Most people want to be in better shape. They commit themselves to working out a few times a week but they don’t really work it. What most people do not realize is that when they work out they are supposed to feel sore. That soreness is the feeling of muscle building and growing. I know plenty of people who will stop working out for a week or so because they are sore. What they don’t understand is that when they do, they are losing all of the progress that they had just made. There are better ideas then just stopping. These ideas will let you still workout but you will not have to work the sore parts.

What people should do is alternate the parts of their body that they work. For example, one day they should focus only on upper body. Do work outs like bench presses and curls. On another day you should do only lower body workouts such as front and back squats. Using these methods you can continue to work out every day without worrying about being too sore. These methods will still make you sore but that’s part of what working out does. I have found that P90X is a great way to alternate workouts and get good results.

My step father in a general physician and the senior partner in his practice so he was one of the doctors I spoke to about healthcare. In the beginning he was all for the changes that were being proposed and then something changes; it became about the insurance industry and not about the care that we get from our doctors and hospitals. No one is arguing that we should do nothing; the question is what do we do?

Today it was released that the average American spends 17% of their total income on healthcare. That’s over a third of the average American’s mortgage payment since most house payments cannot exceed 45% to be approved. That is a staggering amount of your household income spent on healthcare but again; what do we need to do? I suggest you ask your doctor on your next appointment and find out what he or she thinks they need us to fight for in order to improve care. When I have asked mine the questions they had said some very smart and creative things. We should be talking to the people who take care of patients and NOT the administration big wigs whose only job is to make a lot of money. Until we get our priorities straight, a solution will never be found.

Children are not inclined to go outdoors and play. Why would they when the TV, video games, and the home computer as entertainment all call them to stay indoors and “play”? This is a shame because with the denial of the outdoors, the environment becomes more and more disconnected. The kids today will one day grow up to be the voting adults of tomorrow and why would they vote for public funding of National Parks and for legislation to protect the environment. And why would they care when the environment has always been climate controlled and defined by four walls and a roof.

How can we encourage our children to play outdoors like we did if we are so afraid of the outdoors. The media has made us all so painfully aware of the multitudes of dangers to our children what with child molesters and child murderers to bird-flu carrying birds to West Nile Virus carrying mosquitoes. We all need to revisit the concept of outdoors and we need to start with our own backyards, in our own patios and gardens. First steps are always the closest to home and then we can venture forth to explore the great big world outdoors.

Isn’t it funny how we are coming full circle and going back to the same materials our grandparents used? That’s right; our parents seemed to have been guinea pigs for the chemical, food and pharmaceutical companies. This is not said as fodder but as truth. We keep finding out about chemicals that are put into item we use everyday. One example is the bisphenol A , or BPA that is found in many plastic products that we use everyday including storage containers. We use so many products with BPA that it is now found in most of our bloodstreams and while these products are labeled dishwasher and microwave safe, heating them increases the amount that is transferred into our environment!

That’s why many are going back to old fashioned glass. Glass bottles for kids, glass bowls, cups and containers for storage; just one more thing to check off as unsafe for use and consumption and another reason to stop drinking water out of a plastic bottle. Either get a filtered system through your frig, pitcher or just drink tap water; it can’t be any worse for you than everything else we encounter. So much for progress…

Now that Thanksgiving is here, there are a few things you need to remember that can help you preserve your leftovers so they can be enjoyed for days to come. One of the things people used to do a lot is leave food out on the table for the entire afternoon so company can “graze” all day into the evening. Everything was pout up later that evening and most of it was thrown out because it was dry and crusty and just didn’t look appetizing anymore. No one ever talked about food poisoning either!

With microwave and convection ovens, food of all kinds can be easily heated up after the first sitting. With this in mind it is wise to put food in tightly fitted containers and place them as immediately as possible in the refrigerator. Having containers that stack can also help with organizing your leftovers as well. Breads should be placed in a paper or plastic bag and pies should be covered tightly and either stored in a cool place or the refrigerator, If you are saving the bones and giblets of the turkey but are not going to cook them down immediately, they also need to be put in a tight container or plastic bag and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them, which should be within a couple of days.

