/WomenWeightLossOver40.jsf]lose weight permanently. How would you like to get excellent, lasting weight loss results- be attractive, healthy, energetic, youthful? This program adjusts to your specific situation and keeps you motivated while you enjoy healthy eating and exercise.

Sign up for your free, personalized “Lose Weight Permanently” program at [http://www.loseweightpermanently.com/Steps_To_Lose_Weight_Permanently/pages/WomenWeightLossOver40.jsf]http://www.loseweightpermanently.com/ForWomenOver40

Perry Permann

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Breathe Your Way to Back Pain Relief

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Rob_Molloy]Rob Molloy

For back pain relief there are many options available but not all of them are desirable. For many, back pain relief comes with uncomfortable trips to the chiropractor. For many others it comes with prescriptions that can cause unwanted complications, harmful side effects, and possible addictions. There are some cases where surgery is needed to bring about back pain relief.

All of those options may not only be uncomfortable and harmful for you, they may come at a pretty high price tag. Wouldn’t it be great if there was some way that you have pain relief for back problems that was as easy and beneficial as breathing? Well, the truth is you can get some back pain relief by using some simple breathing techniques.

Taking deep breaths for back pain relief will help you to:

Oxygenate Your Blood – There are toxins that float around in your body that can help to increase the amount of pain that you feel. Increasing the amount of oxygen in the blood will help get rid of and flush those toxins out.

Decrease Tension and Ease Stress – The time and focus required to breath deeply will help bring your body to a more relaxed state and also relax your muscles and help free your mind from tension. Many times back pain can be brought on or accentuated because of tension that your body and mind are feeling.

Get Through the Pain – Many people going through the worst of pains will find that concentrating on breathing will help you get through the most painful moments. Think about how pregnant women are taught to breathe to help them through contractions. This will work the same way in helping bring back pain relief.

One very simple breathing technique that will help bring back pain relief will only take a couple minutes and can be done anywhere at any time. This is great for when you have those sharp back pains that come out of nowhere.

1. Find a Focal Point – this will help to distract you from what you are feeling and help you concentrate on breathing. In those places that you are most likely to have those sharp pains, have something that you can look and focus in on when the pains hit. Have one in your living room, your bedroom, at your desk at work, or even in your car (though you should be pulled over if you are going to do this). Let it be something that is a relaxing object. A clock doesn’t count.

2. Calm Down – Using the focal point, try and calm down. You have to get relaxed. Forget for a moment about any deadlines you might have, that meal you have to make, or anything else that might be stressing you. Give yourself a break for a couple minutes.

3. Straighten Up – The area between your chest and your belly button needs to be stretched out.  Your shoulders will be back and your chest sticking out. This will make it easier for the deep breathing to take place.

4. In Through the Nose – Inhale through the nose s-l-o-w-l-y. Count to 3 or 4 at a relaxed pace. Your lungs should be filling up with air and your diaphragm expanding to take in the air. Imagine your diaphragm is a big pillow and the air is your head slowly sinking into it.

5. Out Through the Mouth – Exhale even slower than you inhaled. Your exhale should take twice as long as your inhale. If you counted to 3 on the inhale, count to 6 exhaling. Be sure that it is a controlled exhale and don’t force it.

Do this just a couple times if you haven’t done it before for back pain relief. If you get light-headed, it may mean that you were breathing to quickly. That isn’t good. Make sure that it is a slow, relaxing event.

This way to help bring back pain relief can actually be done lying down flat on your back or standing up as well. Try to get to a point where you can do it for two or more minutes, gradually building up. Make it a habit to do this the first thing in the morning and as the last thing you do before going to bed. Try doing it every time you feel that sharp pain in your back and you may find yourself depending less and less on other potentially harmful treatments for back pain relief.

Back pain affects millions of people each year, many of them battling to get a bit of relief, if any, from the pain. If you are one of those millions, you’re sure to be tired of back pain and will do almost anything to be rid of it.

For oodles of information about back pain relief, check out http://www.painsintheback.com and/or go to the blog at http://www.painsintheback.com/blog where, at both sites, you’ll find information and resources to help you find a normal life again.

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Remember B.Ra.S.S. for a Healthy Body for Life

When you use an inanimate object, say your favorite pair of jeans, that object begins to show wear and tear over time.  The opposite is true of animate objects, like your body parts.  Barring abuse, your body is alive and designed to move—and all its systems are in place to support movement.  It has healing fluids and processes, it has an ingenious energetic feedback loop which tells itself how to balance and heal for maximum health.
The inanimate object has no feedback system, no healing properties—it just decays.  But when you move your living body, it grows and benefits.  Most of us do not move our bodies enough.  The idea that we will wear out our bodies is simply a myth.  I’m not allowing for abuse—that is, we need to gradually build up our strength and stamina; but, after that, the body really is a workhorse, magnificently designed and able.  It’s our sacred duty to use our bodies and keep them not just healthy, but growing.  We are best off when seeking growth in strength and stamina, growing in range of motion (also called flexibility) and balancing skills—in other words:  B.Ra.S.S.
At whatever stage of life, develop a practice of movements that cultivate the four areas of physical health:  Balance, Range of motion, Strength and Stamina.  Memorize this formula.  Review your current exercise regime and see if you’ve got all four areas covered.  If not, see the articles on each of these areas and build and grow, gradually over time, until you’re a master.  And for every summit you reach, be content where you are while still knowing that today’s summit is tomorrow’s plateau, and another summit lies ahead in your healthy journey to excellent fitness.