I love the Fall weather, I think that it is the best weather from the Four Seasons. If I will to go back in the States, I will have to say that I will go back around September to October where the weather is not too hot or not too cool. Here are some nice tips to take advantage of Fall to improve your health.

1. Take advantage of the weather. Fall can be a treat for the senses: the crisp air, apple picking, pumpkin carving, a gorgeous canopy of fall foliage, and the crunch of leaves underfoot. These months are a great time to exercise outdoors and enjoy cooler temperatures.

“Walking, hiking and cycling are all awesome in the fall,” says Todd Durkin, MS, fitness coach and owner of Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego, Calif.

2. Think outside the box. Always wanted to learn to tap dance? Attempt to box? Master the jump rope? Ask any schoolchild: Fall is a great time to learn something new.

Many classes at gyms and elsewhere get started in the fall, so look around and see if something intrigues you.

3. Be an active TV watcher. Many people get geared up for fall premieres of their favorite television shows, says Freytag. “If you’re going to sit down and watch hours of TV, get moving,” she suggests. “Make a date with exercise and TV.”

While you watch, you can walk or run in place, do standing lunges, do tricep dips off the couch, or lift weights. During commercials, do push-ups or sit-ups. In a one-hour show, you probably have close to 20 minutes worth of commercial interruption.

4. Integrate exercise into your life. You already know the obvious suggestions: park farther away from your destination; take stairs instead of elevators; take a walk during your lunch break.

5. Rejuvenate yourself. Fall is the time to rejuvenate body, mind and spirit, says Durkin.

6. Remember the 30-day rule. “‘It takes about four weeks for the body to adapt to lifestyle changes,” says Price. That’s why people who give up on their fitness programs tend to do so within the first 30 days.

7. Strive for the 3 Cs. Freytag calls commitment, convenience, and consistency “the three Cs”, and says having all three will lead to a successful fitness program.

8. Deal with darkness. The best way to enjoy fall is to exercise outdoors. But it is getting darker earlier, and staying dark later in the morning, so be smart and safe.

9. Dress in layers. When exercising outside, layer your clothing. Before your body warms up, you may feel chilled, but once the blood gets pumping, you’ll feel overdressed.

These days, there’s no lack of great weather gear. Freytag and Price recommend clothing with wicking, often called “DriFit.”‘ This fabric wicks moisture away from your skin so you’re not exercising with wet fabric hanging on you.

10. Find your motivation. “People are motivated by different things,” says Durkin. It’s important to first discover what your individual goals are, whether it’s losing weight, strengthening and toning, or preparing for a race or event, says Durkin.

Understand more about the tips? Read more here.

It’s been raining like crazy in my part of the world and though most of us are happy with the raining because it means more water supply for our country, it also means the colds season is here.

Colds are a year round sickness but is most common during the rainy season and we can prevent it if we only know what we should do. I grabbed a few tips for all of us and since I have a 3-year-old, I am more aware of this because I don’t want him to catch colds these days…

• Maintain a balanced diet, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, especially those containing vitamin C.
• Drink only bottled or filtered water, well boiled.
• Wash your hands constantly.
• Wash and cook food thoroughly before swallowing.
• Get plenty of rest and protect yourself from the cold and rain. Exit warm, use umbrellas, change wet clothing immediately.
• Try to keep your skin dry and prevent children from being all the time in contact with water.
• Avoid washing your clothes or dishes with contaminated water.
• Remove all puddles from forming, to prevent mosquito breeding.
• Make sure both the patio and the roof of your house are clean and not collect water. Try spraying and kept clean and tidy the house.
• If you live in a high humidity or warm, preferably using sleeved shirts or blouses, trousers and mosquito repellents. Place mosquito nets on doors and windows.
• Disinfect toys and objects that have been in contact with contaminated water.
• Avoid self-medication or home remedies.
• See your doctor at the first signs to give you an accurate diagnosis.
• If you are sick to rest, avoid contact with sick people.

I read posts from Jillian Michaels and I find this very interesting which is why I’m sharing it here.

Want an easy way to be good to your body? Stay hydrated by guzzling down more water throughout the day. Water has zero calories, so it doesn’t add to your waistline. Plus, it aids in just about every bodily function, including fat burning and energy production.

Unfortunately, the water that comes out of your tap may not be free of flaws. Water authorities do not yet regulate many endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and conventional water-treatment methods weren’t designed to remove them. Studies have found trace amounts of pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and other substances in municipal water supplies.

Don’t be worried thirsty, though. You can get clean water by using water filters religiously. First, go to EPA’s Web site to learn about your local water quality and the substances you’re dealing with. Then, consider the following three types of filters. Each has its pros and cons, but combining two kinds of filters should get good results.

Reverse-osmosis unit: Using a semipermeable membrane (which allows some molecules to pass through but not others), this type of filter removes particles and molecules of dissolved contaminants. Reverse osmosis can remove heavy metals, bacteria, and viruses, and it may remove some pharmaceuticals. However, it isn’t effective for removing pesticides.

