Tag: Health goals

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Daily Mood-Boosting Habit: Watch the News and All Media Less

Due to cable news and political personality shows both on cable and off cable, it’s possible to be hyper-aware of what’s happening all over the planet at any given moment, and what’s worse, you can get notified about it as it happens.

 

The problem with this isn’t that you’re informed but that the information is repeated so often that it starts feeling overwhelming. We either start tuning it out, or we start feeling anxious about all the horrible stuff going on.

news

The truth is, you really only need to watch the actual news twice a day, once in the morning to inform you about what happened while you slept and once in the evening to inform you of what happened while you worked. That’s it. As far as the rest of the media goes, spending less time in front of screens improves all aspects of your life.

 

  • Sitting is Bad for Your Health – Watching TV or screens all the time contributes to obesity, and not just from sitting, but the constant bombardment of information you receive causes you to eat more unhealthy food and drink less water. That, combined with not moving, is a recipe for disaster.

 

  • Television and Screens Distract from Real Life – You have real people in your life that want and need to do real stuff. Watching everyone else do fun stuff is no way to live. Sure, movies are great for bad weather days, sick days, and broke days – but spending your life watching this media should not be your way of life. Ending the habit now and doing more real-life and less observing fake people living life will make all the difference to your success.

 

  • TV is Expensive – Some people are spending 100’s of dollars every month on cable TV and other streaming options just to watch other people do pretend things or even watch reality TV. There is a place for this in society, of course, not everyone can travel so it’s cathartic to watch Travel TV sometimes, but it can be very expensive to pay for all that TV and the equipment to watch it.

 

  • Screens Ruin Intimacy – Numerous studies show that having a TV or screens in the bedroom can ruin your sex life, with couples who have a TV in their room reporting having sex less than half the time of their non-television and screen in the bedroom counterparts.

Finally, watching too much television and talking heads can affect your worldview in a bad way. Remember, the media, as are most movies and TV shows, whether streaming or not, are sensationalized to attract attention and get more views. You may start seeing the world in a way that isn’t realistic or even close to reality simply by feeding your mind with too much of this type of shocking information designed to persuade you and not merely inform you.

 

Write Down 3 Things You’re Grateful for Each Day

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6 TIPS TO CONSIDER WHEN POWER WALKING

 

Speed walking, power walking, race walking… These are terms that describe walking very fast without running or going into a jog. The main reason for speed walking over running and jogging is the damage that running can do to your body. Speed walking is a low-impact way of exercising that enables you to get more out of your walking workout.

 

Here are tips to follow if you are a beginner to make sure you get the most out of this type of walking.

 

* Stay Hydrated – Start your walk hydrated and then drink small amounts throughout your course. Don’t over hydrate yourself by drinking too much, but keep a keen eye on the amount of fluid you are ingesting to ensure your body stays optimally hydrated.

 

* Your Posture Is Everything – When you are speed walking, it’s imperative to keep your posture correct. If anything hurts, you may be doing it wrong. It can help to have someone checking in with you. Your spine should be straight, you should not be leaning forward or backward, and you should look straight ahead (not down). Keep your chin up so that you can reduce pain on your neck and back.

* Keep Your Form – The way to walk when you are speed walking is different from your standard walking form. You need to relax your shoulders, keep your spine neutral, and keep your core tight. Ensure that you take natural strides that cause you to roll from your heel to your toe, giving you lift from your toes. When you want to go faster, don’t make your strides longer – just quicker.

 

* Wear the Right Shoes – You still need walking shoes that fit you well. It can help to go to a real shoe place to get fitted correctly with the right type of walking shoe. You also need to replace them every 300 to 400 miles of walking to ensure proper protection.

 

* Start Small and Add Daily – Don’t try to start speed walking 10,000 steps in one day. Instead, work your way up to it. You can add some speed walking into your daily walk for a minute or two at a time, working your way up until you are doing the entire course speed walking.

* Find a Coach – You need to mind your form so much that you probably should at least find a coach or someone who is an experienced power walker to demonstrate and then check how you do it so that you don’t injure yourself. It is quite a challenge to learn the new form and way of walking.

Because running is so hard on the body, with runners causing an impact on their limbs many times over their own body weight, speed walking and power walking can give you the same health benefits without the wear and tear and problems that running can cause.