Smoking

February is American Heart Month

According to the American Heart Association …

More than one in three adults has some form of cardiovascular disease.
The good news is 80% of heart disease and stroke can be prevented.

Life’s Simple 7 keys to prevention

Control cholesterol
Cholesterol is more than just a number. One important factor is the ratio of good cholesterol (HDL) to bad cholesterol (LDL). The more HDL in your blood, the better the ratio. Keep your cholesterol in check by reducing and/or eliminating the bad fats in foods like greasy burgers and bacon.

Manage blood pressure
Blood pressure can be controlled with medication or try these low blood pressure tips.

Reduce blood sugar
Prevent diabetes by living a healthy lifestyle outlined here. Check your blood sugar with a simple blood test. If you have diabetes, control it with diet and exercise. And take your medicine if your doctor prescribes it.

Eat right
Eat less red meat. Eliminate boxed, prepared and over processed food. Stop eating white flour and sugar.
Eat more fruits and vegetables. Follow the food pyramid or go vegan.

Lose weight
There’s no magic to losing weight. To lose one pound, you need to …
Eat 3,500 calories less
Burn 3,500 calories more
Or a combination of both
You’re invited to do a 180 turnaround. 90 Days to lose the weight. Then 90 days to learn how to keep it off.

Get moving
Walking is one of the best exercises. All you need is a good pair of shoes and get moving.

Stop smoking
There are lots of good reasons to stop smoking. And NO good reason to continue smoking. Top 10 Reasons to Quit Smoking

What Are My Chances of Getting Heart Disease

References:
Make the Effort to Prevent Heart Disease with Life’s Simple 7
What Are My Chances of Getting Heart Disease?
American Heart Association

Leave a comment with YOUR heart healthy tips.

Marilyn Kvasnok

New Year’s Resolutions Revisited

Apr 26th, 2012

by Marilyn.

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2012 Glasses The new year held so much promise. A new beginning … New dreams … New goals. We could start fresh in 2012, so we gave it lots of thought and decided on a New Year’s resolution. Odds are it was one of the top ten New Year’s resolutions.

It’s the end of April and many New Year’s resolutions are long forgotten. How are you doing with yours?

Lose Weight and Get Fit
With all the weight loss products and systems, why can’t we lose weight and keep it off? Athletes know the secret: It’s leucine. Leucine helps you keep muscle while you lose weight. And since your metabolism is in your muscles, you lose the weight and keep it off. Stop the vicious diet cycle. Losing weight can be a Cinch!

Quit Smoking
Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death in the United States. There’s no good reason to smoke and every reason to quit. My Top 10 Reasons to Quit Smoking and links to resources to help you quit.

Learn Something New
Great for brain health. Take a class, learn to dance, volunteer at church or a hospital. These are just a few suggestions. The possibilities are endless.

Eat Healthy
Goodbye pizza, chips and Coke. Hello broccoli, apples and green tea. You don’t have to do it all in one day. I believe that continuing to make little changes adds up to a big difference over time. Make one little change today. I love salad. Make it interesting, add a protein and you have a healthy meal.

Get Out of Debt and Save Money
If you spend more than you earn, you’re heading in the wrong direction. The sooner you balance your spending to your income, the sooner you can start saving for larger purchases, vacation, children’s college and retirement. Make a plan and stick with it. You can Calculate your way back to financial health.

Spend More Time with Family
The number one regret people have is spending too much time working. While you’re at the office or the factory, the children grow up and sometimes spouses grow apart. You wonder where the years went. But, you can never get them back. It took me many years to realize that not everyone works 60-80 hours a week at a job. What If you could work from home, be your own boss and be there for your family?

Travel to New Places
Vacation in a distant land or close to home. There are many places in all price ranges. Even a weekend getaway can be fun and exciting.

Be Less Stressed
Suggestions: Deep breathing, meditation, yoga and Baroque music are all ways to de-stress. You may not be able to change what happens during the day, but you can change your reaction to it.

Volunteer
When you can see past your own life, you see a bigger picture.

Drink Less Alcohol
At a party, make every other drink non-alcoholic. If you have a glassful of sparkling soda with a slice of lemon or lime, you cut your calories and alcohol in half. At home, try drinking out of a smaller glass or have one less drink. Drink slowly and enjoy every sip.

Marilyn Kvasnok

Are You Still Smoking?

Dec 28th, 2010

by Marilyn.

5 comments

There are SO many reasons to quit smoking … And NO good reasons to continue. I ran across this video on Doctor Oz’s website that illustrates what happens in your lungs when you breathe in cigarette smoke . . .

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Animation

My friend, Joe Weaver, author of the book “The Tao of Quitting Smoking,” listed 100 Reasons to Quit Smoking. My top 10 from his list are here. You’ll also find links to his site and other quit smoking resources there and here.

