What is Reiki?

Reiki, pronounced RAY-key, is a form of healing using the energy within the body. It has its origins in Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which has been practiced for more than 5,000 years and is well-research as an effective meals of maintaining health and healing if there is any disease present.

Reiki is a relatively new form of TCM, developed in the late 1800s in Japan based on ancient methods first mastered in Tibet. Reiki is a form energy-based healing. The word rei means spirit, and ki means qi or chi (pronounced CHEE), out vital energy. Some people translate reiki as universal life force energy, that is, what makes us alive.

How can reiki help?
We have so many demands on us every day, it’s easy to start feeling run down and out of balance. Reiki can boost your energy and then move it throughout your body to where you need it so you can maintain optimal health. This may sound weird, until we consider that a pacemaker uses energy, specifically, energy pulses, to help people who have issues with their heart.

Reiki is used to generally support a healthy lifestyle, or specifically for the purpose of trying to deal with a particular health condition. Studies have shown that reiki offers multiple health benefits, including:

Pain relief, even from chronic pain
Lower blood pressure
Better sleep
Less stress
Greater clarity of mind, and much more.

A union of body, mind and spirit
None of us are at our best when we’re sick. The same is true in reverse. When we’re stressed out, we can literally feel sick to our stomach. All of this can wear us down over time, affecting our spirit, that is, the essence of who we are as a person. If you feel as though you’re stuck in someone else’s life, it might be time to try reiki.

So, how do you get started? You can find a reiki practitioner to treat you. Tell them in general terms what you want to work on and they can help support your energies. If you want to learn how to treat yourself, you would study Level 1 reiki. In this case, you would need to go through a ceremony called an attunement, a special teaching by a reiki master.

Once you’ve had your attunement, you can use reiki for hands on healing, and see what a difference it can make to your life.

Workouts Programs For Beginners

If you say you can’t work out appropriately because you are a neophyte in the journey called fitness, better re-think. Beginners like you can get hold of fitness routines that are just simple to execute. It doesn’t take any experience for you to go the gym to start your resistance and strength training.

Usually, fitness gurus will accommodate and provide you a specific program that comprises with warm-up, cardio, resistance training and cools down routines to complete every single gym session.

Your goal is to manage your weight for sure. But beyond that, the exercises you are going to do will also improve your blood circulation, increase your heart performance, enhance your resistance, and firm your muscles groups. The more lean muscles you develop, the higher your capacity to burn fat is.

Toning your muscles will also calm your whole system down, that’s why it’s important to finish your session with toning. Learn from the steps below so you can choose which areas to focus on. By doing one set of each, you will be able to experience a total body workout that toughens your shoulders, arms, chest, back, legs, abdomen, and hips.

1.Triceps Pushdown. You will need a pair of dumbbells to do some arms curl that targets to toughen and increase the muscles on your triceps. Do 16 repetitions in each arm.

2.Arm Curl Machine. Most fitness clubs have this machine that targets the arm muscles. You can do two sets of 16 for this one.

3.Lying Leg Raise and Press. For leg raise, you won’t need any equipment. You just have to lie down the floor on your back and raise your legs up and down. To do the leg press, you can use a specific machine wherein you just sit and extend your legs and start pushing the weight against you.

4.Shoulder Press Machine. You can stand up in front of the machine and grab the two grips. Start pressing up and down to feel the contraction on your shoulder and arms.

5.Seated Row Machine. Sit on the machine and place your feet on the metal steps. Grab the weight and pull it back with your shoulder blades together. Halt when your elbows are aligned and reverse the step.

6.Lying Leg Curl. Using a lever lying leg curl machine, you lean your upper body on the bench and insert your legs over the lever pads. Grab the handles and start flexing your knees. Lift the lever pads up and down repeatedly. You can do 16 or 32 counts of this.

For beginners, you can settle for machines that allow you to carry on your fitness programs more easily. As you get the hang of it, you can increase the intensity of your executions.

