This will keep you informed on the type of action to take. If the sugar levels are either too high or too low, consulting your physician will be important. The home treatments to boost sugar levels will include consumption of foods and drinks that are rich in sugar. This will ensure that the levels are not too low. Alcohol is a huge no for diabetics and must be avoided. Buying drugs over the counter is highly discouraged since they may react negatively with your system. It is important to ask for a prescription that is sugar-free. You will have to call your doctor if you are vomiting or diarrhoearing since dehydration is risky for diabetics.

High blood sugar that exceeds 180 mg/dL will necessitate a doctor’s attention. Lows of 70mg/dL are also unsafe and a doctor should be sought.

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Managing diabetes will require you to keep your stress levels low. Stress sometimes leads to forgetfulness and low appetite. You may therefore find that you are not eating as you should and you have forgotten to take your medication when you should. This will lead to too low or too high sugar levels in your blood. Fight stress by keeping an optimistic mind. See the sunny side of issues and keep a positive attitude. Give yourself the best treatment and avoid being remorseful. Have enough rest and make sure you get enough sleep. This will boost your well being. Managing diabetes should be taken seriously since lack of it may lead to blindness, erectile dysfunction, renal failure and wounds will take longer to heal. You will need to research as much as you can about this disease. By doing so, you will be able to take care of yourself. You will know the benefits of managing diabetes and the repercussions of going against it. This will give you a personal responsibility of ensuring that you stay in good health. You will be required to change your lifestyle and mindset. This will include exercising regularly and observing proper nutrition.

A proper diet will be administered by a dietician to regulate the glucose levels in the blood. This will be determined by factors such as your age, sex and occupation among others. Some of the foods which are ideal are wholegrain cereals, bread and pasta as well as fruits and vegetables. These foods should be consumed regularly during the day. The fat and salt potions used in the preparation of these foods must be lower and sugar must also be cut out. You will be required to keep a diary or your carbohydrate intake for close monitoring which may necessitate adjustments to the diet. Managing diabetes will also demand that you watch your weight since excessive weight will work against you. The lesser the weight the better you will be placed in controlling your sugar levels. This will also help in keeping other diseases at bay most of them being cardiovascular conditions.

When it comes to physical exercises, you will need to be disciplined. Do not ride if you can walk and avoid elevators as much as you can, take the stairs instead. These exercises will help in burning the extra fats which will lead to a healthier you. You must monitor your sugar levels using the glucose meter. From the results, you will be able to tell if the diet and exercise are working and if there is need to see your doctor. The mental aspect of managing diabetes will involve signing up with support groups where you can share with others. This will clear you from depression as you will get a sense of belonging as your fears in relation to diabetes will be suppressed.

It is also used in chemotherapy and surgery to reduce vomiting and nausea. Other uses include treatment of sexual dysfunction in men, drug addiction, normalization of blood pressure and breast enlargement. The effectiveness of this form of medicine is still being debated among medics. The Acupuncture Foundation of Canada indicates that at least 2000 physicians in Canada have undergone training in acupuncture. In Canada, acupuncture is also practiced by naturopaths, chiropractors and veterinarians.

Acupuncture is defined as the process that involves inserting fine needles into specific points on one’s skin for therapeutic purposes that involve unblocking the energy flow. The insertion of the needles serves to stimulate the nervous system. The needles are inserted at acupuncture-points (Acupoints), which act as the trigger points to the nerves. These needles are inserted in the skins surface and the deepness is dictated by the nature of condition being treated. This ranges between from 15 to 90 degrees. The patient is not supposed to feel pain but get a sensation referred to as deqi. Once the needle is inserted in the skin, the acupuncturist may use techniques such as rotating and twirling, thrusting and raising, trembling, scraping and plucking. These techniques create different sensations in someone’s body.

The duration of treatment however varies from one person to another. People have testified to its effectiveness in the treatment of various ailments. The needles used are nine in number though six will still do the magic. The difference between these needles is the shape of their heads, their length and their shaft’s width. Safety measures must always be taken in the use and disposal of acupuncture needles. The emergence of contagious diseases has led to the production of disposable needles.

