With cancer cropping up left and right, people are suddenly becoming more conscious with what they eat and do with their bodies. Fad diets have become a craze and so are gym workouts and alternative exercise for the body. But despite being the in thing to do right now, some people still find it hard to start walking the road to a life of health and fitness. After all, when you have already lived a life of debauchery, it will be harder to convert and walk the other road even if it is not as less traveled by.

To help you, here are some of the ways that you can start with your healthy lifestyle.

1. Dont smoke If you do not have the habit of smoking, good for you. Dont try to start as you will only get addicted with the cigarettes and it will be harder to quit when that happens. It is not true that you can smoke and quite when you want to. Its not. Once you become hooked into it, there is no turning back. If you are already part of those people who burn their lungs out everyday, the best bet is to make a commitment to quit. By doing this, you are already halfway to recovery. Make sure though that you are serious with your plans and you are not just doing it for any other reason than your health.

2. Lessen the junk One of the ways you can help keep your body healthy is to eat foods that are more natural and with less chemical content. Avoid eating junk foods like those huge packs of potato chips or binge on candies. You should also make it a point to lessen your intake of meats and consume more vegetables, fruits and seafood. This does not mean that you will forgo with meat altogether. You should still eat meat. The protein that it contains is important for some of the basic processes of the body.

3. Skip the Soda and even the iced tea As much as you can, drink water. This is the safest and healthiest drink there is. Sodas even the diet ones, are carbonated and contain high amounts of sugar and carbohydrates which can later be translated into fats. You can also try drinking green tea which can help in the digestive system. Iced tea may be tamer than sodas but these drinks also contain a lot of sugar which can pile up in the body. Stick to water and drink lots of it.

4. Stay active Another way to start living a life of health and fitness without having to shell out money and make lots of effort is to schedule an exercise routine every day. You can schedule it every morning when you wake up in the morning or do it at night after work. Whichever schedule you want to, make sure that you keep it to 30 minutes long to an hour. That way, you can exercise those muscles and avoid muscle pains. Exercise will also strengthen your bones and your body, promote better breathing and cellular activity, clear the brain and of course keep those extra calories out of the body. Thus, even if you eat a lot, you are not storing those fats and carbohydrates. You are expending them through your workout routine.

Start Growing Healthy Children Before Getting Pregnant
Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

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Title: Start Growing Healthy Children Before Getting Pregnant
Author: Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
E-mail: mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com
Copyright: 2004 by Margaret Paul
URL: http://www.innerbonding.com
Word Count: 640
Category: Pregnancy, Parenting

Start Growing Healthy Children Before Getting Pregnant
By Dr. Margaret Paul

When I was in my early 20s, I read Adele Daviss book, Lets Eat Right To Keep fit. I learned from her that you are what you eat. I also learned that our babies are what we eat while we are pregnant, and then are what they eat once they are born. If you nurse your babies, then they continue to be what you eat as long as you are nursing them. My bible during my first pregnancy over 38 years ago was Lets Have Healthy Children, also by Adele Davis. I started to follow her guidelines way before getting pregnant, knowing that my health had a big effect on my babys health.

There is much more information about good nutrition available today, and I want to encourage anyone who wants to have healthy children to start early in learning about and implementing a healthy way of eating. Educating yourself regarding good nutrition is a major part of good parenting. However, a good rule of thumb is, if they didnt eat it 200 years ago, dont eat it now! This means no fast food, no packaged food – including sodas, cakes and candies – no preservatives, no fruits and vegetables grown with pesticides or artificial fertilizers, or animals grown with hormones and fed food grown with pesticides. It also means no smoking or drinking. It means no caffeine. If you want healthy children, you need to put pure, clean organic food into your body before you get pregnant and continue throughout your pregnancy. Of course, then you want to continue to feed yourself and your family clean food once your children are born.

If you are pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant, you have a wonderful opportunity to lay a strong foundation of health for your child. Why not start now feeding yourself well and learning all you can about creating healthy children? You are going to be a parent the whole rest of your life. You can do so much to make your parenting experience a joyful one by taking responsibility for your own physical and emotional health before getting pregnant. If you have not been disciplined enough to eat well before getting pregnant, perhaps the idea of eating well for your child will be enough to motivate you.

Its not as hard as you might think. It really doesnt take much more time to eat well than to eat junk. And the payoff is huge. Not only were my three babies healthy, they were calm. They slept well and were happy children, who learned easily and did well in school. The only time they were hyperactive actually bouncing off walls! was after returning from birthday parties where they had ice cream, cake and sodas.

In my many years of counseling, Ive often worked with parents who were struggling with their childrens behavior problems. Of course not all behavior problems are nutritional, but you might be surprised how many problems have their cause in poor nutrition. Ive often wondered why so many people are careful to put the right octane in their gas tank but put the wrong fuel into their bodies and then wonder why there is so much illness, learning disabilities, and so on.

I want to tell you a little story about the power of food. We had a 6 month old golden retriever puppy who was dying of irritable bowel syndrome. He had constant diarrhea and was getting thinner and thinner by the day. We had been giving him the very best quality kibble and it wasnt working. Fortunately we learned about raw food for dogs. Within two meals of raw food, he was completely healthy! Here I had been studying nutrition for so many years and it had never occurred to me that a dogs natural diet is raw food! Wow, what a lesson!

About the Author

Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including “Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?” She is the co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process. Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or email her at margaret@innerbonding.com.