Top 10 Low Calorie Foods that Taste Great

While a low calorie cake remains a fantasy, there are many low calorie foods that actually taste great. Therefore, if you craving to eat something delicious but you cannot afford to take any calories, check out below for a list of the top 10 low calorie foods that taste great.

1. Cabbage

Cabbage is loved for its ability to prevent heart disease and cancer and it is also ranked as the top foods that can aid in weight loss. This is because it has extremely low calorie count.

A great way to eat cabbage is to make cabbage soup which is filling and has lower calories than other soups.

2. Eggs

Eggs are classified as complete protein foods because they contain all the essential amino acids that the body cannot make on its own. When digested, the amino acids activate the release of hormones in the gut that suppress one’s appetite. Also, eggs contain less calories.

You can add vegetables to spice them up and boost the fiber content.

3. Apples

Apples contain plenty of antioxidants, fiber, minerals and vitamins. They are also part of the low calorie foods and they make a great snack preventing you from eating junk food.

4. Brocolli

This is not only a low calories food but also cancer fighting and it is packed with phytonutrients, fiber and proteins which are all key to maintaining proper weight.

5. Kale

Kale is packed with minerals, phytonutrients, vitamins, fiber and proteins and are a perfect snacking alternative that is low in calories. You can bake kale chips in different flavors which is a better alternative to potato chips.

6. Mushrooms

No matter the type mushroom you choose, chances are it is low in calories so you do not have to worry no matter how you choose to cook them.

7. Watermelon

Besides being naturally sweet, watermelon is low in calories. It also contain antioxidants which are beneficial to the body in many ways and it has been proven to boost metabolism which in turn aids in weight loss.

8. Cauliflower

Cauliflower is one of the lowest ranking in terms of calorie count. It also has many other health benefits including enhancing the function of the body’s digestive and cardiovascular system and being an anti-inflammatory food.

9. Cucumber

Cucumbers are loaded with water and they are low in calories which explains why they make a great adornment in salads. You can eat it to your satisfaction without worrying about exceeding the maximum calorie intake.

10. Tomatoes

Besides being one of the healthiest foods, tomatoes are low in calories and they contain lycopene, a pigments that helps to prevent cancer and heart diseases. Due their low calorie count, tomatoes make a great weight loss food.

Click here to discover exactly what “whole wheat” bread, types of milk, sugar, and vegetable oils do to your body

Five Tips For Healthy Eating

A wide range of nutritious foods should be included in all healthy diets. These foods should include: minerals, nutrients and vitamins of all kinds. By keeping a healthy diet, you will keep a healthy body weight. Diabetes and other diseases will have less chance of developing. In this article, we will have a brief look at 5 Tips for Healthy Eating.

Eat A Wide Range Of Vegetables And Fruit.

The recommended daily intake of vegetables and fruits is at least five portions a day. If you do not like eating fruit and vegetables too much, you can drink it in smoothies or fruit juices. This counts as one portion. Vegetables can also be included into a variety of cooked dishes. Chopped banana’s can also be included with breakfast cereals. Otherwise, you can eat a piece of fresh fruit for a morning or afternoon snack.

Include Fish With Your Meals.

Fish come with a range of vitamins, minerals and protein. Two portions of fish should be consumed each week. Oily fish should also be included. This is because this type of fish has omega-3 fats in it. This can stop you from getting heart disease. Some oily fish might include: sardines, trout and salmon. Fish without oil may include: cod, haddock or canned tuna.

Eat Less Salt.

Adults should have no more than six grams a salt each day. If we eat too much of it, this can increase our blood pressure. You do not have to add salt to your food to eat it. There are at least three-quarters of salt in many foods we eat. This includes: sauces, breakfast cereal, breads and soups.

Always Eat Breakfast.

Never ever miss breakfast. There are people who think that not eating breakfast will assist them in losing weight. This is not true. The truth is, eating breakfast will assist with controlling weight. Healthy breakfasts will give us some of the necessary minerals and vitamins. For a good nutritious breakfast, you can include sliced fruit over cereal that has little sugar in it.