Distillation unit: This type of filtration system brings water to a boil, then collects the steam and condenses it back into water, leaving impurities (which need higher temperatures to boil) behind. Distillers can remove heavy metals, bacteria, and viruses, but they can’t remove pesticides or pharmaceuticals.

Activated carbon filter: This type is the easiest to find and use. It’s available in faucet-mounted models, under-the-sink units, and pitchers. Water flows through a carbon filter that attracts and traps many impurities. The types of contaminants filtered vary by brand, but all activated carbon filters remove chlorine, improve taste, and reduce sediment. Most remove heavy metals and disinfection by-products, and some remove parasites, pesticides, radon, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

These days we have to make sure. Life is indeed important and with awareness we will get by with a healthy body.

I’m still frustrated of getting a fitness equipment at home. I want to exercise more than twice a week but the stationary bike my dad has at the attic just doesn’t suit my style. I love running more than biking and I enjoy the rush on a treadmill while watching television in the gym or when the television is off, I have my ipod with me. I hope by next year we can have something like this…

This is Life Fitness 95Te Treadmill and is armed with a E3 Integrated LCD™ System which is FM radio-ready, and has up to 125 available TV channels. No need for me to bring an ipod or have a television hanged on the wall and I can just have my routine everyday without paying for the gym fee.It’s a bit pricey but with what it offers, I’m sure it’s all worth it.

I have a terrible migraine. It seldom attacks but when it does, I can’t really do anything properly. I have friends who feels terrible migraine and I have a few tips that can be useful for them because somehow it helped me…

• Aromatherapy is known to help relieve migraine attacks. Peppermint, lavender, eucalyptus and sandalwood are best for migraines.
• Massage is also good. Massaging your head before taking a rest. It will help you relax and maybe have a good sleep after.
• Drink chamomile tea, this is proven to help migraine and relieve symptoms. It is still the best natural remedy.
• Try to avoid direct sunlight as it can trigger migraine attacks.
• Meditation can also help. Sometimes you need to relax because migraine usually attacks when you are stressed.

Click here for more natural remedies.

A friend is on the way and she will still have a loooong way and her OB gave her vitafol ob dha aside from the other prenatal vitamins that she has to take so since I experienced this already she asked me for some pointers and I just have to mention the food that she should avoid while pregnant…

Eggs: Because raw eggs may be tainted with salmonella, a bacterium that can cause fever, vomiting, and diarrhea, watch out for restaurant-made Caesar salad dressing, homemade eggnog, raw cookie dough, and soft scrambled or sunny-side up eggs — any dish in which the eggs (both yolk and white) are not cooked completely. “If eggs are cooked, the risk is gone,” adds Madeleine Sigman-Grant, PhD, maternal child health and nutrition extension specialist at the University of Nevada.

Sushi: With the exception of California rolls and other cooked items, sushi is not safe when you’re expecting, either, because it may contain illness-inducing parasites.

Unpasteurized Juice: Stay away from juice (like cider) sold at farm stands; it may not have undergone pasteurization, a processing method that kills bacteria and toxins. Though the majority of milk and juices sold in stores today are pasteurized, there are still some brands on shelves that aren’t, so read labels.

Other foods are unsafe due to possible contaminants that can harm the fetus:

Some Varieties of Fish: Fish, which boasts omega-3 fatty acids that help baby’s brain development, is a great meal choice right now. But some varieties should be shunned due to high levels of methyl-mercury, a pollutant that can affect baby’s nervous system. These include swordfish, shark, and tilefish — all big species that live longer, accumulating more mercury in their flesh. (You may want to avoid these fish entirely during your childbearing years because your body stores mercury for up to four years, Ward advises.)

In fact, most types of fish contain traces of mercury, so you’ll want to limit your weekly consumption of safer varieties too. According to the newest guidelines from the FDA, you can enjoy up to 12 ounces a week (roughly two meals) of lower-mercury fish such as salmon, catfish, pollack, shrimp, and canned light tuna. Of those 12 ounces, only 6 should come from canned “white” albacore tuna, which tends to contain more mercury than light tuna. If you’re eating fish caught in local waters, check online with your state’s department of health for advisories (if you can’t find any information, limit yourself to 6 ounces).

So basically, I told her that aside from the food above, she can just about eat anything but she also has to watch her diet to of course eat healthy, not just because she is allowed to eat everything because she is pregnant she will lose it. I told her that it is not bad to watch her weight still and avoid too much sweets and fatty food because aside from watching what your baby will be taking inside from you, you also have to be aware of diabetes and high blood pressure.

(article grabbed from my old collection of pregnancy articles)

More update on my diet! I am trying to lose weight and aside from that, what is more important is, I’m trying to eat healthy by preparing healthy lunch once in awhile, lunch like this…

The sauce is made of mustard and a few teaspoons of light mayo, seasoned it with just salt and pepper. Carrots and the Asparagus (my fave) are blanched in hot water. Also starting to eat less of beef. I hope I get by.