Healthy B.P.M.

I was doing some research on coffee and I was kind of surprised that there so many cool kinds of coffee around. What started as the story of an Ethiopian goatherd observing his coffee-bean-crunching goats has now spurned off into a lucrative part of the world economy.

Check out some coffee health links….it’s not all that bad for you unless you are an insomniac!

Dietitians look at health effects of coffee

Check out the coffeescience website if you want to know how coffee affects every aspect of your health.

What’s your favorite coffee- Starbucks or the regular home brew?

coffee, Starbucks, health, lifestyle

If an employee is obese, s/he might cost the company more money.An obese employee has more reasons to take sick leave and suffers from more work-related injuries. So the compensation that comapnies invest in their employees just shoots up!

Check this out:Study: Fat workers cost employers more

This calls for a change in the way employers treat their employees. While depriving employees of their health, they create more expenditure and liability. Obesity is one area. But what about the work culture in general?People work day in and day out, without time for their families, without time to read their favorite books or even to have a simple stroll in the park. Life has lost its quality. The excuse:MONEY.

But if companies are losing money with sick employees, they would have it good to enrol their employees in gyms and create an easier work culture and friendlier environment. Benefits all.

fat, obese, lifestyle

Do you need a life coach?

I was reading a book by a famous life coach and thinking I wish I had met her when I was eighteen. I was clueless about life when I was eighteen. I had no pressure on me to achieve anything. It was all going good. The grades were good. I read and wrote poetry. Life was simple.

On the other hand, kids my age who were going crazy that they had come of age and needed to make it big are making waves in their careers now. I am still experimenting.

How do you know if you need a life coach?

-Well, you’ll pretty much be going either everywhere, as in you would want to do everything, or you would be going no where. Dead end. Zilch.

-You wake up in the morning unhappy. You hate doing what you are doing day in and day out.

-You look at yourself in the mirror or get a photograph of yourself and feel This is not me. I’m not happy.

-Your parents and loved ones notice changes in you-negative ones.

You could pay for your life coach or take help from your friends and family. It isn’t always easy doing things alone. Sometimes some advice, if taken constructively, can make your life easier, help you make better choices and make you feel happy at the end of the day.

life coach, lifestyle

A lot of us suffer from backaches. Reasons vary from sedentary lifestyle, work pressure, computer-based work, limited exercise and incorrect posture. Even if you walk, if you walk with the wrong alignment, then your chances of having back pain go up. If you are loaded with toddlers, then you can feel the spine causing havoc. Simple things like climbing the stairs and getting up from bed become painful experiences.

I recommend anyone with backache to read this article:
5 fixes to help you stand up to back pain

You get a lot of tips on how to sit comfortably and walk with ease. Standing straight is supposed to make you feel better, not be some kind of strenuous action. There are options you can use when wearing those heels. And when you sit at work, make sure you take breaks as much as possible. Don’t ever start exercising without warming up. That can trigger off severe pain sometimes.

back pain, health, lifestyle

With a new drug on the anvil, one that will put an end to the monthly period Period, a new debate has sprung up about whether ending menses is a good idea.

Says Samantha(name changed on request):I’d do anything to put an end to this monthly torture.

She has all the reasons to complain- unbearable cramps, Irritable Bowel Syndrome,mood swings…every month she’s on medication for the biting pain. But when I asked her if she wanted to stop her period permanently she wasn’t so sure.

Women have been going through this ordeal for a long time. Some have no problem whatsoever;others suffer unbelievable pain. Nowadays in the work-oriented world, natural biological realities are becoming obstacles. I think the period will be a thing of the past.Look at contraceptives; they have changed the way women live and are unavoidable tools used to program life to be the way we want it to be.

However, there are a lot of health concerns. No one really knows the long term effects of doing away with the period. Read Pill That Eliminates the Period Gets Mixed Reviews for more.

Also check out the trailer of the movie: Period:The End of Menstruation?

period, menstruation, Period: The End of Menstruation?, health, lifestyle, women

I’m wondering about that one.

This generation is stressed out. Work pressure, working -at -home pressure, commute pressure, investment pressure….our parents were way happier. I remember the kind of time we had when we were younger. It was quality time and we used to discuss more things as a family. Maybe we have far too many television channels now and our life has become so comfortable that we can’t really handle stress.