I was shocked to hear from a friend of mine that he got a political flyer tucked into his church bulletin this past Sunday asking the parishioners to help block the healthcare bill because it didn’t have language blocking abortion. He told me it was from the Bishops Council of the Catholic Church and he was stunned at how blatant it was crossing the line of church and state separation.

I was always told to not “throw the baby out with the bathwater”. In other words, don’t throw out good things with bad. But it does seem that any church that is against helping people get adequate healthcare because the language on an entire different subject is not adequate is doing just that. However, no matter what a church thinks there is a definite line that should not be crossed. We clearly don’t like other countries where the churches run the government but seem to be okay with our own country moving in that direction. I thought there were clear laws preventing just this kind of behavior and if we’re not going to enforce them, than I think churches should pay taxes and not be exempt. They are no longer a place you can go to find God but a place you go to be told what to do.

For every story you hear about someone in America not receiving the care they need from their insurance company you hear a story about the care people are not receiving in another country, be it the UK or Canada. Though I understand why these stories from other countries are brought up, I really don’t care what is happening in other countries because we need to fix what is wrong with our healthcare system. That means looking beyond the comparisons that people are stretching to be made and look at the problems we have in the current system.

Unfortunately, in America as well as other countries around the world, money talks and if you have more money to spread misinformation than the truth then the truth gets lost. I like many of my friends are tiring of the lies that are flying around and scaring the devil out of so many people that only watch TV or listen to the same radio programs and nothing else thus not getting a balanced viewpoint. We will never be able to improve the healthcare situation unless we start with the facts and truths. It is time to put political views aside and do what is right for the people in America. AARP is one of the largest watchdog organizations that are keeping very good tabs on what is true or not. Check out HealthActionNow.org to find out the facts on Health Care Reform.

I have read many books that tell you to find the balance in life everyday and you will find peace. I have come to the conclusion that this is bologna! There is no way I can cut every one of my days up and dedicate an equal slice to family, work, spiritual, physical, etc. Life does not unfold this way; at least in my world.

That’s not to say that when you get to the end you can’t look back and see a well balanced life. It’s just impossible to do on a daily basis. I now look at my life holistically, from beginning to end. It makes since that there are times and seasons for everything and if you force one season into another, nothing grows and blooms. The balancing act we do in life is more about flow. The Universe moves and you can either move with it or fight against it. If things are moving in your career, go with it until that season is over and look to see where the next one is; a marriage, a birth, a death. Find your balance in the whole of life, not forced in the day to day struggle of life.

After many years of eating whatever I wanted to, I have found myself with the unusual desire to eat better and get really healthy. Though I’m not really sure where this desire has come from, I am on a mission for better health through food and so far so good.

By eating more raw vegetables and fruits as well as nuts and cutting out processed, junk and fast foods, I have lost weight and cut my cholesterol down to a manageable level. What I have found to be unique to this diet is I don’t count calories or limit the amount of food I eat; I just eat high nutritious foods. As easy as it sounds, these foods are not always readily available. When you make a consorted effort to eat well, you start reading the labels and looking at what is really in the food we ingest and the picture ain’t pretty! Our bodies are amazing machines that have allowed us to pollute it for years before getting run down and sick. I am now awake and see what’s been happening and just sorry to the generations that follow that we didn’t do more to keep you health in this world.

Though it would be great if there was a magic pill or wand that could be waved through the air and your back pain would magically go away, it just doesn’t work like that. I know. I went through 7 years of frustration and pain chasing the magic anything that would make take the pain away. The MRI I had didn’t really show anything but a little deterioration in the lower back area and no one could explain why I was in so much pain; and I have a high pain threshold! (Really; just ask my dentist)

Over the first five years I did improve enough that I could get through the day without anything stronger than Ibuprofen but I wanted to be able to get through the day without any medication at all. I had been to two chiropractors along the way as well as a pain doctor and my internist so I when another chiropractor was recommended to me, I didn’t drop what I was doing and run to his office. It took a friend of mine six months to convince me to give Dr. Olsen a try. I am going on four months of being under his care and feel better than I have in years! I am not a doctor so I can’t tell you what the difference is but there is a difference. I can go without any medication most days and Dr. Olsen has been great to work with. My friend has already told me, “I told you so”, so all I can say is get a recommendation and try another chiropractor! It’s how I am getting rid of back pain.