Eat Less Sugar.

Consuming too much sugar will only cause tooth decay and make will make us gain weight. It is advised that we cut down on the following: pastries, fizzy drinks, cakes, alcoholic drinks, biscuits and sugary breakfast cereals. Many of these foods and drinks will have added sugars in them. This is what should be avoided.

In this article, we have had a look at 5 Tips for Healthy Eating. We have seen that it is good to: Eat a range of vegetable fruits, include fish in our meals, eat less salt, always eat breakfast, and eat less sugar. By following these five tips, you will be healthy in no time.

A guide on how counting calories work

How Calorie Counting Works

Calorie is the measure of the energy amount in food. Knowing the amount of calories in food helps you to balance the energy that gets to the body with the energy used when doing physical activity which is key in controlling weight.

The energy contained in food is measured in form of calories just like we measure weight of an item in kilograms.

Calories and energy balance

When you eat or drink, energy gets to the body in the form of calories and the body uses up that energy when doing physical activity. In order to maintain a stable weight the energy thet gets to the body should be equal to that used up

When we eat and drink, we’re putting energy (calories) into our bodies. The body then uses up that energy, and the more physical activity you do, the more energy (calories) are used.

Weight gain occurs when we take in more energy and use less. Over time the excess energy is stored in form of fat.

According to research, most adults drink and eat more that needed by the body and they are not physically active which leads to weight gain.

Checking calories in food

Knowing the amount of calories in food is useful when trying to lose weight or even when you need to maintain a healthy weight. Just ensure that you do not consume too much calories that you use up.

The calorie content in food is indicated on the back side of the packaging. The amount is written in kcals short form for kilocalories or kJ short form for kilojoules.

The label tells you how many calories are contained in 100 millilitres or 100 grams of the drink or food, therefore, you can compare the calorie content in different products. Some labels also state the amount of calories in a single portion of the food but the manufaturer’s idea of a proportion may not be the same as yours.

Yous should use the calorie information provided on a product to determine if a certain food fits your daily calorie requirement. Usually, a man needs 2500 calories to maintain a healthy weight while a woman needs 2000 calories. Therefore ensure that you take only enough or less if you want to shed some pounds.

In order to burn calories, you should engage in physical activity that will use up body energy, the more vigorous the activity is, the more calories you will use which eventually leads to weight loss.

10 Reasons why Fad Diets Suck

A Fad diet is a conventional diet that promises people fast results through simple methods. These diets are very tempting given that losing weight is a challenge to many people with most of them having a misconception that they can lose weight overnight. The fact is fad diets are all hype and may cause you, even more, harm than good.Below Are 10 Reasons why Fad Diets Suck:

Unnecessary food restrictions — Fad diets that promise quick weight loss will usually instruct you to eat more of one food type and restrict yourself from eating another food type. This could lead to an unbalanced diet. To address that, fad diets will usually recommend many supplements, but then again, many supplements might cause nutritional deficiencies.

Against the fat level as recommended by the government — Fad diets does not follow government recommendations for fat concentrations in the diet. Most fad diets will recommend high fat and low carb diet, which is not good for your health when taken long term. You will indeed lose weight but taking so much fat could lead to heart disease.

Failure to address the root cause of weight gain — The reason that fad diets are considered bad is that these diets do not address the root cause of the weight gain. You regain back the weight you lost at the end of the day!

Expensive — Some fad diets require people to take pills and drink potions which can be costly.

Anti-exercises — Any diet that promises you weight loss without counting your calories or doing exercise is a fad diet. These diets do not encourage weight loss patients to incorporate exercises into their programs.

Elimination of healthy foods — Usually, fad diets ask people to eliminate certain food groups from their diet because they are bad. Some of the foods are carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and essential fatty acids.

Short term results — Fad diets are just a temporary solution and will not make any permanent change to your figure and eating habits. In a few weeks time, you will regain all the weight as you will fall back to your old eating habits.