Even conversations have thinned down. It’s all about a day’s work done. We’re all in pursuit of happiness but running long and hard. so much that the aches and pains have gone up(in spite of the fitness frenzy that has caught on).Research suggests that there is a problem but it’s not something to worry about just yet. Awareness can change the way we live.

I think we should devote more TIME to ourselves, our families and the things we love. That must be the reason why our moms and dads were a more robust lot. They loved to give and hardly thought about themselves. I do think a lot about myself, my career growth and my life. The ‘I-Syndrome’ can really stress you out.

Read Baby boomers may be less healthy than parents.

baby boomers, health

Protecting the young or the lack of protection of the young seems to be making headlines everywhere. Children seem to be the underprivelaged lot. They are little people whose views are often sidelined and they are being abused in the millions. I was kind of shocked to read in the newspapers that a large percentage of children are victims of abuse at HOME.

I can’t really believe that. But it’s true. Parents take out their frustration on children at home. But sexual abuse? If you register at this website you could get information on how to help prevent this terrible truth.

The most important thing we can do is try to nurture a healthy atmosphere in the home. Try at all times to maintain calm and NEVER take out your frustration on the kids because that really amounts to hurting your kids. There is this debate about whether spanking kids can be classified as abuse. Disciplining is one thing but have you noticed when the spanking turns into angry hitting? When you have had a bad day. When you are calm and relaxed, you will not REACT to your children in the same way.

What do you think?

child abuse, healthy lifestyle

Kind of an interesting topic for weekend reading.

Gay by design,or lifestyle choice?

Who determines taste anyway? Is the perception of what kind of car you have being based on sexual preferences sensible? Or is it a marketing gimmick? The answer looks like gimmick. Being a woman doesn’t stop you from doing ‘guy things’, so I guess these cliches are just part of the social undercurrent.

Weekend thought.

gay, lesbian, marketing, lifestyle

I can be as cool as a sage but there are anger triggers that change me to an angry monster. It could be anything…silly things like things that thoughtless people say, frustration that I messed up an assignment….you must have those bad-mood days too. Days when everything you do and say take you to a dead end.

Some ideas that help:

1. Counting to ten doesn’t ever occur to me. When I’m angry I’m angry. I just become my ego and see red in everything.

2. Breathing does help. But as usual I forget to take in those deep breaths. Do you see yourself breathing deeply durimg a terrible traffic jam?

3.Thinking in the long term is an idea that really works for me. Is it worth it getting angry over this moment? Will it make any difference a decade later? When the answer is no way,I’ve calmed down.

4.Thinking from the other person’s point of view is so difficult, especially when you’re having an argument. But a moment in another person’s shoes will make all the difference.

5.Avoid confrontational situations. If you can’t adjust with someone, try not to meet them. If you have to, be amiable and not on the defensive.

6. Talk less when you’re angry otherwise you’ll just end up saying things you don’t mean and that you’ll regret.

7.Don’t take your anger to bed.

8.Tap on your funny bone. Sometimes humor defuses a bad situation.

9.I think sometimes saying how angry you are helps. Being quiet and unhappy about a situation doesn’t help. EXPRESS, don’t yell.

These tips are swell too.

anger, anger management, temper, stress, tips

It’s happening to me. I’m addicted.

Not to cigarrettes or alcohol. I’m addicted to the internet. And its starting to affect my life. Soft addictions are not killers yet. But research says that they sap away at your precious time and stress you out. Many addicts are in denial. I mean what is the big deal about being a gaming lover or browsing on the net?

Nothing except it means you’ll have less QUALITY of life and too much PC spells neck,shoulder and back problems.What can you do to fix it?

1.Checking your mails can turn into an obsession. I’d say switch those email alerts off!Checking your emails can actually keep you in the office longer. If you are freelancing, you’ll notice how nothing ever gets done when you start typing out those emails. Fix a time for it.

2.Get your PC in good shape every once in a while. Virus attacks can make you lose a lot of your information and it takes ages to get everything back in order again.

3.Make sure your spam filters are installed.You don’t want to waste your time on spam.

4.If you’re a blogger, write your posts in advance and future post it(if that’s an option for you) or save them and post them as required.

5.Prioritize. Is answering this mail as important as going out for the morning walk you had planned?

6.It’s all about planning. Schedule times when you’ll be on online forums. Don’t keep checking on new messages.