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Acupuncture is administered using a variety of techniques. Electro acupuncture is a form of treatment using whereby electrical impulses are passed through the needles in small quantities. This is used in the treatment of minor conditions like reduction of pain. If the condition is surgical, higher frequencies are administered. Sonopuncture is the other type of technique where sound waves and lasers are used. Ear acupuncture otherwise known as auricular is widely used since ears are susceptible to high sensitivity. They are therefore believed to send signals to many parts of the body. This treatment has been used with drug addicts, alcoholics and those with obesity. Moxibustion is another form of treatment where the acupuncture-points in the body are subjected to heat. This is used to cure bronchitis, arthritis and paralysis. Acupuncture-points may also be stimulated through wood and metal suctions in a technique referred to as cupping. This works for sprains, chronic bronchitis and backaches. Acupressure is another form of acupuncture where no needles are used. Fingers are used instead to apply pressure to the acupuncture-points.

Disputes and controversies have however emerged following the different theories that have been given to determine how acupuncture works and how effective it is. It is known to create a placebo effect in people’s minds whereby they believe in their minds that they are healed without the procedures necessarily working. It is good to be well advised that it has its own risks. Allergic reactions to the needles have been reported as well as breaking of needles in peoples skins. Punctures have also been reported in the bladder and lungs. Expectant mothers are guided against the use of this treatment during pregnancy as it may lead to premature labor.

The homeopathy treatments are dilute and they are created in a way that they resemble the symptoms of a particular ailment. These cures are also recommended in regard to the patient’s psychological and physical state. After the diagnosis, the repertories which serve as reference books for this treatment are consulted to give a prescription for the particular condition.

Homeopathy is based on the belief that diseases are caused by people’s states of mind. If they are negative about something then it will work against them. This is known to attract disease units which are referred to as miasms or evil spirits. Samuel Hahnemann connected these manifestations to chronic diseases. These units invest themselves in the body and cause people to exhibit symptoms of certain diseases. He came up with a theory that showed that the cure of a disease is similar to its symptoms.

He created a remedy that generated the symptoms of malaria using the bark of a cinchona tree.

He then injected the symptoms to a healthy human who in turn became sick with malaria. He concluded his findings and noted that a prescription of this symptom causing remedy in healthy humans to a sick person in small doses would cure him.  This generated the principle “like cures like” under the “law of similars”. This implies that the symptoms of a disease can be healed by the same.

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Samuel Hahnemann also came up with the “law of minimum dose” which declared that medicines were more effective if administered in small doses. This applied to homeopathy remedies which were diluted to come up with a solution that was low in concentration. Among his other findings was that diseases are caused by disturbances in people’s systems that make it hard for them to heal themselves. He went ahead to conclude that healing would be ignited by use of a stimulus and in small quantities.

People interested in using homeopathy should be well guided that it must not be taken as a supplement or replacement for formal treatment. One must see a doctor if they have a medical condition. In cases where people are interested in the treatment of a particular condition using this method, they must take their time to research on its homeopathy cures. Expectant mothers must take precaution before using this treatment. They are only allowed to do so after consultations with their doctors. This applies also for nursing mothers and children. People should always let their physicians know the kind of treatment they have used in the past to enable them make a sound judgment on the prescription they will administer. However, homeopathy is controversial in that most of its findings are not scientific.

The safety of using these procedures has not been documented though people have reported its effectiveness. The sale of these drugs is however legal and you will find them in pharmacies, on the internet and in health stores. They are mainly made from botanical and mineral substances whereby the substances are highly diluted using water or alcohol. The concoction is then shaken vigorously in a process known as “succession”. It would be funny to note that what is left of a substance after this high dilution is “spirit like” since the original substance will be almost non existent leaving people with only a “memory” of it. This is what is known to awake a “vital force” in the body thus igniting a natural healing process.