Extremely unhealthy — The short-term weight loss effects followed by weight gain is extremely unhealthy and may cause many diseases such as high blood pressure or coronary heart disease.

Not motivating — They will make you feel bad and guilty whenever you break the overly restrictive diet. After a few days of following the diet and restricting yourself of certain foods, you will start craving and start being bored and sad about your diet.

Unbalanced diet — Many fad diets do not give you a balanced intake of fruits and vegetables, which is important to keep yourself healthy.

Conclusion

Irrespective of how good the fad diet advertisement is, don’t fall for these diets, they will not help you in the long term. The only way to achieve weight loss is to eat moderately, eat a balanced diet, exercise, etc.

5 Ways to Improve Your Fitness

 

Are you struggling to attain a perfect body fitness? Have you been exercising for months without any significant changes? To be physically fit, you need to eat well, exercise and sleep. It is all about leading a healthy, active, relaxed, and stress-free lifestyle that can help you achieve your goals. Here are 5 Ways to Improve Your Fitness

1. Make sure that aerobic activity is a major part of your fitness routine. Some people make the mistake of spending all of their time on strength training. However, in order to make your muscles stronger, you have to get rid of the fat which is hiding them. That is where cardio activity comes into play. So make sure that you engage in at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity each and every day.

2. If you want to tighten you muscles be certain that you engage in strength training. This will help you tighten up all of those lose areas once you get rid of the body fat.

3. Remember to keep things fun. Fitness should not be something that you dread. It should be something fun, so go ahead and engage in an activity that you enjoy. If walking on a treadmill at a gym is not your thing, try running or rollerblading outdoors.

4. Exercise is the key to improving your body fitness. In fact, people who have an active lifestyle are seldom seen with unattractive figures. If you can manage simple workouts on a daily basis at home, or go to a gym regularly, then you will notice visible changes in your body fitness within a month. Exercise helps in protecting your body from muscle loss. It increases the metabolism, improves blood circulation, and revitalizes the entire system. Yoga is a perfect way to achieve a perfect body fitness, and to relax your body. It helps you in overcoming the stiffness of your muscles and produces great agility in your body. If you want to trim specific areas of your body like tummy, thighs, biceps, then you can consult your trainer to guide you about the relevant postures, and exercises.

5. Finally, keep off from stress. Stress factor does not directly affect our body fitness, but it alters our attitude towards life. It also affects our eating patterns. We neglect our exercise, proper diet, and stop thinking positively in life. We tend to starve either, or glutton on anything and everything especially on caffeine, chocolates, and colas.

3 Tips for Losing Weight Healthily

Losing excess weight not only makes you look and feel good, but also significantly reduces your risk of getting diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart attack and high blood pressure. There are numerous crash diets and over the top workout programs sold online that promise to help you loose weight fast, but most of them don’t work in the long term. If you’ve tried any of them and failed, don’t give up just yet. There are numerous steps you can take to develop a healthy relationship with food and attain lasting weight loss. Here are 3 tips for losing weight healthily:

Introduce Changes Gradually

Our bodies use the foods we eat for energy. When you eat more food than your body requires for daily activities, the excess energy is stored as fat. The more food you eat, the more fat your body stores and the more weight you’ll gain. To lose weight in a healthy way, it is very important that you gradually change your eating habits.

Making small changes here and there can make a big difference in the long run. So, if you are used to eating unhealthy foods, try cutting them out slowly and replacing them with healthier alternatives (vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean meat). Swap snacks like biscuits, candy bars or potato chips for fruits such as an apple to ensure you remain fuller for longer.

Reduce Your Calorie Intake

Other than introducing healthier foods to your diet, you also need to limit the amount of food you eat to lose weight. A good starting point is cutting down on foods that have added sugar and refined carbohydrates like white bread, energy drinks and white rice among others. Aim to eat at least 300-500 calories less everyday, and you’ll be able to lose between 1-2 pounds per week. This may seem a bit slow, but it is more realistic and sustainable. Eat smaller portions of the foods you usually enjoy, and you’ll be able to lose weight for sure.