7.Unsubscribe from newsletters you are never going to read.

8.If you have to work in front of the computer all day, keep yourself hydrated, take breaks every hour and make sure that you get lots of sleep.

9. Review your day before you go to bed. Don’t check your mail or watch T.V before you hit the sheets. A doctor told me this one. That way the next day you have no excess baggage.

software professional, health, stress, PC, newsletters, emails, virus, bloggers, internet addiction, spam

Even if you’ve done botox and cosmetic surgery what could give away your age is your hands. All those blue veins protruding and telling everyone:hey she’s just done cosmetic surgery;she’s old. Look at her poor old hands.”

So it’s more than your fortune that your hands reveal. It’s your age too.

The ‘hand lift’ is a new procedure that’s catching up in a big way. Either fat from another part of the body is transferred to your hands or you have fillers injected. With your hands rejuvenated you look at yourself differently.Interestingly, no one applies sun block on their hands. We don’t care for our hands enough and it shows. But surgery for young hands……….I don’t know about that.

Read this:
Hands up if you’ve had cosmetic surgery

hand lift, cosmetic surgery, botox, anti aging

You must be thinking how everyone is telling us that what we did all these years is bad. Watching T.V, eating junk food, being couch potato….that’s all wrong and the health critics are getting too preachy. There’s nothing wrong with us. We’re happy unlike some skinny people(Is there some bias there?) out there who die on the ramp.

I’ve heard this kind of open bias against healthy living(eating good food doesn’t necessarily make you skinny and being skinny doesn’t mean you’re the healthiest person on earth)so many times. Watching T.V is something we all do. The houses are all lit up with the blur of television in the evenings. After work, it’s the couch and some random channel changing. But watching T.V means you’re eating alongside- either it’s potato chips or fruit juice. That’s really enough to make you fat. So what you can do is cut T.V time and catch up on other things.

You will suddenly find that you have a lot more time than you did.

Check out Twelve Year Sentence for watching T.V. Research suggests that we spend twelve years of life watching T.V….that coupled with unhealthy foods can really change the way you look.

This trend begins in childhood. Check this out.

obesity, television, couch potato, childhood obesity

The ups and downs of your life affect your weight.

When you get married, you usually gain weight. For one thing you are happier, more relaxed and oblivious of dieing norms. Then when you have kids, you know what happens. Maternal bliss and calories go hand in hand.

Now suppose all that happiness falls like a tonne of bricks, if you divorce the weight could actually go up. When you eat alone, you don’t tend to think about calories. A friend of mine told me how he would embark on binge eating when he was under stress- be it in relationships or at work.

When you retire, you are suddenly faced with the prospects of a day without a deadline and you make up for it by clearing the fridge, eating more than you need and resting for no apparent reason.

So every time your life is punctuated by an event, your body is affected. Looks like stress can put on the pounds rather than reduce it.

Read A lifestyle change can bust your diet

stress, lifestyle, marriage, divorce, retirement, binge eating

I’ve been thinking about how to turn Healthy B.P.M into more than a diet and fitness blog. I’m going to deal with lifestyle issues more than I have in the past. If you want to improve your well being you have to start from scratch- from you, your surroundings, your goals…..There is so much to work on. Stress emanates from tiny cracks in your life that emerge when you neglect yourself. Either you are too busy or too burdened by ridiculous issues. That has to change. And I want to help.

When I read FItSpirit: De-cluttering can be an exercise of healthy living, I completely agreed. Thatsfit.com is an interesting blog that covers various issues and I loved the way the idea of decluttering your surroundings syncs with fitness ideals.

Now I’m no stranger to clutter. But when you think logically about what dirty dishes and overflowing laundry does to your psyche, you realize it drives you to the edge. You think differently in a beautifully kept home and in a messy house. See the difference. When you care about your surroundings you create a home, otherwise you have a house to live in.

The ancient discipline of feng shui is more than decorating; it’s an act of harmonizing your spirit with your surroundings. It creates an awareness that you are not alone and that you belong to an extended universe. Your every action sends ripples through out the universe and that’s not an exaggeration. According to feng shui, clutter destroys the harmony in your house. The simple act of cleaning will make you feel better about where you live and subsequently about who you are as well.

Tell me what decluttering your home or office space has done for you.

fitness, feng shui, lifestyle