When a middle aged woman seems to be irritable, throws frequent temper tantrums, appears quiet at times, it’s not what she deliberately wishes to be like, but it is the period of her life which give rise to such behavior in her. It is menopause – a gradual, but permanent cessation of menstruation.

Ovulation is the process when the ovaries, female gonad, produce ovum (eggs). The gradual stoppage of this process is menopause. Every woman is prone to experience this period in her life.

On an average, menopause occurs at the age of 51 years. But it is hard to predict an individual woman’s age of entering this period. The age at which a woman starts having menstrual periods is also not related to the age of menopause onset. Most women reach menopause between the ages of 45 and 55, but menopause may occur as earlier as the 30s or 40s or may not occur until a woman reaches her 60s.

A recent survey revealed that women who smoke are prone to attain menopause early. The symptoms usually last up to five years.

The symptoms of this state are urogenital atrophy like itching, dryness, bleeding, increase urinary frequency, urinary urgency, urinary incontinence; skeletal disorders, namely, osteoporosis, joint pain, muscle pain, back pain, etc. signify menopause. Sexual symptoms of the onset of menopause are vaginal dryness, problems reaching orgasm, dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse, due to medical or psychological causes), discharge, yeast infections (a common side effect of antibiotics, steroids, and some chemotherapies). Breast atrophy and skin thinning are some of the skin and soft tissue problems. Menopause can also be detected by psychological instabilities like mood disturbance, irritability, fatigue, memory loss, depression, lack of sleep.

During a woman’s reproductive years, the monthly production and release of eggs from the ovaries is regular. This release provides a continual flow of progesterone and estrogen, hormones necessary to prepare the body for a successful pregnancy.

As a woman ages, her body no longer releases the stimulating signals that induce ovulation of eggs from the ovaries. Eventually, the process of production and release of ovum result becomes irregular and a measurable decrease in the associated hormones. This decrease in hormones affects the body’s ability to maintain calcium levels and an increased loss of minerals from the bones. The net loss of calcium from the skeleton is a combination of changes in calcium excretion and calcium absorption.

Menopause is not a disease that requires a treatment but it is a state, a period of life. Nevertheless, this state, at times, becomes severe. Thus there are a few treatments to overcome it.

Hormone therapy (HT), also referred to as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or postmenopausal hormone therapy (PHT), consists of estrogens or a combination of estrogens and progesterone (progestin). Hormone therapy has been used to control the symptoms of menopause related to declining estrogen levels such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness, and HT is still the most effective way to treat these symptoms.

Oral contraceptive pills are another form of hormone therapy often prescribed for women in perimenopause to treat irregular vaginal bleeding.

There are also local (meaning vaginal) hormonal treatments for the symptoms of vaginal estrogen deficiency. Local treatments include the vaginal estrogen ring, vaginal estrogen cream, or vaginal estrogen tablets.

For women who are not supposed to take oral or vaginal estrogens, such as breast cancer survivors, or women who do not wish to take oral or vaginal estrogen, there are a variety of over-the-counter vaginal lubricants.

Menopause, being part of natural physiological process, cannot be avoided, but its awareness can reduce many complications. A balanced diet, avoidance of alcohol, regular meals, exercise, etc. help maintain a healthy physique, and consequently prepare our body to face all physiological changes and challenges.

PMS or premenstrual syndrome is a term used to describe a set of hormonal changes that trigger a syndrome in a significant number of women for up to two weeks before the start of her period. More than 5 million women require treatment for symptoms of PMS such as marked mood changes and behavioral changes.

Symptoms of PMS will often taper off with the start of her period and then she remains symptom free until approximately two weeks prior to the next period. This is different from PMS Depression.

There are over 150 symptoms that have been attributed to PMS. The most common physical symptoms of PMS are crying spells, headache, fatigue, fluid retention, constipation, backaches, cramping and weight gain. Emotional symptoms of PMS include behavior changes, anxiety, depression, irritability, panic attacks, tension and altered libido.

