My Heart Life

With Summer here, it seems an appropriate time to talk about walking for fitness. I wanted to talk about walking for several reasons, not the least of which being the health benefits that can come from it.

Walking for Fun and Fitness

According to an article I found by the Mayo Clinic, walking can produce the following benefits:
*It’s safe and easy (no practice needed)
*It’s low impact
*It can help put you in a better mood
*It can lower your LDL (or “lousy” cholesterol)
*It can help improve your HDL (or “happy” cholesterol)
*It can help lower blood pressure
*It can help you lose weight
*It can help reduce stress

Personally, walking would be worth it for the reduction in stress alone, but then, I have a pretty full household and it’s a great escape when I need a breather.

The Beauty of Walking

The beauty of walking is that you can do it just about anywhere without any major special equipment. All you need is a good, sturdy pair of walking shoes and appropriate clothing and you are set to go. You can also walk with friends and make it an outing. Walking with friends is actually a fantastic way to catch up on each other’s goings on, get some fresh air and exercise and it’s also a terrific way to measure your stride.

When you are walking for fitness, you should be slightly breathless but not completely out of breath and still able to carry on a conversation. When you hit that point, you know you are walking at a good pace that will not only help burn calories but increase the other health benefits as well.

Walking Clubs

If you look for excuses to do things with your friends because there’s not enough time in the day (believe me, I am so there with you) then start a walking club. It’s a great reason to get together and you can even bring your kids with you if they’re still at home. Our moms group at church goes to different Parks throughout the summer with the kids. Walking through some of the gardens is not only beautiful but refreshing and fun too. Everybody needs some beauty to look at.

If you’re working then form a group that can walk at lunch. Even 15 or 20 minutes of walking every day can be good for you. (Help you detox after your boss drives you crazy all morning!) If you want to walk and don’t know where to start, find a good personal trainer to help you with your fitness plan. That way, you can start your own walking for fun and fitness. Make strides!!

Zach Hunt is a Spokane Walking expert and the owner of Physzique, a personal fitness coaching company in Spokane, WA helping people to look and feel great. Go here: Spokane Bootcamp for more info on these services and more great fitness tips.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/walking-for-fitness-1111657.html

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There is no complete fitness program for beginners, because everyone’s different. However, there are some pointers you can take to heart when it comes to starting your exercise program that should help you get in shape relatively quickly.

If you’ve decided to start with a fitness exercise program, good for you. Now’s the time to get in shape, and it’s never too late to begin. There are a few steps you should take when it comes to starting an exercise program. Let’s take a look at them.

Step number one: see your doctor

This is very important, because if you’ve been sedentary for a while, you’re not going to want to do anything that’s going to hurt you. Get a thorough physical and find out if there are any contraindications to strenuous exercise before you begin.

Step number two: start slowly

The most important reason, first and foremost, to get involved in an exercise program is for overall health. If you’ve been sedentary for a while, you’re not going to want to spend two hours exercising on your first day. You’ll just make yourself sore, and you might even hurt yourself to the point where you will have to lay off exercise for a while, which puts you right back at square one. For that reason, any beginner fitness program has to be relatively light. Don’t worry, though. As you continue, your body will adjust quickly and you can pick up the pace.

Step three: Include the right things in your beginner fitness program

When you first start out, you might just want to begin with some simple walking. Even five to 10 minutes on your first day is going to give you a good start.

As you progress in your exercise program, you’re going to want to add strength training exercises, and some stretching, warm up and cool down, too, so you don’t hurt yourself. Easy does it, though. Set simple goals first, such as that you’re going to walk 10 minutes a day, every day. You can build from there. Your goal is to eventually be doing at least 20 minutes of some kind of exercise every day, preferably an hour’s worth eventually.

Step four: Make sure you sweat every time

As you progress in your exercise program, make sure you don’t let up on the intensity. Your goal should be to break a good sweat and keep it going for 20 to 30 minutes every day. You should also be able to talk to people when you’re working out, but not comfortably. In other words, you should be slightly out of breath when you’re working out.