Increase Your Activity Level

Every time you exercise more than you usually do, but maintain your calorie intake, you’ll burn calories and fat. There are many physical activities you can do to increase your level of activity even if you don’t like going to the gym. This can be anything from using the stairs at work instead of the lift, watching your favorite TV programs while jogging on a tread mill or using a stationary bicycle, swimming, or taking longer walks than you usually do.

The key to long-term weight loss is to eat less calories than your body needs, do physical activities that you enjoy regularly and make lifestyle changes that contribute to your overall health. Always remember that every extra step you take in the right direction brings you closer to achieving your weight loss goal.

3 Reasons You Aren’t Losing Weight Fast

Are you obese? Have you attempted almost everything to lose weight with little success? Well, losing weight can prove to be a difficult task especially if you don’t know where to start from, or you lack an experienced hand to guide you through the process.

In this post, we’ll delve into 3 Reasons You Aren’t Losing Weight no matter how hard you try. To learn more, please read on.

– You don’t exercise regularly

If you intend to lose weight exercise is a must. Health experts recommend that you work out for at least thirty minutes daily. Regular exercise will help you burn extra calories and regulate the production of a hormone named cortisol produced when you are stressed. Cortisol is closely associated with obesity since when your body is recovering from stress it increases your appetite to compensate for the carbohydrates and fat that was used to prepare your body for fight or flight.

– You are not eating healthy

What you eat will determine your body weight. If you intend to lose weight, and you still eat processed foods that are rich in trans fats, salt, and sugars, you are doing more harm than good to your body. These substances tamper with your digestion as well as metabolism. Besides, processed foods lack nutrients and won’t satisfy you, meaning that you will have to eat more to deal with your cravings. Modify your diet by including more fruits, vegetables, and proteins that contain nutrients that promote weight loss. And that is not all, also ensure that you drink enough water to improve your digestion and catalyze reactions that result in burning off extra calories.

– You are not sleeping well

Lastly, to achieve your weight loss goals, you can’t overlook getting enough sleep. Sleep is crucial in promoting your overall health as well as weight loss. Studies have shown that those who don’t get enough sleep have a tendency of consuming high-calorie foods the next day. Yes, you heard me right! Besides, lack of enough sleep also affects your appetite hormones namely leptin and ghrelin increasing your appetite. So, if you are not sleeping well, start sleeping for about seven to eight hours to lose weight without much hassle.

Wrap Up:

There you have it-3 Reasons You Aren’t Losing Weight. Getting the body that you have always desired can be so hard sometimes. However if you exercise, eat healthily and sleep well, then you will be in a better position to lose weight fast within the shortest time possible.

Transform Your Life with Meditation

Throughout the centuries, people all over the world have used meditation to transform their lives. They have used it to improve their health and to better manage their emotions. However, there is more to meditation that meets the eye. It can improve many aspects of your life.Here are some of the ways that meditation can change your life:

Meditation can help you make better decisions. You won’t be operating on autopilot. You will gain better control of your mind. You become more aware of what’s going on in your life and you can make the necessary changes to transform it.

Meditation helps you become more loving and compassionate towards yourself and others. If you’re one of the many people who have the tendency to put themselves down and you want to change the way you have been treating yourself, meditation can help you stop thinking on autopilot and start being more aware of your inner dialogue. You will then start telling yourself more positive things. When you give yourself more love and appreciation, you will find it easier to love and appreciate others.

Meditation can help you banish anger, fear, and other negative feelings. When you meditate and try to be more positive, that doesn’t mean that you have to ignore or repress your negative feelings. On the contrary, meditation allows you to confront these feelings without shame or judgment toward yourself or others. Confronting these feelings will help you to know yourself better, accept yourself just as you are, and work towards overcoming these negative feelings.