Symptoms of PMS can vary from month to month. Some months women can be symptom free.

PMS was originally described by an American Neurologist in 1931. There are certain elements that differentiate PMS from other problems that women have. Symptoms are often triggered by hormonal changes and tend to begin in puberty, after a pregnancy or after starting birth control pills. All of these events are marked by changes in the standard hormonal environment of the body.

Although researchers know the cause of PMS they can’t always pinpoint the trigger. Not every women who starts birth control or becomes pregnant suffers from these symptoms. Heredity does seem to be a factor but the symptoms differ from mother to daughter or siblings.

Women will sometimes feel a burst of energy and increased activity just prior to the worst symptoms of PMS.

Postpartum depression is a special form of PMS that is especially severe after the delivery of a baby. Most women do experience a let down from the high hormone levels of pregnancy but the depth of depression in postpartum depression is much deeper. Because the trigger is known to be the removal of high levels of hormones the first treatment is often replacement of those hormones for a more gradual weaning process.

Dietary changes do make a difference in the severity of PMS. Women who eat six small meals a day at 3 hour intervals that are high in complex carbohydrates and low in simple sugars to maintain a steady blood sugar level. By reducing or eliminating caffeine, alcohol, salt, fats and simple sugars will help to reduce bloating, fatigue, tension and depression.

Daily supplementation with vitamins and minerals may help to relieve some of the symptoms. Exercise is also helpful to reduce stress and tension, acts as a mood elevator, provides a sense of well-being and improves circulation. With doctor approval, exercising 3 times a week for 20-30 minutes will activate the benefits of exercise.

Psychiatric treatment of PMS was popular since the 1930s. Psychiatrists portrayed women as the weaker sex and in need of treatment for their hysterical complaints. The problem with using psychiatric drugs is that they leave the women groggy, forgetful and not communicative. The treatment doesn’t address the underlying hormonal issues. For this reason the treatment isn’t used for more than one or two cycles.

Pharmacological treatment of the symptoms of PMS has relied on hormonal medications since 1953. Doctors and researchers acknowledge the reality of PMS and understand the close relationship between hormonal fluctuations and physical symptoms.

You suddenly feel like breaking into tears without any reason. The headache that just doesn’t seem to go away; you constantly feel a sense of fatigue….irritable and the people around, make you feel worse. Does all this sound familiar to you? If the answer is yes, then it’s quite likely that you are suffering from PMS or Pre-Menstrual Syndrome.

Pre-Menstrual Syndrome is a medical term that is used to describe a set of disagreeable symptoms which occur in many women before the onset of periods in the second half of the ovarian cycle.

Approximately 60 million women around the world suffer from PMS. In fact 85% of the women who menstruate, have at least one PMS. The symptoms vary greatly from women to women and may range from mild to severe. The most common symptoms experienced by women are: depression, anxiety, weight gain, bloating, mood swings, tension, headaches/migraines, carbohydrate and sugar cravings, weepiness, insomnia, fatigue, poor concentration, irritability, clumsiness and dizziness.

What causes PMS is not clear. Research points to the evidence that PMS has its roots in the genetic make up and hormone chemistry of a woman. Estrogen is the female sex hormone that specifically regulates the menstrual cycle fluctuations throughout the period. Change in levels of this hormone and its deficiency leads to the disturbances like headache, pain and cramps in women.

Stress and poor eating habits have also been found out to be a major contributing factor in triggering the symptoms of this disease. Change in the level of serotonin, a brain chemical is indirectly related to PMS. Many women are affected by pressure cooker environment and erratic lifestyle which may cause the development of PMS in them.

Sometimes there are profound connections between PMS and unresolved emotional issues, and difficult emotional cases will not be resolved until those issues are addressed to. This again goes to prove our standpoint on how much of your emotional biography can affect your health.

Since there’s not one single underlying factor that causes PMS, it’s not possible to have one single remedy resolve all the PMS. But this doesn’t mean that you have no other choice but to live with PMS. Fortunately, you can create a foundation of support for the body that usually leads to relief.