It’s that time of year when we’re all thinking of New Year’s Resolutions. Some smoker’s just can’t see through their smoke. But, if you want to take a giant leap of health, stop smoking today. ARE YOU READY?

Top 10 Healthy Skin Tips

Mar 27th, 2010

by Marilyn.

6 comments

Babies are born with the softest and smoothest skin. But as we age, our skin can take a real beating. An unhealthy diet, air pollution, soaps and cleansers, smoking, sunburns, tanning booths and cheap cosmetics with harmful chemicals. It all contributes to the aging effect and shows the most on your face.

If you want healthy skin, you need to take care of it. And the best time to start is today! It’s possible to slow down and even improve the health of your skin. Make these 10 tips part of your daily routine and they’ll become good habits.

Avoid excessive sun exposure. A little sun is good. It helps your body make vitamin D. But too much sun, especially in the heat of the day, can burn your skin. So, wear sunscreen on all exposed skin. And wear a hat to shield your face.
Take a multivitamin to guarantee you get sufficient vitamin D.
Use moisturizer to keep you skin hydrated and protect it from the elements.
Use all natural cleansers with no harmful chemicals. Gently wash your face in an upwards direction. Never pull the skin downward.
Don’t smoke. Smoking causes wrinkles and premature aging.
Sleep on your back. It helps counteract the gravity that’s been pulling your face downward all day. And it keeps your face from being pulled by the weight of your face on the pillow, if you were to sleep on your side.
Facial exercises can help keep a youthful look. It can avoid and even improve wrinkles, crow’s feet, laugh lines and a sagging neck. Even smiling and laughing helps to exercise facial muscles. There are many facial exercise experts. Carol Maggio is at the top of my list.
Eat a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish and healthy fats like olive oil. Chocolate is NOT one of the 5 food groups on the food pyramid!
Don’t touch your face. Your hands have bacteria that can cause infection and make your skin break out.
Use all natural cosmetics. Anything you put ON your skin gets absorbed INTO your skin. From there it goes to your bloodstream. Make sure it doesn’t contain harmful chemicals.

Marilyn Kvasnok

Top 10 Reasons to Quit Smoking

Mar 5th, 2009

by Marilyn.

6 comments

Smoking – It’s one subject that conjurs up very strong feelings. Smokers believe they have a right to smoke. And non-smokers believe they have a right to smoke-free air. The non-smokers are winning, but it hasn’t been easy. Today, not only are public buildings smoke-free, there’s a no smoking ban around the perimeter of those buildings.

I can finally enjoy a meal at a smoke-free restaurant. When the hostess used to ask “smoking or non?” I would always answer “A non-smoking section in a restaurant is like a no-pee zone in a pool.” If I walked into a restaurant and smelled cigarette smoke, I would leave – But not before telling the hostess or manager why.

And now, I’m seeing signs outside public buildings warning that there’s no smoking around the building. I no longer have to walk thru a cloud of smoke to enter a medical building. And who was outside smoking? All the employees, of course!

So, what’s a non-smoking advocate to do? Speak up! Ban together and educate everyone I can about the dangers of smoking. I found another non-smoking advocate.

Joseph P. Weaver is the winner of the 2002 American Cancer Society’s Great American Smoke-out Award, for leadership in building a smoke-free environment in New York City. A former neuroscience researcher, Joe has studied yoga, reflexology, herbology, and meditation in Nepal and around the world, and has helped thousands of people quit smoking.

In his book, The Tao of Quitting Smoking, Mr. Weaver lists 100 Reasons to Quit Smoking. Here are my favorite Top 10, taken from his list:

Because you can! (#1)
Quitting decreases the overall risk of death (all causes combined) by 50 percent in fifteen years as compared to continuing smokers. (#2)
Toxic tobacco smoke, a.k.a. secondhand smoke, harms others. (#26)
Nicotine—a poisonous, addictive, drug, has been linked to cancer. (#34)
You won’t feel like a leper in public. More than 70 percent of people don’t smoke. (#49)
You will be a winner because you finally took control of your addiction. (#58)
Because you know that you want to quit. (#69)
Children tend to imitate their parents. (#84)
Not socially acceptable anymore. (#87)
Quit for yourself. (#100)

So, is there life after cigarettes? You bet! You’ll feel better, breathe better, look better, smell better and enjoy what you eat. And everyone around you will love you for taking control of your life.

Links:
Are You Still Smoking?
The Long Term Health Effects of Smoking Tobacco
The Smoker’s Body (Warning: It’s gross)
Quit Smoking Resources
Where There’s Smoke . . .

Marilyn Kvasnok