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Fitness of the Body

Bodily fitness is being able to deal with and handle the daily stresses of life, good physical and mental health, especially when maintained by proper diet, exercise, and habits.  Nutrition refers to the nurturing of our body, in ourability to keep it healthy and functioning as it is supposed to do.  Our ability to provide the body with all the necessary food, vitamins, and minerals so that we continue to thrive in our daily life processes is a part of overall fitness.  Fitness refers to the condition of good physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Fitness of the body occurs when all the body processes, physical and mental are functioning as the peak levels. What does it take to achieve complete body fitness? It requires more than simply taking a trip to the gym, or a walk in the park.

Many factors come into play when we consider our body’s fitness. The daily intake of food, vitamins, and water are absolute necessities, and most often the items thought about.  What about the conditioning of our body to deal with life each day?

Does our physical exercise have anything to do with the fitness of our body? Absolutely.  For one condition without regard to the other, is not a complete whole.  The body includes all of our physical processes, our mind, and our physical being as a whole.  When we give thought to the fitness of the body, most often we contemplate our physical condition as it applies to our cardiovascular needs and our weight.  But our bodies are much more than heart and a nice figure.  What about all of our other organs?  Are they fit? How do we maintain a fitness of the entirety?  Daily physical exercise that benefits the body as a whole, taking time to rest and restore what has been depleted from our body over the course of the day, and making sure that we adequately supply our entire body with the nutrition necessary for healthy function.

If we use our resources wisely and educate our selves about the things our body needs to maintain fitness, over the course of our life, it isn’t a difficult thing to attain. But you cannot abuse your body for years, and then hope for immediate results in trying to attain overall fitness.  It didn’t become unfit overnight, and it won’t become fit again that quickly.

Proper attention to the physical needs of each part of your body results in the fitness of the whole.  Every part of your physical body exists to work in unison with another part of the body.  Two hands are necessary for optimal functioning of the limbs, two feet, two eyes, etc.  The physical body is designed to work better than any machine invented to date.  It is more complex and powerful than any piece of equipment we have on the market.  It takes more abuse than believable, and continues to operate, even without the daily requirements being met, for several days.  It is a fascinating machine, as machines go.  But it is an even more fascinating subject, when we choose to care for our bodies as the temples they really are.  They house our mind and soul, and when the body is fit, it does its job tremendously well.

For help with ways to handle the stresses of life, physical and mental health, get in touch.  We can develop a plan of action to help optimize your health mentally and physically.

 

 

 

PMS really does not feel good.  Moods and reactions can be off.  Being more anxious or depressed, sleep cycles disrupted and having painful cramps are some of the symptoms we can experience.

So, here are some ways to bring back your joy premenstrually and in the peri-menopause stage, or when you are suffering from anxiety and depressive symptoms in general.

First, what exactly is happening in your body?

From the time of ovulation until menses, our ovaries secrete progesterone.  The intention is to prepare the uterus and body for pregnancy.  Our bodies are designed to respond to progesterone.  This actually helps us to stick closer to our partner, to feel more connected and intimate and closer to home by caring for our home and loved ones.

When our bodies are not secreting enough progesterone because it’s blocked or being used up faster and there is more estrogen circulating (including xeno-estrogens and endocrine disruptors from out toxic environment) we become more estrogen dominant.

Being Estrogen Dominant Can Lead To:

• Severe PMS
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Mood swings
• Irregular or heavy menstrual cycles
• Breakthrough bleeding
• Ovarian cyst
• Bloating
• Weight gain
• Decreased libido
• Acne
• The monster within us to emerging!

6 Tips to Balance Your Hormones in PMS and Peri-Menopause

1. Get a good night’s sleep (7 – 9 hours)
   • Create a relaxing nighttime ritual
   • Take an Epsom salt bath
   • Turn electronics off at 9 p.m.
   • Practice meditation, deep belly breathing and stretching before bed
   • Take supplements to support sleep such as melatonin or magnesium
   • Use Serenity Capsules or oil at bedtime.  Use on bottom of feet and/or diffuse – more information here – they can be purchased together or separately
2. Eat alkalizing and detoxifying foods
   • Detoxing excess estrogen is essential to a healthy hormone balance.
   • Enjoy cruciferous vegetables daily.  Increase your intake of broccoli cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and dark greens like kale, collards and chard.
   • Add the Women’s Health Kit to your daily routine.  This combination of products helps to reduce estrogen, helps our bones as well as using the oil on our abdomen helps to relieve symptoms of PMS.  You can find out more about these products here.
   • Use this guide for adding alkaline foods to your diet.  Try adding something new every few days.  Strive to add the foods under the “Highly Alkaline” foods.
3. Indulge with dark chocolate
   • Indulge and soothe the senses during this time.  Dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants.
4. Nourish yourself
   • Eat healthy fats and proteins at each meal and in the evening add complex carbs like sweet potatoes.  Avoid snacks and dairy.  Add probiotic-rich and fermented foods.
5. Schedule in playtime
   • Add in daily activities you love with people you love.  This will help increase the hormone oxytocin and will help you connect with those around you.  Restoring hormones of connections can help balance these feelings of isolation and loneliness and will increase serotonin and dopamine, which will keep you happier and calm.
6. Herbal supplements
   • Chasteberry
   • Dandelion
   • Dong Quai
   • Red Raspberry

Continue reading “Tips to Calm and Prevent PMS Symptoms”

I often hear from women that their cycles have been disrupted from the use of birth control containing synthetic hormones.  If we could educate ourselves and understand what they are doing to our bodies and learn of alternative methods of preventing pregnancy, it may be better for our long-term health.  We could prepare for conception in a healthier way and learn to balance our hormones after using hormonal birth control.

We now have more control than ever to choose when we want to have children.  Perhaps knowing the consequences of using hormonal birth control would be helpful when making decisions about birth control.

Choosing Birth Control Responsibly

Each of us owes it to ourselves and our families to research facts on long-term side effects of hormonal birth control use.  Having the understanding that it may affect our fertility and health later in life is important.  Getting pregnant – not getting pregnant – how will getting pregnant impact my life?  How will preventing a pregnancy impact my health?  Balancing those choices to serve our highest good is the question.  When choosing hormonal birth  control, ask yourself:

• Is this something I am willing to use long-term or is it a short-term goal?
• How will taking this impact my fertility?
• Are there better or safer options?

Continue reading “Balancing Your Hormones after Using Hormonal Birth Control-Part I”