There is a strong nutritional link between PMS and a healthy diet. Cutting down on your intake of salt, caffeine and alcohol can go a long way in relieving many of the symptoms of this disorder among most women. Finding ways to relax and reduce stress can help women with stressful lifestyle. These measures, coupled with any physical exercise, can really help you overcome PMS.

However, women with severe PMS disorder may not experience relief with lifestyle or dietary changes alone. Medical help is required in cases of severe symptoms that interfere with a women’s life. Talk to your doctor about your symptoms and treatment options. S/he may suggest some medications and change in lifestyle.

Finally, it’s very important to understand that you are not alone in suffering from this multi-symptom nightmare in ‘that time of the month’. Talking with your close family or friends about what you are feeling or going through will go a long way in improving your well being during those days of the month.

When I was in college my roommate and I would take a 30 minute power nap every afternoon. One week her mother was visiting and was outraged that this was a regular occurrence. By the third day she joined us in our afternoon siesta, but warned that this would not go over well when we hit the “real” world.

Boy was she right! Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days. Recently, I discovered something even more invigorating than the power nap. I noticed a co-worker would be away from her desk everyday at 10 am and 3 pm like clockwork. When I worked up the nerve to ask, she told me she went out for a walk.

I decided I would adopt the habit. If only to break up the monotony of the day. I’ve discovered the power walk. Here are some of the benefits I am experiencing.

Energy Boost

In addition to being refreshing, the power walk is also invigorating and energizing. It gets your heart pumping, the blood flowing, and those synapses firing. Today, office workers spend most of their day sitting. Between the office commute, the hours spent in front of the computer, and sitting in front of the television for entertainment, your body does not get many opportunities to move around. The power walk is the perfect antidote for this. It gets your body moving, your brain thinking, and the blood flowing.

Breaks the Day Up

As I mentioned, my power walks are helping to break the monotony of the day. Rather than take on your work day in 4 hour increments, a 15 minute power walk in the morning and one in the afternoon will break your day into 2 hour increments. You can return to your desk, or meeting, alert and ready to take on the next chunk of work.

Mental Clarity

Sometimes my power walk is timed just when I’m banging my head against the wall trying to solve a difficult problem. Stepping away from the computer for a while helps. Your head will clear when you go for a walk. New solutions will become apparent to you. You will return to your desk with the perfect solution and the energy to execute it.

Calorie Burn

It’s no longer a secret that I am getting healthier everyday. Part of that is increasing the number of calories I burn. While a power nap might prove energizing, a power walk certainly burns more calories. You can get an extra hour of walking into your day with power walks. A 15 minute walk for a morning break, one for the afternoon, and a 30 minute lunch walk, gives you an hour of movement easily spaced throughout the day. It certainly beats staring into space while marching on the treadmill.

Socially Acceptable

My roommate’s mom was right. Dozing off at your desk while staring at the screen isn’t the best office etiquette. Worse than that, nodding off in the meeting while your boss is giving a very important (cough, cough) presentation. No one can fault the power walk though. Better than that, it gives the impression that you care about your health and you’re industrious.

Stress Relief

Ever feel like telling a co-worker, “Let’s take this outside.” Now you can, with just 2 more words. “Let’s take a walk outside. Or you can go by yourself. A short walk will help to diffuse the situation and loosen you up. It also beats a smoke break.

Fresh Air

Finally, it’s just good to get out and be around nature for a bit. Even if it’s the one tree in the parking lot. On a rainy day you could take a walk along the perimeter of your floor so that you can at least see the outside. You can find out first hand what the weather is like.

Try it this week. Instead of taking a break at the snack machine, take a 15 minute power walk outside with a co-worker. Build your work relationships, and do something healthy for yourself. Best of all feel energized and have fun.

What can dance do for your health?

In addition to promoting cardiovascular health, muscle tone, balance and posture, dance improves your immune system and elevates your mood.