Step five: Change it up

As your body gets used to certain kinds of exercise, it will begin to be more efficient with them, which means your fitness levels will drop if you do the same kinds of exercise all the time. So alternate cardiovascular exercises and strength training exercises in your daily workout. For example, one day you might decide that you want to swim for your cardiovascular exercise and work on your quads for strength training. The next day, you might want to ride your bike for your cardiovascular exercise and do some bench presses for your strength training. And remember; again, keep the intensity up no matter what you do.

Step five: Eat right, drink enough water, and get enough sleep

No exercise program is going to keep you looking and feeling your best if you don’t eat right, drink enough water, and get enough sleep. Most people should shoot for a good eight hours of sleep a night. Your diet should include plenty of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, and fruits and vegetables, with some good unsaturated fats thrown in. It should limit or eliminate refined carbohydrates, junk food, etc.

These few simple steps should give you a start in the right direction to get in shape fast!

If you need to get in shape fast and need more information on Fitness Exercise Programs visit our website at http://www.fitnessexerciseprogram.org for more comprehensive advice, reviews and tips on the Beginner Fitness and Exercise Programs that you can use to get Fit fast.Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/fitness-exercise-programs-for-beginners-824031.html

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Getting Things Done The Art of Stress Free Productivity

In today’s world, yesterday’s methods just don’t work. In Getting Things Done, veteran coach and management consultant David Allen shares the breakthrough methods for stress-free performance that he has introduced to tens of thousands of people across the country. Allen’s premise is simple: our productivity is directly proportional to our ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are organized can we achieve effective productivity and unleash our creative potential. In Getting Things Done Allen shows how to:

€ Apply the “do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it” rule to get your in-box to empty
€ Reassess goals and stay focused in changing situations
€ Plan projects as well as get them unstuck
€ Overcome feelings of confusion, anxiety, and being overwhelmed
€ Feel fine about what you’re not doing

From core principles to proven tricks, Getting Things Done can transform the way you work, showing you how to pick up the pace without wearing yourself down.

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star Did someone really pay him to write this??
I can sum up the principles of this book very quickly:

1. Make lists of things you need to do, on paper, not in your head.

2. Regularly look at your lists and prioritize tasks.

3. Repeat the above.

To be genuinely helpful, Allen should write a book entitled, “Live a Stress-Free Life by Convincing a Publisher to Pay You to Write a Short Book Describing Common Sense So You Never Have to Do Real Work Again”.

4 Stars Satisfied Customer
This product is very informative and will help me be more productive at work and in my personal life. The product arrived in a timely manner with no damage. I would order from this supplier again.

4 Stars Getting Things Done
This book is a great help to procrastinators like me who face long to-do lists but have no idea where to begin. The author provides great tools and insights on how to organize and prioritize your projects and ideas and turn them into real action plans. His suggestion to label your projects into the categories – “Do It”, “Delegate It”, “Defer It” or “Drop It” is definitely a rule that I can use moving forward.

Another book that has helped me to get out of my own way and get things done is Working on Yourself Doesn’t Work: The 3 Simple Ideas That Will Instantaneously Transform Your Life by Ariel and Shya Kane. The 3 simple rules of Instantaneous Transformation that they present in this book has helped me tremendously in tying up those open loops that hang around when you procrastinate and don’t actively participate in your life.

5 Stars This plus software works for me
I purchased this book because my iPhone Application (Things) had reviews discussing GTD software. The book has both the why and the how. The combination of principles from the book and the software has made a tremendous difference for me in just one month.

5 Stars Got it DONE!
When I finished David Allen’s book, I felt like he was a friend and mentor… without ever meeting him.

Easy to read.

Clear, simple methods for organizing EVERYTHING from a passing thought to corporate merger.

Easy to implement within your own framework. David doesn’t have a hidden agenda for marketing a particular product, subscription or service.

A realistic and natural approach.

I couldn’t put it down, because every page felt like a revelation. For so long I have looked for ways to improve the way I organize, track and complete the many elements of my personal and business life.

Lastly, the book is worth reading all the way through, because David helped me create a detailed vision in my mind of how to get things done. Understanding the psychological and relationship aspect of “getting things done” has motivated me to keep at it when organizing got tough.

Buy/More Info

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