Don’t believe us? Here are some interesting findings from studies on dance to support our stance:

Dance has been used to help Alzheimer’s patients become more socially adjusted and emotionally well. (Bumanis and Yoder. 1987)

It helps cancer patients boost self-esteem and cope with their illness, and body image. (Cohen & Walco, 1999; Dibbell-Hope, 2000; Sandel & Judge, 2004; Serlin, Classen, Frances, & Angell, 2000)

It helps reduce fatigue, anxiety and depression, and helps improve the risk of falling in older women. (Shigematsu, Yabushita, et al, 2002)

Dance has found to regulate seratonin and dopamine in the brain, acting as an anti-depressant. (Jeong and Hong, 2005)

Dance programmes in schools can decrease violence and aggression among kids. (Koshland and Wittaker, 2004)

Dance can help you gain an awareness of what is beyond science or study – the self. Says Joan Dexter Blackmer, author of ’Acrobats of the Gods’, “Dancing is a way to become consciously aware of the true self, without imposing expectations or feminist anger to distract from full awareness. Dancing brings together concrete matter and instinct with feminine love and wisdom.” The same is true for masculine dancing.

Whatever form of dance you choose, its effects on your health will be positive. Try a variety of dances until you find the one that suits you – ballroom dancing, belly dancing, Latin dancing, modern dance, and just hitting the town with friends are all great ways to be healthy. Have fun, play and get to know others in a whole new way. While you’re there, get to know yourself, too!

It’s a fun way to improve your posture, balance, muscle tone, and cardiovascular health. You can suit it to your ability and energy. Plus, you can perform this exercise at home, in some gyms, at studios, and if you are really in a mood, even in the middle of a street. And you can enjoy a solo dance or a group dance.

Dance is the oldest form of exercise which has been practiced in cultures around the world for centuries. History shows that it was an integral part of our ancestors’ lifestyle. It brought families together, acquainted friends and lovers, relaxed souls and celebrated life.

Some cultures are passionate about mind-body exercises even in present times such as tai chi (Chinese gift of good health to the world) and yoga (Indian contribution to global wellbeing and holistic health).

We respect the age-old idea that the body is the house of the spirit. We understand that a tense body creates a tense mind. Consequently, dance is seeing a revival around the world as a way to better health. In North American culture, this revival is a result of efforts of pioneers like Martha Graham, who developed a dance that was an expression of the soul. Says Blackmer, dance training helps “realise the spirit hidden in matter and transform matter itself.”

In some cultures, dance is an essential component of life, necessary for proper communication. In many African and Asian cultures dance communicates fun, courtship, religion, politics, health, healing and education. So be it an inauguration of a new building or a high profile political meeting, if you are there, be ready to shake a leg.

According to Anthropologist Judith Lynne Hanna, dance and language have common characteristics. The vocabulary of dance is made up of gestures. Grammar is the flow from one movement to the next. Semantics occurs as “dance strings together the sequences of movement to make phrases and sentences.”

Let’s consider the somersault, often performed in acrobatic dance. Blackmer notes that the “somersault often precedes, seeming to cause, an important transformation. The somersault, in itself a moving circle, is a mandala, a symbol of the self, one which causes change through human motion.” Another move is bringing your head low, which connotes a new point of view.

The distance people keep from each other, touches, smiles, and glances, can all add extra meaning to the basic motions of dance. For instance, the Ubakala Igo in Nigeria use dance to communicate gender roles. Women are seen as life givers; men as life-taking warriors. To symbolise this, women dance slowly and effortlessly. Men dance quickly and with tension.

It would not be an overstatement to say that dance can express what words cannot. It can communicate ideas beyond any language. Furthermore, different dances express ideas in different ways. Peter Martins of the New York Ballet once said that classical ballet and modern dance speak the same language, but with different dialects. Some dances, like ballet, are like poetry. Others, like the elaborate, codified gestures of Indian dance, are more like prose.

So, whether you like poetry or prose, you can always find a dance style to suit you.

Are you frustrated by that stubborn fat that seems to stay with you no matter how hard you work out or exercise? Are you getting annoyed that no matter how you eat, you cannot seem to lose that extra 10 pounds you’re carrying around with you?

Many people are in the same boat, from coach potatoes to hard core athletes. They train hard, lose some weight, but then hit a plateau and the fat loss stops. There are reasons for this, but more importantly, there is a solution! Often, even active people are unable to trim down to their ideal weight or shape due to factors such as:

• Eating too much and eating the wrong foods

• Training too HARD (YES! You may need to slow down to burn fat), including not taking recovery days

• Skipping strength training workouts

• Feeling stressed about “getting all your workouts in”

As a former athlete, reality started settling in after I graduated from college and I needed a fitness and nutrition plan that worked! The mac & cheese and meatless spaghetti diet was failing me. I was getting a gut and I was tired all the time. I started making massive changes to my diet and finally got back to being trim and fit and had more natural energy.

The changes I implemented were even more important as I started doing triathlons. As an athlete, you need the energy to train sometimes twice a day, and at the same time, you need to prevent from being broken down and susceptible to colds and flus. You need to keep your endurance up and keep injuries away.

How can you do all this and maximize your fat burning potential?

Here is a great start:

1. Cut out empty calories and simple carbohydrates like potatoes, pasta, and cereal as much as possible.

2. Eat more green vegetables, low fat protein, nuts, and healthy fruit like apples, pears, blueberries and melons.

3. Incorporate immune-boosting coconut oil and heart-healthy omega-3 (fish) oils into your diet.

4. Exercise every day, and keep most of your workouts aerobic, like walking, running, biking, or rollerblading.

5. Reduce stress by adding in 10 minutes a day of quiet meditation. Stress often prevents you from breaking through the plateau that is keeping you from losing that extra 5-15 pounds.

Instead of counting calories, choose the right kind of calories. And, if you are looking to get into the shape of your life without getting sick all the time, you need to train smart, not hard!

1. Get enough sleep.

Sleep deprivation is the most common cause of low energy and fatigue. Most adults need 8 hours of sleep every night. If you are sleeping in late on weekends, it’s a sign that you don’t get enough sleep during the week.

If you have to wake up early in the morning, go to sleep earlier in the evening. Going to bed even 30 minutes earlier can make a huge difference in your energy levels during the day!

2. Reduce clutter.

Not being able to find anything among out-of-control piles of papers is stressful. Clothes that you never wear, papers that are falling everywhere and useless items that you feel sorry to throw out can invade your space and take over your life.

Clutter causes stress and saps away energy. Dump all unnecessary stuff in a big garbage can, and you’ll be able to breathe easier and have more energy.

3. Drink more water.

Being dehydrated makes you feel tired and irritable. If you are not thirsty, that does not mean that you drink enough water. By the time you feel thirsty it’s too late – you are already dehydrated.

Most people need at least 8 cups of water per day. The easiest way to know that you are drinking enough is to buy one of those “8 glass” water-bottles that they sell in most drugstores.

4. Take a walk.

Sitting in the chair all day can make you feel stiff and tired, and then you’d feel too lazy to get up, creating a vicious cycle of inactivity.

Make it into a habit to take a walk every day, and your energy levels will increase.

5. Break a routine.

Having the same old routine every day sucks out your soul and steals your energy.

Do not allow yourself to get stuck in a rut! Do something new on a regular basis.

6. See a friend.

Isolation is a recipe for bad mood and low energy. Even when you don’t feel like dealing with anyone, spending time with a person whose company you enjoy will energize you.

7. Lose weight.

Carrying excess weight puts additional strain on the body. Even an extra 10 lbs are hard to carry. Try lifting a 10 lb sack of potatoes! Now imagine it being permanently attached to you – day and night.

If you are overweight, your body has to work hard to constantly carry around the extra pounds. Shed the excess fat, and you’ll feel lighter and more energetic.